SPC vs SSjin 2 Kid Gohan Argument

[Kakashi]

And Ultimate Gohan is still by that logic stronger than half - power Raditz.

Myself I see Gohan as stronger than Cell, to the extent that Gohan have had to be damaged for Cell to dominate.
And not just by a slight amount, but by a whooping 50%
Considering both Gohan's damage and his low motivation by that time, I'd say that that was the reason why his power seemed lower than it was.
So if Gohan was 150 and Cell was 100, Gohan losing half his power would be 75, and Cell would still dominate.

See, I can too make up my own rules and make sense of them.

Except SPC and SSjin 2 Kid Gohan are rivals

[Saiga]

I also think that Gohan was stronger than SPC, both because he was used as the measuring stick years later instead of Cell (who was the measuring stick for a foe that wasn't even considered a threat today) and because Goku is confident that Gohan full power was enough to overpower Cell's Kamehameha with his own.

[Godo]

Indeed, even though Cell was distracted, that doesn't mean he actually had to be weaker because of it. He was still holding his Kamehameha without any notion of it being weaker.
Gohan's Kamehameha was thus much stronger than Cell's.

[Kakashi]

Indeed, even though Cell was distracted, that doesn't mean he actually had to be weaker because of it. He was still holding his Kamehameha without any notion of it being weaker.
Gohan's Kamehameha was thus much stronger than Cell's.

Cell had to be distracted even when Gohan released full power

[freezamite]

That depends on the version of the series. On the manga SP Cell was at around the same level as Gohan. Gohan had lost half his energy, that's true, but Cell wasn't even trying. He was laughing at Gohan's situation and just when he decided to put an end to him Vegeta pulled his surprise attack from behind, and Gohan attacked Cell with all his strength without giving him any chance to react.
On the anime Gohan was much stronger, since even when SP Cell was superior to him on the Kamehame scene, he could hold up during a lot of time against a Cell who was also trying to win.

[Godo]

Indeed, even though Cell was distracted, that doesn't mean he actually had to be weaker because of it. He was still holding his Kamehameha without any notion of it being weaker.
Gohan's Kamehameha was thus much stronger than Cell's.

Cell had to be distracted even when Gohan released full power

Indeed, your statement holds true regarding the current situation that they were in.
What we know about that situation was that Gohan had a power disadvantage large enough and had drained his power enough to be only able to win by letting go of a huge burst of ki.
Considering that the huge burst of ki was enough to completely disintegrate Cell, it is obvious that Gohan's power in that last burst of ki was considerably stronger than Cell.
Furthermore, if we know that Gohan had lost 50% of his ki, and also that he was managing to somehow hold back Cell's Kamehameha, and then having enough power to overpower it with 50% of his power, in my opinion this shows that Gohan was stronger than Cell prior to losing his power.

Though, if you decide to respond, do you mind to further elaborate, because one single line of words doesn't explain much.

[Hugo Boss]

I believe Cell had about 50% of SS2 Gohan's power. Gohan pretty much knew how strong Cell was and used Super Saiyan to fight Dabura, whom was said to be as strong as Cell. Since Super Saiyan 2 has Super Saiyan's power x2, SS2 Gohan should have about 2x Dabura's strenght. Another argument is that Cell had to decrease SS2 Gohan's strenght to less half of normal so he could surpass him and dominate the situation.

[Kakashi]

I believe Cell had about 50% of SS2 Gohan's power. Gohan pretty much knew how strong Cell was and used Super Saiyan to fight Dabura, whom was said to be as strong as Cell. Since Super Saiyan 2 has Super Saiyan's power x2, SS2 Gohan should have about 2x Dabura's strenght. Another argument is that Cell had to decrease SS2 Gohan's strenght to less half of normal so he could surpass him and dominate the situation.

Cell is stronger than 50% SSjin 2 Kid Gohan, that's stated

They are also rivals

[Hugo Boss]

Cell is stronger than 50% SSjin 2 Kid Gohan, that's stated

They are also rivals

I think it was stated that Cell was stronger than "less half of normal" SS2 Gohan, so 50% SS2 Gohan is still above that said level. The rivalry is a subjective point, it doesn't necessarily imply factual close battle powers.

