Son Goten is the second son of Goku and Chi-Chi, born after his father died during the Cell Games. He debuts in chapter 424 of the manga, published in Weekly Shōnen Jump in June 1993, right at the start of the Majin Buu saga. He is a pocket-sized copy of Goku: same hair, same grin, same appetite, and a frightening amount of power for a kid who has never met his dad.
Who he is
Goten grows up with his mother and his big brother Gohan, by now a teenager. Unlike what she did with her firstborn, Chi-Chi does not chain him to a desk; she even teaches him the basics of martial arts herself. The result catches everyone off guard. When Gohan starts training him for the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament, he discovers that his little brother can already turn Super Saiyan, a milestone that cost Gohan and Goku desperate battles.
His best friend is Trunks, son of Vegeta and Bulma. The two are joined at the hip and become the comic duo of the saga: pranks, disguises and trouble on repeat. In an interview collected in the Daizenshuu guidebooks, Toriyama explained that he created them precisely to lighten a story that was in danger of getting too grim.
His story across the series
- Dragon Ball Z: at the tournament he finally meets his father, back from the afterlife for a single day. He reaches the final of the junior division and narrowly loses to Trunks; then the pair sneak into the adult bracket disguised as "Mighty Mask" until Android 18 exposes them. When Majin Buu awakens and the adults fall one after another, Goku and Piccolo teach the boys the Fusion Dance. The result is Gotenks, who reaches Super Saiyan 3 and holds his own against Buu until the fusion runs out; later he is absorbed by the monster.
- Dragon Ball GT: now a teenager, he has lost interest in fighting and mostly cares about girls, especially Valese. He stays on Earth while Goku, Trunks and Pan head into space and, in the Baby saga, is possessed by the parasite like almost everyone on the planet.
- Dragon Ball Super: at Bulma's party Beerus knocks out Gotenks with two fingers, but Goten takes part in the ritual that turns his father into a Super Saiyan God. He is left out of the Tournament of Power as still too immature and, with Trunks, watches over Android 17's island while he is away. In the film Super Hero (2022), now in high school, he plays superhero under the name Saiyaman X-2.
Powers and techniques
Goten inherited his father's fighting instinct and raw talent. He cannot fly until Gohan teaches him, but otherwise he skips the line: Super Saiyan without real training, the Kamehameha, and fusion with Trunks, which is easily his most important card.
| Technique or form | Where it shows up |
|---|---|
| Super Saiyan | Already as a child, before the 25th tournament |
| Flight | Taught by Gohan (Buu saga) |
| Fusion Dance (Gotenks) | Taught by Goku and Piccolo |
| Gotenks Super Saiyan 3 | Battle with Majin Buu |
Relationships
- Goku is a father Goten meets for the first time at the tournament, and welcomes with instant enthusiasm.
- Gohan is the big brother who acts almost like a father in Goten's early years.
- Trunks is his best friend and the other half of Gotenks.
- Chi-Chi is a far more relaxed mother with him than she ever was with Gohan.
Why he matters: our take
Goten is proof that Dragon Ball, by the time of the Buu saga, wanted to have fun again. His debut is one of the sweetest moments in the series: a boy who looks exactly like Goku and knows nothing about his father except that he was incredibly strong. How easily he goes Super Saiyan has divided fans, because it drains some of the epic out of the transformation; it is also a way of saying that the new generation starts where their fathers left off.
The character's limits are obvious. After Buu, Goten mostly sits on the sidelines, and GT uses him little and badly. He works best as half of a pair. On his own he is an adorable kid; next to Trunks he becomes one of the series' best combinations.
Did you know? In the manga, the first time Goten tries his father's signature move he gets the name wrong and shouts "Kamekameha".
Trivia
- In Japanese, like his father and brother, Goten is voiced by Masako Nozawa.
- In Funimation's English dub he is voiced by Kara Edwards as a child and Robert McCollum as a teenager.
- He co-stars with Trunks in the 1994 film Bio-Broly, one of the few classic movies built around the two kids.
- He is also on screen at Bulma's party in Battle of Gods, the film that introduced Beerus.