Which do you prefer? Powerful fighting prodigy Son or crafty fighting genius Son?

[z_cherub]

Thought about this recently. Original DB had more of the crafty fighting genius Son Goku, & in Z we saw more of the unmatched powerhouse Son.

In the Hit fight, we recently got a glimpse of both:

Fighting genius outfoxes Hit in the magna:

[spoiler]
[/spoiler]

Powerhouse Son overwhelms Hit in the anime:

[spoiler][/spoiler]

I tend to lean towards the crafty fighting genius Goku, but in this particular example, seeing the Kaioken return was awesome, so I prefer that.

Maybe this isn't the best example since Goku showed his mind for fighting in both versions, but it's the example that got me thinking. Which do you tend to prefer. Feel free to post screen caps of your own examples - should be fun

[Anime Kitten]

Unmatched powerhouse. I'd save the crafty fighting genius for Piccolo, and Vegeta... he's Vegeta. :3

[Mazingerdestro]

Goku always was between that sweet spot "I train like crazy but I always improvise".
I consider ssj3 the smartest way we got introduced to a new form. I trained like crazy. Here is my new form.

Personally I would enjoyed it more if ssj God and blue failed and then he just used kaioken.

Also ToeiHit was way better than ToyoHit.
The constant improvement during the battle made him look more humane.

Obviously as long as you try harder and face stronger opponents you will improve. Better than "HAHA I was hiding my true power!!!!"

[namekiansaiyan]

I have always seen Goku as a powerhouse with not a lot of skill or technique but a little fighting instinct.
I think Vegeta, Piccolo, Tien and Krillin have much greater skill, technique and strategy.

[z_cherub]

I have always seen Goku as a powerhouse with not a lot of skill or technique but a little fighting instinct.
I think Vegeta, Piccolo, Tien and Krillin have much greater skill, technique and strategy.

Respectfully disagree.

Throughout DB & much of Z, Goku is portrayed as a fighting genius in the techniques he both masters & comes up with on the spot (after image, kamehameha, flying with his tail, bokujitsu, kamehameha with his feet, instantaneous movement kamehameha, etc.).

We're not talking about being a master strategist, here (more Piccolo's thing), were talking about ingenuity in a fight.

[Yomi]

Well, I feel like the anime gave us a bit of both. Without that whole Super Saiyan God transformation mess and wall of confusing expository dialog.

In the end, Hit wasn't overwhelmed, or defeated by the Kaioken. It just looked like another example of Goku using the Kaioken in a fight.
As he did against, Frieza, and Vegeta. It didn't take anything away from his cleverness there, and it didn't do it here either. He was just at the
end of his rope, and needed to take a big gamble.

EDIT: Looking back on the manga fight I really don't see what was so clever about it. He was fighting him with Red, then went blue and Hit's Time-Leap
didn't affect him anymore "IT'S BROKEN" kicked him, fired a Kamehameha, missed, and gave up.

[Alruneia]

I've always been a fan of battles being fought with wit, not just power. Having Goku think and come up with clever techniques is just more fun to watch. Goku (before SSJ) vs Freeza comes to mind. Using Freeza's inability to sense energy, tricking him with the two Kamehameha diversions... it was good. Battles being fought with strength alone just aren't as fun, it's just two people hitting each other over and over and powering up until one of them wins. This usually doesn't happen in Dragon Ball, and the closest example I can think of is the Goku vs Hit battle, because in the anime, Goku basically wins simply by powering up to the point where he's immune to the Tokitobashi. So yeah, Crafty Goku > Powerful Goku.

[Yomi]

because in the anime, Goku basically wins simply by powering up to the point where he's immune to the Tokitobashi. So yeah, Crafty Goku > Powerful Goku.

Did you just stop watching at episode 39? Hit dodged the Kamehameha and the punch. He even landed a barrage of his own that temporarily knocked Goku out. Goku told Beerus he was going to lose anyway, and Hit was holding back because of the rules.

