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So, after re-evaluating several parts of the manga, I've come to the conclusion that the character writing for its protagonist is a lot better than I previously gave him credit for, even for his commonly criticised portrayal in the Cell and Boo Arcs. I'll be using this thread to explain why rather than bumping the Character Analysis thread since this is going to be a long entry. Feel free to discuss the points I bring up along the way.
As an introduction, I'd like to bring up how character writing is treat by the fanbase and how its "simplistic" characters are treat. Yes, Dragon Ball's characters have somewhat simplistic personalities in terms of having clearly defined character traits and the series having a fairly simple good vs evil divide in its conflict. However, that's not to say DB's characters completely lack depth or complexity as both those attributes can be seen if a character responds to a situation realistically and have at least some level of conflict within their actions, of which can be seen in Goku and several other DB characters. Without further ado, onto the analysis.
Part 1 - Dragon Ball/Part 1 Era
In his introduction, Goku is a fairly simplistic character, though that's not to say he's one-note. He has notable naivete when it comes to society and the sexes and despite having a clear set goal in mind, he isn't selfish like modern material and the fanbase like to paint his character as always being. This is probably seen best in him saving Umigame. Whilst he did have Umigame not looking tasty as a reason for sparing him, there was no need to make such a detour in the quest for the Dragon Balls if he was self-centred and expecting something in return. This selflessness also helps contrasts him with the other main characters, with the main cast in this arc being at the most selfish we'll see in the series as a collective. Despite that, he also has quite a simplistic moral compass when it comes to death as he has no problem killing all manner of wild beasts due to living in the wilderness. This trait is made retroactively better when getting to the Saiyan Arc and seeing how at his least developed, Goku's nature still had inklings of a Saiyan's savagery.
These traits continue to be established in the Red Ribbon Army Arc in which he chooses to save Jingle Village at the expense of putting his journey on-hold. Still, we see the simplicity expected of someone raised in the wildnerness for most of their life as it can be easily argued he may not have helped out had Suno and her mother not saved him from the cold. Along with that, his moral compass is simplistic enough in that he just needs to be told someone is an enemy in order to have no qualms beating them up.
He is still aware enough that killing without a valid reason is bad, however, when believing he killed Metallic. Despite that, he isn't too affected by it, showing just how his natural lifestyle on Mount Paozu has taught him that death is a natural part of conflict, as well as perhaps being evidence that his Saiyan instincts may have played a part in his early characterisation.
Another common misinterpretation of Goku's character is that he's dumb in all but battle. Whilst a lot of his ideas come about through battle, not all of them are ones conventional of martial arts. Instances such as pointing out Kuririn having no nose should mean Bacterian won't affect him, pouring tea down Murasaki's bamboo shoot or breaking the wall to freeze Buyon all require some level of critical thought (which again makes his portrayal in Super all the worse, but that's for another time).
Despite not liking innocent people being harmed, Goku also isn't bothered if they wish to sacrifice themselves, as seen in his reaction to the village chief saying to beat White even if he has to die himself.
Going back to his morality at this point, we can also see he has no problem with killing those he considers bad if they are at the level where they'd hurt his friends, threatening to kill Blue and being pretty happy Taopaipai died.
This reinforces the idea that whilst Goku is selfless enough to help out strangers, he only actively seeks to kill people at this point if they personally affect him by harming his inner circle. This is soon seen again when, despite Black fleeing, Goku actively pursues and kills him for being the leader of the Red Ribbon Army.
Shifting gears to Goku's being pure-hearted in riding the Kinto'un and negating the Akkumite Beam, his actions still correspond with that. Baba even makes it apparent Goku's more animalistic upbringing could've been a factor in this.
And as we'd see later on in the manga with Vegeta, being pure of heart doesn't really mean being a paragon of good.
That said, Goku being pure of heart has more to do with being pure and genuine in his motivations.
Now, Goku's experiences in West City are quite interesting in showing his growth as he's able to quickly deduce those asking him for money aren't going to help him. When actually getting help, he simply gives the woman all the money he earned.
This is interesting not just in seeing how alien something like civilisation is to Goku, but also his perception of the world and various concepts. Whilst most will view money as a goal to strive towards in collecting it, Goku sees it as a means to an end and paper that has little value beyond what society places on it. In that respect, there's some surprising similarities between Kid Goku and an Ubermensch character like Conan the Barbarian (the novel version, not the movie one) - both being "noble savages" of sorts that create their own moral code rather than following societies. In fact, a lot of Saiyan attributes can be seen as somewhat Nietzschen, but more on that later.
