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Goku is a Saiyan. He was born on the planet Vegeta and was given the name Kakarot at birth. The son of a low-class Saiyan warrior, Bardock, Kakarot was sent on a mission like all Saiyan babies--to seek out and destroy all living life-forms on a planet of weaklings to be claimed by the Saiyans for the mighty Lord Freeza. Kakarot's assignment--Earth. The baby's Saiyan Space Pod catapults through space and makes a rough landing on the strange planet called Earth. A kind old man who happens to be a martial arts master, Gohan, finds Kakarot. He renames the strange baby with a tail Goku and decides to take him home and raise him. Gohan places the baby in a carrier on his back and heads home. Kakarot squirms around and soon falls out of the carrier. He has a nasty fall and tumbles down the mountain. To Gohan's surprise, when he finds Goku, the baby is fine except for a bump on the head.
Grandpa Gohan takes Goku home and finds that he is a handful. Goku quickly grows and Gohan begins to teach him the art of karate. Sadly, when Goku is in his preteens, his Saiyan tail leads him into trouble. During the full moon, Goku turns into his Oozaru or Were-form--a gigantic ape with a sweet tooth for destruction. Gohan tries to escape, but he is crushed to death by the monster. The full moon sets and in the morning, Goku awakes in his normal form without any recollection of the previous night's events. Upon Gohan's death, Goku takes on to a life of isolation with his most prized possession, the 4-star Dragonball--the only thing he has left of Gohan.
One day, Goku meets a young woman named Bulma. He thinks her motorcycle is a monster and attacks her. Afterwards, a very angry Bulma sees that the child is truly innocent and forgives him. Goku eagerly recounts to Bulma a story of how an evil monster came in the middle of the night while he was sleeping and killed his grandfather. It turns out that Bulma was in the area because she was searching for something called Dragonballs and her dragon radar had been picking up a signal from Goku's 4-star Dragonball. Goku is reluctant to give up the Dragonball which he calls "Grandpa," but decides to go with Bulma to see the rest of the world.
Goku starts out with Bulma and they go on many amazing adventures. Along the way they meet a crew of crazy, wacky, and powerful characters. One is the bandit Yamcha with his sidekick, Puar. Yamcha attempts to rob Goku and Bulma, but it is to no avail. Eventually the four become friends and they go on together. Another character Goku and Bulma meet is Oolong. They find him using his shape-shifting abilities to terrorize a town and steal all the cute girls, but Goku with his superhuman strength easily foils Oolong's plans. The two also meet the evil Emperor Pilaf along with his henchmen Shao and Mai who are also searching for all 7 Dragonballs to awaken the eternal dragon and grant Pilaf immortality. Eventually the two go their separate ways and Goku goes to train with the world renowned Master Roshi. His training partner is a young monk named Krillin. Master Roshi's training techniques are bizarre--like delivering milk every morning--but they work and in less then a year, the boys are ready to compete in their first World Martial Arts Tournament. Goku enters the tournament along with Krillin. Unbeknown to the two, Master Roshi secretly enters the tournament as Jackie Chun. Yamcha also enters the tournament and Bulma, Puar, and Oolong cheer them on from the stands. The tournament progresses and it comes to the final match between Goku and Jackie Chun. In the middle of the fight, the moon comes out and once again, Goku goes Wereform. Master Roshi, not knowing that you could simply cut off Goku's tail to return him to normal, does an ultimate Kamehameha wave and blasts the giant ape. Everyone begins to cry and thinks that Goku is dead, but he is a tough kid and is still alive. Jackie Chun is proclaimed the Grand Champion of the tournament, but he is forced to give up his money to pay for the enormous food bill that Goku had racked up during the tournament.
Goku and friends go on many amazing adventures including more encounters with the evil Emperor Pilaf. Goku must also fight King Piccolo, the embodiment of Kami's evil which he had to part with to become the Guardian of the Earth. He encounters foes and friends alike such as the Red Ribbon Army, the evil General Tao, and a boy Emperor named Chaozu and his bodyguard Tien. The young Saiyan easily defeats each obstacle and soon he is grows to adulthood.
Goku marries Chichi, the powerful young daughter of the Ox King whom he had met as a little boy. They have a son whom they name Gohan after Goku's Grandpa Gohan. When Gohan is a little boy, a powerful Saiyan by the name of Raditz comes to Earth to make sure of its destruction by his younger brother--Kakarot. Raditz sees that Goku has become good and threatens to kill innocent humans if Goku does not fight him. The Z fighters--Goku, Krillin, Yamcha, Chaozu, Tien, and a surprising new edition, Piccolo--band together to
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