Gohan's Character

aaronWgamer · Post by **aaronWgamer** » Thu Mar 02, 2017 4:59 pm

Gohan has divided a lot of people. Some like where his character's been taken, others... not so much. Here's my take on Gohan from when we first saw him up until now. I don't see many people agreeing with everything I say but that's part of the fun:

Gohan's character up until the Boo Arc was okay at best and pretty boring. I won't deny that the build up for his rage against Cell was well done but that's about it. I think the most interesting his character got was with Piccolo but only because of Piccolo. Seeing someone raise their rival's son to protect Earth was really good stuff and Piccolo's sacrifice elevated it to some of the best writing in the series. Aside from those admirable character moments and traits, his power was too inconsistent and his premise too dull for me to care much. The thing that works about Goku is that he was written to be silly, simple but with enough passion to admire. Early Gohan felt like a weak attempt at something more, to me at least.

After the Cell Arc? That's when Gohan became a great character. I think we can all relate to someone caught between different lives, failing to meet certain expectations. Throw in Videl, The Great Saiyaman and eventually Pan and you have one of the most interesting, layered and likeable characters in all of Dragon Ball. Some act as if Gohan's failure here to always train ruined him. It didn't, it humanized him and made him so much more.

Ultimate Gohan sucks. I'm surprised that Boo didn't become an entirely new form of Boo after absorbing him: Boring Boo. Boo but completely one-note and bad ass for the sake of being bad ass.

And now we have Super and GT. Gohan's there, he feels like Gohan but before he's had enough screen-time for you to confirm it's really him, he's gone for the rest of the arc. At least Super has kinda built a self-aware character arc around him but even that's been inconsistent. We'll just have to wait and see what happens as far as Super's concerned.

Those are my thoughts on Gohan. I like his character overall but I think he started dull and that Ultimate Gohan sucked.

nickzambuto · Post by **nickzambuto** » Thu Mar 02, 2017 8:00 pm

Has Gohan surpassed Broli as the most controversial character in Dragon Ball?

Lord Beerus · Post by **Lord Beerus** » Thu Mar 02, 2017 8:41 pm

nickzambuto wrote:Has Gohan surpassed Broli as the most controversial character in Dragon Ball?

No way. That honour is still shared with Broly and Bardock.

kinisking · Post by **kinisking** » Thu Mar 02, 2017 10:31 pm

Lord Beerus wrote:
nickzambuto wrote:Has Gohan surpassed Broli as the most controversial character in Dragon Ball?
No way. That honour is still shared with Broly and Bardock.

I don't think bardocks the most controversial character at all tbh. I think Gohan's character is more controversial than brolys too. People are more split when it comes to whether or not they like broly, but he doesn't really lead to much debate. Definitely not in comparison to Gohan at least.

To the topic, I can definitely agree with a lot in the OP. Gohan in the boo saga is definitely my favorite, although I like ultimate a lot too. I don't think he's boring pre-boo though. I think there's some really charming moments in all the arcs for Gohan.

In the saiyan saga, I loved when he's just killing dinasours and getting food like it's nothing. It's really a sign of character development and he's just so chill about it that it reminds me of kid Goku in a way. I also like he's the one who goes back and tries to save Goku.

In the Namek saga, I love the moment where he gets his neck broken. The way he speaks about Goku being his father and then rushing in is just endearing

. Cell saga Gohan was kind of boring until the ss2 transformation imo.

What do you think about Future Gohan ?

precita · Post by **precita** » Fri Mar 03, 2017 1:24 am

We saw Ultimate Gohan for what....3 episodes? He was cool, tough, and confident, but we didn't see too much of him.

I also quite like Gohan in the Saiyan arc. He was obviously intended to be a throwback to kid Goku, but seeing as how he didn't know anything about fighting and was forced to train was quite interesting. He was fine in Namek too.

I admit I had completely forgotten how low-key and irrelevant Gohan was for the entire Cell arc until the Cell games. Gohan really did nothing the whole time the Androids and Cell's early forms were around, but I guess it doesn't matter.

aaronWgamer · Post by **aaronWgamer** » Fri Mar 03, 2017 6:27 am

kinisking wrote:What do you think about Future Gohan ?

