Characters / Dragon Ball: Son Goku – Tropes I-O

Dragon Ball Main Character Index
Major Characters
Son Goku (A-C | D-H | I-O | P-Z) | Bulma | Krillin/Kuririn | Piccolo | Son Gohan | Vegeta (A-D | E-N | O-Z) | Future Trunks | Allies | Families & Friends (Chi-Chi | Androids 17 and 18 | Trunks and Son Goten | Mr. Satan/Hercule) | Fusions

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I-K

• I Am Not Left-Handed: Tends to hold back his true power, mostly for the sake of a good fight or to conserve energy. Vegeta was especially mad when he learned that Goku was hiding an entire level of Super Saiyan after he sold his soul to bridge the gap between them.
• I Am What I Am: Upon learning that his race's legacy of genocide was forced upon them by Frieza, he lets go of the shame of belonging to a race of murderers and instead comes to embrace the pride of being a Saiyan warrior:
  Goku: [burying Vegeta] I hated you, but I respect the pride with which you defended your race's honor... Now share some of that pride with me, for I am a Saiyan who grew up on Earth!
  • Goku's famous line to Frieza after he'd transformed into a Super Saiyan for the first time, according to the first English Z dub:
  Goku: "I am the hope of the universe! I am the answer to all living things that cry out for peace! I am protector of the innocent! I am the light in the darkness! I am Truth! Ally to good, nightmare to you!"
  • The Kai version, which far more closely mirrors the original Japanese and video game versions:
  Goku: "I'm the Saiyan who came all the way from Earth for the sole purpose of beating you. I am the warrior you've heard of in legend, pure of heart and awakened by fury, that's what I am. I AM THE SUPER SAIYAN, SON GOKU!"
• I Am Who?: Raditz arrives on Earth and reveals to Goku that he is a member of a superpowerful and bloodthirsty warrior race called the Saiyans. Due to a nearly fatal accident which gave him Laser-Guided Amnesia, Goku lost his violent tendencies and sincerely believed that he was an Earthling.
• Iconic Outfit: His orange turtle gi. Since he got the Turtle Hermit uniform, he always wears a version of it, with the exceptions of the last episodes of Z where he switches to a version of his original blue gi and GT where he wears a modified version of the End of Z gi.
• Icy Blue Eyes: When he becomes a Super Saiyan, his eyes becomes a cold, icy blue filled with malice and hatred. It stands out so much that Frieza freaks out when he sees Future Trunks' eyes as a Super Saiyan. This gets Downplayed after he masters Super Saiyan and he's able to keep his innocent aura in his eyes. Although, they do turn icy when he's serious in a fight, especially as a Super Saiyan 3.
• Ideal Hero: Goku zigzags. Specifically, Goku himself fulfills the trope by being the best man you'll ever meet or hear of. He is the Hope Bringer to all who knows him, can inspire people who have been evil their entire lives to become good people like Piccolo and Vegeta, can bring out the best in people who are morally ambiguous like Beerus and Hit, will spare enemies and only kill as a very last resort, and has laid down his life twice without hesitation protecting others, but he will focus on his training to the exclusion of everything else, sometimes including family. Goku also tends to fall under a mild case of Adaptational Heroism. In the dub and in the Japanese anime, Goku's already heroic personality got played up even more. Toriyama originally wanted Goku to be a hero, but a somewhat questionable and reckless hero who grows stronger not to protect others, but to fight stronger people. He even says that he wanted people to wonder if Goku is really a good person. That changed a bit after Character Development took over and Goku becomes more heroic and unquestionably good. He is still self-centered and will put a good fight above the safety of the world, but his heart is usually in the right place.
• Idiot Hero: The Trope Codifier for modern Shonen heroes. At the same time, he's actually closer to a straight-up subversion. Goku does poorly with numbers, speaks like a hick, naive, and too trusting. At the same time, Goku's genius at fighting necessitates being intelligent in other areas, and he can also read the weaknesses in complex techniques and come up with excellent tactics on the fly; he's also very good with interpersonal skills, occasionally shows surprising wisdom, and is very good at living off the land. It is hinted in Dragon Ball Minus that Goku's good heart came from his mother and not just from his head injury like most of his friends believe. There is also no real hint of Goku having brain damage given that he was raised in extreme isolation for most of his childhood, which is why he is naive about the rest of the world and never really integrated into human society.
• I Gave My Word: He only promised to marry Chi-Chi as a child because he thought that marriage was a kind of food. When he finds out just what marriage is when they meet again as adults, Goku nonetheless proposes to Chi-Chi right then and there because he gave his word.
• "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Briefly tries this on Majin Vegeta during the Buu Saga... only to discover that Vegeta is in full control of himself and let Babidi possess him in order to increase his power.
• I Let Gwen Stacy Die: How Goku feels when Krillin is murdered by Tambourine and Frieza. He directly blames himself for Krillin's first death since he's killed retrieving his Dragon Ball and Power Pole that he left behind after the tournament.
• Immigrant Patriotism: He dismisses the "elite" Vegeta's bragging with the retort that on Earth, they know even a "reject" can outdo the elite if they work hard enough. In the Cell Games, he wears his classic gi rather than Saiyan armor for this reason (though he still uses the armor while training, for practical purposes).
  "I am a Saiyan raised on planet Earth!"
• Immune to Bullets: Even as a little kid, he could shrug off small-arms fire, though they did cause him some pain.
• Immune to Mind Control: In Xenoverse, he's immune to Towa's (and Demigra's) Superpowered Evil Side-inducing Dark Magic. During the final boss, it's implied that he's immune because he became a Super Saiyan God. However, in Super Dragon Ball Heroes, it's shown that Goku is still corruptible when fighting Cumber, subverting the trope.
• In the Blood: Zigzag. He comes from a ruthless alien race known as the Saiyans, who are all cruel Blood Knights who performed genocide for a living. According to Master Roshi, Goku is only docile because he hit his head as a toddler since he was a terror to Grandpa Gohan. Dragon Ball Minus calls this into question, however, since Goku's mother was a pacific who was extremely softhearted, so Goku's goodness could have been in the blood and not just caused by head trauma. Given how Raditz's turned out, Goku's personality seems to be a mixture of nurture and nature.
• In the End, You Are on Your Own:
  • Happens to Goku a lot. Despite having several powerful friends, most of the final battles fall on his shoulders alone. He takes out the entire Red Ribbon Army by himself before his friends could arrive to help him and he battles Pilaf alone to retrieve the final Dragon Ball to wish Upa's father back to life. The most extreme is the Frieza fight. Not only was he the only person able to fight Frieza after becoming a Super Saiyan, Frieza and he are the only ones left on the planet during the final leg. It happens again in Battle of Gods. After Gohan, Vegeta, Trunks, Goten, and an unborn Pan gives Goku energy to become a Super Saiyan God, he becomes the only being in the universe able to fight on Beerus' level.
  • Invoked by Goku during the 23rd World Martial Tournament. He refused any help while fighting Piccolo despite several people trying to help, including the Guardian of the Earth. It was a tournament and Goku wanted to win fairly.
• In Harm's Way: Because of Goku's Blood Knight nature, he is at his happiest when he's fighting, either for fun or for his life. When he hears that there is someone stronger than Vegeta, someone who literally crushed every bone in his body not even a month ago, he's all but giddy at the idea of fighting them. Beerus is the God of Destruction who the other gods fear, he wants to fight him. The other Gods of Destruction and their strongest warriors are after Goku since he put their universe in danger, he's more than happy to fight all of them and says so to their faces. Goku even admits that he fights at his best when he's on the edge.
• Inappropriate Hunger: It doesn't matter if Goku is fighting in a life or death battle or watching one, or the world is in great danger, when he's hungry, he will ask to eat.
• Incompletely Trained: He's able to get by despite leaving in the middle of his training more than once because he manages to learn everything on his own anyway.
• Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Despite his many adventures, he never stops being the paragon.
  • He gets the Nimbus when Master Roshi notices he can ride it (when only the pure of heart can ride it).
  • Goku is so pure of heart that during the Fortuneteller Baba Saga, Spike the Devil Man's Devilmite Beam attack, which amplifies any and all negative thoughts and inner evil in the target until said target explodes, has no effect on him whatsoever.
  • Shin himself was able to see that Goku's heart was completely pure when shaking his hand, which made him perfect to fight against Babidi.
  • Averted in Super Dragon Ball Heroes where Goku gets corrupted by Kamba, whose ki is so evil it causes whoever comes into contact to become Brainwashed and Crazy.
