There's no anime hero as iconic as Dragon Ball's Goku. From debuting as a mysterious, tailed boy in the pages of Shōnen Jump, to acting as the cultural ambassador at the Olympic Games and having his own float in American holiday parades, Goku has inspired an unimaginably large number of fans over the past four decades. His heroic feats are legendary, and the story of Dragon Ball continues after all this time on the shoulders of its greatest fighter.

However, Goku isn't exactly a perfect hero. His priorities aren't always kept in the right order, and despite his massive strength, Earth's greatest defender is prone to his blunders. More often than not, Dragon Ball's main Saiyan manages to win the day, regardless of the rocky road to victory. But some of his worst moments are indefensible, even by his biggest fans. Alongside Goku's impressive feats of strength often come his most questionable decisions, and a few of them cannot be overlooked.

7 Overconfidence and A Bad Throw Led to Buu Absorbing Gohan

Goku Threw Away Another Chance to Deafeat Buu Quickly

Long regarded as one of Gohan's worst moments throughout Dragon Ball, not being able to catch the Potara wasn't entirely his fault. While it may be true that arguably the strongest fighter on Earth should have had the ability to catch the earring, given he was shown catching bullets in the very same arc, Goku is likely more at fault. After Buu received a power-up with his absorption of Gotenks, Goku had the opportunity to give the Potara to his son and fuse into a warrior capable of eviscerating Majin Buu.

In an attempt to give Gohan the earring, Goku threw one of the worst throws imaginable. He's never been a professional baseball player like Yamcha, so a bad toss is excusable. However, once Gohan managed to find the earring, Gotenks defused inside Buu, leaving him much weaker than before. In a moment of overconfidence, Goku told Gohan the earrings weren't necessary, robbing fans of a potential fusion and directly leading to the second of his two sons being absorbed by the series' most terriying villain yet.

Not one, but two mistakes brought about the destruction of Earth and the deaths of everyone living on it. As he does, however, Goku managed to eventually defeat Kid Buu, and the day was saved. Though that doesn't make his previous blunders any less shocking.

6 Goku Is the Star of Dragon Ball Super's Most Controversial Moment

Earth's Greatest Hero and Father of Two Doesn't Know What Kissing Is

Dragon Ball Super has gained its fair share of both critics and fans since initially premiering in 2015. Some believe the writing of the series leaves a bit to be desired, and doesn't quite stack up to Akira Toriyama's original Dragon Ball. Others feel Super is a worthwhile continuation of the series that brings meaningful additions to the four-decade-old franchise. However, both fans and critics are typically in agreement that one scene during the Goku Black arc is difficult to sit through.

After Mai was beaten and badly injured, Trunks was forced to chew on a Senzu Bean and feed it to her mouth-to-mouth. In response, Goku revealed that he'd supposedly never kissed anyone before and didn't see any reason to do so. Vegeta, acting as the audience surrogate in the moment, expresses his disbelief at what he'd just heard, and yells back, "You're married and have children!"

It's difficult to believe, and also directly clashes with scenes from previous Dragon Ball adaptations, that Goku never kissed Chi Chi before. Not only does he have children, but one was nearly a teenager at the time, while the other recently had a child of his own. It's well known that Goku isn't always the brightest, but this reveal is arguably his most cringeworthy moment.

5 Goku Doesn't Take the Chance to Defeat Majin Buu

Despite Being Powerful Enough, Goku Didn't Take Out Buu

Goku's first instance of pas a chance to defeat Buu came well before his misguided throw. The introduction of Super Saiyan 3 is one of Dragon Ball's most popular scenes, and one the fan base still holds in incredibly high regard to this day. What came directly after, however, was another of the leading Saiyan's worst blunders. At this point in the series, Super Saiyan 3 Goku should have had all the power he needed to defeat Majin Buu, yet he decided to fool around with him before returning to the lookout.

