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|Japanese
|孫悟空
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|Romaji
|Son Gokū
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|Anime Name
|Goku
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|Manga Name
|Son Goku
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|Alternate Name(s)
|Kakarrot
Kakarotto
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|Canon to
|Original Manga
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|First Appearance
|Issue #1
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|Race
|Saiyan
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|- |colspan=2 align=center|DB Character Listing - Category |} Son Goku (孫 悟空 Son Gokū) is the main character of the Dragon Ball/Dragon Ball Z manga and the anime series Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball GT. Goku's first appearance was in issue #1 of the series. Note that in the English dub of the anime, Goku's family name 'Son' is never used.
Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.
Goku is the adopted grandson of Grandpa Gohan. (In the Dragon Ball Z anime, he is also the son of Bardock) His wife is Chi-Chi and he has two sons: Son Gohan and Son Goten.
Son Goku is first seen as a young boy living in the wilderness. He is seemingly normal except for ignorance of the world, his great strength, and his tail. In the original Dragon Ball series, he accompanies Bulma as they try to acquire the seven Dragonballs. Who ever collects them all will have one wish granted. During their initial quest Goku confronts Yamcha who at first challenges Goku, but is soon overcome and then joins him.
After the quest finishes, Goku begins to train with Muten-Rôshi (Master Roshi), and develops into one of the most powerful fighters on Earth. His fellow student Kuririn (Krillin) is a rival at first, but they soon become good friends.
Goku's next major opponent is Tenshinhan (Tien), a warrior trained by Roshi's nemesis, Master Shen. Like Yamcha before him, Tien eventually sides with Goku.
Following Tien, Son Goku then must confront King Piccolo, the evil half of Kami. It's a difficult series of battles, but Goku eventually manages to defeat the demon after Krillin is killed. Moments before Piccolo's death however, he manages to spit out an egg that contains his offspring, the current Piccolo. Piccolo becomes a great rival for Goku, as he is determined to avenge his father. At the end of Dragon Ball, Goku defeated Piccolo at the 23rd Tenka'ichi Budôkai (World Martial Arts Tournament).
At the start of Dragon Ball Z, Goku is found to now have a family. His wife Chi-Chi, and their son Son Gohan. It wasn't long into this series before he was confronted by Raditz, his previously unknown brother who had arrived from space. Raditz explains Goku's saiyan heritage to him and then informed him that he was to destroy the Earth (his original purpose for being sent) and rejoin the remaining saiyans. When Goku refused, Raditz quickly defeated him and kidnapped Gohan to convince him otherwise.
In order to defeat this new menace, Goku and Piccolo joined forces. Even with their combined strength though, Raditz still held the upper hand until Goku made the ultimate sacrifice of holding Raditz in place so Piccolo could kill them both.
Learning that other, more powerful saiyans were destined to arrive on the Earth in a year, Goku then made his way up Snake Road to the planet of the North Kaiô (King Kai) for additional training. He learned several new techniques and gained considerably in strength. His friends managed to wish him back to life just in time for him to join the battle against the saiyans, which was underway and going badly for earth.
When Goku joins in while the Z Fighters are nearly extinguished; Yamcha, Tien, Piccolo and Chaozu (Chiaotzu) are all dead, killed by the vicious Nappa. Goku is powerful enough at this point to defeat Nappa without serious difficulty, but is pushed to his limits against Vegeta, whom he emerges barely victorious against.
Krillin, Gohan and Bulma then head to Planet Namek to use the Namekian Dragonballs to wish their friends killed in the sayian battle back to life. Goku joins soon after, being kept in the hospital until then. On his way there he trains in very heavy gravity to further boost his power.
Once again Goku manages to join a battle in progress, this time saving Gohan, Krillin and now Vegeta from the assault of the Freeza's Ginyu Force. He is taken by surprise from their leader, Captain Ginyu, who has the ability to switch bodies with his opponent. Critically injuring himself first, Ginyu swaps bodies with the more powerful Goku. Goku manages to get his body back after intercepting a beam sent by Ginyu to swap with Vegeta after being pummelled by the Z Fighters.
