Dragon Ball 10 Times Everyone Forgot Goku Was A Grandpa

Goku isn't really all that great at being a family man, and in fact, it's easy to forget that he's even a grandpa given his relationship with Pan.

Many character qualities define Goku consistently across the Dragon Ball franchise: Saiyan, Z-Fighter, Earth's protector, etc. It is not hard to forget what Goku contributes to the series as a fighter, but one thing that fans often forget is what defines him as a family man; as a husband; as a father; and most importantly, in this context, as a grandfather.

Fans love to poke fun at Goku not being in the running for Father of the Year with how he's raised— or failed to raise, rather— his son, Gohan, but it is often overlooked just what kind of grandfather he is to his own son's daughter, young Pan.

10 When He Lost Pan

While Gohan and Videl are away, Piccolo is tasked with babysitting their daughter, but quickly that responsibility is passed on to Goku and Chi-Chi. Within a day of watching her, Pan goes missing.

To his credit, Goku was visibly worried and furious upon her disappearance and was relieved when she managed to find her way home. Clearly he cares about his granddaughter, but a real grandfather wouldn't lose his granddaughter so easily in the first place.

9 When Videl's Pregnancy Was Revealed

Fans may recall that the Z-Fighters first discovered that Videl was pregnant with Pan when she turned out to be the missing piece to cracking Goku's Super Saiyan God ritual.

While most of the Z-Fighters were quick to practically pounce on Videl in embrace and celebration, Goku doesn't react much beyond just a wide smile. If audiences didn't know any better, they would think that he's more excited he can follow through with the ritual than happy that he's going to be a grandfather.

8 When He Almost Let Pan Fight Some Rando

During the events of Dragon Ball Super, on the day of the World Martial Arts Tournament, Goku spends most of it entertaining Pan, like a good grandfather. That should be enough to earn Goku some grandpa points, but then he watches helplessly in dismay when some random person on the street knocks her ice cream out of her hands.

Instead of trying to calm her down immediately, he watches as if he's eagerly anticipating his granddaughter to beat the tar out of this kid. When she cries hard instead, he buys her a new ice cream, which was sweet enough to earn him back some of those lost grandpa points.

7 When He Was Anxious To Abandon Pan & The Family

At the end of Dragon Ball Z, Goku meets a reincarnation of Majin Buu named Uub, from a wish granted by King Yemma. In hopes of unlocking Uub's true potential so that the earth is in good hands once he's long gone, Goku is willing to abandon his whole family to train a virtual stranger in his village.

That's harsh enough, but what's even worse is when Goku leaves despite the wailing cries of his granddaughter urging him otherwise.

6 Letting Pan Order Him & Trunks Around

During Dragon Ball GT, Goku and Trunks embark into space with Pan in order to collect the seven Black Star Dragon Balls. However, more often than not, despite being the youngest between the two, Pan is the one giving orders as the de facto leader of the group. She often convinces the two adults when it's time to fight and cooks up schemes like sneaking into Don Kee's palace.

Depending on how some readers see it, it's either commendable that Goku treats Pan so equally or a lack of proper grandparenting. But in any case, it's easy to forget which one's the grandparent in situations like this.

5 When Pan Runs Away

During the 15th episode of Dragon Ball GT, titled "Beginning of the End," Pan suddenly feels as though she isn't treated equally when she feels unhelpful when her elders work on their ship without her. Even further, Trunks jokes that they ought to go back to Earth to replace Pan with Goten.

This compels Pan to run away with her pet robot, Giru, which somehow Goku doesn't even notice. He threw a fit when he thought he lost her a decade earlier, but doesn't even notice when she disappears again here.

4 Blasting A Monster While She's Still Inside

In the seemingly endless search for the Black Star Dragon Balls, Pan finds herself turned into a doll and consumed by a machine called Luud. Long story short, Pan discovers that the only way to defeat Luud and revert its effects is for Luud to be struck simultaneously internally and externally.

Pan and Goku manage to successfully blast it at the same time, but Goku seems all too willing to blast at a machine that he doesn't fully understand nor does he fully understand if hitting it could harm his granddaughter. And no one seems to care.

3 When He Nearly Let Her Sacrifice Herself To Save The Earth

This one is not entirely Goku's fault, as at this point, even in his newly acquired Super Saiyan 4 form, he was completely gassed during his fight with Super Baby Vegeta by the time that the latter become a Great Ape. Refusing to let her grandfather succumb to death or defeat, Pan intervenes.

For her efforts, Baby whacks her to the ground. Because he's so tired, Goku only watches on the ground helplessly as Pan and Baby interact, but is able to intervene himself before Baby could kill Pan.

2 Letting Pan Tag Along Twice

It was irresponsible enough for Goku to let a 10-year old child tag along with him and Trunks to find the Black Star Dragon Balls at the start of the series, but that was also out of his hands as Pan had stored away on the ship without him knowing. But later on, he lets her do it all over again when the stakes are much higher in his search for the Black Star Dragons.

His excuse for letting her tag along this time is because she has the Dragon Radar (aka Giru), but it's such a flimsy excuse when he should be more worried about losing a granddaughter on a dangerous mission, first and foremost.

1 When Goku Almost Kills Pan

During the "Saying Goodbye" episode of GT, Goku manages to let his granddaughter get absorbed by Naturon Shenron, a Black Star Dragon who can absorb people and take on their powers.

Under the impression that Pan would rather die than be connected to a monster, he unleashes a 10x Kamehameha Wave that nearly kills her and the Dragon in one flail swoop. Luckily for Goku, it doesn't, but willingly shooting off a blast with the intention of killing his granddaughter isn't exactly the definition of grandfatherly.