Don’t let Gohan fans fool you, Goku is Dragon Ball’s one and only main character. From the start of Dragon Ball to the end of Dragon Ball Super, Goku has been the single consistent entity driving the series forward. Even when he’s not directly involved in the action, his presence is actively driving the plot. It’s his legacy, and his character, that defines the overarching Dragon Ball mythos. There simply is no Dragon Ball without Goku. All of the series’ core themes- bettering yourself, acknowledging that there will always be someone better than you are, and accepting who you are- tie directly into Goku’s arc. As Goku is our undisputed main character, the star of a story chronicling several decades in and out of universe, we’ve been given the rare opportunity to watch him grow from childhood into adulthood. As Dragon Ball is a martial arts story at its core, influenced quite blatantly from the Wuxia genre, Goku’s growth as a man is inherently tied to his growth as a fighter. Time and time again, from arc to arc, Goku grows in power, subverting our expectations of what he’s capable of. When you look at Goku from every series, every spin-off, and every game, though, which Goku comes out the strongest?
31 Kid Goku
In this chronology of Goku’s journey to become the strongest mortal in Universe 7, it perhaps goes without saying that his earliest depiction is also his weakest. Kid Goku, as we see him in the Hunt for the Dragon Balls arc and the 21st Budokai, is a rather weak fellow. While he can tank a bullet from Bulma’s assault rival and even rival Roshi in power, he’s not all that hot. The Goku who started it all. Kid Goku seriously struggles at the beginning of the series. Jackie Chun effectively bodies him during their final match in the 21st Budokai. To his credit, Goku does put up a good fight, but it’s mainly his youthful vigor that keeps him active for so long. It wouldn’t be until a bit later in the series that Goku would start achieving grander feats.
30 Oozaru Goku
Believe it or not, Goku only turned into an Oozaru twice in the entirety of Dragon Ball and both instances occurred in the first two arcs of the entire franchise. Although the series never outright specifies just how much stronger a Saiyan is when they tap into their Oozaru form, we can tell from Goku’s stints as one that it’s a rather huge boost. Goku as an Oozaru is incredibly dangerous. In the first arc, nobody would be able to physically stop him. It takes Yamcha and Puar working together thinking strategically to actually take him down. In the 21st Budokai, Roshi needs to fire off a massive Kamehameha at the moon since he wouldn’t be able to defeat Goku otherwise.
29 Ultra Divine Water Goku
It’s easy to miss given it’s all visual, but Goku actually becomes as strong as his Oozaru self after drinking the Ultra Divine Water in the Demon King Piccolo arc. Karin states that drinking the water would unlock Goku’s latent power, and his latent power at the time was tied directly to turning into an Oozaru. This was arguably Goku’s first Zenkai. From that point on, Goku’s attacks are depicted alongside Oozaru imagery, implying that he’s inherited all that power without needing to transform. This places Goku on another level entirely, trumping all his former rivals. Unfortunately, it’s still not enough to overpower Demon King Piccolo, with the water only making him strong enough to fight on even footing with the Demon King.
28 Teen Goku
Given the similarities in design between 23rd Budokai Goku and Saiyan saga Goku, it’s easy to dismiss both incarnations as “Adult Goku,” but the former is a tried and true teenager. After training with Kami, Goku becomes far stronger than anyone up to that point. Throughout the entire arc, he’s the undisputed strongest man alive, taking Piccolo out in a battle for the ages. It’s worth noting that Kami’s training also bestows upon Goku a rather meaningful personality change. He’s more inclined to enjoy his fights now along with being more goal oriented. This is the first time we see Goku with a clear-cut motivation and his battle maniac personality. It’s also worth mentioning that Goku actually tried to train in the Room of Spirit and Time under Kami, but couldn’t endure at such an inexperienced level.
27 Adult Goku
The most interesting aspect about Adult Goku in the Saiyan arc is that he’s become complacent. After solidifying himself as the strongest man alive and starting a family, he gets lazy. He seems to stop training, barely getting any stronger in the five year time jump, and even fails to develop new techniques unlike Piccolo. Goku’s just not cut out to be a family man. This comes back to bite him in a big way when Raditz arrives, but it also serves as an important catalyst for Goku’s pursuit of power. He once again realizes that there will always be stronger fights out there now that he’s gained a wider perspective of the universe. It’s this moment where Goku starts training harder than ever, achieving far greater strengths than before.
26 Ginyu-Goku
Ginyu-Goku is the posterboy for Power Levels not mattering in the grand scheme of Dragon Ball. Despite absorbing Goku’s body, Ginyu cannot access any of Goku’s techniques, making him far weaker than both Gohan and Krillin. Strength is absolutely nothing without skill, and that’s the main takeaway from Ginyu-Goku. This is arguably the weakest we ever see Goku in context. Granted, though, this isn’t really Goku, just Ginyu in Goku’s body.