"Goku basically wins simply by powering up" just isn't an accurate summary of that fight.

[Alruneia]

because in the anime, Goku basically wins simply by powering up to the point where he's immune to the Tokitobashi. So yeah, Crafty Goku > Powerful Goku.

Did you just stop watching at episode 39? Hit dodged the Kamehameha and the punch. He even landed a barrage of his own that temporarily knocked Goku out. Goku told Beerus he was going to lose anyway, and Hit was holding back because of the rules.

"Goku basically wins simply by powering up" just isn't an accurate summary of that fight.

First off, rude. Second, you're missing my point. I wrote Goku vs Hit as the closest example to a battle of pure strength I could think of. Neither Goku nor Hit brought out many clever techniques that weren't based on powering up in an attempt to beat each other. Tokitobashi extension counts as powering up, and the Kamehameha wave... well, that's just a normal attack these days, nothing clever about it. Dodging isn't what we're talking about when we say 'crafty' here, either. But yeah, I forgot that after Goku 'beat' (oops) Hit by powering up to God Kaio-ken x10, Hit had powered up further and Goku forfeited. I also suppose Hit would win in a no rules match and if Goku didn't forfeit. That wasn't what happened, though, and it was still a fight where powering up was the main strategy.

[Lord Beerus]

Craft fighting genius Goku definitely floats my boat more than the brute strength/might makes right Goku. Anything that brings more strategy and tactic to Dragon Ball fights is more than welcome.

[MonkeyKing16]

Crafty Goku hands down.

[z_cherub]

because in the anime, Goku basically wins simply by powering up to the point where he's immune to the Tokitobashi. So yeah, Crafty Goku > Powerful Goku.

Did you just stop watching at episode 39? Hit dodged the Kamehameha and the punch. He even landed a barrage of his own that temporarily knocked Goku out. Goku told Beerus he was going to lose anyway, and Hit was holding back because of the rules.

"Goku basically wins simply by powering up" just isn't an accurate summary of that fight.

First off, rude. Second, you're missing my point. I wrote Goku vs Hit as the closest example to a battle of pure strength I could think of. Neither Goku nor Hit brought out many clever techniques that weren't based on powering up in an attempt to beat each other. Tokitobashi extension counts as powering up, and the Kamehameha wave... well, that's just a normal attack these days, nothing clever about it. Dodging isn't what we're talking about when we say 'crafty' here, either. But yeah, I forgot that after Goku 'beat' (oops) Hit by powering up to God Kaio-ken x10, Hit had powered up further and Goku forfeited. I also suppose Hit would win in a no rules match and if Goku didn't forfeit. That wasn't what happened, though, and it was still a fight where powering up was the main strategy.

Yeah, the Goku/Hit fight wasn't the best example, just what got me thinking about the topic since it was presented a couple different ways.

I tend to agree with folks here in that I like to see Goku demonstrate ingenuity in-fight as opposed to just punching someone till they stop moving (which is fun sometimes, too!).

[Anime Kitten]

It seems I'm in the minority here.

[Rubens]

Tbh I see Goku as an amalgamation of both, although I prefer seeing Goku winning battles in a "crafty fighting genius" way.

[z_cherub]

Tbh I see Goku as an amalgamation of both, although I prefer seeing Goku winning battles in a "crafty fighting genius" way.

That's a really good way to put it. He's definitely a little of both at times.

[JulieYBM]

The cool thing about Son Gokuu is you can pretty much write him either way depending upon the storyline you want to tell and the reactions you want to evoke from those around him. In that respect, I like him best however I feel at the time.

[Patrolman Jaco]

Toriyama always portrayed Goku as combat savvy more so than the other characters in the series. The "Unskilled, but Strong" trope fits Gohan or Freeza more than him. While Toei apparently forgot this, Toyotaro did not.

[spoiler][/spoiler]