Gohan's role/usage in "Dragon Ball Super"

[Kagari]

The way Dragon ball is now, Gohan's character does not fit. Gohan is useless unless he is the strongest and is not good at progressing the story like Piccolo, Jaco and Bulma as his main characteristic is being a nerd. Gohan was never the 'main' focus and is now in the same group as Krillin for relevancy and nothing indicates that will change. Gohan fans only like him because of what he did to Cell but before that no one really cared about him and thats what I don't get about Gohan fans and that is they live of 1 moment and also maybe him fighting against Buu. The point is that people have liked Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Krillin and the rest since they were first introduced so they should be concerned what happens to them as Gohan is a 1 hit wonder.

He was a pretty big focus for most of Z actually. And no he doesn't have to be the strongest to be relevant because that only happened twice and all the other times he was there doing plenty of other things.

I don't think it's really right to generalize all fans to liking one event either. I've liked him since the start of Z, for example. It's clear you don't care for the character and that's fine but let's not pretend he didn't do anything but defeat Cell.

[namekiansaiyan]

The way Dragon ball is now, Gohan's character does not fit. Gohan is useless unless he is the strongest and is not good at progressing the story like Piccolo, Jaco and Bulma as his main characteristic is being a nerd. Gohan was never the 'main' focus and is now in the same group as Krillin for relevancy and nothing indicates that will change. Gohan fans only like him because of what he did to Cell but before that no one really cared about him and thats what I don't get about Gohan fans and that is they live of 1 moment and also maybe him fighting against Buu. The point is that people have liked Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Krillin and the rest since they were first introduced so they should be concerned what happens to them as Gohan is a 1 hit wonder.

He was a pretty big focus for most of Z actually. And no he doesn't have to be the strongest to be relevant because that only happened twice and all the other times he was there doing plenty of other things.

He does not bring anything unique because of him being 'normal'. He did nothing during in the Android/Cell arc until figjting Cell. He only did stuff on Namek because of Piccolo saved him and sacrificing himself along with everyone else fighting for him.. On the Buu arc it was the start of him being a Joke and being a nerd and he is now worse than Yamcha and he is replacing Yamcha as the Joke across the internet. Most of his fighting came from anger and he has now lost it so it will be harder for him to be relevant. Piccolo, Jaco and Bulma can provide support amd Gohan can't unless he is really strong.

[PsionicWarrior]

OF COURSE if the goal is to create simple, self contained arcs like Super so far, the less cast you have to manage, the better. Think of the horrible rumble of RoF arc...

Well I think you can manage great with more cast if you're willing to and are competent enough.
I was also disappointed by RoF arc, but honestly, seeing Vegeta kick the ass of Freeza made up for it to me, totally worth it that was awesome!

I don't think it's really right to generalize all fans to liking one event either. I've liked him since the start of Z, for example. It's clear you don't care for the character and that's fine but let's not pretend he didn't do anything but defeat Cell.

+1
Gohan has had many important roles through the saga and limiting everything on one event is just silly, + he's totally adorable in the Saiyajin arc!

Most of his fighting came from anger and he has now lost it so it will be harder for him to be relevant. Piccolo, Jaco and Bulma can provide support amd Gohan can't unless he is really strong.

Meh, not necessarily, finding him purpose only relies on the imagination of whoever writes the scripts.

[UpFromTheSkies]

If Black is as strong as Goku, I have a feeling Gohan will be the hero this time, because Vegeta said he's the only one with the potential to surpass him and Goku.

Be serious, he is not going from number 1 nerd to the strongest

Gohan has always been a nerd.

[MozillaVulpix]

Let's put it this way: Gohan becoming almost as strong or even stronger than Goku and Vegeta could be incredibly unsatisfying, handled poorly, and just be a stupid idea in general. But you can't say it's not consistent. They brought up Gohan's potential power back in Episode 30. That aspect of his character hasn't been retconned out or anything. At least, not yet.

