A Defense of Goku as a Parent

How many times have you heard something like this? It's become a tradition in the Dragon Ball fandom, and anime fandom as a whole, to joke that Goku is an absent father who dumps all the work of being a parent on Piccolo and whose only contribution as a parent is to put his children in danger.

And I'm sick of it. I think that Goku has been treated unfairly and honestly did the best job he could have done under his circumstances, with only one truly bad decision as far as I'm concerned during the entirety of Dragon Ball Z. I'm not going to be talking about Super here, simply because I haven't yet finished it and I wouldn't be able to make a compelling argument about that series one way or another. Also, there will be spoilers for Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, so if you haven't watched that yet, you have been warned. So, with that in mind, let's go back to the beginning of Dragon Ball Z.

The first major time we see Goku as a parent is at the party at Kame House. This is a reunion between Goku and his friends, who haven't seen each other for at least four years, and Goku brings Gohan along to introduce him to his friends. During this initial conversation, Krillin asks Goku if the four year old Gohan has started training as a fighter yet, and Goku says no. Granted, this is only because Chi-Chi refused to allow Goku to train Gohan, but let's look at this a little more in depth. Goku heard his wife's arguments that martial arts training isn't the right choice for a four year old, and he agreed and respected her decision. Did Chi-Chi scare him into going along with her plan? Maybe, she's that kind of wife. But the important thing to note is that Goku never tries to train Gohan behind her back, and we know this is the case because Gohan is completely unable to defend himself during this opening arc. Goku knows that he doesn't know everything about being a parent and is willing to follow his wife's advice and parenting strategy so much that he swallows his disappointment because he understands that that is what's best for his son. 

So, in the middle of this party, Raditz arrives and kidnaps Gohan. Goku, being the caring father that he is, immediately jumps into action and gets his ass kicked, because no Dragon Ball Z villain gets defeated on the first try. Goku then makes a difficult decision: he allies himself with his enemy Piccolo in order to defeat Raditz and save Gohan from a life of slavery. It can be easy to forget this sort of thing for people who started with Dragon Ball Z (including myself), but this was a huge decision. Goku and Piccolo hated each other, and with good reason. Piccolo's father, the villainous King Piccolo (it's confusing, I know), was a tyrant who had killed Chiaotzu and Shenron, and whose presence indirectly led to the deaths of Master Roshi and Krillin as well. Goku may not like killing, but King Piccolo had left him no choice, and despite never meeting his father (due to being more of a reincarnation than direct offspring. It's complicated.), Piccolo wanted revenge. Goku and Piccolo had fought a bloody battle in the past, and Goku had spared Piccolo, and though this is never said out loud, I imagine that Piccolo had felt humiliated by this move and was more willing than ever to kill Goku and conquer the world in his father's memory. There is a lot of baggage between these two characters, and Goku set all of that aside because his son's life was in danger. And then in the actual fight against Raditz, Goku, without hesitation, came up with the plan to defeat Raditz in a maneuver that also led to his own death.

Let me say that again: Goku died for his son. That may be the standard that we expect of parents in a society, but that is still a huge sacrifice. I imagine that a lot of people who think that they are willing to die for people that they care about would actually find it more difficult than they expected when the moment of truth came. This is also where the jokes of Goku being an absent father started. Why?

Well, because Goku planned to use his afterlife to train with King Kai, and the Z Fighters chose to delay using the resurrection power of the Dragon Balls in order to allow this. On the surface, this might sound like a selfish decision, but it's worth remembering the context. Raditz was more powerful than any opponent Goku had ever fought up to this point, and Goku had to die just to leave Raditz vulnerable enough to be killed by Piccolo. And Raditz revealed in his dying breath that he had told the even more powerful Nappa and Vegeta about the Dragon Balls and that they were coming to Earth. Goku and the Z Fighters had no other choice. If he was to stop Vegeta and protect the Earth (and consequently his wife and son), Goku had to train in the afterlife and wait to come back to life, even if it meant that he wouldn't be able to spend time with Gohan.

