One of the oldest schoolyard debates on who’d win in a fight, Dragon Ball‘s Goku or DC‘s Superman, has been ultimately decided in a fully animated and well-broken down battle that’ll likely entertain fans of either iconic franchise. Superman and Goku are two of the world’s most famous fictional characters, and they are often compared to each other. The talented team behind the YouTube channel Death Battle has considered the most powerful forms the beloved characters have attained and determined who is the strongest for the third time in the long-running series’ history.
Death Battle is a long-running YouTube channel that analyzes the most popular and powerful fictional characters’ weapons, armor, and skills to determine who would win in a battle to the death. Throughout the channel’s twelve years, it’s settled epic clashes between characters from franchises like Star Wars, Naruto, Marvel, DC, Dragon Ball, and a lot more. Each video features time to analyze each combatant and an incredible animation of their ultimate battle. However, the channel has restructured its process for analysis over the years, breathing new life into the age-old question: who would win in a death battle between Superman and Goku?
This is the third time the two characters clash on Death Battle, and the previous two videos ended with Superman defeating the battle-hungry Saiyan. However, in Dragon Ball Super (the franchise’s current series), Goku unlocked new forms and abilities by training with literal gods of their universe. Still, to the dismay of anime fans around the globe, Goku’s new godly forms like True Ultra Instinct, were not enough to take down the Last Son of Krypton. After watching the latest video, it makes sense why Goku may never be able to win against the DC powerhouse.
Goku Loses Against Superman Because He Has Limits
Death Battle’s Round 3 of Goku versus Superman includes incredible animation, dramatic voice acting from Michael Kovach and Xander Mobus, and stellar character writing, making the channel’s super-powered brawl one of its best yet. The video begins with a Super Saiyan Goku trading high-speed blows with Superman while they exchange dialogue fitting for two god-like warriors having a friendly sparring session. Iconic attacks and quotes from each beloved franchise are planted throughout the video. Goku even performs a Kaio-ken boosted True Ultra Instinct Kamehameha. This move requires a level of skill he’s yet to achieve in Dragon Ball Super, which ultimately destroys Earth in the battle’s reality-shattering climax.
Goku loses against Superman again for the same reason he’s lost the previous two Death Battle rounds; the Saiyan has limits that the Kryptonian does not. Writers of DC’s Superman comics consistently push the character’s strengths to complete physics-breaking feats like carrying an entire solar system and providing the power needed to help start a new universe’s Big Bang. One popular fan theory believes that Goku could use his Instant Teleportation to get Supes away from a star’s light that grants him power. However, Goku’s technique that allows him to essentially dimension hop requires he has someone’s energy to lock onto. Still, the DC character has survived such a fate several times by flying large distances in a weakened state to the nearest star.
DC’s Mainline Superman Is So Strong That He Breaks Reality
Goku and Superman are often compared not just for their strength but also for their similar origin stories. However, while Goku is obsessed with fighting stronger opponents because it pushes him to improve himself, Superman instead contends with his identity as someone who is essentially a god trying to live a content life among mortals. Obviously, it’s always tricky to compare characters from different franchises objectively, but still, despite Goku‘s massive and divine power-ups he’s attained from Dragon Ball Super, his power level will consistently fail to match up against the mainline Superman, who, according to comics writers, can accomplish almost anything.
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