Death isn’t as big of a deal in the Dragon Ball franchise as it is in most other things. This is because characters don’t typically stay dead in the Dragon Ball universe. This is mainly due to the Dragon Balls that the series is based around, as they’re often used to resurrect people. The main set, though, can only bring people back once.
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Yet, the writers have figured out other methods of bringing people back. Therefore, some characters have perished on multiple occasions and returned, including the series protagonist, Goku. Here is how many times he’s died throughout the anime.
Goku Dies With Raditz
Goku manages to live through all of the original Dragon Ball series, but he perishes in the first saga of Dragon Ball Z. It happens when he teams up with Piccolo to take on his long-lost evil brother, Raditz.
The two rivals struggle against the long-haired Saiyan, who is too quick and powerful for them. So, they need to resort to strategy. The main strategy is for Goku to hold Raditz in place while Piccolo fires his Special Beam Cannon at them. The beam goes through both of the Saiyan siblings, killing the duo. So, Goku successfully sacrificed himself to save Earth. He is later brought back by the Dragon Balls, though.
Goku Dies Of A Heart Virus In Another Timeline
In the main timeline, Goku manages to survive the Heart Virus he is infected with. However, the version of Goku from Future Trunk’s timeline wasn’t so lucky.
You don’t actually get to see this happen on screen, but Trunks reveals that his timeline’s Goku succumbs to the virus before the dangerous Androids show up.
Goku Sacrifices Himself To Stop Cell
Late on in the Cell Games saga, things seem to be going well for the Z Warriors, as Super Saiyan 2 Gohan is much too strong for Cell. He even hits the villain so hard that he spits out Android 18 and reverts back to his Semi-Perfect Form. Out of options, Cell balloons himself up, ready to explode in a move that would take out him and the rest of the planet.
Before he can do that, though, Goku says goodbye to his friends and uses instant transmission to move himself and the soon-to-explode Cell to King Kai’s planet. Then, the evil-doer blows up, killing Goku and the few others on the planet in the blast. A few lives are lost, but the billions of people on Earth are saved. Goku actually stays dead after this for a while until Old Kai gives his life to the Saiyan so he can return to Earth and battle Majin Buu.
Goku Black Kills Goku In Another Timeline
As soon as Goku Black arrives on screen, there is a mystery surrounding him since he looks exactly like Goku. It turns out that in another timeline, Zamasu uses the Super Dragon Balls to switch bodies with the Saiyan.
Then, using Goku’s body, he kills Goku and his family. The harrowing incident is never shown on screen, but Black tells the tale to the main Goku.
Hit Assassinates Goku
Goku loves to face strong fighters, so after fighting the assassin known as Hit in the Tournament of Destroyers, he wants to battle him again. Therefore, he secretly hires Hit to eliminate him, meaning they can battle again.
Hit actually succeeds in the assassination, as he stops Goku’s heart with a deadly blow. Yet, as he’s dying, Goku fires a Ki blast in the air that comes back down and revives him. Therefore, it’s a very brief death, but he does technically die.
Goku Has Died 5 Times
Overall, Goku has died five times in the Dragon Ball series. However, that is across three different Gokus. The main one, who serves as the protagonist of the series, has only died three times.
It says a lot about the character that two of those three times were sacrifices that helped save many, many more people.
