Kid Goku and Pan's relationship in DBGT

[Zinnia]

I've been rewatching GT lately and their relationship has been bugging me because of it's inconsistences. Throughout the series we've been focusing on two children, one of them being an adult shrunk to the size of a little kid and the other an actual kid who wants to be accepted as a teenager. In this topic I want to have a closer look at their behaviour and character development from both in and out universe points of views.

Age-wise:
When Pan first meets Goku after the wish, she doesn't recognize him and treats him like an ordinary small child. After she finds out that it's her grandpa, she starts being disrespectful towards him due to him being even smaller than her. The question is, why is Goku smaller than her if he got reverted to being a 12 year old, while Pan is only 10? Did Pan have any proper reason to insult him because of that, if Goku could counter by mentioning that he is still order than her, even after the wish? In one of the episodes, Pan mentions that he looks more like 3 or 4. Was Goku in-fact shrunken down to the size of a 3 year old and Pan's reasoning was legit all along?

Spoiler:

Just look at how small Pan is compared to other teenagers/adults, and then realize that Goku is even smaller than her (despite being older):



It doesn't help Goku's case that the animators purposedly make Pan taller than she actually is, just to make her grandpa look smaller than any other kid in the series.



Here, we see GT Goku looking exactly as he did when he was a newborn baby:





How is he 12 again? With all the eating he does, he should have been atleast the size of Pan. This would mean that he has been wished to being a 3-4 year old kid.

Personality-wise:
In episode 1, before Pan realizes who the boy is, Goku cheers her up after her potential boyfriend leaves her. In a moment like this, girls need all the support they can get, which we could see by her look. If Master Roshi didn't point out their names, this conversation may have been a bit longer. Unfortunately instead of getting happier she got even more disappointed realizing that the boy who finally noticed her, was in fact her grandpa.



Later during their space adventures, she has spent more time with Goku (who was now close to her age) than any other boy, because they all left her due to her unusual strength. Pan was shouting at her kid grandpa many times because of his behaviour. But from what it seemed, deep inside she wished he wasn't her grandpa, because he was perfect for a tomboy like her - adventurous and carefree. I find it strange the writers went that route, but their relationship seemed more like little boy-little girl couple instead of grandpa-granddaughter. I believe that Pan wanted Goku to grow up to an adult as fast as possible so she could get rid of her "inner feelings". There are multiple reasons I've noticed for that:

Spoiler:

When Kid Goku took his clothes off to take a swim, she was blushing at his sight.


Goku was probably the first boy she has ever seen naked. Then the little boy claimed that:


Which proves that Pan herself doesn't remember Goku as an adult, so her feelings can be slightly justified, considering she is still a child herself.

Surprisingly after that she stopped minding it and even went swimming together (and behind him at that!)

Then, throughout GT we have more "hints" at how much fun Pan and Goku are having together and are so-alike

Spoiler:

That's already more smiliarities than Goku/Chi-Chi ever had (and they got married!)

It appears that the writers for some reason were trying to make PanxKidGoku a thing. If some people ship Pan and Trunks then there should be nothing wrong with this pairing, considering there is more actual evidence from the anime. Sure, Goku might've been her grandpa, but after the wish he is a kid and acts like one. He didn't even mind being naked in front of Pan. So like I said, it is very possible that Pan might have had feelings for Kid Goku as well, and wished that the only boy she spent so much time with, wouldn't be her grandpa.

What are your opinions regarding their relationship?

[DBZAOTA482]

I think they just tried to cobble together various traits from Bulma/Chi-Chi/Videl with a touch of Mr. Satan and failed (IMO, at least).

I also disagree with them having more similarities. GT Pan can't ride the Kinto'un, for example.

[Zinnia]

GT Pan can't ride the Kinto'un, for example.

Was it stated anywhere? It would make her the only member of Son family that couldn't?
Dunno about Videl.

[DBZAOTA482]

GT Pan can't ride the Kinto'un, for example.

Was it stated anywhere? It would make her the only member of Son family that couldn't?
Dunno about Videl.

It wasn't stated anywhere but I doubt she can. She seems closer to a Vegeta family member in personality than a Son.

I'm sure Videl can ride after she started dating Gohan.

[fadeddreams5]

I wish them the best in their relationship.

Maybe we can have deformed SSJ babies. That would give Broly a run for his money.

[Zinnia]

It wasn't stated anywhere but I doubt she can. She seems closer to a Vegeta family member in personality than a Son.

I'm sure Videl can ride after she started dating Gohan.

That's true. EoZ Pan definitely could because she was like the purest thing alive.
Although by GT standards nobody should be able to ride it anymore, not even Goku (because he has shown the sin of Sloth when he didn't want to go the space at first and would rather have the Earth blow up only to wish it back, talk about being out-of-character.)

[Lord Beerus]

I wish them the best in their relationship.

Maybe we can have deformed SSJ babies. That would give Broly a run for his money.

I don't even...

[Dyno]

I don't even...

Don't even try...

[soulnova]

I don't even...

Don't even try...

Your avatar is perfect for this line.

[IDreamtIWasABee]

It's more thought out than the rest of the show, I'll give it that.

[fadeddreams5]

I wish them the best in their relationship.

Maybe we can have deformed SSJ babies. That would give Broly a run for his money.

I don't even...

Plot twist: They give birth to Broly, bringing him into the canon.

