Dragon Ball Z is one of the most popular shonen anime ever, and with the fairly recent Dragon Ball Super, it has experienced something of a revival in recent years. One of the things that has always kept fans coming back for more is its incredibly memorable cast of characters, from good-natured characters like Gohan, to villains like Frieza, to anti-heroes like Vegeta.
Of course, the series' most well-known character is its protagonist, Goku. While he's generally rather infamously considered one of the most idiotic characters in a genre that is quite full of them, Goku actually has some moments of understated brilliance. To celebrate both sides of Goku's mind, here are five times that Goku was a complete idiot, and five times he was deceptively smart.
10 Idiot: Immediately Trying To Avenge Krillin
Krillin's first death (of many) was at the hands of Tambourine, one of King Piccolo's children. Seeing his best friend in such a sorry state was enough to send Goku into a rage, prompting him to chase after Tambourine on his Flying Nimbus.
However, as Goku was still very weak from his prior duel with Tien, this fight goes rather poorly for him. Goku ends up badly beaten, and Tambourine even destroys Goku's Flying Nimbus. While Goku beats Tambourine in their rematch and eventually gets a new Flying Nimbus, this initial attack was very impulsive of him.
9 Smart: Giving Perfect Cell A Senzu Bean
While it may have seemed ill-advised at the time, Goku's decision to give Cell a Senzu Bean before his duel with Gohan was actually a good thing. At this point, it had become totally apparent to Goku that he didn't have it in him to beat Perfect Cell. When Cell powers up further, we see how great their difference in power really is.
So, Goku's belief that Gohan is the only person that can beat Cell is actually true. However, if Goku had let Gohan fight a weakened Cell, he might have never achieved Super Saiyan 2. This could have negative repercussions in the future.
8 Idiot: Showing Raditz Mercy
In a sense, Goku's compassion is one of his greatest strengths. The Tournament of Power in Dragon Ball Super might not have gone so well for Universe 7 if they didn't have Frieza on their team, and he might not have joined their team if not for the several times Goku showed him mercy.
But the case with Raditz is different, because Goku's mercy immediately put Raditz in an advantageous position. In this case, Goku should've been able to figure out that Raditz was only feigning repentance in order to regain his advantage.
7 Smart: Training With G-Levels
Goku isn't exactly a technology wiz, but he was still able to pilot the Capsule Corp spaceship he took to Namek. During his voyage, he came up with a new form of training, wherein he used the spaceship's technology to artificially increase gravity.
While Goku deserves props for piloting the spaceship at all, it's the effectiveness of this training regiment that really stands out. By the end of his voyage, he is both much faster and much stronger. This kind of training would later be used by Vegeta, as well.
6 Idiot: Not Continuing To Take His Heart Virus Medication
People who been prescribed a medication understand that just because they don't feel sick anymore doesn't mean they should stop taking their regular dosage. Unfortunately, this information seems to have been lost on Goku, who did just that with his own heart virus medication.
When Future Trunks gave Goku said medication, he did indeed take it, at least until he felt better. The result of this is that the virus would manifest itself later, incapacitating Goku for some time. While he would eventually recover, it was a needlessly dangerous thing to do. It also forced Goku to sit out of several key battles.
5 Smart: Sparing Piccolo And Vegeta
Unlike when he showed Raditz mercy, Goku's separate decisions to spare both Piccolo and Vegeta couldn't have hurt him in the short-term. In the end, Goku was more so betting on his ability to keep his enemies in check, which he did.
Of course, this is to say nothing of how both Piccolo and Vegeta would become irreplaceable allies to the Z-Fighters. Countless battles would have been lost without their help. Furthermore, without Vegeta, there is no Trunks, and without Trunks there's no one to save the future from the Androids.
4 Idiot: Not Being Revived After Being Killed By Cell
After being killed by Cell, Goku made the decision to remain in the afterlife, at least for the time being. His entire line of reasoning was that he attracted dangerous enemies, and without him, the Earth would be a safer place.
However, this was demonstrably not the case. Babidi would have revived Buu regardless of whether Goku was alive or not. In actuality, Goku's lack of presence on Earth only made it more susceptible to danger, not less. And, of course, his being dead also means that he missed out on raising Goten.
3 Smart: Not Stealing The Sacred Water
After a crushing defeat against Mercenary Tao, Goku climbed Korin's Tower in order to obtain the Sacred Water. However, before he could do so, he needed to beat Korin in a duel to prove his worth. After a whole day of trying, Goku and Korin would both go to sleep. This presented Goku with an opportunity to steal the Sacred Water, if he so desired.
Thankfully, he didn't do this. As Korin would later reveal, the trial to obtain the Sacred Water was actually the power-up in of itself, and the Sacred Water was just regular water. By honestly training with Korin, and not cutting any edges, Goku was able to gain the strength to beat Mercenary Tao.
2 Idiot: His Relationship With Zeno
With how absolutely dangerous Zeno is, Goku's lackadaisical attitude towards the Omni-King was understandably ill-advised. This is something that Beerus tried to warn Goku of many times, but his warnings ended up falling on deaf ears.
Goku's precarious relationship with Zeno came to a head with Goku indirectly inspired Zeno to host the Tournament of Power. In the end, if it weren't for Android 17's selflessness, several universes full of life would have been erased forever. Such is Zeno's incomparable power, leaving no doubt that Goku is a fool for toying with it.
1 Smart: Inventing Super Saiyan Full Power
Of all his strengths, one of Goku's greatest is his cleverness in preparing for battles. Perhaps his most incredible feat in this regard is how he was able to draw out the fullest potential of the Super Saiyan form, in preparation for his (and eventually Gohan's) battle against Perfect Cell.
By staying in his Super Saiyan form all the time, Goku practically negated the energy consumption downside of the transformation. Thus, he was able to power up substantially more than usual. This technique surprised even Vegeta, who was forced to admit that Goku's mind for battle is second to none.