Sorry this one came a little late but as many of you may know, there’s a new Dragon Ball Super movie making its way to U.S. theaters on January 16, 2019. That movie brings back someone from the franchise that we’re quite familiar with – and it’s not Frieza. As far as what we know via reddit, Funimation and Crunchyroll, the Legendary Super Saiyan has returned, but he’s not the same guy we’ve come to know in the past three movies. Hopefully more will be revealed about the whole story as the movie date gets closer (fingers crossed).

There are so many iconic characters in this legendary franchise that many of us are familiar with, but with all of the things that we know (and may not know) about them, there are still a handful of facts that only a small percentage of DBZ fans may not be aware of – yet! One of those characters is our very own Son Goku, the main character of the entire franchise. With everything fans know about him already, there are some things that might come as a surprise to some, and not so much to others. Here are seven things you didn’t know (or might know) about the Earth-born saiyan, Goku.

7. He Has His Own Holiday in Japan: May 9th!

If you live in America, you’ll notice that we have more holidays than just Columbus Day and Thanksgiving. These days we’ve got holidays for things that most people would make fun of, but for the DBZ fans of Japan, the leading Z-Warrior has an official day dedicated to him. May 9th is known as “Goku Day” in Japan, meaning that the numbers “5” and “9” translate into “Go” and “Ku” in Japanese. With May being the fifth month of the year and the ninth day happening on said month, you get (you guessed it) Goku!

6. Out of the Nine Tournaments He’s Been in, Goku Only Won One!

Goku is the strongest fighter in the DBZ franchise by far, so it would only make sense that you’d spot him in action fighting in Martial Arts Tournaments. It’s true that he has competed in at least nine tournaments through Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, but out of the nine that he’s been in, he’s only won one – that one being against Piccolo. Having a 1-8 record in the world of Martial Arts isn’t something you’d want to brag about to your friends, but in Goku’s case he’s handling it quite well.

5. Goku Has The Lowest Kill-Count in DBZ!

With Goku being who he is when it comes to fights that could mean life or death for his home of Planet Earth, he always tries and gives his enemies a second chance to change their ways, no matter how nasty the crime was. This doesn’t mean that Goku won’t do whatever he has to do to protect the ones he loves, and he’s only had to do this twice against enemies Yakkon and Majin Buu (who became Uub later on).

4. His First Fight with Frieza Lasted Longer Than The First “Lord of the Rings”

Shout-out to all the Lord of the Rings fans out there. With everything we know about the iconic encounter/showdown between Goku and Frieza, the battle itself actually lasted longer than “five minutes” as Frieza had implied. Of course he had three other forms that gave Goku’s friends and Vegeta a hard time, so it only justifies as to why the final fight took as long as it did – and yet Frieza survived (until Trunks kills him later on).

3. Goku’s Greatest Threat…is Needles?!

Yep, you’ve heard it from us. The strongest saiyan warrior on Earth is afraid of needles, so you don’t have to worry about being the only one who is. Back in the earlier episodes of DBZ, there was a comedic gag where Goku has a fear of needles as well as being injected. Can you imagine what his battle against Cell would have been like had this gag kept going? What’s that? You can’t even? Us too! XP

2. Goku Was An Advertiser For…KFC?

Advertising and promoting are crucial when it comes to anything in the media and entertainment industry – especially anime. For DBZ fans in both the East and West there’s always promos and ads going on about a new series or movie. One bizarre way Goku has been advertised was the time he used KFC as a way to promote the Battle of Gods movie that came out a few years ago. Although a crossover between the Colonel and Goku seems great in theory, it reinforces the fact that saiyans have a hardy appetite.

1. Goku Used The Kamehameha Wave 97 Times in DB and DBZ!

We all know that the Kamehameha Wave is the signature attack of Son Goku taught to him by Master Roshi, however its not the kind of attack that he just whips out once in a blue moon. The K-Wave has been used close to (if not already) 100 times if you throw some Dragon Ball Super episodes in there; making it one K-Wave every five episodes. He’s killed some fearsome enemies with this legendary move, so it’s only natural to the anime and its fanbase that this is the go-to move for the Earth-born saiyan.

There’s other facts and secrets about Son Goku that many of us know, and some of us don’t. Nevertheless he’s a seemingly clueless fighter who has saved the world from powerful threats at least a dozen times. That’s all we’ve got for this post as well as this week, but next week we’ve got more awesome posts and updates including a new convention highlight video that will be coming soon!

Until next time, stay gold! 😉