Just a few more notes about "Ultimate" (pulling some info from
this post I previously wrote, but also some other stuff... someone please double check my Japanese transcriptions)-
As
Grimlock states, the form has never actually been named in the series itself, so the ONLY official names are ones that exist in ancillary material.
As I think we all know, it stems from the title page of
chapter 497, where the original serialization has splash text that says 究極パワーUPの悟飯を見よ!! (
Kyūkyoku Pawā UP no Gohan Miyo... like, "Check out Gohan's ultimate power-up!!"); this is from 1994.
"The Strongest Warrior" (最強の戦士 or
Saikyō no Senshi)
is from Daizenshuu 2's "Growing Up" section. This particular section is a bit odd in that it uses a combination of normal transformation names alongside more descriptive ones; for example, Cell arc Super Saiyan 2 Gohan is just "Super Saiyan 2" while 25th tournament Super Saiyan 2 Gohan is "High School Days Super Saiyan 2." It is this same section whose highlight box says "Saikyō no Senshi" alongside Ultimate Gohan. Daizenshuu 2 is from 1995.
Daizenshuu 7's
pull-out poster labels him in this form as "Super Son Gohan" doing the usual thing of 超 (
chou) with furigana indicating a "suupaa" pronunciation. Daizenshuu 7 is from 1996.
Daizenshuu 10
has the thing with "Ultimate Gohan" (アルティメット悟飯
Arutimetto Gohan) people point to (very bottom left). Daizenshuu 10 is from 1997.
Around this time in history, there's
his Super Battle Collection figure, where he's
Saikyō-han or in their own English words just "Ultimate Version". I believe this figure is from 1997.
Erren/Kagari also
shared this with me, where in movie 13's production he's being labeled with the same 最強 (
saikyō) from the figure and Daizenshuu 2. Movie 13 came out in 1995.
He is
called "Ultimate Gohan" directly in the first
Dragon Ball Z: Sparking! in 2005. This carries forward into the subsequent games;
here's a collage from Sparking! METEOR with all Gohan forms.
(We have posts on this very forum going back to 2005, a year after the furthest-back install/archive we have, actively using the term "Ultimate Gohan.")
Just wanna stress the importance of checking the Japanese sources on things. For example,
here's Budokai 3's Potara listing where it's like "Elder Kaioshin's Potential Unlock" (老界王神の潜在能力開放
Rō-Kaiōshin no Senzai Nōryoku Kaihō I think?). I think the "Budokai 3" localization was pretty spot-on with "Elder Kai Unlock Ability", right? (Then again, Steve translated that game.) Skimming JP websites yeah it does look like in the
Xenoverse games it's a little more generic 潜在能力解放.
EDIT: One more thing I'd throw in the ring on this is that "Ultimate Gohan" is the name of the resulting character, while things like "Elder Kaioshin's Potential Unlock" are the abilities/techniques that GET HIM to that point. Think of something like "Super Vegeta", which is what he calls himself after transforming via Super Saiyan Grade II.
Technique brings you to and is not necessarily the same as
Descriptive Character Name.