[Sshadow5001]

For some reason when I saw SPC in the title I thought it meant Samurai Pizza Cats

[Godo]

I believe Cell had about 50% of SS2 Gohan's power. Gohan pretty much knew how strong Cell was and used Super Saiyan to fight Dabura, whom was said to be as strong as Cell. Since Super Saiyan 2 has Super Saiyan's power x2, SS2 Gohan should have about 2x Dabura's strenght. Another argument is that Cell had to decrease SS2 Gohan's strenght to less half of normal so he could surpass him and dominate the situation.

Cell is stronger than 50% SSjin 2 Kid Gohan, that's stated

They are also rivals

In the Buu arc, Goku and Vegeta were rivals in power as well, even above Gohan's power in the Cell Games. This is heavily indicated.
Yet, Vegeta needs the Majin Charm to become even in power with Goku.
This means that Vegeta was weaker than Goku, to the extent that he wouldn't have a very even fight to win.
Alas, rivals in power does not mean that their power was very close to each other or even. One may be strong enough to have the upper hand to be even.

[Flame Dragon]

Cell is stronger when Gohan is demotivated but Gohan is still stronger much stronger when motivated and enraged thanks to Goku words since he won the Kamehameha struggle with one arm.
I think Goku helped Gohan regain his rage boost.

[Kakashi]

I believe Cell had about 50% of SS2 Gohan's power. Gohan pretty much knew how strong Cell was and used Super Saiyan to fight Dabura, whom was said to be as strong as Cell. Since Super Saiyan 2 has Super Saiyan's power x2, SS2 Gohan should have about 2x Dabura's strenght. Another argument is that Cell had to decrease SS2 Gohan's strenght to less half of normal so he could surpass him and dominate the situation.

Cell is stronger than 50% SSjin 2 Kid Gohan, that's stated

They are also rivals

In the Buu arc, Goku and Vegeta were rivals in power as well, even above Gohan's power in the Cell Games. This is heavily indicated.
Yet, Vegeta needs the Majin Charm to become even in power with Goku.
This means that Vegeta was weaker than Goku, to the extent that he wouldn't have a very even fight to win.
Alas, rivals in power does not mean that their power was very close to each other or even. One may be strong enough to have the upper hand to be even.

Rivals meaning very close in power

[Kakashi]

Cell is stronger when Gohan is demotivated but Gohan is still stronger much stronger when motivated and enraged thanks to Goku words since he won the Kamehameha struggle with one arm.
I think Goku helped Gohan regain his rage boost.

Yep, Gohan went back to full power in the end but Cell had to be distracted. Thar means Cell was very close Gohan IMO

[Godo]

Rivals meaning very close in power

I guess that the problem we have here is your definition of the word "rival".
If rivals means "very close in power" (which with very close we have opponent X at 10 and opponent Y at 11), how would you explain the need for Vegeta to succumb to Babidi's spell?
The only way that I can see the need for that if the gap was sizable enough.

Also, we have one instance where Cell fights Goku, and reduces his power so that he can have a good fight.
Why would he need to damage Gohan to have a good fight in that case?
The explanation that I see that their power were in the same leauge (rivaling, as in the SSJ2 tier) but Cell had to decrease Gohan's power to be able to overpower him to that degree.
If Cell was as strong as Gohan, he could defeat him easily with his smarts, techniques and mental pressure. Prior to Gohan being hurt, he was confident to beat Cell, so Cell had to bring him down.

Also, please, could you elaborate more on you stance. It would be very helpful in this discussion.
I am actually respecting you enough to take my time to write you thought out responses and you are not giving much back.
I don't see how you expect people to agree with you by debating like that.

Yep, Gohan went back to full power in the end but Cell had to be distracted. Thar means Cell was very close Gohan IMO

IMO that means also that they were in a stalemate and Cell could have put up with a power in the same leauge as, but stronger than his own for a while.
But something had to break the stalemate, hence Vegeta's beam. If we go the other way around, if Gohan's power was back and Cell wanted to win, he should have kept breaking Gohan's psyche or killed one of his friends. Another possibility was to keep on going until Gohan ran empty of ki.

[Kamiccolo9]

I'm gonna go against the grain here, and say that, IMO, Cell was actually stronger than Gohan.

