Dragon Ball Super is Completely Justifying its Goku Problem
In chapter 83 of Dragon Ball Super, Goku's father Bardock has the Namekian Monaito make a wish that explains why his son is always the hero.
Warning! Spoilers ahead for Dragon Ball Super chapter 83!
Fans who have been flustered by how Dragon Ball Super has been relentlessly perpetuating the annoying trend that always sees Goku win every battle (instead of Vegeta) no longer have a reason to feel that way. Dragon Ball Super just justified why this happens - and it's perfect.
Ever since Goku mastered Kaio-Ken and Spirit Bomb after his presumed death in Dragon Ball Z, the franchise has made him the main force who saves the day from almost every villain, a trend that only further gained momentum when he achieved Super Saiyan before Vegeta. Although there have been some exceptions like in the Cell saga with Gohan and Goku Black with Trunks, Goku continues to serve in this capacity even to this day in Dragon Ball Super, pushing every other character into the shadows much to the annoyance of fans. But now mangaka Akira Toriyama has provided an explanation as to why this has been happening so frequently.
In what's becoming known as a monumental 83rd chapter, a flashback of Bardock's fight against the villain Gas shows the Saiyan requesting that Namekian Monaito wish for his sons to thrive. The request comes after Bardock vetoes Monaito's earlier wish to transport the Saiyan safely off-planet Cereal to protect him from Gas' onslaught. If this wish is actually made (since readers never see it actually happen), then that would explain why Goku has always thrived, in that he continually finds a way to come back to life after dying and, most especially, is always the hero of not just planet Earth but Universe 7.
Regardless, Bardock's wish to ensure Goku thrived in life would explain why his son's character has been able to attain and harness the power of the gods themselves, achieving the impossible to an annoying degree. It also serves as an explanation as to how a low-level Saiyan of nonroyal birth could possibly surpass Vegeta, the Prince of all Saiyans who was destined to be the strongest of his kind. Although this reading strips away the mystery of Goku's success with a rational answer, it brings a sense of realism to Dragon Ball that isn't common - one that other manga like Black Clover have successfully captured. Now, even the most critical of fans, who struggled with why Toriyama couldn't just break his own formula by making someone else the hero other than Goku, can now accept - and welcome the Saiyan's continued time in the limelight. Of course, there's the obvious question as to why Raditz, who is also Bardock's son, ever thrived. But the chapter hints at the possibility that how the recipient of a wish intends to use it can result in their doom, which would explain Raditz's death in Dragon Ball Z.
This development in Dragon Ball Super also matches with mangaka Akira Toriyama's interpretation of Bardock who's portrayed more as a family man than his original counterpart in the film Bardock: The Father of Goku. For this wish creates the stunning allusion that Bardock, although being absent for the vast majority of Goku's life, was somehow able to shape his son into the man he eventually becomes. This is what every parent wants, especially those who are separated from their child for years or even decades, and Goku thriving because of him is actually the greatest gift that Bardock could have ever received. As Bardock's spirit said in the ending scene of the original movie, he regretted never having held Goku in his arms. Now he has nothing to regret.
While the sequel series mostly plays it safe, Dragon Ball Super's latest change to Goku is definitely a change for the better.