Chances of Gohan Being Awesome in 'Super'

[Xeztin]

I don't know what's worse: Gohan being an insipid twat or people excusing the poor writing and implementation of this character by saying "he was never a fighter; they're staying true to his personality!"

I look at it this way, If Gohan was never forced to fight, would he be the Gohan we know today? Probably so. Would Gohan have participated in ROF if Goku was on Earth by the time Frieza got there? Probably not. He's only going to fight when he has to, or feels threatened. Unless Goku and Vegeta leaves U7 or they die for good, the guy's never going to be taken seriously again with fighting. Goten has a bigger chance of defending Earth than Gohan does at this point.

[JulieYBM]

Gohan was always an insipid, annoying little turd. These past few films have written him far more consistently than the last two arcs of the comic ever did.

[Araki]

I don't know what's worse: Gohan being an insipid twat or people excusing the poor writing and implementation of this character by saying "he was never a fighter; they're staying true to his personality!"

I look at it this way, If Gohan was never forced to fight, would he be the Gohan we know today? Probably so. Would Gohan have participated in ROF if Goku was on Earth by the time Freeza got there? Probably not. He's only going to fight when he has to, or feels threatened. Unless Goku and Vegeta leaves U7 or they die for good, the guy's never going to be taken seriously again with fighting. Goten has a bigger chance of defending Earth than Gohan does at this point.

Gohan was always an insipid, annoying little turd. These past few films have written him far more consistently than the last two arcs of the comic ever did.

Yeah. Gohan was always forced into situations that he doesn't need to care about anymore. The very first period of peace of his life was enough to make him give up on fighting (annoying Vegeta for that). Finding a girl and starting a family could only make things worse. His late developments stay true to his character, like it or not.

I think the problem with Gohan is that there seems to be a big gap between the character he is, and the character some people expect him to be.

[Low Tone G]

Gohan was always an insipid, annoying little turd. These past few films have written him far more consistently than the last two arcs of the comic ever did.

Yes! That's the ugly truth about him!

I think the problem with Gohan is that there seems to be a big gap between the character he is, and the character some people expect him to be.

For me, the problem is that I'm not sure what personality should I expect from him...

[Araki]

For me, the problem is that I'm not sure what personality should I expect from him...

Post-Cell Gohan is rather predictable and consistent. The laidback scholar who never trains and won't fight (and fail) unless it's absolutely necessary.
Unless Toriyama and co write a very good reason to push him back to training (the tournament, maybe?) i don't see how it would make sense to change what he became.

[Low Tone G]

For me, the problem is that I'm not sure what personality should I expect from him...

Post-Cell Gohan is rather predictable and consistent. The laidback scholar who never trains and won't fight (and fail) unless it's absolutely necessary.
Unless Toriyama and co write a very good reason to push him back to training (the tournament, maybe?) i don't see how it would make sense to change what he became.

Then... There's the thing... Could you characterize him? Because I can not... Is he even a consistent character? Throughout the story I could see him like: "Yay! I don't know what to do!"

[Kuririn Fan]

Lol, Gohan being awesome? Fuck,no! He should stick with his Difficult Books.

[Xeztin]

When it comes to Gohan, the best you can hope for is that DB Heroes gets an anime adaptation. On a side note, this "new movie" rumor and Claims that AngryJoe said "somethings coming out thats going to get DBZ fans excited, but I can't talk about it" really makes me think somethings up. Anyone watch AngryJoes halo 5 stream? Thats when it was supposed to be said, if anyone can vouch for that it'd be appreciated. (On twitch btw)

[fadeddreams5]

Gohan was always an insipid, annoying little turd. These past few films have written him far more consistently than the last two arcs of the comic ever did.

I disagree. He was a cute sheltered little boy when first introduced who naturally was too scared to raise his fists and fight, yet also possessed an unfathomable hidden power. The events of saiyan saga molded him into a warrior who always charges in to help those in need. The android saga remained consistent with this, as he WANTED to help against the androids, and trained with his dad and Piccolo--not to mention, in the ROSAT. And in the Cell Games, he finally gained control of his hidden power, transforming him into a borderline psychopath.

The Buu saga changed him somewhat and went a horrible route by presenting this lack of training idea, but then it compensated with the ultimate powers... only to ruin everything again by having him accomplish nothing.

