Dragon Ball fans tend to hold Goku in pretty high regard, at least when it comes to his sheer power. After starting off as a wee baby with a power level in the single digits, Goku eventually trains with the literal gods of his universe. Considering how strong he's become, it's hard to imagine him getting one-shotted by anyone.

As strong as Goku is, however, there are several characters out there who would make a total rag doll of the Saiyan. Compared to some of the most powerful anime characters out there, Goku's supposedly overwhelming strength is adorable at best. In fact, these individuals can beat Goku without even breaking a sweat.

Updated on March 8, 2024 by Jenny Melzer: Almost 40 years after his initial debut, Dragon Ball's Goku is still the measuring stick for anime power-scaling. However, there are more contenders for this status than ever, including a slew of characters that are strong enough to one-shot the legendary Saiyan. This list has been updated with even more information on characters powerful enough to take out Goku, as well as to adhere to CBR's most current standards in formatting.

15 Sugar's Devil Fruit Gives Her Massive One-On-One Potential

For the most part, the characters that appear in One Piece are nowhere near as strong as Goku (or, for that matter, any of the Z Fighters). However, there is one unlikely candidate from the series that could potentially defeat the legendary Saiyan with a single touch — Sugar.

Thanks to her Hobby-Hobby Devil Fruit, Sugar can transform any individual that she touches into a toy that is subservient to her will. Assuming that Goku doesn't have some natural form of defense against Devil Fruit abilities, Sugar could easily catch him off guard in a battle between the two.

14 Nanika's Ability To Grant Wishes Makes Them Incredibly Dangerous

Even by Hunter x Hunter's eclectic standards, Nanika is quite a unique character. The body-possessing entity hails from the mysterious Dark Continent, which is said to be home to the most dangerous threats in-world. Nanika's powers stay true to this reputation, and under the right circumstances, she can grant almost any wish imaginable.

Goku's time in the Dragon Ball franchise makes him well-versed in wish-granting, but even he is vulnerable to the abilities of Nanika. Although the Hunter x Hunter character would have virtually no defense against Goku's raw power, they could still one-shot him with a single wish.

13 The Anti-Spiral Has Multiple Ways To Defeat Goku

Anti-Spiral's Unique Abilities

Goku and the Z Fighters are no stranger to galactic-level threats, especially after they're pitted against multiple other universes during the events of Dragon Ball Super. Still, even Goku's Ultra Instinct form would struggle against the final antagonist of Gurren Lagann, the Anti-Spiral.

The Anti-Spiral is the collective consciousness of a race of beings known as the Anti-Spirals, and with its wide array of abilities, it can travel through time, manipulate its opponent's mind, and even alter reality. Should the being set its sight on son Goku, it's hard to imagine Dragon Ball's protagonist doing anything to stop it.

12 Julius Novochrono's Time Magic Only Requires A Single Touch

Dragon Ball and its subsequent spin-offs are full of dangerous fighters, yet one thing that Goku and the Z Fighters rarely go up against is actual magic. Magic users like Babidi and Fortuneteller Baba rarely engage in direct combat, so it remains to be seen how the franchise's protagonist would fare against a powerful wizard like Black Clover's Julius Novochrono.

The Wizard King's Time Magic is more potent than any other character's magic in Black Clover. By touching his opponent, he can manipulate the age of their body, allowing him to one-shot even his strongest opponents. While Goku's fight with Hit in Dragon Ball Super introduced him to individuals capable of altering time, he's never faced a threat like Julius Novochrono.

11 Ryomen Sukuna Can Decimate Anything In His Domain

When it comes to Jujutsu Kaisen's pecking order, no single character is more feared than the King of Curses, Ryomen Sukuna. The evil sorcerer terrorized Japan several centuries before the events of the series, and even against powerful fighters like Satoru Gojo and Dragon Ball's Goku, he would pose a significant threat.

Sukuna's Domain Expansion, Malevolent Shrine, instantly dismantles anything that enters its area of effect, instantly reducing them to shreds. Goku lacks any quick-acting healing factor, so if he was caught inside Sukuna's Domain, the legendary Saiyan could potentially perish before escaping.

10 Zeno Reigns Supreme In The Dragon Ball Multiverse

All Dragon Ball Super's Zeno really wants to do is hang out and have fun — perhaps play a board game or something light-hearted and breezy. That said, if someone makes the deity angry, they're capable of eliminating entire universes.

On the other hand, anyone who upsets the Omni-King is likely to be one-shotted before they can form a thought against him. If Goku doesn't want to play a game of Tic-Tac-Toe with his opponent, and instead seeks to prove his superiority with a fully charged Kamehameha, Zeno will beat Goku and destroy his entire universe before looking for a cookie in another one.

9 Ryuk Can Kill Any Mortal He Sets His Eyes On

If Ryuk from the hit series Death Note fought against Goku, viewers wouldn’t be witnessing much of a show. Goku would be on his end of the arena, keeping his guard up against an ineffable opponent. The faint scribble of a pen on paper will be heard, followed by the Saiyan warrior desperately punching the air for a few seconds. Goku's heart will stop long before he lays a hand on the Shinigami.

For Ryuk, fighting Goku would be boring — he only needs to write his opponent's name in the Death Note. Further, as a Shinigami, he's neither visible nor tangible. The fight would be over in under a minute, then Ryuk would go back to eating apples and bugging Light.

