Death Battle, for the few who do not know, is a series that pit two characters against each other to the death. Like Deadliest Warrior, but more interesting. And the most requested match that hasn't happened yet pits two aliens against each other. That match is Goku from the Dragonball Series and Superman from DC Comics.

On paper, this is a good idea. Two aliens who are the sole survivor of their dead world. They were sent to earth and raised to be the nicest people you would ever meet. Over time, they will become the most powerful person on their planet and the first line of defense against world threats, including other survivors of their doomed planet.

But when you do the research, this is a doomed match. The scale is too one sided to have any surprise and once all the information is revealed, the winner will be obvious. Unless they use a specific version (which highly would not  happen because there was only one case), it would be a waste of an episode.

So to save them trouble and open the door for better opponents for Superman and Goku, I figured I should show my work and show my results. If you disagree with what I have, feel free to post your defense in the comments below.

Son Goku was born Kakarot (Kakarotto in Japan) on the planet Vegeta. Like all Saiyan babies, he was sent to a planet to kill everyone there and have it ready for it to be sold. On Earth, he was found by Gohan (his Adopted Grandfather) and was raised by him. Goku was violent until he bumped his head. After that, he became a nice kid (Proving concussions can straighten a troubled kid).

Goku soon begun training and after Gohan's death, lived alone for a while until Bulma found him. That soon begins a long story where he learns about fighting under Master Roshi and King Kai, learn that he is an alien from a destroyed world, and discover the legendary Super Saiyan Forms 1-4. He also died a couple of times but that really isn't important.

While Goku prefers to use his hands, he does have access to two helpful tools. The Power Pole is a magical length changing staff that originally belonged to Korin, the proprietor of Korin Tower. It can extend to extreme lengths, capable of reaching the moon from Earth. It is very durable and unable to break, even against swords.

The Flying Nimbus is a magical, yellow cloud that serves as a way of transportation. It allows Goku (or anyone riding it as long as they have a pure heart) the ability to fly at high speeds without using energy. Sadly the speed of the Nimbus is not a match for the flight abilities Goku and the others are able to do later in DBZ. It is also destroyable, as Tambourine displayed.

At times, he carries around Senzu Beans which fully heals anyone if they eat one bean.  It can even heal broken bones. Despite that, it is unable to regrow limbs or cure ailments.

Goku has numerous techniques he has used throughout the series. His favorite is the Kamehameha, an explosive beam of ki energy. While it is more known for being a beam fired from his hands, it has numerous usages. He can bend the direction, fire it from his feet to use as a propulsion, and put in a sphere form that can be launched whenever he wishes.

His most powerful is the Spirit Bomb, a huge sphere of energy from all life willing to support it. If charged enough, it can destroy an entire planet. Sadly, the move requires the user to stand perfectly still while holding his hands above his head for a long period of time. Though it's success rate is very low and it can be deflected by a pure heart.

Other Ki attacks Goku has used include regular Ki Blasts, Invisible Eye Blasts, Destructo Disk (Krillin's Technique), and the Solar Flare (Tien's Technique). With the exception of the Ki Blasts, Goku rarely uses these techniques over his own. Also to note he can not control the Destructo Disk like Frieza or Cell can.

Goku is also an expert in Martial Arts and has hand to hand techniques including the Hasshu-ken (making him seem to have eight arms), Crazy Fist (think Drunken Fist except he acts like a dog or a monkey), the Jan Ken (A Rock, Paper and Scissor style attack), and my personal favorite, the Full Nelson.

Goku's speed is argued to be Faster than Light, but there are no feats that can confirm that to be true or not (only a dubbing mistake mentions speed of light as the updated Kai and the Manga do not mention it). Despite that, he is capable of using his speed to help him in battle. The After Image Technique is a move that, living up to it's namesake, creates numbers of After Images. This causes the opponent to hit nothing but air leaving an opening for the user. It can be countered with another After Image though.

Goku's fastest technique is Instant Transmission. It allows him to instantly teleport from one place to another as long as he can feel someone's Ki. He can combine this technique with the Kamehameha and the Spirit Bomb to surprise his opponent with an attack suddenly up close. This technique also allows Goku to travel across dimensions, to visit Other World and back.

Goku has two ways to power up. The first is Kaio-ken, a technique taught to him by King Kai. It multiplies the user's Ki for a certain amount of time making them able to deliver more damaging attacks to their opponents. He can also increase it to a multiple up to x20. However, if used too much it could seriously damage the body of the user, or worse. Sadly, as soon as Goku discovered the ability to go Super Saiyan, Kaio-ken lost it's use.

Goku has the ability to go Super Saiyan 1-4. Each Super Saiyan form increases Goku's power by a great deal per transformation and can be used alongside Kaio-ken. At Super Saiyan 1, he can sustain it naturally as if he wasn't even trying. But when going to Super Saiyan 3 and 4, the energy needed to maintain it increases. While SS4 uses less energy than SS3, once depleted the user will revert back to normal.

While Goku is an expert fighter, he is still naïve. He has been easily tricked into compromising positions even as an adult. But that only works once as he will not fall for someone's trick again. Not only that, but every near death he experiences increases his strength when he is fully healed.

 

Superman was born Kal-El on the alien planet Krypton. His parents became aware of Krypton's impending destruction and sent their son to Earth to escape their planet's doom. The spacecraft carrying young Kal-El lands on Earth where it was discovered by John and Martha Kent. They raised the baby as their own and called him Clark Kent.

After discovering his powers, thanks to his upbringing, he uses them to help people in trouble and capture criminals. He soon moved to Metropolis to continue his heroing ways while using the Clark Kent disguise to work as a reporter at the Daily Planet. And thus begins the adventures of Superman.

