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, Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT; another is in the series Gensomaden Saiyuki.

Dragon Ball

All Saiyans are naturally evil. However, Goku is an anomaly because he was dropped on his head as a child, and was good from then on. He was also the first Saiyan to turn Super Saiyan in over 1000 years. Goku is also the only pure Saiyan to turn Super Saiyan 3 (Gotenks also turns Super Saiyan 3, but is the result of two Halfbreed Saiyans fused).

Goku's childhood is detailed in the original Dragon Ball series.

Origins

In the original Dragon Ball series, Goku shares many traits, skills and tools with the character Sun Wukong, obviously homage to the story Journey to the West. This includes that both characters are monkeys (saiyans turn into monkeys), and thus have tails. They also both have useful tools like a magical cloud which they can summon to ride on and a handy as-you-will resizeable cudgel - called in Dragon Ball the "Nyoi-bo" (or in the dubbed version, "Power Pole".)

Goku also meets other characters which was inspired by the original story, including the perverse pig (Zhu Bajie) called in Dragon Ball "Oolong".

Gensomaden Saiyuki

Son Goku is a different character in the unrelated anime series Gensomaden Saiyuki. Since the series is based on the same myth as Dragon Ball, there are some similarities.

In Saiyuki, Son Goku is a deity who was imprisoned for five hundred years after rebelling against the gods. He was released by the monk Genjo Sanzo. 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-bo. Although a deity, he is kept in human form with power limiters that he wears as a headband. 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.

See also