At the same time, Piccolo had kidnapped Gohan in front of the other Z Fighters, justifying his decision by saying he was going to train Gohan (who had exhibited a true potential and an incredible reserve of power) to help fight against the Saiyans. Piccolo's true intentions were to brainwash Gohan into becoming his child soldier slave (much like Raditz) and using him to conquer Earth and even possibly as a secret weapon to kill Goku. But because his time with Gohan softens him and leads to real character development, we forgive him and label him as Gohan's real father? Yeah, it can be funny, but it's not really true.

Don't get me wrong, Piccolo is my favorite character. He's just not a paragon of fatherhood.

But enough about Piccolo. This is about Goku. After Goku comes back to life and returns to Earth, he sends Gohan away and tells him to go home and let him take care of Vegeta and Nappa. Gohan had just witnessed four people die in front of him and had had a presumably traumatic experience fighting for his life against Nappa, who was the weaker of the two enemies. Goku knew that he could handle Vegeta, but he knew that it was far too dangerous for Gohan to stand around and watch and makes the responsible decision to send him and Krillin out of harm's way. Sure, Gohan and Krillin came back to help fight Vegeta, but Goku had no way of knowing that this was going to happen, and it ended up saving his life. Goku then makes an interesting choice: instead of sending Gohan and Krillin away again, he incorporates them into his plan to use the Spirit Bomb against Vegeta, first giving Krillin (the adult) the Spirit Bomb to use against Vegeta and then instructing Gohan on how to redirect the attack back at Vegeta after he dodges it. And while we all can agree that taking a five year old to a battlefield is a bad idea, I think Goku made the right choice here. Goku could barely move at this point and Vegeta is about to kill them all. Desperate times call for desperate measures and all. If he didn't get Gohan and Krillin involved in the fight, all of them (including Gohan) would have died. 

Goku doesn't die against Vegeta this time, but he is left unable to walk for a while. During this time, Gohan goes behind Goku's back and shoots himself into space with Krillin and Bulma to find the Namekian Dragon Balls and resurrect everyone Nappa killed. It is unclear if Goku knew Gohan's plan before he leaves for Namek, but Chi-Chi does know about this. And though she does vocally protest to a five year old being shot into space, she never actually physically stops him from leaving. Given what we know about Goku up to this point, I think it's safe to infer that Goku took Chi-Chi's lack of action as an implicit approval of Gohan's actions and rolls with it. It's worth noting that Goku is a naive person who doesn't truly understand that his own childhood (which was full of death-defying adventures and hunting for Dragon Balls) was unusual and not a good upbringing for most children. As far as he knows, Gohan is going on a safe outing with Krillin and Bulma, two adults who he trusts to look after his son. When Namek turns out to be a war zone with both Vegeta and the even more powerful and sadistic Freeza running around and killing everyone in sight, Goku immediately breaks doctor's orders, takes a senzu bean, and rushes to help Gohan and Krillin.

There is a legitimate argument to be had about whether or not Goku should have taken the senzu bean right away and gone to Namek with Gohan right off the bat. And that would have been the better decision, I agree. But here's the thing: with what Goku knows and what he's been through, he deserves time to truly rest and spend time with his wife. It's like he's sending his kid to hang out at his uncle's house while he and Chi-Chi have a date night or second honeymoon. In hindsight, it was a bad decision, but how many times have you ever made a decision you thought was the right one only for it to turn out to be a mistake? Goku didn't say, "Let's send Gohan to a war zone and have him fight Space Hitler! That's a good idea!" Context matters is what I'm trying to say here.

