Goku: The Story of Dragon Ball's Hero
CharacterSaiyansDragon Ball Z
Goku is the hero of Dragon Ball, Akira Toriyama's manga first published in late 1984. Born Kakarot among the Saiyans, he's sent to Earth in a space pod and taken in by old Grandpa Gohan, who gives him his name. The monkey-tailed little boy trains under Master Roshi, takes on the Red Ribbon Army, Piccolo, Frieza, Cell and Buu, then measures himself against the gods in Dragon Ball Super. Here's a look back at his journey, his family, his personality and the voices that brought him to life in English.
At first, he's a little boy living alone in the mountains, a staff on his back, far from everything. From the very first chapters in 1984 all the way to Dragon Ball Daima, Goku is driven above all by the urge to get stronger and take on powerful opponents. Whether you grew up with Goku on TV or you're just discovering him today, here's the story of Dragon Ball's hero, from his Saiyan roots to his battles against the gods.
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Kakarot, the Saiyan kid who became Goku
Before he was Goku, his name was Kakarot (カカロット, Kakarotto). He's the second son of Bardock and Gine, and Raditz's younger brother. Like many Saiyan names, his hides a vegetable: it comes from the English word “carrot.”
In the bonus chapter Dragon Ball Minus, it's Bardock, worried about Frieza's ambitions, who decides to send his son to Earth in a space pod. There, the child is found by an old man named Gohan, who becomes his adoptive grandfather and names him Goku.
When he's still very little, Goku falls into a deep ravine and suffers a severe head injury. He loses his memory, and with it his Saiyan aggressiveness: his personality changes completely. A tragedy also plays out before the story begins: one full-moon night, Goku unknowingly transforms into a Great Ape (Ōzaru) and kills his grandfather.
From Grandpa Gohan, he keeps two treasures: the Power Pole (Nyoi-bō), which extends and retracts on command, and the Four-Star Dragon Ball, which, as a child, he believes holds the old man's spirit. As for his monkey tail, it gets cut off and grows back several times during his childhood, until Kami, the guardian of Earth, removes it so that he can restore the Moon; it never grows back after that, except in Dragon Ball GT.
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Dragon Ball: Bulma, Master Roshi and the tournaments
It all begins with the manga's first chapter, in Weekly Shōnen Jump. When Bulma crosses his path, Goku has never seen a girl: the only human he's ever known is his late grandfather. He follows her on her quest for the seven Dragon Balls, which, once gathered, summon the dragon Shenron, who can grant a wish. In France, the little Saiyan arrived on TF1 on March 2, 1988, with the anime series.
Along the way, he saves a sea turtle; to thank him, its owner, Master Roshi (Kame Sennin), gives him the Flying Nimbus, a flying cloud that only the pure of heart can ride. It took the old master some fifty years to perfect the Kamehameha; Goku pulls it off the very first time he sees it.
Goku then trains with Master Roshi alongside Krillin, a young monk who becomes his best friend: delivering milk, doing manual labor and swimming, all with a heavy turtle shell on his back. At the end of this training, he dons the Turtle School uniform, emblazoned with his master's 亀 kanji. At the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament, he reaches the final but loses to a certain “Jackie Chun,” who is none other than his master in disguise.
Next comes the Red Ribbon Army, which is also hunting for the Dragon Balls. When Bora, the father of his friend Upa, is killed by the hitman Mercenary Tao, Goku first loses to him, climbs Korin Tower and then gets his revenge; he then decides to wipe out the army single-handedly and gather the Dragon Balls to bring Bora back to life.
At the 22nd tournament, he faces Tien Shinhan in the final. The two fighters hit the ground at the same time, but Goku, who has struck a truck on the way down, touches the ground first: victory goes to his opponent. Then King Piccolo, the Great Demon King, appears. Enraged to learn that Krillin and Master Roshi are gone for good, since the demon has destroyed Shenron, Goku finally takes King Piccolo down by bursting right through his chest.
