Dragon Ball fans were asked to vote to pick Goku’s 10 greatest quotes from throughout the history of the Dragon Ball series.
For Goku Day 2023, an official poll was held to ask Dragon Ball fans for their favorite Goku quote out of a list of 59 chosen from both the original Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Super manga, later adapted into the Dragon Ball, Z, and Super anime series.
Every May 9, the Dragon Ball fanbase marks Goku Day. The significance of the May 9 date for Goku Day is explained on the Official Dragon Ball website, along with noting the importance of other days in May to Goku’s family:
May 9th is Goku Day! Why May 9th, you ask? Well, when you write the date out numerically it becomes 5/9, and since 5 and 9 can be read as “Go” and “Ku” in Japanese, the numbers combine to make Goku’s Japanese kanji! Thus, May 9th became Goku Day!
And that’s not all! May 8th is Gohan Day, and May 9th is Goten Day! As you can see, it’s the perfect time of the year to celebrate the Son family.
May 9 has become the fanbase’s day to celebrate one of the most iconic anime and manga heroes of all time. Determining Goku’s best quotes over the years is the perfect way to honor that hero and celebrate his legacy. Note that due to differences in translation, there may be differences between the exact quotes as they appear on the Dragon Ball Official poll and in the anime and manga releases.
10. “Okay! We’d better get married!”
Taking more than a hundred chapters to reach its payoff, Goku and Chi-Chi’s marriage promise came out accidentally. A young Goku agrees to marry Chi-Chi, not understanding what a “marriage” is and assuming that it’s something edible. After that, Chi-Chi largely fades into the background and Goku forgets about their promise. Years later, Chi-Chi reappears to demand that Goku fulfill his promise to marry her. Still having little interest in marriage Goku agrees to marry her solely because he doesn’t want to disappoint her. Despite all this, Goku and Chi-Chi remain happily married throughout the series and his relationship with his family is one of Goku’s defining characteristics.
9. “It’s over! Frieza!”
Trauma and anger are established as the key to unlocking the Super Saiyan transformation. On Namek, Frieza learns this the hard way. After brutally killing both Vegeta and Krillin and threatening Gohan and Piccolo, Frieza’s attempts to gloat to Goku in order to break his spirit backfire in the most spectacular way, triggering Goku’s very first Super Saiyan transformation — something which never before seen either by real-world fans or the characters in-universe. Goku lives up to his promise, delivering an episodes-long beatdown on Frieza.
8. “I was the worst apprentice who never listened, but it’s thanks to that old man that I got stronger. So even now, I’m Son Goku … of the Turtle School.”
This quote reveals two key elements of Goku’s character. First, he’s humble and self-effacing, despite being one of the most powerful beings across several universes. Second, he has never forgotten where he came from. By the time Super comes around and Goku is participating in the Tournament of Power with the fate of multiple universes in the balance, he’s come a very long way from the kid who used to do milk runs for Master Roshi. Even so, he still considers himself Master Roshi’s apprentice and still shows gratitude for the training he received way back in the early days of the original Dragon Ball. Roshi’s teaching helps Goku unlock his Ultra Instinct during the incredibly hard battle against Jiren.
7. “You fool!”
The Namek arc establishes that Frieza is both brutal and treacherous. While he faces no threat from any enemy before Super Saiyan Goku, he also gleefully massacres unarmed and helpless people who can’t possibly stand up to him. He remains like this right up to the very end. Utterly defeated by Goku, Frieza is spared by Goku and left to wallow in the shame of his defeat. In a rage, he treacherously shoots at Goku with an energy blast as Goku leaves the dying planet of Namek. His treacherous efforts are completely pointless. Goku counters with a blast of his own, overpowering Frieza and vaporizing him.
6. “Get a job instead of pulling stunts like this!”
