Evil Goku

Evil Goku (Goku) is an alternate version of Goku (Prime) who is hellbent on revenge for a series of disasters that has transpired in his life. Originating from Universe -7, Evil Goku has caused serious destruction to his universe. He has accidently traveled throughout multiple different universes due to a malfunction form a portal device known as Echo-G. As a result of several of these portal warps, Evil Goku has encountered many different versions of himself and other known Dragon Ball characters from across different universes.

## Concept and creation

TheRedHeadHenry created the original red and grey version of Evil Goku on July 23, 2005 as a Legendary Super Warriors (GameBoy Color game) sprite edit in Microsoft Paint. The character was used privately for comics not released on the internet for years.

Red's version of Evil Goku was highly inspired by the original 2002 Evil Goku (grey and white) character from CrazyJehuty's animation series on Newgrounds. Because of CrazyJehuty's work, this inspired Red and many others to create their own variants of Evil Goku around that time, including the Goku Turns Evil animation series also released on Newgrounds. A lot of early Evil Goku fanart characters and animation series were created in the mid to late 2000's which all sprung from CrazyJehuty. TheRedHeadHenry's version of Evil Goku would become well known based on it's simple red and grey recolor and classic look to the original Goku.

A revamp of the sprite design was made in July 2009 using the Jump Super Stars/Jump Ultimate Stars (Nintendo DS game) style of sprites. This sprite sheet would then be used in the first demo test animation released in August of 2009 where Evil Goku is depicted heavily in a flashback. This demo video served no purpose in the main series and was for testing purposes only.

In September 2009 the Evil Goku character would be used in the animation Goku vs. Evil Goku, released on Red's old YouTube channel. The animation was a success at the time, and this lead to two other episodes the series. With the next two episodes focusing more on story and attempting to mimic an actual Dragon Ball episode. This meant staying away from the standard 2D sprite combo animation fighting style that is still highly used even to this day. This "movie style" approach would begin to evolve over time and become the backbone form distinguishing TheRedHeadHenry's work from other sprite animators. Red would go on to create Goku vs. Mecha Goku and Evil Goku vs. Broly in 2010 and 2011. Shortly after these 5 Dragon Ball animations Red would create a new YouTube channel specifically for Dragon Ball animations reuploading all five animations in 2011 to his now current YouTube channel.

The Evil Goku character over the course of the next 12 years would get further character development with each animation Red would release. In Goku Versus we see a sprite change of the character back to his LSW (Legendary Super Warriors) sprite. The reason for this change was that in the story, each universe Evil Goku comes to, may alter his appearance based on the properties of that universe. A cleaver way to show different variants of the character but without hindering from the overall story of the series.

On July 5th, 2013 Red would release Goku vs. Evil Goku 4, the apparent final animation in the Goku Versus series. Pushing an even higher emphasis on story and still attempting to mimic an actual Dragon Ball episode. Evil Goku would get a new transformation, Super Saiyan 4. With many variants of the design changing, a black fur version was eventually decided on. Additionally, Evil Goku's attire would also change with a more battle damaged look and an added white cloak, which would be revealed later in the series as Majin Buu's torn up cape.

In 2019, a soft relaunch of the series was done with the release of Evil Goku vs. Majin Buu. This animation would serve as a prequal to Goku vs. Evil Goku 4, and would explain the events of how Evil Goku obtained Super Saiyan 4 while also heavily establishing character development with his character and backstory. Edits would be made to his color scheme slightly and more poses would be created for visually better shots in the series.

In 2020, Evil Goku vs. Goku Black would see Evil Goku 100 years past the events of Goku vs. Evil Goku 4. Visually not much was changed with the character design from the Majin Buu animation. Edits had been made to the sprite for better quality, but mostly more accurate proportions were tweaked. Evil Goku would show even further development with his character as he is now somewhat friendly with Goku(Prime) after fighting him for the last 100 years. He would appear not as hellbent on destruction as he was in previous installments. Additionally, we get more snippets of his past to bring more depth to his character.

The overall concept of Evil Goku was kept simple at first and then evolved over time with each animation giving him more and more personality and backstory. His personality and backstory would start as a simple alternate version of Goku from an mirror universe, hellbent on destruction and conquering worlds. Over time we would learn more about why he does this and what drives Evil Goku. Setting him a part from his counterpart and flushing out his faults, making him more believable as not just a villain, but in fact the anti-hero, by the time you get to end of the Goku Versus series.

## Personality

Evil Goku's personality is completely different than Goku's due to the events that have transpired in his life. During his childhood he was used as a tool and mentally abused by Grandpa Gohan, Master Roshi, and other factions on earth for his awesome power. Every instance that he finds happiness it is somehow taken away from him causing Evil Goku to spiral more and more out of control or retreat deeper into himself causing more mental trauma.

