A new Dragon Ball game, Sparking Zero, is just around the corner, and with its immense nearly-200-character roster comes the reemergence of a question as old as time: How many Gokus are in this one?
Before I delve into the nitty gritty, I must give credit where credit’s due: Aftermath’s own Chris Person first asked this question of Dragon Ball FighterZ back in 2018, and he and our esteemed former colleagues Harper Jay (now at Double Fine) and Eric Van Allen (hire him!) proceeded to argue it out at The Old Website. I am merely carrying forward the torch they lit, and I will do my best to honor the shared Goku-counting rubric they created by cherry picking the parts of it I like and leaving out the parts I don’t. With that said, let’s begin:
- Android 13 - Not a Goku.
- Android 16 - Not a Goku.
- Android 17 (DB Super) - Not a Goku.
- Android 17 (DBZ) - Not a Goku.
- Android 18 - Not a Goku.
- Android 19 - Not a Goku.
- Anilaza - Not a Goku.
- Babidi - Not a Goku.
- Baby Vegeta (GT) - Not a Goku.
- Bardock - Looks exactly like Goku, but is actually Goku’s dad. Therefore, not a Goku.
- Beerus - Not a Goku.
- Bergamo - Not a Goku.
- Bojack - Not a Goku.
- Broly (DB Super) - Not a Goku.
- Broly, Super Saiyan (DB Super) - Not a Goku.
- Broly, Super Saiyan Full Power (DB Super) - Not a Goku.
- Broly (Z) - Not a Goku.
- Broly, Legendary Super Saiyan (DBZ) - Not a Goku.
- Broly, Super Saiyan (DBZ) - Not a Goku.
- Burter - Not a Goku.
- Cabba - Not a Goku.
- Cabba, Super Saiyan - Not a Goku.
- Cabba, Super Saiyan 2 - Not a Goku.
- Caulifla - Not a Goku.
- Caulifla, Super Saiyan 2 - Not a Goku.
- Cell, 1st Form - And now we reach our first rough patch. Cell looks nothing like Goku, but he is technically composed of some of Goku’s cells, along with those of the other Z fighters. How many? We don’t know. But he is some tiny percentage of a Goku, as are all of his other forms. So let’s go to the source for this one: While the original manga implies that Cell is the sum of microscopic matter from a number of powerful lifeforms, it only mentions Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Freeza, and Freeza's father by name. Thus, for our purposes here today, Cell counts as one-fifth of a Goku.
- Cell, 2nd Form - One-fifth of a Goku.
- Cell, Perfect Form - One-fifth of a Goku.
- Perfect Cell - One fifth of a Goku. (Also, a note: I’m not sure why they’re differentiating “Cell, Perfect Form” and “Perfect Cell,” but every version of this list I’ve seen published contains both. Maybe it’s a reference to the form Cell achieves after he blows himself up in an attempt to kill Gohan? I guess we’ll see.)
- Cell Jr. - I’m tempted to say that Cells Jr – short, stout Cells that split off from the main body – would count as a smaller subdivision of a Goku, but they’re a byproduct of asexual reproduction, which tends to result in an identical organism to the original. So: one-fifth of a Goku.
- Chiaotzu - Not a Goku.
- Cooler - Not a Goku.
- Cooler, Final Form - Not a Goku.
- Cui - Not a Goku.
- Dabura - Not a Goku.
- Dodoria - Not a Goku.
- Dr. Gero - Not a Goku.
- Dr. Wheelo - Not a Goku.
- Dyspo - Not a Goku.
- Frieza (DB Super) - Not a Goku.
- Frieza, 1st Form (DBZ) - Not a Goku.
- Frieza, 2nd Form (DBZ) - Not a Goku.
- Frieza, 3rd Form (DBZ) - Not a Goku.
- Frieza, 4th Form (DBZ) - Not a Goku.
- Frieza, Full Power (DBZ) - Not a Goku.
- Frieza Force Soldier - Not a Goku.
- Frost - Not a Goku.
- Bojack, Full Power - Not a Goku.
- Fused Zamasu - Fused Zamasu is – deep breath – a fusion of Zamasu, a mortal-hating god, and Goku Black, a time-traveling version of Zamasu who stole Goku’s body in an alternate timeline. If you gave Goku Black a DNA test, it’d say he’s Goku. As a result, he counts as one full Goku. Therefore, Fused Zamasu is one half of a Goku.
