Goku known as Son Goku (孫 悟空?) in the original Japanese-language version[1] and in the English language manga, is a fictional character and the protagonistof the Dragon Ballmanga series written by Akira Toriyama. He is loosely based on Sun Wukong, a central character in the classical Chinese novel Journey to the West.[2] Goku is introduced as an eccentric, monkey-tailed boy who practices martial arts and possesses superhuman strength.[3] At first, Goku is believed to be an Earthling, but he is later revealed to be a member of an extraterrestrial warrior race called the Saiyans.[4]
In Dragon Ball, Goku trains himself in various martial arts and searches the planet for the seven Dragon Balls. He meets other characters with similar goals, such as Bulma, with whom Goku travels to find the Dragon Balls. As Goku matures, he becomes one of Earth's strongest warriors and protects it from villains who wish to harm it. Goku is depicted as carefree and aloof when at ease but quickly serious when fighting. Goku is able to concentrate his Ki and use it for energy-based attacks, the most prominent being his signature Kamehameha wave, in which Goku launches a blue energy blast from his hands.
As the protagonist, Goku appears in most of the episodes, films, television specials, and OVAs of the anime series Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, and Dragon Ball Z Kai, 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. 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. Goku's critical reception has been largely positive and he has been recognized as one of the greatest manga/anime characters of all time.
Bulma (ブルマ Buruma?) is a character appearing early in the series in the first chapter Bulma and Son Goku (ブルマと孫悟空 Buruma to Son Gokū?) first published in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on December 3, 1984.[8] She is most credited for inventing the Dragon Radar, a fictional device designed to detect the energy signal emitted by a Dragon Ball; but Bulma's role as inventor becomes important at other junctures, as in the creations of a microband that could make her shrink, the time machine that brought her son Trunks to the past, and the generator that allowed her husband Vegeta to achieve the abilities of a "Super Saiyan 4" in Dragon Ball GT. Bulma is a direct parody of the character Xuanzang of the Chinese novel Journey to the West;[9] but her Japanese name "Buruma" is a slur of "bloomer", a popular type of women's underwear. As with most characters in the Dragon Ball series, Bulma's name is consistent with those of her family, in that all are named after underclothing: Her father's name is "Dr. Briefs" (ブリーフ博士?), while her son and daughter are named "Trunks" and "Bra" (ブラ?) ("Bulla" in the English anime dub, which is the Japanese pronunciation of "bra") respectively.
Kame-Sen'nin (亀仙人 Kame Sennin?, "turtle hermit"), also known as Muten-Rōshi (武天老師?) and as Master Roshi in the English anime dub, is a perverted martial arts instructor that lives on a small island and the inventor of the Kamehameha technique. Though he seems frail, he is a mighty warrior, having trained Grandpa Gohan, the Gyū-Maō (the Ox King), Goku, Kuririn and a few others. Despite his lechery and occasional whimsy or foolishness he is often depicted as wise, cantankerous, and perceptive. He is often accompanied by his talking turtle companion who often tries point out his faulty ways. He is bald, sports a thick van dyke beard, and wears sunglasses, beach clothes, or martial arts suits and, in early appearances, a turtle's shell on his back. He usually wields a walking stick. When wishing to appear anonymously in the Tenka'ichi Budōkai, Kame-Sen'nin uses the name "Jackie Chun" (ジャッキー・チュン?) while he wears a wig and discards his sunglasses. It is revealed that he is over 300 years old at near the beginning of the series and he cannot die of old age as he drank from an elixir of immortality.
Yamcha (ヤムチャ Yamucha?), known as Zedaki in the Harmony Gold dub, is introduced as an bandit or outlaw. He starts out as an antagonist of Goku's in order to steal his Dragon Ball and wish not to feel nervous when near women. He eventually becomes Goku's ally and one of Bulma's suitors; and later becomes the pupil of Master Roshi, upon having fought supervised by the latter's elder sister, Baba Uranai. As a result of such training, Yamcha develops a "Kamehameha" and the Soukidan, an energy sphere directed by psychokinesis; and later trains under some of the story's gods. His constant companion isPu'ar. He is voiced by Tōru Furuya in the Japanese version of the series. In the Ocean dub, he is voiced by Ted Cole, in the Blue Water Dub, he is voiced by Victor Atelevich, and in the Funimation dub, he is voiced by Christopher Sabat. In the 2009 Dragon Ball live-action film, he was portrayed by Joon Park, whose voice was overlapped by Hisao Egawa in the Japanese dub of the film
Kuririn Krillin in the English anime dub, is a bald martial artist and one of Goku's best friends. He is the classmate of Goku under Kame-Sen'nin's tutelage; initially his rival but later a friend, and a loyal companion in adventures thereafter. He is killed by King Piccolo's mercenary Tambourine, but revived by Shenlng.
