Why are Goten and Trunks bigger "prodigies" than Gohan?

[Cursed Lemon]

Gohan, Goten, and Trunks are all half-saiyan.

So why is it that Goten and Trunks were able to achieve what basically amounts to FPSSJ with virtually no real training?

Obviously the two of them do some serious slacking off after Z, and future Trunks couldn't get to SSJ2 like Gohan did, but Gohan still required lengthy and body-breaking training just to hit the level of super saiyan, and then even more intense training and a huge surge of rage to get up to SSJ2.

What gives?

[Marco Polo]

Irony.    

[rereboy]

Their fathers were SSJ when they were conceived. Who knows what kind of changes that produces on a Saiyan, not to mention that it would make perfect sense for a warrior race to transmit their own strength as much as possible into their offspring, biologically speaking. So... super sperm.

[dbzfan7]

Their fathers were SSJ when they were conceived. Who knows what kind of changes that produces on a Saiyan, not to mention that it would make perfect sense for a warrior race to transmit their own strength as much as possible into their offspring, biologically speaking. So... super sperm.

Was Vegeta an SSJ by then? Didn't he leave Bulma for a year to go into space? Was he an SSJ before that?

[Nikkolas]

Because Toriyama understands genetics about as well as he understands lunar science.

[ParkerAL]

Giving Trunks and Goten Super Saiyan powers really was just an ass-pull on Toriyama's part, but it's one I'm willing to accept. If they were at Gohan's level when he was their age, they wouldn't be able to play a relevant role in the Buu Arc.

[Kaboom]

I don't think they're necessarily all that different... it could just be that Trunks and Goten's "potential" has manifested in different ways.

[hyperbeing1]

I don't think they're necessarily all that different... it could just be that Trunks and Goten's "potential" has manifested in different ways.

i have a similar view. also i do not believe their potential really surpasses gohan what i mean is that yeah they have potent potential they both turned ssj in early ages and they were said both to have great potential and gohan had admitted if he did not be careful they would leave him in the dust.However this is the gohan had had not trained for seven years and had gotten considerably weaker. and trunks and goten have yet to turns ss2 where gohan had (though if you believe they could without turning into gotenks.). And much later in the saga after gohan had possibly all his potential unlocked not only did he eclipse them he also eclipsed even a ssj3 gotenks.
(i am still getting used to this typing thing on a forum and if you guys see a problem i will revise it and see if i can make it clearer what i am trying to say and i like this site so far i also like the strength checker)

[dario03]

I've always had the theory that they just pick up on the strength, ki sensing, and techniques of those around them. And since they were around stronger fighters, using high level ki and becoming SS just comes natural to them. And being younger might help with that, like how children naturally just pick up on language when they are very young.

[hyperbeing1]

I've always had the theory that they just pick up on the strength, ki sensing, and techniques of those around them. And since they were around stronger fighters, using high level ki and becoming SS just comes natural to them. And being younger might help with that, like how children naturally just pick up on language when they are very young.

that is another way at looking like it i guess. also if goten did turn ssj before trunks i guess trunks would be greatly motivated on turning ssj so he wont get outshone

[Saiga]

There aren't really that much more prodigious than Gohan when you consider than Gohan had Super Saiyan at age 9 and only took 1 year sparring with another Super Saiyan to master it. That only gives them a few years up on Gohan. So Trunks is about as much more prodigious than Gohan as Goten is to Trunks, which is to say not much at all. Then neither of them show Gohan's rare rage boosts, so it evens out.

[IDreamtIWasABee]

Gohan is extremely sensitive and probably emotionally repressed, even as a teenager. His difficulty accessing and handling his power is a sloppy metaphor for emotional introspection. Goten and Trunks don't have this problem/gift.

Also, Super Saiyan sperm.

[hyperbeing1]

Gohan is extremely sensitive and probably emotionally repressed, even as a teenager. His difficulty accessing and handling his power is a sloppy metaphor for emotional introspection. Goten and Trunks don't have this problem/gift.

Also, Super Saiyan sperm.

i'm still uncertain if vegeta was ssj when trunks was conceived.

[Blade]

Out of universe answer: Plot convenience.

In-Universe answer: Saiyan/Human hybrids born without a tail, unlike Gohan, are more prodigious.

My connect-the-dots explanation: Reactive adaptation, that being the ability for Saiyans, especially young ones, to adapt to the relative strength of the people around them - which in the case of Trunks and Goten were the incredibly strong Vegeta and Gohan respectively.

[hyperbeing1]

Out of universe answer: Plot convenience.

In-Universe answer: Saiyan/Human hybrids born without a tail, unlike Gohan, are more prodigious.

