The first time Goku battles Vegeta in Dragon Ball Z creates the impression that he had never been excited about fighting in a losing battle, which acts as a reinforcement of his recently-revealed Saiyan origins, but he actually had the same feeling on numerous occasions in the original Dragon Ball series.
In Dragon Ball chapter #230 by Akira Toriyama, during the first fight between Goku and Vegeta, the narrator says that Goku doesn’t know why he’s getting more excited the further Vegeta pushes him into a corner. The narration then mentions that it makes sense this would be happening since the blood of the Saiyans flows through him. Although pointing out the obvious, the fact that the narrator jumps in at this particular moment is highly uncharacteristic and therefore puts more weight behind it. Before now, a narrator only “appeared” in the first panel of the chapter to summarize the events leading up to that particular point in the manga. Although this narration does appear on the first page of chapter #230, it actually comes in response to Vegeta’s own thoughts as the Saiyan Prince wonders why Goku is smiling.
Dragon Ball Z Completely Forgets About Goku’s Fights Against Piccolo and “Piccolo Jr.”
This unprecedented move by the narrator is clearly meant to reinforce that Goku is reacting in that way because he’s a Saiyan. However, it’s odd that Goku would be surprised by his reaction because he acted this way before he found out he was a Saiyan, especially during his fights with Demon King Piccolo and Piccolo Jr. (later known as simply Piccolo). During his final battle against the Demon King Piccolo in chapter #159 of Dragon Ball, young Goku smiles upon his realization that one of them is going to die soon.
Adult Goku exhibits the same type of behavior when battling “Piccolo Jr.” during the final Tenkaichi tournament when he gets excited every time his opponent’s power rises dramatically. Goku even places more importance on winning the tournament fairly, not once, but three times, as opposed to worrying about saving the world and likely getting killed in the process. Goku chalks this up to the pride of a martial artist, but the reactions of fellow martial artists such as Master Roshi, Krillin and Tien prove this isn’t the case. That’s because what Goku is feeling is actually Saiyan pride.
The Fights Against Raditz and Nappa Were Different
Despite this, Goku’s excitement over the prospect of possibly losing against Vegeta is new for Dragon Ball Z. With Raditz, Goku wanted to save Gohan. Then, when he was resurrected to fight the other Saiyans, Goku learned that Nappa had killed many of his friends and wounded the rest of them, including his son Gohan, making him feel nothing but anger. However, when everyone is far away from the fighting and the only thing he has to worry about is Vegeta, Goku can now fully enjoy the battle, hence why he smiles for the first time in Dragon Ball Z during a fight to the death. Still, this isn’t the first time that Goku has experienced such a Saiyan-like feeling in his life, as his adventures in Dragon Ball clearly demonstrated.
Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z are available from Viz Media.
