Why Do People Think Goku Wins All the Time?

[ABED]

Given that he is the main character, he's lost more than you would think. I assume the reason anyone believes this is because they feel it to be true and never bothered to think on it or really look at the evidence.

[PurestEvil]

I honestly think this belief was proliferated by the negative reactions to the climax of RoF. Even those who weren’t ardent Vegeta fans disliked Goku stealing the kill. Now that Vegeta is established as the secondary protagonist, comparisons between their battle histories are much more prevalent, which, when coupled with “Goku show” complaints, leads to a lot of fans believing Goku was always winning the big climactic battles.

[Pride9000!!!]

Like many people point out here he doesn't win all the time. it's just people's perception that's it (because he's one of the most popular shonen characters). And practically whenever a new powerful character becomes popular they always ask "but can he beat Goku"

[LoganForkHands73]

Even in his home nation, Goku has a towering reputation among casual fans as an invincible, ever-victorious hero on the same level as Superman, Batman, Godzilla, Sherlock Holmes, the Doctor, James Bond, Robin Hood, Heracles, Neil Breen, etc. There's always a default expectation for the protagonist to prevail in some way, that's how 90% of popular narratives go, but when you have these iconic, evergreen genre heroes, there's an even greater expectation that these guys are definitely gonna win, it's just a question of how. This is no doubt influenced by the Anime Fair movies which give Goku far more clean victories than in the manga or anime. Of course, even if Goku doesn't win every individual fight, his enemies are always defeated through a combination of his own efforts and those of others', so he kinda always wins in the long run. With every bone in his body broken, Goku still proves invaluable in helping his friends finish off Vegeta. From beyond the grave, Goku encourages Gohan to finish off Cell. Beerus may have overpowered him, but Goku's valiant effort convinced the Destroyer God to spare Earth, which was the true goal of the fight.

So, no matter how many times they repeat the same beats of Goku getting taken off guard, purposefully self-sabotaging his own chances or getting outright overpowered, for any casual viewer tuning in for the first time, it's always shocking and unexpected. When he does get a no-strings-attached W, people assume that's the norm. It's only veteran fans that are savvy enough to recognise that there's always a chance of Goku blowing it at the last minute.

[GreatSaiyaJeff]

I always get a kick out of the "Can so and so beat Goku though", which I know it's more of a meme at this point but I'm like probably. Goku isn't nearly indestructible as others make him out to be. Heck at this point, he's not even the strongest in his own series.

[TRIZACK]

I wonder the same. Literally my first impression of Goku as a kid was "man this guy sure gets beat up a lot." First episodes I saw were the Ocean dub Tree of might episode and when he was in the hospital after the Saiyan fight.

[Saiya6Cit]

It is because the majority of people who think that, they have not watched dragon ball in its entirety.

Some people would not consider any of the spirit bomb wins as a goku win. But some other people do as Gokus is the one throwing it...
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Anonymous Friend]

I wonder the same. Literally my first impression of Goku as a kid was "man this guy sure gets beat up a lot." First episodes I saw were the Ocean dub Tree of might episode and when he was in the hospital after the Saiyan fight.

One of the reasoning I give for Superman winning against Goku, is that while we do see him get knocked around a lot by strong enemies, I don't think anyone's ever broken his legs. At most, he's been stabbed or shot with kryptonite or cut with a magic bladed weapon. And the only times he does get serious beat up, involves involves full scale slobberknockers with Doomsday or Darkside. Goku, on the otherhand, we've seen beaten and his body broken a few times.

But, question ...


The last time I recall Goku getting beaten so badly was with his fight with Ginyu. He was beaten so bad he missed the entire Freeza transforming transforming vs the group fights. He does get beat up during his fight with 19, but it seems like most of his issue is due to the heart virus. Goku gets scuffed up and cloyhes torn, but he still remains functional. And the only issues he has is a lack of energy. Or am I forgetting anything?

[DragonBallFoodie]

Well, that's what DB is now seen as: a meme-spewing power fantasy about super-strong warriors who can break ceilings of power to defeat powerful enemies. Few people look closer and see the losses suffered in the story, which are severe and not always reparable (contrary to the point of the Dragon Balls).