Evil Goku tries a few times to do the right thing throughout his life, however it always ends up ending badly for him or the situation taking a troubling turn. As a result of the pain (physical and mental) from many injuries and losses he has had to endure during his childhood and teenage years, he feels no remorse and begins to develop psychoses.

Evil Goku's primary motive and purpose for fighting becomes apparent after he loses his wife Chi-Chi and unborn child Gohan in Age 760. His primary goal after this event is revenge against Frieza for sending Raditz to earth and interfering with his life and rule over the planet as King of Earth.

During his journeys in space he would conquer/destroy worlds in search of Frieza and combating the Galactic Peace Federation. This would further drive his character to hunt down factions and individuals within the organization as more and more of them continue to try and stop his rampage.

Evil Goku is a deadly fighter. He enjoys the thrill of combat much like his counterpart (Goku), but for different reasons. He fights to fill an empty void within himself after losing his wife and unborn son. Additionally, as he tries to cope and place his emotions in check during his travels more incidents would occur in his life that would continue to drive him down a path of hate and revenge.

Having an affinity for collecting items from combat, Evil Goku tends to show off trophy's from the battles he has won. After the battle with Majin Buu, Evil Goku would take Buu's torn up can and wear it as a sign of his complete rule over his universe. In the animation Evil Goku vs. Goku Black, Evil Goku can bee seen picking up Black's time ring and inspecting it. He begins to put the ring on his finger when suddenly Goku Black emerges from a lava bed and stops him. In Goku Versus Z a scene of Evil Goku's bedroom shows a room filled with items that he has collected from battles over the course of his life. Swords, guns, clothing, and other objects appear in the room displayed as trophy's. Where Goku seems to have no interest in collecting items of any kind, Evil Goku tends to place a high emphasis on proudly displaying his accomplishments from battle. Another play on parallels to show the difference between the two characters.

By the time Evil Goku meets Goku (Prime) he is in his prime lust for power, still hellbent on destruction and conquering the universe. Jealous that Goku (Prime) got everything that he didn't. Slowly over time as Evil Goku continues to fight Goku (Prime) he begins to change. He starts to see Goku not just as an enemy but eventually an ally by the end of the series. Additionally, Evil Goku begins to realize that after all the years of fighting and destruction, it's gotten him nothing he really wanted in life. That the empty void he had been trying to fill was only temporarily filled after each new surge in power was achieved. This causes Evil Goku to end up in a depression and starting to feel remorse for the damage he has done over the years. By the end of the series he no longer wants to fight, and only wanting to be left alone so that he can find peace of mind.

## Appearance

Evil Goku's standard fighting Gi is similar to Goku's. His t-shirt is red along with his belt, wristbands, and boots. His pants and over shirt color are grey in color. He dawns no symbols or logos on his uniform symbolling his allegiance to no one.

By the end of the series his clothing has become heavily battle damaged. With rips and cuts in his clothing and his grey over shirt completely gone.

## Transformations

### Super Saiyan

Due to differences between universes, all Saiyans from Universe -7 have red colored Super Saiyan hair. Their eyes are also red in color. Evil Goku's hair stands on end the same as Goku when transformed.

It is hinted that Evil Goku firsts achieves Super Saiyan when fighting Frieza, King Vegeta, and Prince Vegeta. Though it is never fully explained how Evil Goku achieves the form.

### Super Saiyan 2

Evil Goku first's achieves Super Saiyan 2 when fighting Goku (Prime) in Universe 7's Otherworld after the events of the Cell Games in Goku vs. Evil Goku 2. Evil Goku realizes he can achieve great power and limitless energy when dead, and commits suicide by exploding killing himself. He then achieves Super Saiyan 2 and is able to match Goku (Prime) during their fight.

### Super Saiyan 3

During his fight against Goku in Otherworld in the events of Goku vs. Evil Goku 2, Evil Goku pushes the limits of his power now that he is dead and has unlimited energy. For the first time he transforms against Goku. Subsequently this is a hypothetical way of how Goku achieves the form of Super Saiyan 3 as well during his time in Otherworld.

### Crimson Great Ape

Simialr to the Golden Great Ape form, Evil Goku unlocks this form fighting Majin Buu whilst having visions of Goku (Prime) in the form of a PTSD. The vision of Goku (Prime) angers Evil Goku and this causes him to rage into a giant Crimson Great Ape with the aid of a nearby moon.

