Goku

Son Goku (Japanese: 孫 悟空, Hepburn: Son Gokū), better known as simply Goku, is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Dragon Ball manga series created by Akira Toriyama. He is based on Sun Wukong, a main character in the classical Chinese novel Journey to the West. Goku is introduced in chapter #1 Bulma and Son Goku (ブルマと孫悟空, Buruma to Son Gokū), originally published in Japan's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on December 3, 1984, as an eccentric, monkey-tailed boy who practices martial arts and possesses superhuman strength. He meets Bulma and joins her on a journey to find the wish-granting Dragon Balls.

Initially believed to be an Earthling, he is later revealed to be a member of an extraterrestrial warrior race called the Saiyans with the birth name Kakarrot (カカロット, Kakarotto). As Goku matures, he becomes one of the universe's mightiest warriors and protects his adopted home planet, Earth, from villains who wish to harm it. Goku is depicted as carefree and cheerful when at ease but quickly serious and strategic-minded when fighting. He is able to concentrate his Ki and use it for devastatingly powerful energy-based attacks, the most prominent being his signature Kamehameha wave technique, in which Goku launches a blue energy blast from his palms.

As the protagonist, Goku appears in most of the episodes, films, television specials, and OVAs of the manga's anime adaptations Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT, as well as many of the franchise's video games. Due to the series' international popularity, Goku has become one of the most recognizable and iconic anime characters in the world. Outside the Dragon Ball franchise, Goku has made cameo appearances in Toriyama's self-parody series Neko Majin Z, has been the subject of other parodies, and has appeared in special events. Most Western audiences were introduced to the adult version of Goku appearing in the Dragon Ball Z anime, itself an adaptation of Dragon Ball manga volumes 17-42, as opposed to his initial child form, due to the limited success of the first series overseas. Goku's critical reception has been largely positive and he has been recognized as one of the greatest manga and anime characters of all time.

Appearances

Goku first appears as a monkey-tailed child adopted by the hermit Gohan. Before the series' narrative begins, he accidentally and unknowingly kills Gohan on a full-moon night when he temporarily transforms into the mighty Great Ape (a giant ape-like creature, which members of the saiyan race become as a result of blux waves given off by the full-moon). Living alone, Goku befriends teenage girl Bulma and joins her to find the seven Dragon Balls, which, when gathered, summon the wish-granting dragon Shenlong. They encounter the desert bandit Yamcha and two shapeshifters named Oolong and Puar, who also join their quest. Goku is later trained by the martial artist Kame-Sen'nin, alongside a Shaolin monk named Kuririn, who becomes his best friend. While participating in the Tenkaichi Budōkai (天下一武é"会, "Strongest Under the Heavens Martial Arts Tournament") that attracts the most powerful fighters in the world, Goku battles foes, later turned allies, such as Tenshinhan and Chaozu, as well as the Namekian Piccolo. After becoming the runner-up champion of the 21st and 22nd Tenkaichi Budōkais, Goku finally wins in the 23rd tournament with Piccolo's defeat, and marries Chi-Chi soon after.

Five years later, Goku meets his evil older brother Raditz and sacrifices himself to defeat Raditz after he learns about his heritage. Goku comes from a race of extraterrestrials called Saiyans (サイヤ人, Saiya-jin), himself having been sent from their home planet to prepare Earth for sale on the intergalactic market by destroying all its life. While Gohan was taking care of him, Goku suffered a severe head injury and forgets his mission to conquer Earth. Goku faces enemies linked to his heritage, such as the Saiyan prince Vegeta, who eventually becomes an ally; and the galactic tyrant Freeza, who destroyed the Saiyan's home planet and nearly the entire race. This is the great battle where Goku becomes a Super Saiyan. After his battle with Freeza, Goku contracts a heart virus whereof the time-traveler Trunks warns him, but recovers after taking medicine provided by Trunks. Later, Goku trains his first son Gohan to be his successor and sacrifices himself again during the battle against the evil life-form Cell. Goku is temporarily resurrected on Earth seven years later and meets his second son Goten. Shortly after, he is drawn into a battle for the universe against the monster Majin Boo. Goku also battles Vegeta again after Vegeta falls under the control of the wizard Bobbidi. Eventually, Goku destroys Boo with a Genki-Dama attack. Ten years later, during another Tenkaichi Budōkai with fighters from all over the world, Goku meets Oob, Boo's human reincarnation, and leaves with him, intending to train him as the new protector of Earth.

