Goku

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This article is about the original character. For other uses, see Goku (disambiguation).
"No, see, I don't think like I'm saving the world. The fact is, I go into every conflict for the
battle, what's on my mind is beating down the strongest to get stronger. That's how this
tournament happened, too. That seems to be a recurring mistake on my part. Maybe that's the
Saiyan in me, too stubborn to stand down in the face of that prospect. But I can't bear the
thought of the blood of everyone back home being on my hands because I couldn't resist this.
This is for them, now. Would you help me?"
— Goku to Android 17 in "Hunt the Poaching Ring! Goku and Android 17's Joint Struggle!"

Son Goku
 Anime
 Manga
そんごくう
孫 悟空
カカロット
Son Gokū
Kakarotto
Anime name

Goku
Kakarot

Manga name

Son Goku
Kakarrot

Alias

Present Goku[1]
Goku Son[2]
Son Gokoh[3]
Son Gokou
Son Gokuh
Son Gokuu
Sangoku
Kakarotto
Kakarrot
Kakarot
Kakaroth
Kong
Zero

Debuts
Appears in
Manga Debut

"Bloomers and the Monkey King"

Anime Debut

"The Secret of the Dragon Balls"

Movie Debut

Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies

Characteristics
Race

Saiyan
Ginyu's race (temporarily)

Gender

Male

Height

175 cm (5'9") "adult"[4]

Weight

62 kg (137 lbs) "adult"[4]

Birth Date

Age 737[5][4]
Age 734[6]

Death Date(s)

October 12, Age 761[7]

May 26, Age 767[8]
Age 779[9]
Age 780[10]

Professional Status
Occupation

Martial Artist
Milkman[13][14]
Firefighter[15]
Farmer[16]
Security Guard[17]
Deputized Galactic Patrolman
Temporary Guardian of Earth[18]

Allegiance

Dragon Team
Turtle School (formerly)
Team Universe 7
Galactic Patrol

Address

Bardock's House[11] (formerly)

Grandpa Gohan's House (formerly)
58N 018, 439 East District[12]

Personal Status
Relatives

Bardock (father)
Gine (mother)
Raditz (older brother)
Grandpa Gohan (adoptive grandfather)
Chi-Chi (wife)
Ox-King (father-in-law)
Mother-in-law
Gohan (son)
Goten (son)
Videl (daughter-in-law)
Pan (granddaughter)
Goku Jr. (descendant)
Beat (descendant)[19]
Youth (Dragon Ball Online) (descendant)[20]

Counterparts

Future Goku
Xeno Goku
Kakarot
Goku (Goku Black's timeline)
Goku Black
Crimson-Masked Saiyan
Shadow Goku
Clone Goku
Tangtong

Mentors

Grandpa Gohan
Master Roshi
Korin
Mr. Popo
Kami
King Kai
Pybara
Yuzukar (Driving Instructor)
Whis
Merus

Students

Gohan
Goten
Trunks
Caulifla
Broly
Pan
Uub
Neko Majin Z[21][19]

