“dragonball“There are a lot of things that, let’s be honest, aren’t squared in the best possible way lore-wise. However, on many occasions, there are some aspects that one may not understand due to a lack of information, context or simply knowledge about the franchise For example: Why doesn’t Goku age? It’s a question that many have apparently asked themselves over the years, and the truth is that has a perfectly logical answer, at least in “Dragon Ball” lore.
Who is Goku really in Dragon Ball?
- To answer a question like “Why isn’t Goku aging?” the truth is, you need to be very clear. who is this character.
- For example: Is Goku an ordinary human? ‘Cause if you mean it, the truth is that’s not even human despite looking very similar to the land race.
- Only this revelation can already help to begin to understand why 12-year-old Goku was a complete stopper, and why the 18-year-old is having a brutal growth spurt (despite others like Krillin remaining stagnant in size or characters like Yamcha having a more natural and logical physical development).
- In the same way: Can you believe that in the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero arc, Goku himself is 46 years old? Or that in Dragon Ball GT’s The Dark Dragons arc, the latest chronologically recorded in the IP, Goku is 53 years old? The fact that he looks so ‘young’ and has such a huge physique isn’t because he goes to the gym, it’s a runner and having a good diet, but having alien genes that power it all.
- Indeed, that Goku’s age is hardly reflected on his person and his aging is hardly noticeable it’s for an obvious reason: he’s a Saiyan.
What is a Saiyan and why do they age slower than humans?
- First, you need to understand that Saiyans are a race of warriors in the Dragon Ball universe, which originally inhabited what is called the planet Vegeta (from which precisely Goku and Broly originated and which Vegeta had to take control of until the enslavement and destruction of the hand of Frieza).
- The Saiyan race is, as I stated, a race dedicated entirely to conflict. Thus, members of this race usually have a preparation for war instead of peace and dialogue. And therein lies also the reason why their aging is noticeably slower than that of a human.
- To begin with, it must be said that the life expectancy of a human and a saiyan is practically identical. Where is the difference between one race and another then? Well, in what? Saiyans stay in their physical peak longer with one goal: to be able to enjoy the adrenaline of battle longer.
- The first great example of how slowly a Saiyan can age is found quite early in Dragon Ball Z, neither more nor less than with the iconic Nappa.
- This Saiyan accompanies Vegeta on his assault on Earth and ends up causing the death of more than one well-known character. Perhaps the most impressive thing about Nappa and still about the Saiyan race is that in this section of the story, the character in question is over 50 years old (the exact age is not known), and yet it can be seen in his combat deployment that he continues to have 100% of his warrior abilities.
- In fact, we can go even further thanks to Dragon Ball Super: Broly. With the appearance of Paragus, Broly’s father, is said to be over 80 years old., and it certainly looks visibly aged. However, what is important are the words of Vegeta, who comments that a Saiyan remains at his physical peak until he is 80 years old..
After all that, what I take away is that we have many years left to see Son Goku give his all in his “Dragon Ball” fights. Come on, until he’s got Paragus’ millions of gray hairs, this guy’s gonna keep playing like an animal, and If we also take into account that Paragus was an insect compared to Son Goku’s power level, I wouldn’t rule out that he could even circumvent this average of physical decline in 80 years. Anyway, now you know why Goku “doesn’t age” in “Dragon Ball”.
More Dragon Ball content you might be interested in