At the 23rd tournament, Goku is 18 years old. In the quarterfinals he faces a certain Chi-Chi, his future wife, then finally wins the title by defeating Piccolo, the Demon King's son and reincarnation. In fact, it's right after his fight against Chi-Chi that he asks her to marry him, to keep an old promise.
🥋 You don't have to be Master Roshi's student to wear his uniform: it's waiting for you in our Dragon Ball costumes and cosplay collection.
Dragon Ball Z: From Raditz to Buu
Goku names his first son Gohan, in tribute to his grandfather. But at the start of Dragon Ball Z, a visitor from space turns everything upside down: Raditz, his older brother, reveals his Saiyan origins and his original mission, which was to wipe out the Earthlings so the planet could be sold.
To stop him, Goku holds him in place while Piccolo skewers them both with his Special Beam Cannon: it's his first death. In the Other World, King Kai teaches him two techniques to take on the incoming Saiyans: the Kaio-ken and the Spirit Bomb.
On Planet Namek, Frieza gravely wounds Piccolo, then kills Krillin right before Goku's eyes. His rage makes him turn Super Saiyan for the first time: golden hair standing on end and blue-green eyes. After Namek's destruction, he stays on Planet Yardrat, where he learns Instant Transmission.
Back on Earth, Trunks, who has come from the future, gives him medicine for a heart virus he'll catch later on. During the Cell Games, as Cell is about to self-destruct, Goku teleports with him to King Kai's planet and sacrifices himself to save Earth. After Gohan wins, he even chooses to stay dead, believing he draws too much danger to Earth.
Seven years later, he gets permission to come back for just one day, long enough for the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament. There he meets his second son, Goten, born after his death. The Buu Saga ends when Goku destroys Buu with a Spirit Bomb. Ten years later, at another tournament, he meets Uub, Buu's human reincarnation, and leaves with him to train him.
Super, GT and Daima: The Saiyan takes on the gods
Dragon Ball Super takes place between Buu's defeat and the tournament where Goku meets Uub. In it, Goku faces Beerus, the God of Destruction, first in the movie Battle of Gods, whose story the series later retells. He asks Whis, the Angel who accompanies Beerus, to train him; Whis agrees, on the condition that Goku keeps him supplied with tasty home-cooked dishes.
During the Tournament of Power, facing Jiren, Goku taps into Ultra Instinct (Migatte no Goku'i), a divine technique. In both the anime and the manga, the tournament ends when Goku and Frieza drag Jiren out of the arena by falling with him: Android 17 wins and uses his wish to bring back the erased universes. Toyotarou's manga changes how it plays out, though: there, Jiren outlasts Goku's Ultra Instinct, and Goku keeps fighting alongside Vegeta until Jiren knocks Vegeta out of the arena.
Two series tell different stories. In Dragon Ball GT, an anime-only sequel, Goku is turned back into a kid by an accidental wish from Pilaf, made with the Black Star Dragon Balls. In Dragon Ball Daima, whose story was conceived by Akira Toriyama, he's shrunk down into a child, along with his friends and family, by a wish that Gomah, the new king of the Demon Realm, makes to Earth's Dragon Balls. This adventure takes place shortly after the Buu Saga, before the ten-year time skip.
For fans of Goku
Dragon Ball Figure - Goku Ultra Instinct
Facing Jiren during the Tournament of Power, Goku unlocks Ultra Instinct: find him in that form with this figure.
€170.90
View product →Personality, family and English voices
Goku is known for his cheerful nature, for his boundless naivety, which stays with him into adulthood, and for an enormous appetite, even by Saiyan standards. Like most Saiyans, he loves to fight. He also believes people can change: he spared Piccolo and Vegeta, who would go on to become his allies.
Akira Toriyama himself had no illusions about his hero: in his view, Goku is more selfish than heroic, mostly looking to take on strong opponents rather than to protect the innocent. It was the anime that turned him into a more classic savior.
