For many anime fans, there is no hero who can top Son Goku. The protagonist is the Super Saiyan who swept the world by storm back in the 1990s thanks to Dragon Ball Z. The action-packed anime gained a massive following from audiences around the world, and millions of fans found themselves amazed by Goku. After all, the gullible guy could send fans into a laughing fit one second before powering up into an elite fighter who defended Earth.

So, of course, plenty of fans felt shocked when they learned Goku’s hero status was a precarious one. For years, the Saiyan has been the subject of Internet wars fought either for or against his honor. There are plenty of fans willing to vouch for his superhero status whilst others describe the man as chaos incarnate, and it appears as if those fan-wars will never end.

When it comes down to it, there’s no definitive criteria for a fan to view Goku as a villain or hero. Everyone gets to interpret the character’s actions for themselves, but there are high points of each argument which fans must consider.

For fans who push back on Goku’s heroic nature, they tend to cite words which came from Akira Toriyama himself. The creator of Dragon Ball has famously spoken about Goku’s neutral morals, and Toriyama has even said the anime’s depiction of Goku’s altruism frustrates him.

Speaking to WIRED, Toriyama was asked about Dragon Ball‘s main character, and here’s what the creator said:

“There’s how, basically, Son Goku from Dragon Ball doesn’t fight for the sake of others, but because he wants to fight against strong guys,” Toriyama said. “So once Dragon Ball got animated, at any rate, I’ve always been dissatisfied with the “righteous hero”-type portrayal they gave him. I guess I couldn’t quite get them to grasp the elements of “poison” that slip in and out of sight among the shadows.”

However, there are fans who would impose their own view of Goku above the one Toriyama has championed. For those viewers, the protagonist is a hero because of his strength and his self-interest in friends. Sure, the Saiyan loves fighting above all else, but there are moments when Goku becomes aware of his surroundings in battle. Many point to Goku’s first Super Saiyan transformation as a sign of this; The character gained the fabled power after he watched his best friend Krillin get murdered in cold blood. So, even if Goku first received the power through rage, it was still given in an honorable fashion.

The on-going debate about Goku’s heroic status will likely never unanimously settled due to fans’ personal Dragon Ball canons. The lead’s motives are not often defined well enough for audiences to make certain judgements on Goku’s altruistic nature, but they can all agree on one thing: the man is super, that’s for sure.

Seriously, anyone who can make a Spirt Bomb big enough to blast away Kid Buu is nothing less than super. As for the hero bit, feel free to sound off on whether you think Goku deserves the title in the comments below!

MORE: Dragon Ball Super Toonami Premiere Date Announced / English Dub Sneak Peek Revealed / Voice Cast Announced / Simulcast Confirmed / New Saga Synopsis, Key Visual Released / Here’s What Happens To Nappa’s Hair When He Goes Super Saiyan

As for the saga’s start date, the new arc premiered on February 5, 2017. The “Universal Survival” saga is part of the recent simulcast agreement that sites like Crunchyroll and Funimation have scored. Dragon Ball Super airs on Crunchyroll Saturdays at 7:15 p.m. CST. Toonami will begin airing the English dub on Adult Swim Saturdays at 11:30 p.m.

Dragon Ball SuperSunday at on Fuji Television Network

ComicBook Composite 83.00 NAAll-Time Comic TV Shows

Average rating

from 2 usersNAAll-Time Rated

[HT] Kanzenshuu