Why Was Gohan Handled So Poorly In The Cell Arc?

[DBZGTKOSDH]

I don't think he was handled poorly. Gohan never showed any signs that he liked fighting in the manga, and the only times that he wanted to fight was when he was fighting for the sake of his friends. He fought with the Saiyans because he was forced by Piccolo and because the Earth was in extreme danger when Vegeta broke Goku. He fought in Namek because he wanted to bring back to life Piccolo & co, and also because his life was in danger. He wanted to fight the Artificial Humans because they were a thread that would kill everyone.

But against Cell, it was just a stupid tournament. He wanted to solve it with words, because unlike before, he was the strongest, not Goku, or Piccolo, or Vegeta, and if he had gotten angry, he would be unstoppable, and he is far from weak enough to destroy the Earth by accident. And plus, he didn't want to kill. Yes, he killed a Freeza Soldier on Namek, but he was 5 years old back then, and now he is 11. He has become more responsible and mature over the years, and he is still a kid under development. I don't think any of us were thinking the same way when we were 5 compared to when we were 11.

So, the way I see it, we just see how mature Gohan has gotten over the years, it's not an out-of-character moment.

[DBZ Mick]

It's not that he doesn't like to fight, I think that much is shown. It's just how he suddenly doesn't want to fight at all, even when his friends are in danger of being killed or the Earth being destroyed.

[B]

I think that stems from just being overwhelmed by Cell. Yes, Gohan doesn't like to fight instinctively, but he just saw his father basically arrive at a stalemate with Cell. At that point, Goku is the only person that doesn't think Gohan fighting Cell is insane, and that's probably true for every person reading/watching that scene for the first time.

[ABED]

The issue isn't whether he likes to fight, the issue is why he thinks that his plea will do anything. He seemed gung ho about helping his friends from the beginning, but now he has cold feet and tries to solve it with words. He may not know Cell, but he knows the kind of being Cell is, so his reticence to fight feels like it comes out of nowhere.

My biggest problem is when Cell returns and Goku still has to hold his hand. Gohan is ready to give up even without a fight.

and he fears that he might hurt his friends if he lost control of himself again

I don't recall him saying he fears hurting his friends.

[TheWhiz]

The issue isn't whether he likes to fight, the issue is why he thinks that his plea will do anything. He seemed gung ho about helping his friends from the beginning, but now he has cold feet and tries to solve it with words. He may not know Cell, but he knows the kind of being Cell is, so his reticence to fight feels like it comes out of nowhere.

My biggest problem is when Cell returns and Goku still has to hold his hand. Gohan is ready to give up even without a fight.

and he fears that he might hurt his friends if he lost control of himself again

I don't recall him saying he fears hurting his friends.

Yeah I noticed that too when I rewatched the Cell arc a couple years ago.

[DBZAOTA482]

and he fears that he might hurt his friends if he lost control of himself again

I don't recall him saying he fears hurting his friends.

He did warn Cell not to provoke him because he couldn't control his powers.

[Vice]

I will never understand why Gohan fanboys constantly complain about his role in the story. Out of all the fandoms that have a legit right to bitch, Gohan's is not one of them.

Let it go.

[ABED]

Can anyone find the quote and page that shows Gohan's worried his inability to control his powers might hurt his friends? I can't find it.

[DBZAOTA482]

Can anyone find the quote and page that shows Gohan's worried his inability to control his powers might hurt his friends? I can't find it.

It can do more than hurt his friends.

[MysticVegeta]

It's a fight or flight reaction.

Gohan doesn't want to fight, but instead of fleeing, he uses words to try get Cell to stop (Like how Gandhi sent Adolf Hitler a letter in 1939 asking him to stop what he was doing. He even called Hitler a "good friend". Hitler is Cell and Gandhi is Gohan. Gandhian.)

I don't think anybody wants to fight. I've tried to resolve things peacefully in the past with people I know I could (prolly) take down, because I don't like to fight.

So Gohan probably knows he can with his untapped power, but he doesn't want to.

I think it's funny that some people hate on the Cell arc and complain about Gohan, then go on to complain about how Goku is always in the spotlight. The Cell arc was pretty much the only arc ever that Goku didn't beat the main villain.

(He defeated Pilaf, RRA, Piccolo, Nappa and Vegeta, Freeza, Majin Boo, Baby, Super 17 and like every Shadow Dragon).

[DBZ Mick]

My biggest problem is when Cell returns and Goku still has to hold his hand. Gohan is ready to give up even without a fight.

