Goku has had some badass moments across Dragon Ball’s long history, and they really help to prove that he’s one of the strongest fighters out there. Akira Toriyama first kicked off Dragon Ball’s historic run with Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine over 40 years ago, and the franchise has grown to a massive level ever since. Not only did the original manga release find some massive success with fans during its tenure, but that success has also spread through the release of new anime shows, movies, video games and much more. All with some very memorable moments at the center of it all.
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Many of these most memorable moments have Goku at the center, and it’s because he’s been pushing himself beyond his limits at many different times through the course of the series’ run. Taking on some major enemies, friends and foes alike through the series’ tenure, Goku has proven that he’s one of the strongest time and time again. In fact, below are seven majorly badass moments that really cement Goku as one of those at the very top of the power scale.
7). Goku Defeats Vegeta the First Time
The Saiyan saga was the perfect way to kick off the Dragon Ball Z era of the franchise as it really showed off Goku at his coolest. But the peak of his coolness really came during the end of the first arc as Goku was able to take on the powerful Prince of All Saiyans in a one on one fight. It was already cool when he was able to come back to life after being killed off at the start of the arc, and easily took care of Nappa. But it was through his fight with Vegeta that Goku got to show off what he could really do.
Goku trained with King Kai while dead, and ended up becoming much stronger than he had even been before. Goku pushed himself in ways that he did not know he was capable of either, and pushed his ki to the levels that we would see in action in the years that followed. And through this first major defeat, Goku entered a badass new era.
6). Goku Finally Wins the World Tournament
Dragon Ball’s World Tournament arcs were some of the best of the original era of the series, but one solid through line with each of them was the fact that Goku was never really able to win one. At first it was Master Roshi entering the tournament to make sure Goku was never to win and thus get complacent in his strength, then other times he lost due to the rules despite winning the fight. But when he faced off against Piccolo Jr. and officially wrapped the first era of the series, Goku never seemed cooler.
Goku once again pushed beyond his limits here, and was able to capitalize on everything he had learned to this point to finally be recognized for just how strong he had become through his journey. It was such a big moment that it could have served as the ultimate finale for it all, but that’s not where it ultimately ended.
5). Goku Debuts Super Saiyan 3 for the First Time
Goku has some cool Super Saiyan moments through the franchise’s run, but one of the most badass had to have been the debut of Super Saiyan 3. It comes during an admittedly awkward time in the Majin Buu saga, as Goku is also running on borrowed time (and this transformation burns it out faster), but it’s just a memorable moment. Much of that is due to just how dramatically different it looks from the rest of the Super Saiyan transformations seen thus far, but also the fact that it was a form exclusive to Goku that Vegeta didn’t reveal his own version of until decades later. It was just so badass.
4). Goku’s Ultimate Spirit Bomb
We had seen Goku using the Spirit Bomb at multiple opportunities through the course of Dragon Ball’s run, but the final fight against Majin Buu was likely the biggest example. It was not only the literal biggest Spirit Bomb Goku has ever used as it gathered the energies of people and beings throughout the universe, but it was the only way to completely defeat Majin Buu. It wiped out the villain in his entirety without any hope of coming back, but even then Goku really went full for it. But the real badass part of it all is that he still hoped to fight Buu again someday despite all of the trouble the villain caused. And that karma is rewarded through a pupil he raises for a bit before never mentioning him again.
3). Goku Transforms Into Ultra Instinct for the First Time
Goku has reached some wild levels of power over the course of the franchise to this point, but Ultra Instinct was something different. It was the first truly significant transformation in Dragon Ball for many decades, and it was quite literally on an entire new level of power altogether. Rather than “Super,” this new Ultra Instinct form was entirely different than anything Goku had done before. Although he had been sensing how to get the form, it wasn’t until the backlash of a Spirit Bomb helped him to achieve the transformation.
It was the first time that was truly the most badass of them all, however. It was a double episode of Dragon Ball Super, it was a form that made all of the gods in attendance immediately stand in honor of it, and it came through right when Goku needed it the most. Goku (and literally Dragon Ball Super) was never the same after.
2). Goku Sacrifices Himself the First Time
Goku has died a few times through Dragon Ball’s history, but the first real time continues to be the most badass of them all. Goku might have had a brush with death during the fight with King Piccolo, and has his friends die in front of him, but this was different. This death quite literally launched Goku into an entirely new kind of world when he died. It was through this death that Goku was also able to become the kind of powerful warrior that he always thought he could be.
But it was only possible due to that initial sacrifice and ability to choose everyone else over his own fate. Deciding to take the hit from Piccolo and giving up his life for the sake of the Earth is a choice Goku has been faced with at many different times, but this first time was definitely the coolest.
1). Goku Transforms Into Super Saiyan for the First Time
When it comes to memorable Goku moments, however, there’s probably no better example than when Goku transforms into a Super Saiyan for the first time. No matter how many transformations he’s had in the franchise after this point, and no matter how many he’s had that brought him to much higher levels of power since, there’s no possibly way that any of them will match the badass aura of that very first Super Saiyan transformation. This form literally changed everything.
Goku turning Super Saiyan not only changed the landscape of Dragon Ball’s future from that point on as things kept getting higher and higher, but also changed the landscape of anime. We’d start to see more badass transformations of its kind from here on out, and it all started here. Now that’s just badass.
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