For those dissatisfied with Gohan in the Super anime, state your reasons here.

[BWri]

My only complain is that the book that he was going to write by the time of Dragon Ball Online's story has never been hinted at in spite of non canon events having their own elements referenced before (Tarble for example). The people around him seem to have lost all that made his character more interesting, such as Videl wanting to know more about fighting and their world, which forced Gohan to sit down and explain Ki to her. It made those high school episodes feel like nothing.

He didn't show up to the tournament of power as the Great Saiyaman. That was the most disappointing thing in Super for me, it would be good for Gohan, good to see the contrasts and interactions with the Fireballs and Pride Troopers AND YOU CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH GREAT SAIYAMAN!

Plus, it's a look unique to him and stops him from just being 'Goku's Son'

Yeah, both of these are HUGE for me. They are things that help Gohan stand out from the others. As it stands, Gohan is bland as heck. He has no unique fighting style, no moves to call his own. Masenko is kinda his (though Piccolo allegedly taught it to him) but he rarely uses it. I think Trunks has actually used it more than Gohan in Super.

He also looks bland. Tall generic Toriyama-looking protagonist. Kid Gohan always had unique looks, even when he had the nerdy bowl cut lol. And in the anime they love putting him in the Turtle school dogi, and IMO it just doesn't fit him. It's cool when he busts it out occasionally to show respect for his father, but his default gi should either be:

1st.) His Buu saga gi with the side sash.
2nd.) His Great Saiyaman outfit - the cape & helmet when he gets serious. The same look as when he fought Dabura. It worked really well for him.
3rd.) Demon Clan gi (Piccolo is his sensei after all)

If they bring back his study of martial arts and ki, it would add so much to his character. He would be a great character to learn and explain to us the mechanics of ki. I'm so ashamed that he didn't exhibit any of these traits in the ToP. That seemed perfectly made to be his time to shine as his intelligence could have been the deciding factor or at least had much more of an impact, but the trait of the smart fighter seemed to have been nearly monopolized by Android 17 in the anime. I never really liked Gohan as a character, but it's clear that he could be awesome if the tiniest bit of care was spent analyzing what makes him "him" and use that to develop him.

Ironically, I see the potential in Gohan as THE character who should bring Dragon Ball into this new era. Again, as someone who never really liked him and his repeated unnecessary and pointless power boosts, I think he could add so much to the show if used properly as the "smart" protagonist this franchise seems scared to have.

[supersaiyanZero]

He became one the most one-note characters in the series. Complete ass job by the writers who regressed him beyond belief only have him take minuscule, one note fetus steps in a boring linear fashion. Ironically enough he had the most room for development out of the lot.

[Lord Beerus]

Toei have a terrible habit of dangling the carrot when it comes to Gohan and his progression as a martial artist.

The most notorious case being after the events of the Resurrection F arc where Gohan tells Piccolo he wants him to train him again so that he can be strong enough to protect his family should shit hit the fan again. They even go the extra mile and show Gohan and Piccolo training in Epinions 30. What does that lead to? Nothing. And just to twist the knife even further, they fucking teased the idea of Gohan show off he newly found strength by fighting Universe 6 in the Beerus/Champa tournament. Fast forward several dozen episodes, and he does nothing constructive in the plot, and has given up fighting again.

Then the Tournament Of Power became a thing, suddenly spike in strength out of convenience (again) and leaves this wonderful tease.

I suppose my biggest issue with Gohan is that the story constantly gets your hopes up high for something from the character -- whether it's building his personality or strength -- and doesn't really follow though with it in satisfactory fashion, or at all.

[Lionel]

Others have elaborated quite well on the issues plaguing Gohan's character. There's no long term direction for him outside of his domestic life with Videl and the rest of his family. Whatever nuggets of involvement we get are typically just that, nuggets. Gohan's falling from grace has been one of the biggest disappointments to come out of Dragon Ball, if you ask me. What's worse is that Toriyama seems intent on phasing him out except for the occasional supporting role. We know that Goku has been imprinted into the minds of fandom too long for him to be retired now, but surely they could expand the roster and give the renowned son of the protagonist some direction and gravity with the current players of the narrative.

Toriyama and his protege could easily find some agreeable enticement to get Gohan more involved if they wanted to -- training Pan in order to make his daughter capable of defending the family if necessary, building himself up to protect his family, wanting to prove to his father that the next generation is capable of protecting the planet without him (could incorporate Goten and Trunks into this if they wanted), interweaving Gohan's discernment of justice with the socio-political framework of the celestial world (would make for some great interactions with the Pride Troopers, Toppo especially), or some other unacknowledged reason that ties into what we know of Gohan's personality.