On the family side, Goku married Chi-Chi, the Ox-King's daughter. Their two sons are Gohan and Goten; Pan, the daughter of Gohan and Videl, is his granddaughter.
The character is inspired in particular by Sun Wukong, the hero of the Chinese classic Journey to the West. “Gokū” (悟空) is a Buddhist name meaning “awakened to emptiness.” To undercut the idea that his hero would always win, Toriyama had him lose his first two tournaments. And it was Toriyama's wife, Nachi Mikami, who came up with the name Kamehameha.
In Japanese, Goku is voiced by Masako Nozawa in every series. In English, Sean Schemmel has voiced adult Goku in Funimation's dub since 1999, across Z, GT, Kai, Super, the movies and Dragon Ball Daima. Young Goku was voiced by Stephanie Nadolny from 2001 to 2010, then by Colleen Clinkenbeard starting with Dragon Ball Z Kai, and Nadolny returned as Goku (Mini) in Dragon Ball Daima. In the Vancouver dubs of Z, he was voiced in turn by Ian James Corlett, Peter Kelamis and Kirby Morrow, while Blue Water's dub used Zoe Slusar for young Goku and Jeremiah Yurk for adult Goku in GT. Incidentally, Ian James Corlett, the Ocean dub's first Goku, was credited under the pseudonym Jerry J. Todd.
Goku at a glance
| Key fact | Goku |
|---|---|
| Japanese name | 孫悟空 Son Gokū |
| Saiyan name | Kakarot (Kakarotto), from the English word “carrot” |
| First appearance | First chapter of the manga, late 1984; in France, on TF1 on March 2, 1988 |
| Family | Bardock and Gine (parents), Raditz (brother), Chi-Chi (wife), Gohan and Goten (sons), Pan (granddaughter) |
| Teachers | Grandpa Gohan, Master Roshi, Kami, King Kai, Whis |
| Techniques | Kamehameha, Kaio-ken, Spirit Bomb, Instant Transmission, Ultra Instinct |
| Voices | Masako Nozawa (Japanese); Sean Schemmel, Stephanie Nadolny, Colleen Clinkenbeard (English) |
Frequently Asked Questions
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What is Goku's real name?His Saiyan birth name is Kakarot (Kakarotto in Japanese), derived from the English word “carrot.” It was his adoptive grandfather, Grandpa Gohan, who named him Goku after finding him.
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Why was Goku sent to Earth?According to Raditz, at the start of Dragon Ball Z, his mission was to wipe out the Earthlings so the planet could be sold. The bonus chapter Dragon Ball Minus gives another version: his father Bardock, worried about Frieza's ambitions, sends him to Earth to keep him safe.
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Who is Goku's wife?Chi-Chi, the Ox-King's daughter. Goku faces her in the quarterfinals of the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, then marries her to keep an old promise. They have two sons, Gohan and Goten.
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Did Goku win the World Martial Arts Tournament?In the Dragon Ball manga, he finishes second at the 21st and 22nd tournaments, then wins the 23rd by defeating Piccolo. Akira Toriyama made a point of having him lose twice to undercut the idea that he would always win.
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Who voices Goku in English?In Funimation's English dub, Sean Schemmel has voiced adult Goku since 1999, from Dragon Ball Z and GT to Kai, Super and Dragon Ball Daima. Young Goku was voiced by Stephanie Nadolny from 2001 to 2010, then by Colleen Clinkenbeard starting with Dragon Ball Z Kai. In the Vancouver dubs of Z, he was voiced by Ian James Corlett, Peter Kelamis and Kirby Morrow. In Japanese, Masako Nozawa voices him in every series.
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Which character is Goku based on?Most notably Sun Wukong, the hero of the Chinese classic Journey to the West, from which Dragon Ball also borrows the Power Pole and the flying cloud.
🏆 From the little boy with the Power Pole to the fighter who takes on Beerus, find Goku at different stages of his life in our Dragon Ball figures collection.