Tenshinhan (天津飯?), named Tien Shinhan and nicknamed Ten in the English anime dub, also known as Shinto in the Harmony Gold dub, is first introduced in chapter 113 of the manga series,[13] where he, having been trained by Kame-Sen'nin's rival the Tsuru-Sen'nin, tries to kill Goku and his fellow-students, but later becomes Goku's ally, accompanied by his friend Chaozu.[14] In the Japanese version of the series, he was voiced by Hirotaka Suzuoki until his death in 2006; Kōichi Yamadera acted as a substitute for Suzuoki for episodes 82 and 84 of the series. He is voiced by Mitsuaki Madono in Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit and by Hikaru Midorikawa in Dragon Ball Kai. In the Ocean dub, he was voiced by Matt Smith. In the Funimation dub of the series, he was voiced by Chris Cason in the third season and by John Burgmeier from the fourth season onwards and in the redub of the third season.
Chaozu (餃子?), Chiaotzu in the English anime dub, is a small human that resembles a doll with white skin, red cheeks, and one hair under his hat. Though he is not physically strong, he is skilled with psychokinesis and telepathy. He first trains under the Tsuru-Sen'nin with his close friend, Tenshinhan. After Tenshinhan decides that the Crane Hermit's teachings are wrong, the two leave him and join with Goku and his companions. He continues to support Tenshinhan throughout the series, even going as far as self-destructing on Nappa in order to attempt to save him. However, this proved to be ineffective when Nappa survives without injury. After the Saiyan saga, Chaozu is generally no longer involved in battle, although he continues training. He is voiced by Hiroko Emori in Japan, Cathy Weseluck in the Ocean dub, and Monika Antonelli in Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z in the Funimation dub. Brina Palencia voices him in Dragon Ball Z Kai.
Piccolo otherwise known as "Piccolo Junior", is the spawn of Piccolo Daimao, created to destroy Goku in the wake of his death, subsequently assuming the role as the "evil half" of Kami-sama. As such, he at first sought the Dragon Balls on his own behalf; but later became Goku's ally when opposing the invading Saiyans, and remains an ally thereafter. He is later revealed to be a Namekian;––– a green-skinned, four-fingered (five in the anime), hairless, capable species associated with the series' planet Namek.
Gohan is Goku's first son. He is first seen in the first volume of Dragon Ball Z, called "The World's Greatest Team", when he is kidnapped by Goku's brother, the Saiyan Raditz, and locked up in a space pod. However, his temper flares, and he bursts out of the space pod, dealing a blow to Raditz, but also knocking him out. Raditz intends to kill him, but Goku attacks Raditz and dies in the fight. Since Gohan was asleep during his father's murder, Piccolo took Gohan and trains him for a year.
Vegeta is a Saiyan, and the prince of the entire race, being named after their home planet. He worked for the space tyrant Freeza, and is first shown conquering a planet with his partner Nappa listening to Raditz's fight on earth using their scouters. The two of them travel to Earth in search of the Dragon Balls. It takes them less than a year, but when they finally arrive in a populated city, Vegeta kills everyone in the city with a single attack. They track down Goku's allies, and soon encounter a revived Goku, who beats up Nappa. Vegeta, seeing that Nappa has been defeated, mercilessly kills him. He then fights Goku, but runs away after Yajirobe cuts off his tail and he is struck by Goku's Genki-Dama. He flees to planet Freeza 79, and then heads off to planet Namek to get those Dragon Balls before Freeza.
Trunks first appears as an unknown young man who easily defeats Freeza and his father, before Goku arrives back on Earth. It is then revealed that he is Vegeta and Bulma's future child, who has traveled back in time to inform Goku of the coming of the Androids, whom in his time have killed everyone including Goku. He helps fight against the Androids and later Cell, before returning to his own time.
Just as the Androids arrived, the Trunks from the series' main timeline was born. Seven years later as a young kid, Trunks, already able to turn Super Saiyan despite his age, fights against Majin Boo as Gotenks, having used the fusion technique with Goten.