Sadly, I can't see Gohan's character going anywhere beyond what he's regressed to. The Tournament of Power was a post-hero role highlight that saw him momentarily shine bright before extinguishing itself yet again. Who knows how long it will be before we see him start to shine again.

[Hugo Boss]

Then the Tournament Of Power became a thing, suddenly spike in strength out of convenience (again) and leaves this wonderful tease.

I will be honest, I was hyped by that. Pretty sure he could combine his current power with god ki if he was taught to. And I would like to see less orange and more green/purple in him.

[Tai Lung]

My only complain is that the book that he was going to write by the time of Dragon Ball Online's story has never been hinted at in spite of non canon events having their own elements referenced before (Tarble for example). The people around him seem to have lost all that made his character more interesting, such as Videl wanting to know more about fighting and their world, which forced Gohan to sit down and explain Ki to her. It made those high school episodes feel like nothing.

videl was never a warrior as such or a full-time hero still do things of nomal human like going to school, if she entered the world of martial arts is because Mr Satan was her father the earth's hero tha defeat cell and she as his daughter she thought that she should continue with the legacy but since she discovered that everything was a lie she dedicated have a normal life with gohan at a certain point she had a lot in common with him.

in the manga there are few episodes she discovers who is gohan immediately.

[Desassina]

Heh, it's 2019 and we still feel the need to separate the manga from the anime, DB Kai being the most watchable version and featuring episodes like that. I guess that Videl had as much potential as Chi-Chi from the tournament that she participated in to become a fighter who's committed to small crimes. They had the same fate by marrying the real ones. It still won't change how Gohan's life became less interesting.

[Tai Lung]

if you want us to tell the episodes of the anime ok does not change much videl lived his life believing the lies of her father what led her to run into a wall in the tournament discovering the truth and marking its end
about potential ... videl had more potential than chichi .
although at that point in the story I would not have an important role Mr satan if I manage to have it through his influence so it could probably be better used is not the case of chichi she only trained to demand that Goku marry her .

well about gohan the same as always he is more interesting when he fights but he does not like that.

[Champa The Destroyer]

The most interesting way I can think of to take Gohan's character would have been to have an episode or something in the beginning of the BOG Arc to establish that Gohan realized that fighting has to take some time out of his life in order to help protect earth. Then, as Goku and Vegeta go to train with Whis and get involved in more higher up, godly affairs, Gohan could take up the mantle as primary protector of earth, spending his time taking care of Pan, being Great Saiyaman, and training. This could make him more interesting, give him something cool to do, and keep him relevant with the increasing power throughout Super.

[Raimundo]

really gohan is currently a secondary character so really the super version does not change much.

it really feels good his return and participation in the TOP arc
Goku defeats jiren
vegeta defeat toppo
gohan defeats dyspo
They beat the 3 strongest in the universe 11, I think it's a good achievement.

the problem with gohan is really at the beginning
he should protagonist in BofG had to be the strongest at the time, so gohan must have been the one who he fights beerus more time.

gohan also had to have a central role defending the land of the army of frieza and face at tyrant until goku arrived.

outside of that .... it is not necessary to include gohan in universe 6 arc and zamasu arc, simply because gohan doesnt wanted to face new warriors and the other was not going to be able to do anything.

To me Dypso was already old news at this point in terms of showings. He had already been getting bopped a few times in the arc so Gohan taking him out didn't mean much, especially since he had to sacrifice himself + use Frieza.

The fight itself wasn't really entertaining either. I wish with all the hype Gohan got as this ultimate tactical planner he would've been there with Goku near the end but 17 really took the "tactical" role from him.

People really be sleeping on Dyspo. He almost eliminated Hit before Goku stepped in.

Gotta agree with this. Dyspo without even going full power was giving Hit trouble and with his full speed and power, Freeza was getting overwhelmed by him. Dyspo really doesn’t get respect even though his showings clearly put him as a high tier fighter in the ToP

[BWri]

Toei have a terrible habit of dangling the carrot when it comes to Gohan and his progression as a martial artist.

