How did Grandpa Gohan survived Goku's Great Ape form for first time?

[PowerPhantom245]

When Goku and his friends were imprison by Pilaf, Goku mentioned that Grandpa Gohan warned not see the full moon, since monster (Great Ape) appear.
This suggests that Gohan has witnessed Goku's transformation before, probably by showing him full moon for first time.
This begs a question of how Gohan managed to survived Goku's Great Ape for first time and not later, where he met his demise.
Did he spent all night running away hoping not to get killed?

I'm also curious if Gohan didn't thought about destroying the moon (not Goku) with Kamehameha, similar to Roshi, several years later at World Martial Arts Tournament (which is thanks to Yamcha's statement, of Goku transforming at full moon... if it wasn't for that, they would have all died unless Kami interfered).
Was he not strong enough or did he thought destroying the moon would cause massive nature and environmental damage (which is pretty much existence in context of manga)?

[Kaboom]

I always assumed Goku's first transformation happened when he was still just a baby, and so even as a Great Ape he was still relatively weak enough for Gohan the experienced martial artist to subdue at the time.

[PowerPhantom245]

I always assumed Goku's first transformation happened when he was still just a baby, and so even as a Great Ape he was still relatively weak enough for Gohan the experienced martial artist to subdue at the time.

For the old setting yes, that could have worked.
Had Goku was picked up by normal human, such as farmer who encountered Raditz, he would have stand no chance.
But for recent setting, when Goku was 3, it would be somewhat debatable (though, maybe it might not be that different).

Even if that was the case, I'm curious if Gohan ever thought about destroying the moon for last resort or if he's not strong enough like Roshi.
Roshi destroyed the moon out of desperation, which is understandable.

[MasenkoHA]

I always assumed Goku's first transformation happened when he was still just a baby, and so even as a Great Ape he was still relatively weak enough for Gohan the experienced martial artist to subdue at the time.

For the old setting yes, that could have worked.
Had Goku was picked up by normal human, such as farmer who encountered Raditz, he would have stand no chance.
But for recent setting, when Goku was 3, it would be somewhat debatable (though, maybe it might not be that different).

Even if that was the case, I'm curious if Gohan ever thought about destroying the moon for last resort or if he's not strong enough like Roshi.
Roshi destroyed the moon out of desperation, which is understandable.

Grandpa Gohan appeared to be roughly as strong as Roshi, maybe even stronger. It's believable that he could have evaded a toddler Goku as an Oozaru, especially since Goku as a child was nowhere near as strong as his sons.

[Koitsukai]

If Goku had a PL of 2 when he was born, and a 10 when the show starts, then he might've been at 3 o 4 when he transformed for the first time, putting him around 30 or 40PL.
We know Roshi is way above that, and Grampa Gohan was able to trade blows with Goku post-RRA arc, a 40PL Ohzaru should be a piece of cake for either of them.

Gohan probably died to a 100PL ohzaru, not expecting the ape to be that strong, and I guess he prioritized educating Goku about not staring at the moon instead of going the easy route of removing the moon altogether. Roshi did so because of the dire situation and due to not knowing about the importance of the tail.

I think it was the right call not to blow up the moon, you don't remove the wiring of the house, you teach the kid not to stick their fingers in the socket.

[Cure Dragon 255]

I think Grandpa Gohan survived because he was awake the first time, and died the second because he was asleep and it happened too fast so he was unable to defend himself.

[PowerPhantom245]

If Goku had a PL of 2 when he was born, and a 10 when the show starts, then he might've been at 3 o 4 when he transformed for the first time, putting him around 30 or 40PL.
We know Roshi is way above that, and Grampa Gohan was able to trade blows with Goku post-RRA arc, a 40PL Ohzaru should be a piece of cake for either of them.

Gohan probably died to a 100PL ohzaru, not expecting the ape to be that strong, and I guess he prioritized educating Goku about not staring at the moon instead of going the easy route of removing the moon altogether. Roshi did so because of the dire situation and due to not knowing about the importance of the tail.

I think it was the right call not to blow up the moon, you don't remove the wiring of the house, you teach the kid not to stick their fingers in the socket.

The fact that Goku, prior to getting training from Roshi, was able to kill Grandpa Gohan, suggests how deadly Goku really was even back then.
Raditz did mention that had Goku followed the order to cleanse the Earth, he could have accomplished in month.
He was pretty much right regards to that; unless, Roshi used Kamehameha directly to Goku (which could work theoretically) or Kami stopped him (which is unlikely).
Had Roshi didn't use Kamehameha to destroy moon, he would have met same fate as Gohan.
Granted, Yamcha could have grabbed the tail while Goku was distracted to Roshi, and Puar transform into scissor to cut if off, like before.

I think Grandpa Gohan survived because he was awake the first time, and died the second because he was asleep and it happened too fast so he was unable to defend himself.

Meh.
It's possible.
But if you hear giant ape roar, I'm sure he gets some attention. lol