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Goku Vs Beerus: Can Goku Beat Beerus In Dragon Ball

It's been a long time since Goku Vs Beerus happened. Will the admirable Saiyan be able to defeat the most powerful God of Destruction now that he has mastered Ultra Instinct to some degree?

When it comes to power comparisons, there’s no shortage of them in the world of Dragon Ball. After the fight in the Battle of Gods arc, Goku and Beerus have never sparred against each other.

Fans have been waiting for Goku Vs Beerus to happen again in the future. Until then, let’s see who wins if they faced off against each other in a death battle.

Before commencing, here’s a pre-note. The entire argument will be based on the Manga for the most part. The Anime has comparatively more power scaling issues so quoting from the Anime will be minimized.

Also, this discussion will include Chapter 73 of Dragon Ball Super Manga in which Goku has begun to use the principles of Ultra Instinct in conjunction with Super Saiyan God, Blue and base forms.

Before we begin evaluating the matchup Goku vs Beerus, we must first reassess each combatant’s abilities and techniques.

We are busy studying/working or browsing through social media on a daily basis so, we tend to forget things quite easily.

Now you don’t need to break your head on remembering each of their moves. We’ve got you covered! Please go through the following links and come back to reading this article.

For Goku’s powers and abilities, Click here!
For Beerus’s powers and abilities, Click here!

Now that we’ve got an idea of each of their powers, without further ado, let’s get right into the juicy stuff – Analyzing the contest at hand – Goku Vs Beerus!

Is Goku Stronger Than Beerus?

To be straightforward and concise, Beerus is stronger than Goku by a wide margin. 

In Dragon Ball Super Chapter 70, the Cerealian Dragon made Granolah the greatest warrior in the Universe apart from the Gods.

This means that Gods like Beerus and Whis are well above the Mortals. Plus Granolah wrecked Goku’s ass in Chapter 73. If the Cerealian could do it, Beerus can too. 

This is the simple version of evaluating Goku Vs Beerus. If you can stick around for a more elaborate one, continue reading.

Now, as Master Roshi pointed out to Goku in the T.O.P, brute strength isn’t everything.

Other attributes like speed, stamina, experience, knowledge, techniques, mental stability and Ki control have to be considered. Let’s look at each of them in certain detail.

Speed

Goku in his MUI form couldn’t track Granolah’s movements as the latter zoomed in tap Goku in the heart, knocking him out cold.

And we’ve already established that Beerus > Granolah. So the cat-like G.O.D must be faster than the vengeful Cerealian.

In the Zeno Expo (Manga Version), Goku couldn’t follow any of the G.O.Ds’ movements. Everyone was moving at a ridiculous speed.

He said he couldn’t figure out who’s fighting who anymore. On the contrary, when MUI Goku was fighting Moro, Beerus could see where the combatants are and their movements with ease.

He wasn’t the least surprised at Goku’s improvement in speed and accuracy.

In the test of speed of Goku Vs Beerus, I think Beerus would get the upper hand. Goku has a lot of work to do in order to clear his thoughts.

Whereas Beerus has trained for millennia to fix his mind only on destruction when a fight gets serious. That brawl against SSG Goku was just a training match to make the Saiyan become a worthy rival in the future.

Against Ultra Instinct Goku, Beerus would still play around initially just to check Goku’s progress.

When he starts taking things seriously, his movements would be as nibble as when he fought against SSJ3 Goku. Man, those movements were so fluid that butter could easily glide over them.

Stamina

The following image summarizes Goku’s stance on his stamina levels:

Goku's stamina problem is a long term issue for him
Goku’s perpetual stamina problem gives him trouble

With SSJ3, Super Saiyan Blue, and Ultra Instinct, one of Goku’s most significant weaknesses is the issue of quick stamina drain. This flaw is the primary cause of Goku’s defeats.

Everyone remembers the famous Dragon Ball Super episode where he almost knocked Jiren out of the ring but his body gave out at the last moment.

