“Who would win? Goku or Superman?”

 

I’m sure you’ve heard that question before.

Comic book fans yelling in your ear about how “Superman is the strongest of all time” and anime fans doing the same about Goku.

 

As a much bigger anime fan myself, I’ve always wanted to give the win to my Super Saiyan savage, but is this really accurate?

I mean they both have super strength, super speed, and that “go get em” attitude that every lovable hero needs.

So how do we make the decision? Who would really win a fight between these two goliaths?  Let’s take a deeper dive into one of the world’s greatest mysteries and find out who really has the edge.

 

Super strength

 

Let’s be honest here.  Both of these heroes absolutely CLAP in terms of their strength.  And I’m not talking about something as simple as holding up a falling building or lifting a car overheard.  That’s child’s play for these two.

So how do we compare strength?  They have reached unfathomable levels of raw power, that we can barely comprehend as mere mortals.  But let’s give it a go.

 

A difficult idea to overcome is that we know that both of these heroe’s potential has not been reached (to the absolute fullest).  Goku keeps ascending to new forms of super Saiyan, including GOD mode and more recently “ultra instinct”. 

And Superman has ALWAYS reached a new level of power when faced with the job at hand.

The only “fair” way to figure this out, is to look at what has been shown to us as fans.

 

The Strongest we have seen superman

Alright man of steel. Show us what you got.

We already know that the level of strength superman has shown is intense.  Lifting heavy objects without breaking a sweat. But what is the strongest we have seen him?

In comic Superman #13 Clark decided to work out with some super machines.  This led him to find that he was able to BENCH PRESS the entire weight of the earth.  This would be about 5.97 sextillion metric tons.

Not only this.  He did it for 5 days straight.  Yep.  Not once. Not twice.  FIVE FREAKING DAYS OF BENCHING THE WEIGHT OF THE EARTH.

But this isn’t even the strongest we have seen him. Later on in All Star Superman, Clark had to enter into the sun in order to save a team of scientists.  While there he was able to lift 200 qintillion tons….with one hand.

Not only was he able to do this with relative ease.  He even stated that he could do more.  This would mean that he wasn’t even close to his maximum potential.

 

 

Goku Strength in Comparison

So now that we know the man of steel can bench press the earth for a warm-up, how does Goku compare?

This question is a bit more difficult because Dragonball focuses around “energy blasts” a lot more than purely lifting objects.

But with the power of energy drinks and science I was able to find this comparison.  And you’re going to be shocked.

How much force is required to destroy the earth you may ask? (I’ll take a moment to point out this is speculatory, but let’s take it at face value)

The answer is somewhere around a factor of 10^8 times power of 200 quintillion tons of force.

Why are we using this specific calculation?

Since we know superman can easily lift 200 quintillion tons with one arm, it’s a great number to compare.

We know that planet Vegeta was destroyed by Frieza with one finger.  This was done in Frieza’s base form, about 230 times weaker than his truest form.  Not only this, but the blast we see destroy the planet was created with ease... with one finger.

To put size into comparison, planet Vegeta was 10 times the size of earth.

 

So if Frieza was able to do this at his base form, we have to assume that a full-power attack his in FINAL form would be at minimum 230 times stronger (equivalent to his power). 

Goku not only stopped this attack.  He brought it to a dead stop and then SMACKED IT AWAY.

 

200 quintillion tons?  That’s a 3 lb dumbbell for our super Saiyan fighter.

 

 

Strength win

 So looking at this it’s pretty easy to say Goku is “physically” stronger than Superman right?  Wrong.

Here’s the thing.  Superman is ALWAYS written in the comics as being “as strong as he needs to be for the job at hand”.  Always.

We see this time and time again as Clark can move suns and black holes.  So no, this doesn’t mean Goku is physically stronger.

What it DOES mean is that Superman also isn’t necessarily stronger.  Because things we have seen him do at his “strongest” is also performed by Goku in different ways.

 

But let’s do this…

Since Superman has only been shown to achieve this certain strength, you can certainly make the argument that Goku has been written to do something stronger. Not that he IS stronger, but that he has SHOWN something stronger.

But there’s something else at play here.  Something that is more important.  Personality.

 

Personality Prevails

 

This is an area that all other posts and arguments I have seen fail to recognize.  But I think it is by far the most important.

If the two of these heroes were ever to fight, it is silly to just rate their raw power or speed.  We also must assume that “they” are the one’s fighting, not some robot that encompasses the strength of them.

 

Superman is a boyscout.  He’s kind and good hearted.  This is important because he ALWAYS fights with control.  He never let’s go.  It has been stated in comics and movies that even when he does something like sneeze, he could blow up the whole earth if he didn’t control it.  So why would a fight with Goku be different? 

If these two were to fight it would be a respectful battle.  Neither are a villain, and neither are trying to kill everyone on earth. 

They would both know that. Superman would DEFINITELY hold back to some sense. Even if only subconsciously.  He doesn’t want to kill an innocent man.

 

Goku is similar in a lot of ways.  Not only does he not want to kill innocent people, he even fights his nemesis with respect. 

I want to bring up a scene of when Goku was fighting Cell.  If you remember, Cell was weakened at one point. What did Goku do?  Gave cell a senzu bean. Goku ALWAYS believes in a fair fight.  It was ingrained into his character with his martial arts training under Rochi.

I bring this up because I’ve heard plenty of people say “Goku can just hold kryptonite and destroy superman.”

No.  He wouldn’t.  That would be unfair and the Goku we know and love would NEVER look to win with someone at their weakest state.

In fact, Goku has been seen time and time again to WANT to fight people at their strongest. He’s even let villains walk away in order for them to come back in the future for a second go around.

If Superman told Goku he was stronger next to the sun, there is no doubt in my mind that Goku would instant transmission both of them to the sun’s surface so they could fight it out there.

 

So here’s the answer to who would win:

 

No-one.

Now I know you’re thinking that’s a cop out, but its not.  More than likely what would happen is that these two would fight for the REST OF ETERNITY.  The two would trade blows on earth, the sun and whatever other planet they find themselves at. They would fight and fight and fight and it would never end. 

Goku would allow superman to go to the sun to get stronger, and superman would allow Goku to eat 600 lbs of steamed rice and boar every time he got hungry.

More than likely, the two would become best friends. 

 

But if I had to choose.  I would want it to be Goku. In large part because Sean Schemmel is the MAN!!!

 

 

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