Conception and creation

Goku, and Dragon Ball in general, evolved from one of Akira Toriyama's earlier one-shot series called Dragon Boy. In this story, the protagonist who looks a lot like Goku has a pair of wings. When Toriyama created Dragon Ball, he was inspired by Chinese author Wu Cheng'en's 16th century classical novel Journey to the West. Goku is loosely based on the monkey Sun Wukong, the central character of the novel. To be creative with the idea, Toriyama designed Goku as a human boy with a monkey's tail, rather than a complete simian, because the tail would give him a distinguishing feature. Similarly, in Journey to the West, Sun Wukong can assume human form, but retains his tail. He later stated that the tail was a pain to draw, hence why he had it get cut off early on. Toriyama did not initially plan to make Goku an alien, it was not until the introduction of fighters from other planets that he established him as a Saiyan. Goku was given the ability to teleport to any planet in seconds, so that Toriyama could increase the pace of the story.

Wanting Dragon Ball to have a Chinese appearance, Toriyama modeled Goku's gi (martial arts uniform) on the robes worn by the Shaolin monks of China. During the early chapters of the manga, Toriyama's editor, Kazuhiko Torishima, commented that Goku looked rather plain. Toriyama had given him simple clothes on purpose because it was a fighting manga, so to combat this he added several characters like Kame-Sen'nin and Kuririn, and created the Tenkaichi Budōkai to focus the storyline on fighting. To defy the assumption that Goku would win the tournaments, Toriyama made him lose the first and second but win the third. Toriyama also mentioned Torishima wanted Goku to form a relationship with Bulma but this was never applied to the series.

Toriyama's editor was initially against having Goku grow up, saying it was uncommon to have the protagonist drastically change in manga, however, he gave in when Toriyama threatened that he would not be able to continue the series if the character did not. Toriyama later stated he had him grow up as a means to make drawing the fight scenes easier. When Toriyama thought up the Super Saiyan concept, he felt the only way to show Goku's massive power up was to have him transform. Initially he was concerned that the facial expression looked like that of a villain, but felt since the transformation was brought about by anger it was acceptable. With the conclusion of the Cell arc, Gohan was intended to replace his father as protagonist, but Toriyama decided that Gohan was unsuitable for the role.

Dragon Ball GT chief character designer Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru said he agonized over designing Super Saiyan 4 Goku, which was the idea of the show's producers, questioning whether it was necessary to go further with the transformations. Because Super Saiyan 4 is brought about while in a Saiyan's ÅŒzaru ("Great Ape") form, he made the hair more "wild" and covered Goku's body in red fur. There was only a single final draft of the character, although Nakatsuru did consider making the hair blonde, he ended up choosing black as it provides more contrast with the red fur.

Design

Goku is usually recognized by his unique hairstyle, which does not change its length except in his Super Saiyan forms, wherein his changes in color and length according to the form he takes. This is explained by Vegeta to be a common characteristic of full-blooded Saiyans. Goku's hair color changes from black to golden after ascending to a Super Saiyan, and his irises change from black to turquoise. In his god form, both his hair color and irises change from a Super Saiyan's golden to a deep red. Goku prefers dressing in a dōgi uniform to show his devotion to Earth, instead of standard battle fatigues of his race; the only time he actually does wear these garments is during his training with Gohan before the Cell Games.

In his early childhood, Goku is introduced wearing a dark colored dōgi uniform with red wristbands and a white belt tied in a bow. Although, throughout the majority of the series, Goku is commonly seen wearing a red-orange dōgi uniform with a navy blue short-sleeved undershirt, blue wristbands, a blue belt tied in a knot, and striped boots. Goku also often wears the encircled kanji of his training masters on the front and back of this uniform; the first being Kame-Sen'nin's "kame" (亀^?, meaning "turtle"); the second being Kaiō-sama's, "kaio" (界王^?, meaning "world king"); and the third being his own "Go" (悟^?, meaning "wisdom" or "enlightenment"). Eventually, Goku stops wearing a kanji and replaces his knot-tied belt with a blue obi.