Even now, the problem persists. He can’t use his MUI form for long and what’s more, the longer he uses it, the more his accuracy drops.

You can read this article for a more elaborate explanation.

On the contrary, Beerus doesn’t seem to have this issue. But we haven’t seen him go all out.

Yes, we did see him use a large portion of his power in the Zeno Expo but, more than stamina drain, the damage he incurred during the fight made him exhausted.

Beerus hasn’t yet demonstrated his full potential. Only then we can determine what his limitations are. Now some people may argue that “In Battle of Gods, Whis told that he used around 70% of his power against Super Saiyan God Goku and in the Anime, his power drained so much that he slept off in the middle of destroying the Earth”.

First off, that whole 70% power usage was retconned in Dragon Ball Super the Anime, nor such a thing was mentioned in the Manga.

Second, Beerus sleeping was just an act. His stamina levels did not drop at all.

Therefore, an easy way for Beerus to get the upper hand in this contest is to exploit this weakness of Goku. Do the same what Granolah did in his fight – just stall for time.

The only remedy Goku has got is to do what Whis told him – train to use UI in his base form. Or, he could switch between Super Saiyan God and MUI during a critical moment in battle to save stamina.

Just like how Vegeta switched between SSG and SSB against Goku Black. This would be tricky for him initially but once he gets the hang of it, he won’t be going down so easily, for the most part.

Experience

The answer to this question is quite obvious and doesn’t need much explanation. Goku has fought many battles in his time but that’s like comparing a speck of sand on a beach.

Beerus has lived for millions of years. He has trained under Whis for a much longer time than Goku and would have encountered many MANY foes.

I’m saying this keeping in mind Beerus’ habit of snoozing for decades. 

The way he fought against the other Destroyer Gods proves his tactical expertise. Using Ultra Instinct to quickly dodge incoming attacks and using Champa as bait to attack all the others at once is ingenious.

He may not be as battle-crazed as Goku, but his combat experience speaks volumes about the gap between them.

Martial arts knowledge

Again, this doesn’t require much elaboration. Beerus has lived and experienced more battles than Goku. End of story.

(Chuckles) Okay, let me elaborate a bit more than that.

In Battle of Gods, there’s a scene where Beerus demonstrates his superior knowledge of martial arts. When Piccolo, Tien and Android 18 charge in all at once, Beerus casually takes a pair of chopsticks to overpower them.

Two pressure point attacks using those sticks made Piccolo fall to the ground unconscious.

And the way he seamlessly moves from one point to another shows that he doesn’t make unnecessary movements, an important lesson Korin teaches to Goku which he still hasn’t fully grasped to this day.

Goku has studied under Roshi, a seasoned martial arts master who has lived for over 300 years. But that doesn’t come close to Whis’ expertise on the subject matter.

In fact, Goku tends to not pay attention to his teachers many a time. Roshi’s teachings have nothing to do with “more power, more chances to win” whereas Goku thinks that is the case, especially in the T.O.P.

The old pervert’s demonstration of his skills against Jiren clearly shows the knowledge gap between him and his former student.

With Beerus having a better teacher for millennia and the experience that he has, he stomps Goku in this department as well.

Techniques

Goku has a wide variety of techniques, each with its own merits. But the three techniques Beerus has at his disposal are more than enough to overcome Goku’s attacks.

I’ll elaborate more when I discuss MUI Goku Vs Beerus.

Psyche

Goku is extremely focused during battle, but unfortunately, he frequently leaves his guard wide open.

It only takes a few times of “I’m sorry” or “I beg you to forgive me” to make him drop his power level to like, 5 or something and get shot by a ray gun.

The following statement by Whis pretty much sums up this problem:

Goku's main weaknesses explained by Whis
Dragon Ball Volume “F” – Whis explains Goku’s weaknesses

Completely emptying your Ki can be really dangerous. This was how Sorbet’s ray gun was able to cause damage, reverting Goku to his base form.

