DBFZ/Goku

Overview

Goku (also referred as Base Goku or Baseku) is a shotoShort for "Shotokan" A character archetype defined by being similar in some way to Ryu from Street Fighter. Shotos usually have a horizontal fireball, an invulnerable reversal, and a forward moving special move. and grappler hybrid, in a sense. Although his tools are quite well rounded and easily comparable to his Super Saiyan counterpart, they're a bit trickier to put to their full potential or otherwise loaded with specific quirks. An example of this is his Super Spirit Bomb level 3, which cannot be used traditionally.

However, Goku can still get the job more than done thanks to his versatility, Back Throw and his damage. Back Throw is a quick command grab that gives Goku a surprisingly effective and easy tick throwA throw done after attacks, very soon after if not exactly when throw invulnerability expires on the opponent. A Tick Throw take advantage of that the opponent naturally expect a Frame Trap coming, making it very hard to react to or escape from. as well as a sideswap. As for damage, Goku's Super Spirit Bomb and advanced combo routes help him chew out characters even without spending any meter, and his Kaioken X3/X20 super gets stronger with each of his allies that are downed. Lastly, his A assist is great and makes Goku an excellent addition to your team. Ultimately, Goku is easy to learn and hard to master, with a diverse toolkit that needs some labbing and a team to put to its max efficiency.

Goku

Goku is a quirky support character whose numerous tricks amount to massive damage, and gets even stronger with every fallen ally.
Pros	Cons
Solid Pressure: Has access to many safe normals that incentivize staggers, further aided with Back Throw. Space Control: Numerous ki blasts and a beam allow him to control horizontal and vertical space. A charged Spirit Bomb tracks and beats most approaches. Extraordinary Super Damage: Kaioken X3/X20 and Super Spirit Bomb boast the highest raw Super damage in the game. Last Character: Resources like Limit Break, late-game meter reserves, and even Sparking! allow Goku's damage with his upgraded Supers to skyrocket.	Diva: To bring out the full potential of Base Goku, the team has to be structured around him to fully utilize the massive damage of his Supers. High/Low: His only low is 2M, making his high/low mix-up less than ideal.

Normal Moves

5L

Version	Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block
5L	400	All		6	3	13	-4
5LL	700	All		10	3	18	-5
5LLL	1000	All	U3+	15	3	26	-4

5L

Standard jab shared among all of the Gokus. It has less active frames and more recovery frames than his SS and Blue counterparts, making it overall worse. Though you likely won't notice.

5LL

Forward moving rising hitbox
High hitstun
Launches on hit.

Hits rather high and moves Goku forward, can kinda be mashed in scramble considering 5LLL hits both sides.

5LLL

Wall bounces on Smash hit.
Hits both in front and behind Goku.
True string into 236S and Vanish.

Really good range and is Goku's most used combo extender. Unlike other characters, Goku's combo routes are mostly grounded, using 5LLL and 5H over his special moves.

5M

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
700	All		9	3	18	-5

Short reach, but very quick.
Excellent pressure reset point.

Somewhat small but with quick startup and recovery to compensate. Keeps the opponent standing if they haven't been launched yet, which is helpful for routing into 5H for his more advanced combos.

5H

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
850	All	U1	14	4	20	-8

Short reaching 5H.
Smash hit wall splats.

EZ bake frametrap from 5L, but not that high of reward. Mostly combo and blockstring filler as it can lead to rejumps midscreen and loops in the corner.

5S

(Hold OK)

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
300×6	All		13		25	-4

Can be repeated up to 6 times.
Launches on the 6th Ki Blast.
Causes wall bounce.

Part of what makes Base Goku's neutral so good. Also gatlings into 2S, which can extend Base Goku's Ki Blast pressure a lot farther than most other characters can manage.

2L

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
400	All		6	2	14	0

6-frame mid.

Like SS Goku, this isn't a low and is merely a stagger button. However, it is a very strong stagger button. Base Goku's 5L and 2L normals are a lot scarier than most other characters thanks to his 214L. Due to how throw invulnerability and blockstun interact, he can technically throw you faster than Z Broly from his L normals.