そんごくう
Son Goku ( 孫 悟 空 Son Gokū), born Kakarot (カカロット Kakarotto), is the main
protagonist of the Dragon Ball series. Goku is a Saiyan male originally sent to destroy Earth as
an infant. A head injury at an early age alters his memory, ridding him of his initial destructive
nature and allowing him to grow up to become one of Earth's greatest defenders. He constantly
strives and trains to be the greatest warrior possible, which has kept the Earth and the universe
safe from destruction many times.[22]
Contents
 1 Concept and creation
 2 Appearance
 3 Personality
 4 Biography
o 4.1 Background
o 4.2 Jaco the Galactic Patrolman
o 4.3 Between Jaco and Dragon Ball
o 4.4 Dragon Ball
 4.4.1 Emperor Pilaf Saga
 4.4.2 Tournament Saga
 4.4.3 Red Ribbon Army Saga
 4.4.4 Fortuneteller Baba Saga
 4.4.5 Tien Shinhan Saga
 4.4.6 King Piccolo Saga
 4.4.7 Piccolo Jr. Saga
o 4.5 Interlude
o 4.6 Dragon Ball Z
 4.6.1 Saiyan Saga
 4.6.2 Frieza Saga
 4.6.3 Frieza-Androids Interlude
 4.6.4 Androids Saga
 4.6.5 Cell Saga
 4.6.6 Great Saiyaman Saga
 4.6.7 World Tournament Saga
 4.6.8 Majin Buu Saga
 4.6.9 Gods of the Universe Saga
o 4.7 Dragon Ball Super
 4.7.1 God of Destruction Beerus Saga
 4.7.2 Golden Frieza Saga
 4.7.3 Universe 6 Saga
 4.7.4 Copy-Vegeta Saga
 4.7.5 "Future" Trunks Saga
 4.7.6 Universe Survival Saga
 4.7.7 Broly Saga
 4.7.8 Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga
 4.7.9 Granolah the Survivor Saga
o 4.8 Dragon Ball Heroes
 4.8.1 Dark Empire Saga
 4.8.2 Prison Planet Saga
 4.8.3 Universal Conflict Saga
 4.8.4 Universe Creation Saga
  4.8.5 New Space-Time War Saga
 4.8.6 Supreme Kai of Time Saga
o 4.9 Peaceful World Saga
o 4.10 Dragon Ball GT
 4.10.1 Black Star Dragon Ball Saga
 4.10.2 Baby Saga
 4.10.3 Super 17 Saga
 4.10.4 Shadow Dragon Saga
 5 Film appearances
o 5.1 Bardock - The Father of Goku
o 5.2 Curse of the Blood Rubies
o 5.3 Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle
o 5.4 Mystical Adventure
o 5.5 The Path to Power
o 5.6 Dead Zone
o 5.7 The World's Strongest
o 5.8 The Tree of Might
o 5.9 Lord Slug
o 5.10 Cooler's Revenge
o 5.11 Super Android 13!
o 5.12 The Return of Cooler
o 5.13 Broly - The Legendary Super Saiyan
o 5.14 Bojack Unbound
o 5.15 Broly - Second Coming
o 5.16 Bio-Broly
o 5.17 Fusion Reborn
o 5.18 Wrath of the Dragon
o 5.19 Battle of Gods
o 5.20 Resurrection ‘F’
o 5.21 Broly
o 5.22 Super Hero
o 5.23 A Hero's Legacy
 6 Other Dragon Ball Stories
o 6.1 Shenron no Nazo
o 6.2 Dragon Ball SD
o 6.3 Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans
o 6.4 The Real 4-D
o 6.5 The Return of Son Goku and Friends!
o 6.6 Nekomajin
o 6.7 30th Anniversary Special Manga
o 6.8 Super Tenkaichi Budokai
o 6.9 FighterZ
o 6.10 Society Survival Saga
o 6.11 Victory Mission
o 6.12 Dragon Ball Online
 o 6.13 Xenoverse
o 6.14 Xenoverse 2
o 6.15 Dragon Ball Fusions
 7 Power
 8 Abilities
 9 Appearances in other media
o 9.1 Dr. Slump remake
o 9.2 Jump Super Stars
o 9.3 Video Game Appearances
o 9.4 Live-action movies
o 9.5 In popular culture
 10 Reception
 11 Voice Actors
 12 Name Changes
 13 Battles
 14 List of Characters Killed by Goku
 15 Trivia
 16 Gallery
 17 See also
 18 References
 19 Site Navigation

Fandom Trivia
Quiz
How Well Do You Know Dragon Ball's Geography?5 questions

Concept and creation

The original incarnation of Goku in the Dragon Ball prototype Dragon Boy was Tangtong. The
original inspirations for that story were Hong Kong martial arts films, including Bruce Lee films
such as Enter the Dragon (1973) and Jackie Chan films such as Drunken Master (1978);[23][24]
Toriyama later said he had a young Jackie Chan in mind for a live-action Goku, stating that
"nobody could play Goku but him."[25]

The Dragon Ball universe began as a loose adaptation of the classic Chinese novel Journey to
the West, with Goku himself as an alternate take on Sun Wukong. Similarities between the two
include their mischievous nature and possession of the Power Pole and Flying Nimbus (which, in
Japanese, have the same name as the source material).[26]
Akira Toriyama's original design of Goku

When Toriyama started his first draft of Dragon Ball, he originally planned on making Goku full
monkey to make the series more faithful to Journey to the West. During Toriyama's second draft,
Goku was instead a full human dressed in sailor clothes that rode a flight mecha instead of the
Flying Nimbus.[26] Toriyama's third draft became the final design.

Goku's full name is also based on Sun Wukong. The name "Son Goku" is simply the Japanese
on'yomi rendering of Sun Wukong, as Chinese and Japanese share the same characters but with
different pronunciations. "Sun/Son" is a common Chinese surname that normally means
"grandchild", while "Wukong/Goku" is a common Buddhist name that means "perceiving
air/awakened to emptiness". Reading "Sun Wukong" via the first and final characters only
through the Japanese kun'yomi rendering system makes it read out as "Mago Gosora", used at
some point as a gag in the original manga's run by the World Tournament Announcer.

