Goku

Son Goku
Dragon Ball character
File:DragonballZ-Episode287 188.jpg Son Goku by Akira Toriyama
First appearance	Manga chapter 1 Dragon Ball episode 1
Last appearance	Manga vol 42 Dragon Ball GT episode 64
In-universe information
Relatives	Burdock (father) Raditz (brother) "Grandpa" Son Gohan (Adoptive grandfather) Chichi (wife) Gyumao (father-in-law) Son Gohan (son) Son Goten (son) Videl (daughter-in-law) Mr. Satan(Brother-in-law) Pan (granddaughter) Son Goku Jr. (great-great grandson)

Son Goku (孫 悟空, Son Gokū, known only as Goku in most English adaptations) is the protagonist of the Dragon Ball manga and anime series created by Akira Toriyama. At first, Goku's representation in the Dragon Ball story was parodied on Sun Wukong (the Chinese pronunciation of the name), the leading character in the Chinese novel Journey to the West. As Dragon Ball developed from an adventure to a martial arts sensation, Goku's direct reference to this classic character in literature is quickly departed. When the manga was adapted into anime, the series was split into two sub-series. The first sub-series told the history of Goku's childhood and went by the original name of the manga; while its more familiar sequel sub-series called Dragon Ball Z covered his adulthood. A third anime only sub-series was produced called Dragon Ball GT that continued Goku's story a decade after the Dragon Ball Z timeline.

Heritage

Goku was born as Kakarot (カカロット, Kakarotto), a member of an extraterrestrial warrior race called the Saiyans. Due to the Saiyans' methods of systematically conquering habitable planets, Goku was sent to Earth as an infant to conquer it and make it suitable for sale on the galactic market.

Though Kakarot is Goku's original name, he prefers to be called by his Earth name "Goku". Vegeta, Goku's rival, never refers to him by his Earth name as he believes Goku should be proud of his heritage. When Goku learns of his origins as an extraterrestrial, he rejects his heritage, but later accepts it during his battle with the galactic overlord Freeza, due to him realizing that the Saiyans were only violent and destructive because Freeza made them do so. Due to a unique trait in Saiyan genetics, Goku's physique almost perfectly mimics his father's. Another unique trait in Saiyan genetics is that they evolved to retain their youthfulness for combat, so as a result, Goku ages slowly when he reaches about age thirty, appearing very young even when he is middle-aged.

Goku's original name Kakarot (a pun on "carrot") fits in with the rest of his family; all the known members in his family are a pun on vegetables that are related to each other. For example, Goku's older brother's name is Raditz, a pun on "radish" and his father Burdock's name is a pun of the herb of the same name.

Appearance

File:Gokukidadult.jpg

Goku as a child and as an adult.

Since Akira Toriyama does not consider what is to come in proceeding chapters of his stories, Goku's story develops into one that is not typical of other superheroes in media. Much of these reasons come from the simple fact that Dragon Ball was originally intended to be an adventure, and not a series that primarily focused on martial arts. Since Goku's character was originally inspired from a fictional monkey king named Sun Wukong ("Son Goku" in Japanese), he originally appeared in the series with traits that mimcked the character, like dark hair, a lean build, and a monkey tail. As the series developed, these physical traits are later explained to be typical of all Saiyans. As Dragon Ball departed its parody of Journey to the West, Goku's tail is removed permanently by Kami.

Because of his devotion toward Earth, he dresses in an Asian martial arts uniform instead of the traditional Saiyan battle armor. Goku's uniform consists of a red/orange full-body outfit with a dark blue short-sleeved under shirt, belt, wristbands, and boots. Originally the blue undershirt, wristbands, and boots were made of a heavy material that gave Goku constant training for his muscles and when he would take them off his speed would increase dramatically. He is also known to wear the symbols of his training masters. The first symbol that Goku wore was the symbol of his first master Muten Roshi's, which stood for "kame" (meaning "turtle"). Later he wears the symbol of his next master, North Kaio for kai (meaning "world") while battling Nappa and Vegeta. Also, North Kaio removes the heaviness from his weighted clothing and makes the material light and also protective from small attacks. After Goku completed his training on his way to Planet Namek, he wears the symbol for go (meaning either "enlightenment" or "wisdom") which also appears in his name's Japanese symbols. After his training before the Androids' attack, he no longer wears a symbol.

Personality

As with the inspiration for Goku named Sun Wukong in Journey to the West, Goku exhibits a purity of heart; completely void of evil and temptation. Goku does not possess the typical behavioral traits of his race, such as extreme aggression and ruthless behavior, this is due to head trauma and amnesia that he received during his childhood on Earth. He is known for his naivety and selflessness, and is often observed to be concerned with other people, regardless of how evil they seem to be. This unusual trait in Goku's personality is contrasted by his fierce love of competition, specifically fighting. Goku is often criticized by the other characters for giving his rivals a chance to change their intentions instead of killing them. But as a result, this trait of his personality has earned him respect from former rivals, developed alliances, and even friendships with them.

