Son Goku, born with the name Kakarot, has been the main protagonist of Dragon Ball since its inception. A Super Saiyan first sent to destroy Earth, he loses his destructive instincts as a result of a head injury, and goes on to defend Earth and its citizens. He’s always training to be a better fighter, and Goku’s techniques and abilities are among the things fans love to debate and rank about this popular character.
But, how old is he now, exactly?
That question isn’t so easy to answer. Naturally, involving anime and manga, a long-standing character like Goku has had many adventures, some of which may overlap and result in aspects of his character that don't seem to make sense.
Let’s take a walk through Dragon Ball history to compute the answer.
Goku From Dragon Ball To Dragon Ball Z
Essentially, there is a coherent timeline that runs through Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Minus, and Dragon Ball Z – albeit with a few variations at certain points.
Son Goku was born with the name Karakot, ostensibly sent to destroy Earth as an infant by his parents. His year of birth is either 736 on the planet Vegeta in the manga, or 737 if we're going by the anime. In the canonical version of events, he's only 3 years old when that takes place, just before the destruction of his home planet in 739.
Though he looks very young still, he's 11 when he meets Bulma, Oolong, and others, and starts training with Master Roshi. Actually, he claims at first to be 14, but during Tournament Saga, his friends learn that Goku has trouble counting.
Goku is 15 when he fights in the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament, where he's defeated by Tien. However, Goku and his pals go on to defeat the evil King Piccolo shortly afterwards. Three years later, at 18, he defeats Piccolo at the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, and marries Chi Chi soon afterwards.
It Gets Complicated In Dragon Ball Z
The events of Dragon Ball Z begin five years later, when Goku is 23. His son Sohan is 5. Goku also meets Raditz, his long-lost evil brother, and learns about his true heritage as a Saiyan. Goku dies for the first time when he sacrifices himself to vanquish Raditz for good, but he goes on training in the afterlife. He's resurrected through Dragon Balls, and when he comes back, he's still 23. His chronological age jumps to 24 pretty quickly, though, as a result of helping to drive Vegeta away from Earth.
Goku subsequently spends three years training in preparation for the androids, making him 26 in physical terms, and 27 in chronological terms. He fixes that anomaly by training in a Hyperbolic Time Chamber for a full year, emerging as 27 in both respects.
At 27, Goku sacrifices himself a second time. This time, he's dead for seven years, until he's resurrected to defeat Buu. That would make him chronologically 34, while physically he's still 27.
At that point, however, being the epilogue, the whole series jumps ahead a full decade, making him physically 37 and chronologically 44 – although aging in Saiyans is known to slow down once they hit their prime.
Dragon Ball GT And The Time Jump
Dragon Ball GT begins five years down the road. Goku has been training with the good reincarnation of Kid Buu, or Uub. Now, Uub's training is complete, and Goku is 42 (physical age) and 49 chronologically speaking.
Enter Emperor Pilaf, who reverts Goku back to the body of an 11-year-old boy accidentally with the Black Star Dragon Balls. Inside, though, Goku is still a 49-year-old man. That state of affairs lasts for another year-long time jump, and an epilogue that catapults our hero about 100 years into the future, where we see him at his adult prime. Whatever his physical age, he would be about 151 years old at the end of Dragon Ball GT.
The events of Dragon Ball Super take place within that 10-year time leap that occurs between the end of Dragon Ball Z and its epilogue, when Goku is in his 30s both physically and chronologically.
The Dragon Ball: Broly Retcon
Dragon Ball Broly was released in Japan in 2018 and in North America in 2019. In introducing the Saiyan Broly, the movie delves into Saiyan history, and retcons the history of Goku along with that of Vegeta. As described in Comicbook, his date of birth was said to be in April, 737 – the same time period as Broly and Vegeta.
The Tournament of Power, which takes place at the end of Dragon Ball Super, is set in the year 780 – which makes Goku 43 years old. Backtracking a little, it means all three characters were children, Goku around age five, and not babies, when Frieza destroys Planet Vegeta.
Goku Of The Future
Reports say that Disney is planning on a live action TV series based on the popular Dragon Ball mangas, but it will focus on Vegeta.
In the gaming world, Ultra Instinct Goku will join Dragon Ball FighterZ on May 22 in a much touted release. As reported in CBR, the trailer shows Goku in his most powerful transformation yet fighting against Jiren. Goku will be part of the Fighter ZPass 3 DLC pack – but how old will he be?