Voice actors

In the Japanese version of the entire Dragon Ball anime series and subsequent related media, Goku has been voiced by Masako Nozawa. Toriyama selected Nozawa upon hearing her audition sample, remarking that only Goku could sound like that. In most non-Japanese versions, different voice actors have been used for the child and adult forms of the character. In the numerous English versions, Goku is played by different actors because different companies produced the dubs, by reason of changes of ADR companies and recording studios, or due to actors quitting.

Goku's kid incarnation was voiced by Barbara Goodson in Harmony Gold's very brief English dub of Dragon Ball, Brianne Siddall provided the voice in Bandai's English release of the video game Final Bout, Saffron Henderson voiced him in Funimation's original dub of the first 13 episodes of Dragon Ball and the movie Curse of the Blood Rubies (produced in association with BLT Productions), Ceyli Delgadillo originally voiced him in the Funimation's in-house dub of the franchise's movies Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle and Mystical Adventure dubbed before the series, Zoe Slusar voiced him in AB Groupe's English dub of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball GT (produced in association with Blue Water Studios) for Canadian and European broadcast, Stephanie Nadolny in the entire Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball GT series, the movie The Path to Power, as well as various video games, and Colleen Clinkenbeard in flashbacks for Dragon Ball Z Kai and the movie Curse of the Blood Rubies.

Goku's adult incarnation has been voiced by Steven Blum in Bandai's English dub of the video game Final Bout, by Ian James Corlett in Funimation's dub of episodes 1-49 (1-37 edited) and the "Toonami" version of the movie Tree of Might of Dragon Ball Z produced in association with Saban and Ocean Productions, by Peter Kelamis in Funimation's dub of episodes 50-67 (38-53 edited) of Dragon Ball Z produced in association with Saban and Ocean (as well as Geneon's dub of the movies Dead Zone, The World's Strongest and The Tree of Might (produced in association with Funimation and Ocean, and Westwood Media's dub of episodes 108-158 of Dragon Ball Z (produced in association with Ocean) for European and Canadian broadcast), by Kirby Morrow in Westwood Media's dub of episodes 159-291 of Dragon Ball Z (produced in association with Ocean) for European and Canadian broadcast, by Jeffrey Watson in AB Groupe's dub of Dragon Ball (produced in association with Blue Water Studios) for Canadian and European broadcast, by Jeremiah Yurk in AB Groupe's dub of Dragon Ball GT (produced in association with Blue Water) for Canadian and European broadcast, and consistently by Sean Schemmel in Funimation's in-house dub of the entire Dragon Ball franchise in the United States.

Abilities

Through vigorous training, Goku has achieved many extraordinary abilities, like incredible super strength and durability. He also possesses super speed and reflexes. He can harness/manipulate Lifeforce energy known as Ki and exert powerful and devastating concussive beams of said energy.

As a child, Goku wields the Nyoi-bō (如意æ£', lit. "Mind Stick", renamed "Power Pole" in Funimation's English anime dub), a magic staff that extends and retracts on command, given to him by his Grandfather; but as he grows older and stronger, Goku eventually stops using the staff. Goku's first means of conveyance is a magic cloud called Kinto'un (筋斗雲, lit. "Somersault Cloud", renamed "Nimbus" in Funimation's English anime dub), given to him by Kame-Sen'nin in return for saving his pet sea turtle. After training with Kami, he learns to fly by virtue of the technique BukÅ«-jutsu (舞空è¡", lit. "Air Dance Technique") and uses the cloud less frequently.

Goku's first shown attack as a child is Jan ken (ジャン拳), three physical blows modeled after the hand signs in rock-paper-scissors. However, his signature move is the Kamehameha (かめはめ波, lit. "Turtle Destruction Wave"), a technique learned from Kame-Sen'nin. The Kamehameha is created when you concentrate all of your body's latent energy and focusing it at one point (it was usually concentrated at the palms of both of your hands). Kame-Sen'nin spent about 50 years to master the technique, but Goku performed a miniature version of the technique immediately upon seeing it, which was enough to damage a car.

Another notable technique of Goku's, taught to him by Kaiō-sama, is the Kaiō-ken (界王拳, lit. "World King Fist"), an attack that multiplies his Ki and strength for an instant, but can also strain his body afterwards, or could even kill him. Goku's most powerful attack is the Genki-Dama (元気玉, "Spirit Bomb" in Funimation's anime dub), an energy sphere created by gathering Ki from surrounding animals, nature and humans, which he also learned from Kaiō-sama. Goku also learns a teleportation skill called Shunkan Idō (瞬é–"移動, lit. "Instant Teleport", renamed "Instant Transmission" in Funimation's English anime dub), which he learned from the inhabitants of the planet Yardrat.