[DBZAOTA482]

I wish them the best in their relationship.

Maybe we can have deformed SSJ babies. That would give Broly a run for his money.

I don't even...

Plot twist: They give birth to Broly, bringing him into the canon.

How can Goku give birth to someone who's the same age as.... well fuck, it's GT. Anything's possible.

[fadeddreams5]

How can Goku give birth to someone who's the same age as.... well fuck, it's GT. Anything's possible.

The day he is born will be the day Pan turns into a SSJ on the hospital bed.

His first word will be "Kakarotttt!!!"



<3 Canon Broly.

[TJVY]

It's more thought out than the rest of the show, I'll give it that.

Hahaha, too true. Tbh, Pan just sucked, such a terrible character in DBGT that it's hard to even give a proper analysis on her and her varying personalities.

[TheDevilsCorpse]

How is he 12 again? With all the eating he does, he should have been at least the size of Pan. This would mean that he has been wished to being a 3-4 year old kid.

The problem is that you are applying human logic to a Saiyan child, when we're told this is not how pure Saiyans work. They have very specific growth spurts. Sometime within the first 3 years, they grow to around the size of kid Goku and then basically remain the exact same size until they hit puberty years later. After that, they stay basically in their 20s until old age and rapid deterioration sets in sometime down the line (probably around their 70s, though I'm sure it can vary from Saiyan to Saiyan). In short, Goku barely grows any from the time he's 3 until the age of at least 15 (though it could be closer to 18, we just don't see him at Kami's sanctuary).

This seems to be the same reason Goten and present Trunks remain in a stunted growth state, while Gohan and future Trunks had a more natural growth pattern. The latter two had more of a Earthling genetic influence, while the former two have the Saiyan side dominant for those genes.

[TJVY]

How is he 12 again? With all the eating he does, he should have been at least the size of Pan. This would mean that he has been wished to being a 3-4 year old kid.

The problem is that you are applying human logic to a Saiyan child, when we're told this is not how pure Saiyans work. They have very specific growth spurts. Sometime within the first 3 years, they grow to to around the size of kid Goku and then basically remain the exact same size until they hit puberty years later. After that, they stay basically in their 20s until old age and rapid deterioration sets in sometime down the line (probably around their 70s, though I'm sure it can vary from Saiyan to Saiyan). In short, Goku barely grows any from the time he's 3 until the age of at least 15 (though it could be closer to 18, we just don't see him at Kami's sanctuary).

This seems to be the same reason Goten and present Trunks remain in a stunted growth state, while Gohan and future Trunks had a more natural growth pattern. The latter two had more of a Earthling genetic influence, while the latter two have the Saiyan side dominant for those genes.

That's actually a very good point and also a reasonable explanation for Goten and Trunks' stunted growth.

[Zinnia]

I think they just tried to cobble together various traits from Bulma/Chi-Chi/Videl with a touch of Mr. Satan

Also I agree with this. They made Pan a mixture of like 4 characters and it doesn't really fit sometimes and her character changes from one scene to another.

The first part of GT was basically ripping of DB. Pan even tried to cross-dress Goku back like in the Oolong episode.

And when Kid Goku strips himself down to skin it feels like back in Dragon Ball when Bulma bathed him. Both were female companions who wanted Goku to cover up his front only for him to refuse. Only that back then Goku actually was a clueless small child and Bulma was a person she never met before, while in GT he is already an adult and Pan is his granddaughter, so I have no idea what was he thinking there. He just went along and acted like a little kid just because of his body being small, even if it was really unappropiate.

[Zinnia]

I've almost finished rewatching Dragon Ball GT, and I took a few more notes regarding the relationship between Pan and Goku.

One of the things that struck me was a scene in Episode 51 (which seemed to focus on Kid Goku & Pan's teamwork). In the fight against Oceanus Shenron, Goku got hit by an attack that actually ripped off his clothes. Pan's reaction to seeing little naked Goku went as follows:



Why is Pan blushing madly there? She has seen her (small) grandpa naked many times during their travel in space. We even see her getting used to Chibi Goku's behaviour since she realizes that as long as Goku is a small child, she shouldn't feel embarassed.

But enough about that. There is another matter, happening right after that.

Pan pauses the fight for a minute, and off her bag she takes...

Spoiler:

a new pair of Clothes for Goku. Why was she carrying clothes for a boy in her bag? Not to mention it's exactly the size that fits shrunken Goku. Considering his clothes were big at first, but shrunk along with his body after Pilaf's wish it's an especially interesting situation. Did she secretly made them herself being prepared for a situation like this? That almost makes her seem obsessed with her grandpa. I know this is a minute-long joke situation, but Goku's new clothes stayed until the end so..

Spoiler:

And then, while Goku was putting his little gi on, Pan was... putting on his pants? So one second she is embarassed of him and the one she bends down next to him, and helps him put his clothes on? Goku certainly could do it alone. I mean jeez, Pan acted like mommy of a toddler would. Just because Goku is a little kid now, doesn't mean that he can't take care of himself.

The writers made Pan go through a lot of extremely weird situations, but this one went pretty unnoticed.

[dbzfan7]

Their relationship somehow eclipse Pan's with her own father.

[FoolsGil]

I think the bigger news is at 10 years old she's trying to get a boyfriend. Whoa-Videl, Gohan, are you okay with this?