Is GOKU more original than SUPERMAN

Superman in Western Comics is kind of seen as the poster boy of heroism and the poster boy for originality, he was the first who bounced bullets of his chest and saved the girl....or so we are lead to believe. But if you have any knowledge on comic lore you'll know Superman himself is not very original either. His Krypton is bascially a copy of the Moses in a basket story, and his strength and invulnerability is stolen from the Man of Bronze

Anime is another story, I still think we have not entered an anime aware age and general stereotype is that all  anime  suddenly has this "big-hair" , "everyone shooting fireballs from hands", " naive, indecisive, stupid and incredibly nice boy" or sterotypes within stereotypes like "black ghetto rapper    " and other ethnic casting or having a round eyed innocent school girl get all magical, powerful and crazy.....but not all anime is like this, not all of them are isolated in their own stereotyped verse. Never have I seen the criticism more on the net then when I read people from the West ripping into Japanese animation just because they tried to animate a Western comic book hero. 

Japanese animation can be orginal, Superman himself should not be seen as an icon of originality and even though Goku himself is not so original, his creator might have borrowed from a hero like Superman or stole a few pages from China's Ming Dynasty Literature, like Journey into the West or Adventures of the Monkey God.    

I still think Goku is a lot more original than Superman

I disagree, but to each his own.

Goku is not more original that Superman, he's simply a Japanese adaptation of Superman.

And Superman didn't steal the story of Moses, he's analogous to the various saviors of Western Religion. Young baby of great power, falls from the sky, only to be raised by humble farmers and becomes a man for the world to revere. That's deliberate, it's not done as a rip off.

I love anime, and am a huge supporter of it, Neon Genesis Evangelion is the greatest accomplishment of humankind as far as I'm concerned.

Dragon Ball is not. It's stupid, it's simple, but it's fun. And that's all. It's not high art, it's barely art. It's just fun.

And Goku is not in the same league as Superman.

With Superman and Goku its more about execution than concept. Neither are that original conceptually, but execution and subsequent popularity, (and enough relative novelty so that attain popularity) 

"he's simply a Japanese adaptation of Superman. "

Oh, unless, I guess you mean, that he was adapted more specifically from Sun Wukong, and not Superman, and he just to a lesser degree borrows much from Superman. Then I get what you mean. 

Goku's character I think is based off of Sun Wukong but his origin is based off of Superman's.

"His Krypton is bascially a copy of the Moses in a basket story, and his strength and invulnerability is stolen from the Man of Bronze"

Goku life based on, in order: Journey to the West, Japanese mythology, Superman , refridgerators, Terminator, and bubblegum.
 
 
Sorry for bumping...I just had to put it out there. While Goku from Dragonball is based on Journey to the West, it is also obvious that Goku from DBZ is based on Superman. which makes sense, because Akira is a big Superman fan.

Dragonball was originally and INTENTIONALLY almost completely derived from Journey to the West. Now when you add in the alien origins that came about later and all the other random things that popped up, you could say Dragonball was a little more original. But when comparing origins, at the high risk of being killed over my opinion, I think Superman has to take it.

PS: I love both DBZ and Superman, and am NOT picking favorites.

goku>superman in every aspect

PS:I don't want to start a war

@baron2011 said:

goku>superman in every aspect

PS:I don't want to start a war

This!

@Hoboseid said:

Superman in Western Comics is kind of seen as the poster boy of heroism and the poster boy for originality, he was the first who bounced bullets of his chest and saved the girl....or so we are lead to believe. But if you have any knowledge on comic lore you'll know Superman himself is not very original either. His Krypton is bascially a copy of the Moses in a basket story, and his strength and invulnerability is stolen from the Man of Bronze

Every artist who ever creates something is usually copying off a former idea and making it their own. It’s the ability to bring that creation to life to the readers and viewers, to make a connection that makes the creation an icon or legend.

Anime is another story, I still think we have not entered an anime aware age and general stereotype is that all anime suddenly has this "big-hair" , "everyone shooting fireballs from hands", " naive, indecisive, stupid and incredibly nice boy" or sterotypes within stereotypes like "black ghetto rapper " and other ethnic casting or having a round eyed innocent school girl get all magical, powerful and crazy.....but not all anime is like this, not all of them are isolated in their own stereotyped verse. Never have I seen the criticism more on the net then when I read people from the West ripping into Japanese animation just because they tried to animate a Western comic book hero.

Ah anime… I think you were dishing out details of the mainstream ones in which case they all are still like that. Minus the big hair as its incredibly scene and feminine now. You will always be faced with such criticism though – hate to break it to you; it’s called a difference in opinion.

Japanese animation can be original, Superman himself should not be seen as an icon of originality and even though Goku himself is not so original, his creator might have borrowed from a hero like Superman or stole a few pages from China's Ming Dynasty Literature, like Journey into the West or Adventures of the Monkey God.

Sure, I agree, Japanese animation can be original. People are going to see who they want to as an icon or not - sometimes on boards like these verse others the majority of the population can rule it so, but that doesn't mean that in your views this has to change.

I still think Goku is a lot more original than Superman

Son Goku is based on the character Son Goku, AKA Sun Wukong AKA The Monkey King, and the first story arc of Dragon Ball is directly inspired by the Journey to the west story with other characters being based on other characters from it. so right there the originality argument falls flat to me. it was an original interpretation of the character to be sure but that's kind of silly.

when Toriyama added the backstory that Goku was from another world, he borrowed a lot of elements of Superman either directly or indirectly.