- Fused Zamasu, Half-Corrupted - Half corrupted, but still the same guy. Thus: one half of a Goku.
- Fusion Android 13 - Not a Goku.
- Future Trunks - Not a Goku.
- Future Trunks, Super Saiyan - Not a Goku.
- Ginyu - He did once possess Goku’s body, but this is Ginyu in his own body. Therefore, not a Goku.
- Gogeta (DB Super) - Gogeta is a fusion of Goku and Vegeta. As a result, he’s one half of a Goku.
- Gogeta, Super Saiyan (DB Super) - One half of a Goku.
- Gogeta, Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan (DB Super) - One half of a Goku.
- Gogeta, Super Saiyan 4 (GT) - One half of a Goku.
- Gohan (Adult) - Goku’s son, but not a Goku himself.
- Gohan, Super Saiyan (Adult) - Not a Goku.
- Gohan, Super Saiyan 2 (Adult) - Not a Goku.
- Gohan (Future) - Not a Goku.
- Gohan, Super Saiyan (Future) - Not a Goku.
- Gohan (Kid) - Not a Goku.
- Gohan (Teen) - Not a Goku.
- Gohan, Super Saiyan (Teen) - Not a Goku.
- Gohan, Super Saiyan 2 (Teen) - Not a Goku.
- Goku (GT) - This is Goku! In the purest sense, Goku counts as one Goku.
- Goku, Super Saiyan (GT) - One Goku.
- Goku, Super Saiyan 3 (GT) - One Goku.
- Goku, Super Saiyan 4 (GT) - One Goku.
- Goku (DB Super) - One Goku.
- Goku, Super Saiyan (DB Super) - One Goku.
- Goku, Super Saiyan God (DB Super) - One Goku.
- Goku, Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan (DB Super) - One Goku.
- Goku, Ultra Instinct (DB Super) - One Goku.
- Goku, Ultra Instinct Sign - One Goku.
- Goku (Teen) - One Goku.
- Goku (DBZ-Early) - One Goku.
- Goku (DBZ-End) - One Goku.
- Goku, Super Saiyan (DBZ-End) - One Goku.
- Goku, Super Saiyan 2 (DBZ-End) - One Goku.
- Goku, Super Saiyan 3 (DBZ-End) - One Goku.
- Goku (DBZ-Mid) - One Goku.
- Goku, Super Saiyan (DBZ-Mid) - One Goku.
- Goku Black - We already went over Goku Black’s whole thing earlier in this list, but again, despite the fact that Goku Black’s mind is not Goku’s, his body is. Therefore: One Goku.
- Goku Black, Super Saiyan Rose - One Goku.
- Goku, Mini (Pre-order bonus) - One Goku.
- Golden Frieza - Not a Goku.
- Goten - Goku’s other son, who – like Goku’s father – looks exactly like him, but not a Goku.
- Goten, Super Saiyan - Not a Goku.
- Gotenks - Not a Goku.
- Gotenks, Super Saiyan - Not a Goku.
- Gotenks, Super Saiyan 3 - Not a Goku.
- Great Ape, Baby (GT) - Not a Goku.
- Great Ape,Vegeta - Not a Goku.
- Great Saiyaman - Not a Goku.
- Guldo - Not a Goku.
- Hirudegarn - Not a Goku.
- Hit - Not a Goku.
- Janemba - Not a Goku.
- Jeice - Not a Goku.
- Jiren - Not a Goku.
- Jiren, Full Power - Not a Goku.
- Kakunsa - Not a Goku.
- Kale - Not a Goku.
- Kale, Super Saiyan - Not a Goku.
- Kale, Super Saiyan (Berserker) - Not a Goku.
- Kefla - Not a Goku.
- Kefla, Super Saiyan - Not a Goku.
- Kefla, Super Saiyan 2 - Not a Goku.
- King Cold - Not a Goku.
- Krillin - Not a Goku.
- Lord Slug - Not a Goku.
- Lord Slug, Giant Form - Not a Goku.
- Kid Buu - Not a Goku.
- Majin Buu - Not a Goku.
