Speed is a concept in the Dragon Ball franchise that often gets overshadowed by the impressive power of many of its characters. Along with incredible energy blasts and hand-to-hand combat skills, the speed at which a character can move is one of the most important factors in their success in a fight.
With the constant barrage of incoming energy blasts, we see throughout the franchise, only those with the speed to deflect these attacks can excel, and that leaves you wondering how fast can a Saiyan go. I know, sounds like a silly question right?
If we want to answer this strange query then there’s no better Saiyan to look at than Goku, the main protagonist of the series. We see Goku pull off some very impressive feats of speed during the franchise’s run, but how fast can he go exactly?
So Just How Fast Is Goku?
Thanks to a Quora user and their meticulous calculations, it’s determined that Goku can move at a top speed of 334630130.9588907361 mph when he first enters Super Saiyan, a number which is almost half the speed of light, however, this may not be his max speed.
I know when researching for this article and finding this user’s posts I was left wondering, “how did they reach this number?” But after careful examination, it all seems to check out.
Chris Bennett, the Quora poster/part-time mathematician arrives at this number after taking the length that it took Goku to traverse Snake Way early in Dragon Ball Z’s run. It took Goku 177 days to reach the end of the path which is believed to be around 625,000 miles long. At this point in the show, we know Goku’s power level to be at 5000, so taking into account the spike in power when he enters his Super Saiyan form which brings his power to a whopping 150 million and using the same formula Bennett arrived at Goku’s top speed.
This is the last time we have a clear indication of Goku’s exact power level so expediting the numbers further accurately is difficult, however, since his first Super Saiyan form Goku has grown in strength substantially.
Mastering Super Saiyan three, his times fused with Vegeta, and of course, his Super Saiyan God, Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan, and the almighty Ultra Instinct mode that brings his speed above that of the God of Destruction himself, Goku’s speed would have to be a substantial amount faster than the speed of light.
To summarise, in the most recent Dragon Ball Super series both Goku and his similarly matched contemporaries are most likely capable of breaching the speed of light with movement alone, disregarding Goku’s signature Instant Transmission technique that is a whole other equation itself.