Gohan at the Cell Games

[LuckyCat]

Who said it needed to be Android 16? If Krillin was killed by a Cell Jr., surely Gohan could've gone SSJ2.

That's a question for Toriyama. By writing 16's speech, he's saying Gohan needed to hear that message to access his power.

To be fair, it would've been really cliche at this point in the series for Krillin's death or even Piccolo's death to trigger Gohan's rage. Those might be more logical choices, but A16's speech and tragic death is at least more creative and interesting, even if not perfectly logical.

[Son_Gohan]

That wasn't character development with Goku on Namek, at least not a development of his personality. He was calm because he had gained a level of power he couldn't imagine.

Your whole point about Gohan losing his temper in battle are irrelevant to the question of whether Gohan is acting out of character in the Cell Games. He didn't develop in the room of spirit and time. That's the point. He came out and he's suddenly different with no reason for it. What reason was there for him to change? In the Saiyan arc, it's clear why he changes, he has to or he would die.

An individual is not expected to have the same mind at 11 years old as they had when they were 5. Gohan's pacifism in the Cell Games was an extreme expression of his human side, just as his enraged state is an extreme expression of his Saiyan side.

First, anger is all too human, so I find that argument specious and secondly, he did change when he was five, what you are saying is that he changed from the time he was 11 to when he turned 11. He inexplicably changed because time passed.

And where was that stated to be the reason? It seems you have no problem making inferences yourself. Krillin explicitly notes a change in Goku's Ki signature, like he was a whole different person.

I think it was intended to be self-explanatory. We know that Gohan had developed mentally by how he acts. But if you need it to be spelled out for you, there's a guidebook that makes it literal: "He grew a lot both physically and mentally during his roughly 1 year of training in the Room of Spirit and Time!"

What was the reason for Goku being able to suddenly read Krillin's mind? Not even he knew why, just that he could. It's never explicitly explained how he was able to come to have such an ability in the story (but the guidebooks do go into it in more detail). Ki has a mysterious nature, and Toriyama appears to have a healthy appreciation for its subtleties and the unknown in his own story; not everything needs to have a clear explanation. You could simply take what Goku said about his gravity training "doing something to my brain..." and apply it to Gohan's case in the RoSaT.

Even in Freudian theory, anger is seen as a primitive emotion associated with the id and the animalistic part of the human being. Going by Buddhist/Daoist/Qigong theory, life works in cycles and at certain stages in life, orifices in the mind will open up, certain aspects of consciousness will become more active. This is not solely dependent on chronological age, but mental age, which can be affected by meditative practices. Not everyone develops at the same rate, even physically speaking. Gohan is a child prodigy and when he awoke his dormant power in the RoSaT, I don't think that pertained to just sheer quantity of Ki that he could use in battle, but it also awakened a spiritual awareness, which perhaps he wasn't ready to handle.

[ABED]

And where was that stated to be the reason? It seems you have no problem making inferences yourself. Krillin explicitly notes a change in Goku's Ki signature, like he was a whole different person.

It didn't need to be stated, we're given enough relevant information including having spent years with Goku to know why he would feel calm. Goku being calm even in a tense situation isn't a change. Goku was the same as he always was, just stronger and randomly gained the ability to read minds which he never used again, which is also bad writing. The only sensible explanation I can think of why he got that power is because Toriyama wanted to circumvent a ton of expositional dialog that the reader already knew.

not everything needs to have a clear explanation

Yes, writing does need a clear explanation. Some things that we take as a given in the real world can be taken as a given in a fictional world, but in a fictional world where you are creating rules or changing a character it either needs to be explained or shown why the change was made. It's clear why Gohan changed in the Saiyan arc - his survival depended on it. But he regressed in the Cell arc after the RST. Why? No reason. He regressed seemingly just so he could learn that lesson again. Good writing requires you show why a character changes because it's like math. The audience is constantly having to solve for X and Y, so the author has to play fair and give enough relevant information.

I get that Gohan changed, but it wasn't a motivated change or one that was necessary. Gohan already knew that it was okay to fight bad guys to protect the people you love. I don't need it spelled out for me. This isn't even a case where the audience isn't given enough information to draw a proper conclusion. It's not Gohan maturing because his pacifism isn't mature. It's naïve at best. This is a case where Gohan has suddenly forgotten that it's reasonable to fight to defend your friends and family and the things you care about.