My connect-the-dots explanation: Reactive adaptation, that being the ability for Saiyans, especially young ones, to adapt to the relative strength of the people around them - which in the case of Trunks and Goten were the incredibly strong Vegeta and Gohan respectively.

do you think being around piccolo and tien and krillin and 18 also helped.

[NitroEX]

Gohan is extremely sensitive and probably emotionally repressed, even as a teenager. His difficulty accessing and handling his power is a sloppy metaphor for emotional introspection. Goten and Trunks don't have this problem/gift.

That's a really interesting way of looking at it.

It's a shame this type of thing couldn't have been explored more during the Buu arc as realistically Gohan would have suffered a lot of trauma from his experience during the Cell games as a child never mind the Saiyan/Freeza stuff. I get the typically happy story world of Dragonball would have problems delving into darker territory like that but perhaps it would have helped the audience connect to Gohan more if he wasn't bred by Toriyama to be a watered down Goku 2.0 and had problems his powers couldn't solve.

The Gohan/Videl relationship was a huge missed opportunity for some interesting character growth and it pissed me off how Toriyama glossed over that. Not only could she have been used to help Gohan heal from the emotional stuff he's been through but in dangerous situations like the one with Dabura and Majin Buu being hatched it would have had so much more tension if we know that a fragile human like Videl can die at any time if Gohan screws up. And if she was going to die later on anyway why not have it be then and serve as motivation for Gohan to get stronger and beat Buu later on?

Ugh.. I feel like I'm on a tangent now so I'll stop.

[hyperbeing1]

Gohan is extremely sensitive and probably emotionally repressed, even as a teenager. His difficulty accessing and handling his power is a sloppy metaphor for emotional introspection. Goten and Trunks don't have this problem/gift.

That's a really interesting way of looking at it.

It's a shame this type of thing couldn't have been explored more during the Buu arc as realistically Gohan would have suffered a lot of trauma from his experience during the Cell games as a child never mind the Saiyan/Freeza stuff. I get the typically happy story world of Dragonball would have problems delving into darker territory like that but perhaps it would have helped the audience connect to Gohan more if he wasn't bred by Toriyama to be a watered down Goku 2.0 and had problems his powers couldn't solve.

The Gohan/Videl relationship was a huge missed opportunity for some interesting character growth and it pissed me off how Toriyama glossed over that. Not only could she have been used to help Gohan heal from the emotional stuff he's been through but in dangerous situations like the one with Dabura and Majin Buu being hatched it would have had so much more tension if we know that a fragile human like Videl can die at any time if Gohan screws up. And if she was going to die later on anyway why not have it be then and serve as motivation for Gohan to get stronger and beat Buu later on?

Ugh.. I feel like I'm on a tangent now so I'll stop.

my gosh you absolutely right. how did i miss that. though i guess akira wanted to make it more of a gag manga again that he glossed over some pretty good story points like marrons conception or how krillin got 18 to marry him and where is 17 and why he is not with 18.

[Bussani]

I don't think they're necessarily all that different... it could just be that Trunks and Goten's "potential" has manifested in different ways.

I like this explanation, too. Personally, I prefer it to the "Super Sperm" idea for one reason or another. Goten and Trunks have completely different personalities from Gohan, so it would make sense for their hybrid powers to come out in different ways. You could say that they were all born with similar amounts of power, but Gohan's was all bottled up due to his reserved nature, whereas the other two's just spewed out because they're hyperactive, competitive little monkey children.

[Galan007]

Their fathers were SSJ when they were conceived. Who knows what kind of changes that produces on a Saiyan, not to mention that it would make perfect sense for a warrior race to transmit their own strength as much as possible into their offspring, biologically speaking. So... super sperm.

Other than Akira simply needing them to start off at a relatively high level for his fusion/Gotenks concept to blossom out, this is about the best assertion that can be made, honestly.

Simply put: SSJ transformations change almost every facet of a Saiyan's biology--strength/speed/senses/etc. they are ALL boosted by predetermined SSJ multipliers. Clearly this 'trait', once attained, is hereditary and passes to their offspring.

[hyperbeing1]

Their fathers were SSJ when they were conceived. Who knows what kind of changes that produces on a Saiyan, not to mention that it would make perfect sense for a warrior race to transmit their own strength as much as possible into their offspring, biologically speaking. So... super sperm.

Other than Akira simply needing them to start off at a relatively high level for his fusion/Gotenks concept to blossom out, this is about the best assertion that can be made, honestly.

Simply put: SSJ transformations change almost every facet of a Saiyan's biology--strength/speed/senses/etc. they are ALL boosted by predetermined SSJ multipliers. Clearly this 'trait', once attained, is hereditary and passes to their offspring.

the small issue is that i am uncertain if vegeta was ssj when trunks was born. what do you think on the theory that when trunks learned goten turn ssj he became frustrated and trained himself so he could unlock ssj as well so he wont lose his cool status in goten's eyes.