[IGhostUlt]

The way Dragon ball is now, Gohan's character does not fit. Gohan is useless unless he is the strongest and is not good at progressing the story like Piccolo, Jaco and Bulma as his main characteristic is being a nerd. Gohan was never the 'main' focus and is now in the same group as Krillin for relevancy and nothing indicates that will change. Gohan fans only like him because of what he did to Cell but before that no one really cared about him and thats what I don't get about Gohan fans and that is they live of 1 moment and also maybe him fighting against Buu. The point is that people have liked Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Krillin and the rest since they were first introduced so they should be concerned what happens to them as Gohan is a 1 hit wonder.

He was a pretty big focus for most of Z actually. And no he doesn't have to be the strongest to be relevant because that only happened twice and all the other times he was there doing plenty of other things.

He does not bring anything unique because of him being 'normal'. He did nothing during in the Android/Cell arc until figjting Cell. He only did stuff on Namek because of Piccolo saved him and sacrificing himself along with everyone else fighting for him.. On the Buu arc it was the start of him being a Joke and being a nerd and he is now worse than Yamcha and he is replacing Yamcha as the Joke across the internet. Most of his fighting came from anger and he has now lost it so it will be harder for him to be relevant. Piccolo, Jaco and Bulma can provide support amd Gohan can't unless he is really strong.

I think u should worry more about your favorite character piccolo becoming relevant again instead of bashing gohan all the time. Gohan is a much more interesting character than piccolo at this point because piccolos been on screen a lot more while not doing much.

[TekTheNinja]

I think u should worry more about your favorite character piccolo becoming relevant again instead of bashing gohan all the time. Gohan is a much more interesting character than piccolo at this point because piccolos been on screen a lot more while not doing much.

And what's Gohan doing currently exactly? Being the everyman, but at the same time a boring character no one can relate to? Seriously, he lacks ANY depth in super.

Both are absolutely useless now. Along with EVERYBODY ELSE besides Goku, Vegeta, and to an extent Bulma.

[G Slim]

It's sad to see but Gohans going through the "road to irrelevancy" phase, we've seen this with various characters already. Once upon a time the likes of Yamcha, Tien, Krillin, Piccolo, and even Master Roshi were once valued fighters. But as the story goes on Toriyama gradually deems them useless and all that's left is a pathetic shell of who they once were.


~R.I.P Gohan ???-2016

[namekiansaiyan]

He does not bring anything unique because of him being 'normal'. He did nothing during in the Android/Cell arc until figjting Cell. He only did stuff on Namek because of Piccolo saved him and sacrificing himself along with everyone else fighting for him.. On the Buu arc it was the start of him being a Joke and being a nerd and he is now worse than Yamcha and he is replacing Yamcha as the Joke across the internet. Most of his fighting came from anger and he has now lost it so it will be harder for him to be relevant. Piccolo, Jaco and Bulma can provide support amd Gohan can't unless he is really strong.

I think u should worry more about your favorite character piccolo becoming relevant again instead of bashing gohan all the time. Gohan is a much more interesting character than piccolo at this point because piccolos been on screen a lot more while not doing much.

This thread is about Gohan and not Piccolo. Toriyama obviously used Piccolo in the last arc instead of Gohan as he is more useful. Obviously your favourite character is Gohan and you won't accept that Toriyama will not give a role. Gohan doesn't fight any more and Piccolo is in front of Gohan in the queue for roles in arcs.

[Kuririn Fan]

It's sad to see but Gohans going through the "road to irrelevancy" phase, we've seen this with various characters already. Once upon a time the likes of Yamcha, Tien, Krillin, Piccolo, and even Master Roshi were once valued fighters. But as the story goes on Toriyama gradually deems them useless and all that's left is a pathetic shell of who they once were.


~R.I.P Gohan ???-2016

1988-2016

[PsionicWarrior]

It's sad to see but Gohans going through the "road to irrelevancy" phase, we've seen this with various characters already. Once upon a time the likes of Yamcha, Tien, Krillin, Piccolo, and even Master Roshi were once valued fighters. But as the story goes on Toriyama gradually deems them useless and all that's left is a pathetic shell of who they once were.

