How Old Is Goku? Dragon Ball Z and Others

Dragon Ball is massive. It is SO big. Goku (also known as Kakarot) stars in one of the largest anime and manga empires of all time.

The storylines between the multiple Dragon Ball anime and manga series have given us a look at Goku from childhood to fatherhood when we meet his son Gohan. Keep reading to find out Goku’s age at several key points in the different stories.

Goku’s Age and Life (Goku the Nice Dad)

Before we get started, who knew that many of these names are inspired by food? Kakarot sounds like carrot, Broly like broccoli, Vegeta like vegetable, and Nappa is a cabbage… Some people say this is obvious, but I didn’t realize it until my late teens. Oops.

How Old Is Goku in the First Episode of Dragon Ball?

No Z’s here! Goku is 11 years old in the first episode of Dragon Ball, a tiny little boy. (The original cut put him at 14, but he did not look even close to that old. It was retconned later to 11 years old.) In his first of many fighting tournaments, Goku has aged to 12 years old. By his second tournament, he’s hit the age of 15, although he still looks very young and very tiny.

The original Dragon Ball anime ends with Goku at age 18, a young adult man, budding Saiyan, ready to face the world Dragon Ball Z has in store for him.

How Old Is Goku in Dragon Ball Z?

The iconic juggernaut anime itself, Dragon Ball Z. Goku is 23 years old in Dragon Ball Z when the series first opens; he is father and has his son Gohan. (Another food name, Gohan, means rice.) He was much older than he ended Dragon Ball, but still impressively young when considering how tough he was against Frieza.

The next arc involving Cell, androids, and the apocalypse contains a few large chunks of time.

At the opening of the arc, Goku is roughly age 25. After some critical training (motivated by android fear), Goku is 29 years old. When Cell is finally foiled, Goku is 30.

This arc spans seven years, and it sure does feel like it, in a good way.

Goku is tired; I’m tired. After the defeat of Cell, Goku is just freakin’ dead for almost an entire decade. We could say Goku is 37 years old when he decides to come back to life, but his body hasn’t aged. Soul-wise, he’s 37; physically, the super Saiyan is still 30.

Dragon Ball Z is a lot. An absolutely epic anime series.

How Old Is Goku in Dragon Ball Super?

After the supernova that was DBZ, Goku and the gang stopped aging so quickly. Goku is 41 years old when he makes his first appearance in DBS. Goku is 41-43 years old in Dragon Ball Super.