He wasn't exactly wrong to want to leave saving Earth to the next generation of heroes, but leaving the job in the hands of Goten and Trunks without first being sure they were capable is the exact mistake he made with Gohan during the Cell Games. There's also a chance Goku wasn't entirely sure he was capable of defeating Buu, though he should have sensed the big pink terror's power level easily enough. The entire struggle with Majin Buu that followed could have been avoided had Goku defeated him when he had the chance.

4 King Kai Has Yet to Be Revived After Goku Brought Cell to His Planet

Goku Was Directly Responsible for the Death of King Kai, and He Still Hasn't Revived Him

After a series of mistakes during the Cell Saga, Goku was forced to intervene in the battle and stop Cell from destroying the Earth. The only possible solution was to use Instant Transmission, and take the terrifying villain far from the planet. Goku did so successfully, and wound up saving Earth. In the meantime, however, he brought Cell to King Kai's planet and directly caused the deaths of Bubbles, Gregory, and King Kai. Goku was forced to act quickly, though, and the decision was necessary even if it was destructive.

Death has a way of not really sticking in Dragon Ball, and the damage was easily reversible with the help of Shenron. Three anime series and four films later, however, and Goku has still not wished King Kai back to life. At this point in the series, Goku's lack of care or attention to this particular blunder has become a bit of a running joke, but considering that he still trains on King Kai's planet from time to time, the least he could do is bring him back to life.

3 Goku Stole Bulma's Underwear

A Naive Goku Found Out What Girls Were the Wrong Way

A lot of early Dragon Ball's comedic moments have not aged well. In only the second episode of the series, Goku tries to sleep on Bulma's lap, and in a moment of confusion, decides to take her underwear off. Bulma has long been one of the series' most important characters, and is the sole reason Goku was ever found in the mountains. Without her, countless victories throughout Dragon Ball would not have been possible, and yet, she wasn't treated very kindly in the series' early days.

Goku was a child at the time, and the action was purely out of innocent curiosity. However, what really makes the moment worse is that he failed to inform Bulma that her underwear was gone. Later, Master Roshi, another character that hasn't aged all that well, got a shocking peek under her dress. Fortunately, much of Dragon Ball's early questionable attempts at humor take a backseat once the series shifts towards a more serious tone.

2 Goku Allows Frieza to Reach Full Power

The Saiyan's Love for Fighting Becomes a Problem Sometimes

Goku has a bad habit of letting his love for fighting get in the way of victory. In the case of Frieza, though, letting the evil space tyrant assume his full-power form was by far one of Goku's worst moments. Frieza killed countless Namekians while on the planet, killed Krillin and Vegeta, tried to kill his son, and was the most evil villain Dragon Ball had up to that point. Instead of quickly finishing him off and returning to Earth safely, Goku decided to allow Frieza to power up and extend the fight.

It wasn't the first and likely won't be the last time that Goku went easy on an opponent for the sake of the fight, but Frieza had committed far too many atrocities to not be done away with instantly. It can be argued that Goku wanted to humiliate his opponent, and let him feel some of the fear he instilled in others, though it wasn't the time or place. He was able to miraculously survive the explosion of Namek shortly after, though if he hadn't, Dragon Ball would be a much different story today.

1 Goku Gave Cell a Senzu Bean Before Gohan Entered the Fight

Goku's Decision to Give Cell a Senzu Bean Was the Cherry on Top of a Misguided Plan

Goku's handling of the Cell Saga, though having ultimately led to victory for Earth's heroes, was flawed from the very start. The Saiyan knew he wasn't powerful enough to defeat Cell, but he also knew that they might've had a chance if Gohan was pushed far enough to tap into his rage. Unfortunately, he never realized that Gohan wasn't a fighter like he was, and put his son through a torturous battle he never really wanted to get into. The worst part of it all was Goku's decision to give Cell a Senzu Bean.

He stated that he wanted to give Cell a fair fight, though it's likely Goku felt his plan had a better chance of success if Cell was restored to his full power. As a result, Gohan was beaten badly and forced to the point of tears before finally giving in and unleashing his true strength. Goku's master plan all worked out, but it was an undeniably traumatic experience for his 11-year-old son, and the Senzu Bean incident only makes it Goku's biggest blunder in all of Dragon Ball.