Dragon Ball: 5 ways Ultra Instinct Goku obliterates Scarlet Witch (& 5 ways she has an upper-hand)

One of the most heavily debated matters of who Dragon Ball’s Goku can beat has to do with the Marvel universe’s Scarlet Witch, aka Wanda Maximoff. Fans of both series have long debated whether Dragon Ball’s Earthbound Saiyan or the Marvel universe’s crimson sorceress would come out on top in a battle.

Even with Ultra Instinct, however, they both seem to have some advantages over one another. While it’s impossible to say whether either one would come out on top, we can easily analyze the advantages they each have over one another.

Here are five ways Dragon Ball’s Ultra Instinct Goku obliterates Scarlet Witch, and five more which lend the Marvel universe favorite an upper hand

Ultra Instinct Goku’s reflexes and four other skills blow Scarlet Witch away

1) Speed

Ultra Instinct Goku as seen in the Dragon Ball Super anime (Image via Toei Animation)

In terms of speed, Ultra Instinct Goku easily has the advantage over Scarlet Witch. Her speed ranks as a 2 on the Marvel Wiki, which is fairly low for a superhuman. He easily outspeeds her in this regard, whether using Ultra Instinct or another transformation.

Being able to outspeed her, Goku could theoretically rush Scarlet Witch at the beginning and knock her out with a heavy offensive flurry. If successful, this could end the fight before it even begins.

2) Strength

Similarly, Goku’s strength far exceeds Scarlet Witch’s at almost any point throughout Dragon Ball, but especially in Ultra Instinct form. Even if he lands just one punch, it will certainly count, and almost undoubtedly do significant damage to her.

In Ultra Instinct, the strength becomes even more deadly given the rapid-fire style attacks Goku can throw out. This would lead to Wanda receiving several punches within a very short time frame, most definitely doing damage and almost certainly knocking her out of the fight.

3) Reflexes

In Dragon Ball, the Ultra Instinct form’s main purpose is to allow your body to naturally steer itself towards defensive maneuvers. No matter what proficiency level someone has with the skill, its specialty is letting one’s body naturally dodge and deflect whatever blows may be coming their way.

Goku proves this during his fight with Jiren, where he’s able to easily dodge the Pride Trooper’s punches. Physically speaking, he’s a far superior opponent for the Earthbound Saiyan than Wanda is, likely solidifying his superiority over her in this regard.

4) Fighting skills

As someone who has practiced martial arts and been getting into fights since he was a young child, Goku’s fighting skills are undoubtedly superior to Wanda’s. He’s won several World Martial Arts Tournaments, as well as single-handedly defeated some of the greatest threats to the Dragon Ball universe.

He’s also consistently become more and more skilled as a fighter throughout his life, always looking for new masters who can teach him new styles and moves. Without a doubt, Goku’s fighting skills are superior to Wanda’s.

5) Transformations

Finally, one of Goku’s greatest strengths as a Saiyan and as Dragon Ball’s protagonist is the ability to transform, especially under pressure. The Saiyan race in general has a natural, genetic inclination to ascend transformations which allow for increased power across the board.

What’s especially interesting about Goku, however, is his uncanny ability to transform in the heat of battle as things seem untenable. Were Scarlet Witch able to get the upper hand long enough to truly back him into a corner, there’s no doubt he’d somehow, someway, ascend to a new level at the last second possible.

Telekinesis and four other skills give Scarlet Witch an upper hand over Dragon Ball’s hero

1) Magic

Scarlet Witch using her magic to erase mutants from multiversal realities (Image via Marvel Entertainment)

Scarlet Witch’s general skill with various types of magic are an obvious advantage over Dragon Ball’s Goku. Her powers are great enough to have once been a candidate for the position of Sorcerer Supreme, emphasizing her skill and power in the field.

Her magic powers give her many abilities, some of which will be discussed later on in the list. One specific power which won’t be discussed later on is probability manipulation, which essentially allows her to “good luck” her way out of bad situations.

Whether it’s a punch missing her by a hair or Goku breaking his leg from tripping, this single skill could easily give her an advantage.

2) Reality manipulation

Scarlet Witch as seen in the comics (Image via Marvel Entertainment)

Wanda is regarded as one of the most powerful and dangerous reality warpers within the Marvel universe. She’s able to create anything and everything from nothing, as well as disintegrate or erase any person or object from existence.

As if this weren’t dangerous enough, she can combine her reality warping with her physical combat skills, essentially allowing her to punch things out of existence. Should she be able to land some hits on the Dragon Ball protagonist, this would obviously not bode well for him.

3) Telekinesis/telepathy

A master of both telekinesis and telepathy, Wanda can use her skills with each of these powers to great success in her fight against Dragon Ball’s Goku. Her telekinesis could allow her to catch and effectively stop the movement of her enemy mid-attack, allowing her to easily strike back.

Her telepathic skills, meanwhile, could be used to attack or restrain Goku from the inside. Wanda has been seen being able to induce other people to sleep, in addition to creating realistic illusions in and controlling the minds of her opponents.

All of these powers could easily confuse and inhibit the fighting power of her enemy, giving her a huge edge.

4) Superpower manipulation

Another of Wanda’s most feared and most powerful abilities is that of superpower manipulation. She’s been shown to be able to control, absorb, steal, and boost or enhance any kind of superpowers that her target may have. She can also cancel, block, or negate the effect of her enemies’ powers, and reflect or redirect power projected at her.

With this, she could very easily shut down Goku’s Ultra Instinct power. At the very least, she could restrict it so it functions more like the Ultra Instinct Sign variant rather than the Mastered variant he’s trained to achieve.

In any scenario, this power would be incredibly effective at making the conflict between her and Dragon Ball’s protagonist at least an even one.

5) Emotion manipulation

Finally, while Goku may be fearless in Dragon Ball, Wanda is able to force him into fear. Her powers of emotional manipulation have proven useful against many other strong opponents, to the point of inducing fear into them.

Even Goku, who rarely shows any cowardice, would likely be unable to resist such influences. His relatively simple ways of thinking and being would further support this claim, giving Scarlet Witch one more advantage over Goku in their hypothetical matchup.

Edited by Sijo Samuel Paul