Goku was revealed a month before the Dragon Ball manga started, in postcards sent to members
of the Akira Toriyama Preservation Society.[27]

Goku's first appearance was on the last page of "Grand Finale", the last chapter of the Dr. Slump
manga, advertising Dragon Balls upcoming debut.

Goku's Saiyan birth name, Kakarot, is a pun on "carrot". Goku's family, like most Saiyans, are all
named after root vegetables (burdock, leek, radish, and carrot) or even the word "vegetable"
itself.

While Goku is an overall good person, Akira Toriyama designed him as one who fights mostly
for personal joy of challenging strong opponents. To which, Toriyama notes that the anime tends
to go overboard in making Goku look heroic, and that his original depiction of Goku in the
manga has certain "poisonous" traits.[28][29]

The primary reason why Akira Toriyama created his Super Saiyan state with blond hair was so
that his assistant would no longer have to spend so much time coloring Goku's hair black - thus
saving time. Due to also having the effect of making Goku appear stronger, it killed two birds
with one stone.[4]

Goku's Super Saiyan form was heavily influenced by the martial artist Bruce Lee. According to
Toriyama, Goku's piercing eyes were based on Lee's paralyzing glare.[30] Dragon Ball Z anime
character designer Tadayoshi Yamamuro also used Lee as a reference for Goku's Super Saiyan
form, stating that, when he "first becomes a Super Saiyan, his slanting pose with that scowling
look in his eyes is all Bruce Lee."[31]

Appearance

Goku as a child, an adult, Super Saiyan, and Super Saiyan 3

Goku looks almost exactly like his father, possessing the same spiky black hairstyle, dark-
colored eyes, and facial features. However, he has softer eyes, a kind demeanor, and a lighter-
pale skin complexion from his mother. Goku's most distinguishing physical characteristic is his
hair. He has three bangs hanging to the right of his forehead and two bangs hanging to the left.
His hair also stands up in the front with four spikes and three bangs in the back (later in the
anime, he has five spikes in the front and four in the back). Goku was born with the signature tail
of the Universe 7 Saiyans, which was long and prehensile with brown fur. It was removed and
regrown multiple times in his early childhood, but in his late teens, Goku's tail was permanently
removed by Kami in order to prevent his Great Ape transformation.

At age 12, Goku was rather short and appeared even younger than he was, being considered less
than 10 years old (people were surprised when learning his actual age). His somewhat simple-
minded personality also gave people the impression that he was as young as he looked. During
the next few years, Goku did not go through any physical changes, other than his muscles
becoming more pronounced. By age 15, he began showing noticeable increases in height. By age
18, he had a considerable growth spurt, growing taller than most of his friends and developing a
well-built physique. He is also considered very handsome, as noted by various women including
Bulma and Heles. His physical changes made him almost indistinguishable from before and was
only recognized by his signature naïve personality and "trademark" hairstyle. By age 25, Goku
had another growth spurt, and became similar in height to his taller human allies and much more
muscular.

Due to his love of training, he is most commonly seen wearing a Gi. Originally, Goku wore an
open blue gi secured with a white bow-tied obi over his waist, red wristbands, and dark blue
kung fu shoes and also a tank top. After training under Master Roshi, Goku wore the basic Turtle
School Uniform; consisting of a closed red gi (later orange) secured by a black knot-tied obi over
his waist, blue wristbands, and blue kung fu shoes, with Roshi's kanji on the back and front-left
side of his shirt. After training with Kami and Mr. Popo, Goku wore a black short-sleeved
undershirt (later dark blue) with this gi and replaced his shoes with dark blue boots with a yellow
border and red laces. After training under King Kai, Goku wore King Kai's kanji on the back of
his gi shirt. During the Battle on Planet Namek, Goku wore his own kanji on both sides of his gi
shirt. During the Android conflict and Majin Buu conflict, Goku wore a more plain version of
this gi that lacked any kanji and featured a blue sash-style obi over his waist, as well as the same
dark blue undershirt, same wristbands and the same boots from his previous gi, but with a red
border and yellow/tan laces. He later retains this outfit throughout most of Dragon Ball Super as
he regains his own kanji on both sides of his gi shirt.