The most notorious case being after the events of the Resurrection F arc where Gohan tells Piccolo he wants him to train him again so that he can be strong enough to protect his family should shit hit the fan again. They even go the extra mile and show Gohan and Piccolo training in Epinions 30. What does that lead to? Nothing. And just to twist the knife even further, they fucking teased the idea of Gohan show off he newly found strength by fighting Universe 6 in the Beerus/Champa tournament. Fast forward several dozen episodes, and he does nothing constructive in the plot, and has given up fighting again.

Then the Tournament Of Power became a thing, suddenly spike in strength out of convenience (again) and leaves this wonderful tease.

I suppose my biggest issue with Gohan is that the story constantly gets your hopes up high for something from the character -- whether it's building his personality or strength -- and doesn't really follow though with it in satisfactory fashion, or at all.

I believe this is mainly an issue of Toei vs. Toriyama. Toei seems to want to do something major with Gohan and Krillin (at least a few of the writers do) whereas Toriyama's outline doesn't really have anything for them. You couple that with several different TV writers and we get the problems you outlined.

Though I'm not the biggest fan of the manga after the ToP, I have to give Toyotaro credit on his consistency with Gohan's training.

[Kokonoe]

Toei have a terrible habit of dangling the carrot when it comes to Gohan and his progression as a martial artist.

The most notorious case being after the events of the Resurrection F arc where Gohan tells Piccolo he wants him to train him again so that he can be strong enough to protect his family should shit hit the fan again. They even go the extra mile and show Gohan and Piccolo training in Epinions 30. What does that lead to? Nothing. And just to twist the knife even further, they fucking teased the idea of Gohan show off he newly found strength by fighting Universe 6 in the Beerus/Champa tournament. Fast forward several dozen episodes, and he does nothing constructive in the plot, and has given up fighting again.

Then the Tournament Of Power became a thing, suddenly spike in strength out of convenience (again) and leaves this wonderful tease.

I suppose my biggest issue with Gohan is that the story constantly gets your hopes up high for something from the character -- whether it's building his personality or strength -- and doesn't really follow though with it in satisfactory fashion, or at all.

Fucking thank you. This is literally it.

Gohan's gonna do this! Gohan's gonna do that! But when it comes time for that moment it always flounders. And honestly? This whole scene was just another slap in the face for him even if it makes Frieza look maniacal it came at the cost of making Gohan look pathetic in a way no other hero character can say is quite the same.



So much for "The Warrior Beyond Goku".

[Kagari]

Focusing on F when it's literally 10 episodes of a 131 episode series - of which Gohan had a major role for its biggest arc (which takes up half of said series) seems a bit silly IMO.

And people keep latching on that line where he talks about wanting an ultimate form - look. He was talking about HIS Ultimate form. He wants to continue to evolve there, which he did, instead of relying on Super Saiyan forms. Even the manga brings it up. Why else call it is "Ultimate" form if he replaces it with something else? Would ruin the point.

[Kokonoe]

Focusing on F when it's literally 10 episodes of a 131 episode series - of which Gohan had a major role for its biggest arc (which takes up half of said series) seems a bit silly IMO.

And people keep latching on that line where he talks about wanting an ultimate form - look. He was talking about HIS Ultimate form. He wants to continue to evolve there, which he did, instead of relying on Super Saiyan forms. Even the manga brings it up. Why else call it is "Ultimate" form if he replaces it with something else? Would ruin the point.

In a show that's based on transformations, having a "Ultimate form" is terrible writing. It only made sense when you end the series with it, but even in that regard with Z Toriyama changed his mind and made Goku the hero so he was no longer the ultimate warrior.

Sure Toriyama never planned on creating more of this series, but I think it's fine for him to get something to evolve his powers cause him being at max power all the time makes him the storytelling not work in his favor cause all they can say is "oh he hits harder now". Transformations is what keeps the other two Saiyans at peak fighting.

And I don't think it's silly, that's one of his showings and it made him look absolutely pathetic. It still pisses me off to this day that they even did that scene.

[Kagari]

Focusing on F when it's literally 10 episodes of a 131 episode series - of which Gohan had a major role for its biggest arc (which takes up half of said series) seems a bit silly IMO.

And people keep latching on that line where he talks about wanting an ultimate form - look. He was talking about HIS Ultimate form. He wants to continue to evolve there, which he did, instead of relying on Super Saiyan forms. Even the manga brings it up. Why else call it is "Ultimate" form if he replaces it with something else? Would ruin the point.

