Goku (Super Smash Flash 2)

Goku is a newcomer starter character in Super Smash Flash 2. He appeared in the original teaser for the game and would later become playable in demo v0.7.
Goku is ranked 36th on the current tier list, placing him in the C tier. Goku has a solid aerial game, amazing combo ability, and KO moves in his forward smash, up smash, forward and back throws when used near the ledge, and the Kamehameha. He also possesses has the ability to float, which gives him a good horizontal recovery and the ability to auto float-cancel which aids in his aerial game on stage. Goku's down special move, Kaiō-ken, when activated, increases his speed, power and the hitstun of his attacks. His time in Kaiō-ken will extend if he continues to hit his opponent. Due to this Goku can combo and zero-to-death combo the entire roster. He can also use Kaiō-ken to slow his descent in the air and can use the Kamehameha to slow his descent and push himself backwards, helping him with horizontal recovery if he can no longer float, thus giving him an amazing horizontal recovery overall.
However, Goku has problems with a lack of range in most his attacks leaving him vulnerable to characters with disjointed hitboxes (ex. and ). Additionally, Goku's tall frame, combined with his high weight and being a high faller, makes him susceptible to combos and chain grabs. While Kaiō-ken has its benefits, it damages Goku for every half-second it is active and the time will be extended as long as he hits his opponent or his opponent hits him, which makes using Kaiō-ken very risky and situational, and also makes Goku lose some of the priority on his attacks. His side special move, Ki Blasts, is a very poor projectile with several flaws: it deals very weak damage and knockback, has low priority, can be reflected, is small and moves very slowly, making it easy to dodge, especially with small characters. Additionally, Goku's main means of vertical recovery, Instant Transmission, can be easily edgehogged due to it not having an hitbox at the end of the move unless the initial hit connects, and also has very poor absolute vertical gain, as Goku loses all of his momentum when using it, causing him to almost immediately lose the distance he gained, thus making him dependant on his ability to float to keep him from falling too low for him to reach the ledge.
Goku appears to have a moderate player base. However, he has a lackluster representation in online tournaments.
== Attributes ==
Goku is a character that focuses on speed and power. He has the ability to auto float-cancel, which aids in his air game along with his aerials having good priority. His down air has a lot of priority which allows him to deal with projectiles. He has a projectile in Ki Blasts, which he can use to zone his opponents or hinder their approach. He has KO moves in his forward smash, side tilt, forward and back throws (when used near the ledge) and back air.
Goku has different recovery options with having the ability to float which covers a good horizontal distance, Instant transmission covers decent vertical distance while making him intangible for a second, he can use Kamehameha for horizontal recovery when fully charged and can use the start up of Kaiō-ken to slow his falling speed.
Goku has a good grab game, possessing the seventeenth longest grab in the current demo, with his up throw being a chain grab on fast fallers while being a combo starter on other characters. His down throw can chain throw characters at low percentages. His back and forward throw can be used as KO moves when used near the ledge. His down special move, Kaiō-ken, when activated increases the speed and power of his attacks. His forward air no longer needs to be sweet spotted to semi-spike and his down air becomes a meteor smash, with both having high base knockback making it is to KO opponents. His smash attack no longer need to be charged.
However, Goku suffers from subpar range in most of his attacks which leaves him vulnerable to characters with disjointed hitboxes (ex. and ). His projectiles are weak and can be canceled out very easily by other attacks. This gives him more trouble playing a neutral with characters who can shut his options down.
Due to Goku's height, above average weight and fall speed, he is susceptible to combos, chain grabs, and zero-to-death combos.
Kaiō-ken is a very situational move due to it damaging Goku every half a second it is activated, the move stays activated every time the opponent hits him which makes him more susceptible to zero-to-deaths while using the move.
== Moveset ==
=== Ground attacks ===
Attack 	Description 	Damage
Neutral attack	A palm strike followed by a punch. Extremely low endlag makes it very safe but a little unwieldy. 	