During his early training under Whis, Goku wore an orange traditional and loose gi, with Whis'
kanji on the front-left of his shirt, that was secured together with a blue obi tied in a knot at the
left of his waist. He also wore blue wristbands that cover nearly his entire forearms and blue
boots that clasp together on the front of his shins.

In Dragon Ball Super: Broly, Goku returns to wearing a knot-style obi with his regular uniform
and "Go" kanji (essentially regaining his Frieza Saga appearance). In addition, to compensate for
the wintery climate he is on, he also wears a long blue snow jacket with a high turtleneck, white
stripes down his shoulders and arms and bold purple letters of "SAB" over the front-left side of
it. It also has black gloves. In the Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga, Goku is given the emblem of the
Galactic Patrol in place of his own on the front of his uniform and also switches back to wearing
a sash-style obi. In the Granolah the Survivor Saga, Goku regains Whis' kanji on his standard gi
when the angel trains him in honing Ultra Instinct.

Goku in the Prison Planet Saga

1/3

When he appears in the Prison Planet Saga, Goku wears an outfit identical to the one Whis gave
him, but instead with a Capsule Corp logo. He also wears his blue shirt underneath the gi. In the
Universal Conflict Saga, he wears an outfit identical to the Grand Minister's. The attire consists
of a dark blue long-sleeved shirt with an orange circle over the chest, with baggy shoulder pads
that runs beneath his red-colored belt with his kanji on the round belt-buckle. The shirt is
complimented by a matching color pair of jodhpur-like pants, and white boots that run beneath
his shins.

In the Universe Creation Saga, Goku's attire is the same from the previous arc but this time, it
has a lighter tone of orange and the blue undershirt, tied-belt, wristbands and boots are now
replaced with a lighter black color. later on, in the New Space-Time War Saga, after being
released from the Demon's Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Goku returns with Vegeta with the Dark
Empire's logo imprinted on his gi.

By the 28th World Martial Arts Tournament, Goku wears a turquoise gi with a white knot-style
obi, orange wristbands, dark green pants, and black kung fu shoes with orange stockings. In the
cover of the Goodbye, Dragon World volume of the manga, this outfit's color is different. The gi
is lime green, his wristbands are purple, his pants are cyan, and he wears the boots from his
previous outfit, albeit purple.

Despite his fighting gi being his preferred look, Goku is not without other types of wardrobe,
such as a suit and tie,[32] casual clothes like blue pants with a button-down red shirt, or an orange
and black jacket with a white sleeveless undershirt, light green pants and brown shoes. When
returning home to prepare for the androids, Goku wore a outfit similar to one from his youth; a
white tank top with periwinkle Chinese pants with a white sash and purplish brown toe shoes and
white socks. His farmer attire consists of light beige collared denim jacket with a white scarf
around his neck and a charcoal gray short sleeved undershirt, light beige pants with a black belt
around his waist and black boots. The sleeves on his jacket has been folded into white cuffs.

In Dragon Ball GT. Goku's skin tone got a noticeable tan. His general outfit is a blue gi with a
white knot-style obi, pink wristbands, ochre pants, and black kung fu shoes with white stockings,
which overall is very similar to his outfit at the 28th World Martial Arts Tournament. Due to the
carelessness of Emperor Pilaf, Goku was wished back into a 12-year-old. While essentially
looking the same as he did back then, Goku showed considerably more defined muscle. Later,
with the aid of Old Kai, Goku regenerates his tail, which would poke out from his pants. 100
years later at the 64th World Martial Arts Tournament, despite growing back to his physical
prime without transforming, he was not still seen with his tail. However, in one ending, he is
seen with a tail in adult form. During which, he wears the outfit from the 28th Martial Arts
Tournament. He also wears his Power Pole again.

When re-grown up, GT Goku appears in the Adventure Mode of Extreme Butōden, he wears his
classic outfit from Dragon Ball Super. In Dragon Ball Minus, an infant Goku was seen wearing a
standard Battle Armor of the Frieza Army when being sent to Earth. It is a full body model with
a dark-colored chest protection and light-colored outward-pointing pads on his shoulders and at
the hips that hang over his upper legs. He also wore dark jumpsuit shorts and light boots with
dark legging and also dark armguards.

Personality
"Despite all my heinous provocations on Namek, even after murdering two of his friends,
driving him to become a Super Saiyan, still he couldn't find it in him to put me down. So
unusual, a Saiyan with such a strong moral center. So pure, he makes me want to vomit!"
— Frieza's description of Goku's nature in Dragon Ball Z: R