Chi-Chi (チチ?) in the Japanese version, is the wife of Goku and the mother of Gohan and Goten. She is very protective over the well being of her family, and wishes to remove them from Goku's lifestyle of fighting and constant conflict. She attempts to have Gohan focus on studying during his childhood, but this is interrupted by the constant threats to Earth. She later relaxes with Goten, even training him herself. As the daughter of Gyū-Maō, she is very strong in her own right, having easily made it to the quarter-finals of the 23rd Tenka'ichi Budōkai, losing to Goku himself in one punch. She and Goku first meet as children when Gyū-Maō asked Goku to take her to Kame-Sen'nin's house. Later, Goku promises to marry her, thinking marriage is a kind of food. She later confronts him to have him fulfill the promise at the 23rd Tenka'ichi Budōkai, despite the misunderstanding. She was voiced by Mayumi Shō in the Japanese version of the series until episode 88, from which point she was voiced by Naoko Watanabe. In the Funimation dub, she is voiced by Laura Bailey as a child and Cynthia Cranz as an adult. Chi-Chi is played by Jamie Chung in the live-action film Dragonball Evolution; her voice was dubbed over by Ami Koshimizu in the Japanese version of the film.
Kami (神様 Kami-sama?, lit. "God") is the guardian residing over the Earth for much of the series. Before his appearance, he was thought of as "God". He is the good half of an unnamed Namekian (which is called a child of Katatz by the Namekian Great Elder[48]) that had to split himself in order to become guardian. His evil half, Piccolo Daimao, was later sealed away by humans. After Piccolo Daimao is unleashed and killed by Goku, he spawns a much stronger reincarnation, Piccolo. Seeing a threat, Kami decides to attempt to seal away the new Piccolo in the Tenka'ichi Budōkai, possessing a human named Shen (シェン?) (named Hero in the English anime dub) as a guise, but the plan backfires on him when Kami is trapped inside a water jug and is swallowed by Piccolo, later being released. During the fight against the Saiyans, Kami dies when Piccolo is killed by Nappa. Kami gives Chaozu a new body so he can train with King Kai, and much later during the Cell saga, Kami agrees to merge and rejoin Piccolo to stand a chance against Cell and the Androids. He is voiced by Takeshi Aono in Japan, who would do so up until the Frieza saga inDragon Ball Z Kai. After Aono suffered a stroke, Bin Shimada voiced the character for his final appearance during the Cell saga. In English he is voiced by Michael Dobson and Dale Wilson in the Ocean dub, and Christopher Sabat in the Funimation dub.
Karin (カリン?), Korin in the English anime dub and known as Whiskers the Wonder Cat in the Harmony Gold dub, is an immortal cat that lives at the top of the extremely high Karin Tower below Kami's. He trained Kame-Sen'nin at one point back in the past for three years and gave him the Kinto'un, and later trains Goku after his defeat to Taopaipai. Karin also gives Goku a supposedly poisoned water to make him stronger. He continues to help Goku and his friends by growing Senzu beans, which can fully heal any injuries and fatigue instantly. Later on he trains Kuririn, Tenshinhan, Yamcha and Chaozu and is often accompanied by Yajirobe. He is voiced by Ichirō Nagai and Naoki Tatsuta in Japan,Doug Parker and Ted Cole in the Ocean dub, and Mark Britten and Chris Sabat in the Funimation dub.
Mr. Popo (ミスター・ポポ Misutā Popo?) is a genie-like entity who serves as the caretaker to Kami and later Dende after taking his place as the guardian of Earth. He helps Goku meet Kami by surprisingly getting the best of Goku in a fight, which he tells him that the air is thinner here. Mr. Popo assists Kami in training Goku for three years in preparation for his battle against Piccolo at the Tenka'ichi Budōkai as well as later training Kuririn, Yamcha, Tenshinhan, Chaozu and Yajirobe during their preparation against the Saiyans. He is voiced by Toku Nishio in Japanese, French Tickner in the Ocean Group dub, and Chris Cason and Chris Sabat in the Funimation dub.
Mr. Popo's appearance has been considered an offensive racist stereotype by Carole Boston Weatherford in an article she wrote in The Christian Science Monitor in May 2000.[49] The English releases of the manga by Viz Media have censored Mr. Popo's lips by reducing their size.[50] In the airing of Dragon Ball Z Kai on CW4kids/Toonzai block, Mr. Popo's skin was changed from black to blue.