Dragon Ball: Why did Goku Black become evil? Explained

Dragon Ball Super has made a lot of creative decisions that have been either well received or poorly taken by the fandom. Goku Black is usually perceived as belonging to the former camp. The character had one of the best villain introductions in the entire franchise, which led to several months of debates online regarding who he was and why he was trying to eliminate Future Trunks and the human race in the future.

It was eventually revealed that he was a Zamasu from a different timeline and took over Goku's body to be able to fulfill his ambitions. Furthermore, part of the reason Goku Black became evil is one of the most interesting and unique origins for an antagonist in Dragon Ball, which has to do with the human race and his perception of them.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the Dragon Ball series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author and not Sportskeeda as a whole.

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Explaining why Goku Black became evil in Dragon Ball Super

Goku Black was actually Zamasu, a Kaioshin apprentice from a different universe in Dragon Ball, who had a huge disdain for humanity as a whole. Zamasu always disliked humans, believing that they were only destroying and corrupting the gifts the gods had handed to them, which led to his growing resentment and wanting to come up with a plan to eradicate them without destroying the Earth.

Eventually, Zamasu discovered Goku's existence and decided to swap bodies with him through the use of Super Dragon Balls, which is the origin of Goku Black. Furthermore, the more times Zamasu did heinous acts for his mission, the more unhinged he became, until he turned into a full-blown villain and a genocidal maniac.

Another element of Goku Black's evil character is the fact that, while he was actually Zamasu in spirit and personality, he started to gain Saiyan traits in his behavior.

Zamasu became increasingly more battle-hungry and craved challenges to prove his strength, much like the original Goku. This made the character a bit different from the Zamasu he teamed up with, who remained in his original body and wished for immortality.

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Zamasu's role in the story

Fused Zamasu in the anime (Image via Toei Animation).

Zamasu is one of the most unique concepts for an antagonist in the Dragon Ball franchise. This is because the creators involved were aiming for a more complex motivation. Villains in the series are usually fairly conventional, with them being avatars of chaos and destruction, making the conflict a lot more straightforward for the Z Fighters.

While it is true that the solution to the Zamasu conflict is battle, the antagonist reached that conclusion through a much more complicated motivation. His disdain for humanity only grows stronger throughout the series, until he becomes a greater monster than the so-called corrupt individuals he hated so much. While fans noted some issues in terms of writing, this was a much more ambitious approach when it comes to villains in the series.

It was also a very interesting decision to set up Goku Black and Zamasu with Future Trunks, who is probably the most selfless character in the Dragon Ball series. Trunks always tried to do his best to help others in his timeline, so having him come back to the series to go up against a selfish god who rejected humanity was a very interesting creative direction.

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Final thoughts

Goku Black became evil in Dragon Ball Super, when he was just Zamasu and had watched humanity make mistakes over and over again. Zamasu believed that humans had wasted the great things the gods had given them, which is why he became a lot more deviant with the increasing amount of damage he caused.