2M

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
700	Low		10	6	21	-11

Launches on hit.

Pretty minus on block for a 2M, but canceling into 5M or 5S makes this normal go from unsafe to a pressure reset opportunity. Leads to massive damage on hit midscreen and in the corner.

2H

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
850	All	U1+	14	3	30	-17	4-15 Head

Universal anti-air with poor horizontal reach.

Pretty much only used as an anti-air. Cancel into 236L to stay safe.

2S

Version	Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block
2S	700	All		17		29	-8
2SS	700	All		15		29	-8
2SSS	1200	High	D1	21	Until Landing	18	-5

2S / 2SS

Can be aimed with 1/2/3S.
After this is used twice, regardless of which versions are used, it will transition into 2SSS.

Mostly a combo tool, a single 2S is a good way to drag down an airborne opponent as they slightly track within the range you aim it to. Also gatlings back into 2H if someone SD's through it.

2SSS

Smash hit causes a ground bounce sliding knockdown

Can be 2H'd even if 2SS is blocked, limiting it's usage in neutral or blockstrings. If 2SSS is blocked, you can continue your pressure into one of Goku's special moves.

This is Goku most common combo ender with 5H > 2SSS. It is special cancelable even after landing so Goku can charge 214S for oki, or extend with 236L before Supers, or even able to connect with SD in the corner. As well as this, you can catch your enemy's upward tech, post-knockdown to set up a tricky scenario between his special moves, letting you choose between a true string, frame trap, or command grab.

6M

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
850	High		24	6	4+6L	0

Universal overhead.

j.L

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
400	High		6	3

Short range.

Mostly used during aerial blockstrings. Has decent reward if used as an air-to-air, but it's best against opponents slightly above you.

j.M

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
700	High		10	3

Good air to air normal.

Like the other Gokus, this is also his IAD crossup normal. Harder to confirm into a combo than j.L, but significantly more range.

j.H

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
850 / 1000	High	D1+ [D3+]	13	4

5LLLLLLL

Dynamic hit can wall bounce.

Hits very low to the ground allowing him to pick up off of the wall bounce in the corner with delay j.S ▷ 5LLL or simply land 2M.

j.H

Smash hit causes sliding knockdown.
Common jump-in normal and combo starter.

Another normal that solidifies Goku's grounded combo game.

j.S

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
600	All		12

Halts Goku's momentum when used.

Integral to Base Goku's advanced combos. Also fires at a great angle for controlling space in neutral, but keep in mind that Base Goku does not have great answers to superdash while he's airborne.

j.2H

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
850	High	U1+	11	4

Main midscreen combo extender.

Not really useful for anything other than combo filler. Adds good damage after smash is used thanks to it's jump cancel.

Special Moves

Drop Down Shot

j.2M

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
900	High	D1	15	Until Landing	76	-16

Smash hit causes a sliding knockdown

Good tool to use at the end of long combos without needing to use an assist or meter to get an SKD with decent oki when used in the corner. Tracks the opponent anywhere on screen, but do not use this move in neutral if it's blocked it's a free punish for the opponent.

Startup is 15F when used in a combo, 25F when used close up, and 33F when far away.

Heavy Elbow

236L/M/H (Air OK)

Version	Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
236L	900	All		10	6	19	-5 (forced)
236M	1100	All	U1+	26	8	20	-5 (forced)	4-11 All
236H	1300	All	U1+	18	10	20	-5 (forced)	4-11 All
j.236L	900	All		10	6	19
j.236M	1100	All	U1+	26	8	20		4-11 All
j.236H	1300	All	U1+	17	10	20		4-11 All

236L

Charges straight forward a short distance
Medium scaling, excellent TOD starter

Safe block string ender and combo filler after 2SSS or mid-combo DR. Some small 6-frame jabs will whiff if used immediately after blocking this, potentially giving a 5M whiff punish. If they contest with something bigger, you'll get smoked.

