Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball has excelled with inspirational and action-packed storytelling that’s kept audiences on the edge of their seats for four decades. Dragon Ball often gets reduced to its heroes’ bold transformations and the apocalyptic battles that break out between characters, but there’s also a very human element to the series that’s just as crucial to its success. Audiences have watched Goku gradually mature from a young boy into a proud grandfather. There’s never been any question whether Goku loves his family. However, there’s often heavy criticism launched at the Dragon Ball protagonist when it comes to his parenting skills.
Fans are quick to address the fact that Goku is largely absent during Gohan’s formative years, where Piccolo steps in as a guiding guardian, and that he also misses Goten’s birth. Dragon Ball Super Chapter 103, “A Legacy Toward the Future,” even indicates that Goku has forgotten the name of his own granddaughter, Pan. Goku’s work as a father could definitely benefit from some improvements, but anyone who claims that he’s a neglectful parent or bad dad is actively missing plenty of evidence that supports the contrary.
Goku Didn’t Have Proper Parental Figures In His Life To Teach Him Any Better
Goku Is Pushed Into Parenthood Without Being Able To Lead By Example
So much behavior is learned through example, and Dragon Ball is full of instances where characters either perpetuate or break away from their lives’ recurring cycles. One of the luxuries of a long-running series with an expansive timeline that covers multiple decades is that it’s able to highlight how the next generation of characters carry on or reinvent their legacies. Goku admittedly isn’t a perfect parent, but his transgressions are much easier to understand when audiences remember that he’s never truly had present parents in his own life.
Goku has largely had to raise himself. Grandpa Gohan, Goku’s surrogate guardian, is out of the picture when Dragon Ball begins and it’s established that he’s failed to properly prepare Goku for the outside world. Goku is extremely naïve and even initially fails to grasp basic concepts, like gender. Alternatively, Bardock, Goku’s Saiyan father from Planet Vegeta, selflessly decides to send Goku away so that he doesn’t suffer the same indignities that doom the Saiyan race.
Bardock exhibits incredible care for his son, but Goku is too young to register any of this kindness and he doesn’t even remember Bardock until Vegeta and Frieza tell him stories. Goku technically has a father-in-law from Chi-Chi’s family, Ox-King, but these two barely spend any time together and he’s rarely seen outside the original Dragon Ball. Sadly, the closest thing that Goku has as a parent is Master Roshi, his martial arts trainer, who is hardly a shining example of responsibility and paternal instincts.
Goku’s inability to learn from his only parents makes his flaws easier to understand, and it’s actually quite surprising that he becomes such a good parent at all. Gohan grows into a loving and supportive father to his daughter and it’s clear that he’s learned good values from his own dad on how to be there for his children, even if Goku’s parenting accomplishments aren’t always obvious.
Goku Might Be A Subpar Husband, But Not A Bad Father
Goku’s Shortcomings Are Specific To Marital Strife, Not Parenting
It’s easy to conflate an entire family’s dynamics with those of being a parent, but they’re not exactly analogous. Goku would likely be the first person to admit that he’s lacking as a husband and that he’s not the most attentive to his wife’s wishes and needs. Goku doesn’t even seem to fully understand the concept of marriage when he engages in this union with Chi-Chi, which again reflects his naivety to the ways of the world. Goku doesn’t seem to have any issues sneaking around his wife or putting his own interests above hers.
He’s also completely ignorant when it comes to romance and physical affection. Chi-Chi’s frustrations with her husband are more than valid, but Goku’s selfish attitude begins and ends with his wife, rather than carrying over to his kids. For instance, Chi-Chi is eternally aggravated that Goku doesn’t trade in his gi for a business suit so that he can properly provide for his family. Goku avoids a conventional job and manual labor, but he still provides for his family in his own way through steady prize money winnings from martial arts tournaments.
He keeps his family afloat and insulated. It’s just not by Chi-Chi’s metric of success. Goku is oblivious to what Chi-Chi needs for fulfillment. However, he still proves to be an infinitely trustworthy and loyal role model. The entire planet is willing to trust and support Goku when they donate their energy for his Super Spirit Bomb and Super Ultra Spirit Bombs. Feared individuals, like Zeno the Omni-King, also take a liking to Goku and give him special privileges that no one else in the multiverse receives.
The multiple occasions that involve evil Goku doppelgängers have Goku’s friends and family lost in doubt over whether it’s okay to attack. Goku is such a pure and good person that it becomes a true challenge for them to view him in a negative light. On top of everything else, a photo of Gohan and Videl’s wedding proves that Goku was in attendance and that he was sure not to miss this momentous event in his son’s life.
Goku may fail to appreciate the reciprocal nature of his own marriage, but he’s there to celebrate this special moment when it pertains to his children. There’s at least a modicum of hope that Goku has slightly grown as a person during the ten-year time-skip that leads into Dragon Ball Z’s concluding Peaceful World Saga. He pledges to Chi-Chi that he’s finally ready to settle down and enjoy a simple life with his family.
