While it is no secret that Goku is perhaps the strongest fighter in the Dragon Ball universe–aside from one or two literal gods and a being who wields a power stronger than divine energy–it was revealed in one of his earliest appearances that he will never be Dragon Ball’s greatest fighter, and the reason behind it is obvious.
Goku made his first appearance as the series’ protagonist in Dragon Ball Chapter 1, and while he began his Dragon Ball career as an explorer searching for the titular wish-granting orbs, he quickly began his mission to be the best fighter in the world. In that effort, Goku sought the training of Master Roshi since Roshi was one of the greatest martial artists in history at that point in time. While Goku was quick to learn how to strengthen his body and even harness his ki into powerful blasts with little effort, there is one aspect to becoming the greatest fighter in the world that Goku still hasn’t mastered.
RELATED:Goku’s First Saiyan Transformation Was So Powerful, It Broke The 4th Wall
In Dragon Ball Chapter 28 by Akira Toriyama, Master Roshi is seeing how fast his students are to better gauge their power level and gear their training accordingly. Roshi tells Krillin and Goku to run to a far-off tree while he timed them. While their teacher was impressed by their times, he showed them how fast they will be after they undergo his training by running to the tree himself and exhibiting his own impressive speed. After Roshi finished Goku and Krillin’s training for the day, Roshi asked Goku to grab him a beer, but Goku was confused as he had no idea what a beer was. Roshi then tells him, “Hmmm…knowledge is also necessary to master martial arts, you know. We’re really going to have to work on training you in that area…” which is exactly what Roshi does. In between their physical training sessions, Krillin and Goku are also given basic education classes and Roshi acts as their tutor. Unfortunately, it seems that Roshi failed Goku in that aspect of his training.
Goku is an incredibly accomplished fighter and has even transcended the limits of mortal power levels by harnessing the energy of the gods and growing his strength exponentially. However, Goku is still just as clueless and air-headed as he was as a child. Goku consistently puts himself and others in compromising situations due to his obsession with becoming the world’s strongest fighter without thinking through the situation first. In the early chapters of Dragon Ball Super, Goku nearly destroys the Earth while battling Lord Beerus as the energy both fighters were channeling rippled through the cosmos in intense waves of destruction, but throughout the battle, Goku was just excited for the opportunity to battle someone as strong as the God of Destruction. Then, in a later Dragon Ball Super chapter, Goku became responsible for the Tournament of Power which led to the obliteration of a number of entire universes, all because Goku wanted to battle fighters from across the multiverse to, once again, become more powerful.
While Goku will go to the extreme to strengthen his body, he has made no effort to strengthen his mind. He’s still an obtuse oaf who will throw himself into dire situations for the chance to get stronger no matter the cost. Plus, Goku has no regard for education. Goku is completely disinterested in his son Gohan’s renowned academic achievements. For that reason, Goku has ultimately failed his original training with Master Roshi and has proven that he will never be Dragon Ball’s greatest fighter as he has ignored one of the most critical aspects of martial arts—acquiring knowledge.