In a show that's based on transformations, having a "Ultimate form" is terrible writing. It only made sense when you end the series with it, but even in that regard with Z Toriyama changed his mind and made Goku the hero so he was no longer the ultimate warrior.

Sure Toriyama never planned on creating more of this series, but I think it's fine for him to get something to evolve his powers cause him being at max power all the time makes him the storytelling not work in his favor cause all they can say is "oh he hits harder now". Transformations is what keeps the other two Saiyans at peak fighting.

And I don't think it's silly, that's one of his showings and it made him look absolutely pathetic. It still pisses me off to this day that they even did that scene.

How is it terrible writing when Toriyama himself wanted to condense transformations following Battle of the Gods? He himself said that evolving regular Super Saiyan made the most sense. It's not unlike what Gohan is doing with his Ultimate form.

And the series isn't always "based on transformations" anyway. If your character needs transformations to be cool, then there's something wrong.

[BlazingFiddlesticks]

"Carrot on a stick" was the name of the game. Toei did not know if and when Toriyama was going to do anything with Gohan, but they could never rule it out, so they had to plant seeds that could sprout if his time came, and stay in the ground if it never did. That would inevitably make Gohan's coming back into the story, whenever it happens, very abrupt, hence we get his quick turnaround just before the Tournament of Power. Imagine if he and Piccolo were having those conversations as one of the asides in the Future Trunks arc, and the last Tournament finally gave that a place? And frankly, I never expected much more than that, because Gohan's trying to consider his "duties" in a more adult way just doesn't sound like something Toriyama would be interested in writing; when he was done with Gohan as a fighter in the Buu arc, he made him into a multi-layered joke instead.

[Dbzfan94]

My only complain is that the book that he was going to write by the time of Dragon Ball Online's story has never been hinted at in spite of non canon events having their own elements referenced before (Tarble for example). The people around him seem to have lost all that made his character more interesting, such as Videl wanting to know more about fighting and their world, which forced Gohan to sit down and explain Ki to her. It made those high school episodes feel like nothing.

He didn't show up to the tournament of power as the Great Saiyaman. That was the most disappointing thing in Super for me, it would be good for Gohan, good to see the contrasts and interactions with the Fireballs and Pride Troopers AND YOU CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH GREAT SAIYAMAN!

Plus, it's a look unique to him and stops him from just being 'Goku's Son'

Yeah, both of these are HUGE for me. They are things that help Gohan stand out from the others. As it stands, Gohan is bland as heck. He has no unique fighting style, no moves to call his own. Masenko is kinda his (though Piccolo allegedly taught it to him) but he rarely uses it. I think Trunks has actually used it more than Gohan in Super.

He also looks bland. Tall generic Toriyama-looking protagonist. Kid Gohan always had unique looks, even when he had the nerdy bowl cut lol. And in the anime they love putting him in the Turtle school dogi, and IMO it just doesn't fit him. It's cool when he busts it out occasionally to show respect for his father, but his default gi should either be:

1st.) His Buu saga gi with the side sash.
2nd.) His Great Saiyaman outfit - the cape & helmet when he gets serious. The same look as when he fought Dabura. It worked really well for him.
3rd.) Demon Clan gi (Piccolo is his sensei after all)

If they bring back his study of martial arts and ki, it would add so much to his character. He would be a great character to learn and explain to us the mechanics of ki. I'm so ashamed that he didn't exhibit any of these traits in the ToP. That seemed perfectly made to be his time to shine as his intelligence could have been the deciding factor or at least had much more of an impact, but the trait of the smart fighter seemed to have been nearly monopolized by Android 17 in the anime. I never really liked Gohan as a character, but it's clear that he could be awesome if the tiniest bit of care was spent analyzing what makes him "him" and use that to develop him.

Ironically, I see the potential in Gohan as THE character who should bring Dragon Ball into this new era. Again, as someone who never really liked him and his repeated unnecessary and pointless power boosts, I think he could add so much to the show if used properly as the "smart" protagonist this franchise seems scared to have.

I definitely second the Great Saiyaman minus cape and helmet. His look when he fought Dabura may be my favorite look for Gohan in the whole series.

[sunsetshimmer]

As long as DBS Gohan is better than Cell saga Gohan it's ok for me.
The same thing applies to GT Gohan.

DBS Gohan was only garbage in RoF saga. Other than that he was fine and one of the very few characters Super didn't turn into total joke in my eyes.
Can't say i'm satisfied with him but i'm not disappointed either. DBZ Gohan still remains the worst Gohan overall as only his Buu saga version was good (and still best one) and even then it was only good until Ultimate Gohan came and turned him back into retard.