- Majin Buu, Evil - Not a Goku.
- Majin Vegeta - Not a Goku.
- Majuub (GT) - Not a Goku.
- Master Roshi - Not a Goku.
- Master Roshi, Max Power - Not a Goku.
- Mecha Frieza - Not a Goku.
- Metal Cooler - Not a Goku.
- Mr. Satan - Not a Goku.
- Nail - Not a Goku.
- Nappa - Not a Goku.
- Omega Shenron (GT) - Not a Goku.
- Pan (GT) - Not a Goku.
- Piccolo - Not a Goku.
- Piccolo, Fused With Kami - Not a Goku.
- Raditz - Goku’s brother, who looks nothing like Goku. Really curious about what’s happening with this gene pool. Anyway, not a Goku.
- Recoome - Not a Goku.
- Ribrianne - Not a Goku.
- Roasie - Not a Goku.
- Saibaman - Not a Goku.
- Spopovich - Not a Goku.
- Super Baby 1 (GT) - Not a Goku.
- Super Baby 2 (GT) - Not a Goku.
- Super Buu - Not a Goku.
- Super Buu (Gohan Absorbed) - In this form, Buu – by virtue of having absorbed Gohan after he achieved his Mystic form – is wearing clothes that are basically the same as Goku’s. He also later goes on to absorb Vegito and, therefore, Goku. But at this point, he hasn’t done it yet. Therefore, not a Goku.
- Super Buu (Gotenks Absorbed) - Still not a Goku.
- Super Garlic Jr. - Not a Goku.
- Super Gogeta (Z) - One half of a Goku.
- Super Janemba - Not a Goku.
- Super Trunks - Not a Goku.
- Super Vegeta - Not a Goku.
- Super Vegito - Vegito is another fusion of Goku and Vegeta, this time using the Potara earrings instead of the fusion dance. He’s exactly one half of a Goku.
- Super Zarbon - Not a Goku.
- Syn Shenron - Not a Goku.
- Tapion - Not a Goku.
- Tien - Not a Goku.
- Toppo - Not a Goku.
- Toppo, God of Destruction - Not a Goku.
- Trunks, Kid - Not a Goku.
- Trunks, Kid, Super Saiyan - Not a Goku.
- Trunks - Not a Goku.
- Trunks with Sword - Not a Goku.
- Trunks, Super Saiyan with Sword - Not a Goku.
- Turles - A non-canon saiyan from the movie The Tree of Might who, again, looks exactly like Goku. Despite this, he is not related to Goku in any way. Therefore, not a Goku.
- Ultimate Gohan - Not a Goku.
- Uub (GT) - Not a Goku.
- Vegeta (DB Super) - Not a Goku.
- Vegeta, Super Saiyan (DB Super) - Not a Goku.
- Vegeta, Super Saiyan God (DB Super) - Not a Goku.
- Vegeta, Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan (DB Super) - Not a Goku.
- Vegeta (DBZ-Early) - Not a Goku.
- Vegeta, Super Saiyan (DBZ-Early) - Not a Goku.
- Vegeta (DBZ-End) - Not a Goku.
- Vegeta, Super Saiyan (DBZ-End) - Not a Goku.
- Vegeta, Super Saiyan 2 (DBZ-End) - Not a Goku.
- Vegeta (DBZ-Scouter) - Not a Goku.
- Vegeta, Super Saiyan 4 (GT) - Not a Goku.
- Vegito - One half of a Goku.
- Vegito, Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan - One half of a Goku.
- Videl - Not a Goku.
- Whis - Not a Goku.
- Yajirobe - Not a Goku.
- Yamcha - Definitely not a Goku.
- Zamasu - Ultimately becomes a Goku in one timeline, but for our purposes here today, not a Goku.
- Zarbon - Not a Goku.
Which brings the total count of Gokus in Dragon Ball Sparking Zero to… 27! Now you know, and knowledge is power. But knowledge is not as powerful as Goku. Not even close.
Update: We've unearthed another whole Goku, Goku Ultra Instinct Sign, which for some reason was not on the version of the list I was working with. Human error, perhaps? Saiyans would never make such a costly mistake. In any case, it's been rectified, and the Goku count has been updated to reflect that.