History Characters / DragonBallSonGokuTropesDToH

* GlassCannon: Compared to the other characters, Goku innovates on techniques and hits hard and fast. It's just that many of his techniques has HeroicRROD built into them; Kaioken, Super Saiyan 3, [[spoiler: Kaioken + Super Saiyan Blue]], the list goes on. So while Goku, unlike someone like [[StoneWall Vegeta]], has a decent shot at landing hits on people above his weight class, he can't sustain this for any prolonged period of time, and once he's out of juice he really isn't great at the stalling game.
* AGodIAmNot:

** The Kaio-Ken. When used, this technique can more than double Goku's power, speed, hearing, sight, and other senses. He uses this to fight on even ground with Vegeta during their first fight on Earth when Vegeta was more than twice as strong as Goku. The Kaio-Ken, however, is highly dangerous. One slip from the user and they can explode, and [[HeroicRROD overused leaves the user severely drained and in pain]]. By the time Goku reaches Namek, he can safely use the Kaio-Ken up to X10 without any ill effects, while a X20 nearly kills him. Once Super Saiyan is introduced, Kaio-Ken becomes SoLastSeason since a regular Super Saiyan gives Goku fifty times the power and none of the severe drawbacks. [[spoiler: That is until ''Super'' where Goku learns to combine Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan and the Kaio-Ken. Because Goku is still working on the technique, however, it has a 90% failure rate and it can seriously harm or even kill him, [[UpToEleven making it even more dangerous than it was previously]]. It also puts such a strain on his body that it makes him sick and his ki becomes temporarily distorted to the point of uselessness ''days later'']].

** In ''Super'', Goku is the first one to do real damaged to [[spoiler: Merged Zamasu]] by using a super powered Kamehameha that ''melted'' half of his face. From there, Goku goes on the attack, with a ''broken arm'', and viciously beats him, before [[spoiler: Merged Zamasu]] grabs his leg and breaks it. How does Goku response? He fires up his [[spoiler: Super God Saiyan Super Saiyan/Kaioken combo]] and kicks with his good leg, breaking his halo.

* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu:
** On a regular basis. And it's ''really casual'' sometimes, too. When he was still a child, he kills the Demon King Piccolo and then defeats his more powerful son three years later. As an adult, he fought the prince of his owe race and beat a galactic tyrant who was supposed to be the strongest being in the universe. He is also the one who gives the killing blow against Majin Buu. Years later, he beats and kills a newly revived and stronger than ever Golden Frieza.

* DotingGrandparent: Goku's completely a doting grandfather to his granddaughter Pan when she's in his care, and he is seen indulging in her whims. He teaches her how to say 'gramps' and plays airplane with her when she's a baby, and eventually goes on to personally train her martial arts. Also see trope below.

* TheDrifter: He became this after he was told to WalkTheEarth by Master Roshi. In the filler in-between the end of the Red Ribbon Army Saga and the next tournament, Goku is shown going to town to town, helping people along the way and then leaving as soon as his task is completed. He was also like this during the previous saga when he was looking for his grandfather's Dragon Ball.

* DotingParent: He tries his best. When he's actually around/alive, that is. While criticism to his absentee father tendencies is valid, Goku is an encouraging dad who truly loves his kids, and clearly enjoys spending time with them. Piccolo even at one point felt that Goku spoiled Gohan too much, given how pampered Gohan was when they first met.

* DangerousForbiddenTechnique: The Kaio-Ken. When used, this technique can more than double Goku's power, speed, hearing, sight, and other senses. He uses this to fight on even ground with Vegeta during their first fight on Earth when Vegeta was more than twice as strong as Goku. The Kaio-Ken, however, is highly dangerous. One slip from the user and they can explode and [[HeroicRROD overused leaves the user severely drained and in pain]]. By the time Goku reaches Namek, he can safely use the Kaio-Ken up to X10 without any ill effects, while a X20 nearly kills him. Once Super Saiyan is introduced, Kaio-Ken becomes SoLastSeason since a regular Super Saiyan gives Goku fifty times the power and none of the severe drawbacks. [[spoiler: That is until ''Super'' where Goku learns to combine Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan and the Kaio-Ken. Because Goku is still working on the technique, however, it has a 90% failure rate and it can seriously harm or even kill him, [[UpToEleven making it even more dangerous than it was previously]]. It also puts such a strain on his body that it makes him sick and his ki becomes temporarily distorted to the point of uselessness ''days later'']].

