Son Goku[nb 20] is a character and the main protagonist of the Dragon Ball manga series created by

Akira Toriyama. He is based on Sun Wukong (known as Son Goku in Japan and Monkey King in the West),
a main character of the classic 16th century Chinese novel Journey to the West, combined with
influences from the Hong Kong action cinema of Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee. Goku made his debut in the
first Dragon Ball chapter, Bulma and Son Goku,[nb 21][nb 22] originally published in Japan's Weekly
Shōnen Jump magazine on December 3, 1984.[2] Goku is introduced as an eccentric, monkey-tailed boy
who practices martial arts and possesses superhuman strength. He meets Bulma and joins her on a
journey to find the seven wish-granting Dragon Balls. Along the way, he finds new friends who follow him
on his journey to become a stronger fighter. As Goku grows up, he becomes the Earth's mightiest warrior
and battles a wide variety of villains with the help of his friends and family, while also gaining new allies
in the process.

Born under the name Kakarot,[nb 23][nb 24] as a member of the Saiyan race on Planet Vegeta, he is sent
to Earth as an infant prior to his homeworld's destruction at the hands of Frieza (ordered by Beerus).[3]
Upon his arrival on Earth, the infant is discovered by Son Gohan, who becomes the adoptive grandfather
of the boy and gives him the name Goku. The boy is initially full of violence and aggression due to his
Saiyan nature, until an accidental head injury turns him into a cheerful, carefree person. Grandpa
Gohan's kindness and teachings help to further influence Goku, who later on names his first son Gohan
in honor of him.

The character Goku is based on Sun Wukong (Son Goku in Japanese),[nb 25] the central character of the
Chinese novel Journey to the West.[15] To be creative with the idea of Sun Wukong, Toriyama designed
Goku as a human boy with a monkey's tail, rather than a complete simian, because the tail would give
the character a distinguishing feature.[13] He later stated that the tail was a pain to draw, hence why he
had it get cut off early on.[16] Toriyama did not initially plan to make Goku an alien, it was not until the
introduction of fighters from other planets that he established him as a Saiyan[nb 26][nb 27].[17] Goku
was given the ability to teleport to any planet in seconds, so that Toriyama could increase the pace of the
story.[18]

Wanting the series to have a Chinese appearance, Toriyama used the color of the robes worn by
Buddhist monks for Goku's dōgi.[19] During the early chapters of the manga, Toriyama's editor Kazuhiko
Torishima commented that Goku looked rather plain. Toriyama had given him simple clothes on purpose
because it was a fighting manga, so to combat this he added several characters like Master Roshi and
Krillin, and created the Tenkaichi Budōkai[nb 28][nb 29] to focus the storyline on fighting. To defy the
assumption that Goku would win the tournaments, Toriyama made him lose the first and second but win
the third.[13]

Toriyama's editor was initially against having Goku grow up, saying it was uncommon to have the
protagonist drastically change in manga, however, he gave in when Toriyama threatened that he would
not be able to continue the series if the character did not.[20] Toriyama later stated he had him grow up
as a means to make drawing the fight scenes easier.[21]

Bulma and Goku were the first pair of characters which were introduced in the manga and Toriyama
stated that he subsequently introduced other characters in pairs because "that way, I'm able to explain
the characters and their relationship to each other through their interactions. In my case, I feel that it
isn't good to insert too much narration. I suppose Goku and Bulma are representative of that." He
further added that "as a child, Goku doesn't know anything [of the world], so without Bulma, he'd be a
character who didn't say anything."[11] Toriyama mentioned Torishima wanted Goku to form a
relationship with Bulma, but this was never applied to the series.[12] With the conclusion of the Cell arc,
Gohan was intended to replace his father as the protagonist, but Toriyama later decided that Gohan was
unsuitable for the role.[13] According to Toriyama, Goku is more of a selfish person than a hero as his
main interest in the story is to fight strong opponents rather than protecting the innocent. As a result,
Toriyama was angered when the anime adaptations of Dragon Ball started portraying Goku as more
heroic than his manga counterpart.[14]