@Hoboseid:

Goku is from sun wukong which is from hanuman

Superman is from Phillip Wylie's Gladiator

Goku is the love child of aliens and the Monkey King of Journey to the West. Or just the brain child of a mangaka who was high and read too much sci-fi and ancient chinese folk tales at the same time.

@juslas500: no.... just no...

Superman has shown abilities on a scale Goku has never even dreamed of...

Especially SA Supes

Sometimes I wonder if you took the time to figure out the character. Goku is based on the character Monkey King from Journey to the West. They said it in every time they roll the credits. He is not that original the power up is nice touch the first time but than it got water down.

People are comparing upgraded Goku to normal Supes. What the hell? Thoughtbot and SMPOM would beat the living sh*t out of SSJ3 and SSJ4... OK that's not the topic... Derp me.. Hehe!

Well I just don't see any depth in character development in DB/DBZ/DBGT so I guess I'll have to say Goku ain't more original. He's a bit too linear if you ask me. Both are boyscouts but one's a retard and the other's a super genius. I'd go with the one with the brains. Goku is more humorous though... I'll give him that.

superman character was inspired by Samson and Jesus back in the days. with so many years passing it can get stale. Dragonball is bit more fresher but although it is like throw back to Silver age comics and 80s cartoons combine. Two things we missed when DC was trying to be dark, mean spirited, obsessing over batman, overly complicated and other things that made us miss what they were before.

@Iron_Turtle said:

@FadeToBlackBolt said:

"he's simply a Japanese adaptation of Superman. "

Yeah.. I'm going to have to strongly disagree with this.

He is however an adaptation of Son Goku the mythological monkey king of the same name. The whole Dragonball series was a (very) loose adaptation of "Journey To The West."

As for Goku being more original than Superman. Probably not.

Besides when you speak of the superhero archetype, there is no such thing as originality. People have been telling stories of mythical characters with otherworldy abilities since the dawn of time.

Goku as a character might be based off the Monkey King from the story "Journey to the West" but he's not that character. Superman was created decades before Goku, I don't see how one can believe that he's less original than Goku.

Superman was created in in 1932 , Goku was created in 1984. do the math lol!

Superman is based on hercules and Religion

Son Goku is based on Superman and Sun Wukong

@sylvain:

Both characters are based on older form of heroes or other heroes. Did you know superman is not the first superhero to fly? It his trademark but he is far from the first fictional character to fly. Same can be said about Goku not being the first hero born out of space. These concepts existed before both characters.

So what?The first to fly was namor evan Captain Marvel was flying before Superman(Look at the villain of Captain marvel Lex Luthor was kinda based on him but not 100%) but my point was not exactly here.Their basic histories are the same but did the creator of Goku knew all the things we just said(Namor,Captain Marvel,etc)?You have no proof.Dont try and find an excuse to excuse Goku.Yeah superman isnt the most original there is but Goku is not original too.Some of Goku ennemies looks like the ones of Superman.Oh i've heard the creator of Goku before making Goku was copying Star Wars/Star Trek(Idk if my source worth anything so proove me wrong if im wrong and i will apologize).

@sylvain: I never made an excuse for Goku. I just stated the facts. Fact is both characters are not 100% original so the topic is not that important because the aspects of both characters can be traced back to other characters of fiction much older then both.

Superman and Goku:

1)Not the first character to come from space, superman and goku

2)Not the first character to fly, superman and goku

3)Not the first characters to have costume, superman.

Major Difference between the two.

1)Superman is a superhero, Goku is not a superhero his son, Gohan is a funky superhero.

2)Superman lead by example as model to the public, Goku does not. Goku is not a leader, not a role model. He's just doing a duty as a inhabit of earth, taking care of your home and respecting life itself are simple values taught by his grandpa. This is a huge difference between to two.

3)Superman has a secret identity, Goku does not need one because of 2.

4)The Earth of the two characters are different and the story focuses are different. The daily activities of the characters are night and day. Makes some people wonder why are the two being compared.

I think the main trait that defines goku and superman's originality is being the last survivor of an alien race. The alien wasn't new in fiction but the story of a conqueror, who carries the great responsibility of restoring his lost civilization, being upbrought humanity and turning his potentially devastating power onto goodness is. For this matter Dragon Ball copies Superman.

However that's all, although the manga does copy tons of other things, it still original because of the consistent, diverse world it has. Superman's world only gets consistent recently after many reboots and becomes diverse by adapting other comics in the DC multiverse. Unlike eastern animated books, the comic tends to be endless which makes it ends up copying more and more (or being creative awkwardly) to keep up with the schedule.

Goku comes from Journey on the west, perhaps, Superman has shamelessly copied the Greek myths

@hoboseid: Superman is not Moses or Jesushttp://www.comicvine.com/forums/gen-discussion-1/is-superman-a-ripoff-1625452/

@jigen879: @nerx: Superman is not a shameless copy.I can say goku is a shameless copy of Monkey King and Superman. I LISTED HIS ORIGINShttp://www.comicvine.com/forums/gen-discussion-1/is-superman-a-ripoff-1625452/ He is more of Tarzan.

Goku is not the anime superman , trust me he just can't compare to supes when it comes to being a symbol . ect

Superman is probably more original, but I still like Goku a lot more and always will.