How many times has Goku died in the Dragon Ball franchise?

Death is not that big of a problem in the world. dragon ball Like most things, it's a franchise. This is because in the Dragon Ball universe, characters don't usually stay dead. This is mainly due to the Dragon Balls on which the series is based, which are often used to resurrect people. But the main set can only bring people back once.

But the writers found another way to bring people back. As such, some characters have died and returned several times, including series protagonist Son Goku. Here are the number of times he died throughout the anime:

Goku dies with Raditz

Goku survived all of the original Dragon Ball series, but died in the first story of Dragon Ball Z. This is what happened when he teamed up with Piccolo to take on his long-lost evil brother Raditz.

The two rivals fight against a long-haired Saiyan who is too fast and powerful for them. So they have to come up with a strategy. The main strategy is for Goku to hold Raditz in place while Piccolo fires his special beam cannon. The beam passes through both Saiyan brothers, killing the duo. So Goku succeeded in sacrificing himself to save the Earth. However, he was later brought back by Dragon Balls.

Goku dies from a heart virus in the alternate timeline

In the main timeline, Goku survives the heart virus he was infected with. However, the Future Trunk timeline's version of Goku wasn't so lucky.

Although we don't actually see this happen on screen, Trunks reveals that the timeline's Goku succumbed to the virus before the dangerous androids showed up.

Goku sacrifices himself to stop Cell

Later in the Cell Games series, things seem to be going well for the Z Warriors as Super Saiyan 2 Gohan is too strong for Cell. He even hits the villain so hard that he spits out Android 18 and reverts to his semi-perfect form. Left with no choice, Cell pops the balloon himself, preparing to explode in a move that will eliminate him and the rest of the planet.

But before he can do so, Goku says goodbye to his friends and uses Instant Transmission to transport himself and the soon-to-be-exploded Cell to King Kai's planet. The villain then explodes, killing Goku and a few other people on Earth in the blast. A few lives were lost, but billions of people on Earth were saved. Goku actually remains dead for some time until Old Kai sacrifices his life to the Saiyan to return to Earth and fight Majin Buu.

Goku Black kills Goku in an alternate timeline.

As soon as Goku Black appears on screen, there is a mystery surrounding him because he looks exactly like Goku. In an alternate timeline, Zamasu is shown switching bodies with a Saiyan using the Super Dragon Balls.

He then uses Goku's body to kill Goku and his family. Although the terrible incident is never shown on screen, Black tells the story to the main character, Son Goku.

hit assassination goku

Goku loves facing off against powerful warriors, so after fighting the assassin known as Hit in the Destroyer Tournament, he wants to fight him again. Therefore, he secretly hires Hit to eliminate him. That means you can fight again.

Hit actually succeeds in the assassination by stopping Goku's heart with a fatal blow. However, as he lies dying, Goku comes back down and fires a ki blast into the air that revives him. So you technically die, although it's a very brief death.

Goku died 5 times

overhead, Goku died five times In the Dragon Ball series, however, it spans three different Gokus. The main character of the series passed away. thrice.

The fact that two of those three times were sacrifices that helped save more people says a lot about the character.