Well yeah but SAIYAJIN BLOOD. Come on Tori! I really hope Kagari is right.

[Lionel]

Gohan is my favourite character in the series as well and even I acknowledge that he likely won't be receiving much credible screen time in the fighting scene. The series has devolved into the Goku & Vegeta show with supporting cast members and pseudo-antagonists like Beerus being the centre of everything. Right now I'm wondering if Trunks couldn't somehow gain a foothold through the acquisition of God Ki since the focus is going to be on him for awhile. As for Piccolo -- I'm not holding my breath. Short of Zarama turning out to be a Namekian and Piccolo fusing with him or the Namekian Book of Legends reemerging from the depths of obscurity, he has no means of catching up with the Saiyans.

[PsionicWarrior]

I don't really have a favorite character, I love them all, they all have specifics that makes them unique, but I did open a thread about Gohan because well, I believe I've stated my reasons already.

[SingleFringe&Sparks]

Lazy, uncreative writing plus a deep seated hatred for Gohan leaves you with Dragonball Super.

The only purpose Gohan serves in DB Super is to be humiliated, buried and stripped of any credibility he once had. And the reason for all this?... there is none. Well, I suppose you could say they wanted to elevate Goku and Vegeta but is ruining Gohan the only way to do that? Of course not, but that won't stop apologists from insisting it was necessary and a "natural progression of his character".

Other common excuses you'll hear in defence of such terrible writing are:
1) It's always been Goku's show
2) Gohan was never a fighter
3) He lost Mystic/SSJ 2 because he didn't train

Weak arguments in my opinion.

There is a lot more to that Cell fight than him just being the strongest character on screen you know; but its so willfully overlooked that people set their expectations of him to mirror that nostalgia they have over the thought of him just being "the character with the most potential" and everything about him besides that irrelevant trivia must be an attack on his character, or what people think he was supposed to be. His potential doesn't matter, God ki isn't about power ups anymore, its about controlling it and utilizing it correctly and Goku and Vegeta are always the characters that are supposed to master new concepts of Super Saiyan. Until then, I doubt they'd share that focus. I also doubt a simple rage boost would just cover it.

[Kanassa]

I hope to Kami that Toriyama sticks to keeping Gohan as no onger a fighter.

[PsionicWarrior]

I hope to Kami that Toriyama sticks to keeping Gohan as no onger a fighter.

Why?

[Kanassa]

I hope to Kami that Toriyama sticks to keeping Gohan as no onger a fighter.

Why?

Because I agree with Toriyama in that Gohan ending up as a more interlectual family man, who doesn't actually enjoy fighting, is the natural charater progression for Gohan (And Videl for that matter). I enjoy Gohan much more when he isn't being forced t fight or train for the next threat.

[fadeddreams5]

Anyone who agrees with Gohan being a family man in the background who doesn't train, fight, or display his hidden powers, but embarrassingly gets his ass whupped when he has to battle, were never fans of the character to begin with.

[Kanassa]

Anyone who agrees with Gohan being a family man in the background who doesn't train, fight, or display his hidden powers, but embarrassingly gets his ass whupped when he has to battle, were never fans of the character to begin with.

That's some good assumptions. And why does this mean I can't be a fan of him?

[Shinomori]

While I don't like how Gohan turned out, I can't argue against it too much. He was introduced as non-fighter with a lot of hidden power. He's now a family man and enjoys it. At one point he wasn't even sure if he could transform into a super saiyan. That is how much he put his fighting days aside. So at this point my thinking is to let him be when it comes to fighting.

Even though it's not portrayed in the series and not a thing, I can't help but feel sorry for Goku however. He had two sons, and both could care less about fighting. Goku needs to gather the dragon balls and wish for the restoration of the saiyan race. That way he can secretly find himself a saiyan woman, and have a child that is worthy to inherit his fighting ways.