Goku (Justin Chatwin)
From Dragon Ball Wiki, the ''Dragon Ball'' encyclopedia
- This article is about the character portrayed in live-action by Justin Chatwin. For the original character, see Goku.
| Goku | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 悟空 Gokū | |||
| Debut | Dragonball: Evolution (March 2009) | ||
| Appears in | Dragonball: Evolution | ||
| Family | Grandpa Gohan (grandfather) | ||
"I am Goku. I am Oozaru. To be at one with myself, I must be two." |
Goku (悟空, Gokū) is a fictional character in the Dragon Ball franchise. He makes his debut in the 2009 film Dragonball: Evolution, the first of a purported three installments of 20th Century Fox's live-action film series. He is an adaptation of Goku, the longest running protagonist of Akira Toriyama's franchise, and is portrayed by Justin Chatwin.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
When he is introduced, Goku is a regular teenager attending high school, and has trouble fitting in. He deals with bullies often and seems to be infatuated with the school's most popular girl, Chi Chi. Although he has been trained in the way of martial arts by his grandfather, Gohan, he opts not to fight back or abuse the skills he has been taught, partly on behalf of his struggle with believing that he can live up to his grandfather's legacy. Gohan gives the four-star Dragon Ball to Goku, shortly before being confronted by Piccolo. After the death of his grandfather, Goku embarks on a journey with Bulma Brief, to locate the seven Dragon Balls before Piccolo, who plans to destroy the world using the artifacts. As Oozaru he kills Master Roshi, but manages to gain control of himself and finally masters the Kamehameha attack which he'd been having trouble with. With that, he defeats Piccolo and uses the Dragon Balls to revive Master Roshi. Afterwards, he starts a relationship with Chi-Chi.
[edit] Special abilities
- Kamehameha, an energy wave technique.
- Ki Blast, the most basic form of energy wave.
- Oozaru, an (initially) uncontrolled transformation into a large primate.
- Shadow Crane Strike, an agile martial arts technique Goku learns from his grandfather.
[edit] Actor's insight
- "First of all, it's an honor to play Goku, because he is a very important and epic character. He is always seeing the positive side of things, does good things, and always tries to help and take care of the weak, not only pursuing his power. He is a dependable and loving man as well as a boy. So I like Goku. In preparation for the role, of course I read the original manga (all of it), in addition, I read [Journey to the West] a little, because Dragonball is based on [Journey to the West]. And during the break time of shooting, I got into Goku's character, telling jokes with other cast in search of the real communication which can be used in acting. This is the most interesting movie for me. Because I have never fought with anyone though, I trained martial arts and acrobat, and then we shot it. That's fun as well as challenging. Fighting with Eriko (Tamura), she punched me in the face, actually she intended to hit lightly, but... it was a clean hit (laugh) She said "I'm sorry!" and apologized to me, but thanks to her, we could shoot very powerful action scene. Through this work, I think I could learn a lot of things."[1]
[edit] Comparison to the manga character
[edit] Similarities
- He has a bigger appetite than Bulma, briefly shown in the film.
- He performs a weaker version of the Kamehameha seconds after watching Roshi do it, however in the manga, it is more powerful and doesn't fall apart in the air.
- He is raised by Gohan.
- He is trained by Roshi.
- He's not exactly smart.
- He has spiky hair.
[edit] Differences
- Goku lives in the mountains, but (in the film) migrates into town frequently.
- In the manga, he was isolated from modern civilization for most of his childhood. In the film, Goku is a teenager in high school and interacts with his peers frequently and uses electronic devices.
- The romantic relationship between Goku and Chi Chi is reversed; Goku (in the film) has had a crush on Chi-Chi for some time.
- In the manga, Bulma is the first female he meets, and second human being, whereas in the film he knows many females and sees people a lot, long before meeting Bulma.
- In the manga, he gets his blue gi from Gohan, and is never seen wearing anything else until Roshi gives him his trademark orange gi. In the film, he wears regular clothes, and Roshi gives him both gis.
- The trademark orange gi is all orange in the manga, except for a black and white "turtle" symbol. In the film, it has navy blue pants, and undershirt with an orange shirt. In addition, Goku's wristbands, and belt, which were blue in the manga, are black in the film.
- When Goku is first introduced in the manga, he is 11 years of age; in the film he is 18.
- In the film, Goku transforms into his Oozaru (Great Ape) state during a solar eclipse, while this occurred during a full moon in the manga.
- In the manga, Oozaru, otherwise known as the Great Ape, is a Saiyan trait, as all Saiyans have the ability. In the film, Oozaru was an ancient god who helped Piccolo destroy the earth, and is being reborn in Goku (as an adaptation of the notorious full moon transformation from the series) for unknown reasons.
- Goku's traditional, happy personality is lacked in the film. Instead, he questions his belonging on the Earth and wants to fit in, while in the manga, he never really cares to wonder.
- In the manga, he masters the Kamehameha extremely quickly, after simply watching Master Roshi do it. In the movie, he has a great deal of trouble mastering it, but finally succeeds in the end, just in time to defeat Piccolo with the technique.
