Goku

"I am the hope of the Universe. I am the answer to all living things who cry out for peace. I am protector of the innocent. I am the light in the darkness. I am truth... ally to good, nightmare to you!"

- Goku to Frieza after becoming a Super Saiyan in Funimation's Dub

Goku is the main

hero of the Dragonball franchise. Goku saved the world many times throughout the series.

=Dragonball=

The first part of the Dragonball series, Goku is about 12 years old when the series begins.

Emperor Pilaf Saga


One day in the woods, Goku was collecting firewood (entire trees) when he hears something. He goes to investigate to find a girl driving a car. Goku, having never seen a vehicle before is suspicious. He stops the car and is shot at by the girl driving it, when she sees that the bullets didn't kill him, she introduces herself as Bulma. Goku, having never seen a girl before, notices that she doesn't have a monkey tail (like he does) and thinks her strange for it. Though he does note that his Grandpa Gohan didn't have a tail either. Bulma tells Goku about the Dragon Balls after seeing that Goku had the Four Star Ball, and shows her the two that she had gathered. Goku had believed the Ball to be all that was left of his Grandpa, and is surprised that Bulma has two "Grandpa's". Bulma tells him that with all seven balls a single wish could be granted. Bulma, after seeing his strength, decides that he would be a good body guard, so she has him accompany her, and saves her from a monster not much later.

While trvalling Bulma and Goku happen upon a lost turtle, who is looking for the sea. A giant animal with a sword tries to take the turtle and eat him, but Goku saves the turtle, dispite Bulma advising otherwise. The turtle is grateful, and once they reach the sea he says that he will come back with a surprise for them. After a few hours the turtle returns, with an old man on his back. The old man reveals himself to be the Turtle Hermit Master Roshi. He gives Goku a cloud called the Flying Nimbus that only the pure in heart can ride. Bulma, who cannot ride the Nimbus, asks for something from Roshi, as he thinks she notices a dragon ball around his neck. She asks for it, and Roshi gives it to her, but when she mentions that it can grant wishes he wants it back. Bulma asks if there would be anything she could do to get it, and Roshi asks to see her bellybutton, and after flashing it (and more due to her not knowing she lacked underwear), he hands it over.

Goku and Bulma continue their search and come upon a village that is being rampaged by an evil ruler known as Oolong, a powerful shapeshifter. A woman in the town happens to have a dragonball, and she tells them that if they defeat Oolong it is theirs. To do this, Goku is dressed as a girl, as Oolong had been taking girls away from the village. Oolong soon finds out that he was tricked, and runs. Bulma and Goku catch up to him and find out that he is just a shapeshifting pig. Bulma, seeing these powers as potentially useful, drags Oolong along with them.

As their journey continues, the car they are in runs out of gas, trapping them in a desert. There they run into Yamcha the Desert Bandit and his shapshifting cat Puar. Bulma passes out from heat before they arrive, and Yamcha tries to rob them. Goku fights him, and Yamcha uses his Ultimate Technique Wolf Fang Fist, but Goku still manages to survive it. Once Bulma wakes up, Yamcha gets shy, as he does around all girls, and runs away. When wondering where to stay that night, Oolong rembers he has a Camper Capsule, so the three stay in that. Oolong drugs Goku and Bulma's drinks so that he can steal the Dragonballs, but is interrupted when Yamcha and Puar try to do the same. Both attempts fail, and Yamcha blows up their Camper, and flees when Goku tries to fight him. He gives them a car to say sorry, but had a homing device on it, so he could follow them as they get the dragonballs, and steal them once they get them all.

Goku and company arrived at Fire Mountain, looking for a dragonball that was hidden there. They met a giant man and upon seeing Goku's nimbus cloud, which he realized Goku got from his former master Master Roshi, he reveals that he is the Ox-King, and that he lives on a castle on Fire Mountain. The King then tells Goku that he had sent his daughter, Chi Chi, to find Master Roshi and get a magic fan that could put out the flames that prevented him from returning to his catle. He tells Goku that if he gets his daughter and the fan that he can have the dragonball. Goku quickly finds Chi Chi, and they head straight to Master Roshi's island. Upon arrival Roshi tells Goku that he got rid of the fan a while back, and offers to put out the fire himself. The three return to Fire Mountain and Roshi uses a technique called the Kamehameha wave to put out the fire on the mountain, and also destroys the montain itself in the process. Bulma looks through the remains and is able to find the ball intact, and the Ox-King allows her to keep it. Goku asks Master Roshi to teach him the Kamehameha, but Roshi tells him that it would take 50 years to learn, however, Goku tries, and is able to make a small one. This destroys their car, but the Ox-King gives them a new one, and the journey continues.



