Dragon Ball: Goku's evil doppelganger surpassed a feat that many Shonen MCs can only dream

Modified Apr 13, 2024 17:30 GMT

The Dragon Ball series is undoubtedly one of the most popular shonen animanga series of all time. This is one of those shows that defined the genre and introduced several tropes that are still followed in today’s shonen titles. One of the consequences of such incredibly high levels of popularity is that netizens often compare characters from other titles to this series.

"Can they beat Goku?” is a phrase that is infamous within the animanga community, and it has morphed into a meme. Such is Goku’s strength, and there are very few characters in other titles who can hold their ground against him.

Most shonen main characters (MC) often fall short when compared to Goku. The irony is that the same series created a doppelganger that managed to beat Goku in the series. This was an event that was canonical to the source material, and the character was Goku Black.

Goku Black: The Dragon Ball character who managed to beat Goku

Goku Black as seen in the anime series (Image via Toei Animation)

The anime and manga series have produced plenty of antagonists who have beaten Goku in the series. Goku isn’t an invincible character who surpasses every single being in the multiverse. However, this particular character is considered his doppelganger, and he managed to show better combat abilities in the series, Goku Black.

He is also known by his alias Zamasu and was introduced in the show as one of the main antagonists in the “Future” Trunks Saga in the Super series. This character was an incarnation of Zamasu, who served under Gowasu as a North Kai and Supreme Kai apprentice.

Goku Black managed to go to the Super Dragon Balls from the timeline that wasn’t altered. Following this, he summoned Super Shenron, who then granted Zamasu the wish of swapping bodies with Goku from the unaltered timeline.

Goku as seen in the anime series (Image via Toei Animation)

Upon meeting Future Trunks and Future Bulma, the latter gave him the name Goku Black owing to the distinct black-colored Gi that he wore. He was the result of Goku’s body being taken over by Zamasu’s mind and soul. It is what made Goku Black stronger than the original protagonist of the series.

Zamasu’s understanding of combat and its application was at a level that very few could match. Zamasu’s technical understanding, paired with Goku’s body, made this combination lethal.

Furthermore, Zamasu was an entity that could produce God Ki, which placed him on a higher platform than Goku. One fan in particular compared Zamasu’s soul fusing with Goku’s body to an extremely high-performing engine oil being used in a very good engine.

Comment byu/PokeDestined from discussion indbz

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The abilities of the original and his doppelganger are more or less the same. However, Goku Black can level up a lot faster than the original protagonist of the Dragon Ball series.

Most shonen protagonists dream of achieving the power levels that Goku did in this animanga series. However, Goku’s very own doppelganger managed to beat him. A shonen protagonist’s clone is quite hard to find, and it’s even harder to find one that can beat the original.

Therefore, one must acknowledge that Goku Black, the doppelganger, achieved a feat that most shonen protagonists find very hard to do.

Stay tuned for more anime and manga news as 2024 progresses.

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