I’ve no idea what Goku was thinking. He may be a genius fighter, but he’s a real klutz when it comes to Talk-no-Jutsu (Naruto, please teach him).

On the contrary, Beerus doesn’t give a damn what the opponent says. He’s definitely not as weak-minded as Goku to fall for dirty tricks.

In fact, during their battle, I can totally picture Beerus acting all weak and defenseless until he taps Goku on pressure points just to prove the above-mentioned point.

Destroyer Gods are too merciless to spare evildoers. Beerus would rather Hakai the crap outta them and go to sleep rather than listen to their rambling.

Even considering MUI (where losing one’s guard doesn’t matter), Goku has to consciously put effort to reduce thought generation, focus only on his opponent and transform.

Whereas Beerus’ body automatically dodges even in his base form (as he demonstrated in the Zeno Expo). This is because he’s thinking of Destruction and nothing else.

I’m not saying that Beerus’ expertise on UI is better than Goku’s; it’s just that the amount of effort Beerus has to put in to reduce thought generation is lesser than Goku.

Even though the Universe 7’s G.O.D is lazy, arrogant and a glutton, his combat skills and mental stability during battle are off the charts.

Ki control

Goku’s training with the Yardrats improved his Ki control significantly.

That’s how he can perform techniques such as Instant Transmission, Cloning/Creating copies, and so on. However, because of his stamina issues, the body won’t be capable of containing the power of MUI for long.

Hence the time limit problem comes into the picture. He has to, again, consciously make effort to contain Ki to prevent leakage.

Sometimes even now, we can see aura leaking out even in his Super Saiyan Blue form.

SSB's aura still unleashed by Goku against Granolah
Chapter 72 – Goku still showing his aura in PSSB form

Beerus’ case is different. He doesn’t need to power up or charge to artificially increase Ki (we haven’t seen him do this even once, but it might change in the future).

God Ki is contained within him with little or no effort on his own. And he can manifest Hakai spheres at any size with ease.

So by the time Goku charges up his Kamehameha, Beerus has already launched his huge Hakai energy ball that could destroy Earth, the Galaxy or even the entire Universe.

Also, Beerus can Nullify Regular Ki attacks, whereas Goku can’t.

Raw power

In terms of brute force, Goku may have the upper hand. Beerus has always been the sly type. Raw power is not his forte.

Even if Goku is physically stronger than Beerus, the game isn’t all about pure power. Super Saiyan Grade 3 Trunks was physically stronger than Perfect Cell (at that time. But Cell reveals later on that he too can also perform the same power-up) but the Saiyan became overpowered because he was slow and his stamina was draining quickly.

Even though Future Trunks is stronger than Perfect Cell, he still loses against him
Dragon Ball Z Chapter 193 – Cell says Transformations that gives you only brute strength is useless

If you want more examples, take Damon and Gamisaras from Universe 4.

Both of them are not physically strong at all; a simple Ki blast could knock them out. However, they were able to knock 6-7 combatants off the ring in the T.O.P by their intriguing abilities.

Universe 4's Damon and Gamisaras
Damon and Gamisaras of Universe 4

Gamisaras can turn invisible and he whacked 6 fighters out of the ring, including Android 18. Damon is tiny and can’t be sensed so easily.

He was able to knock Piccolo out of the competition and push Android 17 backward.

Piccolo knocked out of the ring and Android 17 being pushed back by Damon.
Damon kicks Piccolo out of the ring and pushes back Android 17

Hence, even if Beerus is physically weaker than Goku, he can still pummel the Saiyan to shreds.

Now that we’ve analyzed how Goku Vs Beerus would fair in terms of attributes, now it’s time to look into the forms.

Two of Goku’s strongest forms will be matched up against Beerus and let’s see if Beerus is still stronger than Goku.

