Does my boy Gohan have to beat Toppo in order to be "redeemed" and live up to the hype of this arc?

[BlueBasilisk]

But Gohan struggled against that guy, and it was a great fight, and Gohan is the less experienced fighter from the entire team. It would look really weird for him to have a big climax, and also it would be out of character after the way he was built in this arc. Maybe he will help Freeza to take down Dyspo, but i don't see him knocking out anyone alone. All the fighters from U11 that are left are veterans, and these should be left for the veterans of U7.

Gohan also had a good showing against Kochiarator at the end of 120.

[Lionel]

I feel like the notion of "experience" is a bit overplayed for some of these alleged "veteran" fighters. When you scrutinise the contents of their resume you'll actually find only a minimal amount of active service duty from some of them. Freeza has never been forced to train at all in his life. In his words, Cold was the only being to ever scuff him. He's otherwise been delegating the labour of combat to his subordinates. You then have #17 and 18. Does this even need to be explained? They were kidnapped early on and had experimentations performed on them. Up until the Cell arc it's assumed that they were kept in stasis until the time came for them to be used. What we saw in the arc along with the few bits given to #18 in the Buu arc and some aggressive poachers defines the brunt of their "experience". It was never actually explained in the manga how they were able to fight so methodically against these "veteran" fighters. You just have two random human teenagers trading blows with the Z-fighters. One other example is Vegeta whom I already cited in a previous post. When you consider everything Gohan has been through since the beginning of Z, I'd say that constitutes as having experience; at least as much as any of the other characters who have seen a moderate degree of combat.

There is no guarantee that Gohan will receive an epic pivotal moment. It's at the discretion of the studio if they want him to be given something momentous like some of the others have gotten. But to say that Gohan's moment came and went against Obuni or the Namekians (fighters who many people believe should have been exclusively reserved for Piccolo since that was his best performance) sounds a bit like he's being short-changed. Were other people making these conclusions when #17 got to defeat one of the Kamikaze Fireballs or when Freeza was able to finally humiliate a Super Saiyan with Cabba (admittedly I don't care for #17 myself and would have been okay with seeing him leave so I may not be the best poster for making this type of comment)? Doubtful. People were certainly hoping for their performance to play to conventional expectations and have them receive something grandiose. Why can't Gohan receive the same against one of the big names of the Pride Troopers? I think he has enough identity and positional team leverage to warrant the effort.

[precita]

I can't believe people are satisfied with Gohan taking out random mooks. Gohan needs to take out a character of significance.

[BWri]

I can't believe people are satisfied with Gohan taking out random mooks. Gohan needs to take out a character of significance.

Episode 124 Gohan's LAST Stand

Oh my

[precita]

Gohan needs to take out both Dyspo and Toppo.

[KingKaash]

Gohan eliminating the next U11 God of Destruction Toppo would be the writers gifting Gohan a W instead of the story building up to him deserving the W. What I mean is that Gohan did train right before the ToP with Piccolo but that's not enough to get you to a level where you can take out Toppo. I think Gohan has done fine for himself for this ToP. He was in the final 10 which is a victory itself. As a Gohan fan, I'm content with that considering how far he'd fallen.

Doesn't Gohan feel a bit misplaced based on Episode 124 preview? He was just fighting Toppo and now he's moving over to join Frieza against Dyspo. This odd placement of Gohan here at the end shows that his time should be up

[Super_Divine_Genki]

I'm still hanging on to this little gem: "Let's go together... even further ahead." ~ Goku to Gohan, DBS Episode #90.

Next episode title (#124) has got to be something of a red herring. I'm with precita -- Gohan going out after only having taken out much less significant combatants would be extremely anti-climactic after there's been this attempt to build him back up, imo. We haven't even seen the true Gohan yet during all of this... the Gohan (when in fighting form) that gets backed into a corner when there's no option. I will agree, however, with anyone that's said that Gohan's portrayal up to now hasn't been so impressive (over-reliance on deferring to Piccolo and others to take the lead), but it's completely in character.

I don't see #17 outlasting Gohan, for sure. That would be a very odd choice of writing, imo. #17 appears to be content about being eliminated going by his attempt to take out Toppo. I don't see Gohan going into the stands next episode.

Episode 124 Gohan's LAST Stand

Oh my

No no. It's LAST Stand-ing. The TOEI people messed it up! :p

[precita]

Everytime a preview hinted at a character losing in a preview (Vegeta, 17, etc) they don't. The fact that it says Gohan's last stand doesn't mean he will lose.

[fadeddreams5]

Gohan is going to sacrifice himself to knock out the bunny man. Android 17 will probably outlast this terrible character.

[precita]

If Gohan does get some good wins in people will give up on his character entirely going forward. This is "do or die time," "make or break time" and "the final straw" time for Gohan.

It's now or never.

[HeroR]

If Gohan does get some good wins in people will give up on his character entirely going forward. This is "do or die time," "make or break time" and "the final straw" time for Gohan.

It's now or never.

