50 from now, will goku ever be as iconic as superman?

in the next 50 years or so, will goku be as iconic as supes?

No.

There's no way that will happen unless there are new stories about him.

Nope. Most people don't even know who he is

Maybe in Japan? Doubt it though.

Superman is more popular than Goku and always will be.

Superman was the first major superhero. He is the grand daddy of superheroes. Superman's death was newsworthy, Goku's not so much.

Who is Goku?

I hope not.

No

Doubtful. He may grow in iconicism but won't ever eclipse the big S

It's hilarious when people Talk about Goku like there is still ongoing material from which to draw from. a movie and a crappy video game every once and a while isn't enough to make him grow in popularity.

The question is in 50 years will people know who he is?

Unless Japan takes over the world...so no.

Google has too much of a head start for that to happen.

Besides, I believe One Piece is the most popular manga in Japan...by a long shot iirc. It just never gained as much over seas.

Maybe. Many things change with time, and it's difficult to know where things could be headed.

Dragon ball z from the recent success from movies have been given the green light to now continue dragon all z and have booked an extra 300 episodes

@loplopool said:

Doesn't mean Goku is anywhere near as iconic as Superman.

Yes.

lmao if i ask 1000 people on the streets 999 will know superman. maybe 200 will know who goku is

Is he iconic in his native Japan because that should matter.

@mediocregeist: didn't say it did just someone said all he was in is games and honestley in 50 years the east will be way more populated and they would favour holy over superman but nostalgically it will always be superman

Highly doubt it. Maybe in Japan if they throw out some new/quality stories about him. But comic book characters will always be more iconic than any anime out there, especially in mainstream audiences.

Nope

When Superman died people in the real world had funerals for him.

Wow...that's. Something.

In America? Probably not, but ill always like Goku better.

If Goku gets a new manga every few years and DC stops making Superman stories for the next 50 years then sure, Goku could become more iconic than Superman.

Incredibly unlikely though.

Goku isn't iconic to begin with, so it's rather impossible for him to be that in 50 years unless he gets a complete reinvention in the meantime.

Similar thing happened with Sherlock Holmes, men and women across Britain wore black hats and dressed in black to mourn him.

I doubt that would happen for Goku.

This but in a less pissy way than how he said in it.

I think a lot of people are underestimating Goku's widespread popularity, however he could not even touch Superman. Superman is so permeated in American pop culture that his name is referenced in a common expression. I don't think anyone's ever going to say, "what do you think you're doing? You're not Goku!" or the theme song for Scrubs is going to change to "I'm no Goku."

Bon qui qui has spoken!

no, it won't happen

That new DBZ Kai show isn't doing him any favors. Mr. Popo Blue? seriously go die DBZ Kai.

Iconic is a weasel word. What exactly are these characters icons of?

I'll bet there are lots of big emotional spiels about what these characters represent. I'll also bet that you'll get no strong concensus from said statements.

At the end of the day money talks and bullshit walks. Let's talk revenue streams, vis a vis Superman vs. DBZ.

Statistics are hard to come by in terms of real cash values for the brands but DB has sold 230 million units of the manga worldwide.

@godtriggerhulk: 230 million units of manga would translate to what then ? it's impressive but i don't see the point of it if there's no interpretable equivalence to it

@kyrees:

If we could find the number of comics shipped by Superman over the years then we could compare the two. Though I won't hold my breath for that info.

To be fair, Goku dies pretty often. They may as well be getting hole punch cards, every 10 visits they get a free cut in line or something. Death means nothing in DBZ honestly, they have a freaking respawn timer...

While I cant say if Goku has something similar in Japan, I seem to remember this being a fairly popular tune when it came out. (Only adding to show how deep the idea of Superman has permeated western pop-culture)

lol.

Actually Goku has died twice.Krillen has died 4 freaking times,Piccolo 3 times,Vegeta twice,etc. but yes dying is common in DBZ lol

Goku been iconic

So many songs dedicated to Superman.

Superman is iconic in the west.. but in southeast asia and japan.. goku but its different because there are tons of iconic anime characters too.

Well it was also on CNN(or whatever they call themselves now)when Captain America "died" too. As for Goku being as iconic..No. There is no "maybe" or "could be" about it..Comics put out just far more in continuity for Superman compared to what manga does for Goku. Not only that but Superman is pretty much known worldwide and even if they didn't know his name they'd still know who he was if they saw him. The same just can't be said about Goku because he's mostly prominent in Japan. Guys like Superman and Batman are just mega stars when it comes to being icons.