236M

Swings back before lunging forward. Air version will descend during the back swing.
Ground version causes a wall splat on Smash hit. Air version causes a wall bounce on Smash hit.

Decent frame trap. A bit too slow to be useful for anything else.

236H

Swings back before lunging forward. Air version will descend during the back swing.
Smash hit causes a wall bounce.

Very fast frame 4 reversal that can be solo extended meterlessly on hit. This is as good of a reversal you can get that isn't frame 1 invul, as it's safe on block and very spammable. Can also be used to confirm off of super dash solo.

Back Throw

214L/M/H

Version	Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery
214L	700	Throw	U2	20	1	25
214M	700, 850	Throw	U2, D1	22	8	25
214H	700, 1000	Throw	U1+	20	8	19

214L

Stays mostly in place, throws the opponent behind Goku.
Always causes a corner splat.

20f of startup allows for frame perfect tickthrow from 5L and 2L. This makes Goku a pseudo grappler, though the reward on hit isn't very high unless extended with Vanish.

Also used surprisingly frequently for some combo routes, as Goku can find himself swapping sides with his opponent frequently.

Use this grab instead of the other ones.

214M

Lunges forward for the grab.
UD Smash does a teleporting 2SSS and stays same side, causing a ground bounce SKD. Post D Smash only corner splats like 214L.

You only get a far from corner SKD and not much else, can't cancel into 214S for oki either.

Do not use this grab, unless ending a combo.

214H

Lunges forward, U+ Smash does a teleporting Heavy Elbow that wall bounces. Post U Smash only corner splats like 214L.

Much better reward than 214M, that's about it.

Kamehameha

236S (Air OK)

Version	Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
236S	1000	All		18	17	18	-9 (forced)
j.236S	1000	All		18	17	27

Both versions can be angled by holding or after the input.
Ground and air sideways wall splat on hit.
Ground aimed up launches on hit. Air aimed down causes a short sliding knockdown.
Jails into Vanish.
Cancels into SD.

Can be used mostly like how SS Goku uses it. With the only difference being j.236S[2].

The SKD from j.236S[2] is too short for Goku to solo combo into Supers. Instead it's used for air combo into grounded Vanish extension or into DHC.

Everyone, lend me your energy!

214S at Level 0 (Hold OK) or 22S (Hold OK)

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
					Total: 41~89

Can be held for up to three levels. Each use builds a small amount of meter.

Charging for one level is relatively safe. Goku can cancel 2SSS combo ender into one charge of 214S and still have oki. Do not I repeat do not use at the start of a round however tempting it may be. After KO-ing the opponent's point character with a ground normal (and not triggering any KO cinematic), you can buffer 214S and get one free charge.

Spirit Bomb

214S at Level 1+

Version	Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Recovery	On-Block
214S 214S Level 1	1000 / 0,50×18,1200	All	U3+	21	33-50	-1
214S 214S Level 2	1000 / 0,60×24,1200	All	U3+	21	33-50	-1
214S 214S Level 3	1000 / 0,70×30,1200	All	U3+	21	33-50	-1

Homes in on the opponent.
Has minimum damage of 20%.
Special cancelable on hit. Can combo into Super Dash or linking into 2SSS for SKD (though you'll have manually aim or reposition yourself)
Level 3 charge carries high enough to combo into Super Spirit Bomb.

Fast, homing, high priority, auto-confirm projectile. Simply having a charge of Spirit Bomb is enough to make the opponent think twice about their approach.

With a fully charged Spirit Bomb, 2M/5M/raw 5H > 5H > 214S > 214L+M is almost 80% damage and becomes a ToD with Limit Break + Sparking. If you pick Goku as anchor with B assist, this is actually quite practical.

Z Assists

Assist A

Energy Shockwave

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
800	All		28	3	48	+37

Causes wallbounce and hits both in front and behind Goku.
Huge hitstun.

