As a codifier for modern Shonen anime and manga, this goes without saying Dragon Ball has its fair share of plot, ingenuity, contrivance, and coincidence to justify the victory of the Z-Fighters against seemingly impossible odds. Although Akira Toriyama is better at performance scaling than he's given credit for (especially when it comes to… Dragon Ball manga refers to), Goku's villains have a bad habit of wasting what should be easy.
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Over the original Dragon Ball, DBZ, Dragon Ball GTand Dragon Ball SuperGoku fights, survives and even wins against characters who honestly should have won and defeated him. This is mostly done to make the story more compelling and resolve a narrative theme or character arc, but it doesn't stop there Dragon Ball from requiring a certain suspension of disbelief to let these blows go.
1
King Piccolo literally stops Goku's heart in the original Dragon Ball
Akira Toriyama was infamously ill while writing and drawing the Demon King Piccolo saga Dragon Ball manga. It's a testament to his skills as a writer and artist that the story is regularly heralded as a moment Dragon Ball becomes truly amazing, but it's obvious to keen readers that Toriyama wasn't firing on all cylinders. Example? King Piccolo literally kills Goku at the beginning of the arc. During their first battle, Piccolo stops Goku's heart, checks that he is dead, and after confirming that Goku did, leaves with the Dragon Ball.
Goku's heart then out of the blue stops beating again in the next chapter. Never before and never again Dragon Ball so brazenly defeating his protagonist only to bring him back from clear defeat. Dragon Ball Super tries to calm things down by saying that Bardock's wish in the Granolah Saga will keep his sons safe and alive, but the fact is that King Piccolo he did he won and would have gone on to conquer the entire world if Goku's heart hadn't miraculously restarted.
2
Vegeta would have defeated Goku if he hadn't turned into an ape
Outside of Goku using the Kaioken x 4, Vegeta's power level during the Saiyan Saga was higher than Goku's and by a huge margin once he was transformed into an ape. The thing is though: Vegeta didn't have to turn into an ape. Creating an artificial moon and transforming, Vegeta drained a huge amount of his Ki. By the time Yajirobe cuts off his tail, Vegeta is weak enough that Gohan and Krillin, with Goku's support, can subdue him.
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If Vegeta hadn't transformed, he'd actually be able to beat Goku fair and square. Goku had used up almost all of his energy during their fight with the beam, only having enough Ki to use a few more shots of Kaioken, fire a Ki blast, and detonate a heavily weakened Spirit Bomb. By keeping his cool, Vegeta could and would easily kill Goku. Worse, Gohan and Krillin would never come back to help because they only turn around when Vegeta creates his fake moon.
3
Frieza only loses because Goku goes Super Saiyan
In a Dragon Ball without the Super Saiyan forms, Goku would have lost and died to Frieza on Namek. Even with Kaioken x 20, Goku is strong enough to fight Frieza who is only using half of his full power. The revelation that Frieza was messing with Goku the whole time clearly shows how completely outmatched the Z-Fighters are. Even the Spirit Bomb is not enough to kill Frieza for good. Like Vegeta before him, Frieza makes one big mistake that costs him the rest of the fight.
If Frieza had gone right after Goku instead of killing Krillin, injuring Piccolo, and threatening Gohan, he would have actually won. Goku was defenseless and unprepared after firing his Spirit Bomb. Frieza had the perfect opportunity to win, but he wasted it to torture Goku emotionally. It was obviously the better move from a story point of view Dragon Ball Z as Goku turning Super Saiyan is one of the most satisfying moments in his character arc and the series.
4
Legendary Super Saiyan Broly basically won his fight with Goku
Dragon Ball Z: Broly – Legendary Super Saiyan is one of the most frustrating films in the franchise. Packed with amazing animation, fantastic music and exceptional fight choreography DBZ Movie 8 ends with a shocking cliffhanger. After spending the entire movie trying and failing to subdue Broly, Goku's brilliant plan to defeat the legendary Super Saiyan… is to punch him hard. Granted, Gohan, Piccolo, Vegeta, and Future Trunks all donate their Ki so Goku has more power, but it feels undeserved.
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By all metrics, Broly won the battle. He continued to grow stronger during the fight and was strong enough to defeat several Super Saiyans and Super Namekians at once. The only reason Broly loses is because a Dragon Ball Z Of course, the movie can't end with all the main characters dying to the villain. More than Goku's miracle punch, it's the bad writing that ends up defeating Broly.
5
Super Buu was supposed to kill Goku in seconds (anime only)
IN Dragon Ball manga, Goku refused to fight Super Buu at all. It is very clear that Super Saiyan 3 Goku is only marginally stronger than Fat Buu and on par with Kid Buu. Super Buu is simply too strong for Goku to handle, even though he is the absolute strongest. To buy time and move Goku back to the strongest character in the series, k Dragon Ball Z the anime actually has SSJ3 Goku briefly fighting the Buutenks while Ultimate Gohan searches for the Potara earring.
Goku doesn't take any major, hit damage, but successfully dodges several of Buutenks punches, tanks the hit, and stalls for Gohan. This refill fight completely destroys Buu Saga's power scaling. Buutenks was strong enough to work with Ultimate Gohan like nothing. Buutenks is strong and fast enough to kill Super Saiyan 3 Goku in one hit. There is a reason why Akira Toriyama never fought Super Buu in the Goku manga.
6
Omega Shenron may have actually killed Goku at the end of Dragon Ball GT
Dragon Ball GTThe ending is as beautiful as it is confusing. After defeating Omega Shenron, Goku flies to Shenron with the Dragon Balls and seemingly ascends to a new plane of existence. What happened to Goku is up for debate Dragon Ball fans for several years, especially when Omega Shenron appears to be killing Goku on screen Dragon Ball GT Episode 63 with his Negative Energy Ball.
When Goku returns for the final battle, he has a new aura and nothing can hurt him. Once the battle is over, Goku mysteriously leaves Earth, only to return as an apparition in the final scene of the series. While Dragon Ball GTThe writers intentionally left Goku's fate vague, it's clear that Omega Shenron was able to actually kill Goku, just something to bring Goku back – and not even necessarily to life.
7
Jiren was the strongest fighter in the Tournament of Power
In terms of brute strength, Jiren was by far the strongest fighter in the Tournament of Power. Even Ultra Instinct wasn't enough for Goku to speak up and defeat Jiren himself. In both Dragon Ball Super anime and manga, Goku and Frieza are forced to team up to take out Jiren, with Universe 7 winning only because Android 17 hid on stage after seemingly self-destructing. Jiren loses not because he is weak but because Goku has allies.
It's a good story and theme for the Universe Survival Saga to end on, but it doesn't change the fact that Jiren could easily defeat Goku, Frieza, and Android 17 himself at many different points. In fact, Jiren should have been able to call Goku earlier, even though he was using Ultra Instinct. The Dragon Ball Super the anime itself gives Jiren plenty of opportunities to end things.
- Created by
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Akira Toriyama
- First TV show
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Dragon Ball
- Latest TV show
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Dragon Ball DAIMA
- Upcoming TV Shows
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Dragon Ball DAIMA
- Air date of the first episode
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February 26, 1986
- television shows
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Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, Dragon Ball Super, Dragon Ball DAIMA