Once Goku arrives on Namek, he consistently steps in and tries to handle the fighting himself whenever he can. Without wasting time, Goku fights four opponents in a row and has Gohan and Krillin get the noncombatant Dende to safety and the Dragon Balls ready to go. After finally defeating Captain Ginyu (which did involve Gohan for much the same reasons that Gohan had to get involved with the fight against Vegeta), Goku is left unable to move and has to recover in a healing pod. Goku emerges from the healing pod later, finds Freeza in the middle of assaulting his friends and family, steps in, and the rest is anime history. Goku and Freeza are left behind on a planet currently exploding during the evacuation efforts, and both are presumed dead (spoilers: neither actually die). When it is revealed that Goku is alive and refuses to go back to Earth immediately, wanting to train in space for a bit, he is, arguably, abandoning Gohan for a few years.

This is definitely a questionable decision, and one that he should have talked over with Chi-Chi first, but I'm going to argue that the context of Goku's decision is what matters. Goku just found out that there are enemies in space that are more powerful than anything that anyone on Earth can handle, villains that he can just barely hold his own against. Moreover, Earth had become a target for these villains specifically because he lived there. Raditz had come looking for Goku to recruit him to fight for Freeza, Vegeta learned about the Dragon Balls because of Raditz, and Earth ends up on Freeza's radar because of the fallout of Vegeta's invasion. By staying in space, Goku can prepare for future attacks in ways that he simply couldn't on Earth and hopefully divert attention away from his family. And while they both are upset with this decision, it's worth noting that Chi-Chi and Gohan accept and agree with it. Goku would like nothing more than to live peacefully with his wife and son, but he is sacrificing that happiness to keep them safe.

All of that goes out the window when Freeza comes back for revenge.

Freeza's return changes everything, and Goku has to get back to Earth as soon as possible. Luckily, Trunks comes from the future and kills Freeza before Goku even arrives, but then Trunks gives Goku a warning. Two androids, stronger than Freeza himself, are coming and will kill all of the Z-Fighters and take over the world. While Bulma's reasonable suggestion to stop Dr Gero from creating the androids in the first place is shot down by all of the Z-Fighters for completely valid character reasons and is worth talking about, it's Goku's decision to involve Gohan in the fight that is more interesting. Gohan is seven years old at this point, way too young for a battlefield by any sane standards. Chi-Chi even expressly forbids Goku from training Gohan. But instead of respecting his wife's parenting decisions like before, Goku actually defies her, training Gohan with Piccolo behind her back.

Why would Goku do this? Is he a bad father after all, throwing his kid into life or death situations? Again, I'm gonna come down on Goku's side here. He tried to keep Gohan away from the fighting before, and each time, Gohan has shown up anyway and fought alongside him. It didn't matter what he did, Gohan was going to be fighting the androids either way. Not to mention that Goku thinks fighting villains as a kid is normal, considering that he grew up without any adult supervision for most of his life, and Gohan definitely had the power to protect himself. The best decision for Goku to make was to give Gohan the tools and techniques to give him the best chance for survival in what was undoubtedly a no-win situation. Not to mention this gave Goku 3 years to bond with his son, the most time they spent together since Raditz first showed up and started ruining their lives.

So, up to this point, Goku's made some mistakes, but not as many as some people on the internet would have you believe. At this point, you may be wondering: so what was that "one truly bad decision" I hinted at earlier? Well, that comes next in our story: during the Cell Saga.

For context, the fight against the androids has been overshadowed by an even greater threat: the bio-mechanical monster Cell, who absorbs the androids into his body and becomes nigh invincible. In a show of arrogance, Cell gives the Z-Fighters one last chance to save the Earth with the Cell Games, a last great chance to defeat him before he destroys the Earth. Goku steps in first to fight Cell, and seems to be evenly matched with the monster, but then he suddenly forfeits the fight, claiming that he is no match for Cell and that the one who will truly defeat Cell is Gohan. 