It isn't. That's you being a drama queen.

[supercat]

Gohan's contributed a good amount at this point. He has far more notable victories under his belt than both 17 and Frieza combined. At this point, I feel there isn't much left for him to offer. Another transformation would come off a bit too forced as would defeating a powerhouse like Toppo.

Honestly, both 17 and Frieza seem to have a lot more to offer in terms of power and as characters in general. There's so much that can still be explored with them while there really isn't much going on for Gohan. His fights are boring and redundant as are his whiny rants. He always seems to need some kind of guidance or pep talk to keep his motivation heightened.

[ulisa]

Has Gohan contributed a lot to this arc? In some ways yes and in some ways no but it really feels like they need to do something pivotal or the build up will feel wasted. I’m Of the opinion that Gohan being backed into a corner has to trigger something because that’s Gohan’s MO. It’s what Goku counted on in the Cell Saga and while Gohan’s burst of power reduced after that, it doesn’t feel like they went away. Like a lot of others, I’m clinging to Goku’s statement “Lets go together...even further ahead” too.

As for his power boost from Super Saiyan level to current, truthfully, it doesn’t bother me, at least for Gohan. This is the same character that went from no training at all when introduced at age 4 to being able to survive against Vegeta in a year’s time. This is the same character that went from struggling against Freeza’s minions to being able to thrash 2nd Form Freeza (though briefly) and if you include filler, holding his own against Final Form Freeza, although again briefly. He went from being nowhere near Super Saiyan to achieving it, maintaining Full Power Super Saiyan to surpassing it into Super Saiyan 2 in less than a year.

Gohan’s shtick has always been insane power climbs in ridiculous short periods of time. They always singled him out as being some type of power prodigy and I doubt that’s just disappeared.

[precita]

Gohan might beat Dyspo in this weeks ep, but it isn't enough. He also needs to help or contribute to taking down Toppo.

We Gohan fans like to have our cake and eat it too.

[Ki Breaker]

Gohan might beat Dyspo in this weeks ep, but it isn't enough. He also needs to help or contribute to taking down Toppo.

We Gohan fans like to have our cake and eat it too.

Like, I guess that would be cool and all, but he doesn't need to beat Toppo or even fight him for that matter, and this is coming from a heavy weight gohan supporter here, make him fight Toppo, he will only get shredded, bad, and after he has been so goddam cool this entire arc I am not keen on seeing him get torn apart at the end..
My way, he doesn't involve himself to a high degree and keep contributing to the strength in numbers..

Either way, dyspo is going out, he ain't shit but speed and tricks..

[TekTheNinja]

See, thing is is they buff up Vegeta to fight alongside Goku, and now Gohan's big fight will probably be against Dyspo, who has done nothing but get dunked up an ran away this whole tournament. Dyspo doesn't feel like much of a threat at all. What would be more cool for Gohan is if all three saiyans teamed up against Jiren, but I'm almost sure it'll just be Goku and Vegeta.

Gohan has done things this arc, sure. Problem is the things he does are mostly stupid, like punching Botamo out, and fighting characters who could be cooler, but the plot rushes through like the Namekians and Obuni.

[Asura]

Gohan might beat Dyspo in this weeks ep, but it isn't enough. He also needs to help or contribute to taking down Toppo.

We Gohan fans like to have our cake and eat it too.

Gohan taking down Dyspo and then getting KOed would be perfect for his character. He doesn't need to take out Toppo. The more I now think about it, the more taking out Toppo doesn't make any sense. Gohan should be powerful enough to take out Dyspo, but not someone who is supposedly GoD level like Toppo is. Dyspo is one of the three major antagonists that have been hyped from the beginning of the tournament, so if Gohan can take him out, I think that will make him live up to the hype of the arc.

[Doctor.]

Gohan needs to take out both Dyspo and Toppo.

Gohan needs to take out Jiren, you guys! And that will only be a temporary fix until he has his big showdown with El Grande Padre.

[Black Hawk]

Gohan taking down Dyspo and then getting KOed would be perfect for his character. He doesn't need to take out Toppo. The more I now think about it, the more taking out Toppo doesn't make any sense. Gohan should be powerful enough to take out Dyspo, but not someone who is supposedly GoD level like Toppo is. Dyspo is one of the three major antagonists that have been hyped from the beginning of the tournament, so if Gohan can take him out, I think that will make him live up to the hype of the arc.

I would agree with this notion, but, by this logic, No. 17 and Freeza are also done getting eliminations and (unless Freeza's plan comes to fruition) only serve to get eliminated at this point, as only Gokū and potentially Vegeta will be capable of doing anything to Top, let alone Jiren.

[Whatever]

Gohan needs to take out both Dyspo and Toppo.

Gohan needs to take out Jiren, you guys! And that will only be a temporary fix until he has his big showdown with El Grande Padre.

He needs to defeat Goku and the rest of U7 as well(including Tien again who is not in the arena),Gohan needs the points to be tournament MVP and get the Super Dragon Balls.