How Old Is Goku in Every Dragon Ball Series?

Son Goku, whose real name is Kakarot is the main hero of the manga Dragon Ball written by Akira Toriyama. He first appeared on November 20, 1984 and was inspired by Sun Wukong. Since then, Goku appeared in multiple adaptations, and in this article, we will check out how old is Goku in every Dragon Ball anime series.

As the protagonist, Goku appears in anime adaptations of the manga (Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z), as well as in most series (Dragon Ball GT, Dragon Ball Super), movies, TV shows and OVA derived from the manga, as well as in many video game franchises.

In this article, we are going to tell you Goku’s age in every iteration of the Dragon Ball anime series, starting with Dragon Ball and ending with Dragon Ball Super. Since some parts of the chronology are a tad confusing, we are also going to provide explanations for each section.

How Old Is Son Goku in Dragon Ball?

Goku’s age in Dragon Ball: 11-18 years old

Goku starts his journey at the age of 11, accompanied by Bulma and later by his other friends. A year passes before his defeat in the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament, making him 12 at the time. At the moment of his defeat at the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament, he was 15 years old.

Finally, then he entered the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, he was a young man of 18 years. So, what happened during the time?

Son Goku, a boy with a strange monkey tail, meets Bulma, a 16-year-old girl intent on finding the legendary seven Dragon Balls, which allow her to summon the dragon Shenron, who is able to grant a wish. Noticing the boy’s strength, the young woman convinces Goku to go with her.

Their journey leads them to meet Olong, a pig with the ability to transform into what he wants for a few minutes; Yamcha, a raider of the desert who will eventually become an ally; Chi-Chi, whom Goku inadvertently promises to marry; and Pilaf, a wicked and ambitious man, in search of the spheres to make his wish to reign over the world come true.

Later Goku trains with Master Roshi, an elderly martial arts expert, in order to participate in the Tenkaichi Tournament, which attracts the best fighters from all over the world. A boy named Krillin becomes his training partner and rival, but the two quickly become best friends.

After the tournament, Goku goes in search of the four-star sphere, the only memory of his grandfather, and collides with the Red Ribbon, whose leader wants to collect the dragon balls for himself. Goku virtually defeats the entire military organization alone, including the hitman Taobaibai, whom he had originally lost to, but which he easily annihilates after a hard training with the hermit Korin.

Goku then reunites with his friends to defeat the warriors of Uranai Baba and ask her to locate the last Dragon Ball to bring back to life the friend Bora killed by Taobaibai. Goku and his companions spend the next three years training and reunite at the Tenkaichi Tournament.

Here the protagonists meet the Master Shen, an ancient rival of Master Roshi and brother of Taobaibai, and his pupils Tenshinhan and Jiaozi.

Thanks to the intervention of Master Roshi, the students of Master Shane decide to turn their forces to good, abandoning the dream of becoming hitmen. At the end of the tournament Krillin is killed by Tambourine, a creature generated by the Great Piccolo. Goku sets off in pursuit of the monster but is easily defeated.

The samurai Yajirobe leads Goku to the Tower of Korin where the young man, drinking the water of the majestic god, manages to obtain the necessary power to beat the Great Little Wizard. Meanwhile, the demon kills Roshi and Jiaozim and uses the Dragon Balls to regain youth, before destroying the dragon Shenron as well.

Goku faces the Great Wizard Piccolo again, defeating him, but before dying he generates an egg containing his son and Piccolo reincarnation. On Karin’s advice, Goku goes to the Earth God to ask him to recreate Shenron, so that he can resurrect the demon’s victims. God grants the young man’s request and Goku becomes his pupil to prepare for the clash with Piccolo.

Three years later the protagonists meet on Papaya Island for the 23rd Tenkaichi Tournament and Piccolo also signs up for the tournament with the intention of avenging his father. In the final, Goku and Piccolo face each other in a tough fight, in which the boy can barely prevail. Goku keeps his promise to marry Chichi and the two leave the tournament island aboard the golden cloud.

How Old Is Son Goku in Dragon Ball Z?

Goku’s age in Dragon Ball Z: 23-44 years old

The story of Dragon Ball Z takes place during a very long period of time, starting five years after the events of Dragon Ball, where we meet Goku, who is now 23 years old. Goku dies but is resurrected with the help of the Dragon Balls, being 23 again, but chronologically 24.

When the androids arrive, he is 26/27 years old and is 27 years old when he fights Cell. Still looking like being 27, Goku is chronologically 34 when Majin Buu is defeated, and would eventually end up being 37/44 years old after the 10-year jump. What happened during this time?

The anime takes place five years after Goku and Chichi’s wedding. Since then, they had a son named Gohan. A new story begins with the fact that a mysterious space warrior named Raditz, Goku’s older brother, arrives on Earth from another planet, and that, it turns out, Goku is also from the extraterrestrial race of warriors – the Saiyan, of which only four are now alive.

Goku sacrifices himself to have Piccolo kill Raditz. But the troubles for the land did not end there, there are still 2 living Sayans – Nappa and Vegeta, and they go to the Earth to get the Dragon Balls and use them. Goku, meanwhile, enters the afterlife and undergoes training at North Cayo, where he improves his physical performance, and also learns techniques such as kayoken and genki dame.

