Goku, the main character of the Dragon Ball franchise, is one of the most celebrated characters in modern television history. His lovable nature and role as a benign protector of the universe has endeared him to millions. With his gregarious personality aside, Goku is the strongest Z fighter in the universe, even with the likes of Vegeta.
With that said, Goku has many negative features that makes him a flawed character in the Dragon Ball universe. For one, his kind-hearted nature has made him many enemies, some of which that has come from the likes of Frieza, his minions, and even Broly. As stubborn as he is, Goku is friendly and merciful to everyone he meets. This causes conflict with enemies that can take advantage of Goku's kindness.
In addition, another one of Goku's flaws is that he is too arrogant. Goku has the foolish tendency of toying with his enemies, until they power up and become too strong for his good. Goku also underestimates a variety of his opponents, including Beerus on multiple occasions, even when he was informed that Beerus was the God of Destruction.
Lastly, Goku isn't intelligent in any way. He rarely thinks in battle, no matter how high the stakes. This was evidenced in his battle with Frost, as he was defeated by a weaker opponent with a clever plan. Also, Goku is a negligent father, ignoring his children and wife to train on numerous occasions. Therefore, while Goku is an extraordinary fighter, he is below average is every other category.
With that said, here are 15 of the dumbest things Goku has ever done. Sit back and enjoy.
15 Sure, Take My Son
In the beginning of Dragon Ball Z, Goku was now in adulthood and Gohan was first presented as a young child. Obviously, Goku was the strongest warrior on Earth, and after defeating Piccolo, there was much reason for Goku to be a little cocky. However, the time came for Goku to protect his son, and he failed.
To start, Raditz was very much stronger and faster than Goku. However, it made no sense for Gohan to be in the way during the fight. Raditz easily subdued Goku and took Gohan as a hostage. As a result, Goku ended up dying, totally unable to teach his son how to properly fight in the events to come. Now, if Goku would have got Gohan out of the way before the fight, these events would have never happened. Nice job, Goku.
14 Fashionably Late
During the Frieza saga, Goku was dead and training with King Kai while his son and best friend were getting pounded by the Ginyu Force. While Goku took his time making it to the battlefield, his son faced four of the deadliest warriors in the universe. While Goku counted his steps on his way to Earth, Gohan got his neck broken by Recoome. This was inexcusable in a number of ways.
Firstly, if he knew his son was fighting enemies stronger than Vegeta, why would he take his time saving him? Gohan suffered fighting the Ginyu Force, and Vegeta did his best trying to protect him and Krillin. Still, Goku is always "fashionably late" to every fight he's supposed to take part it. When someone else is involved this may be acceptable, but it was his son. Gohan could have died, seriously.
13 Toying With Evil
One of the most memorable moments in Dragon Ball Z was Goku's transition to the legendary super form, Super Saiyan. With this transformation Goku surpassed Frieza and had enough power to expel the ugly creature from the planet once and for all. Instead, he fooled around. There is enough evidence suggesting he did. To start, Goku played with Frieza's insecurities instead of killing him.
He allowed for Frieza to reach 100% and destroy Planet Namek. The sad thing is that Goku could have died in the explosion, all because he chose to play around. Goku never once tried to end Frieza's life, even after the villain bitterly took Krillin's life. Instead, Frieza met his defeat by his own hand. How bizarre is that?
12 Self Sacrifice
The Cell Saga was a very odd one for Goku. After being the hero of the Frieza saga and a full blown Super Saiyan, Goku was mostly sick and weakened throughout the saga. Finally when Goku battled Cell, he was actually beginning to get the best of him. Still, Cell proved to be too strong to defeat, and Goku risked his life to kill Cell in a last ditch effort by teleporting Cell to space and blowing himself up.
Not only was this a stupid tactic, but it made life harder for the Z fighters once Cell cleverly absorbed Goku's energy. The funny thing about all of this is that Cell was defeated by Goku's own signature move. Wouldn't it stand to reason to use that same move instead of killing yourself, Goku? Don't answer that. You already know the answer.
11 Underestimating A Powerful Foe
Goku's idiotic antics never stopped in Dragon Ball Z, it also continued to the lengths of Dragon Ball Super. This began as Goku met the God of Destruction, Beerus, one of the most powerful deities in existence. Even the most arrogant hero in the series, Vegeta, gave Beerus the respect and admiration he deserves, while Goku blindly took him on and disrespected him in the manner.
Beerus is known for his short temper, destroying entire galaxies when he's upset. Goku ignorantly fought Beerus and got smacked. Even after realizing the power of Beerus, Goku still disrespects him as if he's not a god. It's mind boggling, really.
10 Stalling Time
The new incarnation of Ginyu, known as Tagoma, became super strong just by training with Frieza. He easily defeated Gohan and Piccolo. Frieza was eventually getting bored of waiting for Goku and Vegeta, and was ready to just destroy the planet. The Z fighters, alongside of Master Roshi, battled Frieza's minions anyway. Even though the minions were weak enough to be dealt with by Gohan and Krillin, they were still no match for Tagoma.
Granted, both Goku and Vegeta took their time. However, Vegeta seemed eager to kill Frieza and Tagoma to get it over with. Goku seemed to be taking his time simply for the heck of it. That actually brings us to the next point.