• Inexplicably Awesome: Goku at the start of the series. Nothing was known about his past other than he was found in the mountains by his grandfather and was raised in isolation for a number of years. Other than that, everything about Goku was up in the air like why he was so powerful, had a tail, and why he turned into a big ape during a full moon. His friends and enemies openly debated if he was even human. By Z, we learned he's a Human Alien from a warrior race and he's actually a weakling by their standards. Even then, his ungodly strength and seemingly endless potential still isn't fully explained given he outpaces the Saiyan Prince, who is said to be the strongest their race have to offer. Part of it is a lot of hard work, but, as the series has shown, hard work alone can't catch natural talent unless it isn't maintained. In Super, Zamasu becomes so obsessed with Goku's power and endless growth that he actually uses the Super Dragon Balls to take his body and abandons his original body, which is in nature that of a god.
• Inexplicably Identical Individuals: With Turles. They look exactly alike, except Turles has darker skin, but they are not related. In one source of information, all low-class Saiyans look similar to easily identify them as weak.
• Informed Attribute:
  • When Goku first transforms to Super Saiyan, Goku tells Gohan to leave immediately as he didn't know how much self restraint he'd have in his new form and was convinced he'd lose rationality in his anger. And yet... there's no point where this comes to fruition, Goku actually has so much self control he quits the fight and leaves Frieza alive twice despite his fury with the tyrant. Funnily enough, this actually turns out showing up very prominently in his son, Gohan.
  • In GT, his x10 Kamehameha is said to be his strongest technique, which makes little sense, since he has Dragon Fist, and their difference in power is very obvious against Syn/Omega, as Goku uses x10 Kamehameha against Syn and he tanks it without a scratch, while Dragon Fist was strong enough to destroy Omega's body. While Omega did regenerate thanks to Rage's power, his body was still tough.
• Informed Flaw: Goku ultimately zigzags this trope. Toriyama has described Goku as not a hero, but a person who simply wants to fight, describing it as a "sip of poison" for the character. And yet, even in the original manga, there have been scenes where Goku foregoes self-gratification for the sake of defending the planet/those he loves. For example: He realized how much of a threat Cell was, and instead of encouraging Gohan to keep Cell alive for the fight, he instead wants Gohan to finish him off before something bad happens. Later, he foregoes any notion of fighting Super Buu despite how much Goku enjoys a good fight because he knows how dangerous the former is.
• Innocent Blue Eyes: After mastering Super Saiyan for the Cell Games, Goku's eyes takes on this quality. They have the same innocent aura as his normal black eyes. They do, however, go back to an icy blue when he's ready to fight serious.
• Innocent Fanservice Guy: In the original series, he had absolutely zero qualms against stripping down to his birthday suit in public. One of his first interactions with Bulma in the anime had her trying to explain how a Modesty Towel works, only for him to wrap it on his head. As an adult in Z he still doesn't show to have any modesty, such as when he got out of the bath in front of Princess Snake without understanding why she suddenly got embarrassed. In GT, he throws off his clothes right in front of Pan in order to chase a villain underwater, dismissing her pleas that he Please Put Some Clothes On.
• Innocently Insensitive: He has shown signs of this throughout the series, like insulting Bulma when she was trying to seduce him for a Dragon Ball as a kid, asking a teenage Chi-Chi if he knew who she was when she greeted him at the tournament and in the driving filler episode when after Chi-Chi was in the house, exhausted after being chased by a boar and walking home, he just dumps his clothes on the table instead of asking Chi-Chi about her day. He was this trope all over the place in the Buu Saga. Then again, he was raised in the woods, so it's not surprising he doesn't have any manners or knowing right from wrong. In regards to Chi-Chi, Toriyama has explained that most Saiyans don't really care much about romance or marriage.
• Instant Expert: In addition to his combat prowess, he quickly learned how to fly the Flying Nimbus, and managed to figure out how to work Bulma's motorcycle in the first episode fairly quickly.
• Interspecies Adoption: After landing on Earth, he was raised by the kindly martial arts master Son Gohan, before he accidentally killed him as a Great Ape.
• Interspecies Romance: With Chi-Chi. She is a pure-blooded human while he is a Human Alien.
• Involuntary Shapeshifting: As a Saiyan, he turns into a giant monkey when he looks at the full moon. Unlike Vegeta, he had no control of this form and really did turn into a monster. Though once he loses his tail, he loses this ability.
• Iron Butt Monkey: Next to Krillin and Mr. Satan, he takes the most physical abuse in the cast, especially in the anime.
• Ironic Name: He doesn't like carrots. No points for guessing what his Saiyan name is based on.
• Is It Something You Eat?: Even back at the very beginning of the series, when Bulma showed him the Dragon Balls for the first time, he thought they were for eating. When Chi-Chi offers to be Goku's bride, he readily accepted because he thought she was offering him food.^specifically In the Japanese version, Chi-Chi says "kon'yaku" (engagement), and Goku assumed she meant "konnyaku" or "konjac." In the English dub, he outright assumes a "wedding" is food.
  • Some years later, when she comes to get Goku to remember the promise he made long ago, they're both embarrassed when he explained what he meant — and so Goku proposes for real.
• I Thought Everyone Could Do That: As a kid, Goku had a hard time understanding that everyone is not super. One of the best examples is when the group needs to get across a deadly booby-trapped hallway without touching the floor. Goku and Krillin easily jump across the traps. Goku tells Bulma it's her turn, and she angrily yells that there's no way she can jump that far. Goku is surprised. He also thought that every boy has a tail. Amusingly, when he tells Bulma, she gets upset that she still doesn't know about the male anatomy at her age.
• It's All My Fault:
  • Goku feels this way about Krillin's first death. The only reason why Krillin went back to the stadium was to retrieve his Dragon Ball and Power Pole that he carelessly left because he was tired from fighting Tien.
  • In Resurrection 'F', after Frieza blows up the Earth and kills everyone except for those close to Whis, Goku hangs his head in shame and openly blames himself, remarking that he should have killed Frieza when he had the chance instead of offering him mercy again. Fortunately, Whis rewinds time to just before Frieza blew up the Earth, giving Goku the opportunity to rectify his mistake.
• It's Personal:
  • The Red Ribbon Army makes things personal with Goku by indirectly having Mercenary Tao murder Bora, leaving poor Upa an orphan like him. He raids the Red Ribbon Army's base to avenge Bora and retrieve the remaining Dragon Balls to wish him back.
  • Goku's feelings towards King Piccolo and Frieza. Both of them murdered Krillin and King Piccolo indirectly kills Master Roshi. They both get the full force of Goku's vengeance. These feelings dissipate regarding Frieza by the time of Super.
  • The whole affair with Future Zamasu and Goku Black become this to him after they sadistically taunt him about killing his other self's family. He spends a good chunk of time brutalizing Goku Black with the intent to kill.
• I Warned You: In Kai, he has this to say after Frieza's Backstab Backfire:
  Goku: I warned you, but you didn't listen! I gave you one last chance to walk away, and you BLEW IT!
• Jerkass Façade: He pretends to be a jerk to Uub so he would be motivated to fight. (It says something about him that this is the only time he ever does this.)
• Jerkass Realization: During the Cell Saga, he has so much confidence in his son's ability to beat Cell that he actually gives Cell a Senzu Bean, which restores him to full health after he'd been weakened by his fight with Goku. Goku reasons that Gohan naturally wants a fair fight with Cell since that's what he himself would do. He's oblivious to how things are going until Piccolo spells out for him that his son doesn't enjoy combat like Goku does and is deeply confused and terrified about why his father is openly giving support to the person who's trying to murder him.
• The Juggernaut: During the Tournament of Power, while he's in any version of his Ultra Instinct form, all but a few named individuals should just avoid fighting him as it's close to pointless. Goku even hits most of the requirements during his first two scenes in the form: doesn't speak (until when the transformation's time limit is close to ending), moves at a pace that seems slow but is actually very fast, casually knocks aside anyone who gets in his way (as Toppo and Dypso learn the hard way) and once he reaches his opponent, he goes all out. His face also shows a very calm yet fierce expression that adds to the intensity.
• Just a Kid: Dismissed as a mere boy for most of his childhood by his opponents. They are quickly proven wrong - there's nothing 'mere' about this kid.
• Just Toying with Them: Goku as a kid enjoyed toying with his opponents, but unlike most, there is no real malice behind it. To him, fighting is one big game and it is no fun if he just curb stomps everyone; he even refers to it as playing. As an adult, if he's stronger than an opponent yet is toying with them, it usually means they did something to piss him off (case in point, Frieza).
