The third time skip in Dragon Ball happened after Perfect Cell was defeated and Goku chose to remain in the afterlife. The story shifted focus to Gohan, who was now a teenager and was about to start high school. Gohan was not alone at home anymore, as he now had a younger brother, named Goten.

Goten looked almost identical to Goku when he was a boy, though he was more naive and innocent than his father was at the same age. Despite this: Goten was far more powerful than any other member of the Z-Fighters were at his age.

It didn’t take long for Goten to be enlisted in the struggle against the rampaging monster known as Majin Buu, as he was taught the Fusion Dance (alongside Vegeta’s son, Trunks) so that they could combine into one perfect being who could destroy the evil genie once and for all.

We are here today to look at the second son of Goku who has been pretty much abandoned by the narrative.

From the card that forgot he was a Saiyan to his future with the alternate reality counterpart of his best friend, here are 15 Things You Didn’t Know About Goten!

15 He First Became A Super Saiyan At Three Years Old

There is an inconsistency with the Daizenshuu guide’s explanation concerning half-Saiyans that are born without a tail.

The guide used the fact that Goten and Trunks had no tails to explain why they were so strong at such a young age, yet Future Trunks was far weaker in his teens than his present-day counterpart is as a child, and was unable to perform the Super Saiyan transformation until much later.

It’s possible that Goten might be a prodigy, even among the Saiyans. According to the Dragon Ball Z: Buu’s Fury instruction manual, Goten was first able to transform into a Super Saiyan at the age of three, though Chi-Chi and Gohan did not learn that he could do it until much later.

14 He Had The Last Fight In Dragon Ball Z

The last fight in the Dragon Ball manga took place between Goku and Uub. Goku had learned that the reincarnation of Kid Buu would be fighting in the tournament, so he wanted to test his mettle and make sure that he wasn’t evil. The battle had an inconclusive ending, as Goku took Uub as his student and they both bowed out of the tournament.

The last fight in the Dragon Ball Z anime took place between Goten and Pan. Goten got the crap kicked out of him by his young niece, even though she was only a quarter-Saiyan.

The reason this fight happened was likely because the wheels were already in motion for Dragon Ball GT to continue the series, so the creators of the anime wanted to make the audience interested in Pan.

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13 He’s So Powerful Because He Lacks A Tail

When Goten was introduced in Dragon Ball Z, he did not have a tail like the other members of his family.

The fans assumed that either Chi-Chi or Gohan cut it off at a young age, in order to prevent Goten from inadvertently transforming into his Oozaru form. It was later revealed that the Goten was born without a tail, which was also the case with Trunks (both the one from the regular timeline and Future Trunks.)

The 4th Daizenshuu guide revealed that the lack of tail explained why Goten and Trunks were so powerful for their age.

They represent the perfect genetic mixture of human and Saiyan, which means that they lack the capacity to transform into an Oozaru but they are much stronger in their base form, which also grants them the ability to transform into a Super Saiyan at a younger age than normal.

12 He Can Use The Power Of The Super Saiyan God Form

Dragon Ball Super has been criticized for introducing numerous new Super Saiyan forms that have had ridiculous origins, such as Goku tapping into the power of the divine, with his Super Saiyan God form.

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This form was introduced due to Super bringing in the literal Gods of the Dragon Ball world as enemies for Goku and Vegeta to fight, so they had to start using divine powers of their own to fight back.

Goku managed to use the powers of the Super Saiyan God form to power up his Kamehameha attack, which became known as the God Kamehameha.

In Dragon Ball Heroes, it is possible for other characters to perform the God Kamehameha, even though they lack the ability to turn into a Super Saiyan God. Goten is one such character, as well as Gotenks.

11 The Dragon Ball Collectible Card Game Listed Him As The Wrong Species

It should come as no surprise that Dragon Ball Z had several popular trading card games throughout its run. It was a hugely popular anime series and its two closest contemporaries (Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh!) had their own card games that made a lot of money.

The second iteration of the Dragon Ball Z card game was called the Dragon Ball Collectible Card Game, which featured a totally different set of rules from its predecessor.

Goten featured in several of the cards in the Dragon Ball Collectible Card Game. The most notorious of these was a card that gave him the wrong race. He was listed as a Human, instead of as Half-Saiyan, which should have precluded him from performing any of the Super Saiyan transformations.

