Summary
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Goku shows intelligence in battles and makes smart decisions on the flow to get the edge.
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Uses unique tactics such as using Kamehameha with feet and throwing frogs to surpass enemies.
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Shows strategic thinking by counteracting opponents' techniques, such as HIT's time condition and Kefla's attack.
Considering Dragon ball Implements lots of clichés when it comes to writing their protagonist, it's easy to see why most people assume that Goku is stupid. He makes stupid comments several times and can seem a bit ditzy.

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Dragon Ball: 10 Fight Goku would have lost if he was not the main character
There are several fights throughout Dragon Ball Goku should have lost if he was not the main character.
But he is a completely different animal in battle and shows a level of intelligence that fans do not expect from him. This allows Goku to make some smart decisions on the flow that help him get the edge into a battle.
8
Sticks to the Raditz tail to hold him in place
Goku would have earned more smart points here if he had not fallen for Raditz's obvious fraud
- Occurs in: Piccolo's plan (Section 4 of Dragon Ball Z.)
After fighting against Raditz even with Piccolo's help, Goku remembered that his tail was a weak place and decided to hold on to his brother's appendix to be paralyzed. This would have been one of his smartest moments if it had not been for his probable nature.
All Raditz had to do was to pronounce some false promises to get Goku to release the tail, which was extremely short -term from the main character. In the end, he had to use a complete Nelson grip and die with Raditz when Piccolo used the special beam cannon to win the battle.
7
Using a Kamehameha with your feet to launch itself
Prevented himself from being beaten out of the tournament
- Occurs in: Gokus trap (Section 146 by Dragon ball)
The original run of Dragon ball Had a focus on tournament matches, and Goku was about to be knocked out during such a battle against Piccolo Jr. But Saiyan was quick on his feet and used a classic technique to save itself from problems.
He placed himself in the air and used a Kamehameha with his feet to push himself in Piccolo's direction and landed a wild two -handed place. It is one of the smartest uses of a Kamehameha in the series that showed how Adept Goku was using this legendary technology.
6
Throw a frog into the bang of time to abolish ginyus body change technology
Impressive quick -thinking considering how damaged Goku was at that time
- Occurs in: Captain Ginyu … frog (Section 74 by Dragon Ball Z.)
Ginyu is one of the most fun antagonists in the series that was immediately outclassed by Goku and decided to use body change technology to turn the tables. Thankfully, the protagonist managed to regain control of his body, but the battle was still far from over.

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Dragon Ball: 8 most emotional battles, ranked
The legendary Shonen Series Dragon Ball is full of emotional moments, with the following battles that stand out in particular.
Ginyu released body change technology against a ruthless vegetable, which is when Goku wrapped his brain even after being severely damaged. He found a frog and chucked it in the bang of the time and took out Ginyus's threat in the smartest and most funny way possible.
5
Stops Majin Buu by slowly going through his transformations
Gave stems the time he needed to get the dragon radar
- Occurs in: Race to Capsule Corp. (Section 244 by Dragon Ball Z.)
After the birth of Majin Buu, Goku had to buy time for trunks and distract both Buu and Babidi. He did this by giving both villains an education about how the Super Saiyan transformations worked.
It immediately arrested BuUS's attention and allowed viewers to witness the majesty Super Saiyan 3 as well and killed two birds with one stone. Even after Trunks stopped Midway when he witnessed Gokus's strength, he still had more than enough time to regain the dragon radar.
4
Lurking frieza to land a few hits before his Super Saiyan transformation
Exploited the fact that his opponents could not detect energy
- Occurs in: Super forces (Section 88 by Dragon Ball Z.)
It was clear that Frieza had outclassed Goku in terms of pure strength, which had to become innovative with his crime to land some hits. He did this by hiding under the water and using two delayed KI attacks to deceive Frieza.
Since the tyrant could not feel energy, he was easily fooled by this technique and was punished with a powerful dropkick. It was a small victory in this battle that showed Gokus's strength, but it was clear that Saiyan needed something more to turn the tables against the strongest enemy he had ever met.
3
Goku calculates Hit's Time Squip
Assassin's Technique confused show's strongest warrior, but Goku figured it out
- Occurs in: The most powerful warrior of the sixth universe! Engage the killer here !! (Section 38 by Drake ball super)
The battle between Universe 6 and 7 saw some of the strongest and most implemented warriors from the Gokus world presence. All of them were left flummoxed by HIT's time ability, with vegetables that gave in to this technology.

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Every dragon ball series, ranked after animation quality
Dragon Ball's animation quality tends to vary from series to series, with some with much higher production values than others.
However, Goku was cut from another cloth and stopped in his base form until he calculated a way to counteract Hit's Time ship, which is one of the most underrated moments in the series that showed how impressive Gokus Battle IQ was. While the debut of the Super Saiyan Blue Kaio-Keg over this moment, fans will appreciate how smart Goku was during this struggle on a detective.
2
Using instant transmission to hit the cell on the face with a resounding camehameha
One of the biggest camehamehas in the series
- Occurs in: No more rules (Section 179 by Dragon Ball Z.)
Gokus's best moments come with the permission of an impressive use of Hans Kamehameha, and combining this feature with immediate transmission was a good way to show how brilliantly this Saiyan was with this technology. After charging a Hellacious Kamehameha and sagging down to the cell, the Z assumed Goku threw caution to the wind and destroyed the planet to defeat the cell.
He tricked everyone until the last second and used immediate transmission to transport himself in front of the cell and blast a Kamehameha right in the Bio-Android face. If the cell did not have regenerating forces, he would have been toasting right now.
1
Slip on kefla's beam attack to avoid injury and close the distance
Realized that his imperfect ultra -instinct form was on a timer and adapted on the go
- Occurs in: Signs of a turn! The autonomous Ultra Instinct breaks out! (Section 116 by Drake ball super)
Drake ball super Took a while to get started before coming out of Z's shadow, with Tournament of Power showing the very best of what Dragon ball had to offer. Goku unlocked the imperfect Ultra Instinct form during this competition that bred his head as he fought Kefla.
Goku was already exhausted at this time and needed to let go of all his power in a single hit and decided to charge a divine Kamehameha that would not take any prisoners. His ultrastinct reflexes helped him avoid Kefla's attack until he was in the air and Kefla decided to start a powerful radiation attack against his opponent. But right now Gokus's instincts kicked in and he used his brains to slip along Kefla's attack and launched what could only be the largest Kamehameha ever shot by this Saiyan in the series.