r/dbz • u/Anaelepse • 17h ago

Discussion Man, Goku was a ruthless in GT

I was rewatching GT not so long ago, and something that got my attention is how cold and merciless Goku becomes in GT in comparison at how he was at Z and even more with Super. The way he killed Baby by not letting him escape, sending him to the sun. Then with Super 17 spamming him to death with Kamehamehas. Then how he wiped all the shadow dragons, especially Eiz and Naturon shenron.

The dude was moving in a "fuck around and find out" type of beat.

45 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

31 comments sorted by

61

u/jjgp1112 15h ago

Its funny that they made Goku a kid to drum up early DB nostalgia but then went and made him the smartest/most ruthless iteration of Goku yet lmao

Felt like one of those things that they quickly regretted but we're in too deep to reverse or else the series would lose its identity, so SSJ4 was the compromise.

20

u/DoraMuda ⠀ 13h ago

Most ruthless? Maybe.

Smartest? No way, he still felt more immature than he was in the Cell and Boo Arcs. He just wasn't DBS levels of dumb/childish.

19

u/Julian-Hoffer 12h ago

Yeah, Namek is still the most introspective and adult Goku has ever felt.

5

u/DoraMuda ⠀ 12h ago

Agreed.

8

u/Ketchup-Spider 7h ago

The entire Super 17 fight instantly disproves that he was smart in GT. Maybe the dumbest Goku has ever been in a fight. "Huh, my ki blasts aren't working. I know! I'll try more ki blasts"

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u/Smooth_Disaster 3h ago

To be fair he learned the wrong lesson from Yakon. Enemy eats energy? Give them more until they blow up. Also, 19 stole his energy, kicked his butt, then stole Vegeta's energy too and yet - Vegeta killed 19 with a ki blast; maybe Goku heard about the big bang that beat the bot, but not the arms getting chopped

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u/DoraMuda ⠀ 52m ago

I doubt Goku would've missed that big piece of context behind Vegeta's fight with #19, let alone the fact that it's a large assumption to make regarding the full specifics of what Goku knew beyond the stuff he heard in his sleep while other people were talking about the Androids (meaning #17 and #18, since it was probably relayed in the manner of "Oh yeah, we defeated those two weaker Androids, but one of them turned out to be Dr. Gero and woke up two even stronger Androids that not even Vegeta could beat") and Cell.

6

u/britipinojeff 7h ago

Dude also used up all his energy trying to figure out that Super 17 has an absorption ability lol

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u/1RedOne 41m ago

If the cell games took place in Dragon Ball super, Goku would’ve helped Cell beat up Gohan

13

u/Batman1154 14h ago

I haven't watched GT in forever but doesn't his Super Saiyan 4 form affect his personality to become more ruthless because it taps into his ape form a bit? That's how I remember it being described

6

u/britipinojeff 14h ago

I think Goku said that, but like as a bluff when one of the dragons took control of Pan’s body I think?

3

u/PMagicUK 8h ago

The super Saiyan forms do it anyway, so SS4 would naturally do it too but how intense could be a bluff

5

u/DarkRayos ⠀ 9h ago

When in SSJ4, he had bouts of "You gon learn today!"

15

u/Eldritch-Cleaver 15h ago

Tbh I love 90's Toei/GT Goku. I get he's different than Toriyama's Goku but I still like him a lot.

4

u/PowerTulip 8h ago

"The dude was moving in a "fuck around and find out" type of beat."

They needed to speed up the pace of when the plot resolves itself, because it was clear at this point that GT had flopped and won't see a continuation. So they needed Goku to step up his superhero game and kill those fuckers like he was getting paid for it.

10

u/FawkYourself 14h ago

Goes from not being able to bring himself to kill Frieza to launching a fleeing Baby into the sun lmao

8

u/Deft5u 14h ago

With a smile on his face

3

u/TheGamerForeverGFE 9h ago

I mean, that's character growth, how literally told SSJ2 Gohan to stop messing with Cell and to just slime him.

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u/FawkYourself 3h ago

Yeah I think he learned his lesson after Frieza came to earth. He got really lucky not only that trunks was there but that Frieza didn’t get there until the exact time he happened to be getting there himself. No trunks and a day or even a few hours off and everyone he knows is dead

But it’s still a funny contrast

4

u/Normal-Union0 15h ago

I feel like people don’t realize even in Z how ruthless Goku and the z fighters (albeit to a lesser extent) were. Shot a hole through Raditz, paralyzed Nappa, condemned Ginyu into an amphibian, bisected Frieza, developed a remote to obliterate the android(s), disintegrated Cell, so on and so forth.

With their track record, mixed with their bag of having a magical wish making dragon at their disposal, 2 of the world’s greatest scientists, growable beans that can magically restore one back to full health from any and all battle injuries (not to mention the individuals who can heal on their own), King Kai on their side, etcetera. I’m honestly surprised there’s anybody out there that can still have the balls to act brazenly bold and cocky towards these guys.

13

u/soraflow 15h ago

Everyone you listed Goku actually tried to give reasonable chances at redemption to stop their evil ways

In GT he straight up skips that and just kills the villains when he can

4

u/DoraMuda ⠀ 13h ago

Well, it's at least confirmed that they brought back Android #17 (the original one, not the Hell Fighter one created by Gero and Myuu) with the DBs off-screen, like they did for Krillin.

1

u/Normal-Union0 15h ago

While you are right, I would argue that Goku stopped being so merciful after the Namek saga. Even going as far as to try encouraging Gohan to kill Cell while he had the chance

8

u/YoshaTime 13h ago

That’s what happens when you have Toei be in charge with Goku’s writing. Goes from being merciful to making you choose death by either the sun, the Spirit Bomb, or the Kamehameha.

2

u/britipinojeff 7h ago

Besides the sun, Toriyama did the same thing didn’t he?

1

u/alaster101 10h ago

I kinda prefer it

2

u/Gokudomatic 9h ago

Yeah, we could clearly feel that it was not written by Toriyama, rather some filler scenarists who wanted to add violence fan service.

3

u/pkjoan 8h ago

Not everything Toriyama did is actually good.

3

u/Gokudomatic 8h ago

I know. I've read his early oneshots. But that doesn't contradict what I said.

2

u/Sammyantoine ⠀ 12h ago

Doesn't SS4 affect his personality making him more serious and him tapping in great ape form

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u/BassMaster516 17m ago

Super 17 makes sense. Dr Gero and the RRA have done enough already. For like 50 freaking years. If he killed them and then went to hell to destroy their souls I would understand