** And speaking of Goku doppelgangers, ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' has introduced a new scourge in Future Trunks' timeline who shares Goku's name and appearance, albeit thinner and dressed in all black. This "Goku Black" character, as nicknamed by Future Bulma, is his WorldsStrongestMan and fairly smug about it just like Goku is at times, and is prone to smiling a lot. However, the differences are made clearer with each passing moment of Black's screentime. Where Son Goku is a protector of life and a peaceful hero to a prosperous Earth known only to his inner circle, living former enemies, and world tournament aficionados, Black is an all-consuming destroyer who's liquidated and destroyed numerous planets, is in the midst of doing so to his Earth, and utterly feared by anyone he's ever met that lived long enough to tell about it. In fact, Black has terrorized and killed people on Earth who otherwise recognize Son Goku as a force of good [[spoiler:including most likely all of Goku's family and friends]]. Goku is jovially informal and usually friendly, at times bordering on crude, and tends to be cocky at times but usually knows when to take a threat or challenge seriously, whereas Black is joyfully sophisticated and detached, blatantly showing his arrogance whenever he bothers to show his face. While both are uncanny in their styles and abilities, Goku is a straightforward, out-in-the-open fighter who relies on martial arts, bright ki, and instinctive strategies, and who likes to gradually escalate his battles to get the most challenge out of them. Black only acts this way but in a more sinister take on it against Goku himself [[spoiler:since he stole his body and uses his fights with Goku to acclimate himself to Goku's fighting style]]; otherwise he will terrorize and kill anyone as quickly and efficiently as he can without a second thought (including sometimes striking as a LivingShadow with [[RedEyesTakeWarning dragon-like red glowing eyes]]), and even his bright ki techniques carry a darker, sinister hue to them. Also, Black seems to have a disdain for Saiyans much like Goku did when he was first introduced to his race's final examples, but Goku's initial hatred for the Saiyans came from those examples being three callous space pirates who came to liquidate his homeworld, and dissipated when he came to understand Saiyan pride through Vegeta's struggle against Frieza while Black's snide disdain for Trunks being a Saiyan comes from his desire to destroy every "human" species in the universe including Earthlings and Saiyans. Furthermore, Goku has rejected all GodJob offers despite achieving divine power, while Black [[spoiler:killed his teacher to become a Supreme Kai and]] freely runs around using the artifacts of Supreme Kais to help him achieve his evil ends.

* DeceasedParentsAreTheBest: He has nothing but fond, happy memories of his grandpa Gohan. In his childhood, he often quotes his grandfather's lessons or copy his techniques.

* HopeBringer: Inspires hope in all who knows him even when he is not currently the strongest fighter. There are more than a few times when his friends and family will [[TearsOfJoy burst into tears]] when they hear he's coming to the battlefield. This, just like his [[TheAce ace]] status, gets {{Deconstructed}} from the Frieza Saga onward. Because he is the bright hope of his group, everyone becomes deflated and pessimistic when he isn't around or out of action. His friends and family are also not quick to put their hopes in anyone else, but him. When Goku tries to make Gohan into his successor, no one really believes him, and the cast is skeptical when Goku ensures them that Goten and Trunks can beat Buu with the FusionDance.

* GeniusBruiser: {{Downplayed}}, since he has never had any formal education and often lacks common sense. However, he is an excellent combatant and a tactical genius, able to pick up new skills with ease. Furthermore, once he gets a basic understanding of something, he learns ''very'' quickly. Probably the best example of this is Goku's fight with Hit during the Universal Tournament. Hit utterly destroys Vegeta with his [[spoiler: Time-Leaping technique]] even as Vegeta fought as a Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan. Goku battles Hit in his base form so he can learn how Hit fights and eventually learns to predict Hit's movements for the next [[spoiler: 0.1 seconds, canceling out his time stopping power]]. Everyone is stun when they learns this.