I liked him a lot. It makes sense that he'd become cold and distant, him training Trunks like Piccolo trained him was cool and his sacrifice worked on so many levels. Besides Boo Arc Gohan, Future Gohan is probably my favorite. I'm surprised I forgot to mention him.

floofychan333 · Post by **floofychan333** » Fri Mar 03, 2017 2:20 pm

I enjoyed Gohan originally, but he didn't become one of my favourite characters until the Great Saiyaman saga. That was when he became the most relatable character for me because I'm a nerd in high school too (though I don't get to go out with Videl

). For the rest of the Buu arc, I had more appreciation for Gohan because I had seen him in a situation similar to my own. Still, I agree, Ultimate Gohan sucks because he barely did anything despite all the hype.

nickzambuto · Post by **nickzambuto** » Sat Mar 04, 2017 5:42 pm

floofychan333 wrote:I enjoyed Gohan originally, but he didn't become one of my favourite characters until the Great Saiyaman saga. That was when he became the most relatable character for me because I'm a nerd in high school too (though I don't get to go out with Videl ). For the rest of the Buu arc, I had more appreciation for Gohan because I had seen him in a situation similar to my own. Still, I agree, Ultimate Gohan sucks because he barely did anything despite all the hype.

He did the opposite of nothing. He showed up just to actively aid the villain and make him stronger. lol

floofychan333 · Post by **floofychan333** » Sat Mar 04, 2017 7:26 pm

nickzambuto wrote:
floofychan333 wrote:I enjoyed Gohan originally, but he didn't become one of my favourite characters until the Great Saiyaman saga. That was when he became the most relatable character for me because I'm a nerd in high school too (though I don't get to go out with Videl ). For the rest of the Buu arc, I had more appreciation for Gohan because I had seen him in a situation similar to my own. Still, I agree, Ultimate Gohan sucks because he barely did anything despite all the hype.
He did the opposite of nothing. He showed up just to actively aid the villain and make him stronger. lol

Well, nothing productive at least.

kinisking · Post by **kinisking** » Wed Mar 08, 2017 6:02 pm

floofychan333 wrote:
nickzambuto wrote:
floofychan333 wrote:I enjoyed Gohan originally, but he didn't become one of my favourite characters until the Great Saiyaman saga. That was when he became the most relatable character for me because I'm a nerd in high school too (though I don't get to go out with Videl ). For the rest of the Buu arc, I had more appreciation for Gohan because I had seen him in a situation similar to my own. Still, I agree, Ultimate Gohan sucks because he barely did anything despite all the hype.
He did the opposite of nothing. He showed up just to actively aid the villain and make him stronger. lol
Well, nothing productive at least.

He was the one who realized Dende and Mr Satan were alive though. That changed a lot.

SingleFringe&Sparks · Post by **SingleFringe&Sparks** » Thu Mar 09, 2017 12:52 am

To be honest, what most people describe in their expectations for Gohan is pretty dull and teetering into flanderization. He's praised for his fight with Cell where he was able to just solo everything and awe everyone, and liked the most by his fanbase for his "Fight you? No, I'm gonna Kill you" Ultimate Gohan phase but those of just the sake of a raw "badassary" is what I find the most boring. I agree with the minority that say, Ultimate Gohan completely stripped away Gohan's unique traits and gave us this fake out-of-character Gohan that doesn't seem to fit anything he was prior. The only thing endearing about Gohan for me was him in the Tournament and Buu arc when he was weak and struggled to preform because of his innocence and neglect of his training. (Though I hated "Tracksuit" Gohan who was just a tragedy to look at, because being weak and being useless can be two different things.

Now Super gave us a Gohan who is capable but apparently has no confidence in himself at all and wanting his dad's approval even despite his dislike of fighting which held him back. That is a more interesting Gohan. He to me honestly needs some personality development now. He's strong enough for me. He needs a real personality.

Beek King · Post by **Beek King** » Thu Mar 09, 2017 8:17 am

I'm happy for him that he ended up doing what he wants.
I've always found his character interesting just for the sheer fact that he's such a contrast to his father in character. He's got a lot of misaimed fandom though that somehow missed the fact that he never trained or fought without being forced, convinced or out of greater good.

