Goku

Son Goku (birth name Kakarot) is the main protagonist of the Dragon Ball franchise. He was created by manga author Akira Toriyama who is also known as the character designer for Dragon Quest and Chrono Trigger. The character is inspired by the character Son Wukong (otherwise known as "The Monkey King") from the story Journey to the West. Goku was born to the Saiyans, Bardock and Gine and was sent to Planet Earth in a Saiyan pod just moments before his homeworld, Planet Vegeta's destruction and moments before Bardock's last stand against the tyrant Frieza. Goku was found by the old man Gohan who became the boy's grandfather, he gave him the new name of Son Goku, as a baby, Goku's Saiyan heritage was clear as he was violent and rambunctious but that all changed one day when Goku fell down a mountain and hit his head, giving him amnesia about his Saiyan heritage and has since then strived to become the best and the strongest martial artist alive.

Numerous iterations of Goku have been created for M.U.G.E.N by various authors, although it could be argued that two most popular versions of the iconic Dragon Ball character are the ones created by CHOUJIN and Balthazar & Cybaster.

Ironmugen's version


Quite possibly one of the earliest DBZ characters created, this version of Goku (known as Iron Goku or CCI Goku) was created by Ironmugen, but was never finished and remained in an unfinished state. Soon after Choujin released his version of Goku (in which he used Ironmugen's Goku to make), the download for the character had been removed.

Despite this, there are numerous elements of Ironmugen's Goku that have remained intact in Choujin's Goku. Examples include Choujin's Goku having the name Iron Goku in its definition file, as well as using Ironmugen's default palette.

CHOUJIN's version


One of the most recognized and balanced Goku characters out there. It's interesting to note that this was originally a W.I.P by Ironmugen, but later given to CHOUJIN so he could make it into his own unique style. Son Goku was originally intended to play as a mix between Marvel vs. Capcom and Guilty Gear X, but little did CHOUJIN know that this style of character would form the basis of many future Dragon Ball characters.

CHOUJIN's Super Goku


CHOUJIN's second iteration of Goku rebels against Akira Toriama's logic that SSJ Goku is light years more powerful than his base form, in order to prevent it from being stupidly overpowered. Its abilities are almost identical to what CHOUJIN's other Goku can do in Kaiohken mode.

Balthazar & Cybaster's Goku Z2


With many custom elements and huge combo ability, it shouldn't be any surprise that the power level of this Goku is over 9000.

Balthazar & Cybaster's SSJ Goku Z2


SSJ Goku is a six-button character with a wide variety of original moves. Although he is the Super Saiyan version of Goku above, he is a completely independent character. SSJ Goku has been balanced despite the anime's logic suggesting that this Goku should be significantly more powerful. He comes with over 250 palettes to choose from, the option to choose between a Japanese or English voice and 8 levels of difficulty.

MugenMundo's Goku Deus


This version of Goku is in his most recent transformation, the Super Saiyan God. The gameplay and commands are inspired by the movie Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods.

LegendTTA's Goku Transform


LegendTTA made a transforming Goku with good attacks and powerful specials, his sprites are edits of Open Source sheets by the now defunct Team DBZ OS (and heads by Dark Roken's sprites which should be private).

Mephistopheles sprite-swap


Mephistopheles, a creator that is famous for providing many Dragon Ball characters with new sprites, made a sprite-swap of LegendTTA's Goku with new sprites and slight edits to existing sprites which include the brightening of the skin tone and clothes for when Goku transforms into his various forms and general other changes that make the character just a slight bit more visually appealing.

Xande Toskomics & Ribeiro's Goku HR


Goku HR, made by Xande Toskomics & Ribeiro, is one of the most well known versions of Goku. Known for its unique high resolution sprites (similar to the Budokai games) and gameplay, this Goku has been seen in many fan made videos and is used in most M.U.G.E.N games seen around the internet. It has custom gameplay and many different specials like the Kaioken and two versions of the Spirit Bomb, however it cannot transform into a Super Saiyan. Those who find the Z2 Goku's A.I. far too cheap could give this one a try, as his a.i. can be turned off through his cmd file. Once could also turn delete his cpu commands as well just to be safe, or turn off A.I. cheat. And regardless can be used to great effect when controlled by a player.

This character also got edited by Kramer, who changed the gameplay into a Budokai-esque one and made it cheaper (both in strength and A.I.).

Ryon's Kid Goku
Old version (filtered sprites) in this preview. Missing new version preview.

This character was created by Ryon using sprites from the GBA (GameBoy Advance) videogame DragonBall Advanced Adventure.

The old version has its sprites filtered, but the new version uses the original sprites (and scaled with Mugen coding), edited to have a colour separation, so many palettes can be invented for him (a Goten ones is available, for instance; there is even a GT palette).

Old version = 07/06/2008; it works for WinMUGEN and 1.0.

New version = 04/29/2014; it works only for 1.0, because it uses a new format of compiling sprites, the SFFv2.

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NEW VERSION (released on 04/29/2014)

The character has a custom gameplay:

- "x" is used for punch attacks; (combo-able with punches, kicks and power pole attacks)

- "y" is used for kick attacks; (combo-able with punches, kicks and power pole attacks)

- "z" is used for the power pole attacks (let's remember that in the source Goku, as a child, uses the power pole); (comboable with punches, kicks and power pole attacks)

- "a" is a button used for the Kamehameha (it has 5 levels of strength);

- "b" is used for his "Power Pole EXTEND!" attack;

- "c" can be used for two different supers: when in air you can release his "Dragon Fist" (recreating a scene from the anime); when on ground (and if you are at max power), press "c" to become an Oozaru (Giant Ape).

When transformed in an Oozaru the layout of the buttons slightly changes:

- "x", "y" and "z" become his attacks (you can chain them like this: "x" → "y" → "z"),

- while "a" becomes the button for his mouth blast (1st level = nothing; 2nd level = flames; 3rd level = energy blast);

- "b" and "c" do nothing.

The differences from the two versions are quite noticeable: for one, the gameplay seems redefined; then, the sprites are different; in the old version there wasn't an Oozaru mode (it was just a super move); all in all the super moves have received an update.

The new version can be found in MFFA: http://mugenfreeforall.com/index.php?/topic/18218-young-goku/

Supermystery's Goku
UB22 preview. Missing Shin Butouden version preview.

Supermystery's UB22 Goku has the ability to fly, transform into Super Saiyan 3 and Hyper Gogeta. The A.I. is absurdly powerful and cheap, always bombarding the player with many attacks.

The commands are very easy to use and he has a lot of 1-hit K.O. super-moves (including fast rushes that keep the enemy in a custom state and full-screen ki-blasts/Kamehamehas). The author thought the character had to be cheap in order to be accurate to the manga and the anime.

But in the latest years of his activity he also released a balanced version of Super Goku, using Shin Butouden sprites and having a gameplay that is similar to that of the Marvel vs. Capcom videogames. This version doesn't have 1-hit K.O. moves and they can be appreciated by more people because of the balanced gameplay.

AxKing's Goku


Many people may have wondered at some point in their lives what would happen if Goku took steroids. Filled to the brim with infinites, this seems to be the most accurate answer.