Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball is known for having overpowered characters, and this includes the protagonist. The characters mostly have planetary power levels, which makes them all the more terrifying. As the main character of the story, not only is Goku exceptionally talented in martial arts, but he also keeps getting more powerful at an exponential rate throughout the story. He reached new heights of power after unlocking his Super Saiyan form against Frieza, and since then, he has honed his abilities to an almost god-like level. Throughout the decades, Goku has fought many battles in order to protect Earth, but that doesn’t mean he can win against all of them.
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The protagonist often stumbles in his quest to protect those around him as well as the world. Furthermore, some villains are just too powerful for him to defeat all by himself. There have been several times in the story when he was weaker than his opponent, but he keeps coming back stronger than ever.
5) Raditz
Raditz and Goku didn’t have the kind of reunion one would expect from brothers who were separated from each other as children. The villain came to Earth to destroy it and find Goku since the Saiyans were short on manpower. He kidnapped Gohan to force Goku’s hands, but it turned out to be his biggest mistake.
Without awakening his Super Saiyan form, Goku was nowhere near Raidtz’s level. All he could do was keep the villain from moving, who was weakened from Gohan’s attack. This allowed Piccolo enough time to launch his special beam canon, killing both Raidtz and Goku in one strike.
4) Cell
As someone obsessed with fighting powerful opponents, Goku surprisingly raised his hands against Cell, who had achieved his perfect form after absorbing Androids 17 and 18. Although Goku and Cell clashed before the Cell Games, the fight didn’t end in the protagonist’s favor, forcing him to take a step back.
Even after training relentlessly in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Goku realized he didn’t manage to surpass the villain. However, he knew that the planet had another savior, his son Gohan, who was much stronger than both of them. After Goku sacrificed himself to stop Cell’s self-destruction from killing everyone, Gohan launched a powerful Kamehameha and saved the world.
3) Jiren
The Tournament of Power in Dragon Ball Super introduced several powerful characters across multiple universes, but no one gave Goku nearly as much trouble as Jiren. Jiren is the most powerful fighter in Universe 11, and he even managed to surpass the God of Destruction from his planet.
In order to save his universe, Goku pushed past his limits even after unlocking his Ultra Instinct form, but even that wasn’t enough to single-handedly defeat Jiren. During the final stretch of the battle royale, Goku, Frieza, and Android 17 teamed up against the character. While Universe 7 tasted the ultimate victory, the last one standing was Android 17 instead of Goku.
2) Zamasu
Zamasu was nowhere near stronger than Goku before his future version used the Super Dragon Balls to ask for immortality, and the current version swapped bodies with Goku. He destroyed the timeline of Future Trunks, which is why Goku and Vegeta traveled through time to stop the villain’s destruction.
Thanks to the powers granted to him, Zamasu almost succeeded in destroying the world, and not even Goku was able to stop him. During his first encounter with the villain, Goku and Vegeta had no choice but to run back to their timeline. In his second attempt, Goku sought the help of Master Zeno, the Omni King, to erase the entire timeline just to stop the villain’s rampage.
1) Beerus
Although Beerus, the God of Destruction of Universe 7, turned out to be one of the most trusted allies of the Z Fighters, he serves as the primary antagonist of Dragon Ball Super’s first saga. After a prophetic dream, Beerus searched the entire universe for a Super Saiyan God and eventually found Goku, who wasn’t what he expected.
Thanks to the information provided by Shenron and the powers of his fellow Saiyans, Goku unlocked the Super Saiyan God form and accepted Beerus’ challenge. However, despite reaching the level of a literal god, he was no match against the God of Destruction. While Goku went all out to protect his planet, Beerus won almost too easily without even spending a fraction of his power.
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