Forward tilt 	Kicks out in front of him. Has a small disjoint and deals decent knockback. However, it has moderate ending lag and fairly poor range despite its disjoint. 	11%
Up tilt 	Punches diagonally upwards out in front of him. Very fast and spammable because of its low endlag, but barely hits above him due to its animation. Can combo into itself and a variety of moves at low to mid percents, but is heavily affected by DI. 	6%
Down tilt 	Punches while crouching. Very fast, fairly strong, and can perform as an effective tech chase utility due to its low angle. 	7%
Dash attack 	An elbow strike. Very spammable, but its already low knockback is heavily affected by DI. 	
Dash attack 	An elbow strike. Very spammable, but its already low knockback is heavily affected by DI. 	
Forward smash 	Launches a powerful straight punch. Pathetic range, but very strong and fairly fast. 	
Up smash 	A jumping uppercut. A good anti-air and very strong, but very punishable on whiff. 	
Down smash 	Thrusts his hands out from either side, emitting two energy orbs that deal electrical damage. Huge hitbox on top of its moderately strong knockback, making it a very useful tool for tech chasing and reading ledge options. Goku's slowest smash attack in terms of startup, but it has fairly low endlag.	
Down smash 	Thrusts his hands out from either side, emitting two energy orbs that deal electrical damage. Huge hitbox on top of its moderately strong knockback, making it a very useful tool for tech chasing and reading ledge options. Goku's slowest smash attack in terms of startup, but it has fairly low endlag.	
=== Aerial attacks ===
Attack 	Description 	Damage
Neutral aerial	Performs a spin kick in front of him. A very versatile move due to its fast speed, high range, good angle and decent combo potential. 	9%
Forward aerial	Performs a double axe handle. Strong meteor smash if hit correctly, but the sweetspot is very awkward to land and the sourspot is generally more useful. Generally outclassed by back and up air. 	11%
Back aerial 	Performs a spinning back kick. One of the best moves in Goku's kit as it has high range (even hitting in front of him) and fast speed, allowing it to be comboed into by moves like neutral air. 	
Back aerial 	Performs a spinning back kick. One of the best moves in Goku's kit as it has high range (even hitting in front of him) and fast speed, allowing it to be comboed into by moves like neutral air. 	
Back aerial 	Performs a spinning back kick. One of the best moves in Goku's kit as it has high range (even hitting in front of him) and fast speed, allowing it to be comboed into by moves like neutral air. 	
Back aerial 	Performs a spinning back kick. One of the best moves in Goku's kit as it has high range (even hitting in front of him) and fast speed, allowing it to be comboed into by moves like neutral air. 	
Up aerial 	Does a flip kick. Excellent juggler due to its high speed and large hitbox, as well as being one of the more useful landing up airs, but it has almost no KO power compared to some of the other up airs in the game. 	10%
Down aerial 	Shoots diagonally downwards fists-first. Landing produces a small earthquake around Goku, which can hit nearby grounded opponents. The Ki blast of the move sends upward and is by far the strongest part of it, but is also extremely hard to land. The other hitbox has rather disappointing power. High landing lag makes this move rather unsafe on shield. This can be used for recovery mixups, but leaves Goku almost certainly dead if he loses his double jump.	
Down aerial 	Shoots diagonally downwards fists-first. Landing produces a small earthquake around Goku, which can hit nearby grounded opponents. The Ki blast of the move sends upward and is by far the strongest part of it, but is also extremely hard to land. The other hitbox has rather disappointing power. High landing lag makes this move rather unsafe on shield. This can be used for recovery mixups, but leaves Goku almost certainly dead if he loses his double jump.	
Down aerial 	Shoots diagonally downwards fists-first. Landing produces a small earthquake around Goku, which can hit nearby grounded opponents. The Ki blast of the move sends upward and is by far the strongest part of it, but is also extremely hard to land. The other hitbox has rather disappointing power. High landing lag makes this move rather unsafe on shield. This can be used for recovery mixups, but leaves Goku almost certainly dead if he loses his double jump.	
