Goku cant beat Superman, and Im sick of hearing people who know nothing about Superman say he can.
People always call in fusion, or SSJ4 Goku at his strongest, so why not use Superman at his strongest? Superman Prime has been living in the SUN for 15,000 years, and he has the Green Lantern ring, the Universe's Most Powerful weapon. By that time, Supes is no longer hurt by Kryptonite, he has absorbed so much solar energy that he cannot be hurt by anything other than a psychic attack (psychic attacks only give him headaches), and the Green Lantern ring is limited only by willpower in what it can do.
Or how about Pre-Crisis Superman? Who is this? The early version of Superman, who had his powers cut back during the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Heres some samples of his powers:
Goku can blow up a planet? Superman once juggled planets.
Goku has instant transmission? The Flash can run over 8 times the speed of light, and Superman barely lost to him in a footrace. That means that Superman can move at around 7.7 times the speed of light. Goku's instant transmission is only 99% speed of light.
Superman once nearly outflew the barrier of creation.
He is so fast, and his senses are so sharp, that while talking to Lois Lane, he heard aliens in another galaxy needing help, went there, helped them, and came back, and Lois didnt even notice he had left.
His voice alone can shatter mountains.
His heat vision can repel Darkseid's Omega Effect, which can destroy planets.
Should I go on? Yep.
Superman closed a black hole with his bare hands.
He once used his superbreath to extinguish a star about to go nova.
He sneezed in outer space, and his super breath obliterated an uninhabited solar-system. The whole thing.
In February 1954, Superman withstands the explosion of a hydrogen bomb, (Superman #87)
In June 1958, while relaxing at his Fortress of Solitude, Superman defeats a great robot he has built in a game of super-chess, despite the fact that the robot - which possesses a super-electronic brain - can think and play with the speed of lightning and plans a million moves at once.
By 1957, Superman is able to hurl an uninhabited Planet through space (Superman #110) Both Pre-Crisis Superman and Superboy have been known to move planets without external assistance. For reference, consider the earth an average sized planet. The earth weighs in at 5.972 sextillion (5,972,000,000,000,000,000,000) metric tons.
Ive got more if you want it...
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FANBOYS, TAKE NOTE:
We've already talked about the following many times:
This thread is comparing the second strongest version of Superman to the second strongest version of Goku. WE ARE NOT DISCUSSING ANIMATED SUPERMAN, WE ARE NOT DISCUSSING PRIME, AND WE ARE NOT DISCUSSING GOKU AFTER HE ABSORBS THE DRAGONBALLS. Superman Prime is just too strong to even think about fighting anybody hand to hand. So we'll use Pre-Crisis Superman. Goku, after absorbing the Dragonballs, is never seen fighting again, so we arent using him either. We dont know what he can do. The fight is Pre-Crisis Superman vs SSJ4 Goku.
We arent talking about WHY they are fighting. We dont care why. Even though we know that comic heroes have fought each other many times, and we know that Goku has fought his friends and family many times, we just dont care. This is about what would happen IF they fought.
Superman is impervious to ki attacks. There are ki users in the DCU, and they do not affect Superman.
Goku trying to use Kryptonite on Superman. Goku wont. Just for comparison, he gave Cell a senzu bean before sending his own son in against Cell. He wont figure out Superman's weakness anyway. Of note: Green K is not an instant kill on the Man of Steel. Superman was recently injected with liquid K (I know, I know, Kryptonite is a mineral, I dont write this stuff) and was still able to use his powers.
Goku blowing up the sun. Goku wont, he's too good to intentionally kill everyone on Earth, just to win a fight. He would rather sacrifice himself than risk destroying the earth. Plus, Superman has enough solar energy stored up, and can exist in space long enough, that the destruction of the sun would be more of a problem for Goku than Superman.
Goku trying to gather the Dragonballs. He doesnt have time, because Superman is so much faster, Goku doesnt have time to gather all the balls, and doesnt have time to make a wish. Also, everybody knows how much he loves a fight, and how its often his downfall.
Goku using the Genki Dama. No. Goku doesnt have time to summon one up because of Superman's speed. Besides, the Spirit Bomb doesnt work on those pure of heart.
Superman doesnt know martial arts. Wrong. Superman knows many forms of martial arts, and how to neutralize them, and he has thousands of years of combat experience.
Goku wins because he is cooler. Wrong. Nobody cares who you think is "cool." Thats both subjective and irrelevant to this fight, as a good friend of mine pointed out. Also, Superman has been around longer, is more recognizable, and is even more popular in Japan than Goku.