An Analysis of Son Goku: A Hero, a Husband and a Father

 Akira Toriyama’s original Dragon Ball manga, published in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1984 to 1995, has got to be one of the most adapted stories ever made. Thus far, his original publication has received adaptations in the form of two Japanese anime (Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z) and several video games, and while that doesn’t sound so bad, the anime in question have been dubbed 5 times alone in English. 

Again, I’m talking about just the English dub of the original anime. Combined with all of the other dubs all over the world, all the non-canon spin-off movies, the canon sequel movies, video games telling original stories, the two mutually exclusive sequel anime series GT and Super, the manga adaptations of those stories, and more…it can be a lot to keep track of. Naturally, people have a lot of favorites. 

The protagonist of Dragon Ball, Son Goku, has got to be one of my favorite fictional characters of all time. However, all of the different dubs, manga and movies have created slight differences in the characterizations of Son Goku, and in the English-speaking Dragon Ball fandom, those differences are still hotly debated to this day. 

I care a lot about this franchise and this character, so I wanted to weigh in on what I thought about Son Goku. Specifically, in this essay, I will be addressing two things. First, the morality of Son Goku in various adaptations of Dragon Ball, specifically the concept that he cares about fighting above all else. And second, the quality of Goku as a parent and husband. 

The Morality of Goku:

Dragon Ball is one of the few exceptions to the general stereotype that the dubbed version of an anime is inferior to the subbed version. There are a lot of reasons why that stereotype exists: bad lip-synching, going too far with localization efforts, changing the source material, and for some people, the humor or drama of Japanese anime simply doesn’t hold up when it's taken out of its home country. 

While I generally watch anime subbed, Dragon Ball is one of the few examples where the dubbed is equal to or greater than the subbed in terms of quality. Other examples include:

• Fullmetal Alchemist (Brotherhood or the 2003 version)

• Yugioh

• My Hero Academia

• Soul Eater

• Fairy Tail

Anyways, besides the amazing, iconic voice acting that matches pretty much every character perfectly, one of the main reasons why I like the original dubbed version of Dragon Ball Z is because of how they portray Goku. 

Son Goku in the original Dragon Ball manga spawned an entire Shonen character archetype: the crazed martial artist who only thinks about fighting. I know that Akira Toriyama has commented on how unhappy and dissatisfied he is with the portrayal of Goku as more of a heroic figure in the anime, and this trait was taken even further in the dub. Many viewers of the dub have commented that he resembles Superman more than his actual source material. While I’m inclined to agree for the most part, I honestly think it has its merits. 

My take on the issue is that I like for Goku to exist in-between these two ends. MakingGoku into a paragon of virtue, responsibility and hope goes against what he’s intended to be. He’s not a perfect man, he’s flawed, fickle and prone to his desires. 

A purely selfish character who only fights for fun all the time isn’t particularly relatable, but that’s not too relevant (a character doesn’t need to be directly relatable to be enjoyable). More importantly, some of Goku’s best moments occur when he stops fighting for fun:

1. In the most iconic scene in all of Shonen manga, Goku transforms into a Super Saiyan and engages Frieza on Namek not out of the righteousness of his heart or a selfish desire to fight. No, in this moment, Goku is consumed by complete and utter rage, fueled by animalistic fury as he tears into Frieza. Remember, I’m not talking about the anime, I’m talking about the actual manga itself. Goku’s most iconic moment—as authored by Toriyama himself—is the one where he abandoned the core traits that Toriyama gave him. 

2. At the end of the Cell Saga, Goku sacrifices himself and teleports away Cell’s exploding body to save his friends and family. It’s a genuinely touching moment, and one that doesn’t make too much sense if we believe fighting strong opponents is his largest priority at any given time. 

3. In the Resurrection of F movie, Goku now despises Frieza and is not afraid to voice this hatred. He wants to put an end to Frieza’s reign, but more than that, he just fucking hates the guy. He spares Frieza because he views Frieza as too pathetic to kill and he believes sparing Frieza will demoralize him much as it did on Namek over a decade ago. This is much more interesting than the adaption in Dragon Ball Super (where Toriyama had more control and made him more of a selfish goofball). In the anime adaptation, Goku spared Frieza because he wanted to fight Frieza again in the future, something I found far less compelling. 

4. In the Future Trunks arc of DBS, Goku is once again motivated by sheer, utter rage when he fights Goku Black and Zamasu. Why? He found out that in the alternate timeline, Goku Black murdered Chi-Chi and Goten, his wife and son. Let’s compare this to the DBS manga (which, by all accounts, Toriyama had even more control over), where Goku never takes Black and Zamasu seriously even after receiving the same revelation. 

Dragon Ball is a long franchise that’s struggling to maintain new ideas in the years and decades since Toriyama’s manga ended. Super has been characterized time and time again for failing to add anything of substance to its characters, even regressing and simplifying them, removing much of the nuance that once defined Toriyama’s writing. 

For Dragon Ball as a franchise to evolve, I think it needs to be willing to embrace change in its characters. If you can’t already tell, this entire video is extremely subjective, but in my own personal opinion, I think expanding Goku’s code of honor is a great way to enrich the franchise. Sure, we all know Goku loves a good fight, but when does that stop? How far do you have to push him before he stops sparing villains? How far do you have to push Son Goku before he genuinely, truly hates you? 

I don’t think Goku needs to be some kind of Superman figure, certainly not. I enjoy the idea of protective Shonen heroes who are motivated to fight for the sake of others, but I think they are at their best when they are fighting specifically for their loved ones, not for the general sake of the world.

