Goku Only Survived Dragon Ball GT Because of His Weirdest Skill

There is no shortage of incredible feats Goku can accomplish–from his outstanding ability to catch fish to the fact that he can morph into a literal god on command–though there is one weird skill that stands out above the rest as it was the one that kept him alive during one of the most difficult challenges of his life–and was, in fact, the only reason he survived Dragon Ball GT at all.

Upon Goku’s debut (which coincided with the debut of the entire Dragon Ball series) it was immediately clear that he was a force to be reckoned with. Throughout classic Dragon Ball, there wasn’t a villain Goku couldn’t beat or a challenge he couldn’t overcome as Goku committed himself to the study of martial arts under anyone who would train him. From Master Roshi and Korin to even the God of Earth himself, Kami, Goku studied under the greatest masters Planet Earth had to offer–but soon, that wouldn’t be enough. During the series’ Dragon Ball Z era, Goku trained under and learned different techniques from aliens, gods, and even ghosts (at least, technically speaking, as he learned the Fusion Dance while in the afterlife). By the time Dragon Ball Super came around, one would think that Goku would be completely tapped out–but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Under the angel, Whis, and the God of Destruction, Lord Beerus, Goku finally harnessed the power of a deity and became a Super Saiyan God. However, even with all those impressive exhibitions of power, none of them can compare to the one that saved his life in GT.

Goku Almost Died Because He Couldn’t Help but Cry, but His Weird Skill Saved Him

In Dragon Ball GT season 1, episode 30 (written by Atsushi Maekawa, directed by Osamu Kasai, produced by Toei Animation), Goku is trapped in another dimension where he is forced to play a life-sized board game with an otherworldly entity named Sugoro. If Goku wins, he can leave–but if he loses, he dies. Sugoro has to win hundreds of thousands of times before he can leave, so it is fair to say that he is highly motivated to beat whoever falls into his world, and he knows how to come out on top. So, when Goku was forced to challenge him, he had to follow a series of obscure rules, or else he’d be killed on the spot with no way of defending himself (since this world eliminated his ki, so there was no ‘Goku overcoming through willpower’ scenario happening this time). Thankfully, there was one weird power Goku did have that literally saved his life–he can suck tears back into his eyes (no, seriously).

One of the challenges was to simply not cry. That was it, the players just couldn’t cry, and if they pulled that off, they could move onto the next challenge. However, things weren’t that simple. Sugoro had some form of magical abilities within this world, and he summoned a ton of onions in front of Goku before chopping them up. The chopped onions made Goku tear-up, and he nearly broke the one rule of this challenge–which, again, would have resulted in his immediate death. However, just as a tear was about to roll down his face, Goku did the impossible and sucked that tear right back into his tear duct, saving his life in the process.

After utilizing this super bizarre ability, Goku was able to move onto the next round in the game and eventually get out of this pocket dimension. However, if he wasn’t able to suck his tears back into his eyes (as most people aren’t physically capable of doing), then he would have died, and that would have been the last fans would see of Goku–confirming that Goku only survived Dragon Ball GT because of his weirdest skill.

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