As Goku, Bulma, and Oolong are driving, they realize that they are low on gas, so they stop in a nearby town. After getting the gas, two men in bunny ears confront them. Goku quickly defeats them, and they call in their boss, Monster Carrot, who is a giant rabbit. When Bulma slaps him she turns into a carrot. Goku hits Monster Carrot with his power pole, and makes him change Bulma back. The rabbit does this and them Goku uses the pole to take him and his servants to the moon.

The group then goes to find the last ball, which is owned by the evil Emperor Pilaf. One of his henchman, Shu, fires a rocket at their car, and steals a briefcase that contained all the dragonballs, exept for the four star ball, which Goku held on to. Yamcha offers then a ride and takes then all the way to Pilaf's castle. They sneak inside, only to be traped once they get in. Emperor Pilaf fills the rooms with sleeping gas. Once they were all alseep Pilaf had his henhcman Mai take the last dragonball from Goku. Once they wake up, they wander through the halls to try to get the balls back, however, they only manage to get trapped back in the same room they had started in. Goku uses a Kamehameha which creates a small hole in the wall which they can see Pilaf through. Puar and Oolong turn into bats and try to get the balls back, but before they can Shenron is summoned. Pilaf starts to make his wish, but Oolong interupts him, wishing for the worlds most comfortable pair of underwear. With this the dragon dissapears and the balls scatter across the world. Angered, Pilaf gets them into a room where they will be burned alive when the sun comes up. Yamcha notes the full moon, and Goku tells the story of a monster that appears at the full moon that had killed his Grandpa. Goku was told never to look at the moon. However, Goku accidentally looks at it. When he does, he tranforms into a giant ape and breaks through the ceiling of the room. Pilaf and his minions enter a plane and shoot at Goku, but he quickly destroys their plane. Puar remembers that Goku's weakness was his tail, so he turns into a giant pair of scissors and cuts it off. Goku returns to normal, and has no memory of what had happened. Goku decides that he wants to train with master Roshi, and Bulam gives him the dragon radar before he leaves, so that in one year when the dragonballs work again he can find it.

The Tournament Saga
Goku quickly goes to his house to gather a few things, and then heads straight to Master Roshi's island to recieve training. Roshi tells him that he will only train Goku if he brings back a girlfriend for him. Goku brings back two, the first is ugly, and the second is beatiful, but a mermaid. After the mermaid leaves a bald boy named Krillin arrives on the island seeking training from Roshi as well. Roshi sends Krillin and Goku to find a girlfriend for him. As they are flying on the Nimbus they find a girl being attacked by two men, and save her. They bring the girl, Launch back to Roshi and he decides that she is good enough. Roshi agrees to train Goku and Krillin.

Roshi starts off their training by seeing how fast they can run 100 meters. Krillin starts off and is able to run the distance in 10.4 seconds. Goku first takes 11 seconds, but after taking off his shoes Goku was able to do it in 8 seconds. Master Roshi then did it, and beat both their times with a 5.6. The next test for the two was to find a stone that Master Roshi threw into the forest, and he told the loser that they would not get dinner. Goku, who eats much, runs off right away to find the stone, while Krillin tries to trick Roshi. This does not work and Krillin ends up being behind Goku. After spending hours searching, Goku finally finds the stone, but Krillin catches up to him and steals it. Goku catches up to him and fights him, and is able to win, however, Krillin throws a fake stone into the woods and Goku runs after it. By the time Goku had come back Krillin already won, so Goku had to go without dinner. As it would turn out, Launch made poorly prepared pufferfish, so Krillin was poisned from eating it. The next faze of Goku and Krillin's training is to deliver milk across a large island, across rivers and up mountains. When they finally finish Roshi tells them that to prepare for the World's 21st Martial Arts Tournament they will deliver milk ever day, and that is just for their morning training. They then begin to plow fields with their bare hands, and once they finish that they help out construction workers. After a nap and lunch Goku asks why they aren;t learning to fightm to which Roshi replies that their bodies couldn't handle it. Their training finishes off with swimming ten laps around a lake while being chased by sharks and being tied to a tree and attacked by bees. When the day ends Roshi tells them that from now on they will be wearing 50 pound turtle shells on their backs every day.