Goku is the only Saiyan in the series to achieve all known Saiyan transformations. In Dragon Ball, he can transform into a gigantic monkey-like creature called an Ōzaru (大猿, lit. "Great Ape") when he stares at a full moon while possessing a Saiyan tail. Goku loses the ability to make this transformation when his friends cut off his tail. Although it grows back, Goku's tail is later permanently removed by Kami. Goku becomes the first Super Saiyan (超サイヤ人, Sūpā Saiya-jin) in a thousand years; becoming enraged when Freeza kills Kuririn on the planet Namek. Each metamorphosis changes Goku's appearance and enormously enhances his abilities. After training to better control the first and second levels of Super Saiyan, the third Super Saiyan form causes Goku to act in a much more serious manner. An alternative, more innately powerful level called Super Saiyan God (超サイヤ人ゴッド, Sūpā Saiya-jin Goddo) was reached by Goku in the canonical film Battle of Gods.

Another ability Goku has is to fuse with others, so long as their power levels are equalized. Later, he uses the Potara Earrings presented to him by the Old Kaiō-shin, which results in a "perfect fusion", but it's a permanent fusion. Goku first attempts to fuse with Gohan, but this fails when the latter is absorbed by Buu, and so he persuades the newly arrived Vegeta to fuse with him, creating Vegito (ベジット, Bejitto, "Vegerot" in Viz Media's manga translation). In the film Fusion Reborn, the two use the Metamorese Fusion Dance, which creates Gogeta (ゴジータ, Gojīta), who sports slight visual differences from their previous merger.

Reception and legacy

Goku's character has been well received by publications for manga, anime and other media. Anime News Network noted Goku as a good source of comedy and remarked that after everything he experiences, he still remains a naïve character. THEM Anime Reviews noted that Goku is not an omnipotent character in the first series, unlike Dragon Ball Z, and does not disappear for long periods of time between sagas. They also liked the way the series' depict his entire adventures, making him a good main character. Rationalmagic.com praised Goku's innocence as one of the funniest parts of the series. According to Julius Weideman, Goku's journey and ever-growing strength resulted in the character winning "the admiration of young boys everywhere." Jason Thompson stated that unlike the "manly" heroes of other popular shōnen manga of the late 1980s and early 1990s, such as City Hunter and Fist of the North Star, Toriyama made his protagonist (Goku) cartoonish and small, thus starting a trend that Thompson says continues to this day. One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda and Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto said that Goku inspired their main protagonists as well as series structure. Commenting on Goku's popularity, Kishimoto stated that when people hear the name "Son Goku", no longer do they think of the Journey to the West character, but instead Dragon Ball's protagonist comes to mind. Masako Nozawa, the Japanese voice actor who plays Goku, said that she liked young Goku with his tail because he was cute, and stated that the character was still the same even at the end of the series. Jackie Chan has gone on record stating that Goku is his favorite Dragon Ball character.

Goku was ranked number one in IGN's 2009 Top 25 Anime Characters of All Time and reappeared on the same list in 2014, however, on this occasion they ranked him third, with Spike Spiegel and Shinji Ikari placed above him, saying that "He was, in many ways, a character that bucked the trends of his time and defined the direction of shonen manga/anime for decades." In Mania Entertainment's 10 Most Iconic Anime Heroes, Thomas Zoth commented that "Goku and Dragon Ball completely revolutionized shōnen manga." In a Newtype poll from March 2010, Goku was voted the fifth most popular male character from the 1980s. Goku ranked consistently high in the Anime Grand Prix poll in the category of "best male character" in the late 1980s and early 1990s, appearing seventeenth in the 1987 poll, fifteenth in the 1988 poll, second in the 1989 poll, fourth in the 1990 poll, third in the 1991 poll, fourth in the 1992 poll, thirteenth in 1993 poll, and twelfth in 1994 poll. In a 1993 character popularity poll for the series, Weekly Shōnen Jump readers voted Goku second, after his son Gohan. He came in first in the magazine's 1995 poll, as well as in a 2004 poll amongst fans of the series for the book Dragon Ball Forever. In a 2005 The Daily Reader article entitled "The Greatest Geek Movie Heroes of All Time", Goku is the only animated character listed, and is ranked tenth. In a survey of 1,000 people, conducted by Oricon in 2007, Goku ranked first place as the "Strongest Manga character of all time." In the survey "Friendship" developed by rankingjapan.com, in which people chose which anime character they would like as a friend, Goku ranked fifth. In 2000, Goku placed third in an Animax poll of favorite anime characters. NTT customers voted him as their third favorite black haired male anime character.

