Why Couldn't Gohan Go Super Saiyan 2?

[Kishido]

You know the words of Goku to him before he fights Majin Vegeta.

He had no problem going against Kibito and maybe against Dabura. So why exactly did he have to remember the stuff Goku said to transform into SS2 against Majin Buu?

[dbgtFO]

You know the words of Goku to him before he gights Majin Vegeta.

He had no problem going against Kibito and maybe against Dabura So why exactly did he had to remember the stuff Goku said to traensform into 2 against Majin Buu?

'Cause Toriyama is a massive troll, stripping poor Gohan from his badass SS2 form to make Goku and Vegeta look even more badass in comparison.
In-universe everyone just forgot that Gohan actually did become a SS2 at the tournament and so Super Saiyan is all everyone thinks he can do without getting angry.

[Desassina]

Well, Gohan did, but he simply could not tap into higher power through anger.

[theherodjl]

You could argue he did go SSJ2 but lacked rage hence power so he only appeared to be a SSJ.

[Rubens]

You know the words of Goku to him before he gights Majin Vegeta.

He had no problem going against Kibito and maybe against Dabura So why exactly did he had to remember the stuff Goku said to traensform into 2 against Majin Buu?

'Cause Toriyama is a massive troll, stripping poor Gohan from his badass SS2 form to make Goku and Vegeta look even more badass in comparison.
In-universe everyone just forgot that Gohan actually did become a SS2 at the tournament and so Super Saiyan is all everyone thinks he can do without getting angry.

I'm going with this. Toriyama is known to sometimes forget about these little details and this was one of them. What I don't know is whether he intended to have Gohan be able to reach ssj2 at this point or not (and in the anime is hard to tell if he is actually a ssj2 versus fat Boo).

[sintzu]

Future Trunks asked Goku if he could go Ssj at will and he said he couldn't at first but he trained to do so.

The manga makes it crystal clear that Gohan was a Ssj2 at the tournament and a Ssj1 against Dabura and Buu and the reason is mentioned above, he didn't train it so he can't access it whenever he wants.

You could argue he did go SSJ2 but lacked rage hence power so he only appeared to be a SSJ.

If he didn't have an electric aura then he was a Ssj1.
If Goku has long Yellow hair then he's a Ssj3.
If Vegeta has Blue hair then he's a SsjB.

If someone has the traits of a form then that's the form they're in.

Would it make sense if I said Vegeta was a Ssj3 against Beerus but he just looked like a Ssj2 ?

[theherodjl]

If he didn't have an electric aura then he was a Ssj1.
If Goku has long Yellow hair then he's a Ssj3.
If Vegeta has Blue hair then he's a SsjB.

If someone has the traits of a form then that's the form they're in.

Would it make sense if I said Vegeta was a Ssj3 against Beerus but he just looked like a Ssj2 ?

Not much of an argument really, Vegeta doesn't know SSJ3 so that's not a good analogy.
As I said before, you could argue he was SSJ2 just without the rage hence without the full power of SSJ2 therefore no lightning. It's a perfectly acceptable point, given that Dabura according to Daiz 7 is equal to SSJ2 Gohan so why would Dabura need to grab Babidi and hightail it out of there rather than just knock away the blast of a simple SSJ he should logical be much superior to?

[Lord Frieza]

If you want an in universe reason well....that old fan theory was right. Gohan never mastered his SS2 form like Goku and Vegeta and was never able to transform into it without some form of emotional push before hand.

Now he has not been training and settled down full time he's lost it completely.

[Grimlock]

given that Dabura according to Daiz 7 is equal to SSJ2 Gohan

What!? Does that comparison exist? All I know is that Dabura is equal to Perfect Cell (comparison made by Goku and made kinda clear in Dragon Ball Super), but I've never heard about Dabura being equal to Super Saiyan 2 Gohan (and what Gohan, kid or teen?).

[TheDevilsCorpse]

What!? Does that comparison exist? All I know is that Dabura is equal to Perfect Cell (comparison made by Goku and made kinda clear in Dragon Ball Super), but I've never heard about Dabura being equal to Super Saiyan 2 Gohan (and what Gohan, kid or teen?).

The statement exists, but it's also questionable as a typo. While the entry says Dabra is on par with Super Saiyan 2 Gohan, there are other sections in the guides that state Gohan never used Super Saiyan 2 after showing it to Kibito at the Tenkaichi Budokai. Obviously, they can't both be correct. Hence part of the conundrum of things adding to the debate continuing over the eons.

[Khin]

given that Dabura according to Daiz 7 is equal to SSJ2 Gohan

What!? Does that comparison exist? All I know is that Dabura is equal to Perfect Cell (comparison made by Goku and made kinda clear in Dragon Ball Super), but I've never heard about Dabura being equal to Super Saiyan 2 Gohan (and what Gohan, kid or teen?).

It was stated that Dabra had a fairly even battle with Super Saiyan 2 Gohan. Which implies they are about in the same league (Though Gohan's rustinnes likely played a factor why they had an even battle). But the whole thing is really inconsistent. I can't remember it well but Daizenshuu 2 [?] implies that Gohan only used regular Super Saiyan against Dabra, which entirely contradicts the D7 entry.

A fairly even battle unfolded between him and Super Saiyan 2 Gohan. Afterwards, he sensed that the revived Majin Buu was dangerous, and tried to defeat him, but was turned into a cookie and eaten. Despite being the strongest in the Demon Realm, feared even by Kaioshin, he came to an extremely pathetic end…

[MaxZ]

You know the words of Goku to him before he fights Majin Vegeta.

He had no problem going against Kibito and maybe against Dabura. So why exactly did he have to remember the stuff Goku said to transform into SS2 against Majin Buu?

uhh... what? he was already SS2 against Dabura and Buu.

