Dragon Ball 10 Things Goku Can Do Without His Saiyan Powers

Although everyone thinks of Goku as one of the most powerful beings in anime with his Saiyan powers, there's a lot he can do without them. Here's 10.

It’s not easy to achieve the level of acclaim and popularity that the Dragon Ball franchise has reached. Dragon Ball has been a major cultural touchstone in the anime community for each decade since its debut. It continues to tell the story of Goku and other powerful warriors that keep the universe safe from increasingly dangerous threats.

Goku has grown in significant ways since the start of the series, and a major reveal involves his heritage as a member of the alien Saiyan race. Goku’s Saiyan roots become an important part of his character and the powers he develops, but he still possesses many skills that have nothing to do with his Saiyan lineage.

10 He Can Manipulate And Control Ki

One of the most crucial ways for characters in the Dragon Ball universe to prove their strength is their ability to manipulate ki energy. Dragon Ball begins in a somewhat grounded place where the combat falls back on actual martial arts, but over time a more fantastical side of the fighting takes over the series.

Goku figures out how to control ki, and he becomes a stronger warrior for it. All of this occurs before Goku has any idea that he’s a Saiyan and ki is something that anyone can control.

9 He Can Fly

Dragon Ball has reached such a heightened place where it’s entirely natural for the entire cast to fly at tremendous velocities, and it’s easy to forget that this is a skill that they all had to master. Goku doesn’t innately know how to fly, and he figures out how to control this useful ability as he exits adolescence.

Flight changes Goku’s battle strategy, and it’s another skill that comes down to ki control, not Goku’s status as a Saiyan. Plenty of humans and other races know how to fly in Dragon Ball.

8 He Can Summon Shenron And Use The Dragon Balls

The Dragon Balls are a highly coveted tool in the anime franchise. They’re the cause for the journey that kicks off the series in the first place, but they’ve saved lives and helped heal disasters.

The collection of the Dragon Balls is necessary to get to make a wish on them, but there’s also a little more that’s required. The user needs to know the proper phase to summon Shenron, which can even be in a different language depending on the Dragon Balls. Goku is well aware of this and knows how to bring Shenron forth when it’s needed.

7 He Can Perform The Kamehameha, Spirit Bomb, And Other Energy Attacks

Goku’s Saiyan blood allows him to transform in impressive ways and access unbelievable power. Still, he also has some exceptional techniques at his disposal even before Super Saiyans become the norm.

The Super Saiyan boost makes a huge difference, but Goku still gets a lot of attention for abilities like the Kamehameha and the Spirit Bomb. Goku knows dozens of powerful energy attacks, but these two become Goku’s signature abilities, and they’re skills that anyone can master. It’s even somewhat poetic that a Saiyan knows how to perform the Spirit Bomb since it largely involves collecting energy from humans.

6 He Can Use Instant Transmission

The characters in Dragon Ball reach a level of speed where they’re impossible to be seen by the standard human eye. This speed is normally enough to get the job done, but Goku masters an even faster means of transportation that’s essentially teleportation.

Instant Transmission allows Goku to lock onto someone else’s energy and transport himself to their location. Goku learns Instant Transmission from the Yardrat race, which is open to teaching their powerful abilities to the right people. It’s a rare skill, but one that’s completely unrelated to the Saiyans.

5 He Knows How To Perform Fusion Techniques

Fusion is a mixed bag for Dragon Ball fans. It’s an easy way for characters to grow drastically stronger as they pool their strength together, but it’s become overused in some situations. Fusion can definitely get out of hand, and there are entire Dragon Ball video games that revolve around the inherent potential of the technique.

There are certainly many Saiyans that fuse, but it’s not a skill that’s specific to their race. Goku learns the basics behind the fusion dance technique, and he’s combined with Vegeta in a few particularly dire situations.

4 He’s Worthy Of Riding The Flying Nimbus

Goku eventually learns to fly, which eventually makes the Flying Nimbus largely irrelevant to him. Still, it’s an iconic means of transportation for Goku during the infancy of the original Dragon Ball.

The Flying Nimbus is a cloud that Goku can ride on, but it’s a special entity that will only allow the pure of heart to get on top of it successfully. This makes the Flying Nimbus a reflection of Goku’s righteous nature, which is almost antithetical to his Saiyan roots. Most Saiyans from Planet Vegeta likely wouldn’t be able to ride the Nimbus.

3 He Can Access God Ki And Go Ultra Instinct

Dragon Ball Super keeps the franchise’s tradition going and introduces some extreme new forms of Super Saiyan to the mix. Super Saiyan Blue appears to be the apex, but Goku achieves even greater power during the Tournament of Power when he first experiences Ultra Instinct.

Ultra Instinct is a mysterious fighting style and upgrades that leans into intuition and God ki. Ultra Instinct is rare, but Beerus references how Gods of Destruction can perform it, which means that it’s a transformation where the user’s race is unimportant.

2 He Can Perform Strength Upgrades Like The Kaio-Ken Attack

Goku’s Kaio-Ken Attack is a crucial tool that he uses before he’s able to become a Super Saiyan, and it makes a surprising return in Dragon Ball Super when he pairs the upgrade together with Super Saiyan Blue. Kaio-Ken Attack is a strength upgrade developed by King Kai where the user can multiply their strength but at the cost of a significant strain placed on their body.

It becomes more practical for Goku to switch over to Super Saiyan, but before he can do so, the Kaio-Ken Attack functions as a non-Saiyan equivalent of sorts.

1 He Can Trap Demons Through The Use Of The Evil Containment Wave

Some of the most creative and exciting battles in Dragon Ball are the ones that incorporate the less conventional techniques from the series. The Evil Containment Wave is a strong maneuver that can trap demonic entities in a container.

It originates in the original Dragon Ball, but it returns in Dragon Ball Super when the threat of the immortal Zamasu appears. Roshi makes sure that Goku masters the ability, and it becomes another important skill that goes beyond his Saiyan status that he’s able to apply in the right scenario.