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Writing Sample

Santiago Alvarado
English 100
September 9, 2014

In this modern society, there are many disagreements among the people of
Earth. These petty quarrels may even lead to greater conflicts, such as war and other
violence. One of these conflicts has plagued mankind since before the new millenium,
and once mentioned in a public setting, has the capacity to send every living being into
a frenzy of uproars and quite possibly fisticuffs. The debate of Goku vs. Superman
causes great dissonance, so much that Im afraid for my life to be typing this paper. In
reality, I am a firm proponent of Goku, so much that Im willing to take the risk of
revealing my opinion.
One of the major battlegrounds of the Goku v. Superman debate centers around
both warriors fighting strength. In normal form, Superman beats goku in sheer strength,
hands down. However, Goku has the ability to transform, and not just once, but several
times, and can thus multiply his power by an exponential amount. Just his Super Saiyan
transformation alone raises his power by a factor of ten, and considering that Goku is a
thousand times stronger than a human, these power increases are staggering.
Out of the many superheroes and Z fighters, Goku and Superman are one of the
only few warriors who carry a credo of mercy, even to their enemies. Both have adopted
these radical morals and vow to never kill the innocent, and spare their enemies. In fact,
in the original manga, Goku only ever kills two of his enemies, and even that was a last
resort. Superman, on the other hand, holds back his true strength when fighting
enemies, to ensure that they survive the battle. Even though both heroes are altruistic to

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the core, Goku yet again beats Superman in this regard. Goku, even when fighting his
volatile enemies, thinks of the innocent. He goes as far as persuading his enemies to
deserted wastelands to fight instead of in the middle of a highly populated city.
Superman, on the other hand, destroys buildings, disintegrates roads and highways,
and possibly even kills civilians as collateral damage. He has no regard for the citys
infrastructure and basically deems it as his personal playground of destruction. Also, in
many various timelines of the Superman comics, Superman becomes a rogue warrior
and actually begins sprees of murder. Nowhere in any of the Dragonball Media, which
includes the manga, anime, video games, and the movies, has Goku ever become so
senile as to commit premeditated homocide. He always puts everyone before himself,
and only seeks the thrill of the fight.
All other factors aside, Goku just simply has more abilities in his arsenal than
Superman. Goku has the Kamehameha, the Kaioken, the Destructo disc, the Solar
Flare, and the Dragon Fist abilities, just to name a few. In the original Superman
comics, Superman pretty much only has the Ice Breath ability that is practically useless
on foes with the skill level of Goku. Now, it could be said that Superman doesnt need
these abilities considering that he can fly and has almost unmatchable strength. But, the
fact of the matter is that Superman also has too many weaknesses that inhibit his ability
to fight at full power at all times. Hamartias like kryptonite and the need for constant
solar energy are too crippling for a sustained fight against a monster warrior such as
Goku. I mean, if a normal human like Batman can calculate a failsafe to kill a rogue
Superman, then an overpowered alien such as Goku could just as easily catch onto
these weaknesses.

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Although Superman is a phenomenal fighter, a highly respectable intelligent

lifeform, and one of the greatest superheroes in history, he just falls short to the sheer
might that is Goku. In all actuality, the battle would be rough for Goku at the beginning.
However, after being able to analyze Supermans ability, Goku would be able to catch
onto his weaknesses and gain a tactical advantage. Coupled with his arsenal of special
abilities, and his heart of gold, Goku would topple Superman in an all out brawl of
superiority, no doubt about it.