Son Goku (孫悟空 Son Gokū) is the Japanese language pronunciation of the name of the character Sun Wukong, a monkey god in the Chinese novel Journey to the West. He is somewhere between a trickster-god, a superhero, and an allegory.

Fictional characters called Son Goku are to be found in a number of anime series based on this myth. One is in the universe of Dragon Ball; another is in the series Gensomaden Saiyuki.

Alakazam the Great

One of the earliest Anime feature films, it was adapted from a 1953 manga by Osamu Tezuka (of Astro Boy fame), Alakazam the Great was one of the first releases by Toei Animation (Toei Animation had been established just three years before, in 1957, as part of Toei Productions). At the time, Toei Animation was geared to create feature-length movies, as is the case with Alakazam the Great, which was originally released in Japan in 1960 under the same title as the manga from which it came: Saiyu-ki. Despiste an excellent original script and Disney-level animation, crude translation made its American appearance less successful, primarily because of the removal of a lot of religious connotations that were an important part of the original story.

Dragon Ball

The main character of Dragon Ball. Goku is one of the last remaining Saiyans in the universe. As a baby, Goku (or Kakarot, as he was christened by the Saiyans) was sent to Earth by the conquering Saiyan race to prepare for the eradication of all its life, but he fell into a ravine and hit his head, erasing his memory. An elderly man named Gohan came upon Goku and adopted him, giving him his Earth name. Grandpa Gohan taught Goku the basics of fighting. However, Gohan sadly did not know of Goku's inherent Saiyan power — his tail caused him to transform into a massive, rampaging ape at the sight of a full moon. Goku accidentally killed his adoptive grandfather while in this state, but all he remembers is Gohan telling him never to look at a full moon.

Goku eventually meets Bulma (in Dragon Ball), a young girl searching for the seven mystical Dragonballs. At this point, Goku has the Four Star Dragonball in his posession, but refuses to give it to her because he believes it houses the soul of Granpa Gohan. Eventually, however, he joins her in the search, which is the basis for Dragonball's storyline.

At the end of Dragon Ball, Goku marries Chichi, the daughter of Ox-King, and they have two sons: Gohan, and (later in DBZ) Goten.

Goku is not very bright, but is a genius when it comes to fighting. Goku is trained by many people over the course of Dragonball and Dragonball Z. Besides his grandfather Son Gohan, his teachers include the "Turtle Master" Roshi (who teaches Goku his signature Kamehameha Wave technique), a cat-deity named Korin, the Earth's guardian Kami-Sama, and the one of the Other World Lords, named King Kaio.

Goku has many signature techniques. Arguably his most famous ones are the Kamehame-ha blast and his Super Saiyan transformation. The Kamehame-ha is a highly concentrated and explosive beam of ki. Goku gets very good at the use of this technique very quickly, and for most of DB and DBZ it is his finishing move and all-round most effective attack. Master Roshi originally taught him this technique, but Goku is famed for using it inventively - first using it to propel himself skywards before he learnt to fly, and later combining it with his Instant Transmission teleportation technique to take Cell by surprise. The Super Saiyan transformation is an ancient Saiyan legend that Goku proves true. This transformation requires a certain shift in mindset. The transformation unlocks previously unknown levels of power within the user. When Goku first transforms into a Super Saiyan, he is losing a battle against a tyrant named Freiza. After seeing his best friend die and turning Super Saiyan however, Goku proves to be able to handle Freiza with ease. In other words, it allows a huge boost in power. The visual effect is impressive as well: the user's hair will turn blond and stand up of its own volition, and the eyes turn blue or green. His muscles also bulk up considerably. Goku and his friends eventually uncover further levels of this technique, up to the primal, ape-like (and immensely powerful) Super Saiyan 4 in Dragonball GT. (Note: many fansites claim to have witnessed the Super Saiyan 5 level; this is a myth. It does not exist.) Amongst Goku's other handy techniques are Solar Flare (a blinding flash of light), Kaioken (power increasing technique), Spirit Bomb (arguably his most powerful technique) and the rarely seen Super Dragon Fist.

Saiyuki

In Saiyuki, Son Goku, like the historical Sun Wukong, is a deity who was imprisoned in a cave for five hundred years. When Sanzo was dispatched by the gods to journey to the west and stop a process that was causing the world's demons to go mad and turn on the humans with whom they had lived peacefully, Son Goku accompanied him, along with the demon Cho Hakkai and the half-demon Sha Gojyo.

Son Goku is a skilled fighter with the nyoi-bou (nyoi-bō). Although a deity, he is kept in human form with power limiters that he wears as a coronet. When these are removed, he goes berserk and is as likely to attack his allies as his enemies. He is known for his voracious appetite. The power-limiting coronet concept was borrowed by the DBZ movies for their character Brolli and is inspired by the original Chinese legend.

Goku's Personal Information:

Height: 5'4" (162 cm)

Weight: 113 lbs

Age: 18 (give or take 500 years)

Birthdate: April 5

Blood Type: O

Dexterity: Both hands and both feet

See also

• Sun Wukong
• Hanuman