Goku is good at a lot of things.
He’s good at fighting. He’s good at being popular. And he’s really good at being a vehicle for filler arcs.
But if there’s anything he’s truly the best at, it’s dying.
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Son Goku: the Sean Bean of anime
Like actor Sean Bean, who has died in nearly every single movie he’s been cast in, Goku has died a lot. Unlike Sean Bean’s characters, however, Goku has also come back quite a lot. How many times has he died? Well, let’s take a count!
Death #1: Goku dies in order to defeat Raditz during the Seiyan Saga. He was revived with the Dragon Balls. The ultimate McGuffin.
Death #2: Goku dies of a heart virus during the androids saga, but is revived via Deus Ex Machina – I mean – medicine from the future!
Death #3: Goku sacrifices himself again to defeat Cell during the Cell Games Saga
Death #4: Goku dies of natural causes at the end of the original Dragon Ball anime and manga. He passes on his legacy to his son Gohan. Big shoes to fill there, huh?
Death #5: Goku sacrifices himself once again to destroy the evil Dragon Shenron in Dragon Ball GT. But don’t worry! We see him later in the afterlife!
If we want to get all technical and ignore all of these other timelines, Goku has only died twice in the present timeline. But that’s not very Sean Bean, is it? No, no. We need to give credit where credit is due, resulting in a total number of five deaths for Goku.
After all, someone needs to beat Sean Bean at his own game. And there’s no one better at beating people than Goku himself. Sometimes physically! With his fists!
(featured image: Toei Animation)
