Goku vs. Deku: Who Wins the Fight & How?

By now, you probably know that Son Goku is one of the most powerful and potent fictional characters ever created. He is not the most powerful one, but he is at the very top. On the other hand, we also have a very powerful character from the My Hero Academia universe, Izuku Midoriya, also known as Deku, who is the protagonist of his own universe and has the potentially strongest Quirk of them all. So, how does My Hero Academia’s protagonist stand against the protagonist of Dragon Ball? Well, that is a question we are going to answer in this article.

Even during his childhood, Son Goku would be able to defeat Deku with ease. The current version of Goku would not only wipe the floor with Deku, it would be able to defeat the whole My Hero Academia universe with a simple flick. Regardless of the powers provided to him by his Quirk, Deku is nowhere near the universe-level power that Son Goku has, which is why Goku wins this one clearly and easily.

The rest of the article is going to be all about comparing the two characters from Dragon Ball and My Hero Academia, respectively. You’re going to find out who Son Goku and Izuku Midoriya are, as well as what their exact powers and abilities are. In the end, based on what we have presented earlier, we’re going to give our final verdict on who is stronger. It’s promising to be a fun story so keep reading until the end!

Son Goku and his powers

Son Goku is the main protagonist of the manga Dragon Ball, and their animated adaptations, Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z / Dragon Ball Kai, then Dragon Ball Super, as well as the alternative animated sequel to the first two series, Dragon Ball GT. An orphan exiled from the defunct planet Vegeta, he lands on Earth where he grows up with his adoptive grandfather. His adventure begins the day he meets Bulma, a young adventurer, who invites him to look for the Dragon Balls.

In terms of pure powers, we can state that Son Goku has become a true Saiyan god as the series progressed. He doesn’t have any superpowers like some other superheroes, but he can utilize his physique and his fighting skills in such a way that he truly does seem superhuman.

He is a constantly evolving character that upgrades his skills and potential after each big challenge, becoming more powerful after every fight. In that aspect, his potential is practically unlimited and it is safe to assume – although, we have to reiterate that, there is no hard evidence for this – that his potential is night infinite. When it comes to speed, well, we don’t actually know how fast Goku is. We know he’s fast. His reflexes are brilliant and he can, indeed, move really fast. But how fast is he, exactly? We haven’t a clue.

If we consult Dragon Ball Super, where Goku’s powers have become almost absurdly big and compare his speed to the general speed of the Dragon Ball Z characters, we could assume that he’s become the fastest character in the series. The sad thing is – we have absolutely no proof of this and this brings us to the verifiability issue mentioned above. This is one of such unverified (or even unverifiable) assumptions that you can freely interpret.

Son Goku is a superb warrior who never gets weary and becomes better after every battle in terms of stamina. Son Goku is a trained martial artist, making him naturally skilled in hand-to-hand combat; instead of relying on his strength and his abilities, he uses his talents and intricate fighting techniques. Additionally, because of his Saiyan build, he can battle for an extremely long time—so long that it is debatable whether he ever tires—though this is another unsubstantiated notion that is open to interpretation. Additionally, he develops and expands after each combat, which increases his durability.

He is not immortal, though, which is something we thought was worth mentioning at this point. Finally, we’d like to confirm that Goku doesn’t really have any known weaknesses in the classical sense. Sure, he can be beaten, but there is no secret weapon you could use in a fight against him. If you’re a better fighter, you’ll win; if not, there’s really no “cheat code” you could use.

Izuku Midoriya (Deku) and his powers

Izuku Midoriya, also known as Deku, is the protagonist of the story and a rival of Katsuki Bakugo. He never manifested a Quirk, however, that didn’t stop him from dreaming of being a hero. He is a great fan of All Might, the number one hero and symbol of peace for the population. An encounter with him leads him to one of the great adventures of his life and the main plot of the anime: the story of how Deku becomes the number one hero.