* TheHero: Chronic HopeBringer and FriendToAllLivingThings, TheDreaded to any villain unfortunate enough to cross him, WorldsStrongestMan in a series already [[WorldOfBadass chock full of badasses]], and when he isn't the latter he tends to be the BigGood. There a reason he ranks among anime's greatest heroes and badasses. Seriously, take into account everything he's done since age 11 and dare contend otherwise. It would crowd up the wiki if we were to go through ''all'' of it.

** When he was a kid/teen. This is especially demonstrated when he mercilessly kills King Piccolo and his children for murdering his friends. He also destroys the Red Ribbon Army with his own hands and kills his foes even when they're fleeing for their lives. He downplays this trope as an adult, due to the combination of him [[ThouShaltNotKill showing mercy to his enemies]], thus [[DefeatMeansFriendship making them into friends]] and mostly enjoying fighting for the [[SpiritedCompetitor competitive aspect]]. Although, some traits of this remains like him [[CruelMercy letting Frieza live with the shame of being defeated by a mere monkey]] and blasting Frieza when he shot him in the back. [[spoiler: After accepting that Frieza is irredeemably evil and too dangerous to live, he atomizes him with a Kamehameha]]. He was also more than willing to kill Cell and Buu, not offering them the chance to walk away. When fighting [[spoiler: Future Zamasu]] for the second time, he actually blew his head off with a energy blast and he only survived because he's an immortal. [[RageBreakingPoint And when properly enraged]], he will beat his enemies to a bloody pulp.

* HumanAlien: Saiyans look perfectly human other than their tails and can produce offspring with humans, though they do have extraordinary abilities (most notably, they can turn into a giant ape). They also have longer childhoods than humans, staying small and cute looking so they would be underestimated before quickly growing to their adult height.

* DidntThinkThisThrough:
** Dips into this a bit with his plan to pit Gohan against Cell. While Gohan is indeed the strongest of them all, Goku failed to consider the facts that Gohan is only ''half''-Saiyan, doesn't share his father's BloodKnight attitude, and, above all else, is JustAKid. It's only when Piccolo points this out to him in a WhatTheHellHero speech, and when he sees firsthand the danger he's put Gohan in, that Goku [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone realizes how badly he may have screwed up]].

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Dips into this a bit with his plan to pit Gohan against Cell. While Gohan is indeed the strongest of them all, Goku failed to consider the facts that Gohan is only ''half''-Saiyan, doesn't share his father's BloodKnight attitude, and, above all else, is JustAKid. It's only when Piccolo points this out to him in a WhatTheHellHero speech, and when he sees firsthand the danger he's put Gohan in, that Goku [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone realizes how badly he may have screwed up]].

* GrandTheftMe: Is the victim of this at least twice, once by Captain Ginyu in the Frieza arc of ''Z'', and again by Zamasu in an alternate universe in ''Super''.

* TheGreatestStoryNeverTold: Almost all of Goku's adventures and world saving isn't known by the general public. Only a few people know that he's the one who killed King Piccolo and beat his son three years later at the 23rd Martial Arts Tournament. No one knows who destroyed the Red Ribbon Army, who stopped the Saiyan Invasion, the entire mess with Frieza happened on another planet and he was killed before he could terrorize the Earth, and Mr. Satan takes the credit for destroying Cell, Majin Buu, and defeating Beerus.
* GrinOfAudacity: Goku is prone to give these when he's prepared to face a strong opponent, something his friend lampshades at least once, much to the irritation of his wife.

** He goras Piccolo into growing bigger during the 23rd Martial Arts Tournament after Piccolo uses a technique to become super size. Once he's big enough, Goku jumps into Piccolo's mouth, causing major damage to him. Piccolo eventually manages to spit him out, but not before Goku saves Kami, [[ItMakesSenseInContext who Piccolo had swallowed earlier]].