Desassina · Post by **Desassina** » Thu Mar 09, 2017 3:04 pm

I like the reversal and believe that he'll prove to be useful again. It's just that he needs to tap into a different kind of power. He must have learned something by controlling every aspect of his daily life, like Peter Parker did when he ceased to be Spider-Man in the second movie, only to grow stronger when he used the mask again.

precita · Post by **precita** » Thu Mar 09, 2017 8:17 pm

Gohan also works well as a parallel to Goku and Vegeta, and their battle hungry arrogance at times.

Future Trunks pretty much had the same role too, showing how their sons just want peaceful lives and only fight because they have to, not because they love it like their battle hungry parents.

Asura · Post by **Asura** » Fri Mar 10, 2017 6:30 pm

Lord Beerus wrote:
nickzambuto wrote:Has Gohan surpassed Broli as the most controversial character in Dragon Ball?
No way. That honour is still shared with Broly and Bardock.

Bardock? That's an odd choice. What about Bardock is controversial? You could argue the Episode of Bardock is controversial, and you could argue DB Minus is controversial, but I don't see how the actual character of Bardock himself has ever been controversial. He's pretty much unanimously liked by everyone.

Lord Beerus · Post by **Lord Beerus** » Fri Mar 10, 2017 6:42 pm

Asura wrote:
Lord Beerus wrote:
nickzambuto wrote:Has Gohan surpassed Broli as the most controversial character in Dragon Ball?
No way. That honour is still shared with Broly and Bardock.
Bardock? That's an odd choice. What about Bardock is controversial? You could argue the Episode of Bardock is controversial, and you could argue DB Minus is controversial, but I don't see how the actual character of Bardock himself has ever been controversial. He's pretty much unanimously liked by everyone.

You pretty much answered my question.

I don't for the life of me understand what bile fascination is with this character. Episode Of Bardock just had to exist, because we needed to make Bardock a super special character, right? I mean, we totally needed another Super Saiyan, right? I mean, the Legendary Super Saiyan just had to be directly a relative of Goku, right?

Fuuuuuuuuucckkkk that.

The amount of powerwanking that Badock has gotten, specifically in Heroes, has been also been ludicrous. He was able to take on Super Saiyan 4 Goku, withstood a combined punch from Super Saiyan 4 Vegeta, Xeno Trunks and Piccolo, was able to block a punch from Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta as well and survives a Spirit Bomb produced by with the added powers of Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta, Piccolo and Xeno Trunks. I mean... what the fucking fuck!?! Then of course Dragon Ball Minus has to needlessly rewrite established lore and lose the dramatic irony of Goku's entire backstory. But hey, we got to see more Bardock with his lovely wife Gine. So it's not a bad trade-off, right? Ugh. In my honest opinion, Bardock should never appeared again after the FOG TV special. Because his character has just been horribly mishandled by Toriyama, Toei and Bandai.

Asura · Post by **Asura** » Fri Mar 10, 2017 6:51 pm

Lord Beerus wrote:
Asura wrote:
Lord Beerus wrote: No way. That honour is still shared with Broly and Bardock.
Bardock? That's an odd choice. What about Bardock is controversial? You could argue the Episode of Bardock is controversial, and you could argue DB Minus is controversial, but I don't see how the actual character of Bardock himself has ever been controversial. He's pretty much unanimously liked by everyone.
You pretty much answered my question.

I don't for the life of me understand what bile fascination is with this character. Episode Of Bardock just had to exist, because we needed to make Bardock a super special character, right? I mean, we totally needed another Super Saiyan, right? I mean, the Legendary Super Saiyan just had to be directly a relative of Goku, right?

Fuuuuuuuuucckkkk that.

The amount of powerwanking that Badock has gotten, specifically in Heroes, has been also been ludicrous. He was able to take on Super Saiyan 4 Goku, withstood a combined punch from Super Saiyan 4 Vegeta, Xeno Trunks and Piccolo, was able to block a punch from Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta as well and survives a Spirit Bomb produced by with the added powers of Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta, Piccolo and Xeno Trunks. I mean... what the fucking fuck!?! Then of course Dragon Ball Minus has to needlessly rewrite established lore and lose the dramatic irony of Goku's entire backstory. But hey, we got to see more Bardock with his lovely wife Gine. So it's not a bad trade-off, right? Ugh. In my honest opinion, Bardock should never appeared again after the FOG TV special. Because his character has just been horribly mishandled by Toriyama, Toei and Bandai.