He has a shy disposition and is easily frightened, having been bullied as a child, but has a great sense of selflessness and justice. He has good analytical skills and being a hero aficionado, he knows their Quirks well and their capabilities in the field in minute detail. He is one of a very small number of people that have been born without a Quirk, for which he is repeatedly taunted with the nickname Deku; later, thanks to Uraraka, this nickname will become a source of pride for Izuku, who will choose it as his hero alias.

Although he was born without powers, he has always dreamed of becoming a real hero. His dream could come true when he earned the respect of peace champion All Might, who took him under his wing and revealed a secret to him: he possesses a special Quirk called One For All, which combines the strength of more than men in one body giving him extraordinary physical abilities. Midoriya was therefore chosen by him as his successor since this ability is not innate but passed from one person to another.

The Quirk’s initial flaw is that if the body isn’t hardened enough, its power would risk killing its new container, so Midoriya trained to strengthen himself. Driven by his successful entry into Yuei and his determination to become a hero, Midoriya begins to acquire an ever greater self-awareness that over time has led him to put aside his cowardice, even causing him to stand up to Bakugo on multiple occasions.

In him, the One For All manifests itself as veins that appear on the limb or the part of the body in which the Quirk is activated or, when instead using the Full Cowl, as electric discharges that the boy emits from the body.

The Quirk is still too much for his body to handle if used all of it: the maximum power he can use so far without breaking his limbs is 20%, although using it at this level still causes him to feel severe pain from the strain muscular; beyond this level, Midoriya has repercussions on his body and was often forced to use 100% of his powers, which led him to break his arms and legs several times.

Precisely for this reason, taking inspiration from Iida, he subsequently developed a fighting style known as Shoot Style, focused in particular on the use of his legs, which makes Izuku even more powerful and faster. After Tomura wakes up and begins destroying everything with his overpowered Quirk, Izuku uses 45% of the One For All for the first time.

As seen against Muscular, when on an adrenaline rush, Midoriya can also outrun 100% and unleash devastating blows, with worse repercussions. Izuku is also the only owner of the One For All who has managed to interact with its previous owners: the One For All, in fact, draws strength from those who have owned it and this peculiarity has meant that in the maze of the Quirk there remain, together with their power, also parts of the consciousness of the predecessors.

Son Goku vs. Izuku Midoriya (Deku): Who would win?

And now for the most important and interesting section of our article – the analysis. Here, we are going to use what we have found out about these two characters and analyze how all these facts would (or would not) help them in a fight against each other. Let us continue.

In all honestly, this one was a complete no-brainer. Namely, Son Goku and most of the Dragon Ball characters are so powerful that they could easily wipe out the whole My Hero Academia universe. And with a simple flick of a finger, and no, we’re not even talking about the likes of Beerus or the other Gods of Destruction, let alone Zeno. Piccolo could do it, easily. Gohan could. Frieza, Vegeta, and Majin Buu, just to name a few… and they would not even have any trouble doing it.

This is a result of the essential difference between My Hero Academia and Dragon Ball. The former does, indeed, deal with superpowers and other superhuman skills, but the max level of these powers is nowhere near some of the average powers seen in Dragon Ball. There is not a single character from My Hero Academia that could do anything against the strongest Dragon Ball characters and that is a fact (sorry, MHA fans, it’s just like that).

So, how would a fight between Deku and Goku turn out? Well, if we know that even Kid Goku would be able to defeat Deku, there is no telling what the current version of Goku, who is around Beerus’ power level, would simply blink and obliterate Deku with that. Even if Deku were to use 100% of his powers, he couldn’t even scratch Goku, let alone harm him.

Goku is stronger, faster, more durable, and everything else you might think of. Whichever category you come up with, Goku beats Deku and that’s a fact. Goku wouldn’t even have to transform, he would simply have to land a couple of hits and the fight would be over. Sorry, My Hero Academia fans, but the world of Dragon Ball is literally and metaphorically a wholly different universe from that of My Hero Academia, and that is why Goku wins this one easily.