Why Goku Is The Single Worst Part Of ‘Dragon Ball Z’

During the Cell Saga, Goku decides it's a good idea to give the most dangerous person on the planet a Senzu Bean - an item that essentially acts as a healing potion for whoever uses it. When Krillin rightly lambasts Goku for gifting Cell with such an outrageous boon, Goku's stupidity shines for all to see. "Hey take it easy," he replies. "Cell's used up a lot of his energy. It's only fair to let him fight Gohan at full strength, don't you think?"

Even Cell himself can't believe Goku would do something so dumb. "Incredible," Cell states. "With everything at stake, you still can't help but be a slave to your better nature. Sickening."

As poor of a father as Goku is, it is arguable that he is an even worse husband. Chi-Chi is never informed of any of the goings-on in the Dragon Ball Z universe, and essentially lives the life of a single mother to Gohan and Goten for many years.

At one point in the series, Goku forgets his own strength while arguing with his wife and smacks her on the back so hard she flies through a tree.

Outside of being - generally speaking - a complete moron, Son Goku seems to have little to no idea on how to be a good father to his children. As if putting his kids in constant danger wasn't enough, he also places the fate of the entire world in the hands of his teenaged son Gohan during the Cell Saga.

For a while, Goku doesn't even know he has a second son (Goten). Instead, he decides to blissfully fight away his days in the afterlife, never checking up on what his family has been up to on Earth. The "Father of the Year" award will certainly never grace his mantle.

When a time-traveling teen with purple hair comes from the future to give you medicine in order to stop you from perishing from a heart virus, you should probably remember to take that medicine, right? Not if you're Goku.

Yes, Trunks - the future child of Vegeta and Bulma - comes back in time from a post-apocalyptic future to try and prevent the dramatic events of the Android Saga. This, however, would be pretty anticlimactic, so Goku just happens to forget to take the pills, delaying his entry into the fight and giving the audience some more juicy fight scenes in the process. It is a pretty incredible act of idiocy on Goku's part, though.

The Android Saga is kicked off by the arrival of Trunks, Bulma's son from the future, who informs Goku and the others that two unstoppable androids will appear in a few years' time and wipe out most of civilization. Present-day Bulma brings up a solid idea when she suggests using the Dragon Balls to stop Dr. Gero, the androids' creator, from building the androids at all.

But rational thinking isn't something that Goku excels in, and he turns this option down. His reason? He wants to fight the androids himself. It sounds like Goku needs to be put in treatment for his unabashed dependency on fighting. All of the events of both the Android and Cell Sagas could have been avoided if Goku didn't need to test his might against anyone who looks at him funny.

After perishing on King Kai's planet, Goku decides he'd rather not be wished back to life by his friends. Initially, the hero spouts some garbage about him being a magnet for all of the bad guys in the universe, but his true reason for wanting to stay in the afterlife comes out soon after he claims this. Goku goes on to explain that a lot of history's greatest fighting masters are in the afterlife, and he just can't wait to spar with them.

But what of his family and friends? After Goku tells Gohan that he doesn't have anything left to teach him, Gohan replies, "But that doesn't mean I don't need you!" Goku ignores his son's pleas, as usual, and heads off to his next fight.