Son Goku

Son Goku
孫悟空 (Son Gokū)
Manga Anime
Manga Debut	Dragon Ball Chapter 1
Anime Debut	Dragon Ball Episode 1
Japanese VA	Masako Nozawa
Canadian VA	Saffron Henderson Ian Corlett Peter Kelamis Kirby Morrow
Funimation VA	Stephanie Nadolny Colleen Clinkenbeard Ceyli Delgadillo Sean Schemmel
Personal Data
Birth	Age 737
Death	October 12, Age 761 May 26, Age 767
Height	175 cm
Weight	62 kg
Aliases	Kakarrot
Notable Skills	Kamehameha
Relationship Data
Family	Bardock (Father) Gine (Mother) Raditz (Brother)
Spouse	Chi-Chi
Children	Son Gohan Son Goten

Son Goku is a fictional character in the Dragon Ball manga series by Akira Toriyama. Goku makes his debut in chapter 1, published in the 1984 #51 issue of Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump.

Biography

Born on the Planet Vegeta, the Saiyan infant known as Kakarrot was sent to Earth on a mission to destroy it. However, after a case of severe head trauma he forgot his mission and was nursed back to health by a kindly old martial arts master known as Son Gohan, who took the child in as his own and named him Goku. As part of his Saiyan heritage, Goku had a natural talent for martial arts, however the darker sides of his Saiyan nature also remained. On the night of the full moon, Saiyans gain the ability to transform into an Oozaru, a giant were ape, as long as they have their tails intact. One night after Goku assumed this form, Gohan was killed leaving Goku to live on his own for the next few years.

Eventually, Goku's solitude was ended by the arrival of Bulma, a teenage girl in search of the Dragon Balls, one of which, the Four Star Ball, belonged to Gohan before he died. Bulma revealed that when all seven balls were gathered a Dragon would be summoned to grant the possessor a single wish. On the journey to gather all the Dragon Balls, Goku and Bulma met new allies and rivals such as Oolong the shape shifting pig and the desert bandits Yamcha and Pu'er. As their search neared its end the group were taken hostage by the nefarious Emperor Pilaf with aspirations of world domination. After a daring plan in which Oolong was able to get a wish in before Pilaf, the group were sentenced to death in a room that would cook them alive in the sun's rays, fortunately however the transparent ceiling allowed Goku a clear view of the full moon that night allowing the Oozaru to wreak havoc upon Pilaf's castle. Once Goku's allies were clear of the castle wreckage, Yamcha was able to remember that Goku's tail was his weakness and removed it returning him back to his normal state.

Following this, Goku went his separate ways from the gang to train under Muten Rōshi, Gohan's former master who he had met during the quest for the Dragon Balls. Alongside Rōshi's other apprentice Kuririn, he trained for the upcoming Tenkaichi Budōkai tournament. Goku made it all the way to the final round where he was defeated by a mysterious man known as Jackie Chun. Inspired to become even tougher following this loss, he set out on a mission to become stronger while searching for Gohan's Dragon Ball which had scattered following the previous wish. Also searching for the Dragon Balls were the Red Ribbon Army, entire squadrons of which were single-handedly destroyed by Goku. As the army became desperate, they hired Tao Pai-pai, the world's greatest assassin, who managed to kill Goku's new friend Bora before Goku received training from Lord Karin of Karin Tower allowing him to defeat Tao. As the Red Ribbon Army was finally destroyed, Goku was able to use the Dragon Balls to restore Bora's life, making sure to get his hands on the Four Star Ball before it scattered with the others.

After another three years of solo training, Goku returned to the Tenkaichi Budōkai where he reunited with all his old friends, and some new enemies. Muten Rōshi's rival, Tsuru-Sen'nin, had also entered his apprentices Tenshinhan and Chiaotzu into the tournament. Not only that, but Tsuru-Sen'nin was also the brother of Tao Pai-pai, and instantly swore revenge upon Goku upon discovering that he had killed Tao. However, as the tournament progresses, Jackie Chun's words of wisdom get to Tenshinhan, causing him to rebel against the Tsuru-Sen'nin during his finals match with Goku. The match is a close one, with Ten winning by a nose. Ten and Chiaotzu invite Goku and friends to dinner, however something terrible happens. While going to collect Goku's stuff for him, Kuririn is murdered by a monster who takes the Four Star Ball. Goku hastily chases after said monster, which leads him to a confrontation with the King of Demons, Piccolo Daimaō. After a humiliating defeat, Goku returns for more training with Karin, risking his life by drinking the Super God Water which will either increase his power exponentially, or kill him. Surviving the Super God Water, Goku goes to face off against Piccolo once again, who has restored his youth with the Dragon Balls before subsequently killing the Dragon. Goku eventually wins the fight using his Oozaru-ken, an attack which he pours all his remaining energy into to pierce through Piccolo's torso.

Following this battle, Goku returns to Karin's who tells him to go above the tower to God's palace. After riding the Nyoi-Bō there, he is told that in his dying moments Piccolo released an offspring containing his essence, meaning that he is not truly dead. In exchange for three years of training at the palace for the rematch with Piccolo, God agrees to resurrect the Dragon so that the Dragon Balls may be used to save those killed by Piccolo and his men.

It is three years later that Goku arrive at yet another Tenkaichi Budōkai, where in the first round he fights a young woman who seems adamant that he should know her and that he made an important promise years ago. This woman is Chi-chi, the daughter of the Gyūmaō who Goku and Bulma met on their initial quest for the Dragon Balls. Goku had promised to marry Chi-chi later, but had only done so because he had mistaken 'marriage' for a food. Despite this, he agreed that a promise was a promise and decided to marry her after the tournament. However, the tournament was far from over, in the final round Goku fought Ma Junior, the offspring of Piccolo. Once his true identity was revealed to the public, Piccolo began launching attacks on the entire island as people evacuated. Goku's friends tried to step up to the fight, however he refused their help saying that if they interfered he'd be disqualified from the match, despite the fact the world was at stake. In the end, the victor was Goku, but instead of dealing the final strike to Piccolo he instead spared him because he needed a good rival to keep him on his toes.

Five years after Piccolo's defeat, Goku had a get together with his friends along with his son Gohan. However it did not last long before an alien invader named Raditz came to reveal Goku's heritage as a Saiyan and demanded that he join the other few remaining members of their species acting as interplanetary land sharks who would raid planets, kill the inhabitants and sell them off to the highest bidder. Goku was able to team up with Piccolo and together the two of them won, with Goku sacrificing his own life in the progress. However, this was fine as the Dragon Balls would be able to bring him back. But rather than returning immediately, he instead went to the planet of Kaiō-sama in the afterlife to prepare for the arrival of Raditz's comrades who would be arriving on Earth in less than a year.

Name

The name Son Goku comes directly from the protagonist of the Chinese tale Journey to the West Sun Wukong, "Son Goku" is the Japanese reading of his name. The name Kakarrot, like the names of other Saiyans, is a pun on a vegetable, specifically carrots.

Production

When appropriate, a description of the character's production, including who initially designed the character (if an anime original character), notes about their design or conception, etc.

Notable Skills

A list or description of notable skills or techniques. Video game techniques should be separated from those used in the series proper.

Performance

A list or description of the various voice actors that portrayed the character.

Notes

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