How Much Can Goku Lift? Compared to Real-Life Records
It has always been the case that Goku is one of the strongest fictional characters of all time and is often the one who is compared to strong fictional characters like Superman or Saitama. However, the only way we can see Goku’s strength is by looking at how heavy he could lift and how he compares to real-life records. So, how much can Goku lift?
Goku has been able to showcase the ability to lift over 100 tons with relative ease. He is even strong enough to lift a mountain over his head. Of course, we are talking about his base form. When he uses one of his transformations, his powers are multiplied exponentially, and that includes his strength.
The reason why Goku is often the one mentioned when it comes to strength comparisons in anime and fiction is the fact that he is simply incredibly strong. He could easily destroy entire galaxies with his strength, and that’s why there is no doubt that Goku has always been one of the strongest fictional characters of all time. Now, let’s look at how he compares to real-life records.
How Heavy Can Goku Lift?
Throughout the long history of fiction, the only character that has stretched the boundaries of strength in the fictional world is Son Goku from Dragon Ball, who has displayed how ridiculously strong he is time and time again. He may have started off as a regular kid with martial arts acumen, but he eventually became a world-breaking entity that is now as strong as the gods themselves.
In that regard, Goku’s strength has always been increasing ever since he made his debut during the middle of the 80s. Of course, today’s version of Goku is so much stronger than almost all of the other fictional characters anyone could ever think of. But just how strong is Goku when we look at the numbers? How heavy can Goku lift?
Throughout Goku’s history as a character, he has lifted incredibly heavy weights and even worked under extreme gravity so that he could become as powerful as he is today. There were accounts in the earlier Dragon Ball Z episodes that suggest that he could lift weights as heavy as 100 tons. That means that he is capable of lifting over 200,000 pounds.
Of course, those came from the earlier episodes and not from the Dragon Ball Super episodes, wherein he is now incredibly powerful and is so much stronger than he was during his time in Dragon Ball Z.
The biggest catch here is that Goku lifted 100 tons at his base form. We know for a fact that Goku’s weakest form is his base form because he isn’t making use of the strength and power multiplier that he could take advantage of whenever he transforms into one of his Super Saiyan forms.
Of course, the strength scaling of Dragon Ball has changed a lot ever since Goku’s first Super Saiyan form was revealed a long time ago. Nevertheless, the first Super Saiyan form, which is Goku’s weakest transformation, is said to be able to multiple his base form’s power by 50. That means that Super Saiyan Goku is 50 times stronger than base Goku, and that could also mean that he is capable of lifting 5,000 tons (or 10,000,000 pounds) whenever he is in his Super Saiyan state.
Then there’s the fact that Goku achieved transformations that are exponentially stronger than his original Super Saiyan form. At this point, his Ultra Instinct is his strongest form and is miles ahead of his Super Saiyan Blue form. It is quite possible that the weight that Goku can lift while he accesses his Ultra Instinct powers is already immeasurable.
In that regard, if we look at the numbers, Goku is indeed unimaginably strong and is perhaps stronger than any of the other fictional characters ever created. After all, the numbers don’t lie when it comes to his strength.
How Does Goku Compare To Real-Life Lifting Records?
At this point, it might be trivial to talk about how Goku’s lifting can be compared to real-life records because we already know that no ordinary human could ever achieve a fraction of what Goku could ever achieve. But let’s look at the comparison to see just how strong Goku truly is.
Today, the world record for the overhead press, which is the same kind of lift that Goku used to carry 100 tons, is 467.5, a record held by Žydrūnas Savickas. Savickas achieved this record during the World’s Strongest Man event. Meanwhile, the raw bench press record is held by Julius Maddox, who pressed 783 pounds back in 2021. Finally, Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson achieved a deadlift record of 1,104.5 pounds in 2021.
So, as you can see, the strongest men in the world and their lifting records don’t actually compare to what Goku was able to achieve in Dragon Ball. For instance, Goku’s base form is capable of lifting 200,000 pounds. Savickas is only around 0.02%, as strong as Goku’s base form. And that number becomes insignificant once Goku enters one of his transformations.
As he is right now in Dragon Ball Super, Goku is actually a lot stronger than he was when he lifted 100 tons. That means that his strength levels are already outside of what anyone in the world can ever imagine.
This is where it becomes clear that the fictional world of anime really tends to overblow things to the point that its characters are capable of achieving unimaginable feats. And Goku seems to be at the very top of the list when it comes to anime characters with capabilities that are beyond what anyone or anything is capable of.