Goku vs. Superman

*Originally published on 5/20/10



When I pit the Justice League against Broly, I alluded to the rivalry that exists between Goku and Superman. The debate has been raging for years. As one person in a forum commented, most people come into this with their own bias. They either see Goku as a rip-off or they don't have respect for Superman as a character. I find myself in a unique position as I am actually a fan of both. As such, I think I may actually be able to provide at least some semblance of closure to this long standing argument.

It should be noted that the odds of these two actually fighting are slim to none. Both are the most noble, pure-hearted characters you'll find. As such, they would most likely join forces to battle evil. If one was to get brainwashed, the writer would have them gain the upper hand for the majority of the fight while the other fights to free his mind. Eventually, the non-brainwashed character would win the day, no matter which character we were talking about.

That being said, Goku does love a challenging fight and the man of steel would certainly deliver on that front. He's got super strength, speed, heat vision, freezing breath, flight, an extra-normal hearing ability as well as X-Ray, telescopic and microscopic vision.

One of the problems with this fight is that as Dragonball Z progresses, Goku gets exponentially stronger. So, in order for this fight to work, we have to specify which form Goku is fighting in. For the sake of simplicity and closure, I'll be going through each level and pitting Superman against that form so that we can all be sure.

Regular Saiyan form

I gotta say, Superman takes this one hands down. Goku and Piccolo combined were having trouble keeping up with Raditz and, as DBZ Abridged makes perfectly clear, Raditz is kind of a sissy. While Goku's certainly stronger than most humans at this point, I don't see his blows doing any significant damage to Supes.

Of course, there's also the Kaio-ken technique as well as the fact that Goku gets a lot stronger between this point and the point where he finally ascends to the Super Saiyan form. Goku's power level does increase significantly, but as you'll see, it won't matter in the long term.

Super Saiyan

This is the form that Goku used to defeat Frieza in that five minute fight that lasted 10 episodes. His strength is exponentially stronger as is his speed.

As such, he'll definitely give Superman a much bigger run for his money. Here, the last son of Krypton will take quite a bit of damage, but I think he will still take the victory.

Super Saiyan 2

This level was first hit by Goku's son, Gohan, during a brutal battle with the villain Cell. It's similar to the first form, only the Saiyan's hair becomes much spikier and bolts of lightning shoot around their energy aura. It's a much more powerful form than the previous.

I'd call this battle a draw. It's about here where the two are at about the same strength and speed.

Super Saiyan 3

Goku first hits this level at the beginning of the Buu saga. This transformation is notable for the really long hair as well as the fact that it burns off a person's eyebrows. It's an incredibly powerful form to say the least.

In general, I would give the victory to Goku on this one as his strength and speed are so great that I don't think even Superman would be able to keep up. The one X factor is whether or not Goku is alive or dead. In the anime, Goku was able to sustain the form much longer when he was dead. Once he was brought back to life, he found that the form wore him out much quicker.

If Superman can hold out long enough for Goku to burn up all his energy, he might be able to turn the tide of the battle, but I don't see him winning this one.

Super Saiyan 4

Superman loses. That's it. This form is insanely powerful and there is no weakness to be exploited as there was with the previous form. You could argue that this form shouldn't count as it took place in Dragonball GT and the fans (as well as the writers) tend to ignore it. Since Akira Toriyama wasn't involved, most don't consider it canon. Still, technically, Goku did reach the form so it seems wrong to ignore it.

You may wonder about firepower. Goku clearly has the edge here. While it's said that Superman's heat vision has the potential to do the same amount of damage as a nuclear bomb, Goku's Kamehameha wave can do a lot more damage. Still, Superman is a resilient bloke and he's always gotten back up no matter how hard he gets hit with lightning or any other form of energy beam. Heck, he withstood Darkseid's Agony Matrix in the finale of Justice League Unlimited.

One other factor is whether or not Goku uses his "solar flare". This is an attack that amplifies the sun's light to blind and disorient their opponent. Given that Superman is powered by the sun, this attack would actually work in his favor. I doubt Goku would know that little piece of trivia beforehand so I'm sure he'd try it at some point. While he's portrayed as goofy and kind of dim, he's not so dumb that he'd try it twice after seeing the effect.

It's also important to note that Goku's spirit bomb would be useless as it doesn't harm those pure of heart.

One of the main criticisms of Dragonball Z is that the characters get so insanely powerful. This is quite true, but even though the power levels are insane doesn't mean you can dismiss them. A powerful enemy is a powerful enemy and it wouldn't be fair to brush off his or her ability just because it reaches a very high point.

So, that's my rundown on the issue. Will it end the flame war? Not likely, heck many of you may disagree with my evaluation. I'm kind of curious to see how other people think the fight would go.