But if you need it to be spelled out for you, there's a guidebook that makes it literal

I am perfectly capable of understanding things without having them spelled out with big bold letters and flashing neon lights. That guidebook doesn't prove anything for a number of reasons. For one, the guidebooks are not written by Toriyama. Two, the quote just states that he grew mentally, it wasn't shown. And three, we're limiting the discussion to the series or the manga, not someone's interpretation.

[Son_Gohan]

And where was that stated to be the reason? It seems you have no problem making inferences yourself. Krillin explicitly notes a change in Goku's Ki signature, like he was a whole different person.

It didn't need to be stated, we're given enough relevant information including having spent years with Goku to know why he would feel calm. Goku being calm even in a tense situation isn't a change. Goku was the same as he always was, just stronger and randomly gained the ability to read minds which he never used again, which is also bad writing. The only sensible explanation I can think of why he got that power is because Toriyama wanted to circumvent a ton of expositional dialog that the reader already knew.

not everything needs to have a clear explanation

Yes, writing does need a clear explanation. Some things that we take as a given in the real world can be taken as a given in a fictional world, but in a fictional world where you are creating rules or changing a character it either needs to be explained or shown why the change was made. It's clear why Gohan changed in the Saiyan arc - his survival depended on it. But he regressed in the Cell arc after the RST. Why? No reason. He regressed seemingly just so he could learn that lesson again. Good writing requires you show why a character changes because it's like math. The audience is constantly having to solve for X and Y, so the author has to play fair and give enough relevant information.

I get that Gohan changed, but it wasn't a motivated change or one that was necessary. Gohan already knew that it was okay to fight bad guys to protect the people you love. I don't need it spelled out for me. This isn't even a case where the audience isn't given enough information to draw a proper conclusion. It's not Gohan maturing because his pacifism isn't mature. It's naïve at best. This is a case where Gohan has suddenly forgotten that it's reasonable to fight to defend your friends and family and the things you care about.

But if you need it to be spelled out for you, there's a guidebook that makes it literal

I am perfectly capable of understanding things without having them spelled out with big bold letters and flashing neon lights. That guidebook doesn't prove anything for a number of reasons. For one, the guidebooks are not written by Toriyama. Two, the quote just states that he grew mentally, it wasn't shown. And three, we're limiting the discussion to the series or the manga, not someone's interpretation.

I agree we were given enough relevant information, but I don't think you've come to the right conclusion. Vegeta makes it very clear that Goku was a completely different person than the one he fought on Earth, which can be attributed as part of his transition to becoming Super Saiyan:




We know for a fact that it is not a simple matter of just becoming stronger, Ginyu stealing Goku's body exemplifies this, since he was an adept warrior in his own right yet could not access its full power. Goku's Ki was not solely of a physical nature, and there were spiritual elements involved that a non-martial artist could not comprehend.

A story that deals with Ki does not need to always have a clear explanation because Ki is not a concrete, scientific concept, the way you're approaching it. Even in real life, Qi theory does not deal in absolutes, it is ever-changing, mysterious, and something that needs to be continually adapted to, viewed with an open mind. The Dragonball world touches on this point with Freeza's forces being unable to reliably determine the Earthlings' true power in a concrete way with their scouters, the Earthlings being unable to comprehend the Ki of the godly Kaioshin, etc. Cultural differences can play a part in how we perceive ideas, connotative concepts can get lost in translation; what may not be clear to you, doesn't mean it wouldn't be clearer to someone that lived in Japan during the story's serialization. Good writing does not mean we should be explained everything either, there should be a good balance of both known and unknown... hence why we're still arguing about this story 20 years after it ended.

I think from a story-telling standpoint, it was meant to emphasize the contrast in his personalities, with his SSJ1 being extremely yin, the polar opposite of his extremely yang SSJ2. Youth is unpredictable, irrational, an excess of hormone levels causing strange behavior/phases. Gohan was isolated from earthly experiences for close to a year in very harsh conditions, with plenty of time for introspection; I personally think it's unrealistic to assume that wouldn't have some profound affect on his mentality. People can go insane in such conditions, as Future Trunks explicitly states when first entering the room. Goku could only last a month in there when training at Kami's previously.

Suit yourself, although we never established that in the discussion. When I had referenced the Daizenshuu previously, you did not dispute it.