• Kamehame Hadoken: The partial Trope Namer.
• Keep the Reward: When Mr. Satan tries to give Goku the World Peace Prize money for defeating Majin Buu, he initially turns it down. He actually becomes freaked out over how much money he's being given. He eventually accepts after Goten points out that if he takes the money, he can quit his job and train since Chi-Chi will be happy.

• Ki Manipulation: Pretty much the Trope Codifier.
• Kick Them While They Are Down: He of all people does this to Frieza, although with words instead of his fists. After Frieza fails to gain immortality on the Dragon Balls since he can't speak Namekian, Goku spends several minutes rubbing it in his face despite being so close and goes into detail about how the Dragon Balls were used to revive all his victims and everyone was wished back to Earth except for them. Then, after Frieza burns himself out because he isn't used to fighting for so long at his full power and can't even touch Goku anymore, Goku gives him a brutal "The Reason You Suck" Speech, which ends with Goku saying that he wants Frieza to suffer for the rest of his life, knowing that he lost to a monkey. It's partially justified because he was using Super Saiyan for the first time, which makes the user more battle-hungry and sadistic.
• Kiddie Kid: Initially, he looks like an 8-year-old well into his mid-teens and has the wisdom of a child even younger than that. Justified since he was left alone in the wilderness for several years with no human contact.
• Kid Hero: Started out as one until the 23rd Martial Art Tournament.
• Kid Hero All Grown-Up: He grows up during the second three-year Time Skip.
• Killed Off for Real: Future Goku who dies to the heart virus. He couldn't be revived by the Dragon Balls since he dies of natural causes. The major reason why Future Trunks went to the past is to prevent Goku's death.
• Kill Him Already!: His reaction when Gohan decides to drag out his Curb-Stomp Battle with Cell purely to make him suffer as much as possible. Goku literally screams at Gohan to finish him off before Cell gets desperate, but Gohan doesn't listen. Ironically, Goku himself is usually on the opposite end of this trope, such as when he persuaded Krillin to spare Vegeta.
• Kindhearted Simpleton: Particularly as a kid, when he meant well, but had little understanding of people.
• King Kong Copy: When the moon is full (when he has his tail, anyway), he become a giant gorilla. This is a trait all Saiyans share.
• Kirk Summation: Goku begins the final phase of almost every battle by offering his opponent "one last chance" to recant his evil ways.
  • At the end of Z, before annihilating Kid Buu with the Spirit Bomb, Goku briefly reminisces about the events of the arc, and how Buu went from an mostly-innocent manchild (which the surviving Mr./Good Buu stays mostly as) to a ruthless killer after losing the battle against his inner evil, and says how Kid Buu will now learn what it's like to have his own life taken away against his will. He also makes a wish that Kid Buu will come back as a better person, so he can fight him again.
• Knight Errant: In the early arcs but especially in the Red Ribbon and Worldly Training arcs, where Goku travels the world with a singular goal in mind (seeking the Dragon Balls or training in the wilds), and getting mixed up in local troubles in the process that he helps out with because it's the right thing to do. This wuxia-influenced outlook persists even when Goku stops travelling the world: while he never flies about looking for injustice to thwart, he'll always stop and help if he encounters it while pursuing his own goals.
• Knight of Cerebus: Not him really but his Oozaru form appearing makes any scene turn dead serious for the destructive potential it could bring and how much of a mindless brute it is.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: After barely managing to stop Beerus's energy ball from destroying the Earth, Goku, exhausted and realizing that he's no match for Beerus, concedes defeat rather than continue fighting. It's this that ultimately convinces Beerus to spare the Earth.
• Kryptonite Factor: As a kid, he has two:
  • In early arcs, his rapacious hunger sometimes causes him to run out of stamina in the middle of a fight and lose most of his strength until he gets a good meal. This becomes less of an issue as he grows up and gains greater stamina reserves.
  • Grabbing his tail causes him to become paralyzed with pain. He eventually trains his tail specifically to counteract this.
• Kubrick Stare: After Goku becomes a Super Saiyan, this becomes his default expression until he learns to control it during the Cell Saga. This expression is very noticeable with Super Saiyan 3 since it is the least 'human' of the Super Saiyan forms.

L-M

• Laser-Guided Amnesia: In the sense that he lost a bit of genetic memory as a child (the Saiyan viciousness), facilitating his Heel–Face Turn.
• Last of His Kind: After Frieza murders Vegeta, Goku becomes the last pure-blooded Saiyan in the universe for a while (if you don't count Tarble and Super's Broly).
• Last-Second Chance: As Goku tries to see the good in everyone, he sometimes dips into this.
  • The first notable instance happens with Raditz, who begs Goku for mercy and promises to both change his ways and leave the planet if Goku lets go of his tail. The instant Goku does, Raditz breaks his promise and brutally tortures Goku, who's shocked that Raditz lied to him. Thankfully, he isn't dumb enough to fall for the same ploy twice.
  • The second major example occurs with Frieza on the dying Namek: Goku abruptly ends the battle with him, claiming that the tyrant was no longer a challenge to Goku and thus not worth fighting anymore. Goku goes on to say that he's satisfied in leaving Namek in the knowledge that Frieza would be forever tormented by on the humiliation of his defeat at the hands of a Saiyan. To reinforce his distaste in continuing the battle, Goku powers down from his Super Saiyan form, calls the fight off and immediately flies off. Frieza opts to attack him with energy discs despite clearly losing minutes earlier, but manages to slice himself in half by accident. He pleads to Goku for help. Goku's morality and heroic nature makes him unable to ignore Frieza's cries for help so he begrudgingly gives Frieza enough ki to escape the planet. Frieza betrays this mercy a second time and attacks Goku, forcing him to retaliate and seemingly kill his opponent.
• Law of Chromatic Superiority:
  • Twice. In the canonically-debatable GT, Goku's strongest form, Super Saiyan 4, has red fur and red...er...eyeliner. In the canon movie, Battle of Gods, his strongest form, Super Saiyan God, grants him red hair, red eyes, a flaming orange aura, and a red skin tint. This is Subverted in Resurrection 'F'' where the strongest Super Saiyan form is blue, which is considered a weak color in Japan.
  • This can also be applied to his former trump card, the Kaiōken. Formerly Goku's best transformation, it allows him to multiply the user's ki for a "heart beat", increasing his strength by any multiplication of his choosing, and as such, can allow Goku to remain the strongest on the battlefield if he multiplies his power, and this can even exceed any form of Super Saiyan depending on how it's multiplied. The drawback is his body cannot handle the stress and it can cause him to explode under the weight of his own ki; it's never stated if his body, at the end of the series, was ever trained enough to overcome this. And what color does it make him? Red.
• The Leader: He is the charismatic leader among his group of friends. When he's around, everyone defers to him, including Vegeta, Piccolo, and even the gods. This is mostly because Goku is usually the strongest by a wide margin, but it is also because he tends to remain levelheaded no matter what's happening around him.
• Leitmotif: As a young boy, Makafushigi Adventure was Goku's representative theme. Naturally, when the series switched to Z and "Head Cha-La" was employed, Makafushigi quietly disappeared.
• Let's Fight Like Gentlemen:
  • During his fight with Piccolo Jr. during the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, Goku takes great pains to avoid touching the ground outside the ring and refuses to let his friends help him so he can be declared the winner after the fight. By contrast, Piccolo couldn't care less about the tournament rules and just wants to kill Goku.
  • He prefers fights to be one on one matches, and even complains that Goku Black and Future Zamasu are cheating when they gang up on him.
• Lethally Stupid: He tends to care more about having a fair and challenging fight than anything else. He allows his most dangerous opponents to power up to their maximum level even when the entire planet's at stake, and even gives Cell a Senzu Bean right before he was about to engage in a fight to the death with his son. He also has the habit of giving his enemies a Last-Second Chance when he really should just kill them and be done with it (although this only causes trouble with Raditz and Frieza, since everyone else Goku's spares turn good eventually). This comes to a head in Resurrection 'F', where he gives Frieza the opportunity to walk away again despite how badly it backfired for him the last time; not only does Goku get near-fatally shot for the trouble, but when Frieza was subsequently defeated by Vegeta, he flipped out and blew up the Earth.
• Light Is Good: His normal Super Saiyan transformations, Super Saiyan God, Super Saiyan Blue, and most recently, Ultra Instinct have his hair glow a bright color and a light colored Aura surrounding him.