### Super Saiyan 4

Evil Goku is first seen in his Super Saiyan 4 form in Goku vs. Evil Goku 4. No explanation of how he achieved the form was given until 6 years later with the release of the prequel animation, Evil Goku vs. Majin Buu. It is explained that Evil Goku doesn't require a tail in order to transform into Super Saiyan 4. Additionally, it is explained that Evil Goku's hate for Goku (Prime) and seeing him taunt him causes Crimson Great Ape Evil Goku to transform into Super Saiyan 4. This is the exact opposite way Goku achieved Super Saiyan 4 in Dragon Ball GT, as it was Goku's love for Pan and Pan being able to get through to Goku that allowed him to become Super Saiyan 4. Hate is opposite love, a play on parallels to once again show the opposite nature of both Goku's.

## Abilities

**Kamehameha**

Similar to his counterpart, this is Evil Goku's signature move. His Kamehameha was first shown in the animation Goku vs. Evil Goku and is pink in color as opposed to being blue. He was taught the maneuver by Master Roshi and sense that time has developed the move to make it his own. He has been shown a few times times firing the attack from his mouth. The first time we see this is in Evil Goku vs. Majin Buu when he finally kills Majin Buu using this attack. The second time we see Evil Goku firing a Kamehameha from his mouth is during his fight against Goku Black.

**Blitz Bomb**

An attack unique to Evil Goku is the Blitz Bomb. This attack is quickly gathered in a green and black energy sphere that is then released to cause considerable damage to an opponent or the environment. Evil Goku has used this attack several times throughout the series, most notably destroying a nearby moon in the animation Evil Goku vs. Majin Buu. The attack can be modified so that instead of firing one large energy bomb, it can scatter multiple smaller bombs firing a barrage from the hand.

**Kaio-Ken**

Taught to Evil Goku much later in his life in the game Evil Goku: Battle for Otherworld. Evil Goku demands training from his universe's King Kai. King Kai is reluctant at first, but with his life on the line saw no choice but to train Evil Goku in the art of Kaio-Ken. Due to the differences in universes, Evil Goku's Kaio-Ken attack is blue, as opposed to being red like Goku's. Additionally, Evil Goku tends to use the attack for a barrage of overpowered strong punches and kicks, versus Goku who tends to use the Kaio-Ken for single strike blows. Evil Goku can also channel the Kaio-Ken into his Kamehameha, similar to Goku. Additionally, Evil Goku can also multiply the technique just like Goku can.

**Negative Spirit Bomb**

Similar to Goku, Evil Goku was taught the Sprit Bomb attack from King Kai. Instead of requesting energy from other life forms to create the Sprit Bomb, Evil Goku demands the energy and steals it from the surrounding life forms in the area. The Negative Spirit Bomb is first shown in Goku vs. Evil Goku 4 and was used to killed Goku (Prime). Evil Goku would use a smaller version of the attack against a weakened Goku Black in the animation Evil Goku vs. Goku Black.

    **Shadow Goku (Clone Technique)**

During Goku vs. Evil Goku 2, Evil Goku is taught how to summon and create Shadow Clones of himself. The technique is used to overwhelm opponents as the Shadow Goku clone is able to duplicate itself with those duplicate able to do the same. This allows Evil Goku to take a break from combat and analyze his opponent's fighting style and look for weaknesses. The clone is made up of a dark cloud-like mist, making it difficult to hit only being able to be destroyed if hit by a strong energy attack.

**Instant Transmission**

Evil Goku is taught Instant Transmission by King Kai after killing the remaining Kais in Evil Goku: Battle for Otherworld.

**Realm Teleportation**

In Evil Goku: Battle for Otherworld, all of the Dragon Balls are gathered and Evil Goku is allowed three wishes. One of these wishes being the creation of his own realm. With this realm now created, Evil Goku then wishes for the ability to travel back and forth to this realm as he so chooses. The wish is granted and Evil Goku uses his Realm Teleportation technique to transport himself and Goku (Prime) to his realm.

## Influence

The red and grey look for TheRedHeadHenry's Evil Goku has heavily impacted the Dragon Ball community in the late 2000's and early to mid 2010's. Almost every fan iteration of an Evil Goku character since the Goku Versus series debuted is seen dawning the grey gi and red under shirt. The inspiration of Red's Evil Goku fan character has sparked countless fan arts, stories, video game mods, comics, and animations over the years. It has become the staple look for a standard iteration of an Evil Goku character. So much so that it, along with others, may have arguably played an influence in the creation of the Dragon Ball Super character, Goku Black.

In the game Dragon Ball FighterZ, we are presented with a different variant of Goku known as Clone Goku. Clone Goku is almost identical in appearance to Evil Goku, dawning the exact same outfit minus the symbol on the gi.