Son Goku of theDragon Ballfranchiseis perhaps one of the most recognizable and most iconic fictional characters of the modern era, and he is regarded to be one of the strongest characters in the history of anime and manga. Like Superman, Goku is used as a benchmark of overpoweredness, and considered to be impossible to defeat due to his continuous refinement of his own abilities, his tenacity, but also because of his overwhelmingly good nature. The Death Note is one of the most iconic items in anime and manga and its ability to kill anyone whose name is written therein has been shown to have the ability to alter various other elements surrounding the death itself, meaning that it is incredibly powerful and resides firmly in the realm of the supernatural.
Over the years, anime fans have compared various characters from fiction, Shonen anime in particular, and tried to see if their favourite characters from other titles could beat Goku in a fight. Most of these comparisons have been rendered moot time and time again by Goku’s ever-increasing power; however, that doesn’t mean he lacks weaknesses, having died several times in theDragon Ballfranchise. This possibility makes it seem viable to kill him with the Death Note; however, that simply will not work. Here’s why Goku can’t be killed withthe notorious Death Note.
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The Note
The Death Note, while clearly beyond the capabilities of human beings, is not without its own limitations. In theDeath Noteanime and manga series, the item comes with clear instructions and even an explanation. The Rules of the Death Note are not all revealed in the beginning of the series; however, the Shinigami Ryuk is seen writing five of them in the notebook that he drops to Earth so that whoever found it would at least know how to make use of it. One thing that’s important to note is the fact that despite the events occurring largely in Japan, and the characters being largely Japanesein theDeath Noteseries, the rules of the Death Note are explicitly written in English. Ryuk explains that this is because “English is the most popular language in the world of humans”, and while that is not true, it is an extremely important detail in explaining why the Death Note would be powerless against Son Goku.
The most important rule of the Death Note is of course its most famous:
The human whose name is written in this note shall die.
The circumstances of the death of the person can be detailed in the Death Note by the user; however, if no cause of death is specified, the person will die of a heart attack within 40 seconds of their name being written in the note. As seen throughout the series, the Death Note is used by Light Yagami to enact his brand of justice, manipulating the lives and deaths of various peoplethroughout his reign as “Killer”(“Kīrā”).This note enabled him to dictate the various circumstances of the deaths of his victims, and influenced their behaviour with its incredible power. However, the Death Note’s most famous, most important rule is its downfall in the hypothetical scenario in which a hostile attempts to use it against Goku.
Semantics
The rule says “The human whose name is written in this note shall die”. Put simply, Goku can’t be killed with the Death Note, as its power, and the power of the Shinigami over the realm/state/process of death by extension, are only effective over human beings. Son Goku’s true identity as the member of an alien race known as the Saiyans is common knowledge at this point, and forms part of what explains his incredible fighting prowess, indomitable spirit and love for fighting compared to the other characters in the series. While it is true that Goku has canonically been affected, and even died due to a heart attack (the Death Note’s default killing method), the Death Note would not be able to invoke this particular brand of death over the Saiyan warrior due to his alien heritage.
Despite the overwhelming similarities between humans and Saiyans as seen in their propensity towards interspecies relationships with each other throughout the series and the viability of their offspring (viability in combat beyond that of pure Saiyans, to say the least), it can’t be said that the Death Note would have some kind of effect over a similar type of entity as humans, nor is it explicitly claimed that the Death Notes have power over all mortality. It is also a known fact that not all human deaths in theDeath Noteuniverse are the direct cause of Death Notes, which is evidence that there aresomedeaths that the Death Note has no power over. Ultimately, the reason why the Death Note as we know it from the original anime and manga series cannot be used to kill Goku is simply because Goku is not human, and even more so now that he has ascended past his mortal limits and becomesomething akin to a Shinigami – a god.