[MozillaVulpix]

In this whole discussion, I think there's one thing to note that I don't see mentioned often, and that's that the Cell Games were inherently a different situation to most other fights Gohan had been in up until that point. It was a tournament. The stakes were much higher, Cell was pretty much pure evil, and most characters were treating it with the same level of gravity as other fights, but the one big difference was, because it was a tournament, there was a way out. You could lose without necessarily dying (Cell specifically says he'll try not to kill them), and you could give up. And, crucially, Gohan saw Goku give up when he saw he was outmatched, and Cell actually let Goku do that. If you use that logic, Gohan could have assumed "if the logical option for Goku was to give up when he knew there was no possible way he could win, shouldn't the logical option for Cell be to give up against me because he most likely wouldn't be able to win against my true power?" And then that lead to Gohan attempting to explain that to him.

If you look at that from Gohan's perspective, Goku giving up against Cell could have seemed like a sudden realisation for him; that he didn't need to fight to the death or even kill. And seeing that, he could suddenly grab onto it like a lifeline. If that fight ended before someone got killed, why not this one? It would be such a expedient option for him I could understand him immediately losing the motivation to try anything else. It's suddenly realising you had a shortcut to do something you didn't like to do this entire time. Why wouldn't you want to test it out as soon as you know about it? Why would you ever want to attempt the harder method again?

And as for why he didn't figure out this was an option before? Well...he'd never seen a fight end with agreements from both parties before an opponent was completely defeated before. Perhaps the closest was the Ginyu Force, and that was still only after Goku had beaten them to the point they could barely move. I don't even know if they were conscious. This is going more into in-universe headcanon, but if that was all he had been experienced to, why would he ever think there was another way? The Goku/Cell fight was the first time to him where things were different.

[Kanassa]

...

What's being discussed here isn't whether it's in character for Gohan to maybe want to seek an alternative to fighting due to fear. It's the question of if it's in-character for Gohan to require a random android to tell him "Killing Cell is a okay thing to do!".

[MozillaVulpix]

...

What's being discussed here isn't whether it's in character for Gohan to maybe want to seek an alternative to fighting due to fear. It's the question of if it's in-character for Gohan to require a random android to tell him "Killing Cell is a okay thing to do!".

I was responding to the OP.

Continued from another thread. There appears to be an issue with Gohan's behavior at the Cell Games from some -- specifically, in DBZ #182, if I'm understanding correctly. The issue appears to be that from the time that Gohan went into the RoSaT until the episode in question, there is nothing there to bridge it all together, leaving Gohan to appear to some as out-of-character.

182 is when he tells Cell he doesn't want to fight. I was assuming that was the major discussion here.

But even then...if you use the idea that Gohan didn't realise that was an option until now, it explains that, too. At that point, he thinks he has a choice; either keep pleading with Cell until he sees logic and stops fighting, or be forced to kill Cell. And the first option has a much better outcome and is something he'd much rather do, as long as he has the glimmer of hope that it was possible. 16's speech, as well as saying "it's okay to kill", pretty much says "in this situation, there isn't a choice, because Cell is not going to listen to your words. And you know that, even only on a subconscious level." Gohan has to realise that to lose his hesitation.

[s y]

Even as a big Gohan fan, I can't deny the arguments presented that his behavior was out of character.

[ABED]

Son Gohan, Goku wasn't a completely different person on Namek. Vegeta meant he was in a completely different level of strength than before. Goku didn't change after he got stronger.

The conditions of the room of spirit and time didn't change anyone else but we're supposed to believe Gohan had this deep philosophical revelation. Goku keeps Gohan's deep well a power a secret to everyone including Gohan and doesn't even tell him his strategy. Does that strike you as good writing or is it more likely that Toriyama kept Goku from giving his son that information in order to highten the drama? The reason I bring this up is because the writing in the arc is spotty. Toriyama didn't become a more subtle writer all of a sudden like you have claimed.

And to those that say the stakes of the Cell Games were different - no they weren't. Gohan has fought several guys that could've literally destroyed the world had they won.

Gohan has to realise that to lose his hesitation.

yes and it wouldn't take Gohan a long time to realize the kind of being Cell is. He's faced guys like that before but why would he think Cell would actually listen?