Perfected Super Saiyan Blue + Ultra Instinct Goku Vs Beerus | Who Wins?

Goku combined the principles of Ultra Instinct with his Perfected Super Saiyan Blue form in Dragon Ball Super Chapter 73.

According to Granolah, the Saiyan has grown stronger and faster than before. Vegeta stated that using Ultra Instinct improves a Super Saiyan form’s accuracy.

If you look at Goku’s movements in that fight, you’ll notice that they’re quite fluid. Even when Granolah can predict where he will be, Goku still dodges his attacks.

However, Goku slowed down the moment he charged for Kamehameha. That’s when Granolah’s tap on Goku’s neck made him cough blood and revert to base form.

Now how would Beerus fare with PSSB+UI Goku?

Remember the two fights Vegeta had with Beerus? One was shortly after the Zamasu arc where Vegeta used his PSSB form and the other was just before the encounter with Granolah where Vegeta used his Super Saiyan Blue Evolved form (SSBE).

On both occasions, Beerus crushed him with ease. The Saiyan Prince was hardly a challenge to the God of Destruction.

The first battle occurred in Chapter 36 when the Oracle fish reminded Beerus that Goku and Vegeta would be his arch-rivals someday.

Annoyed by that statement, Beerus asked Vegeta to spar with him. This happened a long time ago so let’s skip and dive onto the next one.

The second encounter took place in chapter 69 right after the Moro arc. Beerus enraged Vegeta by telling him the truth about the Saiyan’s annihilation.

Vegeta then transforms into SSBE and charges towards him with full anger. However, Beerus was just toying with him as this was part of his training.

He merely wanted to test the Saiyan’s power and feel its effect. Even with a massive power boost, Vegeta was no match for the Destroyer God’s might.

His movements appeared to be casual, but they had an impact.

Vegeta was no match against Beerus in chapter 69
Beerus casually sparring against SSBE Vegeta
Vegeta couldn't land a single blow on Beerus
Beerus was too fast for Vegeta, dodging each and every one of his moves

Vegeta then unleashes a series of Ki blast attacks before zooming in to strike him with his fists. Beerus, on the other hand, was nowhere to be found.

Perplexed, Vegeta suddenly feels a blow on his back and crashes to the ground. You can see how well Beerus suppresses his Ki, making it undetectable even at close range, as well as how quick his reactions are.

Beerus will not be caught, no matter how hard Vegeta tried. He’s just too fast for the Prince.

Even with a tiny spark of Beerus’ Hakai, Vegeta was sent flying, reverting to his base form. He was clearly outmatched.

Now, what do these events have to do with Goku Vs Beerus? Well, let me explain.

Goku and Vegeta are almost on an equal footing when it comes to SSB. In fact, Vegeta’s SSBE is stronger than Goku’s PSSB. But Goku managed to close the gap with PSSB + UI. He just might be a little faster than Vegeta.

Nonetheless, Beerus easily wiped the floor with Vegeta in his prime. Even with Goku’s new addition to PSSB, he’d still get wrecked.

Goku might be able to dodge some of Beerus’ moves but against Hakai? No chance.

Even without the Hakai, Beerus can still utilize his pressure point attack, the move Granolah used to knock Goku back. A simple casual movement combined with Ki suppression and baam!

A neck chop would do the trick!

PSSB + UI Goku would end up just like SSJ3 Goku.

Now let’s see how MUI Goku Vs Beerus would take place.

Mastered Ultra Instinct (MUI) Goku Vs Beerus | Who Wins?

Even if MUI Goku is physically stronger than Beerus, the God of Destruction will still take home the trophy. How so? The three strongest techniques Beerus has at his disposal are more than enough to overcome Goku’s attacks.

