WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Dragon Ball Super Chapter 76, by Akira Toriyama, Toyotarou, Caleb Cook and Brandon Bovia, available now in English through Viz Media.
After the surprising name-drop of Goku's father Bardock at the end of Chapter 76 of the Dragon Ball Super manga, Goku might finally be forced to contemplate his Saiyan lineage. Bardock is well known through various canon and non-canon stories throughout the history of Dragon Ball. However, the identity of Goku's mother, Gine, has received much less attention, having only made one canon appearance in Dragon Ball lore.
Gine first appeared in the special manga Dragon Ball Minus: The Departure of the Fated Child, which was released in April 2014. Interestingly, her scene was repurposed and animated almost beat for beat in the film Dragon Ball Super: Broly, which was released in the U.S. in January 2019. So despite technically appearing twice, they were depictions of the same event, meaning Gine has really only ever had one canonical appearance in Dragon Ball. Here's everything we know about Goku's mysterious mother.
So, who exactly is the mother of the mighty Kakarot? Perhaps unsurprisingly, Gine is unusually kind and gentle for a Saiyan. After all, Goku had to get his kind heart from someone and it certainly wasn't Bardock. Gine was a member of Bardock's squad during the Saiyan army's days working under Frieza's command. A terribly unskilled warrior, part of the reason Gine fell in love with Bardock was because of his habit of saving her life.
Gine's and Bardock's relationship was unusual in Saiyan culture. Generally, couplings between Saiyans were for breeding purposes only, yet Gine and Bardock held genuine affection for one another. Bardock would often taunt Gine by saying her kind-heartedness had rubbed off on him. After accepting she was not suited for battle, she took a job in a Saiyan meat distribution center to help feed the genetically predisposed to extreme hunger warriors.
As a warrior race, a Saiyan mother's job is to raise her child to fighting age and then leave them to their duties. Gine was a traditional Saiyan in this sense, as she expressed tremendous pride that her young son Raditz, Goku's older brother, was fighting on the same squad as Prince Vegeta. However, she was also a loving mother, especially toward her baby Kakarot. Despite Bardock's premonition, Gine was hesitant to send him off Planet Vegeta and vowed to come to find him if Bardock turned out to be wrong.
After she tearfully saw off Goku's escape pod with her mate, she is presumed to have died in the explosion when Frieza destroyed Planet Vegeta and wiped out most of the Saiyan race. All these years later, there has been no indication that she could have survived. Tragically, she has been all but forgotten after the death of Raditz, the only Saiyan who survived Frieza's annihilation and would have had reason to remember her. Goku, on the other hand, was too young to hold any memories of Gine when she sent him away.
Throughout the Dragon Ball franchise, Goku has never been interested in his Saiyan heritage, soundly rejecting the idea upon meeting Raditz and witnessing how vile and cruel he could be. Meeting Nappa and Vegeta, who were equally evil, likely did not raise Goku's opinion on Saiyans in general. For all he knows, his parents might be the same exact way, and he has never expressed any interest in their general existence.
It's a shame because Goku would probably really love Gine. She is kind, loves him very much, and works in a meat distribution center so she could probably make him all sorts of food he would love. As far as Goku is concerned, Grandpa Gohan is the only parental figure he's ever known or needed. And considering that he has never wished back King Kai despite knowing him personally and being the reason he's dead, Gine's chances of being revived don't look great.
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