Goku then undergoes a recovery process inside Frieza's ship, emerging to again join a fight in progress, this time against the tyrant Frieza himself, and just in time to witness the death of Vegeta. The battle against Frieza is furious, as he seems unstoppable. Even Goku's most powerful attack, the genki-dama (Spirit Bomb), fails to bring him down. It's only from the merciless killing of his best friend Krillin that Goku finds the rage within himself to go Super Saiyan and defeat Frieza in a climatic showdown.
When Goku returns to Earth, he is confronted by Trunks, a saiyan from the future, who tests his strength in battle. Satisfied, Trunks gives Goku medicine for a heart disease that he will contract and warns him about the upcoming androids. Goku trains himself for this new threat, but neglects to take the medicine.
On the initial assault with the Androids, Goku is bested by Android 19 when he begins to drastically weaken from the heart disease he was warned of. Vegeta manages to save him and Goku recovers.
When Cell arrives though, Goku goes to the Room of Time and Spirit with his son Gohan to get a years worth of training in one day. Upon conflict with the new menace though, he finds that he still can not gain an upper hand. He decides to let Gohan, whose power is starting to appear greater then his own, fight in his place. Gohan does very well against Cell, coming ever so close to defeating him. Goku finds he must step in when Cell triggers his self-destruct though, and teleports them both to King Kai's planet using his Shunkanido (Instant Transmission) ability, leading to his second death. He makes a brief reapperance on Earth to help fuel Gohan's kamahamaha against the reconstructed Cell.
Several years go by where Goku trains in the afterlife. He is given special permission to return to Earth for one day to participate in a fighting tournament. It is soon interrupted by Babadi.
Insert the rest of the Buu saga, then the Dragon Ball GT series here
Although he is one of the most recognizable anime characters in the west, Goku is generally depicted incorrectly by most of his detractors. The man himself is known for his cheerful, energetic personality and love of fighting (mainly as a sport.) He has remarkable intuition at seeing the good in others in spite of their actions, and his capacity for forgiveness (even for those trying to kill him) is sometimes criticized and seen as excessive in the eyes of other characters. His power is reined in (or in some cases enhanced) by his fierce sense of loyalty and morals.
Fusion Dance
Goku can temporarily fuse with someone else provided that they also know the fusion dance and are within the same power range. The effects last for about 1/2 an hour and require an hour resting period before it can be done again. Vegeta is the only person he has fused with to create Gogeta.
Genki-Dama
Perhaps Goku's most powerful attack, the Genki Dama draws energy from all life and places it in a deadly ki bolt. Goku uses this against many of his most powerful opponents. The downside is that he's quite vulnerable during its lengthy creation time. It's called the Spirit Bomb in the English anime.
Kamehameha
Goku's signature attack, the Kamehameha is a powerful, constant stream of energy hurled at an opponent. Goku has several other variations of this attack as well.
Super Saiyan
This ability allows him to transform into a higher entity, which changes his power level tremendously. He's been able to do this in the fight with Freeza when Frieza has killed Kuririn. Since then, he's achieved Super Saiyan 2 when fighting Majin Vegeta, and Super Saiyan 3 when fighting Majin Buu. (In Dragon Ball GT, there is a Super Saiyan 4; those who consider DBGT non-canonical see Super Saiyan 4 as not real).
Kaiô-ken
This ability allows Goku to multiply his speed and power, often letting him work on an equal level against an initially more powerful foe. The Kaiô-ken is dangerous though, and does damage (potentially fatal) to his body while he's in that state. Goku stops using it once he is able to access the more potent Super Saiyan state. An excepton to this was during a after-life tournament fight against Pikon, although he used it briefly.
Shun-kanido
A unique ability Goku learned on his way back to Earth from Namek, it allows him to teleport nearly anywhere so long as he focuses on a specific ki signal where he wants to go. He places two fingers on his forehead while he searches for the signal. This ability is also referred to as the Instant Transmission technique in English anime translation.
Taiyô-ken (Fist of the Sun)
A technique learned from Tenshinhan, it creates an extremely bright light which can temporarily blind and stun those in close proximity. Known as the Solar Flare in the English anime translation
Zanzo-ken
The user of this technique is able to move extremely fast over small distances, leaving an after-image behind. It can be considered a very short-range teleportation.
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