Yeah, that really irked me as well. I again think Toriyama needed to bring in some tension but he didn't know how to do except it warp Gohan's character.

[TheSonofKakarrot]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought Gohan was ecstatic to fight Cell when he came back as "Super Perfect Cell."

I seem to remember Gohan smiling, and Cell being upset, asking Gohan "Why are you smiling" and he states "I'm Happy."

I recall him mentioning he wanted to crush Cell with his own hand so badly and now he could make amends since it was his arrogance that led to his father's death.

The hesitance in fighting Cell came after saving Vegeta and he lost more than half of his battle power and his arm.

[thatdbzguy]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought Gohan was ecstatic to fight Cell when he came back as "Super Perfect Cell."

I seem to remember Gohan smiling, and Cell being upset, asking Gohan "Why are you smiling" and he states "I'm Happy."

I recall him mentioning he wanted to crush Cell with his own hand so badly and now he could make amends since it was his arrogance that led to his father's death.

The hesitance in fighting Cell came after saving Vegeta and he lost more than half of his battle power and his arm.

We're talking about before Gohan went SSJ2, when he was telling Cell about his hidden power.

[penguintruth]

What the hell are you talking about? The Cell arc was the best Gohan material, not to mention the best material in DB, period. No other story arc handled him as well as the Cell arc did. It's the Buu arc that screwed him.

The whole, "sudden Gohan pacifism" meme is completely bullshit. That never happened.

[Kid Buu]

I think Gohan is not really too interesting in this arc. He does nothing but train in this arc until the Cell Games, and I think his battle with Cell is just awful. There was no real tension until the Kamehameha duel, just one-sided beatdowns and hand holding.

[TripleRach]

I will never understand why Gohan fanboys constantly complain about his role in the story. Out of all the fandoms that have a legit right to bitch, Gohan's is not one of them.

Let it go.

Anyone has a right to bitch about anything in the story, within reason. And I don't really see any unreasonable posts in this thread.

[Duo]

I will never understand why Gohan fanboys constantly complain about his role in the story. Out of all the fandoms that have a legit right to bitch, Gohan's is not one of them.

Let it go.

Anyone has a right to bitch about anything in the story, within reason. And I don't really see any unreasonable posts in this thread.

Agreed. Vice is more than capable to simply not participate in these threads if his whole mentality is "stop talking about this guys".

[RandomGuy96]

I think it was a contrived personality trait that Toriyama threw in to make the transformation seem more 'epic' and set up a contrast between normal Gohan and SS2 Gohan. But in doing so, he basically threw away Gohan's whole development in the last three arcs. He becomes a wuss who doesn't want to fight (despite being gung-ho about doing so two arcs ago), and is reduced to simply pleading to Cell. Gohan was already stronger than Goku, so he at least could have tried to fight back when his friends were being beaten to death. But no, it takes the destruction of the killer robot meant to kill his father to get him to stand up for himself. He beats up Cell but doesn't finish him. Then, after getting hit with one ki blast, he pretty much gives up, and has to have his father hold his hand throughout the final battle.

As for why he wasn't even built up more... I honestly have no idea. He's a complete non-entity for most of the arc, and just randomly becomes the main hero at the end, with a very anti-climactic and unenjoyable 'fight'.

[GsTvo]

From his forced spotlight to his random pacifism, Gohan was handled terribly in the Cell arc.

You don't remember the fight against Nappa? Or his training with Piccolo? There's no such thing as "random pacifism", he is not like Goku and Vegeta, he don't likes fight, why is so hard to understand?.
Forced spotlight? Takes two and a half seasons to Gohan from being a cowardly boy to a Super Saiyajin, do you think that's forced? Since he destroid Radtiz's spaceship you know that he is gonna do something important on the story, but there's a process, like Vegeta's personality.

He couldn't even beat the main villain without his daddy's guidance.

He is like 9, 10 or 11 years old when that happens, IS A KID the only one who can beat Cell and save the Earth, and you're wondering about his behavior?. Vegeta could have destroyed Cell when he has the chance, also Goku with Freeza and Boo, but they didn't, because they're Saiyajins: they're arrogant when looks superior to rival.

Where's the poorly part?

[rereboy]

Its not that Gohan doesn't like fighting, he's pretty much refusing to fight seriously. Cell has to beat up every single one of his friends and family almost till they died (plus kill an android) so that Gohan actually is willing to fight seriously.

Gohan has never been like that. Sure, he doesn't like to fight, but he has always fought for his family and friends the best that he could.