There’s this misconception within the Dragon Ball fandom that Goku is some kind of untouchable, invincible hero. You’ll often hear people complaining about how he always shows up to beat the main villain of every saga and that he takes time away from other characters. This is, of course, a fallacy as it fails to take into account that Goku isn’t all that active in Z and that he rarely ever beats the arc villain. He lost to Vegeta, he didn’t kill Frieza, Gohan beat Cell, and it was a joint effort spirit bomb that beat Majin Buu. Goku doesn’t win all that often.

In fact, when Goku does lose, it tends to be pretty brutal. Either thanks to the circumstances or just because he gets whooped back and forth. He’s undeniably the main character, but he has quite a spotty record. Whether you love him or you hate him, it’s time you accept the fact that Goku’s not just been beaten plenty of times, he’s been straight up destroyed. It might come as news to some Dragon Ball fans, but Goku really isn't as powerful as the animated series makes him out to be.

15 Yamcha Nearly Killed Goku When He Got Hungry

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Goku’s first battle is also one of his most humiliating. Before he was the butt of the fandom’s jokes, Yamcha was a fairly competent desert bandit. Judging from his encounter with Goku, he would ambush passersby, kill them, and rob them. Which is exactly what he was about to do to our hero.

To Goku’s credit, he did put up a respectable fight but he completely lowered his guard the moment he got hungry. If it wasn't for Bulma freaking Yamcha out, Goku would have been murdered five episodes in. The next time someone belittles Yamcha, remind them how he almost killed the strongest man alive.

14 Jackie Chun Exploited Goku’s Inexperience To His Advantage

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Back when Master Roshi was still relevant, he had Goku and Krillin register for the 21st Budokai with the sole purpose of teaching them that there's always someone better. And, in typical Roshi fashion, what better way is there to teach someone a lesson than by dressing up as a made up martial artist and sweeping the World Tournament yourself?

During their final match in the tournament, Roshi, now disguised as Jackie Chun, realizes that Goku is mimicking all of his moves. Recognizing that Goku is shorter, he lunges a flying kick at Goku. Knowing that Goku will do one right back, Roshi’s longer leg can reliably reach Goku and knock him out.

13 Raditz Drove Goku To End His Own Life

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Raditz, like Yamcha, has acquired an almost memetic status within the fandom. He’s constantly considered to be a weakling and a coward due to only being as strong as a Saibaman and how he composed himself when he was about to die, but he’s also one of Goku’s most overwhelming opponents. There was no “trick” to beating Raditz. Goku’s only option was holding onto his brother for dear life and hoping Piccolo’s special beam cannon would pierce both of them. This is the only time in the series where Goku is pushed to actual death during a battle. There’s no Super Saiyan or spirit bomb to save the day. Raditz is in a league of his own and it takes Goku’s life just to have a shot at killing him.

12 Frieza Humored Goku Their Whole Fight

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It’s easy to think that Goku and Frieza are evenly matched before the former goes Super Saiyan. They trade an equal amount of blows, there’s a clear ebb and flow to the battle, and neither holds an apparent lead. If you paid close attention to the dialogue, however, you’d have realized that Frieza was always coming up with comments and scenarios that imply he was just playing around with Goku.

At one point, he offers to fight without his hands. You could call this confidence, but it’s also appropriate. Frieza knows he’s stronger. In fact, Frieza mentions at one point that he’d been fighting at only half power for most of the fight. Even Goku’s spirit bomb couldn’t kill Frieza. It’s not until Goku goes Super Saiyan that he gains control of the battle. Before then, Frieza was just playing around with his newest toy.

11 King Piccolo Crippled Goku

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While Dragon Ball Z is widely considered to be the moment where the franchise shifted to a more dramatic tone, it's really the King Piccolo saga that moves the series away from its comedic roots. Krillin and Master Roshi, two longtime main characters, are dead before we hit the halfway point of the arc. This is an arc that revels in oppressing the heroes. It’s one of the main reasons Goku doesn’t even get a real fight with King Piccolo at the end, he just straight up cripples Goku.

By taking Tien hostage, Goku has no real chance to attack King Piccolo. He’s left vulnerable as King Piccolo breaks his body limb by limb. It’s only because King Piccolo overlooks one of Goku’s arms that he manages to get defeated. Like Raditz, this is a battle where Goku is locked in an unwinnable situation. But, unlike Raditz, it’s one where Goku doesn’t even get a chance to fight.

10 Merged Zamasu Drove Goku To Erase An Entire Universe

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In the entirety of the Dragon Ball canon, Merged Zamasu is probably the most ferocious opponent Goku has ever faced. He's the only enemy that Goku could not figure out a victorious solution for. Super Saiyan Blue mixed with Kaio-Ken wasn't enough, mastering SSB wasn't enough, and fusing into Vegetto wasn't enough. Zamasu was literally unstoppable. That's not a figure of speech, Goku was never going to find a way to stop him himself.

It's only thanks to Zeno erasing Trunks’ entire universe that Zamasu dies, and that's arguably worse than Goku just letting Zamasu kill him. This is just a hard fight to watch, too. Goku has his arms broken, he's pushed back at every step, and he's totally exhausted by the time he thinks to fuse with Vegeta. Goku’s lost in Super, but Zamasu is really the only time where he gets truly destroyed.

9 Ginyu Stole Goku’s Body And Had No Idea How To Use It

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What's worse than dying in battle? Getting your body stolen and having to watch your son and childhood best friend beat you up, of course! You can give Goku a pass for this one because he's not the one getting trashed in his own body, but he still deserves a bit of ire for letting Ginyu take his body in the first place. Goku’s a fighting genius and he just let Ginyu toss out a change beam at him like nothing. He should have dodged! Why didn't he dodge!? You could argue that he got caught off guard, but he should know by now to always be on guard during a fight. He ends up getting his body back, but not until after Krillin and Gohan completely wreck Goku-Ginyu. It says quite a lot about Goku’s natural fortitude.