If you look at that from Gohan's perspective, Goku giving up against Cell could have seemed like a sudden realisation for him; that he didn't need to fight to the death or even kill. And seeing that, he could suddenly grab onto it like a lifeline. If that fight ended before someone got killed, why not this one? It would be such a expedient option for him I could understand him immediately losing the motivation to try anything else. It's suddenly realising you had a shortcut to do something you didn't like to do this entire time. Why wouldn't you want to test it out as soon as you know about it? Why would you ever want to attempt the harder method again?

You aren't looking at things from Gohan's perspective. You are creating his thoughts. Nothing in the text states or implies anything you wrote. Goku giving up wouldn't prove he didn't need to fight. It simply showed that his father felt so outclassed he felt giving up was the best option but the stakes still stand. If everyone loses, Cell kills everyone. It's a huge leap from Goku had the option of quitting to Gohan can choose not to fight as a shortcut. If Goku gives up, there's still Gohan, if Gohan gives up, Cell wins and kills everyone and everything.

[MozillaVulpix]

yes and it wouldn't take Gohan a long time to realize the kind of being Cell is. He's faced guys like that before but why would he think Cell would actually listen?

Because he's never tried it before.

You aren't looking at things from Gohan's perspective. You are creating his thoughts. Nothing in the text states or implies anything you wrote. Goku giving up wouldn't prove he didn't need to fight. It simply showed that his father felt so outclassed he felt giving up was the best option but the stakes still stand. If everyone loses, Cell kills everyone. It's a huge leap from Goku had the option of quitting to Gohan can choose not to fight as a shortcut.

If Goku gives up, there's still Gohan, if Gohan gives up, Cell wins and kills everyone and everything.

He starts off by telling Cell to stop fighting because he thinks the entire thing is meaningless. If he was fully thinking about and understanding the stakes when he was sent off to fight, he would have known there was a meaning to fighting Cell - to save humanity, and probably wouldn't have said that. Cell even reminds him about this, and that doesn't stop him from hesitating. There's obviously something different about the fight that causes him to act differently, and the fact that it's a tournament is definitely something like that.

[ekrolo2]

Because he's never tried it before.

Why is he trying it now though?

He starts off by telling Cell to stop fighting because he thinks the entire thing is meaningless. If he was fully thinking about and understanding the stakes when he was sent off to fight, he would have known there was a meaning to fighting Cell - to save humanity, and probably wouldn't have said that. Cell even reminds him about this, and that doesn't stop him from hesitating. There's obviously something different about the fight that causes him to act differently, and the fact that it's a tournament is definitely something like that.

Except Cell has shown that it's not just a tournament before and during the proceedings. When Gohan's driving with his parents, he listens as Cell murders Earth's armies even though they're no threat to him whatsoever. Then at the tournament itself, he destroys the ring AND was willing to let Goku eat a Senzu just to prolong the fight. Cell shows himself to be a ruthless murderer even before this by eating several towns and nearly killing Piccolo & Tien when they get in his way.

If Cell wasn't overtly antagonistic, I could see why Gohan would think that reasoning with him can work but he's not. Even his sole act of mercy which is letting Trunks go is just so he can potentially power up some more to make for a good opponent down the line.

[LuckyCat]

Good point, MozillaVulpix, since the other Androids can be reasoned with, it makes sense to try with Cell. Cell was already reasonable enough to give everyone 10 days to prepare.

[Super_Divine_Genki]

What am I doing posting on a Sunday? :p

no the training wheels haven't been taken off, you are reading what you want into the arc. Toriyama didn't suddenly become a more sophisticated writer.

Toriyama didn't become a more sophisticated writer. The "training wheels" comment was about how we've experienced this story enough and had time with its characters that there comes a time when room can be left open for the audience to take in a characters actions/motivations without smaller details being explicitly stated. The audience has capacity and ability to do that, and the passage of time in-universe and certain events taking place which resulted in different scenarios occurring did happen after the Freeza arc.

"How do I catch a fish?" There comes a time when you just know, and can even do so "blindfolded", so to speak.

I need impetus for change. What expression are you referring to?