The new movies and Super have him doing NOTHING at all. He shows absolutely no personality either. He's not the frightened or self-righteous kid who was always willing to fight in the past, and raged when his friends got hurt, nor is he the goofball who dressed up as a superhero as a hobby. He's just a bland nerd/family man who's constantly getting one-shotted. Who wants to see this?! You know, besides the apologists who treat the character as a real person: "Oh, he has a wife and accomplished his dreams. Good for him!" Ugh...

[Doctor.]

And in the Cell Games, he finally gained control of his hidden power, transforming him into a borderline psychopath.

Which also made him an insipid, annoying little turd.

[fadeddreams5]

And in the Cell Games, he finally gained control of his hidden power, transforming him into a borderline psychopath.

Which also made him an insipid, annoying little turd.

You're calling SSJ2 Gohan insipid? O_o

[Doctor.]

And in the Cell Games, he finally gained control of his hidden power, transforming him into a borderline psychopath.

Which also made him an insipid, annoying little turd.

You're calling SSJ2 Gohan insipid? O_o

Obviously. He's, purposefully, the worst version of the character in the series.

[fadeddreams5]

To each their own, but Gohan showed the most personality he (and almost every character in this series) ever has in the Cell games.

[Doctor.]

Before transforming into Super Saiyan 2, yes. After the transformation sequence? He was boring, generic, irresponsible and a coward.

[fadeddreams5]

Before transforming into Super Saiyan 2, yes. After the transformation sequence? He was boring, generic, irresponsible and a coward.

Complete opposite of boring to me. SSJ2 Gohan and boring... that's an oxymoron. lol. Is it really generic by '80s standards?

His power took control of his judgement. When his father died, he snapped into reality. When he lost an arm, he temporarily lost resolve. And then, hearing his father's voice allowed him to regain it. The worst bit of writing in this arc, imo, was Gohan almost letting Cell blow up the world without fighting back at all. That was bad.

[ekrolo2]

His so-called finest moment for many fans is little more than a completely one sided fight in his favor that he doesn't just finish because Cell Saga logic that is completely unwatchable bar the Kamehameha bits & Goku dying. So yeah, I gotta agree with Doctor here, he's incredibly boring after his initial good showing against the Jrs.

[Doctor.]

SSJ2 Gohan and boring... that's an oxymoron. lol. Is it really generic by '80s standards?

Why? An innocent kid who gains a huge amount of power and lets it get to his head, how often do you see that? Then he starts killing the enemy with no difficulty at all, that's extremely boring.

His power took control of his judgement.

That's why he's irresponsible.

When his father died, he snapped into reality. When he lost an arm, he temporarily lost resolve.

His father died BECAUSE of him, and yet, instead of taking responsibility for his actions and fighting until the end, he just gives up. That's extremely cowardly, especially after he had no problem killing the Cell Jrs a moment before. What, beating others is fun but when the tables are turned he can't take the heat?

Toriyama purposefully made SS2 Gohan the worst version of the character, to prove a point. So it completely baffles me how one can say they like him.

[JulieYBM]

Toriyama completely forgets about the Gohan character after Gokuu shows up to fight Freeza until the Cell Game. Gohan stops being any sort of character at that point and exists solely for the sake of Toriyama making one last turn around plea. Toriyama then stumbles through the next arc not knowing what he's doing with Gohan, gives him a magical power up after the character has given up training and fighting, then has said character utterly and unceremoniously sidelined in favor of a character he actually likes. Since then Toriyama has finally written Gohan consistently in his role as a side character and for that finally allowed the dog to lay. Let's not ask it to stand up again, it might shatter its bones beyond repair.

[ekrolo2]

Because writing Gohan takes more effort and thought to do than "I like food and punching shit" and Toriyama cannot be arsed to put effort into stuff.

[irreality]

Before transforming into Super Saiyan 2, yes. After the transformation sequence? He was boring, generic, irresponsible and a coward.

Complete opposite of boring to me. SSJ2 Gohan and boring... that's an oxymoron. lol. Is it really generic by '80s standards?

His power took control of his judgement. When his father died, he snapped into reality. When he lost an arm, he temporarily lost resolve. And then, hearing his father's voice allowed him to regain it. The worst bit of writing in this arc, imo, was Gohan almost letting Cell blow up the world without fighting back at all. That was bad.

Well, it was broadcast in the '90s, not the 80s. I would say the sweet prodigy turned bad was a common 90s trope, yeah.

I think Gohan's transformation was impressive and emotional scene and interesting psychologically, but it did not make him a better character. He is at his best in the Namek arc, where he really shows his intelligence.