Several pieces of merchandising based on Goku have been released, including action figures, plushes, and keychains.

The German rock band Son Goku takes their name from the Dragon Ball protagonist. The band's lead singer Thomas D chose the name because Goku embodies the band's philosophy, saying he was "fascinated by Goku's naïveté and cheerfulness, yet, at the same time, a great warrior saving the world." In 2010, a fiberglass statue of Goku was created by Chinese artist Edison Chen, with Chen's facial features instead of Goku's, as part of Chen's "I Hate You For Looking!" collection that was displayed at the "Treacherous Treis" exhibition. Rafael Nadal confessed that when he was a young boy, he would run home from school to watch Goku in his favorite Japanese anime, Dragon Ball. CNN released an article explaining how Goku was Nadal's childhood inspiration, and called Nadal "the Dragon Ball of tennis" due to his unorthodox style "from another planet."

Appearances in other media

In the anime-only sequel, Dragon Ball GT, Goku is transformed into a kid by an accidental wish made by his old enemy Pilaf using the Black Star Dragon Balls while Pilaf was about to wish to take over the world. He is seen wearing a multi-colored dōgi that consists of a blue fold-over shirt, a white knot-tied belt, yellow pants, pink wristbands, white shinguards and black shoes and he also has a darker skin complexion. Goku, Trunks and his own granddaughter Pan travel the universe to search for the Black Star Dragon Balls and return them to Earth. Here, Goku defeats the evil Tuffle Baby, Super Android #17, and the evil Shadow Dragons. His final challenge is against Omega Shenron, who he destroys using the Genki-Dama. Goku leaves with the original form of Shenlong, but not before saying his goodbyes to his friends on Earth. He then appears 100 years later at the next martial arts tournament as an adult, where he watches a battle between Goku Jr., his descendant, and Vegeta Jr., Vegeta's descendant. An elderly Pan sees him, but he quickly departs.

Goku has appeared in various other media including an unofficial Taiwanese live-action film and an unofficial Korean live-action film. He was portrayed by Justin Chatwin in the 2009 20th Century Fox feature Dragonball Evolution. Goku has also appeared in almost every Dragon Ball licensed electronic video game, including crossover games such as Jump Super Stars and Jump Ultimate Stars. In 1992, Goku was featured in the interactive game Dragon Ball Z: Get Together! Goku World, in which Goku and his gang travel back in time to review events in the Dragon Ball timeline and interacts with his younger self. In 2006, Goku was featured in the Dragon Ball Z, One Piece and Naruto crossover game Battle Stadium D.O.N. In December 2007, Goku, Naruto Uzumaki and Monkey D. Luffy made guest appearances in avatar form in the MMORPG Second Life for a Jump Festa promotion titled Jumpland@Second Life. Goku also appears in the Dr. Slump and Arale-chan video game for the Nintendo DS.

Goku has been the subject of, and is mentioned in, various songs. "Son Goku Song" and "Gokū no Gokigen Jānī" feature Goku as a child singing about himself. During his adult years, the song "Aitsu wa Son Gokū" by Hironobu Kageyama, where Kageyama praises everything about Goku, and the duet "Ore-tachi no Energy" feature words spoken by the character. For the release of the single of the Dragonball Evolution international theme song "Rule", Toriyama supplied CD artwork of singer Ayumi Hamasaki dressed as Goku.

Goku has been used in Japanese public service announcements aimed at children. In June 1988, Goku and other Dragon Ball characters were featured in two PSA short films. The first, in which Goku is taught the importance of obeying traffic safety by others, is entitled The Goku Traffic Safety (悟空の交通安全, Gokū no Kōtsū Anzen). The second is called The Goku Fire Fighting Regiment (悟空の消防隊, Gokū no Shōbō-tai), in which he teaches two children the importance of fire safety.