Here's a shocker about this topic. There is no impetus for change, because there was no drastic change with Gohan's character. Gohan's attempt at peaceful resolution was an extension of an already established character trait (his gentle nature) that had manifested due to circumstances being changed, as well as the resulting maturation due to growing and experiencing new things over time. It was the scenario that had changed, as I've mentioned in the past (probably another thread), and as MozillaVulpix wonderfully commented on. Cell had not actively tried to kill anyone, and was even in good sport in his fight with Goku (even after Goku obliterated his entire upper torso). Yes, a potential threat remained, but what's wrong with a different approach? Verbal threats are just that if ability to contain them is there.

The general expression. The visuals of relaxed, or non-"wowed" Gohan are all over the place. The narrator doesn't need to tell us, we can see it. It's everywhere. Every other character is completely gripped with near overwhelming paralysis after Cell had "powered up" and proceeded to fight with Goku. When Goku had "tagged Gohan in", there was no urgency in that scene. It was about Goku having faith in an under-prepared Gohan ("I'm fighting Cell?") knowing that Gohan was the key. Goku not telling Gohan beforehand was done so as not to put the weight/pressure/burden on Gohan leading up to the tournament. Goku wanted Gohan to be clear and relax.

The disconnect that exists is between Gohan and Cell. Gohan had seen Cell for the very first time at the tournament, and observed his fight with Goku which enabled him (Gohan) to find that Cell wasn't just about cold-blooded killing. He displayed competitive flair. Had Gohan previously been on the front lines and witnessed Cell killing someone (Ex., Piccolo) before going into the RoSaT, then I would view his plea as out-of-character. The last thing that Gohan knew before going into the room was that everyone was safe at the lookout, and Vegeta and Trunks were about to launch off after Cell.

And Gohan wasn't "whatever", he's earnestly following the fight. If Gohan was SO unimpressed by Cell's supposed full power before going SS2, why would that necessitate the transformation?

Not literally "whatever". You get the general sentiment, enough with the microscope into small things. Not wowed, or shocked, or overwhelmed. Cell's power didn't necessitate the transformation. Gohan already had the power within him, but was terrified that he'd lose complete control over himself as had been the recurring trend in past scenarios. His later transformation into becoming SSJ2 did have psychological effects on him, as Piccolo had commented on, but the audience could see that for themselves.

Why do you think he was put in the background for a large portion of the arc? There are other options than telegraphing a reveal/plot twist and not giving any context or reason for one

That last part that I'd mentioned was a generalization on the writing, or what the main theme of the narrative was going for. The point is that the arc wasn't written with nothing in mind, it had a theme. But, to answer in-universe, Gohan had only ever been active on the front lines as a last resort. Piccolo is the one that said that he and the others would deal with the threat of the Artificial humans, and then it shifted at some point to the RoSaT training obviously. Everyone else, sans Goku, had taken a crack at the various threats throughout the arc. It was only natural that the writing was going to do something with Gohan, as that seed had been planted in DBZ #154/#155.

To bring it to the topic of #16's role. It wasn't about Gohan needing to outright hear from someone what to do and how to act. It was about the delivery of #16's words and how it was communicated from an "outside" perspective. It was Gohan's final reassurance that whatever he was feeling in his gut, he's not wrong at all for feeling that way. Gohan had been battling himself, which froze up his processes. It's not artificial (except for #16 :p). #16 getting stomped before his eyes was the final break in the levee.

Thank you Toriyama, for shaking up the narrative and doing something different.

[ABED]

The circumstances were no different. Gohan had plenty of experience with beings like Cell and it is plain untrue that Cell hadn't hurt anyone. He killed people, plenty of them in fact. This has gone beyond us having two different interpretations of the same scene to you being flat out wrong. Cell sucked up a whole town, killed troops and made it abundantly clear what his goals were not only with the tournament, but after as well. Cell is a killer at his core. Gohan is not so naïve that he would have to see it with his own two eyes to understand Cell. Cell has shown he is willing to kill so any threat he makes is not merely a potential threat.

The point is that the arc wasn't written with nothing in mind, it had a theme

What was its theme?

Thank you Toriyama, for shaking up the narrative and doing something different

He didn't shake things up and do something different. Cell was just another in a long line of end of the world supervillains. The thing he did differently was time travel.

Good point, MozillaVulpix, since the other Androids can be reasoned with, it makes sense to try with Cell. Cell was already reasonable enough to give everyone 10 days to prepare.

They, unlike Cell, didn't kill people. Cell isn't giving the Z Team time to train out of the kindness of his heart. He's doing it for kicks.