For me personally:
DBZ Gohan (early Buu saga) > GT Gohan > DBS Gohan (except RoF) > DBZ Gohan (Kid/Ultimate) >>>> DBZ Gohan (Cell saga) > DBS Gohan (RoF)

[Kataphrut]

I think his arc in the Tournament of Power was really well done, the problem was the lack of follow-through. The problem is Super has two distinct "ensembles" and Gohan is sort of in the middle of them.

The main ensemble is Goku, Vegeta, Beerus, Whis, Bulma and now Freeza. Those are the ones who were prominent in the new movie, they're the ones Toriyama clearly has the most interest in writing for. The secondary ensemble are the characters he'll pencil in for Toei to utilise and Toyotaro to ignore when the arc calls for it. So far that's just been Res F and ToP: Gohan, Piccolo, Krillin, Tien, Roshi, Jaco, the Androids and most assuredly NOT Buu, Goten or Trunks. In both cases Gohan has been considered the "leader" of that ensemble because he's the strongest, and there seem to be people on the Toei writing staff who think he should be getting bigger growth or development than Toriyama intended because of his status and past significance. That's why you get these big arc developments that don't really amount to much in the story because the script doesn't actually call for it.

The funny thing about that is in arcs like the ToP where Toei's team are doing the actual work, the stuff they're throwing in turns out to be more compelling than the big important moments Toriyama was presumably writing for. Gohan taking an interest and active lead in the recruitment phase, overcoming his past arrogance and establishing himself as a different kind of fighter (one who was actually effective in the Tournament itself) was far more interesting and narratively satisfying than the absolute garbage we got with Vegeta in that arc. You could say the same about Krillin's little mini-arc, which was also a case of building up something interesting and different only for it to fizzle out, just over a shorter space.

Basically, I don't want to write Gohan off entirely because I think there are interesting places for him to go, and the ToP made me realise just how badly I missed him having central involvement. It's nice to have someone other than two battle-hungry Saiyans taking the reins from time to time. I'll be interested to see what happens when Super comes back. I'm afraid he's going to stay stuck in a rut or being ignored because Toriyama is ultimately setting the pace and he seems to have no interest in Gohan at the moment.

[Kagari]

I think his arc in the Tournament of Power was really well done, the problem was the lack of follow-through. The problem is Super has two distinct "ensembles" and Gohan is sort of in the middle of them.

The main ensemble is Goku, Vegeta, Beerus, Whis, Bulma and now Freeza. Those are the ones who were prominent in the new movie, they're the ones Toriyama clearly has the most interest in writing for. The secondary ensemble are the characters he'll pencil in for Toei to utilise and Toyotaro to ignore when the arc calls for it. So far that's just been Res F and ToP: Gohan, Piccolo, Krillin, Tien, Roshi, Jaco, the Androids and most assuredly NOT Buu, Goten or Trunks. In both cases Gohan has been considered the "leader" of that ensemble because he's the strongest, and there seem to be people on the Toei writing staff who think he should be getting bigger growth or development than Toriyama intended because of his status and past significance. That's why you get these big arc developments that don't really amount to much in the story because the script doesn't actually call for it.

The funny thing about that is in arcs like the ToP where Toei's team are doing the actual work, the stuff they're throwing in turns out to be more compelling than the big important moments Toriyama was presumably writing for. Gohan taking an interest and active lead in the recruitment phase, overcoming his past arrogance and establishing himself as a different kind of fighter (one who was actually effective in the Tournament itself) was far more interesting and narratively satisfying than the absolute garbage we got with Vegeta in that arc. You could say the same about Krillin's little mini-arc, which was also a case of building up something interesting and different only for it to fizzle out, just over a shorter space.

Basically, I don't want to write Gohan off entirely because I think there are interesting places for him to go, and the ToP made me realise just how badly I missed him having central involvement. It's nice to have someone other than two battle-hungry Saiyans taking the reins from time to time. I'll be interested to see what happens when Super comes back. I'm afraid he's going to stay stuck in a rut or being ignored because Toriyama is ultimately setting the pace and he seems to have no interest in Gohan at the moment.

Seems to be more up to the editorial department/Dragon Room than anything these days. We know Toriyama has been following their suggestions for a while now and I imagine that'll only continue.