There’s no anime hero as iconic asDragon Ball’s Goku. From debuting as a mysterious, tailed boy in the pages ofShōnen Jump, to acting as the cultural ambassador at the Olympic Games and having his own float in American holiday parades,Goku has inspired an unimaginably large number of fans over the past four decades. His heroic feats are legendary, and the story ofDragon Ballcontinues after all this time on the shoulders of its greatest fighter.
However,Goku isn’t exactly a perfect hero. His priorities aren’t always kept in the right order, and despite his massive strength, Earth’s greatest defender is prone to his blunders. More often than not,Dragon Ball’s main Saiyan manages to win the day, regardless of the rocky road to victory.But some of his worst moments are indefensible, even by his biggest fans. Alongside Goku’s impressive feats of strength often come his most questionable decisions, and a few of them cannot be overlooked.
Goku Threw Away Another Chance to Deafeat Buu Quickly
Long regarded as one of Gohan’s worst moments throughoutDragon Ball,not being able to catch the Potara wasn’t entirely his fault. While it may be true that arguably the strongest fighter on Earth should have had the ability to catch the earring, given he was shown catching bullets in the very same arc, Goku is likely more at fault. After Buu received a power-up with his absorption of Gotenks, Goku had the opportunity to give the Potara to his son and fuse into a warrior capable of eviscerating Majin Buu.
In an attempt to give Gohan the earring, Goku threw one of the worst throws imaginable. He’s never been a professional baseball player like Yamcha, so a bad toss is excusable. However, once Gohan managed to find the earring, Gotenks defused inside Buu, leaving him much weaker than before. In a moment of overconfidence,Goku told Gohan the earrings weren’t necessary, robbing fans of a potential fusion and directly leading to the second of his two sons being absorbed by the series' most terriying villain yet.
Not one, but two mistakes brought about the destruction of Earth and the deaths of everyone living on it. As he does, however, Goku managed to eventually defeat Kid Buu, and the day was saved. Though that doesn’t make his previous blunders any less shocking.
6Goku Is the Star of Dragon Ball Super’s Most Controversial Moment
Earth’s Greatest Hero and Father of Two Doesn’t Know What Kissing Is
Dragon Ball Superhas gained its fair share of both critics and fans since initially premiering in 2015. Some believe the writing of the series leaves a bit to be desired, and doesn’t quite stack up to Akira Toriyama’s originalDragon Ball. Others feelSuperis a worthwhile continuation of the series that brings meaningful additions to the four-decade-old franchise. However, both fans and critics are typically in agreement thatone scene during the Goku Black arc is difficult to sit through.
After Mai was beaten and badly injured, Trunks was forced to chew on a Senzu Bean and feed it to her mouth-to-mouth. In response, Goku revealed thathe’d supposedly never kissed anyone before and didn’t see any reason to do so. Vegeta, acting as the audience surrogate in the moment, expresses his disbelief at what he’d just heard, and yells back, “You’re married and have children!”
Dragon Ball Daima Is Quietly Fixing One of Goku’s Worst Qualities, And We’re Here for It
Dragon Ball Daima isn’t holding back from rewriting even the worst tropes of the franchise’s main character.
It’s difficult to believe, and also directly clashes with scenes from previousDragon Balladaptations, that Goku never kissed Chi Chi before.Not only does he have children, but one was nearly a teenager at the time, while the other recently had a child of his own. It’s well known that Goku isn’t always the brightest, but this reveal is arguably his most cringeworthy moment.
5Goku Doesn’t Take the Chance to Defeat Majin Buu
Despite Being Powerful Enough, Goku Didn’t Take Out Buu
Goku’s first instance of passing up a chance to defeat Buu came well before his misguided throw. The introduction ofSuper Saiyan 3is one ofDragon Ball’s most popular scenes, and one the fan base still holds in incredibly high regard to this day. What came directly after, however, was another of the leading Saiyan’s worst blunders. At this point in the series, Super Saiyan 3 Gokushould have had all the power he needed to defeat Majin Buu, yet he decided to fool around with him before returning to the lookout.
He wasn’t exactly wrong to want to leave saving Earth to the next generation of heroes, but leaving the job in the hands of Goten and Trunks without first being sure they were capableis the exact mistake he made with Gohan during the Cell Games. There’s also a chance Goku wasn’t entirely sure he was capable of defeating Buu, though he should have sensed the big pink terror’s power level easily enough. The entire struggle with Majin Buu that followed could have been avoided had Goku defeated him when he had the chance.