1. Cell, knowing full well how powerful Gohan was, actually came back expecting to beat him.
2. Cell claimed to have received a power up "just like Son Gohan's." If we take this literally, and believe that his zenkai was a 2x boost just like the SSJ2 boost, then Cell, who was stronger than SSJ1 Gohan should be stronger in his "Super Perfect" state than Gohan is in his SSJ2 form.
3. Cell easily cripples Gohan with one blast. You can claim that Gohan wasn't able to guard against it, but if he was much stronger than Cell, couldn't he have just knocked it out of the way?
4. Going along with the last point, when have we ever seen an unguarded attack from a weaker fighter inflict severe damage on a stronger one? Not counting the obvious outlying examples of the Kienzan and Makansapposlfjerlkfje-Special Beam Cannon
5. It seemed to me like Cell wasn't even trying in the Kamehameha duel. He was taking his time taunting Gohan, rather than just ending the duel then and there. But when Vegeta distracted him, he was unable to increase his power fast enough to deal with Gohan's push.
6. Going somewhat out-of-universe here, but if Gohan were stronger than Cell, then why would Vegeta's distraction be necessary? If Gohan were stronger, and had unleashed his full power, wouldn't he have overpowered Cell without Vegeta's help anyway? Vegeta redeeming himself for causing Gohan to be injured doesn't really have a point if Gohan didn't actually need his help anyway.

Anyway, that's just what I think. I realize that most of these are just up to interpretation, but this is the conclusion that I've come up with. Just some food for thought

[MDSTSSJ]

Gohan had lost half his energy, that's true, but Cell wasn't even trying. He was laughing at Gohan's situation and just when he decided to put an end to him Vegeta pulled his surprise attack from behind, and Gohan attacked Cell with all his strength without giving him any chance to react.

Pretty much this. That's exactly what I think!!

For me, enraged SS2 Gohan ( undamaged ) is strong as Super Perfect Cell.

[MDSTSSJ]

I totally agree with you Kamiccolo!!

" Cell claimed to have received a power up "just like Son Gohan's "

I did not remember that!! This reaffirms what I think about their powers!

[Hugo Boss]

Cell claimed to have received a power up "just like Son Gohan's".

Son Gohan's power-up is the Super Saiyan 2 and Cell displayed the same aura and boost typo, I think he was talking about that. However, I don't know the extent of the power that Gohan was still hiding or how much his rage would increase his powerlevel.

I think it's not wrong to say that Gohan was using 50% of his full strenght, maybe that' why Cell was capable of injure him that badly. There is an instance where Goku says Gohan wasn't showing his full power. Look how he was able to completely obliterate a stronger form of Cell, but not completely destroy the previous version of him, just to prolongue the fight and Cell's punishment.

Also, Buu arc practically disregards every situation that Cell could be stronger than SS2 Gohan. Goku thought Dabura would be as strong as Cell and Gohan used Super Saiyan to fight him. Not only Dabura was doing much better than Goku previously thought, but Gohan should do better as a Super Saiyan. He probably didn't transform to Super Saiyan 2 because he was thinking he could beat Dabura the way he was. Gohan is the one who defeated Cell so he knew how strong he was. Vegeta SSJ is implied to be able to beat that Dabura, and so Goku SSJ.

[Cursed Lemon]

Gohan states flat out that his energy has been cut in half, and we have to assume that only being able to use one arm is a disadvantage. We have no reason to believe that ki works differently than normal body stamina, which is somewhat comparable to a tank of gas (except idleness can refill it somewhat). You can burn it slowly over a period of time, or you can burn a lot of it in a brief but explosive burst, which is exactly the kind of thing that Gohan did to Cell as he had absolutely nothing left when he was done.

In order to solve this mystery, we would have to determine:

1) How large Gohan's and Cell's "tanks" are
2) How ki translates into physical fighting power
3) How much ki Gohan and Cell are capable of releasing at one time
4) What level of cheater boost Cell got from his regeneration

The fact of the matter is that a half-power, injured Gohan completely overtook a perfectly healthy SPC in the beam struggle. Regardless of whether or not Cell was distracted, that doesn't sound anything at all like an "underdog" win.