ahill1 said:
There are two interviews from Toriyama pertaining Goku's character that I think it's interest to post. The 1st one was published in WIRED Japan in 1997, 1st edition. I read the interview in Portuguese, so I will try to translate it to English:
Toriyama: Well, basically, Son Goku from Dragon Ball doesn't fight for others, he fights simply to quench his desire for fighting strong opponents. So, when Dragon Ball began to be animated by TOEI, I was always unsatisfied with the "good hero" portrait they were giving him. I guess I didn't make enough to make them recognize these elements.
This was reinforced after BoG's movie, when the interviewer asks "What is Goku to Toriyama-sensei?":
Toriyama: Anyway, I wanted him [Goku] to give the feeling of being that rare kind of guy who just wants "to become stronger". What I want to add was the feeling that he might not be all that good guy, although he does goos things as a result.
(The World of Akira Toriyama: Special Exhibit: Akira Toriyama & Masako Nosawa Special Talk -2013)
Maybe that could justify Goku's current attitudes on Super?
I doubt it, considering how Goku is depicted in the manga.
* Some of Goku's motives included protecting or avenging his family and friends. For example, he wanted to fight the Saiyans not because they were powerful, but because they were going to kill everyone he knew.
* He helped people he barely knew when it didn't completely relate to fighting (example: storming Muscle Tower to repay Suno for saving him from freezing to death).
* He didn't want to help fight Buu, despite having the power to do so, because he didn't want his friends to depend on him to save them. If he was like the interview suggested, he wouldn't have cared about it and would have fought Buu for the sake of having a good battle.
In other words, you could say that Toriyama's potrayal of Goku is a balance between the selfish Goku he originally wanted to depict and the "big good" depicted by Toei (Pre-Super): Goku (manga) is a hero who has a heart of gold, cares for others and wants to protect them, but he also has selfish motives that can influence his better judgement.
Perhaps Toriyama's original intentions for Goku ended up evolving into something different due to his character development ? The problem is that Toei Animation wanted to depict Goku as originally planned by Toriyama while ignoring said character development, which is why they're accused of ruining Goku's character (though this isn't an inaccurate accusation).