• Lightning Bruiser: As a child, he could already move, dodge and land his own attacks so quickly that he would leave afterimages and nobody could tell what happened. By the time the Saiyan Arc began, even Vegeta couldn't believe how incredibly fast Goku was able to land his attacks. As he grew older, he just become stronger and faster to the point where he became as fast as the speed of light and arguably faster via Instant Transmission.
• Like Brother and Sister: His relationship with Bulma. She was only the second person he has ever met after his grandfather found him as a toddler and they remain extremely close even as adults with their own families.
• Like Father, Like Son:
  • In the Son part, Goku is, ironically, as ruthless as his father when shit gets serious, even down to Tranquil Fury as he kills his enemies responsible. If you kill someone he cares about, he will stop having fun with his fights, and get serious.
  • He gets his kindhearted and gentle from his mother Gine.
  • In the Father portion: Gohan gets his intelligence, fun-loving nature, as well as his Big Eater tendencies. And just like his father, he can get ruthless and smug when the chips are down. Just ask Cell and Cell Max.
• Limited Wardrobe: Almost never seen in anything other than a martial arts uniform. Also, he's mostly worn the same outfit (with some additions) since he was twelve-to-fourteen years old.
• Limp and Livid: Goku takes this stance exactly one time. It's right before he becomes a Super Saiyan for the first time.
• Lineage Comes from the Father: Subverted. While Goku gets his looks and his fighting genes from his father Bardock, it is from his mother Gine (introduced in a supplementary manga released long after the end of the series and way before Dragon Ball Super: Broly) that he gets his kind and gentle nature. That kind nature is passed on to all of Goku's descendants.
• Line-of-Sight Name: How Son Gohan named Goku. Because Goku fell from the sky, Gohan named him Goku. (The 空 (kū) in Gokū can be read as 'sora', which means 'sky'.)
• Little Bit Beastly: Until he reached adulthood, Goku had a monkey tail that he often used as a fifth limb.
• Living Emotional Crutch:
  • On top of being a physical Crutch Character to his friends, he is also this to them, especially Krillin and Gohan. They both become noticeably pessimistic when Goku isn't around to guide and protect them. Krillin is so dependent on Goku at times that he was ready to run when Goku fell sick in the Android Saga and Gohan lost his will to fight after Goku died sacrificing himself to stop Cell.
  • It's not as obvious as with Gohan or Krillin, but like them, Bulma is noticeably dependent on Goku. Even after marrying Vegeta who constantly pushes himself to keep up with Goku in power and largely succeeds at it, Bulma still puts much of her faith in Goku to save the day. Her future counterpart sends Trunks back in time specifically to save Goku's life, and in Super, Bulma won't stop talking about how Goku will definitely deal with Goku Black and Future Zamasu, despite Vegeta being about equal to Goku.
  • His family too are crutches for him in the same sense as Krillin is, as harming or threatening them will often result in Goku flying into either an Unstoppable Rage or a terrifying Tranquil Fury.
• Living Legend: Goku zig-zags this. On Earth, he is well known within the martial arts community. He is an undefeated champion of the World Martial Arts Tournament and two time runner-up in legendary matches. Among some, he is known as the person who killed King Piccolo. However, Goku isn't well known by the general population thanks to him wanting no credit for his work and Mr. Satan stealing any he may gained. In the universe at large, people know who he is. He's known as the Super Saiyan and is feared and revered for defeating Frieza and Majin Buu. The Supreme Kai knew who he was, even before the incident with Buu.
• Locked Out of the Loop:
  • Throughout his childhood and some of his adult life, Goku had no clue that he transformed into a Great Ape during a full moon, which caused the death of his grandfather. He doesn't learn the truth until he fights Vegeta and sees him transform, after which he puts two and two together.
  • He's the only member of the main cast who hasn't figured out that Monaka is a total weakling and not the most powerful mortal in Universe 7. At Beerus' request, his friends keep the secret from him.
• Logical Weakness:
  • Instant Transmission is a technique that requires sensing someone's ki, and he planned to use it when Frieza was on Earth, since the latter was converted into a cyborg, but still has ki to sense. The Androids however do not, and he and the Z-Fighters had to find them by sight. This isn't a problem with Cell, since while Cell is a biomechanical android, he has ki from his genetic donors.
  • During the Tournament of Power, he achieves Ultra Instinct, a state that can be considered the ultimate expression of Don't Think, Feel, which allows a fighter to dodge pretty much any attack reflexively. The drawback is that because it's un-mastered (at that point), it's almost entirely defense-oriented; as Whis explains, all fighters think when they attack, giving consideration to things like how much force to use and where to strike, and that it's extremely difficult to leave attacking to instinct. Goku finds a sort of work-around while fighting Kefla, letting his body dodge her attacks while he concentrates on charging a Kamehameha, firing it off when he gets right up in her face.
• Look What I Can Do Now!: One of the biggest examples of the trope. Every time he's off-screen for a long period of time, expect him to take several levels in badass.
• Lower-Class Lout: Even by his mid-forties, Son Goku never matured past the country bumpkin raised in the mountains; he never uses "Keigo" (Polite-Dialect Japanese) in former situations or when talking to his seniors/social-betters ^note this is considered to be grievously rude and immature in Real Life Japanese Society, is childishly demanding when it comes to food and drink, and sadly still prone to using toilet-humor slang and scatological-analogies even in the company of women ^note  which of course, is considered rude in any society.
• Lunacy: The Oozaru transformation. Goku himself isn't aware of it until he pieces it together from what Vegeta tells him.
• Made of Iron: Not to the extent of Gohan and Vegeta, but even without using his Ki and muscles to defend himself, Goku is immune to any real damage from most small firearms and blunt trauma like getting hit by robots/rocks/cars/Bulma etc. It still hurts like crazy, but don't expect him to get more than a scrape or two unless whatever hurt him is REALLY deadly. Obviously a different story if he's actually trying not to get hurt, but that's mostly universal since many characters in Dragon Ball can survive a planet-destroying attack if they're trying to.
• Magical Defibrillator: When Goku has his heart stopped by Hit, Piccolo attempts to restart his heart, just like with Gohan in Resurrection 'F'. Piccolo is unsuccessful, but Goku managed to shoot an energy blast before dying, which hits him and gives him the jolt needed to get his heart working.
  • He does it with Ki blasts again to Master Roshi after his heart stopped due to overusing the Mafuba and Kamehameha.
• Magic Pants: And how, especially in GT where Goku somehow keeps his pants after going Super Saiyan 4 (from kid-sized to his original adult height). He also kept his pants after he transformed into a Golden Great Ape and went Super Saiyan 4 for the first time.
• Magnetic Hero: Goku sure collected quite the unlikely group of friends by the end of the series. Old Kai even lampshades this tendency, saying how Goku can turn almost anyone into a friend or ally, even the God of Destruction.
• That Makes Me Feel Angry:
  • It happens mostly when he's afraid or tell his friends that he is afraid of something, without him actually showing that he is and he's usually smiling as he says it. If he does shows fear, then things are usually very bad. On the other hand, if he tells an opponent that he's mad at them, that usually means that he's closed to going into a murderous rage.
  • In Super, after Goku Black and Future Zamasu revealed that Black murdered Chi-Chi and Goten after stealing his body and killing him, Goku loses it, saying this trope almost word-by-word, before beating the mess out of them:
  Goku: I won't forgive you! You…. took over my body. You even killed Chi-Chi and Goten! I'm mad… I'm seriously mad now! I ain't ever going to forgive you!
• Man Bites Man: Despite being someone who wants a fair fight, Goku will bite his opponent if given no choice, or they bite him first. He's bitten King Piccolo's thumb, Frieza when he tries to strangle him with his tail, and Kid Buu after he bites his arm. In Super, he bites Beerus' tail during their first fight, Frieza's tail when he's trying to strangle him with it, and even bites Whis during training.
• Manchild: Yes, and quite a positive example at that, emphasizing innocence and compassion for others. At the same time, he has the type of selfishness that's often associated with children, like his need to fight strong opponents, consequences be damn, even if it's the gods warning him. He also has quirks that are often seen in young kids like his fear of needles in the anime which extends to doctors and becoming paralyzed when tickled.
• Manly Tears: Android 8's Heroic Sacrifice in Path to Power marks one of the very few times in the entire franchise that Goku ever cries. In the series proper, he cries with joy after seeing his grandpa again, something his friends note as rare. He also cries in Super when he realizes Master Roshi is still alive during the Tournament of Power.