Even though Goku's personality and demeanour contrasts the typical Saiyan behavior, he still possesses the natural Saiyan lust for physical combat. Goku (Like many of Toriyama's characters) also is seen to have an unrealistic appetite, which is later seen to be typical of Saiyans. Due to his love for fighting, Goku often neglects his duties as a husband and friend in order to train. Goku's desires mostly reflect his ambition to not only compete against others, but also to surpass his own limits, becoming an inspiration for his friends who also fight. Goku's personality is one of the few in the series that does not change substantially as the series continues. Goku remains naive and child-like throughout the course of the series, even at the end of the series when he is middle-aged. However, when in battle Goku does show a serious, intelligent side as he has often been successful in his many victories by trusting his brain intstead of brawn.

Goku's personality made a significant impact on manga and anime history that many series created after Dragon Ball had protagonists based on Goku's personality, such as Naruto Uzumaki from Naruto and Monkey D. Luffy of One Piece.

Transformations

File:Super Saiyan Gokudbz.JPG

Goku in his Super Saiyan form.

As a member of the Saiyan race, Goku has acquired the ability to transform by physical training. By transforming his body, Goku greatly enhances his abilities from the previous state. Goku is also the only Saiyan in the entire series to achieve all known Saiyan transformations. As a child, he was able to transform into the Saiyan were-monkey called Oozaru. However, he was not able to transform into the Oozaru at will via a required component of special radiant waves emitted by a full moon. As with the Saiyan, Goku was born with a tail which is a vital characteristic for transforming into an Oozaru. It is removed later in the original Dragon Ball series, however, is regrown in the third sub-series Dragon Ball GT, helping Goku to transform into a Golden Oozaru. In the series, Goku is the first Saiyan to achieve the legendary transformation of Super Saiyan in over a millennium. Goku achieved this transformation when he was overcome by rage from the murder of Kuririn by the hand of Freeza. He continues to train this form throughout the series, eventually gaining two advanced states of the regular Super Saiyan called the Super Saiyan 2nd Grade and Super Saiyan 3rd Grade. Eventually, he masters every aspect of the Super Saiyan in order to challenge Cell. Goku then transforms even further to Super Saiyan 2 which was first seen in the fight against Majin Vegeta, but had been achieved during his training in Other World. Super Saiyan 3 was also obtained during his training in the Other World, first appearing in his fight with Majin Buu. During the sequel series Dragon Ball GT, Goku achieves his last transformation called Super Saiyan 4.

Abilities

Being from the Saiyan race, Goku is observed to have unusual abilities; such as increased strength and speed. He is also able to use his chi energy to fly as well as enhance and create attacks from it. Goku's most widely known technique is a chi energy blast called the Kamehameha ("Turtle Destruction Wave"), which he learned from Muten Roshi. Another ability of his is a chi multiplier attack that surrounds his body in a blazing aura called the Kaio-Ken ("Fist of the Worlds"), which he learned from North Kaio. His most powerful attack is a powerful energy sphere created by the chi energy of one or more planets, called the Genki-Dama ("Energy Sphere"), which he also had learned from North Kaio. Other techniques of Goku's include an effective teleportation skill called the Shunkan Ido ("Instantaneous Movement") which he learned from the inhabitants of Planet Yardrat. His first and only technique that he created himself is a chi enhanced fist that manifests itself in the form of a Dragon or Oozaru and drives through an opponent, called the Ryu-Ken ("Fist of the Dragon").

Other media

Goku has made several appearances in other media, even in the United States. He is a recurring character in other works by Akira Toriyama, such as making a cameo in Toriyama's metaseries Dr. Slump, as well featuring in the self-parody manga Neko Majin Z.

Goku's latest appearance was as an animated commentator for the Japanese Nippon Ijin Taisho made in 2007 (Japan Great People Awards). The video is available on YouTube.

Goku has also been depicted in Wizard magazine, where he was matched up in a hypothetical battle against Superman. Goku defeated Superman by transforming into a Super Saiyan and overpowering him with the Kamehameha.

Goku was a featured character in a single episode crossover of Dragon Ball Z and two other anime, One Piece and Astro Boy. This video is also available on YouTube.

Goku has frequently appeared in the videogames Jump Super Stars and Jump Ultimate Stars along with an array of characters from various other series, including Rurouni Kenshin, Black Cat, Naruto, Bleach, Gintama, and YuYu Hakusho.

Voice actors

In the American dubs of the anime, the voice actors for Goku and many other characters of the series have changed as a result of the series changing dubbing studios and requiring recasting.

Toei Animation

• Masako Nozawa

FUNimation (Ocean Group):

• Saffron Henderson (Child Goku in The Saga of Goku)
• Ian James Corlett (Adult Goku in the Saiyan Saga)
• Peter Kelamis (Adult Goku in the Namek Saga)
• Kirby Morrow (Adult Goku (internationally) from the end of the Cell Saga to the end of the Buu Saga)

FUNimation (in-house actors):

• Stephanie Nadolny (Child Goku in Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball GT)
• Sean Schemmel (Adult Goku in Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, and SS4 Goku in DBGT)

External links

• Profile at http://www.absoluteanime.com/
• Goku's Biography on DBZ Fan