Beyond things such as his match with Kuririn showing the difference between Goku fighting a regular opponent and Goku fighting a friend, as well as some growth in his social awareness with him being able to deduce Upa is a boy without his trademark patting, there isn't much to add on Goku's character until we get to the Piccolo Daimao Arc. Against Tambourine, we see Goku at the angriest he's ever been as he'll do everything he can to kill Tambourine and avenge his best friend.
Again, Goku's friends (especially Kuririn) are extremely important to him, something Super seems to ignore. There's more to this than to a lot of other Shonen protagonists who get angry at their friends being in danger though, as you have to consider that until Bulma, Goku's only human contact was to Gohan who died when Goku was very young and left such a mark that Goku treasured his Four Star Ball as a form of contact. These bonds are something Goku went without experiencing fully for years and the severing of them offers far more impact because of this.
We further see this not only in his killing of Tambourine, but that of Drum and his threat to Piccolo Daimao when discovering the latter also killed Roshi.
Goku was going in out for blood, a stark contrast from his later battles, though this will soon be elaborated on.
Also, take note of Goku's reaction upon finally defeating Piccolo. This will become important when I get on to covering the Freeza Arc.
After beating Piccolo Daimao, Goku had become somewhat arrogant in believing he'd reached the top until Popo schooled him.
This goes quite a bit in explaining perhaps the biggest change in his character in the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai and one that would redefine his character for the rest of the series - sparing Piccolo. He explains this as due to not wanting to kill Kami, which makes sense when he's spent 3 years with him. However, he also makes it apparent he also doesn't want to lose the only other person who can challenge him at this point.
This decision makes sense when taking the previous part with Popo into account. Goku has been told by both Roshi and Popo that there is always a stronger fighter out there and to not get overconfident, yet where would he go after definitively proving he is the strongest in the world and if he were to let the only contestant for that title die?
Along with that, his increased value of life is explainable through his 3 years of training in which we see meditation as a part of it, an act meant to empty the mind and to avoid vices such as anger.
On top of what Popo and Kami may have taught him on the matter, we can deduce that Goku may have gained an extra understanding of the aftelife, as the idea of souls wandering for eternity due to their fate being one that definitely goes against the possible perception that all souls may end up where Gohan did. That said, I'd say we're given enough to piece together why Goku's change in mindset happened and how it is decent growth for his character.
Before wrapping up the DB material, one additional thing to point out is Goku's reaction to Kami offering him the title of God. Keep that in mind as we move onto the Saiyan Arc..
But that will have to wait for another post as this one has gone on long enough. Hope you found this first part interesting, at least.
As an introduction, I'd like to bring up how character writing is treat by the fanbase and how its "simplistic" characters are treat. Yes, Dragon Ball's characters have somewhat simplistic personalities in terms of having clearly defined character traits and the series having a fairly simple good vs evil divide in its conflict. However, that's not to say DB's characters completely lack depth or complexity as both those attributes can be seen if a character responds to a situation realistically and have at least some level of conflict within their actions, of which can be seen in Goku and several other DB characters. Without further ado, onto the analysis.
Part 1 - Dragon Ball/Part 1 Era
In his introduction, Goku is a fairly simplistic character, though that's not to say he's one-note. He has notable naivete when it comes to society and the sexes and despite having a clear set goal in mind, he isn't selfish like modern material and the fanbase like to paint his character as always being. This is probably seen best in him saving Umigame. Whilst he did have Umigame not looking tasty as a reason for sparing him, there was no need to make such a detour in the quest for the Dragon Balls if he was self-centred and expecting something in return. This selflessness also helps contrasts him with the other main characters, with the main cast in this arc being at the most selfish we'll see in the series as a collective. Despite that, he also has quite a simplistic moral compass when it comes to death as he has no problem killing all manner of wild beasts due to living in the wilderness. This trait is made retroactively better when getting to the Saiyan Arc and seeing how at his least developed, Goku's nature still had inklings of a Saiyan's savagery.
These traits continue to be established in the Red Ribbon Army Arc in which he chooses to save Jingle Village at the expense of putting his journey on-hold. Still, we see the simplicity expected of someone raised in the wildnerness for most of their life as it can be easily argued he may not have helped out had Suno and her mother not saved him from the cold. Along with that, his moral compass is simplistic enough in that he just needs to be told someone is an enemy in order to have no qualms beating them up.
He is still aware enough that killing without a valid reason is bad, however, when believing he killed Metallic. Despite that, he isn't too affected by it, showing just how his natural lifestyle on Mount Paozu has taught him that death is a natural part of conflict, as well as perhaps being evidence that his Saiyan instincts may have played a part in his early characterisation.