After months of this Goku and Krillin become very frustrated that they haven't learned a single fighting technique. Roshi tells them that the point is to make their bodies strong, and gives them 100 pound shells to wear from then on. When the last day of training comes, Goku and Krillin take off their shells and are able to run much faster and jump much higher than they could before. They then head off to the island where the Worlds Martial Arts Tournament is held.

When they arrive they see Bulma, Yamcha, Oolong, and Puar for the first time in nearly a year. The next day Roshi gives them orange uniforms to show that they trained under him. The tournament begins with a preliminary round to decide who fights in the tournament itself. Goku is first paired with a giant man, but he is able to knock him out of the ring by barely hitting the man's leg. When the preliminaries are over, Goku, Krillin, and Yamcha proceed to the quarter finals. Krillin wins his first match, while Yamcha isn't able to land a hit on his opponent, Jackie Chun. A man named Nam fights a woman named Ran Fan and is able to win, leaving only Goku and a monster named Giran. His match, however, is delayed due to rain. Girna causes some trouble, but the match soon comes underway.

The match begins with Giran sucker-punching Goku, Goku responds with a strong attack and knocks Giran out of the ring, only to discover that he can fly. Giran then spits gum onto Goku, which turns rock hard in a matter of seconds. Giran then throws Goku out of the arena, but Goku calls the nimbus to save him. The announcer tells Goku that he will allow it, but only because Giran had used the bubble gum. Goku was still trapped in the gum, but he broke free, revealing that his tail, which made him more powerful, grew back. Goku kicks through one of the walls of the arena, and Giran gives up seeing his newfound strength.

The next fight is Krillin vs Jackie Chun. While the fight is close, Jackie Chun wins. Goku's second match then begins, against Nam. Goku tries to use a tornadoe attack, but becomes to dizzy to finish it. Using the oppertunity Nam jumps up, and falls down on Goku. Goku is able to get up though. Nam tries his attack agin, but Goku jumps up and kicks him out of the ring.

The final match comes between Jackie Chun and Goku. Goku tries an aerial attack but Jackie kicks him out of the ring. Goku saves himself by spinning his tail around to fly back into the ring. Jackie Chun uses a Kamehameha wave, and Goku responds with a Kamehameha of his own, and the two are evenly matched. The two then start using illusions to trick each other, but the battle progresses nowhere. Finally, Jackie Chun ssays that he will use his greatest technique, and he shoots electricity at Goku, stunning him. Just as it seems Goku will lose, he looks at the moon and becomes a Great Ape. Yamcha and the others planned to cut the tail off, but Jackie Chun, who did not know that Goku could be stopped by cutting the tail off, so he launches a powerful Kamehameha which destroys the stadium. When the dust clears Goku cannot be seen. However, Goku is found under the rubble, as Jackie reveals that he used the Kamehameha to destroy the moon. Goku and Jackie, both exhausted, agree to end the match with one final kick. Both fall to the ground, and just as the announcer is about to count to ten, Jackie stands up. Roshi takes Goku and company to dinner to celebrate how well they did, and Goku sets off to find the Four Star Dragonball.

Piccolo Jr. Saga
Three years later, Goku became a grown man and participated in the next Tournament, where his rival, Piccolo was waiting for him. Then, Goku encountered a grown-up Chi-Chi, but dosen't recongnise her, which Chi-Chi became furious and stormed off. Then Goku fought the beautiful fighter, and after he defeated her, she revealed her name. Then Goku and Chi-Chi fell in love together. Then Goku came face to face with Piccolo and fought. After a long, grueling battle, Piccolo was defeated, and Goku and Chi-Chi went off to marry each other.



=Dragonball Movies=

Path to Power
=Dragonball Z=

Dragonball Z takes place five years after Dragonball ends. Goku is about 24 years old at the beginning of the series.

