Goku’s early design was more monkey than Saiyan; see how Toriyama’s original sketches nearly changed ‘Dragon Ball’ forever.

Dragon Ball's Goku is one of anime's most recognizable heroes, but Akira Toriyama's original concept art reveals a version of ...

He even went so far as to propose Goku looking decidedly simian -although much more childish and cheerful- based on the Monkey King, the protagonist of the classic novel ‘Journey to the West’.

From episode 13 of Dragon Ball Z, presented in this lot is an animation drawing of Goku in the afterlife, as seen at the 3:26 mark, right after he gets hit on the head with a spiked club.

Goku is drawn with a big smile and says "Thank You".͏ His smile resembles the ͏cheerful grin ͏often seen ͏on Monkey D. Luffy, the ͏main character of͏ One Piece. Ad Goku and Luffy as shown in ...

You don’t have to be a fan of Dragon Ball to know who Goku is. The character has become a pop culture icon since Akira Toriyama create him, and his fame only grew once Dragon Ball Z went live ...