=== Grab and throws ===
Attack 	Description 	Damage
Grab 	Reaches out. Passable range. 	colspan="3"
Pummel 	Jabs the opponent. 	1%
Forward throw	Slams the opponent forward with both hands. A fairly strong KO throw, and its angle is good. 	12%
Back throw 	Spins the opponent around several times quickly before throwing them backwards. Has very high knockback, making it his strongest KO throw. 	14%
Up throw 	Punches the opponent upwards. Can combo into a few aerials at low percents, but it's very DI-dependent. Mainly a tool to set up into juggles. 	9%
Down throw 	Uses Solar Flare to conjure a flash of light. Can chain into a couple moves at lower percents. Has some utility at the ledge due to sending at a very shallow angle.	5%
=== Other attacks ===
Attack 	Description 	Damage
Floor attack	Gets up and performs a spin kick that hits both sides.	6%
Ledge attack	Kicks out in front of him. 	8%
=== Special moves ===
Attack 	Name 	Description 	Damage
Neutral special move	Kamehameha 	Concentrates his Ki into a single point between his hands and then thrusts forward to shoot out a powerful streaming beam of Ki. It takes 128 frames for the Kamehameha to be fully charged. Range increases with charge, covering the entirety of Final Destination when fully charged. KOs at extremely low percentages, making it arguably his best shield break punish when facing the ledge. 	
Neutral special move	Kamehameha 	Concentrates his Ki into a single point between his hands and then thrusts forward to shoot out a powerful streaming beam of Ki. It takes 128 frames for the Kamehameha to be fully charged. Range increases with charge, covering the entirety of Final Destination when fully charged. KOs at extremely low percentages, making it arguably his best shield break punish when facing the ledge. 	
Neutral special move	Kamehameha 	Concentrates his Ki into a single point between his hands and then thrusts forward to shoot out a powerful streaming beam of Ki. It takes 128 frames for the Kamehameha to be fully charged. Range increases with charge, covering the entirety of Final Destination when fully charged. KOs at extremely low percentages, making it arguably his best shield break punish when facing the ledge. 	
Neutral special move	Kamehameha 	Concentrates his Ki into a single point between his hands and then thrusts forward to shoot out a powerful streaming beam of Ki. It takes 128 frames for the Kamehameha to be fully charged. Range increases with charge, covering the entirety of Final Destination when fully charged. KOs at extremely low percentages, making it arguably his best shield break punish when facing the ledge. 	
Side special move 	Ki Blasts 	Fires a mid-range energy blast and quickly follows up with a second one. When this move is used in midair, the player has to keep the special button held in order to fire the second blast, and both of them are sent diagonally downwards. The aerial version of this move is significantly more useful than the grounded version and helps with approach. 	
Side special move 	Ki Blasts 	Fires a mid-range energy blast and quickly follows up with a second one. When this move is used in midair, the player has to keep the special button held in order to fire the second blast, and both of them are sent diagonally downwards. The aerial version of this move is significantly more useful than the grounded version and helps with approach. 	
Up special move 	Instant Transmission	Performs a flip kick before teleporting in one of eight directions, as chosen by the player. When hitting with the front of the move, moves the opponent to where Goku teleports and then kick them outwards. The back hit launches opponents but does not lead to the second hit. If aimed diagonally down at the ground, Goku will go sliding across the stage. 	
Up special move 	Instant Transmission	Performs a flip kick before teleporting in one of eight directions, as chosen by the player. When hitting with the front of the move, moves the opponent to where Goku teleports and then kick them outwards. The back hit launches opponents but does not lead to the second hit. If aimed diagonally down at the ground, Goku will go sliding across the stage. 	
Up special move 	Instant Transmission	Performs a flip kick before teleporting in one of eight directions, as chosen by the player. When hitting with the front of the move, moves the opponent to where Goku teleports and then kick them outwards. The back hit launches opponents but does not lead to the second hit. If aimed diagonally down at the ground, Goku will go sliding across the stage. 	
