A bunch of articles already exist listing obvious choices for characters who beat Goku, such as Simon from Gurren Lagann or Giornio from JJBA. However, I’ve chosen a more rogue path and picked 5 Controversial Anime Characters Who Could Beat Goku, so let’s get into it.
If you need to cool off after such hot takes then check out some of our less stressful listicles such as the Top 5 Dishes In Dungeon Meshi That You Could Make In Real Life.
5 Controversial Anime Characters Who Could Beat Goku
Let’s meet the contestants!
Trafalgar Law – One Piece
Starting strong with a character I’m very fond of. In regards to the One Piece universe, I think most Logia users (which Law isn’t) fold Goku since their bodies take on an elemental state at their leisure. Logia users won’t take damage without incoming Haki or Sea Prism-based attacks, two things unknown to Goku’s universe.
Sure, Goku is incredibly strong and would undoubtedly deal heavy damage to Law if he got close, but that all depends on whether he can get close. See, with Law’s power he’s excellent at evasion and destroying anything that threatens him in close quarters thanks to his ability.
All it takes is for Law to establish a room and shambles to unbalance Goku and leave his body parts in assortments before him. Or, take the more hardcore route and remove his heart entirely and destroy it, offing Goku instantly.
Mahito – Jujutsu Kaisen
Did you think I’d take the easy path and choose Gojo or Sukuna? No way. I think the more simple Mahito could. Yes, the same Mahito that our beloved and ordinary Yuji beat up.Â
Mahito is an unusual curse who is fast, sneaky and destructive. One grab and it’s game over for our punch-happy Goku. If Goku maintained distance and focused primarily on long-range Ki energy blasts then he might overwhelm Mahito, but having watched DBZ and Super, I know Goku is eager to get up close to his opponents at any opportunity.
Plus, even with his long-range Ki, Mahito has shown to segment himself and worm his way out of life-threatening attacks simply by letting his body take on a new form that can dodge or withstand incoming attacks at incredible speeds.
Mahito would win this fight the moment he grabs Goku thanks to his curse which allows him to disfigure living objects on the cellular level into products of his design. Or, if you still aren’t convinced, don’t forget about Domain Expansion, which is a guaranteed hit that quite literally puts Goku in the palm of Mahito’s hand to become disfigured.
Saiki Kusuo – The Disastrous Life of Saiki K
I’m aware TDLOSK teeters on being a gag anime but even still, Saiki comes out on top. Kusuo Saiki is far from ordinary despite his constant efforts to have the most average life. Saiki is blursed (blessed and cursed) with insane mental prowess allowing him access to horribly overpowered abilities that destroy planets in seconds.
Goku has saved planets (and his own universe though in an unusual way during TOP) before like Earth and Namek, but the fights for planetary (and universal) freedom were drawn out and gave Goku time to adapt.
Saiki hates messing around, he doesn’t want to stand out or indulge in drama. He would use a sequence of rapid abilities and discard Goku within seconds. Listing Saiki’s abilities and their individual uses would take a while, so if you want to see for yourself check out this Wiki page.
Ryuko – Kill La Kill
The destined bond between Ryuko and Senketsu is unmatched, and Senketsu is the perfect armour despite his slim body coverage. In return for a constant feed on Ryuko’s blood, Senketsu along with the life-fibre rending scissors weapon would undoubtedly defeat Goku.
Ryuko per her world’s lore is completely unkillable unless attacked with a weapon made of life fibres. The very thing she envelops her body and weapon in as she attacks opponents. On top of insane base strength, she actively absorbs more life fibres during combat to boost her stats and will grow permanently stronger the closer she is to death (if he even gets that far…).
Not only that, she gains boosts to her speed and durability the more in sync she remains with Senketsu, which I already mentioned them being the perfect duo above. In short, Ryuko has maxed her resistance and attack stats which I don’t think any amount of Super Saiyan buffs could handle.
In Kill La Kill, the final battle happens in space where Ryuko can survive infinitely with or without her Sengoku uniform. Goku, whilst he can exist in space, cannot survive in space for long as he still needs oxygen eventually, which would put him at a huge disadvantage that I believe Ryuko would exploit.
Zamasu – Dragon Ball Super
I feel like this is an obvious yet slept-on choice. Zamasu DID win, and he got what he wanted. Goku couldn’t defeat Zamasu and it’s as simple as that. Zamasu enveloped the universe in which he resided in a reign of destruction leading Goku to call in Zeno to delete Universe 10 entirely.
This almost feels a little cop-out, but lore aside, Zamasu has far too much strength and intelligence that would and has overwhelmed Goku (and Vegeta and Trunks for that matter). Regardless of which phase Zamasu takes, Goku is never quite able to keep up which makes him take the L during this final matchup.
