S.H.Figuarts – Son Goku (Kind-hearted Saiyan)

S.H.FiguartsThis palm-sized action figure series brings together advanced techniques in modeling, movement, and coloring to create realistic renditions of your favorite characters.

Dragon BallDragon Ball is the widely known and beloved Japanese franchise created by Akira Toriyama. The Dragon Ball manga franchise has been serialized in Shonen Jump since 1984, along with a few long running anime series starting with Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and more recently Dragon Ball Super.

Son Goku (born Kakarot) is the central protagonist of the Dragon Ball franchise. Created by Akira Toriyama, Goku is pop culture’s definitive shonen hero—characterized by his unyielding pure heart, boundless appetite, and an absolute obsession with self-improvement through martial arts.

While he spends his life defending Earth and the universe from genocidal threats, he is not a traditional superhero; he is a pure-blooded Saiyan warrior driven primarily by the thrill of fighting strong opponents.

🧬 Origin and History

Goku’s backstory bridges cosmic sci-fi with ancient Chinese mythology (specifically inspired by Sun Wukong from Journey to the West).

• The Low-Class Saiyan: Goku was born on Planet Vegeta to the low-class Saiyan warrior Bardock and his wife Gine. Given the birth name Kakarot, his power level at birth was abysmally low, marking him as a low-class reject destined to be sent to a weak planet to conquer it.

• Escape from Extinction: Sensing the impending treachery of the galactic tyrant Frieza, Bardock and Gine stole a space pod and launched a toddler-aged Kakarot to Earth to save his life. Shortly after, Frieza obliterated Planet Vegeta, rendering Goku one of the last surviving pure-blooded Saiyans in existence.

• The Fate-Changing Accident: Upon landing on Earth, the wild, aggressive alien infant was found by an elderly martial artist named Grandpa Gohan. Gohan adopted him and named him Son Goku. Initially, Goku was violent and unmanageable due to his destructive Saiyan instincts. However, while out in the woods, Goku accidentally fell down a deep ravine and suffered a massive blow to the head. The head trauma completely erased his innate Saiyan programming, transforming him into the kind-hearted, innocent, and pure boy the world knows.

• The Z-Era Awakening: During the events of Dragon Ball Z, Goku’s alien heritage catches up with him when his biological brother, Raditz, arrives on Earth. This kickstarts Goku’s journey into the cosmos, leading him to discover his true heritage, avenge his fallen race by defeating Frieza, and continuously break mortal and divine limits.

🎨 Character Profile & Personality

• Pure of Heart: Goku is famously pure-hearted, allowing him to ride the mystical Flying Nimbus cloud and remain completely immune to attacks that target malice or evil in a person’s soul.

• The Martial Arts Obsession: Goku lives to train. He views combat not as a tool for destruction, but as a form of mutual self-improvement. He frequently spares dangerous villains (such as Vegeta and Frieza) simply for the chance to fight them again when they are stronger—a trait that often frustrates his more pragmatic allies.

• The Laid-back Family Man: When not saving reality, Goku is incredibly casual, naive, and simple-minded. He enjoys eating massive mountain-sized feasts, farming, and spending relaxed time in Mount Paozu with his wife Chi-Chi and his sons, Gohan and Goten.

⚡ Iconic Powers, Transformations, and Techniques

Goku is a combat genius capable of instantly copying complex martial arts techniques after seeing them only once.

• The Kamehameha: His signature energy attack, learned from Master Roshi. Goku cups his hands at his hip, concentrates his Ki into a blazing blue sphere, and thrusts his hands forward to unleash a devastating torrent of energy.

• The Kaio-ken: A technique taught to him in the afterlife by King Kai. It multiplies Goku’s base power, speed, and senses exponentially for short bursts, though it strains and tears his physical muscle tissues if overused.

• The Spirit Bomb (Genki Dama): Goku’s ultimate trump card. By lifting his hands to the sky, he asks all living things, nature, and celestial bodies to lend him a fragment of their energy, condensing it into a massive, glowing sphere of pure Ki that disintegrates evil forces.

• Instant Transmission: A teleportation technique learned on Planet Yardrat. By placing two fingers to his forehead and locking onto a known energy signature, Goku can instantly dematerialize and reappear anywhere in the universe.

• The Super Saiyan Legendary Tier: Throughout Dragon Ball Z, Goku shatters the Saiyan ceiling multiple times:

  • Super Saiyan 1: Triggered on Namek by absolute rage after Frieza murders Krillin.

  • Super Saiyan 2: Perfected in the afterlife, featuring sharper hair and bio-electric lightning.

  • Super Saiyan 3: The radical, long-haired form that extracts 100% of his latent power but rapidly drains his physical stamina.

📦 Premium Collectible Connection

To bring the definitive, nostalgic 90s look of the Earth’s savior to collectors, Bandai Spirits completely re-engineered his base design for their premium action figure line.

S.H.Figuarts – Son Goku (The Kind-Hearted Saiyan)

This 1/12 scale figure captures Goku’s exact appearance from the Android and Cell Sagas.

• Patent-Pending 3.0 Shoulders: Features an advanced internal sliding track that allows his arms to cross deeply over his chest to hold a flawless, symmetrical Kamehameha charging stance.

• Wind-Blown Hair Piece: Includes a specialized swap-in base hair sculpt that captures his spiky black hair flowing lightly upward, ideal for replicating power-up sequences.

• Cell Saga Proportions: Ditching older body molds, this version features the wider gi neck cut and sharply angular facial lines reminiscent of vintage 90s animation sheets.