Dragon Ball is a huge success when it comes to manga and anime, leaving its mark with a series of outstanding characters and a story that captivates many people. Even the main character Goku has become one of the symbols known and admired by everyone.
Dragon Ball author Akira Toriyama, who passed away this month at the age of 68, was a genius who did more than just tell a story. One time, the late author even showed what Goku would look like in his old age, satisfying everyone's curiosity with an illustration of that moment. He even joked that he would probably turn Goku into a geezer (old, weird person).
One artist even recreated an old Goku based on Toriyama's own sketches, and it's really cool. This drawing came out at a time when Dragon Ball Z was booming, around 1989, giving an idea of what Goku's future would look like from the beginning.
What's curious is that when releasing this illustration of an older Goku, Toriyama said that even he doesn't know how Dragon Ball will end. This shows that the Dragon Ball author is always open to new ideas for the story.
How old is Goku now?
Goku's age in the Dragon Ball series varies, especially considering his chronologically youthful appearance. Goku's eternally youthful appearance can be explained by the fact that Saiyan blood ages slower than that of Earthlings. This is a biological trait that allows Saiyans to engage in longer battles.
Furthermore, Goku's eventful life also saw him visit the King of Hell many times, he spent many years of life in the afterlife where time did not affect his age, like as in the world of the living.
In terms of specific numbers, at the start of Dragon Ball Super (DBS), Goku is about 42 years old, considering the anime's timeline and the events leading up to it. Around the events of the classic film Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, which takes place immediately before the aforementioned tournament based on Pan's relative age in the film, Goku is approximately 47 years old.