25 Goku (Kaioken)
Before there was Super Saiyan, there was Kaioken. By pushing his body to its absolute limits, Kaioken multiplies Goku’s raw power, allowing him to fight Vegeta on equal footing despite being far weaker in his base state. The downside, however, is that Kaioken drains stamina like crazy and even damages Goku’s body the further he pushes it. By the end of the Frieza saga, Goku can use Kaioken up to times twenty, but it only puts him at roughly half of final form Frieza’s full power. Kaioken, for all its good, can only be pushed so far without utterly crippling the user. It’s useful in a pinch, but it does more harm than good as evidenced by how effortlessly Vegeta throttles Goku after his Kaioken runs out in their fight.
24 Pseudo Super Saiyan Goku
Introduced by Toei in the fourth Dragon Ball Z film, Lord Slug, Pseudo Super Saiyan was Toei’s take at the mythical transformation before properly adapting it in the anime. Rather than being a permanent power up like Super Saiyan in the manga, Pseudo Super Saiyan sees Goku enter a Kaioken-esque form where he’s filled with pure rage. A form as forgettable as the movie it appeared in. His body gains this reddish brown aura, his eyes go completely blank, and he just lays a beatdown onto the titular Lord Slug. Bizarrely, this form doesn’t end up beating Slug though as it eventually fades away. It was, at best, a temporary boost not unlike Ultra Instinct. Ultimately, it takes a Genki Dama to fell Slug, and PSSJ faded away from existence alongside him.
23 Super Saiyan Goku
After an entire story arc of characters teasing Goku, Vegeta, and Gohan turning Super Saiyan, Goku finally completes the age-old prophecy after witnessing Frieza take out Piccolo, blow Krillin to bits, and threaten to do the same to Gohan. In a state of pure hate and rage, Goku lets go of all his inhibitions and embraces his Saiyan heritage, finally becoming the Super Saiyan destined to defeat Frieza. From there, Super Saiyan became a franchise staple, allowing Goku to have fare more intense battles than ever before. Goku went from struggling to keep up with a half power Frieza to utterly dominating a full power Frieza. Super Saiyan isn’t without its drawbacks, of course, most notably draining stamina not too unlike Kaioken, but it’s far more stable and the boost is too great to ignore.
22 Full Power Super Saiyan Goku
After realizing they wouldn’t be able to defeat the Androids, let alone Cell, in their current state, Goku devices a plan to put a stop to them: spend a year in the Room of Spirit and Time in order to further develop Super Saiyan. Vegeta goes for Grade 2 and Trunks for Grade 3, but Goku ignores both their paths and ends up simply mastering Super Saiyan as is. You have to wonder why Goku didn’t just make Super Saiyan his permanent base after this. In perfecting the Super Saiyan state, Goku is able to effectively make SSJ his base form, allowing him to train even harder. Full Power Super Saiyan gets rid of all of Super Saiyan’s stamina issues and paves the way for higher heights than either Grade 2 or Grade 3. In just his natural SSJ state, Goku eclipses both Vegeta and Trunks in terms of power.
21 Super Kaioken Goku
For whatever reason, Toei really loves giving Goku temporary forms that he’ll never use again. After his sacrifice in the Cell Games, the anime sees Goku, in a mini filler arc, participate in an Otherworld Budokai where he ends up fighting Paikuhan, a Piccolo expy of sorts. Unfortunately for Goku, Paikuhan is too much for Super Saiyan to handle, forcing Goku to experiment with Kaioken. Since he has a non living body, Goku mixing Kaioken with Super Saiyan pushes his power far further than that of even Super Saiyan 2 Gohan’s. Obviously, this doesn’t make all that much sense power scaling wise, but it’s anime filler. That comes with the territory.
20 Super Saiyan 2 Goku
Seven years in the afterlife is quite a long time, so it’s only natural Goku show back up to the 25th Budokai with more than a few new tricks under his sleeve. The first he reveals is his ability to turn Super Saiyan 2. After training for so long, it’s only natural Goku find a way to tap into the form. You can always count on a father to outdo his son. Doing so pits Goku exactly even with Super Saiyan 2 Majin Vegeta, but not nearly strong enough to take on Fat Buu. While it’s certainly a big boost from Full Power Super Saiyan, it’s not all that impressive compared to Goku’s other, far more impressive, transformation. It comes with its fair share of issues, but it solidifies Goku as a beast of a warrior.
19 GT Kid Goku
Before we can talk about that other transformation Goku showed off in the Buu saga, we need to talk about Dragon Ball GT. You may not realize it, but turning Goku into a kid didn’t just shrink him down, it actually made him weaker. In his child form, Goku struggles to turn use several of his abilities, most notably Instantaneous Movement. It’s debatable whether or not just how weak GT Kid Goku is, given he’s able to go head to head with Rild who’s described as about as strong as Majin Buu, but the fact of the matter is GT Kid Goku can’t fight long with so many of his key abilities locked away. He even struggles to maintain SSJ3, though that’s not all too uncommon given the form’s history.