[ekrolo2]

What was its theme?

That a world without Goku is fucked, until he decided that a world without Goku is perfectly fine. A fact that's further reinforced by the Boo arc where if Goku stayed dead, Boo never would've managed to hatch.

[TheGreatness25]

Hey, that's not fair to pin that on Goku when it was still Vegeta's fault. Obviously since Babidi was carrying out his plan, Boo would have eventually hatched. Even if it was 10 years later, eventually he would. Then everybody would be screwed.

[Son_Gohan]

Son Gohan, Goku wasn't a completely different person on Namek. Vegeta meant he was in a completely different level of strength than before. Goku didn't change after he got stronger.

The conditions of the room of spirit and time didn't change anyone else but we're supposed to believe Gohan had this deep philosophical revelation. Goku keeps Gohan's deep well a power a secret to everyone including Gohan and doesn't even tell him his strategy. Does that strike you as good writing or is it more likely that Toriyama kept Goku from giving his son that information in order to highten the drama? The reason I bring this up is because the writing in the arc is spotty. Toriyama didn't become a more subtle writer all of a sudden like you have claimed.

If Vegeta believed he was a Super Saiyan before Goku started fighting/revealing his power, than there's clearly more to it than strength.

Gohan was also the only one that exhibited the greatest degree of growth in the RoSaT. To not treat him as unique is being a tad disingenuous. Good writing is subjective but to claim that Gohan's behavior was unaccounted for, I would disagree. There was groundwork laid through Trunks' statement of the room affecting one's mentality, where the only one that couldn't stand being there more than a month was Goku who was also a kid at the time; the connotations of such a setting along with Eastern lore, fills in the rest.

[ABED]

Son Gohan, Goku wasn't a completely different person on Namek. Vegeta meant he was in a completely different level of strength than before. Goku didn't change after he got stronger.

The conditions of the room of spirit and time didn't change anyone else but we're supposed to believe Gohan had this deep philosophical revelation. Goku keeps Gohan's deep well a power a secret to everyone including Gohan and doesn't even tell him his strategy. Does that strike you as good writing or is it more likely that Toriyama kept Goku from giving his son that information in order to highten the drama? The reason I bring this up is because the writing in the arc is spotty. Toriyama didn't become a more subtle writer all of a sudden like you have claimed.

If Vegeta believed he was a Super Saiyan before Goku started fighting/revealing his power, than there's clearly more to it than strength.

Gohan was also the only one that exhibited the greatest degree of growth in the RoSaT. To not treat him as unique is being a tad disingenuous. Good writing is subjective but to claim that Gohan's behavior was unaccounted for, I would disagree. There was groundwork laid through Trunks' statement of the room affecting one's mentality, where the only one that couldn't stand being there more than a month was Goku who was also a kid at the time; the connotations of such a setting along with Eastern lore, fills in the rest.

There's not. Goku was the same. What in the story SHOWS Goku acting different? Remember, in writing you're supposed to show, not tell. Vegeta may have said he was different and depending on how you read that statement, Vegeta's statement could be meaningless since Goku's personality doesn't change.

Gohan's strength grew, but a power up doesn't come with a personality change. Even the initial Super Saiyan transformation isn't really a change in personality. The anger caused the transformation, not the other way around. You are grasping with the eastern lore comment and even Trunks' statement doesn't mean what you think it means. How did Trunks, Goku, or Vegeta change in that room? How is it that Gohan is the only one affect by it so much that he doesn't understand the kind of person Cell is? You call it growth and maturity, but Gohan was anything but when he tried to get Cell to stop.

[Son_Gohan]

Son Gohan, Goku wasn't a completely different person on Namek. Vegeta meant he was in a completely different level of strength than before. Goku didn't change after he got stronger.

The conditions of the room of spirit and time didn't change anyone else but we're supposed to believe Gohan had this deep philosophical revelation. Goku keeps Gohan's deep well a power a secret to everyone including Gohan and doesn't even tell him his strategy. Does that strike you as good writing or is it more likely that Toriyama kept Goku from giving his son that information in order to highten the drama? The reason I bring this up is because the writing in the arc is spotty. Toriyama didn't become a more subtle writer all of a sudden like you have claimed.

If Vegeta believed he was a Super Saiyan before Goku started fighting/revealing his power, than there's clearly more to it than strength.