I mean, nothing in Dragonball Heroes makes sense. Complaining that the power scales are out of whack in a game that's literally designated to circlejerking fanfiction (not necessarily a bad thing) doesn't seem like a very valid complaint to me.

Personally, Episode of Bardock never felt like something canon to me. Bardock going Super Saiyan 3 in Xenoverse 2 never felt like something canon to me. DB Minus sure as hell does not feel like something canon to me. Father of Goku was where many saw Bardock for the first time, and what a hell of a character he was in that movie. To me, that'll always be Bardock, that'll always be his character, his limitations, his ability, and his story from start to finish. The rest of it is just fandom circlejerking, which I'm totally cool with. Bardock as a super saiyan? Shit man, why not? Bardock goes Super Saiyan 3? Sure man, I'll take it. DB Minus existing? Uh...I'll get back to you on that one.

Boo Machine · Post by **Boo Machine** » Fri Mar 10, 2017 6:56 pm

I always liked Gohan. But he didn't become my favorite character until he hit highschool. That's when I feel like he became his own character and felt like an actual person. Goofy enough to dress up like a super hero and do poses but could still totally have his moments of being awesome. I even kind of liked the idea of ultimate Gohan until he actually got to Buu where he got this attitude I wasn't a huge fan of. I never got the praise for the line "Fight you? No, I want to kill you." It's not even clever and I don't enjoy the Muy Macho kind of badass. It's kind of boring. It's why I didn't enjoy most of the SS2 Gohan vs Cell fight until it got to the beam struggle at the end.

I feel High School Gohan and even some of Super gohan is best Gohan for me. Green track suit and all. He may not be running trains over enemies anymore but I like that. If Gohan was one punching everything I wouldn't like him nearly as much. His fight with lavender and how he powered through the poison and came out on top (even if the match ended in a tie) made my list of favorite Gohan moments.

Lord Beerus · Post by **Lord Beerus** » Fri Mar 10, 2017 6:58 pm

Asura wrote:
Lord Beerus wrote:
Asura wrote:
Bardock? That's an odd choice. What about Bardock is controversial? You could argue the Episode of Bardock is controversial, and you could argue DB Minus is controversial, but I don't see how the actual character of Bardock himself has ever been controversial. He's pretty much unanimously liked by everyone.
You pretty much answered my question.

I don't for the life of me understand what bile fascination is with this character. Episode Of Bardock just had to exist, because we needed to make Bardock a super special character, right? I mean, we totally needed another Super Saiyan, right? I mean, the Legendary Super Saiyan just had to be directly a relative of Goku, right?

Fuuuuuuuuucckkkk that.

The amount of powerwanking that Badock has gotten, specifically in Heroes, has been also been ludicrous. He was able to take on Super Saiyan 4 Goku, withstood a combined punch from Super Saiyan 4 Vegeta, Xeno Trunks and Piccolo, was able to block a punch from Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta as well and survives a Spirit Bomb produced by with the added powers of Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta, Piccolo and Xeno Trunks. I mean... what the fucking fuck!?! Then of course Dragon Ball Minus has to needlessly rewrite established lore and lose the dramatic irony of Goku's entire backstory. But hey, we got to see more Bardock with his lovely wife Gine. So it's not a bad trade-off, right? Ugh. In my honest opinion, Bardock should never appeared again after the FOG TV special. Because his character has just been horribly mishandled by Toriyama, Toei and Bandai.

I mean, nothing in Dragonball Heroes makes sense. Complaining that the power scales are out of whack in a game that's literally designated to circlejerking fanfiction (not necessarily a bad thing) doesn't seem like a very valid complaint to me.

Personally, Episode of Bardock never felt like something canon to me. Bardock going Super Saiyan 3 in Xenoverse 2 never felt like something canon to me. DB Minus sure as hell does not feel like something canon to me. Father of Goku was where many saw Bardock for the first time, and what a hell of a character he was in that movie. To me, that'll always be Bardock, that'll always be his character, his limitations, his ability, and his story from start to finish. The rest of it is just fandom circlejerking, which I'm totally cool with. Bardock as a super saiyan? Shit man, why not? Bardock goes Super Saiyan 3? Sure man, I'll take it. DB Minus existing? Uh...I'll get back to you on that one.

I know we're not supposed to take shit like Dragon Ball Heroes seriously, but some of the nonsense they pull still grinds my gears sometimes.

Kanzenshuu

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