Thanks to the power of the Yellow Sun, Superman gains numerous powers no normal human is capable of. This includes numerous visions ranging from X-Ray Vision to Telescopic Vision. He is capable of seeing anyone and anything as long as there is no lead in the way. He also has the ability to perceive the entire electromagnetic spectrum and various other forms of energy.

For offensive abilities, he has Heat Vision. It is solar energy that comes from his eyes. He can make them invisible or make it extremely hot. Thanks to years of practice, he can use it to cut with surgical precision even at the microscopic level. It is also able to be a concussive force instead of heat. The Heat Vision is unable to be measured by standard scientific measures. The same scientific measurement can tell us how hot is the Sun.

Superman has Superhuman Strength that has a lot of feats behind it. He has shown able to bend and break various metals, lifted mountains, and even moved entire planets. His strength was even tested in All-Star Superman, exceeding the force of 200 quintillion tons. That's 2*10^20 for you math buffs out there.

Unlike Goku, Superman is confirmed to be faster than the speed of light. With this speed, he can reverse time by reversing the rotation the planet. He has also been shown to escape a black hole and even go back through time on his own. He can also move his molecules fast enough to be untouchable even while standing still.

Superman is also invulnerable to most attacks. With this power, he has a high resistant to physical damage or injury. While strong forces can knock him around, extreme physical force can give him temporary injury. If damaged too much, he would not be able to be healed from the sun unless put in a Yellow Sun Amplifier.

Superman's Super Breath can let him inhale and exhale huge volumes of air with great force. With this technique, he can stay in space without the need of a space suit. With his Freeze Breath, he is able to cool objects to sub-zero temperatures and freeze air moisture solid. He also has Eidetic Memory. With this, he can flawlessly recall anything he has seen, heard or read.

Superman is capable of flight without the use of energy. This flight is capable of achieving the speed feats above. It is very rate for Superman to fall to fatigue as he has unlimited stamina and endurance except against extremely powerful opponents. He is also an intellectual genius.

Superman has three distinctive weaknesses. The most knowledgeable is kryptonite, a green rock that came from his planet. When exposed to it, Superman becomes weak and in great pain. Despite the supposed rarity of it, it is used a lot against him. Another weakness is Red Sun Radiation, which renders him as powerless as a normal human. His third weakness is Magic, which is capable of passing his invulnerability.

Superman usually holds back because he is afraid to break something (or someone) when he is trying to save the day. But if he has no other choice, he will fight with full force. He is not a fan of killing but, in an alternate universe, able to lobotomize an opponent with Heat Vision. He is also able to combine everything to a winning combo.

 

In the beginning, Goku will initiate the fight (being a Saiyan, he is more incline to fight). Thanks to his Power Pole, he would do noticeable damage since the weapon is magical. Superman, seeing how serious this becomes, will counter attack. That counter will take away the Power Pole and make Goku stick with punches and kicks.

This, in turn, will make Goku go to Super Saiyan 2 since he can sustain that form without worry. They'll exchange blows for a while until Superman realizes he can not hold back for Goku. Seeing how strong Superman has become, Goku will try to go Super Saiyan 3 and 4 against the Kryptonian.

Despite those increases, Superman (being a confirmed Light Speeder and ranging in the Quintillion) still shows superiority over Goku. This, in turn, will lead Goku to use the Kaio-ken while in SS4. That will give him enough boost to surprise Superman and send him flying, opening him for a Kamehameha.

Goku unleashes the wave, seemingly destroying Superman. The combination of the SS4 with Kaio-ken completely drains Goku back to his base form. Before going for a Senzu Bean, Superman appears before him (using his superior speed to create an after image). He then smacks the beans away and wins by killing him (since Death Battle removes the notion to not kill as seen with the Turtles).

 

Most of Superman's speed and strength are confirmed in comic, which means he has a lot of feats that Goku does not. So when fully out, his strength and speed are beyond Goku's known feats.

The Spirit Bomb is useless in this fight because of it's long load time. Too boot, since Superman is an American Goku, he is capable of deflecting it as well being pure hearted.

Goku's higher form and Kaio-ken drain his energy. Superman has none of these weaknesses.

Superman Kryptonite weakness wouldn't be used by Goku even if he had access to. Goku does not fight unfairly.

Superman has a wider use of powers that would counter the techniques Goku can use.

The body would have to be recreated or still together for Goku to return from the dead via instant transmission. And even if it was in one piece, he would still be dead.

Goku can not destroy the sun. The force to do so is greater than destroying the planet. Even if it was possible, Superman does not instantly depower as there are places with no Yellow Sun that he still uses his powers (the Black Hole for example). A Red Sun is what would depower him.

 

Superman wasn't made for fighting fair fights. He was made to be a hero; for someone to look up to. For him to be in fights require his opponent to be his level or even considered a deity. He gains and loses abilities among the writers and adding them all together creates an unstoppable force.

Goku was made to create a story that is focused on fighting. To make an interesting fight, you would have to wonder if the hero is capable of defeating his opponent or else have everything he cares about doomed. And Goku has been defeated before from the original Dragonball all the way to GT.

Superman would have to fight someone who is just as broken as he is and only a few comic heroes are in that category. Goku would need to fight someone more in his power level, which luckily has a lot more options than Superman.

And before someone brings up the fact Wizard Magazine made a similar story where Goku won, there was a lot of inaccuracies in that story. Not to mention another magazine on the same level as Wizard said Yami Yugi could beat Goku.

There are a lot of options for Death Battle; a good number of them for Superman and Goku. Let this match be the Pirate Vs Ninja of Death Battle.