4King Kai Has Yet to Be Revived After Goku Brought Cell to His Planet
Goku Was Directly Responsible for the Death of King Kai, and He Still Hasn’t Revived Him
After a series of mistakes during the Cell Saga, Goku was forced to intervene in the battle and stop Cell from destroying the Earth. The only possible solution was to use Instant Transmission, and take the terrifying villain far from the planet. Goku did so successfully, and wound up saving Earth. In the meantime, however, he brought Cell to King Kai’s planet and directly caused the deaths of Bubbles, Gregory, and King Kai.Goku was forced to act quickly, though, and the decision was necessary even if it was destructive.
Dragon Ball Fans May Love Cell, But the Anime’s Staff Have Good Reason to Hate the Villain
Cell is one of Dragon Ball’s most popular villains, and though fans continue to sing his praises, the anime’s staff never enjoyed their time with him.
Death has a way of not really sticking inDragon Ball, and the damage was easily reversible with the help of Shenron. Three anime series and four films later, however,and Goku has still not wished King Kai back to life. At this point in the series, Goku’s lack of care or attention to this particular blunder has become a bit of a running joke, but considering that he still trains on King Kai’s planet from time to time, the least he could do is bring him back to life.
3Goku Stole Bulma’s Underwear
A Naive Goku Found Out What Girls Were the Wrong Way
A lot of earlyDragon Ball’s comedic moments have not aged well. In only the second episode of the series, Goku tries to sleep on Bulma’s lap, and in a moment of confusion, decides to take her underwear off. Bulma has long been one of the series' most important characters, and is the sole reason Goku was ever found in the mountains. Without her, countless victories throughoutDragon Ballwould not have been possible, and yet,she wasn’t treated very kindly in the series' early days.
Goku was a child at the time, and the action was purely out of innocent curiosity. However, what really makes the moment worse is that he failed to inform Bulma that her underwear was gone. Later, Master Roshi, another character that hasn’t aged all that well, got a shocking peek under her dress. Fortunately, much ofDragon Ball’s early questionable attempts at humortake a backseat once the series shifts towards a more serious tone.
2Goku Allows Frieza to Reach Full Power
The Saiyan’s Love for Fighting Becomes a Problem Sometimes
Goku has a bad habit of letting his love for fighting get in the way of victory. In the case of Frieza, though, letting the evil space tyrant assume his full-power form was by far one of Goku’s worst moments. Frieza killed countless Namekians while on the planet, killed Krillin and Vegeta, tried to kill his son, and wasthe most evil villainDragon Ballhad up to that point. Instead of quickly finishing him off and returning to Earth safely, Goku decided to allow Frieza to power up and extend the fight.
Frieza Is the Ultimate Anime Villain, And a Clever Little Anime Trick Made It All Possible
Frieza may have started as the mastermind villain in Dragon Ball, but after all these years, he remains the most wicked antagonist across all media.
It wasn’t the first and likely won’t be the last time that Goku went easy on an opponent for the sake of the fight, but Frieza had committed far too many atrocities to not be done away with instantly.It can be argued that Goku wanted to humiliate his opponent, and let him feel some of the fear he instilled in others, though it wasn’t the time or place. He was able to miraculously survive the explosion of Namek shortly after, though if he hadn’t,Dragon Ballwould be a much different story today.
1Goku Gave Cell a Senzu Bean Before Gohan Entered the Fight
Goku’s Decision to Give Cell a Senzu Bean Was the Cherry on Top of a Misguided Plan
Goku’s handling of the Cell Saga, though having ultimately led to victory for Earth’s heroes,was flawed from the very start. The Saiyan knew he wasn’t powerful enough to defeat Cell, but he also knew that they might’ve had a chance if Gohan was pushed far enough to tap into his rage. Unfortunately, he never realized thatGohan wasn’t a fighter like he was, and put his son through a torturous battle he never really wanted to get into. The worst part of it all was Goku’s decision to give Cell a Senzu Bean.
He stated that he wanted to give Cell a fair fight, though it’s likely Goku felt his planhad a better chance of success if Cell was restored to his full power. As a result, Gohan was beaten badly and forced to the point of tears before finally giving in and unleashing his true strength. Goku’s master plan all worked out, but it was an undeniably traumatic experience for his 11-year-old son, and the Senzu Bean incident only makes it Goku’s biggest blunder in all ofDragon Ball.
Dragon Ball
From the creative mind of Akira Toriyama, Dragon Ball is a mega multimedia franchise that spans back to the 1980s. Dragon Ball expanded quickly, starting as a serialized manga for Weekly Shonen Jump in Japan. It made its way overseas via manga and an anime adaptation that is enjoyed worldwide. Dragon Ball was the initial starting animated series that followed the adventures of the young Son Goku as he sought after the Dragon Balls. These mystical orbs would grant the wish of any who gathered them together. Then, the series would branch off into the immensely popular Dragon Ball Z, which followed Goku as an adult and featured high-intensity battles and Goku’s never-ending search to be the strongest. The series has also enjoyed several popular video game adaptations and continues to release several new animated series and theatrical films up to the recent popular Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.