10 He Was Going To Be Able To Use The Power Pole In Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 (But It Was Cut)

The Flying Nimbus and the Power Pole were two of Goku’s most prized possessions in Dragon Ball. They are both based on items used by Sun Wukong in Journey to the West, which Dragon Ball was originally meant to be a parody of. After he died, the Flying Nimbus and the Power Pole were passed on to Goku’s children.

It was originally planned for the Power Pole to be used by Goten in Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, as it could be bought as part of the Dragon Ball GT DLC pack. The Power Pole was restricted to the Future Warrior and GT Goku in the final version of the game.

Fans have gone through the files of Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 and discovered that Goten was meant to use the Power Pole at some point, as well being able to use three versions of the Kaio-Ken.

9 The Eye Drops Commercial Legacy

Kodomo Soft was a Japanese brand of eye drops that were intended for children who were going swimming, as it reduced the stinging effect of entering water that had chlorine in it. Kodomo Soft used popular anime characters in their commercials, such as cast members from Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon.

There were several Kodoma Soft commercials featuring Dragon Ball characters, which spanned the entire franchise. Gohan and Krillin appeared in one advert, as they had become the main characters during the Namek Saga. A young version of Goku, Pan, and Trunks also appeared in a commercial during Dragon Ball GT. 

Goten, Trunks, and the teenage version of Gohan also appeared in a Kodomo Soft commercial, which referenced the earlier one that featured the child version of Gohan.

8 The Adult Gotenks

One of the most disappointing aspects of Dragon Ball GT was that we never got to see the older versions of Goten and Trunks perform the Fusion Dance and become an adult Gotenks.

It seems that Dragon Ball Super will also be denying us of an adult Gotenks cameo, as Goten has had almost no relevance to the story so far. Barring a time skip, we likely won’t be seeing older versions of Goten and present-day Trunks.

Dragon Ball Heroes has finally provided fans with a glimpse of adult Gotenks. Heroes is a Japanese arcade game that requires trading cards in order to play. The game features beautiful anime cutscenes, which have been used to promote new characters. Adult Gotenks has featured in such videos and is a playable character in the game.

7 His Girlfriend In GT Underwent A Radical Design Change During Development

Goku’s children lack his desire for battle and becoming physically stronger. This is likely due to their mixed heritage, as they don’t possess all of the Saiyan traits.

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Gohan is one of the most powerful beings in the universe, yet he chose to lead a normal life and become a doctor. Goten pretty much abandoned his combat training in his teens, which resulted in him being left behind in Dragon Ball GT and spending most of that series hanging out with his girlfriend Valese.

It seems that the producers of Dragon Ball GT wanted to make some last minute changes to Valese’s design, as her color scheme was different in the original promotional posters for the series.

Valese was originally shown with long blonde hair and wearing a red dress. This was changed to her being a brunette and commonly wearing a yellow dress in the final version of Dragon Ball GT. 

6 He Formed A Sword Fighting School With Trunks

Dragon Ball Online was an MMO that was exclusive to countries in Asia. The story was considered to be the continuation of Dragon Ball Z, with Akira Toriyama devoting a lot of work to the project. Dragon Ball Online is no longer around, but most of the material from the game has been reworked into the Xenoverse games.

In the world of Dragon Ball Online, Gohan published a book called Groundbreaking Science, which taught the world at large about ki control. This led to several characters forming new schools and taking on students, with Krillin taking over Master Roshi’s school and Tien starting a new Crane school.

Goten and Trunks would go on to form a sword fighting school, called the Kikoukenjutsu Sword School. It’s odd that Goten was involved with creating this school, as he never wielded a sword during any of his appearances in Dragon Ball Z. 

5 He Was Created Because Akira Toriyama Wanted To Restore Some Humor To The Series

There is no denying that Dragon Ball Z was a lot darker in tone than Dragon Ball was. The original Dragon Ball featured a lot of comedic moments and gags mixed in with the battles.

The appearance of the Saiyans in Dragon Ball Z changed all of that, with Goku sacrificing his life to kill his own brother and Nappa brutally killing several members of the Z-Fighters. Things got even darker with the arrival of Frieza and the Androids.

