The Dragon Ball universe would have been destroyed many times over by now if it weren't for the intervention of its greatest hero, Goku. Goku has saved the world, the galaxy, and the multiverse more times than fans would like to count, and, much to the villains' dismay, he shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. While the planet Earth is home to a number of powerful heroes in Dragon Ball, there were just some battles they would never have had a chance at winning without Goku around.
It's not just the fact that Goku is often the strongest of the Z Fighters that makes him save the day. After all, many of Dragon Ball's greatest villains were even more powerful than Goku himself. Winning those kinds of hopeless battles is about more than pure strength, and Goku has a unique ability to reach deep within himself and find a way to overcome the forces of evil.
10 Vegeta, Gohan and Krillin Stood No Chance Against the Ginyu Force
Dragon Ball Z
The fight against the Ginyu Force was so hopeless that it even caused villains and heroes to join forces. Vegeta was mostly a villain throughout the earliest parts of the Namek Saga, but the threat of the Ginyu Force caused him to rethink his allegiances. By teaming up with Krillin and Gohan, Vegeta sought to give himself a chance of survival, but even then, he always had hope that Kakkarot might show up to give them the added help of an extra ally.
Before Goku showed up, both Krillin and Vegeta were badly beaten by Recoome, and Gohan was left barely clinging to life. While Vegeta knew that Goku helping them fight would increase the group's chance of survival, he had no idea just how powerful Goku had become after training in 100x gravity throughout the entirety of his trip to Namek. Goku was essentially an entirely different person, able to defeat the remaining members of the Ginyu Force single-handedly.
9 Nappa Nearly Killed All the Z Fighters By Himself
Dragon Ball Z
Vegeta and Nappa were the strongest fighters ever shown in the series up to the Saiyan Saga, but that was no surprise. Raditz had long since warned them that Vegeta and Nappa were both far stronger than he was, and that left the Z Fighters with a year to train in preparation for the saiyans' arrival. With Goku having died in the fight against Raditz, the fate of the world was left in the hands of the Earth's remaining warriors, but they weren't enough.
Gohan grew a lot during his survival training with Piccolo, but it paled in comparison to the lifetime of experience Nappa and Vegeta had as saiyan warriors. If Goku never came to their rescue, Nappa would have killed all the Z Fighters by himself, without Vegeta even having to lift a finger. As it stood, the only two fighters left alive by the time Goku made it to the battlefield were Gohan and Krillin: Yamcha, Chiaotzu, Tien and Piccolo were all killed by Nappa and the Saibamen.
8 Vegeta Underestimated the Power of Goku's Friendships
Dragon Ball Z
Without Goku, the Earth would have been entirely at Vegeta's mercy. The Z Fighters stood absolutely zero chance of defeating Vegeta, even if they had all the other warriors who were there at the start before Nappa significantly thinned their numbers. The one wild card was Gohan, who put up a decent fight against Vegeta, but even then, Vegeta never had to use his full strength to defeat him.
The only reason Vegeta was defeated was because he was forced to use his Oozaru form to defeat Goku, which inadvertently brought out Gohan's Oozaru form as well. Had Vegeta never fought Goku, he would have never created a false moon to force out his Great Ape transformation, and Gohan’s own Oozaru would never have led to Vegeta's downfall. Ironically, if Goku weren't there at the end, Vegeta would certainly have been killed, because it was only Goku's act of mercy which prevented Krillin from ending Vegeta's life right then.
7 King Piccolo Conquered the World in Goku's Absence
Dragon Ball Z
King Piccolo took hope away from the heroes in every way imaginable. Not only did he kill many of Goku's friends, but he even killed Shenron after making his own wish so that none of them could be wished back to life. Piccolo then went on to conquer the entire world, taking over as King of the World and plunging the entire planet into chaos.
All the strongest fighters in the World attempted to defeat Piccolo, but none were successful. From Krillin, to Master Roshi, to Chiaotzu, many of Goku’s closest friends were killed by Piccolo and his minions, and with relative ease at that. Goku was the only one who could stand against King Piccolo, which was part of the reason he attempted to ensure that Goku was dead upon their first meeting. Unfortunately for Piccolo, Goku was a boy who was accustomed to preforming miraculous deeds, so it wasn’t long before he faced down Piccolo once again, even stronger than ever.
6 Moro Would Have Eaten The Entire Earth if Goku Hadn't Stopped Him
Dragon Ball Super
Not only was the heroes' fight against Moro hopeless without Goku, but on more than one occasion, it was still hopeless even with him on their side. Moro even defeated both Goku and Vegeta in their first meeting, and ate innumerable planets while Goku trained with Merus to get strong enough to beat him.
