Gohan a good character?

[TheMightyOzaru]

I want to like Gohan but for some reason I can't think of any reasons for him to be up there on my favorite characters list other than he is really really powerful. Can any of you give me an in depth character analysis on why Gohan is a great character?

[Insertclevername]

Since Gohan is my No. 1 favorite character, I'm pretty obligated to reply to this. Here's my 2 cents.

Gohan's my favorite character for a number of reasons. One would be that he's probably the most relatable characters in his whole series. He's just a normal kid (later a normal teen) who just wants peace, I guess. He fights for very practical reasons, unlike his father whose main motivation for going to battle is to satisfy his own fetishistic desire to fight and get stronger. To me, this adds a lot of charm to him. It perfectly plays off of Gokuu, making him essentially be his own character instead of "Gokuu 2.0". I always got the feeling that he was truly fighting for his friends and family above all else; something I'm sure most of us would fight for in the situations he finds himself in.

Another reason I like him is, surprisingly enough, is his incompetence. He usually doesn't win fights. I think everyone knows that. But when he does win or just gets to kick ass, for however brief those moments may be, they have a lot of impact. It's very similar to Gokuu's victories in early Dragon Ball where he was pretty much an underdog fighting against foes totally out of his league (Kamesennin, Tenshinhan, Piccolo Daimao, etc). However, as Gokuu became too, for a lack of a better term, badass, with him being the hero left and right, his fights got kind of stale (notice how he's pretty absent throughout gaps of Z). Gohan, however, never suffered from that as his glory moments are pretty spread out.

There are others but I don't really feel like writing them out properly, so here's a misc list.

-His design is cool (though, that's entirely subjective). I especially like the way he looks in the Cell and Boo arcs.
-He's a nerd.
-Has arguably the best romantic relationship in the whole series.
-Is genuinely a good person (unlike some other characters in the series).
-Mirai Gohan. Enough said.
-GREAT SAIYAMAN. Funny and makes his character a little interesting.
-He overcomes his lack of confidence (that's inspirational, right?).
-Got hammered at a party.
-Has best scene in the anime. Spirit vs. Spirit, bitches.
-Is good older brother.
-Isn't a karate bum
-Ultimate form was pretty cool.

*waits for Rocketman to tear this shit a new one...*

[Kid Buu]

Hmmm, I like Gohan because he reminded me of myself as a kid - shy, tries to beat the crap out of people when angry lol, kinda nerdy, overbearing mother, etc.

I do agree that Gohan didn't deserve to be hero due to his lack of training and his cheap power-up, but I still like his personality.

It's why the Saiyaman arc is my favourite arc, Gohan's out of the "fighting really tough guys" zone and we get to see him in his ordinarily persona and I love it. Gohan's a shitty fighter, but he's a well meaning fella who cracks me up with those Saiyaman poses. He is my favourite character in the DB Universe.

[Saiga]

Originally, I liked Gohan purely for his character design in the Boo arc. Best haircut in the series. And I second... most of what Insertclevername said.

[Xeogran]

It's funny that every person who replied has a Gohan avatar .

But yes, Insertclevername pretty much covered it. The badass transformation scenes (SSJ2, against Kibito and then power-upping against Old Kai) are one of the numerous reasons why Gohan is truly an awesome character.

[Jackal puFF]

Yeah I really seem to like Gohan later on in the Buu arc and as the great saiyaman. It's like it was all leading to that. Gotta be honest thought, wasn't really a fan when he lost the blonde hair.. If you know what I mean.

[RandomGuy96]

You mean where he got a cheap power up that shot him from weaker than Dabura to stronger than Super Buu, and then somehow still managed to not accomplish anything at all and lose, making the villain much stronger in the process and attaining a new level of fail?

[DBZ Mick]

I liked him up until his sudden pacifist turn in the Cell Game.

Probably as people have mentioned he was quite relatable and was just a normal kid blessed or cursed with this fantastic potential. I also liked his growth in the Saiyan-Freeza arcs.

[TheMightyOzaru]

Pretty good analysis Insertclevername. Man if Gohan could have just beaten Buutenks. All that build up just to be thrown to the wayside =/. Even in the movies his new ultimate form is treated poorly. Gohan seriously needs a movie centered around him for once. Maybe lobotomizing Ssj3 Broly would be cool.

[dbzfan7]

I hated how the Elder Kaioshin power up became worthless in such a short time.

[Vice]

Gohan's definitely my least favorite of the big four.

[TheMightyOzaru]

I hated how the Elder Kaioshin power up became worthless in such a short time.

Tell me about it >_>.

[B]

Gohan isn't so much bad as he is inconsequential... though I guess being inconsequential is in and of itself bad. He's not poorly written; I fully believed every snivel and whimper. He's just not someone I could ever get truly invested because of those things. He(and Vegeta) is just there for me while I wait for Goku or Piccolo or Kuririn or someone.

To extrapolate with a bit from that other Gohan thread, the Majin Buu arc does a lot to fix that. He's either contributing atmospherically, as in I'm genuinely enjoying his screentime, or the arc spins that inconsequentiality on its head and Gohan not saving the day is the big joke, and he's thankfully genre-savvy.

Ultimately, Gohan is there. He's probably very interesting to people heavily invested in the battle power aspects. He was really cool when beat Cell, wasn't he?