When you search how old is Goku exactly, you come to know that it can have different answers. That’s because the author admitted to his habit of forgetfulness. Another reason was that he made the Anime something to be enjoyed by young boys and hence took the plot to wherever the wind took it. They adapted the Anime from Manga, but according to fans, the two are also very different from each other.

Another thing that complicates this search is the matter of canon(just in case you don’t know: It’s the complete episode series that’s not related to official Manga but still accepted by fans to be part of the story, just occurring in a different universe) and non-canon(opposite of canon). There are several movies on Goku and we can consider them canon while others would be non-canon.

We will arrive at different answers to how old is Goku if we come from both sides, canon and non-canon. For the sake of arriving at a definite answer instead of multiple, we’ll consider the canon episodes that the author edited, but have no Manga, as a part of the story as well.

Now, for the matter of inconsistency between Manga and Anime, we will try to glean as much as we can about the character of Goku in Anime and calculate his age in Anime only.

To find out how old is Goku, we first need to know about the Dragon Ball franchise and the different timelines and sagas that Goku fought in. In case you don’t know what a saga is in Dragon Ball, consider it a series of different arcs that are involved together.

Dragon Ball:

Emperor Pilaf Saga:

This is where Goku started his journey. According to screen rant.com, the Anime misstated his age, and the explanation was that Goku couldn’t count. The stated age was 14, but he was roughly 11 years old. We can consider this number roughly 13 if we consider he was born in 736, sent to Earth in 739, and took part in the tournament in 749 according to Quora.com. But we will consider the age of 11 as the Anime seems to suggest.

Red Ribbon Army Saga:

It is where Goku found to conflict with others over the matter of Dragon Balls in Anime. At the age of 12, he entered the 21st World Martial Art Tournament and then took part in the 22nd and 23rd editions of the tournament as well. Considering that they held tournaments every three years, it means he must be the age of 18 when he entered the 23rd tournament and married Chi-Chi.

Dragon Ball Z:

In the starting saga of Dragon Ball Z, we come to know Goku’s son is about five years old. When he falls down fighting his brother Raditz, he must be roughly 23 years old and almost 24, depending on how soon he married Chi-Chi right after the tournament. Let’s consider it 23. When he comes back a year later, it’s like he has come one year into the future. He’s the following ages now:

Technically : 24 

Physcially : 23

Frieza Arc 

This arc comes and there don’t seem to be any time jumps here. So, Goku is still:

Technically : 24 

Physcially : 23

Andriod Saga:

Goku spends three years training. Then they enter the Hyperbolic Time Chamber where one year passes by for their bodies, but not outside. Goku once again fell in this fight. So Goku is now:

Technically: 27 

Physcially: 27

Majjin Buu Saga:

He’s brought back seven years later to deal with Majjin Buu. A thing to note is that his physical body was not affected by this time lapse. Hence Goku, after defeating Majjin Buu, was:

Technically : 34 

Physcially : 27

But the 10-year jump for the epilogue, according to an article on we got this covered.com makes Goku:

Technically: 44 

Physcially: 37

Dragon Ball GT:

As mentioned before, there’s a ten-year leap in time in Dragon Ball Z at the end of the Majin Buu saga and most other stories of Goku occur in these ten years. The Dragon Ball GT is the one that seems to start five years after the last epilogue of Dragon Ball Z. So Goku now is:

Technically: 49 

Physcially: 42

Now, as the story goes in the GT, Goku lives with a body of an 11-year-old again. And this story ends almost two years later with him being 13 years old, so Goku is now:

Technically: 51 

Physcially: 13

The last, a century later, he finally gets his body back according to the story. Hence, Goku’s now:

Technically: 151

Physically: 70-120

Let me clarify the range of 70-120 as it may confuse. After 100 years have passed, his body should be of 113 years old but it looks like they gave him his old body back and he was still in his prime. For a Saiyan, youth technically means something around the age of 80 years old, according to the story. So, an 80-year-old Saiyan would be like a 25-year-old human. A human is at his prime till 35. So, 70-120 seems like a good estimate.

However, keep one thing in mind. Goku is the main character and maintaining his youth is more of a necessity. No matter how much he’s made to age in the Anime, it’s unlikely that he would lose his prime looking body. So consider 151 as the ultimate answer to his age, as it’s a more accurate measure. Hope this answered the question of how old is Goku in the Anime.