Goku's mastery over Ultra Instinct gave him the edge against Moro, because even after Moro absorbed Merus' UI technique, he was unable to control God Ki in the same way that Goku was. Still, it was the combined efforts of all the Z Fighters that led to Moro's demise, not just Goku. If anything, Vegeta was the real MVP of the fight against Moro, because without him, Moro would have been able to infinitely absorb the life out of all the Z Fighters before Goku even got a chance to fight back. The rest of the Z Fighter's chances of winning against Moro would have been hopeless without Goku in the end, but Goku could never have done it by himself either.
5 Frieza Never Respected Anyone Until he Met Goku
Dragon Ball Z
Goku's fight with Frieza is arguably anime's greatest, and a big reason for that is how terrifying a threat Frieza was. Frieza was destroying planets long before he set foot on Namek, and he would have continued to do so without restraint if it hadn’t been for Goku showing up. In fact, the Earth would likely have been next on Frieza's list, as the saiyans were already sent there to scout it out for the Frieza Force long before Frieza was ever mentioned by name in the series.
Before Goku arrived on Planet Namek, the chance at Gohan, Krillin, Piccolo and Vegeta surviving the fight against Frieza was essentially zero. By the time Frieza powered up to his Final Form, he was able to easily torture and kill Vegeta, and all the other Z Fighters could do was watch in horror. Without Goku, Frieza would have easily defeated the rest of the heroes, and then gone on to conquer innumerable other planets, including Earth.
4 Jiren's Only Match in the Multiverse was Goku
Dragon Ball Super
Android 17 ended up being the last fighter standing in the Tournament of Power, but he could never have done it alone. Jiren's power was so vast that most fighters in the TOP refused to even challenge him throughout the majority of the tournament. The only fighter who could match, let alone surpass Jiren, was Ultra Instinct Goku. Even in Goku's case, though, because he could only retain the Ultra Instinct form for a limited time, he was unable to deal the finishing blow.
It took the combined effort of Goku, Frieza and 17 together to hold Jiren off, and that was only after Jiren was considerably weakened from a long, grueling fight against numerous opponents. Goku's fight with Jiren in particular, though, wore Universe 11's most powerful warrior down to such a point that Goku's teammates were able to push him back onto his heels, and eventually overcome him through sheer force of will. Without Goku there to do the leg-work, there would have been no one in the multiverse able to even make Jiren break a sweat.
3 Goku Outlived Raditz Because He Had Something He Was Willing to Die For
Dragon Ball Z
When Raditz first appeared before the Z Fighters at Kami House, even Goku was helpless to stop him. After Gohan was kidnapped, though, Goku would do everything in his power to defeat his brother, even if it meant he had to die trying. Goku and Piccolo's combined battle prowess still wasn't enough to bring Raditz down.
It was only when Goku resolved to sacrifice himself that he and Piccolo had any hope of defeating Raditz. Unlike most other times when Goku saved the World, it wasn't Goku's physical power that allowed him to overcome Raditz. Instead, it was Goku's strength of will that was far superior to Raditz's own. Whereas Raditz even succumbed to begging for his life, Goku gladly told Piccolo to kill him, because he valued something greater than his own life. In the end, Raditz has still never come back to life in the series, while Goku has lived and died innumerable times since.
2 Majin Buu Would Have Destroyed the Entire Universe
Dragon Ball Z
Goku tried desperately to stay out of the fight with Majin Buu. He did everything he could to help guide the next generation and try to leave it in the hands of the other warriors of Earth, but it was no use. Majin Buu was simply too powerful, and he was far more clever than he first appeared.
Gohan had more than enough power to defeat Buu after unlocking his Ultimate Gohan form. However, Buu was able to trick Gohan, Gotenks and Piccolo into being absorbed by him, adding all of their powers to his own. At that point, Goku had no choice but to step in, as the entire Universe would have easily been destroyed, and even the Other World was at risk of being obliterated by Buu's hand.
1 Beerus Only Allowed the Earthlings to Survive Thanks to the Super Saiyan God
Dragon Ball Super
The most hopeless fight that Goku singlehandedly turned around in the entire series was undeniably the initial introduction of Beerus. When Beerus first arrived on Earth, his entire reason for doing so was to find the fabled Super Saiyan God, which would inevitably be Goku. Before Goku showed up, Beerus easily made his way through the entire group of the Z Fighters in what could hardly be considered a fight at all. Beerus never even utilized his full strength, and could have easily destroyed the entire planet Earth and everyone on it if he let out a strong sigh.
In the end, it was Goku who impressed Beerus with his potential enough to change his mind about destroying the Earth. Even with Goku there, though, there was never a chance at victory. Goku was always bound to lose, but he was still the only person on Earth who could give Beerus a good enough fight to make him reconsider whether he would destroy the planet.