8 Saitama Is Known For One-Shotting His Opponents

A fight between One-Punch Man's protagonist, Saitama, and Goku is sure to put on a decent show, though it won't last very long, either. The duration of the match would likely depend on Saitama's mood, schedule, and the length of his grocery list. For example, if he's in a rush to make it to the supermarket on his way home, Saitama is likely to neutralize his opponent with a single punch before absconding.

Goku is very strong, but he usually needs to put some elbow grease into winning his fights. Meanwhile, Saitama's greatest enemy is his eternal lack of a challenge. So far, there’s nothing in One-Punch Man that suggests Saitama can’t destroy Goku, and fans are 100% certain that this Saiyan stands no chance.

7 Rhydon Has As Much Strength As Any Super Saiyan In The Series

Pokémonfans who remember Rhydon's strongest move: Horn Drill, know it's possible for it to defeat Goku. If this attack connects with Goku, it's lights out for the Saiyan. Since he's so used to play-fighting with Earth's most ferocious beasts, Goku isn't likely to take Rhydon seriously as they begin the battle.

Rhydon's Cycle of Evolution

• Rhyhorn
• Rhydon
• Rhyperior

This nonchalant attitude would be the Saiyan's doom, since all Rhydon would need is to land one hit. For Goku to survive this particular Pokémon, he would have to be a Ghost-type, totally immune to Normal-type moves like Horn Drill. Although he's clearly not one, he probably will be after the battle.

6 Usagi Tsukino Could Use Her Cosmic Powers To Kill Their Opponent

If the two top stars of '90s anime were to face off in an all-out battle, it would be totally one-sided, and not in Goku's favor. The Saiyan's hair candle will do nothing to intimidate the Lunar Princess. Goku can holler all day and night, reaching Super Saiyan 10 if he wants to, but Usagi Tsukino's goddess status puts her on a whole other level.

She doesn't even have to demonstrate her vastly superior speed and erasure ability — if she wanted to, she can melt the matter around their environment, twisting Goku's face toward his own one-shot KO. For Goku's sake, he should hope that he's on the same side as Sailor Moon.

5 No Mortal Poses a Threat to FMA: Brotherhood's Truth

All paths lead to the ultimate Truth, regardless of the road taken to get there. If Goku ever crosses through the door that lies at the end of space and time, this is the face that would greet him. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood's Truth doesn't usually engage in fist fights; being absolutely omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent, he really never has to.

However, Truth enjoys amusement wherever he can find it, and wouldn't mind indulging in some combat for the sake of fan curiosity. Hopefully, he'll find it in his extra-dimensional heart to bring Goku back once the battle is over, mostly because the Saiyan's atoms would be scattered throughout the multiverse.

4 Alucard's Strongest Form Can Go Blow-For-Blow With Goku

Goku can probably take Hellsing's Alucard on, as long as the latter had some of his restrictions in place. However, Restriction System Level Zero allows Alucard total control over the vast range of his devastating abilities. Goku wouldn't even be a threat to Alucard in this state.

Drac will morph into a mass of pure shadow, making himself immune to any of Goku's many impressive moves. Once Alucard's fangs connect, Dragon Ball fans would cringe as their hero fades away, having fallen to an opponent way above his league. Superhuman strength and faster-than-light speed don't count for very much when faced with the immortal king of vampires.

3 Mephisto Pheles' Telekinetic Prowess May Prove Too Much For Goku

While the warriors in the Dragon Ball universe operate at a high frequency, Mephisto Pheles from Blue Exorcist exists at a rather abstract level of power. Despite Goku's ultrasonic speed and agility, absolutely no one is faster than time — and Mephisto is the King of Time.

He can keep Goku frozen in the same moment for as long as he needs. Whenever Mephisto is ready, he can use his telekinesis to stop the Saiyan's clock from ticking, metaphorically speaking. Mephisto wouldn't even need to use his Flaming Pentagram in order to beat Goku, though he might show it off anyway.

2 Exodia Is Yugi Moto's Strongest Weapon

If Goku runs into Yu-Gi-Oh!'s Yugi Moto in an alley late at night, he'd better hope the master duelist doesn't have his grandfather's best deck with him. Yugi wouldn't last a second with Goku in hand-to-hand combat, but if he manages to summon the great Exodia, this Super Saiyan would have no counter-move, whatsoever.

No matter how many Life Points Goku has, the number would go down to 0 after Exodia's attack. Simply put, once Exodia is summoned, the game is over in a blinding flash of light. Exodia would then return to his slumber, waiting for the next time his five pieces are assembled again.

1 Tori-Bot Is The Ultimate Self-Insert

As surprising as it sounds, there's a character even more powerful than Zeno in the Dragon Ball universe. In fact, this guy is infinitely more powerful than the Omni-King, who is himself infinitely powerful. That's because he created Zeno, Goku, and the entire multiverse containing them.

The Tori-Bot, an odd creature who appears from time to time in the manga, is the avatar of Akira Toriyama, the man responsible for creating Dragon Ball. As much as it would break his heart to one-shot his beloved Saiyan son, he would do it just to prove a point, using nothing more than a casual stroke of his pencil.