One year later, Goku’s friends resurrect him. The Sayans have already arrived, and all together are trying to protect the Earth, but in the end, most die. Nappa dies, but Vegeta managed to escape. Since Piccolo died, so did the Kami of the Earth, hence all the Drago Balls disappeared. Bulma, Gohan, and Krilin travel to take advantage of the Namekian Dragon Balls.

There Frieza and Vegeta are waiting for them. Vegeta and Goku’s friends team up against Frieza, but they lose. By that time, Goku arrives after them, having undergone training under gravity 100 times stronger than Earth. But this power is not enough to defeat Frieza. Upon seeing Krilin’s death, Goku transforms into a Super Saiyan, and is ready to fight on equal terms with Frieza.

As a result, Goku wins, but does not kill him, and Freeza is destroyed by Hint. With the help of Dragon Balls, Goku’s friends manage to save all the Namekians and transfer them to Earth.

On Earth, they resurrect everyone thanks to the Namekian Dragonballs, but when they decided to resurrect Goku, it turned out that he was still alive and did not want to return to Earth, because he was training on the planet Yadrat.

After some time, Frieza flies to Earth to kill Goku, but there Trunks is already waiting for him and kills him. Later it turned out that Trunks came from the future, and also that he is the son of Bulma and Vegeta, who will be born 3 years later.

He also says that after 3 years on the earth there will be two dangerous androids – #17 and #18. After 3 years, it turned out that there are 2 more androids – Cell and #16.

Cell absorbs the seventeenth and eighteenth and assumes its perfect form. He is hosting the “Cell Games” martial arts tournament, and if no one defeats him, the earth will be destroyed.

How Old Is Son Goku in Dragon Ball GT?

Goku’s age in Dragon Ball GT: 49-51 years old (confusing)

So, GT starts five years after Z, making Goku 42/49 years old. But, Pilaf uses the Black Dragon Balls and accidentally turns Goku back into a child, but with the reasoning of a 49-year old man. When the Earth is destroyed, Goku is basically 12, but is actually 50 years old.

Finally, the story ends with him being 13/51 years old. This is one of the more confusing series. What happened in this series?

The story takes place ten years (five years in the Japanese version) after the end of the Dragon Ball Z animated series. Son Goku completes Oob’s training in the Almighty’s palace. Pilaf, the enemy of Son Goku since the beginnings of Dragon Ball, wishes to use the Dragon Balls to dominate the world.

He discovered the existence of ancient Dragon Balls created by the Almighty (Kami-sama) before he parted ways with Piccolo Daimaô (his evil part) in the Palace of the Almighty. He, therefore, invokes Kyûkyoku Shenron which is red in color (unlike the classic Shenron which is green). As usual, Pilaf misses his wish and Kyûkyoku Shenron changes Son Goku into a child.

Unfortunately, these evil Dragon Balls (created by a still imperfect Almighty), not only disperse throughout the universe (while classic Dragon Balls disperse on Earth only) but also destroy after a year, the planet where the vow was made. Son Goku, therefore, has one year to reunite them and prevent the disintegration of the Earth.

He sets off with Trunks and Pan in search of the crystal balls scattered throughout the galaxy.

How Old Is Son Goku in Dragon Ball Super?

Goku’s age in Dragon Ball Super: 31-32 years old

Super takes place in the 10-year period between Majin Buu’s defeat and the end of Dragon Ball Z. During the time, Goku is 31/38 years old, and with the story ending a year later, he is 32/39 years old, still not hitting the 40 mark. What do we know about the events of this series?

After the fight against Buu, Earth experiences a period of peace. However, the God of Destruction, Beerus, has just woken up from a sleep of 39 years with the intention of facing the Divine Super Saiyan, the legendary warrior spoken of in an ancient prophecy expressed by the Oracle Pisces. Beerus then goes in search of this Divine Super Saiyan.

He appears on the planet Kaio, where Son Goku is located. The latter decides to face him but despite his power in Super Saiyan 3, he cannot beat him. Beerus then goes to Earth accompanied by the angel, Whis.

They meet Bulma, who is going to invite them to her birthday party. Everything is going well until Boo eats all the flans. Beerus gets angry and threatens to destroy planet Earth.

But the return of Son Goku, a brief revelation from Shenron, and a transformation into a Divine Super Saiyan succeed in resolving all the worries, not to mention that Beerus decides to spare Earth because he feels exhausted after his fight against the Dragon team.

Later, Frieza’s minions steal the Dragon Balls from Earth (first found in the hands of Pilaf and his gang), and resurrect Frieza. One of their machines gives the Tyrant the opportunity to recover all of his limbs once segmented by Future Trunks.

Thus, the prince of Evil having acquired a transformation in gold (Golden Frieza) makes his return, and upsets the peace on Earth while Son Goku and Vegeta, left to train on the planet of Beerus, are not aware of anything. But a quick call from Bulma, the return to Earth of Goku and Vegeta, both in Super Saiyan Blue, is enough to be a game-changer.

During the fight between Vegeta and Golden Frieza who later resumed his original appearance, the Earth ends up being reduced to nothing. But Whis who can go back in time only for a few seconds, allows Goku to correct this mistake and destroy Frieza in time.