Hakai

  • Beerus’ Hakai is on a very VERY high level. And Hakai is such a devastating move. That’s why he was bold enough to think that the G.O.D’s signature move is stronger than Angel techniques. He may be overshooting a bit, but not that far away from the truth. He can literally destroy a Universe without much effort. This is shown when Beerus and Champa were sparring against each other. On the contrary, MUI Goku may not be a Universe buster as of now.
Beerus and Champa are Universe busters
Chapter 6 – Beerus and Champa’s Hakai can destroy a Universe or two
  • Hakai’s power is much higher than we thought. A small portion of Beerus’ Hakai was able to destroy Vegeta’s armor, resulting in him flat on the ground and back to his base form. Vegeta in his new form is a formidable opponent for MUI Goku. If that form could boost him from being “less strong” to “can defeat Goku in a battle”, imagine how strong Beerus’ Hakai must be.
  • Sure, Goku can use Hakai as well. But it is not as good as Vegeta’s and certainly not on the level of Beerus. Even if Goku used Instant Transmission + Hakai against Beerus, it would fail because Beerus could see it coming from a mile away.
  • Beerus’ energy of destruction acts as a shield that can nullify regular Ki based attacks. Even if Goku uses the Spirit bomb, the size of which he used against Kid Buu, will not work on Beerus. Also, Beerus won’t be waiting for him even if he can gather the energy required, given this is a deathmatch.

Ultra Instinct

  • Earlier, I recalled how Beerus easily dodged Vegeta’s punches and was just toying with him. Keep in mind that (Vegeta’s SSBE + Forced Spirit Fission) > Ultra Instinct Sign Goku. Yes MUI Goku is stronger than Vegeta but I don’t think the former would take down the latter so easily as how Beerus demonstrated.
  • Beerus has been training under Whis for millions of years. Of course, he sleeps for many years too, but don’t let that make you undermine his strength. Now Whis said Beerus hasn’t mastered Ultra Instinct yet. But his command over Ultra Instinct in his base form is much higher than Goku’s.
  • Beerus is much more experienced in Godly abilities. Therefore, he doesn’t have stamina-related issues like Goku has. If both of them go all out, right from the beginning, Beerus wouldn’t lose much stamina whereas Goku would be gasping for air. Then Beerus can Hakai the hell out of him.

Other scenarios

  • The only techniques that Goku can use to turn the tables are the Mafuba and the Zenkai boost. He requires a talisman to seal the container. If he forgets to bring it along with him like in the Zamasu arc, then he’s doomed. If he executes it properly, Beerus could get sealed up. But Goku has to carefully plan it out so that Beerus does not notice the container. Unlike Future Zamasu, Beerus already knows what the container is for, so he can be on guard.
  • The Zenkai boost only works when Goku has the chance to get himself healed up. But I don’t think Beerus will wait for him to do so. Unlike Goku, who takes his sweet time to finish the job, Beerus is more of a “Finish the job ASAP so that I can eat/sleep” kinda guy. So by the time Goku calls for help, Beerus would have Hakai’d him.
Hence, with all things considered, Beerus can defeat MUI Goku in a one-on-one.

Analyzing the statements by the Authors and Characters

When we see statements like “X is stronger than Y” or anything related to power levels by the characters within the series and the authors, we must consider two things – Who said it and when was it said.

If any character makes a power-level comparison-related statement, he/she should be well knowledgeable about the subject matter.

Using this logic, statements by Whis are more reliable than statements by Shin or Goku. Keeping this in mind, let’s take a couple of statements related to this topic.

Toriyama’s Interview Statements

Toriyama once said in terms of strength, if Super Saiyan God Goku was a 6, Beerus would be a 10 and Whis 15. So fans argue that MUI Goku would be an 11-12 now.

But, this interview took place in 2013 when Battle of Gods came out and Dragon Ball Super has retconned this already. So Beerus and Whis are no longer a 10 and a 15 respectively.

Beerus might be a 17-18 and Whis might be a 25-26.

Jiren Stronger Than the G.O.Ds

Whis/Toppo mentioned that based on combat skills alone, Jiren > Belmod. And Belmod > Beerus. So, Jiren > Beerus.