18 Super Saiyan 3 Goku
Upon realizing that Majin Buu would cause far too much damage too quickly, Goku decides he needs to stall for time and take on Buu before he can fully teach Goten and Trunks the fusion dance. After hiding it from Vegeta in their fight, Goku unveils his new form: Super Saiyan 3. With raw power unlike anything seen up to that point and a visual design similar to that of an Oozaru, Super Saiyan 3 Goku is actually far stronger than Majin Buu at his debut. The original strongest Goku. He later states that he could have beaten Buu, but needed the boys to get the job done since he wasn’t alive and couldn’t keep bailing them out. Unfortunately, SSJ3 has way too many stamina issues and ends up coming back to bite Goku during his fight with Kid Buu where, despite being stronger, he can’t actually finish his opponent off since he’s draining Ki way too fast.
17 GT Goku
Although we never actually get to see what GT Goku is capable of as an adult or at full power, we can assume that, after five years of non-stop training with Uub, he’s gotten pretty strong. It’s only natural that GT Goku surpass his DBZ self, especially since Dragon Ball GT is a Toei invention and Toei loves making Goku appear far stronger than he actually is. Even then, though, it still makes sense considering how much stronger Goku has gotten in Dragon Ball Super in such a short amount of time. GT Goku may not be as strong, but he’d surely put up a good fight in the right setting.
16 Super Saiyan Gogeta
The result of Goku and Vegeta doing the fusion dance in Dragon Ball Z’s twelfth film, Fusion Reborn, Gogeta makes precisely one appearance in Dragon Ball Z, but does it have one heck of an impact. After struggling to defeat Janemba on his own as a Super Saiyan 3, Gogeta effectively one shots him with a single blast right away. All the fun of Vegetto without any of the fun. It’s worth noting that, while technically a similar entity to Vegetto, Gogeta is far more subdued personality wise, at least in Fusion Reborn. He doesn’t fool around, he doesn’t banter with Janemba, and he wastes no time in defeating his opponent. He doesn’t even bother testing out his powers. That’s a far cry from Vegetto.
15 Super Vegetto
While Gogeta is far more level headed than Vegetto, he’s also weaker. The fact of that matter is that potara fusions are just plain better than fusion dance fusion. Not only is the potara fusion seemingly permanent, a notion Super retcons, it’s also strengthened by participants who are particularly in sync. As Goku and Vegeta are lifelong rivals with a tight bond, Vegetto ends up being far stronger than he would be otherwise. He completely throttles Buuhan into submission, never breaking a sweat in the entire fight. Super Vegetto is so powerful that he was the undisputed strongest character in Dragon Ball until Battle of Gods.
14 Super Saiyan God Goku
The most telling indicator of Super Saiyan God Goku’s strength comes from a seemingly throwaway line in Battle of Gods where it’s stated that even fusing into Vegetto wouldn’t be enough to take on Beerus. While this is just speculation on the part of the cast, there’s really no reason to deny this would be the case. Beerus is so far and above everyone else, that it’s believable enough without any explicit proof. It’s amazing what God Ki can do to a man. Taking this into account, it means that Super Saiyan God Goku is already far stronger than Vegetto ever was since he’s actually able to put up a fight against Beerus. Interestingly, how strong Super Saiyan God Goku actually differs between the movie and anime version of BoG. In the film, Beerus fought Goku at 70% power, while in the anime he uses about 10%.
13 Golden Oozaru Goku
Whether it be out of a genuine desire to call back to the series’ roots or a need for more fanservice in a failing product, Dragon Ball GT bringing back the Oozaru transformation is easily one of the most conceptually inspired decisions in the entire franchise. Instead of having Goku transform whenever he sees a full moon, though, GT introduces a Golden Oozaru form as a stepping stone for Super Saiyan 4. The Golden Oozaru really is just a powered up version of the Oozaru when it comes down to it. It doesn’t give Goku sentience and it makes him significantly stronger. What makes it interesting is its status as a preliminary course of sorts for SSJ4. In a way, it’s almost like the Ultra Divine Water. In taking on the Golden Oozaru form, Goku is bestowed with its power in a brand new transformation.
12 Super Saiyan 4 Goku
Considered by Dragon Ball GT to be the purest state of Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan 4 not only elevates Goku’s power far higher than it ever was in Dragon Ball Z, it allows him to transform back into a man for a brief period of time so long as he can maintain the form. SSJ4 is GT’s trump card, allowing Goku to get far stronger without ever having to train. Which actually ends up becoming a major problem for the form. Because Goku is never shown training in Dragon Ball GT after gaining access to Super Saiyan 4, we can only assume that his Power Level is completely static from the end of the Baby arc throughout the rest of the series. SSJ4 Goku never wins a massive battle again and Super Saiyan 4 rarely, if ever, actually comes in handy. It’s clearly strong, but it feels comparatively outclassed by the end of its own series.