8 Perfect Cell Made Goku Quit

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When people think of Goku, they usually think about his determination and how he never gives up in the face of adversity. He pushed himself against Piccolo, Vegeta, and Frieza even though he knew he didn't have a clear lead. The man does not quit.

Which makes it all the more shocking when he quits mid-fight against Cell.

This isn't even a case where Goku just wanted to give someone else a chance like in the Buu saga, he honestly believed he could not defeat Cell so he quit. It's not a bodily destruction, but it has to be a mental one. The man who never gives up just gave up! If anything, it destroys the idea of a limitless Goku.

7 Cell Jr. Made A Mockery Of Goku

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This one’s just sad. Unlike the other entries on this list, Goku can't even fight back. He just gets made a fool of by a literal two foot tall version of Cell. In his defense, everyone is struggling but he's getting ravaged. It's all because he gave Cell a senzu bean too. If Goku had just taken on for himself, he wouldn't be getting repeatedly pummeled by a blue bug. It gets so bad that Yamcha and Tien have to cover for him. Yamcha and Tien. We know Goku could have beaten Cell Jr. with ease if he wasn't so tired, but that doesn't change the fact that this is one depressing beat down. Thank Kami Gohan went Super Saiyan 2.

6 King Piccolo Basically Killed Goku

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The great thing about King Piccolo is that Goku never actually beats him in a straight up fight. Their final battle ends with Goku impaling him with his own body, but that's only because King Piccolo underestimated him. In their first fight, King Piccolo makes sure to kill Goku. As much as he can, at least.

Without a moment’s hesitation, King Piccolo stops Goku’s heart. He even hangs around for a bit just to make sure Goku’s not faking it. If it weren't for Goku’s heart randomly starting back up moments after King Piccolo left, he would have been killed twice as hard. When you think about it, this may be the cause of Goku’s heart troubles later in the series. Speaking of...

5 Android 19 (And A Very Serious Heart Virus) Made Goku Look Like A Clown

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The next time someone tries to tell you that Goku wins too much and Vegeta wins too little, please point them towards this fight. Not only is it one of the few times in the series where Vegeta is undeniably stronger than Goku, it's also the only point where Vegeta defeats an enemy Goku couldn’t.

Thanks to a mix of his heart virus and Yamcha’s failure to inform Goku that the Androids can absorb energy, Goku gets absolute throttled by 19. He gets a few good hits in, but the moment he starts using ki is the moment he loses. 19, now powered up by Goku’s ki, overwhelms him entirely. Sure, it's impressive that Goku managed to put up a fight while also having a literal heart attack, but it doesn't make the battle any better for him in terms of reputation.

4 Beerus Knocked Goku Out With A Flick

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Battle of Gods is representative of two very important elements that make up Dragon Ball. The first, it was the vehicle that ushered the series into its current renaissance, and the second, it reiterated Roshi’s early series message that there will always be someone better. Beerus is the living personification of that someone. To say Beerus destroyed Goku would be to imply that Beerus even had to try. Goku couldn't even get a single hit on him during their first fight. With just a flick of his fingers, Goku is knocked straight out of Super Saiyan 3. The God power up does allow Goku to hold his own against Beerus but, even then, Beerus was holding back out of sportsmanship.

3 Tao Pai Pai Introduced Goku To Real Danger

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While Dragon Ball always managed to have tense moments early on, it wasn’t until the Red Ribbon Army saga when Goku started to get into actual danger. Not danger with gags or jokes, but legitimate drama where he wasn’t going to be saved because the person he was fighting happened to be afraid of women and he happened to just see a woman. The moment Goku meets Tao Pai Pai is the moment when Dragon Ball started to get dangerous.

In their first encounter, Tao kills Bora, overwhelms Goku, and almost murders him without much opposition. If it weren’t for the Dragon Ball Goku kept in his shirt, the series would have ended then and there. His fight against Tao also marks the first time Goku has to train to overcome an obstacle.

2 Piccolo Jr. Finished What His Father Started

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King Piccolo’s downfall was that he didn’t think to cripple every limb in Goku’s body. By leaving one of his arms safe, Goku was able to blast himself into the air and pierce through King Piccolo’s body. Ever the pragmatist, the Piccolo we know and love, cripples Goku entirely. He shoots every limb. Not just that, he just barely misses firing a beam through Goku’s heart. If it wasn’t for the fact that Goku learned to fly at the last minute, Piccolo would have killed him right then and there. It’s a ferocious battle that pushes Goku to his absolute limits. Fitting for the match that finally nets him a tournament win.

1 Vegeta Literally Broke Goku

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Vegeta is so insecure that he can break every single bone in Goku’s body and push it to the point of literal exhaustion, and still feel like he lost. There's no two ways around it, Vegeta wins their first battle. In fact, he wins so fully that this is easily Goku’s bloodiest defeat.

First thing’s first, Goku couldn't even keep up with Vegeta in his base. He had to push Kaio-Ken past a point where King Kai told him would wreck his body to even handle Vegeta. Secondly, Vegeta was able to still fight after their beam struggle whereas Goku couldn’t move anymore. Once Vegeta goes Oozaru, the battle’s basically over. He picks Goku up, crushes every bone in his body, and is only saved because Gohan and Krillin decide to turn back. Vegeta considers this battle a loss, but it’s pretty clear he had Goku beat in every regard.