• Martial Pacifist: Downplayed Trope, because although he loves to fight and test himself against powerful opponents, he will only fight people who are willing to battle. Goku almost never seeks out combat outside of a tournament, unless it's to challenge specific opponents who catch his interest like Frieza and the Androids. He largely prefers to reason his way out of conflicts, and if he has to fight to protect his friends or the Earth, he will try to finish it quickly and with minimal injury to his opponent (witness his fights with Nappa and the Ginyu Force).
• Master-Apprentice Chain: Goku is the third master of the Turtle School, a martial arts style that has roots with Mutaito, Master Roshi and Shen's master. He later pass on his lessons to Gohan, Pan, and Uub. He also trained under Master Korin, who trained Master Roshi in his youth, and he was mentored under Kami, King Kai, and much later Whis, giving him the most chains in the series.
• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: The Ultra Divine Water. Korin says that it's magical and can unleash a fighter's latent power. Yajirobe claims that the water is just poison after tasting it. In the anime, the Darkness, the entity who guards the Ultra Divine Water, states that the water is poisonous, but it does bring out a fighter's latent abilities if they can withstand the pain and have latent power to bring out. In Z, it appears that the Ultra Divine Water was just really powerful poison since as a Saiyan, Goku gets stronger from near death and no one before Goku has ever survived drinking the Ultra Divine Water, so we don't know if it can make a human stronger.
• Meaningful Name: "Son Goku" is the Japanese name rendering for "Sun Wukong". His given name can be translated to 'awakened to emptiness/perceiving air'. His name can also be translated to 'from the sky' since the 'Ku' in Goku's name can also means sky in Japanese. Goku is an alien who came from the sky, and even had a very similar beginning tale that loosely followed the original Journey to the West, until by the time Z kicked in...
• Men Don't Cry: With the exceptions of the climax of The Path to Power, a scene in GT, the original series when he meets his grandpa again after he came back for one day, and when he beats King Piccolo in the manga, he hasn't cried since he was a baby. He also tears up in Super when he realized Master Roshi was still alive during the tournament of power. Before said scene in GT, he even flat-out boasted that he never cries.
• Messianic Archetype: He came to Earth from the stars, saved the world three times before he turned twenty, gave his life for the Earth twice, and is described as being like an angel by his friends and family. He's even drawn with angel wings in several official artworks, including one from Toriyama. The original dub took this and ran with it in the Frieza Saga, giving Goku a "Justice, peace, light, and truth" speech after becoming a Super Saiyan.
• Messiah Creep: Despite Toriyama's claim that Goku can be a selfish person who will put a good fight ahead of everything, Goku experienced this even in the original manga. As a child, he was selfish in that he would only protect those he personally bonded with and he had no problem causing great physical harm or killing his enemies if provoked. As he grew older, he becomes more protective of humanity in general to the point that he went out of his way to restore the Dragon Balls during the Cell Games after Cell murdered the world army and he asked not to be revived since he indirectly put the Earth in danger several times. He's also more picky about who he kills to the point of trying to spare monsters like Frieza and tries to defeat his enemies with minimum force.
• Meteor Move: Quite honestly can be seen as the Trope Codifier. He loved doing this.
• The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body: When Goku becomes a Great Ape, he loses all sense of himself and becomes a murderous monster who kills his own grandfather and attacks his friends. Krillin theorized that the transformation reverts the Saiyans back to their original form. Likewise, when Goku becomes a Super Saiyan, he is noticeably more violent, sadistic, and arrogant, very similar to normal Saiyan behavior.
• Minor Living Alone: He lived by himself at his grandfather's house for a number of years before being found by Bulma. It is not known how long he was alone, but he's only twelve years old when the story begins.
• Mirror Character:
  • Goku and his older brother Raditz. Both are overachievers much like their father before them, born low-class yet fortunate enough to become elite by attrition after their race was wiped out. While Goku embraced the gentle heart given to him by his mother and works his entire life to break the limits of his birth, like his father, Radtiz chose to hide behind others stronger than him while embracing the ruthlessness of being a Saiyan, rejecting his mother's kind influence.
  • Vegeta and Goku, eternal rivals. Both are thrill-seeking Saiyan warriors always looking to test, expand, and overcome their limits. While Goku is a cheerful man who cherishes others, greatly values his Earthly upbringing, and was born weak among commoner parents, Vegeta is a rough, arrogant prince who initially cares only for himself, and was born very powerful and heir to the throne of his planet. However, under Goku's influence, even Vegeta comes to proudly defend Earth and their friends.
• Missing Mom: His mother, named Gine, finally made an appearance in 2014. Before then, whether pure-blooded Saiyans even had mothers was up for debate.
• Monkey King Lite: Goku was originally created as a loose version of Sun Wukong. His name is the Japanese pronunciation of "Sun Wukong", he had a monkey tail, fought with a staff called "Nyoibo" that could extend endlessly, could turn into a monstrous monkey when he looked at the full moon, and traveled on a golden nimbus cloud called the Kinto'un. After Z, this becomes downplayed as he takes on more Stock Shōnen Hero characteristics, most that he invented. He does keep some of his original Sun Wukong-inspired traits like becoming an actual god, his monstrous strength, his ability to copy techniques that he sees, his mischievous personality, and he still has the Nimbus around for his family to use. In Dragon Ball Super, Goku starts to antagonize the gods, earning their ire, just like the Monkey King does.
• Mood-Swinger: When he becomes a Super Saiyan for the first time, Goku isn't exactly stable mentally. One minute, he will be speaking in a calm voice and the next he's screaming at the top of his lungs. He also had bouts of extreme smugness while being uncharacteristically sadistic, while still showing some concern for his friends and family.
• Mook Horror Show:
  • What he subjected the Red Ribbon Army to every time he fought them, but especially when he raided their base. He dodged a projectile fired from a rocket launcher literally meters across, then slammed the soldiers into a wall; shrugged off a sniper shot as if it was a pellet from a BB gun, terrifying the sniper; then he kept punching through the ceiling to reach the leader's floor. The experience was so horrifying that it inspired Dr. Gero to create the androids.
  • Likewise, Goku's arrival on Namek sees him mowing down the members of the Ginyu Force, leaving both Recoome and Burter down, and Jeice so freaked out that he runs to get Ginyu, who has a meltdown just by Goku powering up.
• Moses in the Bulrushes: Goku's origin is based on Superman's origin and so, of course, involves this.
• Muggle Foster Parents: Although Gohan Sr. was not an ordinary human, being a renowned martial artist, he falls into this since humans are muggles when compared to Saiyans.
• Mugging the Monster:
  • Happens a lot, especially when he was a child. In the first episode of the series, Bulma shoots Goku several times after he threatened her, although she did hit him with her car. The bullets barely hurt him. Some other memorable examples are Goku's fight with Nappa, where the bigger Saiyan assumed he is the same weakling from a year ago, and Recoome from the Ginyu Force who believes his power level was only five thousand.
  • The Red Ribbon Army's interaction with Goku starts out as this. They believed that he is just some kid and don't really take him seriously. It is not until he brings down Muscle Tower that they begin to see him as a true threat. After that, it becomes a clear case of Bullying the Dragon.
  • Catapy deserves special mention for thinking he could tickled Goku into submission. It ends with him flying a couple hundred feet into the air.
  • One instance in Super has a few thugs try robbing Goku, who at that point is a Physical God. Needlessly to say, he kicks their ass without so much as breaking a sweat.
• Multi-Armed and Dangerous: At the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament, Tien uses the Four Witches Technique that makes him grow four arms against Goku during their match. After withstanding the technique, Goku says that he will grow eight arms to counter Tien, freaking everyone out since they think he copied and improved Tien's technique. Instead, Goku reveals that he copied King Chapa's Hasshu-ken (Eight-Arm Fist), which gives the illustration of having eight arms.
• Multi-Slot Character: Video games often treat his Dragon Ball, Z, and GT incarnations as separate characters.
• Mundane Object Amazement: Goku gets this a lot during his youth due to him living in the isolated mountains for all of his life. While there are genuinely amazing feats of technology like the DynoCaps, Goku is often scared and amazed of more mundane things like bikes, cars, planes and intercoms. He is also amazed by the city lights when viewed from the air, and initially confuses them for the stars having fallen onto the ground and asks Roshi if he can have one.
• Mystical White Hair: In his perfected Ultra Instinct form, Goku's hair turns silvery-white — emphasizing his immense increase in power.