However, Beerus does mention that he lost to Belmod only in an arm-wrestling match.

So is Whis kidding about Belmod being stronger than Beerus? Maybe. But considering the intensity of Beerus’ Hakai, he could erase Jiren off from existence.

Goku’s Words To Broly

Goku said in the Broly movie that Broly could be stronger than Beerus. Now Goku hasn’t seen Beerus’ Hakai in full strength.

One can argue by saying “Goku has seen Beerus go all out in the Battle of the Destroyers” I feel Beerus and the others had the mindset of “Do your best but don’t go on a killer mode”.

So we can interpret this as “They did go all out in a competitive/ rivalry spirit” But not all out on a murderous rampage.

Shin’s Statement About Vegito

When Vegito was thrashing Fused Zamasu, Shin makes the following statement:

Shin says Vegito may be stronger than Beerus
Chapter 23 – Is Vegito really stronger than Beerus?

Shin is ignorant of so many things about this Universe. He doesn’t even know that his life is linked with Beerus. So his statements aren’t always reliable.

He hasn’t seen Beerus’ full power. Beerus sleeps most of the time and hardly takes effort to destroy planets.

But this was also mentioned in a V-Jump scan

My argument for that is the following: so far, we haven’t seen Beerus go all out using the full extent of his signature techniques.

And the true nature of Beerus’ Hakai was a mystery and still is. So we can’t jump to conclusions yet.

Beerus After Goku Achieves Ultra Instinct

After seeing Goku activate Ultra Instinct for the first time in the T.O.P, Beerus makes the following statement:

Beerus apparently implying he can use Ultra Instinct yet
Chapter 39 – Beerus really can’t use Ultra Instinct?

Beerus looked pretty stunned when Goku used Ultra Instinct against Jiren and started sweating. Some people have concluded by seeing this that Beerus cannot use Ultra Instinct.

But look at the context here. Beerus is merely surprised that Goku could pull off such a move so soon. Maybe he was like “Goku pulled off Ultra Instinct before me when I was his age?” It’d hit his pride if that was the case.

Toyotaro confirms Beerus’ superiority over Goku

The biggest proof of what I’ve been explaining so far, dropped on August 9th, 2021, in an interview with DBS Manga author Toyotaro.

Along with Victory Uchida, he shared the inner workings of the Granolah arc as well as some juicy secrets.

The big reveal came up when Uchida touches upon Goku’s growth and Toyotaro naming 3 characters who Goku has not yet surpassed.

Toyotaro confirms Beerus is stronger than Goku
Toyotaro says Beerus is stronger than Goku

Well there you have it folks! The million-dollar question has finally been answered!

Uchida also mentions Broly, but Toyotaro doesn’t. Later on in the interview, he says Goku, Vegeta and Granolah (in no particular order) are the 3 strongest mortals in Universe 7.

So Broly’s ranking is uncertain. But he doesn’t seem to be stronger than Beerus. Click here for a more elaborate explanation!

Conclusion/TL;DR

In summary, if Goku Vs Beerus were to take place as of chapter 73 in a fight to the death, Beerus will win. His Hakai is so OP that it will render Goku’s Ki-based attacks useless and could kill him.

Beerus can also seal him off.

Also, Toriyama once said that “Right now, I have no plans for Goku and Vegeta to surpass Beerus and Whis“. He said this in 2016, so it could still be applicable. And he clubbed Beerus and Whis together in that statement so; he could be still sticking to it.

And Toyotaro’s words in that interview pretty much sealed it.

If Goku wants to play dirty, he could just kill off the Supreme Kai to defeat Beerus. Shin has a life link with Beerus so it is a viable tactic, in theory.

If he does this, Goku would become Goku Black, the name he thought was so cool. Bwahahaha. But I doubt Goku will take this route.

What do think? Is Beerus really stronger than Goku as explained? Let us know in the comments below!

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