The story of Dragon Ball Z became a lot more comedic when Goten and Trunks were introduced to the story. Akira Toriyama has admitted that this was an intentional move on his part, as he felt that the series was becoming too serious and it was making him stressed out. The comedic scenes are what he excelled at, so he wanted to go back to playing to his strengths.

4 The Most Obscure Dragon Ball Z Video Game Involves Goku’s Legacy Being Told To Him

There were several Dragon Ball Z video games released for obscure systems that never left Japan, or at least had a very limited run in the west. This was the case with the TurboGrafx-16, which was destroyed in sales by the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo in North America.

One of the most obscure Dragon Ball Z games of all time was Dragon Ball Z: Idainaru Son Goku Densetsu. This was a game where you played as Goku during the most important fights of his life, which spanned both Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, starting with Mercenary Tao and ending with Perfect Cell.  

The story of Dragon Ball Z: Idainaru Son Goku Densetsu is being told to Goten by Gohan, who is relaying their father’s triumphs as bedtime stories.

3 He Fought The Nazis In Fusion Reborn (Though It Was Censored In Most Versions Of The Movie)

The gates of Hell (or the Home For Infinite Losers) need a better lock, as the denizens of the underworld were able to escape from their imprisonment on numerous occasions in Dragon Ball Z and GT. 

In Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn, a thinly veiled copy of the Third Reich escaped from Hell and started causing havoc in the present day. They were led by a Hitler-Expy called The Dictator.

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As the undead army is not much stronger than regular humans, it doesn’t take long for Goten and Trunks to destroy them and send them packing back to the afterlife.

This entire sequence was cut out of most versions of Fusion Reborn, especially the foreign language editions for countries that have harsher restrictions on showing Nazi-imagery, such as France and Germany.

2 He Fought Off An Alien Invasion With Trunks

In Dragon Ball Online, it was revealed that Hercule had been inadvertently keeping the Earth safe for years. It seems that the alien empires of the universe had come to believe that Hercule was responsible for killing Frieza (as he was last seen on Earth) so they decided to leave the planet alone.

When Hercule passed away in the year 820, it inspired the remnants of Frieza’s empire to attack. This involved sending in an army of Jigglers, who come from the same race as Buyon from the Red Ribbon Army.

It took the combined might of Goten and Trunks to stop the Jigglers invasion, as their sword fighting skills allowed them to bypass the Jiggler’s immunity to martial arts.

1 He Would Join Future Trunks As A Member Of The Time Patrol

There is no denying that Goten was sidelined after the Majin Buu Saga. He was portrayed as a lazy bum in the last few chapters/episodes of Dragon Ball Z and was left out of the main story of Dragon Ball GT so that he could hang out with his girlfriend instead. This treatment has continued into Dragon Ball Super, where he has done pretty much nothing so far.

In Dragon Ball Online and Xenoverse, it was revealed that Future Trunks had become one of the protectors of the timeline. He was paying for his crime of interfering with time in the first place, which brought him into the service of Chronoa, the Supreme Kai of Time.

In Dragon Ball Heroes, it was revealed that the older version of Goten from GT would go on to join Future Trunks as a member of the Time Patrol. At some point, he decided to eschew his laziness and lack of responsibility, so that he could finally contribute to the safety of the universe once more.

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Can you think of any other interesting facts about Dragon Ball Z‘s Goten? Let us know in the comments!

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About The Author


Scott Baird
(2543 Articles Published)

Scott has been writing for Screen Rant since 2016 and regularly contributes to The Gamer. He has previously written articles and video scripts for websites like Cracked, Dorkly, Topless Robot, and TopTenz.
A graduate of Edge Hill University in the UK, Scott started out as a film student before moving into journalism. It turned out that wasting a childhood playing video games, reading comic books, and watching movies could be used for finding employment, regardless of what any career advisor might tell you. Scott specializes in gaming and has loved the medium since the early ‘90s when his first console was a ZX Spectrum that used to take 40 minutes to load a game from a tape cassette player to a black and white TV set. Scott now writes game reviews for Screen Rant and The Gamer, as well as news reports, opinion pieces, and game guides. He can be contacted on LinkedIn.

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