• My God, What Have I Done?:
  • He invokes this after he gives Chi-Chi a reassuring pat on the back, only to send her flying through a wall, a tree, and half of a boulder (she's tough enough to survive it).
  • He has a much more serious moment of this during the Cell Games, when Piccolo reminds him that Gohan was partially human, didn't share Goku's lust for battle, and thus didn't find any pleasure at all in getting beaten senseless by Cell while his father did nothing but watch.
  • During the Universe Survival Saga, when Team Universe 9 loses, the Zenos reveal that their statement that they would erase any universe that lost the Tournament of Power was not a bluff, and promptly eliminate all of Universe 9 on the spot. Goku, who suggested the Tournament of Power to the Zenos in the first place, is left stunned and in shock, seemingly realizing what his actions and desire for battle have brought upon innocent lives.
• My Hero, Zero: The short-lived Harmony Gold dub from the 80s renamed him Zero for... some reason, and even worked his new name into their version of the opening theme song.
• My Species Doth Protest Too Much: How Goku feels about the Saiyans. Thanks to being raised on Earth and his head injury, Goku is softhearted, kind man, while the Saiyans were ruthless Jerkasses who committed planetary genocide for profit. When Goku learned that he is a Saiyan, he initially denounced his race and wanted nothing to do with them. After the events of Namek, he does embrace his Saiyan heritage, although he makes a point to say that he's a Saiyan raised on Earth.

N-O

• Naked People Are Funny: Goku is one of the only guys to appear nude, especially in the episode "The Celebrations of Buu," when he's naked with Gotenks and everybody laughs at him.
• Nature Hero: At his heart, this is what Goku is. He prefers to live in isolation in the mountains with his family and train. He is also protective of animals and treats them like people. When he was a child, he held a grudge against the Red Ribbon Army for burning a forest with monkeys he befriended. Also, when poachers from space takes a bunch of animals to sell on the black market and one tries to bribe 17 and him, Goku coldly says that there is no saving him and walks over to smash the guy.
• Nature Versus Nurture: It is all but stated that Saiyans are naturally ruthless Blood Knights who care about little except for fighting. When Goku hit his head and forgot his Saiyan memories, he was raised to be the good person we know by the kind senior Gohan. However, with supplemental material, we have seen that there were good Saiyans and Goku's mother was one of them, bringing into question if Goku's goodness is genetic as well as nurture. Given that his brother, Raditz, has the same mother and still turned out to be a sadistic Jerkass, it appears Nurture over Nature. Also, all the good Saiyans we know are also pacifists who hate fighting, while Goku loves fighting like any typical Saiyan. Vegeta even calls it unusual to see a Saiyan who loves to fight, but at the same time is so gentle. Either way, Goku's case is unique.
• Necessary Drawback:
  • Goku's Spirit Bomb. An extremely powerful attack that can nuke enemies stronger than Goku or can be used to add to his strength, making him many times stronger. Despite its power, however, it takes a long, long time to charge and it leaves Goku wide opened to attack, as he's asking everything on the planet for a little bit of energy. It's also never a problem in the series proper, but until after he trains for the Cell Games, he also can't use it as a Super Saiyan.
  • The Kaioken in combination with Super Saiyan Blue. When Goku uses this, he can make himself up to ten times stronger and perhaps even more. It is also an incomplete technique with only a 10% success rate since Goku is still improving it. He can also only maintain it for a few minutes (which is still longer than the original Kaioken) and once it breaks, Goku can barely move. On top of that, it can make Goku sick days afterwards with Delayed Onset Ki Syndrome, a sickness where Goku loses control of his energy so much that he can't even fly properly. Using the Kaioken also risks permanently crippling him. So, Goku can't use this combination any time he wants.
• Nerves of Steel: Yes he is a Determinator, but it's not just that he continues grinding on, he stays cool and smiling even in the most overwhelming situations. He might get surprised now and then, but he never panics or despairs.
• Never-Forgotten Skill:
  • After Goku dies against Raditz and meets King Kai, he learns a technique called the Spirit Bomb. He stops using it after the fight with Frieza - it's time-consuming to create, and wasn't powerful enough to do the job. Years later, he is reminded to use this technique on Kid Buu by Vegeta (who also suggests that he drain considerably more energy to fuel it), and is still able to use it like a pro.
  • After not using the Kaioken for almost two decades in-universe (not counting anime filler), Goku reveals that he can combine his previous power-up technique with Super Saiyan Blue and can take it up to Kaioken X10 during his fight with Hit.
• Never Gets Fat: No matter what or how much Goku eats (which is mostly a whole damn lot), he is always shown to still keep his muscular physique. All that fighting he does on a regular basis must burn a lot of calories.
• New Powers as the Plot Demands: Done often enough that his friends have come to expect this from him:
  • He reads Krillin's mind when he arrives on Namek to catch up on current events. This was given some Lampshade Hanging treatment by Krillin, who asked "Where did you get that ability?".
  • Goku showing off Super Saiyan 3 to Majin Buu. Super Saiyan 3 literally came out of nowhere in the Buu Saga. Unlike the other Super Saiyans, this one had no hints or foreshadowing.
  • In Super, he learns to combine Super Saiyan Blue with the Kaioken off-screen and no one knew about it, not even Vegeta who trained with Goku for three years in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.
  • Goku's mastery of Super Saiyan Blue allows him to fight Merged Zamasu on equal terms. This revelation comes out of nowhere with no foreshadowing.
  • The first time this happened was back in the 23rd tournament. During his fight with Piccolo, it doesn't look like Goku can fly so he keeps shooting Kamehameha from his hands or feet to emulate flight, but at the very end, Piccolo broke all of his limbs and was about to kill him with a beam attack, Goku out of nowhere uses flight to dodge it and flies into a surprised and weakened Piccolo, winning the fight. Everyone else is surprised at this, since back then flight was only used by characters who were from Crane School and Piccolo, and again, Goku himself used Kamehameha to improvise flight, when he could just fly all along.
  • In Wrath of the Dragon and GT he suddenly pulls out Dragon Fist to finish off Hildegarn and 17 respectively, both times with no hints Goku even had such a technique, and in =[GT]= it wasn't clear if the movies were part of its canon, making its inclusion there sudden too.
• Nice Guy: One of the nicest and kindest people in the series. Even people who get on him for being an unrepentant Blood Knight vouch for his goodness.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
  • During the Cell Games, he sends Gohan to fight Cell without being mentally prepared. Gohan deliberately drags out Cell's fight to make him suffer as much as possible, leading to Cell having a Villainous Breakdown and trying to blow up the Earth. This leads to a Heroic Sacrifice by Goku and Cell becoming even more powerful after he recovers.
  • During the Buu Saga, he decides not to kill Buu when he has the chance. His inaction leads to the birth of Super Buu, leading to the wipe-out of the human race.
  • In Resurrection 'F' and the subsequent Super adaptation, after gaining the upper hand against Frieza's new Golden form, Goku gives him the opportunity to walk away again. Fortunately, Whis rewinds time by three minutes, allowing Goku to rectify his mistake.
  • In Super, he becomes really forgetful about carrying key items. This becomes extremely costly when he and Roshi forget to bring the paper amulet seal for the Evil Containment Wave. This causes it to fail to hold the immortal Future Zamasu, prompting him to fuse with his past counterpart "Goku Black".
  • Goku introducing Future Zeno to Zeno may sound innocent, but we get to see how these Zenos play with each other. They basically play with real-life planets and collide them with each other.
• Nigh-Invulnerability: Goku's near indestructibility is often Played for Laughs, especially in the original Dragon Ball, like him being shot, run over, falling out of the sky, hit with blunt objects, crush, eating, set on fire, and receiving little to no damage. He is so indestructible that Goku often lets his opponents wail on him just to see how powerful they are. This is Down Played more in Z, but still shows up from time to time. Like being the only fighter not to be destroyed by Buu, being able to take a full beating from Frieza and still able to fight and go Super Saiyan, and able to hold Raditz while all his ribs are broken.
• No Badass to His Valet:
  • It doesn't matter that Goku is literally a Physical God capable of destroying the universe and punches Cthulhu on an almost daily basis, he's a Henpecked Husband to his wife Chi-Chi. Goten lampshades that she's really the strongest person in the universe.
  • He gets this from Bulma too who often yells at him for being stupid and will physically assault him. Unlike Chi-Chi, however, Goku doesn't really listen to her and often tunes her out.