9 Continuously Toying With Frieza
When Vegeta and Goku came to Earth to deal with Frieza, Vegeta wasted no time in killing Tagoma. That left Goku with the job of finally settling the score with Frieza, once and for all. But, what exactly did he do? Well, Goku played around. Goku's idiocy made it seem as if Frieza truly posed a threat for Goku, and that maybe he had finally surpassed Goku.
This was all proved to be a sham when Vegeta beat the smack out of Frieza and was on the brink of killing him. Of course, Goku took the glory by blasting Frieza to smithereens, but why did he wait? Why does Goku always prolong his battles? We still don't know the answer to that question, and we may never find out.
8 Full Of Disrespect
H0w do you greet the supreme being of existence? You simply tell him, "Hi, My name is Goku. What's yours?" This may not be serious to most of you, but consider that Zen-Oh has an even shorter temper than Beerus. He easily has the power to wipe anything from existence, and Goku actually risked it.
Zen-Oh has the tendency to get irked by anything he deems is annoying, and Goku can be very annoying. Think about it, would you address the most powerful being ever like a friend? Of course not. Goku plainly speaks to anyone he meets, and that could be a problem if Zen-Oh gets offended by what he says.
7 Letting Him Steam
When Majin Buu was first introduced, he was a mystery. Buu was very powerful, yet childish and very unstable. Granted, Goku was able to deal with Buu very well, but Buu still was evil to the core. At any given moment he could rampage and kill innocent people. Speaking of which, Goku actually confronted Majin Buu and promised him that he would bring him stronger fighters if Buu didn't kill people.
Buu agreed and then relented. He instantly became impatient and destroyed entire towns, turning thousands of people into candy. Let's see. Why didn't Goku use his last ditch method on Majin Buu? It probably would have worked, since it would have disintegrated him.
6 Not A Great Family Man
It is understood that Goku has to train constantly in order to keep the Earth safe. As one of the universe's strongest fighters, Goku is responsible for defeating any villains that come his way. Still, as we have seen with Vegeta, a family life and training life can be balanced. Goku has the choice to spend more time with his family and he doesn't.
Even Vegeta, who used to despise the idea of having a family, regularly spends time with his family, even taking time off to look after his daughter. Goku seems to be content with training only, and while his family seems to be okay with it, it's certainly not healthy for his children and wife who constantly miss him throughout the year.
5 Watching From The Sidelines
Vegeta had an amazing moment beating the heck out of Beerus after the former slapped his wife. Even though it was for a moment, Vegeta showed his guts. It was later revealed that Goku was watching the entire episode from afar and did nothing to help. Sure, Goku doesn't stand a chance to Beerus and wouldn't have helped anyway.
Still, what was the point of watching the fight from the distance? Would Vegeta would have done the same? Probably not. This was again an example of a foolish charade by Goku, who was eventually scorned by Vegeta, Bulma, and Piccolo for watching Beerus rampage on Earth in an attempt to destroy it. Oh, and Goku's family happens to live on Earth. What would have happened if Beerus destroyed Earth while Goku was playing peekaboo?
4 Why Would You Bother Sparing Him?
In the aftermath of Goku's battle with Majin Buu, Goku left his family again to train with the reincarnation of Kid Buu, Uub. Literally, Goku said he would spend years training Uub all he knows. Unfortunately, Uub never made it past Dragon Ball GT, so the training was highly unnecessary. Still, Uub never helped much anyway in the series as a whole.
Goku could have spent the time training Goten, his other son that he forgot about. Instead, he wastes his time training someone who has never made an major impact in the entire series. Good judgement, Goku.
3 This Shouldn't Have Even Scratched Him
One of the most bizarre moments of Dragon Ball Super was the emergence of Frost, a doppelganger of Frieza in a fighting tournament. By any means, Frost was not stronger than Goku. He wasn't even a fraction of Goku's power. Yet, Goku lost to the creature in an upset. Yes, Frost cheated. However, Goku had more than enough time to defeat Frost.
In fact, Goku beat Frost so badly, even the opposing fans felt sorry for him. Yet, Goku got too comfortable by Frost's genial behavior and gave him the opening he needed to make a move, and he did. It was nothing short of embarrassing.
2 Missing The Most Important Family Moment
As previously mentioned, Vegeta was present during the time Bulla was born. You would think that this birth was the milestone of Vegeta's life with the way he threw off training. He even held Bulla in his arms, considering it his duty to name her himself. On the other hand, Goku was never present during Goten's birth.
He was training when it happened, and he didn't particularly seem ashamed of doing so either. Any time Vegeta outperforms Goku in terms of actually human living, it's never a good sign. Goku may be stronger than Vegeta, but he has no idea of what his family even means to him.
1 A Risky Path To Victory
One of Goku's worst mistakes was toying with Shenron, even though he and Vegeta had the advantage. Goku and Vegeta eventually fused naturally and became Gogeta. Both of them were strong enough to kill Shenron if they wanted to. Yet, Goku stubbornly wanted to test out the new power both of them had.
This led to Shenron getting stronger and the duo eventually infusing and becoming vulnerable again. Goku's mistake was that he didn't listen to Vegeta and kill Shenron right away. Although they defeat him in the end, it was definitely an unnecessary risky move he made.