I prefer scenes like Goku fighting Frieza in the Resurrection of F movie, or Goku fighting Black in the Super anime, more than their adapted counterparts, because they add emotional range to a flat character at risk of becoming one-dimensional. They show what it takes for Goku’s code to break, and they show he’s willing to act on behalf of others, just like his iconic fight on Namek. 

If we take those scenes and keep them in mind as we view the overall franchise, Son Goku’s relationship with fighting is a dynamic one. He starts off fighting for his own sake, but as he grows deeper and deeper social bonds, he also learns when it’s appropriate to fight for selfish reasons and when he needs to fight on another’s behalf. 

Is Goku a Bad Father? A Bad Husband?

I mentioned earlier how the characterization of Goku as nothing more than a battle-lover can reduce his family to much lower priorities. I’m even hesitant to refer to Chi-Chi and Goten as “secondary priorities” simply because Goku is usually more concerned about the safety of his friends rather than the safety of his wife and second son. This is where fan criticism of Goku begins to emerge, and why many fans view Goku as a “bad husband” and a “bad father”, and by extent, his and Chi-Chi’s relationship is a “bad marriage”. 

Now, this is a whole other can of worms, but I have some points to make about this:

First, the most obvious one: Chi-Chi may berate and criticize Goku very frequently, but it is out of a genuine concern and love for her husband. In general, many interpret their relationship as much more dysfunctional than it is. The fact of the matter is that if their marriage was as dysfunctional as fans think it, they wouldn’t have a relationship. Let me explain. 

1. If Goku was really as terrified of Chi-Chi and/or as annoyed by her criticisms as the fans believe, then he would’ve left her. Even in series like DBS (which Flanderize Goku to a frustrating degree) that portray her as constantly nagging, it’s obvious from their interactions that he still cares. If he didn’t, his reaction to the knowledge that she was murdered in an alternate world would’ve been deeply out of character. Again, this is a version of Goku that Toriyama sees as identical to his original depiction of the character as a combat maniac, and he lost his mind because Chi-Chi died. (It wasn’t even his Chi-Chi! It was one from an alternate time! His Chi-Chi was fine!)

2. At the same time, if Chi-Chi was really as distraught by Goku’s love for training and absences as the fans believe, she wouldn’t tolerate his antics at all, nor would she wait for him for so long. This one doesn’t need much explanation, it’s just a constant in their marriage, and she truly is his stabilizing rock. 

Second, Goku was fucking dead for several years of the DBZ storyline. Goku wasn’t a deadbeat dad, he was a dead dad. If we break down the timeline of Goku, Chi-Chi, their family and his absences, we get the following information:

1. Gohan is born. There is nothing to indicate that Goku wasn’t living with, raising and generally being a good dad to Gohan (as well as a good husband to Chi-Chi) for the first 4 years of his life. 

2. Goku is dead for 1 year. Seems like a pretty solid reason to not be around. 

3. Goku comes back to life and is injured in the fight with Vegeta. He spends the next several weeks in the hospital with Chi-Chi at his side. This leads to some cute moments between them that are genuinely touching across all adaptations/dubs.  

4. Gohan leaves with Krillin and Bulma to resurrect their friends. Goku goes afterwards. Goku’s primary motivations are to keep his son safe and resurrect his friends; pretty selfless as far as motives go. 

5. Goku is gone for 2 years before returning home to Namek. Again, he was literally trapped in space and presumed dead. Not much to blame him for. 

6. Goku comes home and trains for 3 years with Gohan. Nothing to indicate he wasn’t home and eating dinner with his family every night. 

7. Goku literally sacrifices himself to save the world, and is dead for 7 years. Again, pretty justified. 

8. Goku comes back to life and becomes a farmer to fulfill his promise to Chi-Chi to support the family. 

So yeah…he’s not in the wrong for missing so much considering that he was gone for 10 years total (between being in space and being dead). 

Third, many people have called Goku a horrible father/husband for choosing to stay dead at the end of the Cell Saga…but I don’t really understand this criticism. Goku’s whole point is that his very presence attracts villains like Vegeta, Nappa and Frieza to Earth; or his victories inspire the creation of new villains like Cell or Androids 16-18. 

Yes, the three Androids reformed and so did Vegeta, but characters like Frieza and Cell are beyond saving, not only because of the many, many deaths they’ve caused, but also because both hate Goku with such a passion that neither will consider siding with him in any capacity. 

The fact of the matter is that Frieza’s resurrection years later will only prove Goku’s point. Because Goku was the first person who truly defeated Frieza, the alien tyrant has an immense hatred for him, stronger than anyone else, even Vegeta or Trunks. This is what sets in motion the events of Resurrection of F, which includes Frieza temporarily blowing up the planet. (Temporary because an angel reversed time. Modern Dragon Ball is wild).  

So not only was Goku’s sacrifice (that is, transporting Cell away as he was self-destructing) an undeniably heroic act, but so was his additional, complementary sacrifice to not come back to life, as he wanted to spare his family and friends additional pain. 

Conclusion:

This video is quite a bit shorter than my other ones, but I just wanted to put my thoughts out here on both of these subjects. The Anglosphere has much, much different cultural norms for what makes a father, and we also have much different norms for what makes a good protagonist. Discussion about this character has been abundant, but I’ve always felt very strongly in the points made here, and I wanted to put them out there. 

At the end of the day, Dragon Ball isn’t something that we have to police. Everyone can have their own interpretation of it, no matter where you’re from or how you were first exposed to this wonderful franchise. I’m just glad that, at the end of the day, we can all be united by our love for Son Goku and his friends. 

My name is Jonathan, and thank you for reading.