[Khin]

uhh... what? he was already SS2 against Dabura and Buu.

That's a highly debatable argument.

[Desassina]

If Gohan was a SSJ against Dabura, then he could be tapping into power that is close to SSJ2, when the latter should be as low as possible. If I had to put this in numbers:

SSJ1 - [50, 100]
SSJ2 - [100, 400]
SSJ3 - [400, 6400]

Then Gohan was a SSJ with a multiplier of 100, or a SSJ2 with the lowest multiplier of its range. Work it, baby!

[MaxZ]

You know the words of Goku to him before he fights Majin Vegeta.

He had no problem going against Kibito and maybe against Dabura. So why exactly did he have to remember the stuff Goku said to transform into SS2 against Majin Buu?

uhh... what? he was already SS2 against Dabura and Buu.

That's a highly debatable argument.

It's not. Dabura is a SSJ2 level opponent, Gohan could not have fought him at all without being SSJ2. just because they didn't draw the lightning, doesn't mean he's SSJ1. the animation just wasn't consistent.

[Kaboom]

Since it's being discussed, I suspect the discrepancy between Daizenshuu Volume 2 (indicating Gohan didn't use SS2 after the tournament) and Volume 7 (claiming that Dabra specifically fought SS2 Gohan) aren't so much a mistake or typo or disagreement between volumes, but very likely just yet another Manga vs Anime deal.

I don't need to explain for the ten millionth time why Gohan was only ever a Super Saiyan 2 at the tournament in the manga (because he wasn't drawn as one. 'Nuff said). But that clear-cut original manga version of things seems to be what Daizenshuu #2's "Growing Up" guide exclusively concerns itself with, because it only references manga volumes. It says that "High School Era Super Saiyan 2" Gohan only appeared in Volume 37 (vs Kibito at the tournament) and not beyond it, while his fight with Dabra is in Volume 38. Which fits neatly with what the art shows.

The anime, however, seems to have done things differently, and tried to actually change things to make Gohan a Super Saiyan 2 for his fight with Dabra. Toei used the darker and more intense type of shading for Gohan's aura and body that they usually reserve for Super Saiyan 2 (I guess because the bolts are too tough to animate often, or something), and inserted one or two brand-new lines of dialogue about how Gohan was trying his very best. That considered, Daizenshuu #7's character guide is all-inclusive, and references things from both the manga and anime. So maybe that's why Dabra's bio in that section specifically says he fought SS2 Gohan; because it happens to be including the anime version of things.



As for the original question of why Gohan couldn't or didn't go Super Saiyan 2 more often in the manga... I more or less agree with what some folks have said about practice. We've seen in other parts of the manga how newly acquired Super Saiyan forms need to be trained so that the user can transform at will. Gohan never did that training with his Super Saiyan 2, so he can't just *POP* into the form like Goku and Vegeta can. He would need some extra time and effort to gather his power for the transformation, which is what he seemed to do at the tournament.

Against Dabra later, though, he probably wouldn't have gotten that chance. Or even if he did, he may not have realized until it was too late that he might need that extra power. There's at least one source that says Dabra is weaker than him, but Gohan probably didn't foresee his lack of practice and rusty skills being as much of a handicap as it was.

[Khin]

It's not. Dabura is a SSJ2 level opponent, Gohan could not have fought him at all without being SSJ2. just because they didn't draw the lightning, doesn't mean he's SSJ1. the animation just wasn't consistent.

There are also no lightnings in the manga. One of the many arguments is that Gohan is SSj2 because he had the SSj2 hair, but Gohan starting from the 25th TB already had his SSj2 hair in his regular Super Saiyan.

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

In the manga, there's very clear and consistent difference in how SSj and SSj2 are each drawn. Goku even explicitly demonstrate and label each form. Gohan is clearly drawn like a regular Super Saiyan instead of a Super Saiyan 2.

[sintzu]

The anime, however, seems to have done things differently, and tried to actually change things to make Gohan a Super Saiyan 2 for his fight with Dabra.

So it's like what they did during the Cell games, in the manga Vegeta and Trunks were drawn as Ssjs while in the anime they were using their grade 2 forms.

[MaxZ]

It's not. Dabura is a SSJ2 level opponent, Gohan could not have fought him at all without being SSJ2. just because they didn't draw the lightning, doesn't mean he's SSJ1. the animation just wasn't consistent.

There are also no lightnings in the manga. One of the many arguments is that Gohan is SSj2 because he had the SSj2 hair, but Gohan starting from the 25th TB already had his SSj2 hair in his regular Super Saiyan.

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

In the manga, there's very clear and consistent difference in how SSj and SSj2 are each drawn. Goku even explicitly demonstrate and label each form. Gohan is clearly drawn like a regular Super Saiyan instead of a Super Saiyan 2.

mistake on Toriyama's part.

[DanielSSJ]

I'm gonna start right off by saying that, from where I'm standing, Gohan was definitely not as Super Saiyan 2. While the anime is far from consistent at depicting the differences between the two forms, Toriyama isn't. If it has lightning in the manga, nine times out of ten, it's a Super Saiyan 2.

As far as why Gohan didn't go Super Saiyan 2 when he was fighting Dabra when he showec that he could at the tournament, I'd agree on the idea that, due to lack of practice, he needed time to gather his strength, and time to power up isn't something Dabra would give him. Also, I'd add that the reason why Gohan could transform at the tournament is because he had an emotional trigger. He was still fresh off of watching Videl get beaten to a pulp by Spopovich, and the residual negative emotions likely contributed to his transformation. Whereas, his fight with Dabra took place a lot later and Gohan had had ample time to calm down.