On Cartoon Heroes and Goku

 To many who grew up with the early English dubs of Dragon Ball Z, Goku was a hero with a heart of gold.  He even spared Vegeta, because killing a wounded enemy is wrong. Everything Goku did was for the sake of others. 

Today the Japanese version exists right along with the English one.  Furthermore, newer dubs of Dragon ball are much closer to the Japanese, and many old fans have received a rude awakening. Goku didn’t spare Vegeta out of the goodness of his heart; he did it so he could fight him again. Giving Cell a senzu bean wasn’t over confidence, it was Goku’s obsession with the fight.  Nor was it a fluke, as he gave Piccolo a senzu bean when the guy was still out to kill him. At the time he put the Earth in danger so he could fight within the Budokai rules and win fair and square. Piccolo had no intention of doing the same. And now that Super is here we see him continuously endanger himself, and the universe in pursuit of the next fight.

This has led to a lot of fan complaints. They say Goku has changed, that his stupidity and naivety are being over played, that he is acting like a sociopath looking for a fight. This is all very confusing to me, having read the manga since I was a kid. Goku was stupid and naive since the first chapter, and it did not get much better when he became an adult. In some ways he got worse. By the time he was full grown he was completely obsessed with fighting.

Goku has always kept his ties with his friends loose. He would fight with them or hang out for a while, but then he would go off and do something else for years. It’s shocking of course to our sensibilities that he keeps doing this after having a wife and kid but it’s hardly inconsistent. More importantly his habit of endangering himself and others for a fight was established by the Ma junior saga, before most of us western fans hoped on the band wagon with Dragon Ball Z. 

Some admit that Goku has always been like this in the Japanese version, but they still don’t like it. They prefer the selfless hero they grew up with. My question to them is why? Why do you want another cookie cutter selfless hero rather than a character with a dash of actual complexity? Goku does good things but he is not motivated by a desire to do good. He has a moral code but it’s not the sum of who he is. That’s at least interesting. Usually the guy in pursuit of power or the next fight is portrayed as a villain or anti-hero. Here he is put into the role of the hero instead.  Say what you will about Toriyama’s seat of the pants writing but at least he went outside the comfort zone in writing Goku. 

We need Goku, not another cookie-cutter hero.

-Gedaemon