Goku Teaches His Best Martial Arts Techniques To His Children
Goku Uses Training & Martial Arts As A Sincere Bonding Experience
There are many different ways to demonstrate affection and, for Goku, he basically turns martial arts and training into his love language. Martial arts can often be a solitary and secretive practice where a lone individual improves their skills. Goku instead uses training as a way to truly bond with his children and connect with them on a deeper, instinctual level. Goku is willing to spend years alone with his kids while training in the time-displaced Hyperbolic Time Chamber, which likely includes hours of bonding and downtime between the actual training.
Vegeta does the same thing with Trunks, but it’s more of an abusive and toxic relationship between them. Vegeta pushes Trunks too hard in training, hurts his son, and fails to recognize his limits. Goku achieves the perfect middle ground where he’s able to push Gohan, but never at the cost of his son’s safety. Goku proudly teaches his trademark Kamehameha technique to both Gohan and Goten, whereas this same level of sharing and synergy isn’t present between Vegeta and Trunks.
Vegeta certainly trains with his son, but they develop separate techniques instead of shared abilities that reflect their bond on the battlefield. Goku goes one step further in this department and he doesn’t just teach his sons the Kamehameha, but he performs it in tandem alongside his children. One of Dragon Ball Z’s sweetest moments is when Goku, Gohan, and Goten perform a Family Kamehameha to defeat the villain in Broly - Second Coming.
Goku Is Willing To Sacrifice Himself To Protect His Children
Goku Will Do Whatever It Takes To Protect His Family & Friends
Another major way in which Goku has proven himself to be an effective father is that he won’t hesitate to sacrifice himself if it means that he’ll be able to keep his children safe. This is pure selflessness on his part and it should settle any debates that Goku’s parenting has lapsed. Goku has been absent during important moments from his children’s past, but he’s always there when evil strikes and more than willing to take one for the team.
Goku’s first real sacrifice, against Raditz, is largely in part so that his evil Saiyan brother doesn’t set his sights on Gohan and attempt to take him under his wing. Goku’s decision to stay on an exploding Namek to see through his battle with Frieza, while he uses the Dragon Balls to wish everyone back to Earth, reflects the same heroic values. The heroes’ battle against Cell is arguably the greatest example of Goku’s altruistic nature. He doesn’t hesitate to use Instant Transmission to minimize casualties on Earth while he shoulders the brunt of Cell’s self-destruct maneuver.
Goku, even after Cell is properly destroyed, refuses the opportunity to be wished back to life with the Dragon Balls because he recognizes that he’s a beacon for evil. His presence on Earth will only jeopardize his children’s future and so he responsibly elects to stay behind in Other World for the greater good. Goku demonstrates equal love for his children during his battle against Naturon Shenron, one of the seven Shadow Dragons, in Dragon Ball GT.
Naturon Shenron absorbs Pan, and it looks like the monster’s death will be impossible without taking Pan out with him. Pan even pleads for Goku to take them both out together so that Naturon Shenron can’t cause more damage in the world. Goku refuses to even consider such an option. He devises a strategy that will take out Naturon Sheron, while also keeping Pan safe.
Goku Breaks The Rules Of Other World To Help His Son
The Universe’s Limits Can’t Keep Goku From Seeing His Family
Dragon Ball spends a large portion of time in Other World with the deceased and Goku even spends a lengthy tenure in this afterlife realm following Dragon Ball Z’s Cell Saga. There are crucial rules that goven Other World. Goku must adhere to these, especially since some of his more powerful techniques give him the ability to leave the confines of the afterlife, if he’s so inclined. Goku can easily use Instant Transmission to teleport to Other World, which means he’s just as capable of doing the reverse.
Goku follows this protocol and chain of command because there are serious consequences that will otherwise follow and it’s possible that King Yemma could even revoke certain privileges, like the ability to keep his body in Other World. Bojack Unbound, Dragon Ball Z’s ninth feature film, features a surprise appearance from Goku when he breaks Other World’s rules and briefly uses Instant Transmission to punch Bojack in the face in order to save Gohan.
This is absolutely not allowed, but Goku can’t help himself. It’s a moment that echoes Goku’s ethereal help during Super Saiyan 2 Gohan’s Kamehameha duel against Cell, too. Goku even finds a way to cheat his way out of the 24-hour furlough, that he’s rewarded to see his family and friends on Earth during the Buu Saga’s 25th World Martial Arts Tournament.
Goku is only supposed to be around for a single day, but he games the system in such a way that he has his mortality back by the end of the series. This all speaks to Goku’s incredible love for his children and how far he’ll go to keep them safe and prove his love to his sons. To call Goku a bad father is to overlook hundreds of episodes of character development and sacrifice.