Goku has made guest appearances in various Japanese television shows and manga. In 2005, Goku appeared in the Toriyama parody manga Neko Majin Z where he is the sensei of the main character Z. On September 15, 2006, in celebration of the 30th anniversary of Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen-mae Hashutsujo, the special manga Super Kochikame (超ã"ち亀, Chō Kochikame) was released. The chapter entitled This is the Police Station in front of Dragon Park on Planet Namek (ã"ちらナメック星ドラゴン公åœ'前派出所, Kochira Namekku-sei Dragon Kōen-mae Hashutsujo) has Ryotsu Kankichi travel to planet Namek and try to issue Freeza a citation and scold he and Goku for parking their ships illegally. Goku and other Dragon Ball characters join the cast of One Piece in the 2006 crossover manga Cross Epoch. He also appears in a single panel of Toriyama's 2013 manga Jaco the Galactic Patrolman, which is set before the events of Dragon Ball. The collected tankōbon volume of Jaco features the bonus story Dragon Ball Minus: The Departure of the Fated Child, depicting how and why Goku's father and mother, Gine (ギネ), sent him to Earth.

Goku has been the subject of various parodies. In the episode Career Day of Takeshi's Castle, known in the United States as MXC, the hosts Beat Takeshi and Sonomanma Higashi dressed as popular anime characters, one as Goku as a child, the other as Doraemon. Weekly Shōnen Jump's Gag Special 2005 issue, released on November 12, 2004, featured a Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo one-shot Dragon Ball parody manga, a retelling of the first fight between Goku and Vegeta. In chapter #179 of the Yakitate!! Japan manga, Kawachi executes a Genki-Dama parody called a Shinrai-Dama (信頼玉, lit. "Trust Ball") on the character Katsuo.

Goku regularly appears on Fuji TV. In 2003, Goku appeared in the interactive feature Kyutai Panic Adventure! (球ä½"ãƒ'ニックアドベンチャー!, KyÅ«tai Panikku Adobenchā!, "Orb Panic Adventure!"), which was featured exclusively at the Fuji TV headquarters in the Kyutai (orb) section. In this, Freeza attacks a visiting tourist, blasting the orb section free from the rest of the Fuji TV building. Goku fights Freeza over the real life aqua city of Odaiba. In 2004, a sequel called KyÅ«tai Panic Adventure Returns! (球ä½"ãƒ'ニックアドベンチャーリターンズ!, KyÅ«tai Panikku Adobenchā Ritānzu!, "Orb Panic Adventure Returns!") was produced. On March 25, 2006, Goku and Freeza appeared in an original animated short film in the IQ Mirror Mistake 7 (ＩＱミラーまちがい７, AikyÅ« Mirā Machigai Nana) segment of the Japanese game show IQ Supplement (IQサプリ, IQ Sapuri). On April 7, 2007, Goku and Fuji TV announcer Masaharu Miyake were commentators on the anime segment in the Nippon Ijin Taishō (日本偉人大賞, "Japan Great Man Awards") titled Saikyō no Ijin ha Dare? (最強の偉人は誰？, "Who is the Strongest Hero?"). The segment featured a special tournament to decide who was the greatest person in Japanese history. During the intermission, Goku promoted the coming release of R2 Dragon Ball DVDs.

Since the U.S. debut of Dragon Ball Z in 1996, Goku has appeared in American pop culture. He was featured in an issue of Wizard magazine in which he and Superman fought a hypothetical battle and won. Later, they fought in Screwattack's video show Death Battle and Superman won. In the Codename: Kids Next Door episode "Operation: R.E.P.O.R.T", Numbuh Four's version of the story is a parody of the Goku and Freeza's battle in Dragon Ball Z. Goku appears in Robot Chicken in a sketch entitled A Very Dragon Ball Z Christmas, where Goku and Gohan fight an evil Mrs. Claus with Santa's reindeer, in an attempt to save Christmas. The Saturday Night Live sketch TV Funhouse titled Kobayashi depicts real-life hot-dog-eating champion Takeru Kobayashi as able to transform into a Super Saiyan as he prepares to eat hot dogs; Goku appears briefly near the end. Goku is referenced in the song "Goku" by Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, where he brags that he looks and feels like Goku and a few other Dragon Ball related characters also including unrelated Pikachu. Goku appears in a parody of the film Moneyball on an episode of Mad entitled Money Ball Z, in which Billy Beane drafts Goku and a couple of other Dragon Ball characters into the Oakland A's.

References

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