A line that is hilariously mundane and out of place in a world of super-powered fighters, this line nevertheless reveals something important about Goku’s personality. As brave and powerful as Goku is, he’s a fundamentally good person, even to the point of being hopelessly naive. When confronted with normal human bandits with guns, a character like Vegeta would just obliterate them all without a second thought. Goku, on the other hand, does only enough damage to non-lethally subdue them, brings them to the nearest police station, and is amazed at being paid a bounty for bringing in the bandits. The scene is a clear demonstration of Goku’s longstanding characterization as a kind-hearted fool.
5. “They died because of it! … This time it’s you who dies!”
Super Saiyan Goku’s fight with Frieza on Namek is significant not only for how thoroughly Goku defeats his biggest threat up to that point in the physical battle. He also completely and utterly destroys Frieza ideologically. Showing no fear, he counters every point Frieza makes, leaving the galactic conqueror speechless. Goku has no sympathy for the Saiyans’ bloodthirsty ways, but he will be the one to avenge the destruction of his people because unlike either the Saiyans or Frieza, he fights for something greater than his own power or glory.
4. “Thank you, Dragon Balls!”
A popular quote that could be the tagline for the entire series, Goku spoke these words at a crucial moment in the final battle with Majin Buu. Even the combined efforts of Goku and Vegeta prove useless against Majin Buu and Goku is left drained of power and vulnerable against Buu. A timely wish on the Dragon Balls from Dende sees Goku re-powered and able to turn Super Saiyan just long enough to deliver the final blow to Majin Buu. More than any other use of the Dragon Balls, this scene demonstrates why the power of a wish on the Dragon Balls has driven the events of the series from the very beginning.
3. “Bye, guys.”
Although he never stays dead for long, Goku dying is always an emotionally poignant moment. Seeing one of anime and manga’s most beloved heroes die is gut-wrenching, made even more powerful by the fact that both times Goku dies in Dragon Ball Z, he sacrifices himself for his friends and family: first allowing Piccolo to hit Raditz with the Special Beam Cannon and taking the full brunt of the blast in the process, then teleporting a self-destructing Cell away. His sacrifice against Cell is particularly powerful, as he has the time to offer words of encouragement to Gohan. Goku’s sacrifice and spiritual guidance allow a newly empowered Super Saiyan 2 Gohan to decisively and permanently defeat Cell.
2. “Are you talking about Krillin?”
The anger that fuels Goku’s Super Saiyan transformation isn’t some vague abstraction. It’s a very real, visceral reaction to Frieza’s murder of Krillin, Goku’s longtime best friend. Frieza didn’t kill Krillin because he was a threat. He killed Krillin because he could. It’s a shocking act of disrespect and brutality for both the fans and for Goku himself. Frieza’s gloating also demonstrates how utterly outclassed he is. Super Saiyan Goku is so powerful that gloating is just about all Frieza can do, though all it really accomplishes is to make Goku’s revenge so much more intense and cathartic to watch.
1. “On this planet, we know that even the lowest-born can outdo the elite if they work hard enough.”
This quote encapsulates the rivalry between Goku and Vegeta in a single sentence. Vegeta, the Prince of Saiyans, while undeniably powerful, is arrogant and often overestimates himself because he expects his victory to be inevitable as his birthright. Goku, on the other hand, is the humble hero who came from nothing, trained hard, and became powerful. This quote contextualizes both Goku and Vegeta’s characters as the series progresses. “Work hard” remains Goku’s ethos throughout the entire series, while learning to take Goku’s words to heart helps Vegeta progress from an arrogant villain to the second most important hero in the cast. Notably, once he learns to get over himself and turn to self-improvement like Goku, Vegeta becomes a lot stronger.
The fans have spoken, selecting Goku’s best lines from across the entire series. These memorable lines demonstrate why Goku has become such a popular character that transcended into being a pop culture icon over the past decades. This is a perfect way to celebrate Goku and honor his legacy as the protagonist of Dragon Ball.
Source: Dragon Ball Official website.