Another common misinterpretation of Goku's character is that he's dumb in all but battle. Whilst a lot of his ideas come about through battle, not all of them are ones conventional of martial arts. Instances such as pointing out Kuririn having no nose should mean Bacterian won't affect him, pouring tea down Murasaki's bamboo shoot or breaking the wall to freeze Buyon all require some level of critical thought (which again makes his portrayal in Super all the worse, but that's for another time).
Despite not liking innocent people being harmed, Goku also isn't bothered if they wish to sacrifice themselves, as seen in his reaction to the village chief saying to beat White even if he has to die himself.
Going back to his morality at this point, we can also see he has no problem with killing those he considers bad if they are at the level where they'd hurt his friends, threatening to kill Blue and being pretty happy Taopaipai died.
This reinforces the idea that whilst Goku is selfless enough to help out strangers, he only actively seeks to kill people at this point if they personally affect him by harming his inner circle. This is soon seen again when, despite Black fleeing, Goku actively pursues and kills him for being the leader of the Red Ribbon Army.
Shifting gears to Goku's being pure-hearted in riding the Kinto'un and negating the Akkumite Beam, his actions still correspond with that. Baba even makes it apparent Goku's more animalistic upbringing could've been a factor in this.
And as we'd see later on in the manga with Vegeta, being pure of heart doesn't really mean being a paragon of good.
That said, Goku being pure of heart has more to do with being pure and genuine in his motivations.
Now, Goku's experiences in West City are quite interesting in showing his growth as he's able to quickly deduce those asking him for money aren't going to help him. When actually getting help, he simply gives the woman all the money he earned.
This is interesting not just in seeing how alien something like civilisation is to Goku, but also his perception of the world and various concepts. Whilst most will view money as a goal to strive towards in collecting it, Goku sees it as a means to an end and paper that has little value beyond what society places on it. In that respect, there's some surprising similarities between Kid Goku and an Ubermensch character like Conan the Barbarian (the novel version, not the movie one) - both being "noble savages" of sorts that create their own moral code rather than following societies. In fact, a lot of Saiyan attributes can be seen as somewhat Nietzschen, but more on that later.
Beyond things such as his match with Kuririn showing the difference between Goku fighting a regular opponent and Goku fighting a friend, as well as some growth in his social awareness with him being able to deduce Upa is a boy without his trademark patting, there isn't much to add on Goku's character until we get to the Piccolo Daimao Arc. Against Tambourine, we see Goku at the angriest he's ever been as he'll do everything he can to kill Tambourine and avenge his best friend.
Again, Goku's friends (especially Kuririn) are extremely important to him, something Super seems to ignore. There's more to this than to a lot of other Shonen protagonists who get angry at their friends being in danger though, as you have to consider that until Bulma, Goku's only human contact was to Gohan who died when Goku was very young and left such a mark that Goku treasured his Four Star Ball as a form of contact. These bonds are something Goku went without experiencing fully for years and the severing of them offers far more impact because of this.
We further see this not only in his killing of Tambourine, but that of Drum and his threat to Piccolo Daimao when discovering the latter also killed Roshi.
Goku was going in out for blood, a stark contrast from his later battles, though this will soon be elaborated on.
Also, take note of Goku's reaction upon finally defeating Piccolo. This will become important when I get on to covering the Freeza Arc.
After beating Piccolo Daimao, Goku had become somewhat arrogant in believing he'd reached the top until Popo schooled him.
This goes quite a bit in explaining perhaps the biggest change in his character in the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai and one that would redefine his character for the rest of the series - sparing Piccolo. He explains this as due to not wanting to kill Kami, which makes sense when he's spent 3 years with him. However, he also makes it apparent he also doesn't want to lose the only other person who can challenge him at this point.
This decision makes sense when taking the previous part with Popo into account. Goku has been told by both Roshi and Popo that there is always a stronger fighter out there and to not get overconfident, yet where would he go after definitively proving he is the strongest in the world and if he were to let the only contestant for that title die?
Along with that, his increased value of life is explainable through his 3 years of training in which we see meditation as a part of it, an act meant to empty the mind and to avoid vices such as anger.
On top of what Popo and Kami may have taught him on the matter, we can deduce that Goku may have gained an extra understanding of the aftelife, as the idea of souls wandering for eternity due to their fate being one that definitely goes against the possible perception that all souls may end up where Gohan did. That said, I'd say we're given enough to piece together why Goku's change in mindset happened and how it is decent growth for his character.
Before wrapping up the DB material, one additional thing to point out is Goku's reaction to Kami offering him the title of God. Keep that in mind as we move onto the Saiyan Arc..
But that will have to wait for another post as this one has gone on long enough. Hope you found this first part interesting, at least.
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