Goku's a confident character who has never admitted defeat before in his life. If he says that he can't defeat someone, I'm willing to believe him. And Gohan has shown incredible power buried inside him multiple times throughout the show up to this point, so on the whole, Goku's plan makes sense. I'm even willing to say that I believe the interpretation that Goku was setting Gohan up to succeed him as Earth's protector, since eventually, death is going to stick. But it's still a bad decision that I cannot forgive for two reasons. First: Goku never actually tells Gohan the plan ahead of time. Imagine being an 11 year old and hearing your dad say out of nowhere: "Go fight Mike Tyson and stop him from killing everyone you've ever known and loved. I believe in you!" No matter how well-suited you may end up being to the situation, the psychological effect this has on you will put you at a major disadvantage and probably lead to your death. Even worse, Goku has made a fundamental error in understanding his son's personality, assuming that Gohan enjoys the rush of combat just as much as Goku does instead of understanding that Gohan was fighting and training out of a sense of duty and a desire to spend time with his father. This is why Gohan had such mental blocks keeping him from accessing his true powers: he doesn't like fighting or hurting people, no matter what the circumstances are.

But even worse than Goku not being honest with Gohan about what was going to happen, Goku gives Cell a senzu bean and restores the monster to full strength. Cell, who is part Saiyan and thus gets a power boost when recovering from serious injuries, gets healed after fighting Goku, ostensibly the strongest fighter on Earth. It's like Goku is setting his son up for death, and I cannot overlook or rationalize this decision. Though, in fairness to Goku, he does admit that he was wrong before teleporting a self-destructing Cell away from Earth, sacrificing his life to protect his son once again. It didn't work this time, but that's hardly Goku's fault.

And Gohan finishes the job anyway, so all's well that ends well.

Goku refuses to come back to life this time, and while it can be argued that he should be there for Gohan as he grows up, his argument that the Earth would be safer without him is stronger than ever. Freeza and King Cold came to Earth for revenge against Goku, and Dr Gero created Cell and the androids for the same reason. With him dead, no more old enemies will come back for vengeance. And Gohan was coming into his own as a man, one more powerful than Goku at this point. He can handle future threats if they come.

And Goku was right. Earth was peaceful for seven years, and his god-friends were even able to pull some strings so he could visit his family during the World Martial Arts Tournament. It was too bad that Babidi took advantage of his visit to unleash Majin Buu, but that was almost entirely because of Vegeta's mistakes, not Goku's. And Goku really doesn't make that many bad choices during the Buu Saga. Due to the rules of the afterlife, he can't stay and fight Buu himself because he is on a time limit, and the limited time he does have isn't enough to defeat Buu once and for all. And with the now adult Gohan presumed dead and Vegeta actually dead, Goku doesn't have a lot of options to work with. So he teaches his younger son Goten (whose existence he was previously unaware of because Chi-Chi didn't tell him she was pregnant before he died against Cell) and Vegeta's son Trunks the secrets of fusion and the Super Saiyan 3 technique before having to leave Earth in their hands. 

Is it messed up that he's sending a 7 year old and an 8 year old to fight a demon that has lived for millenia? Yes. Did Goku have any better choice? No. Piccolo and Krillin were the only other active Z-Fighters left, and neither of them were even close to being strong enough to fight Buu without the kids' help. And it's not like Goku was idle once he returned to the afterlife. He tracks down Gohan and helps him prepare to fight Buu in case Goten and Trunks fail (which they do), gets his life restored by the Elder Kai and even convinces his arch-rival Vegeta to fuse with him, a potentially permanent solution, to defeat Buu and save their sons. Basically, Goku handled the Majin Buu situation and how it related to his children in the best possible way given what he had to work with, and when all is said and done, he realizes that his hands-off solution wasn't working and stays on Earth with his family this time.

And this brings us to Super, which I'm not going to cover today since I haven't actually finished it yet. Goku hasn't really done much as a father one way or the other in the episodes that I have watched, and leaving Earth to train with Whis just because he wants to is definitely causing me to raise an eyebrow, but I'm reserving judgment until the time comes when I get around to finishing it. But I hope that I've convinced you that Goku did a pretty good job as a father, considering the exceptional circumstances that he had to deal with.