Base Goku's A assist has plenty use. If it hits, either in a combo or raw, it will immediately send the opponent flying and they will wallbounce. This can give a character really quick corner control or a good combo extender, which is always useful. Also very oppressive in neutral thanks to its huge hitboxes surrounding Goku.

Assist B

Everyone, lend me your energy!

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
			18	25

Charges 1 Spirit Bomb level and gives 1 Ki Gauge.
If Spirit Bomb is at full charge, gives 1.1 Ki Gauges.
Is not affected by Ki gain penalty.

Goku appears on screen and charges a level of Spirit Bomb. While he's charging, he will also increase your meter by one bar. He can do this assist as many times as he would like, there's no limit based on his current Spirit Bomb level. This assist also increases Goku's actual Spirit Bomb even if he already has one charged up, making getting the full level 3 charge way easier.

While not an attack and thus hinders your team by taking the place of a more traditional assist, the support value it adds makes it a considerable option. Not only does it build large chunks of meter about every 8 seconds, it charges a Spirit Bomb level with each use, making Goku likely have access to a fully charged Spirit Bomb by the time he comes in, especially if he was at Anchor. The assist enables certain playstyles/team compositions who profusely spend meter to thrive, and overall removes meter deficiencies so long it is used every time it's off cooldown. It's very good at what it does, but may leave a hole in your team with the jobs a normal assist fulfills such as with combo extensions, blockstring pressure, and neutral. Evaluate the trade-offs carefully.

Assist C

Kamehameha

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
800, 280			33 [20]	17		+32

Goku does a Kamehameha, and then teleports behind the opponent to smack them back to the ground. Most likely harder to confirm than other assists of this style due to how his beam is only one hit.

Is one of the 5 beam-type C assists that start up on the same frame as the other beams.

Super Moves

Kaioken

236L+M or 236H+S

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
			9+0				5-9 All

Kaioken has 3 followups with all team members remaining, 5 with two remaining, and 7 if only Goku is left.
On block or hit, any Kaioken followup can cancel into any other, except itself.
All followups hit fullscreen and off sliding knockdown. But only a few is fast enough to connect after a solo combo, i.e. 5L, 5S, Enders.
Enders can be used at any time but cannot be followed up, even after all followups have been used (for example, Kaioken Finisher can be used as a fourth hit with a full team).
On hit, using the same followup more than once will cause it to be "staled," receiving reduced damage (550)
Minimum damage: 18% for all followups including staled, excluding Kame enders.

This means to maximize damage, you want to cycle through all unique followups.

However, due to all staled moves dealing the same amount of damage, this also means that a string like S L L L... will do more damage, is a lot easier to execute, while still keeping the corner carry ability of S L S L...

Kaioken Follow-ups

5L/M/H/S during Kaioken or 2L/M/S during Kaioken

Version	Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	On-Block	Invuln
Kaioken 5L	600	All	UDV	13		-29 (forced)
Kaioken 5M	600	All	UDV	28		-34 (forced)	5-23 All
Kaioken 5H	700	Throw	UDV	33
Kaioken 5S	650	All	UDV	9		-31
Kaioken 2L	600	High	UDV	25		-34 (forced)
Kaioken 2M	600	Low	UDV	15	10	-34 (forced) [-33]
Kaioken 2S	650	All	UDV	9		-34

All

Startup: Followups are done 3f before time freeze ends. So Kaioken activation > 5L has startup of: 9 - 3 + 13 = 19f.
Activating Kaioken and not pressing any button will automatically does 5L, but it's 1f slower than manually pressing 5L (20f).
Mashing L will alternate between 5L and 2L, mashing M will alternate between 5M and 2M.

5L

Basic fullscreen lunging strike
Confirms easily into 2L and 5S

5M

Switches sides if the opponent is less than a fullscreen away.
Has invincibility during the roll.

5H

On hit, switches sides and wall bounces.
Very long startup but deals the most damage, albeit not by much.
Only hit once per string, like other command grabs.

Can be solo combo'd into in the corner. Some characters can also DHC immediately into Kaioken 5H.

5S

Stands still and shoots a Ki blast forward.
Common starter from sliding knockdowns due to the short startup.

