Dragon Ball Fights That Goku Should Have Lost

Goku is Dragon Ball‘s greatest hero. He has taken down numerous, overwhelmingly powerful foes, many of whom he was even weaker than at the start of the battle. Due to sheer willpower, courage, and the kind of plot armor only awarded to the most iconic anime protagonists, Goku has always been able to pull off the win in the end.

As powerful as Goku is, there have been a number of battles that he had no business winning in Dragon Ball. Dragon Ball‘s greatest villains are known for their completely broken abilities, many of which Goku had no way to counter using his more basic move-set. It’ll always be exciting to see how Goku manages to turn around a dismal situation to come out on top, but there’s no denying that Goku’s status as the hero makes him unbeatable for purely plot-based reasons.

10 Captain Ginyu’s Body Swap Was an Unfair Trade

Captain Ginyu Saga (Dragon Ball Z)

When Captain Ginyu swapped bodies with Goku during their fight, it transferred the saiyan to Ginyu’s nearly-dead body. In an extremely weakened state with no way to fight back, that should’ve meant the end for Goku.

While it made sense that Ginyu wouldn’t be able to control Goku’s power to the same extent as Goku could, it still doesn’t change the fact that Goku would have stood no chance if he remained in Ginyu’s body. What’s more, Vegeta was still mostly a villain during the Namek saga, so after defeating Ginyu, the only reason he would’ve let Goku live at that point in the series was because Goku’s the protagonist.

9 Golden Frieza Should Have Been Beaten By Vegeta

Golden Frieza Saga (Dragon Ball Super)

Golden Frieza is the perfect example of a fight that Goku shouldn’t have won. If anything, it should have been Vegeta who defeated Golden Frieza considering how their match was going. Of course, because Goku is the MC, Goku had to be the one to finish Frieza off in the end.

Vegeta would definitely have beaten Frieza himself, but Frieza acted quickly to release a world-destroying blast that completely wiped out the planet. In order to prevent this from happening, Whis had to pull some extreme time travel shenanigans just to give Goku the opportunity to deliver the final blow.

8 Majin Buu Left Goku Powerless

Buu Saga (Dragon Ball Z)

By the end of the fight with Kid Buu, Goku had completely run out of power, making him unable to achieve his SSJ3 transformation. Even after Vegeta held Buu off to give Goku enough time to restore some of his power, it wasn’t enough, and Goku was left unable to tap back into the SSJ3 form.

At that point, Goku should have already been defeated, but the hero is never truly out of options. It required a total of two wishes on the dragon balls to give Goku the boost he needed to defeat Buu. The first was to wish the earth back to existence in order to give Goku enough energy to charge the Genkai Dama. The second was to restore all Goku’s energy in order to overpower Buu once and for all.

7 Zamasu Had to be Erased

Future Trunks Saga (Dragon Ball Super)

Goku didn’t technically win against Zamasu to begin with. Fused Zamasu was the combination of two gods combined, both of whom made wishes on the Super Dragon Balls to become monstrously overpowered beings who neither Goku nor Vegeta could kill.

When the two joined their powers, they were briefly over-powered by Vegito, but after the Potara ran out, Goku and Vegeta were left to fight using the merits of their individual powers. Even when Trunks somehow managed to tap into Goku’s main-character-energy to reach his SSJ Rage form, Zamasu merged with the entire universe to become Infinite Zamasu. Goku and his friends were only saved thanks to Zeno’s help — something which never would have happened if it weren’t for Goku being the MC.

6 Beerus Could Have Destroyed Goku at Any Moment

God of Destruction Beerus Saga (Dragon Ball Super)

Beerus could have destroyed the entire earth at any moment. Even after allowing Goku to achieve the SSJ God form, Beerus had to significantly hold back his power in order to fight on equal footing with Goku. In the end, Beerus came to appreciate Goku’s fighting spirit, which made him reconsider destroying the earth.

That, and the great food that the earth had to offer. While no person could deny that there’s a lot of great food on earth, the fact Beerus ever let the earthlings last long enough to find that out is all thanks to Goku.

5 Jiren Could Have Won the TOP Single Handedly

Universal Survival Saga (Dragon Ball Super)

There were multiple points during the tournament of power when Jiren could have defeated Goku. Even Goku’s initial ascension to Ultra Instinct, while an awesome moment that fans will never forget, was so over-the-top that many fans still debate over exactly what happened that allowed him to transform.

Even before ever getting that far, Jiren was powerful enough to defeat any single fighter in the entire tournament at any time. The only reason Goku was able to stick around long enough to join forces with Frieza and Android 17 and pull off the victory was because he’s the main character.

4 Android 13 Made Goku Invent a One-off Technique

Dragon Ball Z: Super Android 13!

Goku pulled one of the most ridiculously unrealistic moves of his entire martial arts career against Android 13. In a series that prides itself on its unrealistic fights, that’s saying a lot.

Completely drained and out of options against the superior power of Android 13, Goku had no choice but to use his famous last resort: the Genkai Dama (Spirit Bomb). After charging the Genkai Dama, Goku absorbed its energy into his Super Saiyan form to give him a renewed boost of power. Absorbing the energy of others is not really a skill Goku showed at all up to this point, and he would surely be even more unstoppable if it were something he did on a regular basis.

3 Moro Bit Off More Than He Could Chew

Intergalactic Prisoners Saga (Dragon Ball Super)

Moro’s absorption of Merus should have put him at a much greater advantage against UI Goku than it did. Merus was the one who taught the form to Goku, meaning he should have been stronger than Goku at that point. Moreover, the only reason Moro ended up losing was because he couldn’t control the power of the Angels.

Even after his body became unusable, Moro then merged with the Earth itself, allowing him to absorb the energy of everyone on the planet. This should have been more than enough to mean the end of the Z Fighters, but Uub comes out of nowhere to provide Goku with the power he needs to win. While the finale of the fight was epic, Goku using Uub’s power to finally bring Moro down was the kind of plot armor that could only be worn by the hero of the series.

2 Vegeta Technically Beat Goku

Saiyan Saga (Dragon Ball Z)

Goku’s first fight with Vegeta during the saiyan saga is one of anime’s most iconic battles due to the sheer stakes at risk. Vegeta would certainly have killed everyone on earth had Goku not been there to stop him. However, when Vegeta formed an energy ball to create an artificial moon in the sky, not even Goku stood a chance against what was coming.

Vegeta’s artificially created full moon triggered his Great Ape transformation, turning him into an unstoppable monster. Goku was rendered completely powerless in the aftermath of Vegeta’s rampage, leaving it up to Yajirobe to cut off Vegeta’s tail. In the end, it would actually be Gohan inadvertently transforming into a Great Ape that would leave Vegeta too battered to fight any longer. Goku is often considered the victor by fans because he convinced Krillin to show Vegeta mercy and escape, but Vegeta was technically the winner between the two.

1 Piccolo Jr Made Goku Change Plans on the Fly

Piccolo Jr Saga (Dragon Ball)

Piccolo Jr had the wisdom of King Piccolo’s prior fight with Goku on his side when he faced off with the saiyan during the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai finals. Instead of simply breaking three of Goku’s limbs as his prior incarnation did, Piccolo Jr went out of his way to break all Goku’s arms and legs so he wouldn’t be able to fight back.

This should have truly been the end for Goku, as it would have been for any lesser character. However, Goku had main character plot armor, which allowed him to learn to fly at that very moment and headbutt Piccolo for the victory.