Summary

• Dragon Ball Super expands the Dragon Ball universe with time travel, multiverse-hopping, and a complex villain origin story.
• Zamasu, the apprentice to the Supreme Kai of Universe 10, is revealed to be the true identity of Goku Black.
• Goku Black proves to be a fierce foe, even challenging the real Goku and Vegeta, but is ultimately defeated through the efforts of Future Trunks and Goku.

Dragon Ball Super has spent much of its time expanding both the cosmos and the mythology of the Dragon Ball universe. As if 11 other universes each possessing their own Gods of Destruction, Angels, and Supreme Kai weren't enough, the series decided to bring time travel back into the mix for its most complex villain origin story yet. Goku Black's appearance in the Future Trunks timeline is complicated, to say the least. The body-swapping, time-traveling, multiverse-hopping villain has likely made more than a few viewers pause to grab a pencil and paper.

Dubbed "Goku Black" by Future Bulma because he looks like Goku, wears black, and is evil, the true identity of this villain is eventually revealed to be Zamasu, the apprentice to the Supreme Kai of Universe 10. This immediately raised questions as to where the villain came from and why he looked like Goku. In order to comprehend the series of events that led to the timeline of Future Trunks being destroyed again and the rise of Goku Black, it's important to understand Zamasu himself.

Updated by Timothy Blake Donohoo on January 20, 2024: Goku is one of the most iconic anime characters ever, and despite attempts to move on to other heroes, he remains the protagonist of the Dragon Ball franchise. Thus, the idea of him having an evil twin is one that's particularly exciting. The concept has been explored in previous, sometimes non-canon adventures, but Goku Black and Zamasu in Dragon Ball Super is the best iteration yet. Goku Black also proved to be a fierce foe, the likes of which even the real Goku and Vegeta struggled to defeat.

Who Is Zamasu In Dragon Ball Super?

A Supreme Kai's responsibility to their assigned universe is to kickstart life and observe its progress. Zamasu hails from Universe 10, where he studied to become the new Supreme Kai. However, the Supreme Kai Zamasu grows to despise the mortals he is tasked with watching over, seeing them as violent, selfish, ugly stains on the beauty of life. This hatred even warps into hatred for the other gods, who allow the mortals to run rampant because they refuse to interfere. He eventually develops a plan, "Project Zero Mortals," in which he will eradicate all mortals and gods from the entire multiverse.

Despite having an admittedly compelling origin story for a villain, Zamasu's journey from a disgruntled Kai into Goku Black required a tremendous amount of hoop-jumping. In the main timeline, thanks to knowledge gained from Future Trunks's arrival, the God of Destruction Beerus travels to Universe 10 and destroys Zamasu, thus sparing the series' main timeline from his plans. However, in an alternate future where Beerus does not Destroy Zamasu, the evil Kai apprentice kills his master and steals his Time Ring before traveling to Universe 6, home of the Super Dragon Balls.

In this new, alternate future, Zamasu uses the all-powerful Super Shenron to wish to swap bodies with that timeline's Goku. As a Supreme Kai, he is severely limited in terms of combat strength, explaining why he wanted Goku's Super Saiyan abilities, so that he may carry out his plan himself. Once Zamasu obtains Goku's body and power, he promptly slaughters Gohan, Goten, and Chi-Chi before using the stolen Time Ring to travel to Future Trunks' timeline. There, he joins the Zamasu of that time to enact Project Zero Mortals. It is here that he becomes known as Goku Black, as Future Trunks and his mother (and Goku's longtime friend) Bulma are unaware of his real identity.

How Goku Black Is Defeated

In the Dragon Ball Super anime, Goku Black and Zamasu later merge to form Fused Zamasu, combining the features of both fighters. This form was the ultimate trump card for the villain, with the new transformation being completely consumed by evil and hatred. He mocks Future Trunks for his supposed weakness, but the young Saiyan is able to draw upon the energy of those on Earth to create a sword, brutally stab his enemy, and slice him in half. Sadly, this wasn't quite the ending that Future Trunks expected, with Fused Zamasu's will surviving as Infinite Zamasu. With no other option, Goku uses a device given to him by Zeno. Thereafter, Future Zeno appears and becomes annoyed at Infinite Zamasu's presence. This makes him erase the remnants of Fused Zamasu/Goku Black from existence, along with the entire future timeline multiverse that was spawned from their actions.

The manga for Dragon Ball Super was very similar to this, though with a few notable exceptions. The biggest difference was that the battle lasted much longer after Fused Zamasu was stabbed and split in half. In this version, an army of Future Zamasus wreaks havoc on Goku and his allies, forcing him to call upon the power of Future Zeno. From there, the events play out in much the same way as they did in the anime, with Zeno erasing Zamasu and the future timeline itself from the multiverse. Outside of flashbacks, this was the end for the being once known as Goku Black. Though he didn't stick around, this villain is largely regarded as one of the best Dragon Ball Super antagonists, if not the best foe in the entire franchise.

Why Does Goku Black Turn Pink?

Even after Goku Black's backstory is summarized, it still doesn't quite explain why Goku Black turns pink. Zamasu's wish transferred his being into Goku's body, meaning he is now technically a Kai and a Saiyan, with access to all of Goku's Saiyan power. When mortals like Goku and Vegeta use god power to become Super Saiyan, their hair turns blond. This is seen in the first three Super Saiyan transformations, though with the Super Saiyan God form, their hair turns blue. However, Zamasu is a god, so when he uses god power to become a Super Saiyan, his hair turns pink, or Rosé, as he calls it. Put simply, Super Saiyan Blue and Super Saiyan Rosé are the same forms—the color difference just reflects whether the user is mortal or a god.

Dragon Ball has always been a fan of evil Gokus, like the non-canon Turles or when Captain Ginyu also stole Goku's body. In the case of Turles, however, the movie Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might is considered non-canon to the anime and manga. This means that the Goku Black "predecessor" doesn't really have any bearing on the narrative. The same was the case with the canon event of Ginyu taking on Goku's body, as this was never reacted to by any other character. Super showed impressive determination to make another evil Goku, folding in the expanded series mythology as well as the return of Future Trunks for good measure. Unfortunately, most of Goku Black's time in the series was spent explaining how he came to be in the first place. Zamasu's plan probably would have worked if he didn't have to spend so much time explaining it to everyone.

Dragon Ball Super can be streamed through Hulu, Funimation, and Crunchyroll.