Goku is not only Dragon Ball‘s main character, he’s the series’ strongest Z-Fighter, more often than not. The Z-Fighters are Earth’s greatest warriors, made up of the most talented and powerful martial artists in Universe 7. Time and time again, Goku and his fellow Z-Fighters face impossible odds, protecting their world from the most dangerous threats in the multiverse. While Goku has spent a lot of time as the strongest Z-Fighter, Dragon Ball is finally welcoming a new most powerful warrior.
Dragon Ball Super 2 is going to mark a shift in the series’ power scaling. Even though Goku will spend multiple arcs mastering Ultra Instinct, it won’t be enough for him to keep up with the breakthroughs other Z-Fighters will be making between the Granolah the Survivor and Super Hero Sagas. The manga’s Super Hero Saga epilogue, in particular, will make some huge changes to Dragon Ball‘s status quo when the anime findally gets around to animating it.
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Gohan is Now Dragon Ball’s Strongest Hero
Dragon Ball is finally giving Gohan back the title he lost at the start of Dragon Ball Super: the strongest Z-Fighter. After unlocking his Ultimate form in the Majin Buu Saga, Gohan becomes the most powerful unfused character and hero in Dragon Ball Z. The only characters in the entire canon franchise stronger than Ultimate Gohan were Buutenks and Vegito. Unfortunately, Gohan was outclassed by God Ki until he finally unlocked Beast while fighting Cell Max in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.
The Dragon Ball Super manga makes it very clear that Gohan Beast is far and away the strongest Z-Fighter right now. Piccolo states that not even Goku and Vegeta could have killed Cell Max. More impressively, Gohan Beast manages to defeat both Perfected Ultra Instinct Goku and True Legendary Super Saiyan Broly in sparring matches. Gohan is so strong, in fact, he triggered Broly’s True Legendary Super Saiyan awakening.
Not only is Gohan the strongest Z-Fighter in Dragon Ball Super, he’s currently the series’ main character. The Super Hero Saga officially swapped the manga’s perspective from Goku and Vegeta to Trunks, Goten, Piccolo, and Gohan. As of Dragon Ball Super 103 – chronologically the latest chapter in the story’s timeline – Gohan is still the protagonist and focal character. The last few chapters in the Super Hero Saga, including the epilogue, are framed from Gohan’s perspective and focus almost entirely on his character development.
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Goku’s Falling Behind His Fellow Z-Fighters
Goku is getting a huge head-start over Vegeta in Dragon Ball Super: The Galactic Patrol, but it won’t take long for his rival to not only catch up to Perfected Ultra Instinct, but actually surpass him. The Super Hero Saga marks a major turning point for Goku, where he starts to lag behind the rest of the series’ most powerful Z-Fighters. Akira Toriyama and Toyotarou have both confirmed that Piccolo now rivals Goku again in Power Level after unlocking his Orange form.
Broly has already defeated Goku once, but is now definitely stronger after unlocking True Legendary Super Saiyan – a transformation with the potential to surpass Gogeta Blue. Vegeta has finally beaten Goku in a fair fight, proving that he’s not only stronger, but more skilled. Not helping matters is the fact that Ultra Ego has the potential to surpass Ultra Instinct one day. To say nothing of Gohan being much stronger than Goku now. Unless Goku makes some major breakthrough with Ultra Instinct soon, he’s never going to be able to catch up.
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This is the First Time Goku Isn’t One of the the Top 3 Strongest Z-Fighters
For the first time in Dragon Ball history, Goku is no longer one of the Top 3 strongest Z-Fighters. In the original Dragon Ball, Goku was always either the strongest, or second-strongest, member of the Dragon Ball Team. In Dragon Ball Z, Goku is the most powerful Z-Fighter in the Saiyan and Frieza Sagas, and second to Gohan in the Cell and Buu Sagas. As of the end of Dragon Ball Super‘s Super Hero Saga epilogue, Goku is weaker than Vegeta, Broly, and Gohan.
Goku is currently the fourth most powerful Z-Fighter, stronger than only Orange Piccolo, as far as Dragon Ball Super‘s core five characters are concerned. It’s interesting that Dragon Ball has made a point of having Goku get surpassed by his fellow Saiyans. One of the franchise’s main themes is the idea that there will always be someone better than you and that this is a good thing. Goku is experiencing that phenomenon firsthand, and with way more intensity than ever before.
- TV Show(s)
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Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, Dragon Ball Super, Dragon Ball DAIMA
- First TV Show
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Dragon Ball
- Created by
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Akira Toriyama
- Latest TV Show
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Dragon Ball DAIMA
- Upcoming TV Shows
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Dragon Ball DAIMA
- First Episode Air Date
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February 26, 1986
