Those who aren’t too familiar with the insanely-popular Dragon Ball franchise often say that Goku always gets to be the winner. This is just a false bias, as the Saiyan often ran into opponents who are more powerful. Many times, Goku lost the first battle with some adversaries, although he managed to defeat them afterward. It happened with Mercenary Tao, King Piccolo, Beerus, Planet Eater Moro, etc.
But in this article, we’ll speak about those characters that will undoubtedly mop the floor with everyone’s favorite Saiyan, although Goku would pump up his muscles all the way to the Ultra Instinct form. They don’t have to be necessary evil, either – they just possess strength and abilities that far surpass the ones of Goku. Enough said, here’s the list:
Zeno
Zeno is clearly the most superior being in all of the Dragon Ball universe and one that Goku will probably never be able to defeat. Zeno is the supreme deity, and he can even erase from existence entire universes without breaking a sweat, although he has the resemblance and behavior of an innocent and playful child. Oddly enough, Goku became a good friend of Zeno, and he can call him for help with the press of a button (literally). It happened so against the fight with Merged Zamasu when Goku and Vegeta looked as they were pretty much done for. But with Zeno coming into action, an entire universe got erased after Goku and his friends were teleported with a time machine to their own timeline and universe.
Another peculiar aspect is that Zeno doesn’t seem like he’s made for fighting. He was fascinated by Goku’s Kamehameha wave at the Tournament of Power. Instead, Zeno can erase any amount of matter he wants from existence.
Whis
It’s hard to tell if Goku can defeat the God of Destruction Beerus at this point. The two fighters could be pretty even if the Saiyan goes Ultra Instinct level. But Whis is an angel who trained Beerus and also Goku at some point. Whis even made Goku achieve his most powerful Ultra Instinct technique. Therefore, you can guess that Whis is much more powerful than Beerus, which automatically makes him stronger than Goku.
Luckily enough, the angels from Dragon Ball aren’t allowed to intervene in a battle from the physical universes. Merus broke that rule to help Goku in his fight with Moro. The angel got erased from existence immediately.
The Grand Priest
Since we now know that Goku is no match for Whis, the Dragon Ball Super anime also taught us that the Grand Priest is the father of Whis and other angels, and he’s also much stronger than them. This obviously means that the Grand Priest would easily beat the senzu beans out of Goku if he gets the chance.
Vegito and Gogeta
Sure, there would basically be no Vegito or Gogeta without Goku, as the first two characters represent the fusion between Goku and Vegeta. But let’s not forget that the Dragon Ball franchise works in mysterious ways. We have time travel starting in Dragon Ball Z, meaning that there are different copies of each character in other universes and timelines. This clearly means that Goku could meet and fight another version of himself from the future or from the past.
When Goku joins forces with Vegeta to form either Vegito or Gogeta, the two Saiyans’ powers not only add to one another. Their sum also multiplies several times as it happened in the battle against Majin Buu or in the one against Broly. This means that Goku, on his own, wouldn’t stand a chance against Gogeta or Vegito.
However, the Dragon Ball franchise has always been about Goku becoming stronger and stronger, even since he was a child. With the right amount of training, who knows how powerful the Saiyan could become in the future.