• No Challenge Equals No Satisfaction: Unlike most of the other Blood Knights in the series, Goku wants to fight people who actually have a chance at beating him, not just give him a decent fight until he decides to curb stomp them like Vegeta, Cell, and Super Buu. However, since he's one of the strongest beings in the universe, he has to restrain himself most of the time to get a decent challenge, which makes scaling people to Goku's current power difficult since he will suppress himself even when transformed to match his opponent better. It's heavily implied that the reason he's so anxious to train Uub to fight him someday is out of boredom because he hasn't been pushed in a long time. This is shown during his afterlife training when the South Kai challenges him to show off his moves with ten tons of weight attached to each limb; when King Kai tells him to just go Super Saiyan, Goku responds, "Won't that make it too easy?". In Super, he finds the idea of beating Beerus by defeating the much weaker Supreme Kai (since their lives are linked) as boring.
• No-Nonsense Nemesis: A heroic version. When the situation demands it, Goku will put aside his enjoyment for a great fight and become quite serious, brutal and pragmatic. As soon as Krillin was killed, he didn't just defeat Tambourine, he outright vaporized him. When Recoome was going to use a certain attack, Goku interrupted him completely. When he was a Super Saiyan for the first time on Namek, after Frieza was using up the ki Goku gave to him, he immediately blasted Frieza. When Whis undoes the destruction Frieza caused on planet Earth, rather than simply make the same mistake, he outright kills and obliterates Frieza, unlike on Namek.
• Non-Protagonist Resolver: Is this in Wrath of the Dragon. While Goku is the franchise's protagonist, in that movie he barely gets any screen time, with most of it being used to develop Trunks and Tapion. Then at the end of the movie when everyone else has been defeated, he turns Super Saiyan 3 and suddenly uses Dragon Fist to finish off Hildegarn.
• No-Sell: After unlocking his Super Saiyan form for the first time, Goku starts Frieza's Humiliation Conga by either dodging or outright tanking moves that originally would have killed him. When Frieza tells him to stay still long enough to get hit, Goku does exactly that and lets Frieza shoot him in the face with one of his Death Beams just to show how screwed Frieza really is now. Goku says it best in the Kai dub:
  Goku: What's the matter, Frieza? I can't be harder to destroy than a planet, right?
  • He also pulls this on Moro when the wizard attempts to perform a treacherous attack right after being healed by a Senzu Bean. Goku doesn't even move to defend himself, and let Moro quite literally break his hand on Goku's chest.
• No Sense of Personal Space: He was like this early on; unable to tell the difference between boys and girls by sight, he figured the easiest way to do this was by feeling for their parts. He falls back into it a bit in Dragon Ball Super, which is best displayed when he first meets Zamasu; Goku touches his arms to see how well trained he was, and Zamasu furiously lashes out at him for it.
• No Social Skills: He was raised by his grandfather in the wilderness until said grandfather died. He had been so sheltered that he never truly assimilated into society, and the division was very evident until he was an adult. The worst symptom, however, would have to be his complete inability to assess gender from sight, which led to some Accidental Perversion. Bulma was the first girl he had ever seen in his life up till that point, so she got the worst of it. Hell, Bulma's not just the first girl he ever met, but she's also the first other human contact that Goku ever had aside from his grandfather. Super turned this into a Running Gag. Whenever someone of a higher power visits, everyone (gods included) expects him to be polite, lest if he ends up destroyed on the spot. Notable instances is with Beerus and Zeno. In Battle of Gods arc, he has consistently called him "Lord Beerus" at King Kai's instance. In Zenos case, Beerus, Whis, and Shin the Supreme Kai expects him to be as formal as possible. Unexpectedly, Zeno does not mind Goku's casual speech to the Shin's ire.
  • This actually brings out negative consequences, as explored in Super. Just because you are Pals with Jesus in your own world does not mean Gods in others will reciprocate, as Zamasu proved.
• Nominal Hero: An odd and, at most ^note With the emphasis on "at most" since Goku, even without any Adaptational Heroism and going purely by his manga persona, has had enough heroic moments and showcased enough heroic qualities to out-right avert this trope. , extremely downplayed example. Goku's motivation for fighting is to constantly challenge himself and surpass his own limit, and he enjoys putting his skills to the test with stronger opponents. He isn't fighting for any high-minded ideal, as he himself admits. However, he will also help anyone who is in need, because he believes it's the right thing to do, has shown legimate care for the fate of the universe multiple times (this moment from the Frieza Saga is a massive example), has tropes like All-Loving Hero and Ideal Hero on this very character page and has admitted to Merus that he genuinely believes in redemption and doesn't just let villains go to purely fight them again (all of this even without any of the Adaptational Heroism from the English dub or the Japanese anime.).
• Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: Goku was born with a power level of two, essentially being at the absolute bottom of the Saiyan pecking order. On Earth, he turns out to be incredibly powerful, especially for a baby (the first adult human Raditz met had a power level of five). Even before training with Master Roshi, Goku was bulletproof, able to shatter bricks with one finger, and beat up trained martial artists like Yamcha and Krillin, eventually becoming the strongest being on Earth by the time he was 18.
• The Nose Knows: He has a powerful sense of smell. According to Goku, he can smell as well as a dog. This caused him some problems around Bacterian, who smells so bad that Goku nearly passed out just being in his presence.
• Not Even Bothering with the Accent: In the original Japanese version, Goku spoke with a light Tohoku dialect, and even Chi-Chi had to correct him on a number of occasions to speak normally. This gets lost in the dubs.
• Not Distracted by the Sexy: Two notable instances:
  • In the first chapter/episode, Bulma offers to let Goku touch her rear if he lets her have his grandpa's Dragon Ball; Goku simply asks why he would want to touch her "dirty butt".
  • Much later, when he comes across Roshi's Porn Stash, Goku simply thinks the girls in the magazines are too poor to afford clothing.
• Not Helping Your Case: Goku is blamed by the gods for starting the Tournament of Power that put their universes in danger. While it is true that Goku reminded Zeno about the tournament he promised back in the Champa Saga, the universes forced to enter the Tournament of Power were screwed regardless since Zeno was going to destroy the universe with the lowest Mortal Levels. So Goku indirectly gave at least one universe the chance to save itself. However, Goku does himself no favors because of his laid-back attitude, how casually he treats Zeno, and how he shows no real concern about being labeled a villain out to destroy the multiverse. He actually fully embraced being seen as 'evil' and openly challenges the gods to bring their best fighters so he can beat them.
• Not Himself: When he first goes Super Saiyan, Goku goes from a peaceful, All-Loving Hero, to a highly arrogant, cold-blooded, sadistic Blood Knight who wants to make Frieza suffer, physically and mentally. King Kai is outright frightened when he witnesses the change in Goku's personality.
• Not Quite Dead: Left for dead by King Piccolo after he confirmed that his heart stopped. Seconds after Piccolo left, his heart restarted.
• "Not So Different" Remark:
  • In the dub, King Piccolo notes that Goku and he are not that different since they both enjoy inflicting pain.
  • In the first dub, Frieza says that now that Goku is a Super Saiyan, he really isn't that different from him since they're both beasts with no conscience. Goku doesn't answer back.
  • In Super, Beerus notes that Goku and him are quite similar. When upset, they both let their emotions get the best of them and will get payback (no matter how petty) on those who slight them. Whis also notes the similarities, saying Beerus and him are both childish and selfish when it comes to fighting.
• Not So Invincible After All: Despite surviving many close calls like having every bone broken in his body and defeating the strongest being in the universe, Goku is laid flat on his back by a virus. In Trunks' timeline, it outright kills him. Future Gohan even lampshades this when musing about how he thought his father was invincible.
• Not with Them for the Money: For Chi-Chi, though their finances were really starting to get strained towards the end.
• Not Too Dead to Save the Day: Even death won't stop Goku from helping his friends and family:
  • The final battle against Cell, Gohan is cheered on by Goku's spirit in the middle of a Beam-O-War, going so far as to mimic the Kamehameha stance. The scene is so memorable that several of the games have included the "Father-Son Kamehameha" as its own attack. Better yet, since Goku can teleport and his spirit was shown to be watching the situation, it's entirely possible he was actually there.
  • In Bojack Unbound, and Broly: Second Coming, Goku's spirit returns to help his sons save the day. In the former, he punches out Bojack as he squeezes the life out of Gohan. In the latter, he helps Gohan and Goten do a Kamehameha wave to defeat Broly.
