Goku (film character)

"I am Goku. I am Oozaru. To be at one with myself, I must be two."
— Goku in Dragonball: Evolution

Goku (孫 悟空, Son Gokū) is a Saiyan.

He is an adaptation of Son Goku and is portrayed by Justin Chatwin.

Biography

Goku appeared in Dragonball: Evolution. He was a regular teenager attending high school who had trouble fitting in. He dealt with bullies often and seemed to be infatuated with the school's most popular girl, Chi Chi. Although he had been trained in the way of the martial arts by his grandfather, Gohan, he opted not to fight back or abuse the skills he had been taught, partly on behalf of his struggle with believing that he could live up to his grandfather's legacy. Gohan gave the Four-Star Ball to Goku shortly before being confronted by Lord Piccolo. After the death of his grandfather, Goku embarked on a journey with Bulma Briefs to locate the seven Dragon Balls before Piccolo, who planned to destroy Planet Earth using the artifacts.

As Oozaru, he killed Roshi, but managed to gain control of himself and finally mastered the Kamehameha attack, which he had been having trouble with before. With that, he defeated Piccolo and used the Dragon Balls to revive Roshi. Afterwards, he started a relationship with Chi Chi.

Techniques

• Evolution Kamehameha – An energy wave technique.
• Ki Blast
• Oozaru Transformation – An (initially) uncontrolled transformation into a large primate.
• Shadow Crane Strike – An agile martial arts technique Goku learns from his grandfather.

Actor's insight

• "First of all, it's an honor to play Goku, because he is a very important and epic character. He is always seeing the positive side of things, does good things, and always tries to help and take care of the weak, not only pursuing his power. He is a dependable and loving man as well as a boy. So I like Goku. In preparation for the role, of course I read the original manga (all of it), in addition, I read Journey to the West a little, because Dragonball is based on Journey to the West. And during the break time of shooting, I got into Goku's character, telling jokes with other cast in search of the real communication which can be used in acting. This is the most interesting movie for me. Because I have never fought with anyone though, I trained martial arts and acrobat, and then we shot it. That's fun as well as challenging. Fighting with Eriko (Tamura), she punched me in the face, actually she intended to hit lightly, but... it was a clean hit (laugh) She said "I'm sorry!" and apologized to me, but thanks to her, we could shoot very powerful action scene. Through this work, I think I could learn a lot of things."

Comparison to the manga character

Similarities

• He has a bigger appetite than Bulma, which is briefly shown in the film.
• He performs a weaker version of the Kamehameha seconds after watching Roshi do it, however, in the manga it is more powerful and does not fall apart in the air.
• He is raised by Grandpa Son Gohan.
• He is trained by Roshi.
• He is not exactly smart.
• He has spiky hair.

Differences

• Goku lives in the mountains, but (in the film) migrates into town frequently.
• He was isolated from modern civilization for most of his childhood in the manga. Goku is a teenager in high school and interacts with his peers frequently and uses electronic devices in the film.
• The romantic relationship between Goku and Chi Chi is reverse in the film. Goku (in the film) has had a crush on Chi Chi for some time.
• Bulma is the first female and second Human Goku meets in the manga. He knows many females and sees people a lot, long before meeting Bulma, in the film.
• He gets his blue gi from Grandpa Son Gohan and is never seen wearing anything else until Roshi gives him his trademark orange gi in the manga. He wears regular clothes and Roshi gives him his blue gi in the film. He finds the orange gi early in the film, supposedly taking it with him to put it on just in time for the final battle.
• The trademark orange gi is all orange in the manga except for a black and white Turtle symbol. It consists of navy blue pants and undershirt with an orange shirt in the film. In addition, Goku's wristbands and belt, which were blue in the manga, are black in the film.
• Goku is 12 years of age when first introduced in the manga. He is 18 when first introduced in the film.
• Goku transforms into his Great Ape form during a full moon in the manga. Goku transforms into his Oozaru form during a solar eclipse in the film.
• The Great Ape Transformation is a trait all Saiyans have in the manga. Oozaru was an ancient god who helped Piccolo devastate Planet Earth and is being reborn in Goku (as an adaptation of the notorious full moon transformation from the series) for unknown reasons.
• Goku's traditional, happy personality is lacking in the film. Instead, he questions his belonging on Planet Earth and wants to fit in, while in the manga he never really cares to wonder.
• He masters the Kamehameha extremely quickly after simply watching Roshi use it in the manga. He has a great deal of trouble mastering it in the film but finally succeeds in the end in time to defeat Piccolo with the technique.
• By the age of eighteen, Goku is capable of performing feats of strength, speed, agility, and ki power that are nearly god-like in the manga and anime. While Goku's abilities are impressive, they are significantly less so in the film.
• Goku defeats Piccolo Daimao with the Penetrate technique in the manga. Goku defeats Piccolo with a Kamehameha in the film.
• Goku's negative Saiyan traits are knocked out of him after a fall from a ledge in the manga and anime. The incident never happened in the film becuase Gohan taught Goku how to properly restrain himself. Goku does display some Saiyan-like behavior, however, such as arrogance (claiming Bulma was not even close to killing him after their initial confrontation), toying with the enemy (continually dodging Fuller's attacks and making him destroy his own car and knock himself out), and even sarcasm (directed towards Bulma when she is having trouble finding Roshi in Paozu's directory by claiming that she should look up "Master" and then proceeding to spell it out for her).