Grandpa Gohan Afterlife

[LightBing]

We know that Grandpa Gohan kept his body in the afterlife due to his appearance in Baba's tournament.
My question is what did he do to deserve such honour? As a follow up does this mean Goku could have met him after he died in the Cell Games?

[nickzambuto]

He died protecting his planet from the berserk saiyan ape whose mission was to exterminate humanity.

[floofychan333]

He did good deeds though he wasn't pure of heart.

[TheUltimateNinja]

DB standards for morality are pretty lax, so I can see the old man making it in.

[LightBing]

Didn't someone say only heroes who sacrificed themselves were allowed to keep their bodies? Or was that filler? I can't remember.
If we just go by good deeds there would be a lot of candidates alive right now. Imagine how many in all those billions years in a bunch of planets...

He died protecting his planet from the berserk saiyan ape whose mission was to exterminate humanity.

This thought passed through my mind. I could role with it.

[Kanassa]

Didn't someone say only heroes who sacrificed themselves were allowed to keep their bodies? Or was that filler? I can't remember.
If we just go by good deeds there would be a lot of candidates alive right now. Imagine how many in all those billions years in a bunch of planets...

He died protecting his planet from the berserk saiyan ape whose mission was to exterminate humanity.

This thought passed through my mind. I could role with it.

Yeah, we don't really know that much of what he has done before his death, or even the context surrounding Goku stomping him out. So for all we know he could have been a mighty fine hero throughout his life. All who know him seem to hold the man in pretty high regards so I wouldn't be surprised.

[FoolsGil]

There could have been a number of things that he could have done before Goku came to Earth. Who knows, maybe he was the one to have defeated the Dictator.

[Marco Polo]

He had connections (Roshi's sister).

[Nejishiki]

Didn't someone say only heroes who sacrificed themselves were allowed to keep their bodies? Or was that filler? I can't remember.

I believe we only have Goku's account on that process.

Goku: "Hey, I'm not bein' a martyr! They're going to give me special treatment here 'cuz I saved the planet. Regular people and bad guys like Cell turn into spirits, but I get to keep my own body, I won't age any more..."
Goku: "...And I get to meet all of the great martial arts masters from history! Kaio-sama could've come back to life with Shen Long's wish, but he's staying to keep me company."

That's pretty much all that's said about the subject, I think.