• Now It's My Turn: Tends to do this when showing off his newly obtained skills, letting the opponent try their best, then beating them down. If he lets you beat him up, then reveals it did nothing, it's generally a sign you've really pissed him off.
• Number Two: Goku becomes this to Gohan after he makes him the captain of the Universe 7 team. Gohan comes up with the battle strategies and team formations, while Goku acts as the recruiter.
• Oblivious to Love: He thought marriage was a food and didn't understand why Chi-Chi keeps hugging him. It's not until he has a son of his own that he finally starts to get it.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Yes. At times, he pulls this. Most notable in Battle of Gods, when, after first hearing Beerus' name, he asks the North Kai if it's a kind of candy to verify if the god would willingly tell him what was the deal about.
• Obsessed with Food: Oh, so very much. If he's not thinking about fighting, he's thinking about his next meal, especially as a kid where every other word out of his mouth was about eating. It is somewhat justified since Goku becomes extremely weak when he goes a long time without eating. Even as an adult, he never really outgrows this. Instead, he eats an ungodly amount of food before going into a big battle or eats a Senzu that fills anyone for ten days.
• Obsolete Mentor: Played all over the place. In the Cell Saga, he works to make Gohan stronger than him. He succeeds even before Gohan becomes a Super Saiyan 2, surpassing him in every possible way. He even cites this as one of the reasons why he chose to remain dead. This becomes Subverted in the Buu Saga where Goku becomes stronger than Gohan because his son slacked off. It's then Played Straight again after Gohan trains under Old Kai and unlocks all his hidden power. Then it's subverted, again, because Gohan slacks off and Goku gets empowered by Super Saiyan God.
• Offered the Crown: Kami offered him the job of Earth's God at the end of Deagon Ball. At the end of Battle of Gods, he's offered the role of becoming the universal God of Destruction. Both times, Goku turns it down.
• Offhand Backhand: In Episode 61 of Super, an enraged Goku teleports to Future Zamasu on the ground with his back facing him, and as Zamasu pauses in surprise, Goku pulls this off on him, knocking him back into a building.
• Oh, Crap!: If he's not inspiring them, he will often marvel and be shocked whenever an opponent displays an overwhelming power advantage, with Frieza, Buu and Beerus all being prime examples.
• Older Than He Looks: Kid Goku is supposed to be 12 in the 21st tournament and 15 on the 22nd. However, in neither instance does he looks older than 10. Then, in late Z, when Goku is on his early forties and beyond, he looks no older than 30! Apparently a result of pure-blooded Saiyans aging slower than humans. It is actually confirmed that Saiyans have long childhoods compared to humans. The fact that he has spent roughly seven years of his life dead (he regained one of his lost years after staying in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber) probably doesn't hurt. As of Super, he trains for another three years in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, making him only four years physically younger. Still, Vegeta looks about the same age and he started off around 5 years older than Goku and only stayed dead for a few minutes/hours before being resurrected the two times that he bit it. If you trim off the time he's dead and/or spending in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Goku would be 41 to Bulma's 45 in Super, 47 during the Future Trunks Arc and Tournament of Power, and 51 in End of Z.
• One-Man Army: Remember that this is the guy who destroyed the Red Ribbon Army at age twelve, and that was when he was comparatively weak.
• Only Friend:
  • To Zeno, the Top God of the Dragon Ball Multiverse; Goku is the only being in existence to treat him with genuine warmth as opposed to obsequious respect, and not fear him as a force of nature. The Godling dearly loves the Saiyan Warrior in return.
  • In a roundabout way, to Frieza of all people by the end of the Universe Survival Arc; sure, they would still gladly pound each other into the ground, but Goku has become one of the few beings in the Universe that has earned Frieza's trust, admiration and respect; and the feeling is completely mutual on Goku's part. Theirs is a "friendship" that resembles the furious yet oddly affectionate war between Batman and The Joker; and that is as close to having a "friend" that someone like Frieza will ever get.
• Only One Name: Most English dubs omit his surname completely. The English dub of the Kai episode "The Angry Super Saiyan! Goku Throws Down the Gauntlet!" marks the first time in the English dub that his full name "Son Goku" is said in audible dialogue.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Any time Goku's happy-go-lucky demeanor drops and he becomes truly angry or upset.
  • There is just one time in which Goku was in no mood to eat a meal. When he sensed that his best friend Krillin was in danger and rushed to help him. It was too late: Krillin was already dead.
  • Following which, the typically happy-go-lucky Goku screams that he'll make whoever killed Krillin pay, and rather brutally does just that. He then fights King Piccolo and eventually strikes an honest death blow on him. It's the first time that Goku becomes truly, irrevocably enraged to the point of no forgiveness.
  • Goku also blows his top when Frieza kills Krillin. He becomes so enraged, it triggers his transformation into a Super Saiyan, the usually easy-going Goku now warning his son to get the hell out of here before he loses what little restraint he has left, then subjecting Frieza to a vicious Curb-Stomp Battle. As Goku says in Dragon Ball Z Kai, he's "pure of heart, awoken by fury".
• Orc Raised by Elves: Goku came to Earth as a baby and was found by Son Gohan, an Old Master martial artist. As a result of falling headfirst onto a rock and being raised by Son Gohan, the baby grew up to be a loving and cheerful child, renamed by Gohan as Son Goku.
• Orphan's Plot Trinket: The Four-Star Dragon Ball, a memento left to him by his grandpa. Goku follows Bulma on her first adventure because he refuses to give her his Dragon Ball. The entire third story arc with the Red Ribbon Army revolves around Goku searching for that particular Dragon Ball. When Gohan is born, Goku gives his son a hat with the Four-Star Dragon Ball on it.
• Our Werebeasts Are Different: He, like all Saiyans with tails, turns into a giant were-monkey under the light of a full moon. It was in this form that he accidentally killed his grandfather since he loses all sense of himself.
• Out of Focus: He spends a large amount of Z either travelling to the battlefield, recovering from injuries or sickness, or being dead, and by the time he makes it to the fight, the villain's usually in their final form already. Though it's probably because Goku could destroy most of the bad guys in their base forms and end the arc early.
• Outside-Context Problem:
  • When he's introduced, Goku was an One-Man Army Human Alien who's close to being indestructible. Yamcha and Pilaf were the only ones who came close to killing him and that's because they caught him while he's hungry, which leaves him extremely weak. When he transformed into a Great Ape, no one saw it coming. Then there's Goku's encounter with the Red Ribbon Army. The army was used to dealing with defenseless civilians, other armies, and maybe the occasional martial artist. While searching for the Dragon Balls, they unfortunately ran into Goku. It's clear from the start that they had no clue how to deal with him and had to hire a renowned assassin just to have a remote chance against him. By the time Goku came to their base, they had nothing that could stop him and were basically defenseless. The pure terror that Goku struck inspired Gero to create the androids years later.
  • Goku transforming into a Super Saiyan the first time also counts. Up to that point in the series, a transformation like this has never been seen before and Frieza and Gohan are baffled about what just happened. Frieza lampshades this by saying he knows that Saiyans turned into giant apes, but he has never seen anything like this before.
  • Goku in general to Frieza. While the overlord secretly feared the Saiyans for their potential, he keeps most of the surviving ones in line and under his watch. He never even knew Goku existed, immediately recalling a low-class Saiyan standing up to him when faced with his presence, and discovers that Goku is far and away the most powerful Saiyan he has ever encountered. Initially, both he and Zarbon had a conversation about a Saiyan living on Earth, but Goku ends up being that Saiyan he would encounter. Goku is the one to achieve the Legendary Super Saiyan status that Frieza so fears. After his encounter with him, the name "Goku" (not "Kakarot", Goku) is burned into Frieza's mind.
• Overshadowed by Awesome:
  • Goku becomes this to almost everyone he knows. They may start out equal or stronger than him, but he eventually surpasses everyone and becomes so powerful that none of them can even hope to catch up to him, which force characters like Krillin and Yamcha to just give up completely. Vegeta has this especially bad in the manga where he never becomes Goku's equal again after he trains in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber and the power gap between them actually widens. Vegeta fairs much better in the canon movies and Super where he is in the same league as Goku, although he still falls behind as Whis notes.
  • He gets hit by this once Beerus is introduced. Not only does he outclass Goku in every possible way, Goku still can't keep up with him even after ascending to godhood and beyond. According to Whis, Goku would have to team up with Vegeta just to have a remote chance of beating Beerus. Goku acknowledges Beerus as the strongest being in the universe.

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