Up special move 	Instant Transmission	Performs a flip kick before teleporting in one of eight directions, as chosen by the player. When hitting with the front of the move, moves the opponent to where Goku teleports and then kick them outwards. The back hit launches opponents but does not lead to the second hit. If aimed diagonally down at the ground, Goku will go sliding across the stage. 	
Down special move 	Kaiō-ken 	Powers up and lets out a blue Ki aura. On contact with an opponent, Goku will tint himself with a crimson tone and it will power up his current moveset, making him faster and stronger with several moves changed, such as his side special move becoming Kaiō-ken Attack, a forward dash with huge speed and range. However, he will also rapidly take damage over time, and must continuously deal damage or else he will change back.	3%
Final Smash 	Meteor Combination 	Teleports to and kicks away a nearby opponent and then rushes forward in his Super Saiyan form, delivering many blows while transitioning between his various forms. He then performs a Genki Dama, and uses it to blow the enemy away. 	
Final Smash 	Meteor Combination 	Teleports to and kicks away a nearby opponent and then rushes forward in his Super Saiyan form, delivering many blows while transitioning between his various forms. He then performs a Genki Dama, and uses it to blow the enemy away. 	
=== Misc. ===
Misc. 	Description 	Description 	Description
On-screen appearance	Jumps off the Kinto'un () and lands on the stage. 	Jumps off the Kinto'un () and lands on the stage. 	Jumps off the Kinto'un () and lands on the stage.
Taunts 	Neutral 	Happily raises up two fingers to show the sign of peace and laughs. 	
Taunts 	Side 	Thrusts his head forward, yelling loudly, commonly referred to as the Big Head Yell in the anime and manga series. 	
Taunts 	Down/Up 	Powers up, with an animation identical to Kaiō-ken. 	
Idle poses 	colspan="3" 	 	
Victory theme 	A short excerpt from the first intro of the theme CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA from the Dragon Ball Z anime, the same tune is used for the eyecatch as well.	A short excerpt from the first intro of the theme CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA from the Dragon Ball Z anime, the same tune is used for the eyecatch as well.	A short excerpt from the first intro of the theme CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA from the Dragon Ball Z anime, the same tune is used for the eyecatch as well.
Victory pose 	Jumps up happily and nearly falls, but is saved by his Kinto'un, where he laughs happily. 	Jumps up happily and nearly falls, but is saved by his Kinto'un, where he laughs happily. 	Jumps up happily and nearly falls, but is saved by his Kinto'un, where he laughs happily.
== Changes from v0.9a to v0.9b ==
Even though Goku was considered a top tier character in demo v0.9a, Goku received a lot of buffs and a few nerfs in v0.9b. Due to the lower hitstun of the demo, Goku is less susceptible to chain grabs while still being able to combo like last demo.
=== Aesthetics ===
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=== Ground attacks ===
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=== Aerial attacks ===
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=== Grabs and throws ===
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=== Special moves ===
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== In competitive play ==
=== Match Ups ===
=== Notable Players ===
==== Active ====
* Bubble Panda
==== Inactive ====
* Kafonn
* Mirwaiss
=== Tier placement history ===
When Goku was first introduced in demo v0.7; he was seen as a top tier character like and . On the lists for demo v0.7; Goku was 3rd of A tier on the first list and ranked 2nd of A tier on the second list.
In demo v0.8b; Goku's position dropped to 12th at the bottom of C tier where he was seen as a mid tier character.
In demo v0.9a; Goku rose to 6th of what can be considered A tier, where he is now seen as a top tier character again.
In demo v0.9b, Goku dropped to 16th of A tier where he was still seen as a high tier character. For the second tier list of v0.9b, changes in the metagame has led to Goku rising to 12th place of A tier where he is still seen as a high tier character. Further changes in the metagame has caused Goku to rise to the 6th place on the final tier list of v0.9b, where he is seen as a top tier character.
