Being the hero of a story doesn’t always mean being the winner, “and Goku knows this” (to quote the good Giorgio Vanni). The protagonist of Dragon Ball has participated in numerous tournaments, but do you remember how many he won? Very few…
First we must make a distinction. If we consider the mother work, namely Akira Toriyama’s manga, our Kakarot only won… a Tenkaichi tournament. This is the 23rd, the one in which he triumphed in the final against Piccolo (here are Piccolo’s epic battles in Dragon Ball), and which marked the transition from his adolescence to adult life.
Previously, in fact, Son Goku had also participated in the 21st, losing in the final against Jackie-Chan (i.e. Master Roshi in disguise), and in the 22nd, in which he unfortunately capitulated against Tenshinhan. The subsequent ones in which he participated, however, did not end for the protagonist: at the 25th Tenkaichi – later won by Satan – the Z Warriors had to leave Papaya island to stop Babidi’s plans, while at the 28th our he flew away together with his opponent Uub during the quarterfinals.
However, if we also consider the canon of the Dragon Ball Z anime series, our hero triumphed in another tournament, that of the afterlife. Fighting in a no holds barred duel against Pai-Ku-Han, the saiyan finally triumphed in the Tournament of the Four Galaxies, winning the respect of the Kaioh. However, it is a narrative arc which, despite being canonical within the franchise, never appeared in Toriyama’s manga, as filler.
Continuing in Dragon Ball Super, both in the manga and in the anime, Goku then participated in the tournament between Universes 6 and 7 and in the Tournament of Power. In the first he decided to surrender in the final against Hit, handing the victory to the Assassin in Champa’s pay; in the second, despite having contributed to the triumph of the Seventh Universe against Jiren of the Eleventh, it is not to Goku that we owe the final victorybut to C-17, who remained as the only fighter on the field at the end of the countdown.
In short, in the entire Dragon Ball franchise Goku has only won two tournaments, even one if we consider the classic manga alone. Did you remember them all? And do you agree on these 5 best battles fought by Goku?
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