The Strongest Version of Goku Literally Broke Dragon Ball's Universe

Goku's evil doppelgänger, Goku Black originated, as a foe of Trunks, before Goku and Vegeta traveled to the future to battle the powerful villain!

In Dragon Ball Super, Goku has an evil doppelganger wreaking havoc on a future timeline with the goal of eliminating all life from the multiverse, and his name is Goku Black. Goku Black, or Black as he’s often referred to, is the villain Trunks encountered after he left the past and traveled back to his future once Goku and the rest of the Z-Fighters eliminated Cell and the Androids Trunks originally went back in time to defeat Upon arriving back in his original time, he realized that his future was unchanged by the events of the past. Future Trunks defeated Future Androids 17 and 18 as well as Future Cell and seemingly earned his happy ending. That is, until a mysterious and immensely powerful figure arrives on his planet, wearing the face of his old friend Goku. 

Goku Black makes his manga debut in the Dragon Ball Super storyline, “SOS From The Future” by Akira Toriyama and Toyotarou. Future Trunks, still reeling from the last battle over the fate of his world, is taken aback when he sees Goku, who had been dead from a heart issue for some time in his reality, reigning terror upon the Earth. Eventually, Future Trunks retrieves Goku and Vegeta from the present day and brings them to the future to fight Black, but not before the identity of this false Goku is revealed. 

Within the Dragon Ball multiverse, the Supreme Kai of the tenth universe, Gowasu, is training his apprentice, Zamasu, to one day take his place and become the new Supreme Kai. Though instead of finding the beauty and life worth protecting as all Supreme Kais should, Zamasu takes on the mindset more similar to a Destroyer and sees all life as a cosmic mistake, and seeks to gain enough power to eradicate it. Zamasu kills his master, then gathers the Super Dragon Balls and swaps bodies with Goku since the Saiyan’s power can reach godlike levels. Zamasu, the Supreme Kai in training of the tenth universe, becomes Goku Black then uses the Supreme Kai’s time ring to travel to the future to join forces with his future self to carry out his sinister mission of destroying all life across the multiverse. 

When the Z-Fighters, present and future, learn of Black’s true identity, the Destroyer God Lord Beerus travels to the tenth universe and kills Zamasu before he can carry out his evil plan. However, as Future Trunks learned from his previous mission to the past to save the future, he knows that changing the past doesn’t impact his timeline. So, Goku and Vegeta end up in the future with Trunks to take on Black and alternate Zamasu, who gained immortality due to another wish he made using the Super Dragon Balls. 

In the manga, Goku Black’s demeanor is that of a brutal brawler who quickly loses his cool when he finds himself losing. Black’s anime counterpart is much calmer, with a near-constant smirk as to not give his opponent insight into his true feelings. In combat, he uses a more elegant fighting style rather than just brute force. Black also initially had trouble accessing Goku’s full potential, though after fighting the original Goku as well as Vegeta who both had achieved Super Saiyan Blue, Black unlocked the power of Super Saiyan Rosé, matching the true Saiyans’ godlike power levels. Black even becomes so powerful after fusing with alternate Zamasu that Goku and Vegeta are unable to defeat him, calling upon the most powerful being in the multiverse, Zeno, who simply erases Black from existence. Goku’s evil doppelganger doesn’t just look like the original, but also surpasses his power level, making Goku Black one of the most powerful foes ever faced in Dragon Ball history.