In Beta 1.0.0, Goku had received multiple buffs and was able to chain grab back throw into itself until very high percentages. That, accompanied by buffs to Instant Transmission, made him rise to first spot in the tier list. Goku was toned down in the following two subversions, making him drop to 12th spot. In Beta 1.1, though, Goku was considerably nerfed once again, with his recovery being the most affected part. That, coupled with Goku's lack of range, made him drop to 37th place on D tier, which is his current placement.
== Gallery ==
=== Costumes ===
=== Artworks ===
Gokubig.gif|Goku's first art in the DOJO!!!.
GokuCSS.png|Goku's first/second art, used in the character selection screen from v0.7 to v0.8b.
GokuInGame.png|Goku's first/second art, used in-game from v0.7 to v0.8b.
Goku early artwork.gif|Goku's third artwork in the DOJO!!!.
GokuOld.png|Goku's fourth artwork, used in v0.9a.
Goku-Main.png|Goku's fifth artwork, used in v0.9b.
Goku SSF2 Beta.png|Goku's sixth artwork, used in development builds of Beta.
Goku 1.0.png|Goku's seventh artwork, used from Beta 1.0.0 to Beta 1.1.0.1.
=== Screenshots ===
Goku Battack.png|Goku using his down smash against and on Central Highway.
Goku DA.png|Goku hitting with the Ki part of his down aerial on Tower of Salvation.
Goku and Gohan.png|Goku taunting on Planet Namek.
Goku 1.png|Goku using his up smash while using on Mushroom Kingdom III.
Goku 2nd.png|Goku and clanking each other's neutral attacks on Gangplank Galleon.
Goku 3.png|Goku using his back throw against while Mario taunts on .
Goku 4.png|Goku using Kamehameha against while he's crouching on World Tournament.
Ball - Goku.png|Ball version.
=== Early designs ===
Goku1.png|Goku using his neutral special move, Kamehameha on .
Goku2.png|Goku using his idle pose while taunts on .
Goku3.png|Goku attacking with his forward smash on Hidden Leaf Village.
Goku4.png|Goku jumping at on Tower of Salvation.
Goku ND 1.png|Goku using his forward smash on on Mushroom Kingdom III.
Goku 2.png|Goku charging the Kamehameha and using Inhale on Hylian Skies.
Goku ND 3.png|Goku using his down smash on Crateria.
Goku ND 4.png|Goku doing his side taunt and using Chomp on Hidden Leaf Village.
=== Designs ===
Goku's old design.png|Goku's first early design used in demo v0.7 to v0.9a.
Goku's second old design.png|Goku's new design, used from demo v0.9b onwards. Idle animation used until Beta 1.1.
Goku's new design.png|Goku's new idle animation, used in Beta 1.2.
=== Misc. ===
SSF2 - Classic mode - Goku.png|Goku's congratulations screen on Classic mode.
SSF2 - All-Star mode - Goku.png|Goku's congratulations screen on All-Star mode.
== Trivia ==
*Goku is the only playable manga and anime character to use voice clips from his English-dubbed voice actor — in this case, Sean Schemmel — rather than his original Japanese seiyū, Masako Nozawa.
**The reason for this is because the English dub of the Dragon Ball Z anime is commonly accepted as the standard version in the West, whereas the original Japanese versions of , , and are commonly accepted as the standard versions of each respective anime.https://forums.mcleodgaming.com/viewtopic.php?f=117&t=44752&start=75#p1481307
*Goku's current artwork in Super Smash Flash 2 is similar to his render in his appearance in J-Stars Victory VS.. It is also similar to his battle stance from his first fight against Vegeta.
== References ==
== External link ==
*Goku's page at Smash Flash DOJO!!!
Category:Fourth-party characters
Category:Newcomer characters
Category:Starter characters
Category:Super Smash Flash 2
Category:Super Smash Flash series