Son Goku, the protagonist of Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball series, and his Super Saiyan powers are one of the main reasons why Dragon Ball is such a massive franchise that it surpasses almost every other media franchise. Goku introduced a world to the anime and manga industry that was never seen before.
However, as the anime world developed, Goku got a little left behind. Although he is still considered one of the best protagonists of all time, one of his characteristics, which was his biggest strength, resulted in the downfall of Goku and ultimately the series. The characteristic that caused Goku’s downfall was his ability to transform into Super Saiyan.
Many fans believe that Goku’s transformation, which kept increasing every time he fought someone strong, removed the entire essence of training and learning for Goku and the other characters. This made Dragon Ball less attractive as it all became a power-level game that Goku won every time, regardless of the enemy in front of him.
Goku’s Biggest Strength in Dragon Ball
When Goku and Dragon Ball were first introduced to the world, they told the story of a young boy who has an understanding of and a love for martial arts and wants to defeat strong people by training hard and reaching their level. Goku’s journey to become one of the strongest martial artists in history was the main thing that attracted fans.
However, when the story revealed that Goku is a Saiyan from another planet and has hidden potential, it made fans more excited to learn more about Goku and the Saiyan race. Later on, Goku trained hard, fought many battles, and ultimately reached the Super Saiyan level, which became his strongest transformation.
Goku then kept unlocking new levels of Super Saiyan with training until the Buu saga happened. That’s when the story changed from Goku training to becoming Super Saiyans to just fighting strong characters and unlocking a new level. Ever since then, most of Goku’s new transformation came from him just fighting strong opponents, and although he kept his training going, it never became the main reason for his new powers.
Dragon Ball Fans Believe Goku Ruined Dragon Ball
According to a discussion on Dragon Ball Forums, the Buu saga is where it all started. During the Buu saga, Goku and the other Saiyans became so strong so easily (because of their Saiyan genes) that the other characters from the series were left far behind. None of the other characters could catch up to them.
Characters like Krillin, Tien, Master Roshi, and even Piccolo indirectly became side characters who would just try to keep the enemy distracted until the Saiyans arrived and defeated them by unlocking a new Super Saiyan level. These new transformations took away the essence of Goku’s character.
However, the series has tried to tackle this problem by giving Piccolo center stage in the new Dragon Ball Super movie, but even then, it doesn’t take away the fact that Goku’s training and working hard were what made Dragon Ball attractive, and now that it has become so easy for him to unlock new Super Saiyan powers, it is not as interesting as it used to be.
You can watch the Dragon Ball series on Crunchyroll.