2L

Hits overhead
Won't overshoot the opponent.
Vulnerable to Anti-Airs.
Due to sharing the same rolling animation as 5M, can be used as some sort of mixup.

2M

On block, switches sides if the opponent is less than a fullscreen away.

2S

Similar to 5S, but aims diagonally.
Can only combo into enders.

Kaioken Finisher

L+M during Kaioken or H+S during Kaioken

Version	Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
Kaioken L+M	600, 1800	All	UDV	19		-36	1-22 All
Kaioken H+S Level 1	250×15 [250×14]	All	UDV	1+3	Total 9+124	-40	1-11 All
Kaioken H+S Level 2	250×20	All	UDV	1+1		-42	1-9 All

Kaioken Finisher L+M during Kaioken

Teleports to the opponent and is fully invincible on startup.
The second part only come out on hit.
Both hits can be canceled into Kaioken Kamehameha by pressing L+M or H+S, but only if team members are down. Cancelling after the second hit leads into less damage from Kaioken Kamehameha but fires the beam at ground level, so cancel from the first hit for overall higher damage or from the second hit for easier DHC.

This beats pretty much everything if it's the first move used out of Kaioken, including Vanish if it was buffered during the super freeze. Vanishing during the teleport will beat it, though.

If Goku K.O. the opponent's character with Kaioken Finisher, he will end in an unique scene similar to the Nappa defeat pose

x3 Kamehameha H+S during Kaioken with one downed teammate

Costs 1 bar.
Minimum damage: 55×15 [55×14] {27×15}.
Canceling from the first hit of Finisher gives a cinematic version, teleporting out of the corner. Values in [] are on cinematic, Values in {} are on cancelling from second hit of Kaioken Finisher.
Fires an upward Kamehameha, similar to SS Goku's Super Kamehameha aimed up.

x20 Kamehameha H+S during Kaioken with two downed teammates

Costs 1 bar.
Minimum damage: 50×20 [30×20].
Teleports backward, tracks everywhere on screen, then fires a Kamehameha straight forward.
Canceling from the first hit of Finisher gives a cinematic version, teleporting out of the corner. Values in [] are on cancelling from second hit of Kaioken Finisher.
Causes a hard knockdown regardless of height.

Super Spirit Bomb

214L+M (Air OK) or 214H+S (Air OK)

Version	Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
214L+M	60×N, 5200	All	UDV	7+1			-11	1-61 All
j.214L+M	60×N, 5200	All	UDV	7+1			-11	1-61 All

Very high damage, but is more often than not unusable since it's way too slow to combo after a sliding knockdown, easily countered if used as a reversal by just running under him and Super Dashing up, and is not in any way a reliable air counter to Super Dash or raw tag (they'll just fly away instead of homing in on Goku).

The only practical way for Goku to combo into SSB by himself is with a fully charged 214S, something like: low to ground Vanish ▷ 214S > 214L+M. This usually requires Goku to land a couple of combos and use 22S on oki since it is the safest time for him to charge up. But even then 214S > 214L+M is still not a guaranteed combo, as at max hitstun decay, the opponent will tech as soon as 214S explodes.

Thus this Super is unique in that you have to build your team around comboing into it. Some characters can easily DHC from their Lv1 Supers into this like SS Goku, Gotenks or Beerus, others will have to get more creative like using attacks with long animation to hold the opponent in place, and some won't be able to combo into it at all. A team that can reliably DHC into SSB will benefit greatly from the extra damage it offers, so synergies with other characters should be prioritized when putting Goku on your team.

Teleports up and backward in midscreen before throwing the bomb. If he's cornered and the opponent is less than halfscreen away from him, will teleport out of the corner and throw the bomb back in
Minimum damage: ~2080 from a ground DHC. Gains more damage if it hits higher up in the air: ~2110 from Level 3 214S and up to 2144 at the top of the screen
Advantage on hit: +74 in the air. Takes some time to fall down afterward, so he's +51 at best after landing