Gohan was also the only one that exhibited the greatest degree of growth in the RoSaT. To not treat him as unique is being a tad disingenuous. Good writing is subjective but to claim that Gohan's behavior was unaccounted for, I would disagree. There was groundwork laid through Trunks' statement of the room affecting one's mentality, where the only one that couldn't stand being there more than a month was Goku who was also a kid at the time; the connotations of such a setting along with Eastern lore, fills in the rest.

There's not. Goku was the same. What in the story SHOWS Goku acting different? Remember, in writing you're supposed to show, not tell. Vegeta may have said he was different and depending on how you read that statement, Vegeta's statement could be meaningless since Goku's personality doesn't change.

Gohan's strength grew, but a power up doesn't come with a personality change. Even the initial Super Saiyan transformation isn't really a change in personality. The anger caused the transformation, not the other way around. You are grasping with the eastern lore comment and even Trunks' statement doesn't mean what you think it means. How did Trunks, Goku, or Vegeta change in that room? How is it that Gohan is the only one affect by it so much that he doesn't understand the kind of person Cell is? You call it growth and maturity, but Gohan was anything but when he tried to get Cell to stop.

The characters in the story are expressing he is different; you say he is the same. You say "in writing you're supposed to show, not tell", yet when it's shown with Cell Games Gohan acting different, you seem unable to accept it. You're creating all these arbitrary rules for yourself which are only self-serving. Goku himself mentions it being unusual for him to feel so calm as he's getting ready to fight some incredibly strong guys on Namek. Previously he had confronted Raditz & Nappa with anger, and fighting a stronger Vegeta made him get excited. Characters in the story are able to sense when someone gives off a different aura/Ki signature; such changes can manifest in subtle ways, just as Ki itself (which is essentially not meant to be a physical/visible substance), there's no need for them to always be so pronounced.

Sure it can, Gohan's rage boosts exemplified this entirely; what did his rage boosts and his training in the RoSaT have in common? They both awakened his dormant power and both changed his personality: the rage boosts in an instantaneous, forceful way; the RoSaT training in a more gradual, stable manner. Gohan was facing an internal conflict at that time, which was outweighing the external threat of Cell. Trunks, Goku, and Vegeta's powers also do not increase through sheer rage, and they are not kids either. You may not think that's significant, but it evidently is: since 7 years later when Gohan is teenager, he can no longer gain power through his anger anymore, the way he could when he was a kid.

[ABED]

The characters in the story are expressing he is different; you say he is the same. You say "in writing you're supposed to show, not tell", yet when it's shown with Cell Games Gohan acting different, you seem unable to accept it. You're creating all these arbitrary rules for yourself which are only self-serving. Goku himself mentions it being unusual for him to feel so calm as he's getting ready to fight some incredibly strong guys on Namek. Previously he had confronted Raditz & Nappa with anger, and fighting a stronger Vegeta made him get excited. Characters in the story are able to sense when someone gives off a different aura/Ki signature; such changes can manifest in subtle ways, just as Ki itself (which is essentially not meant to be a physical/visible substance), there's no need for them to always be so pronounced.

Sure it can, Gohan's rage boosts exemplified this entirely; what did his rage boosts and his training in the RoSaT have in common? They both awakened his dormant power and both changed his personality: the rage boosts in an instantaneous, forceful way; the RoSaT training in a more gradual, stable manner. Gohan was facing an internal conflict at that time, which was outweighing the external threat of Cell. Trunks, Goku, and Vegeta's powers also do not increase through sheer rage, and they are not kids either. You may not think that's significant, but it evidently is: since 7 years later when Gohan is teenager, he can no longer gain power through his anger anymore, the way he could when he was a kid.

I'm not being inconsistent. The characters say there's something different about Goku on Namek. There is - his power. Other than that, he's the same guy. How do we know? By his actions. In the Cell arc, it's a different issue entirely, so I have no idea why you bring it up. What the hell does the different Ki have to do with his personality? SHOW me where Goku acted differently after his training. By show, I mean not in dialog, but in action.

Gohan was not facing an organic internal conflict, that's the heart of the issue. FYI, Gohan awakened his dormant power both times via anger. Those rage boosts you are talking about are transient boosts to his power. And the far more likely reason that Gohan can't tap into his power through sheer anger if that's even true is because he's neglected his training and he can't just manufacture anger.