Goku Vs. Hulk: Who Would Win and Why?

In terms of the most powerful characters, Dragon Ball‘s Son Goku and Marvel’s Hulk are among the strongest you can find. Sure, both of them are exceptionally strong and are, as such, comparable, but they are also very different. Namely, the world of Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball is vastly different than anything Marvel has to offer. Despite that, which of the two characters is stronger? Who would win in a fight between Goku and Hulk?

Goku could defeat the Hulk, that much is clear at this moment. Son Goku’s powers have evolved throughout the years and he has consistently reached new heights, becoming an universal threat in recent iterations. And while the Hulk is powerful, he is simply not a universal-level threat like Goku is.

Now that you have the short version of the answer, the rest of the article is going to be divided into three sections, with the first two introducing the characters, their powers and their abilities. In the end, we’re going to give our final verdict and explanation on why Son Goku would win against the Hulk.

Son Goku and His Powers

Son Goku often called simply Goku, is the protagonist of Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball manga. Son Goku begins as a naive child with a monkey tail and disproportionate strength, who, initially only together with Bulma, but later also with his other companions, sets out in search of the magical dragon spheres that allow you to fulfill a wish.

Later he discovers that he belongs to the extraterrestrial and warrior people of the Saiyans and is actually called Kakarotto. Growing up, Goku becomes the strongest warrior on Earth and faces numerous increasingly powerful adversaries who threaten the peace of the planet and the universe.

Goku transforms into Super Saiyan for the first time when Freeza kills Krillin on planet Namek. As the series progresses, Goku reaches other levels of Super Saiyan which, depending on the stage, make him change his appearance and increase his fighting strength.

The following stages reached by Goku after the first level are, in order: the second, the third, and the fourth stage of the Super Saiyan, the Super Saiyan II and the Super Saiyan III.

Goku also reaches an intermediate state between the normal Saiyan and the Super Saiyan I, called False Super Saiyan. In Dragon Ball GT, Goku reaches the stage of the Golden Giant Monkey (the equivalent of a Super Saiyan in the form of a Giant Monkey) and Super Saiyan IV.

The Hulk and His Powers

Hulk, alter ego of Robert Bruce Banner, is a cartoon character created in 1962 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and published in the United States by Marvel Comics. His first appearance is in May 1962.

In his comic book appearances, the character is both the Hulk, a green-skinned, massive and muscular humanoid who possesses a vast degree of physical strength, and his alter ego Dr. Robert Bruce Banner, a physically weak, socially reserved and emotionally reserved scientist. The two exist as independent dissociative personalities and resent each other.

Bruce Banner is considered to be one of the greatest scientific minds on Earth, possessing a mind so brilliant that it cannot be measured on any known intelligence test. “Norman Osborn estimates that he is the fourth smartest person on Earth.

So he is capable of extraordinary feats of the intellect, such as processing and reconfiguring an advanced and particularly sophisticated computer system (intended to be used to rule the world) in a matter of seconds.

In fact, Banner even managed to infect a computer system with a virus that not even Tony Stark, using his skills, was able to counter. Banner has expertise in biology, chemistry, engineering, medicine, physiology and nuclear physics.

Using his knowledge, he can create and control incredibly advanced technologies, including a staff called “Bannertech”, which is on par with the technological development of Tony Stark or Victor Von Doom; some of these technologies include a force field that can protect him from Hulk-level entity attacks and a teleporter.

Tony Stark described Banner as the most brilliant nuclear scientist on the planet. In addition to his native language, English, Banner learned Russian by earning his Ph.D. He also speaks Bavarian German fluently.

Son Goku Vs. Hulk: Who Would Win?

A brief comparison between these characters reveals that they are both extremely powerful, but also very different. They have enormous strengths, but their powers are essentially different.

Son Goku gained his powers by simply being a Saiyan and through training (and dying here and there, over the years), while Hulk gained his powers after a nuclear accident.

Goku is a martial artist and a tactician, while the Hulk is simply a beast whose intelligence has varied, depending on the iteration.

Now, Son Goku’s powers have largely evolved throughout the years. From a relatively strong fighter, Son Goku has become one of the strongest characters in the franchise and quite possibly the strongest non-divine character in the whole franchise.

In that aspect, Goku is thought to be able to destroy whole universes with his powers, being relatively close to the level of power that Beerus has, and Beerus is one of the strongest deities in Dragon Ball.

On the other hand, Worldbreaker Hulk, though to be the strongest iteration of the Green Goliath, was able to destroy a planet but not a whole universe.

Now, had you asked us this question five or six years ago, Hulk would have been our answer without a doubt, but now, knowing how much Goku has evolved, there is absolutely no doubt that Son Goku would ultimately be able to defeat Hulk in a direct clash.

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