Saiyan Saga
After many years Goku is having a reunion with his old friends on Master Roshi's Island. He takes along his four year old son, Gohan, to meet his friends. However, shortly after they arrive a strange man with a tail arrives, revealing himself to be Goku's brother, Raditz. He tells Goku that he is a member of a powerful, however almost extinct, alien race known as the Saiyans. He tries to get Goku to join them in taking over another planet, but when Goku refuses Raditz attacks him, and takes Gohan. He tells Goku that if he wants his son back that he needs to join him and kill 100 people before the next day. Piccolo arrives and suggests that they work together to fight Raditz, despite their hatred of each other. Goku agrees and the two set off. They find Raditz and take their weighted clothing off, which, Raditz notes, raises their power levels. After a while of neither Goku or Piccolo hitting Raditz, Raditz fires two beats, one at Goku, which misses, and one at Piccolo, which destroys one of his arms. Piccolo tells him that he has a powerful attack he can use, but that it will take awhile to charge, Goku fights to hold Raditz off until then. While Raditz is distracted by Piccolo's raising power, Goku grabs his tail, make Raditz fall to the ground. Raditz please for his life, and, despite Piccolo's warnings lets Raditz go, only to be attacked by him again. Gohan sees this, and breaks through the space pod he was trapped in and headbutts Raditz in the chest. Before Raditz can kill Gohan, Goku grabs Raditz from behind, and has Piccolo fire his attack, killing them both. Kami takes Goku to Other World and asks King Yemma, a large Ogre who decides where one goes after they die, to let Goku train under King Kai. Yemma accepts, and has a Ogre take Goku to the start of a one million mile road called Snake Way.

Majin Buu Saga




Kid Buu Saga
=Dragonball Z Movies=

Fusion Reborn
The movie starts with Goku fighting in a tournament in the Other World. Meanwhile, a Ogre who is supposed to be watching the soul purification machine is slacking off, resulting in the machine exploding and releasing a lot of evil energy. Grand Kai sends Goku and Pikkon to investigate. When they arrive at the gate they see King Yemma trapped in a strange stone, with many others like it floating around. Upon investigating Goku finds a fat yellow monster, who appear to have done all the damage to the Other World. Goku fights him, but the enemy, named Janemba, can warp reality, giving Goku a hard time even once he becomes a Super Saiyan 2. Goku transforms into a Super Saiyan 3, and then he gains the upper hand. Goku quickly beats him up, but then the monster transforms into a smaller, more agile form. Goku is almost killed, when Vegeta appears to distract the monster. After fighting to no effect, Goku suggests that they should use the fusion technique. While Vegeta apposes he eventually agrees and the two fuse, however, because Vegeta didn't do it perfectly they transform into a short, fat man. They desperately dodge until the fusion wears off, then try again. This time, they successfully fuse into Gogeta. Gogeta uses Janemba weakness of sound against him, attacking him with it, and then throwing his "Star Dust Breaker" ball at him. Janemba survives, and angrily rushes towards Gogeta and punches him in the face. Gogeta doesn't move and inch, and the smile on Janemba's face fades as his body starts to disintegrate, and turns back into the Ogre from before. The Ogre runs away in fear, and Gogeta chuckles.

Wrath of the Dragon
=Dragonball Z Specials=

Goku appears in several Dragonball Z specials.

Bardock: Father of Goku
Goku briefly appears in the special Bardock: Father of Goku. As Bardock is recovering from his wounds after invading a Planet, and after he was given the power to see the future, Bardock watches Goku's life. He wakes up and discovers that his forces are invading a planet for Frieza. Before Bardock leaves to join his forces on Planet Meat, he quickly stops by to see Goku, and uses his scooter to find his powerlevel. Dissipointed at his son's low powerlevel of two he moves on. From then on Goku appears in several flashbacks, before Bardock is killed by Frieza, Bardock sees one final vision, one of Goku confronting Frieza, to which he smiles.

History of Trunks
Goku makes a small appearance in the special History of Trunks. It opens with the Goku of Future Trunks' timeline dying of a untreatable heart condition, with all his friends around him. Once dead, the alternate reality Goku does not return.

Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!
=Dragonball GT=

Dragonball GT takes place five (or ten in the Funimation dub) years after the end of Dragonball Z. Goku is about 52 years old when the series begins (or 57 in the Funimation dub)

Baby Saga




A Hero's Legacy
A Hero's Legacy is the only special of Dragonball GT. It takes place about 100 years after Goku leaves with Shenron.

=Live Action Movies=

In every live action adaptation of Dragonball, a character based on Goku is the main character.