How exactly Gohan could have been better in the Boo arc

[Demon of Light]

I don't think there was any problem with Gohan's character in the Buu arc. The real problem was giving him all that buildup only to defer to Goku at the last moment. I think Toriyama ended up failing his own creation, in the end. Poor Gohan.

[FoolsGil]

I don't hold it against him for not training over the years. Altruist motives can only push you so far and people tend to just lose incentive when they don't have something to work for.

Buu Saga should have taught Gohan that his father doesn't always make the best decisions and Battle of Gods showed that his father can be beaten. If the sake of self preservation isn't enough to make Gohan train, well then he should be training for Videl.

[Rocketman]

It's rather ridiculous how much shit Gohan gets for slacking off, when Goku's done the same thing twice (after the 23rd Budokai and after Kid Buu if you follow the new stuff).

Of course, somehow Goku never loses power when he slacks off.

[SMKirbyZX]

It's rather ridiculous how much shit Gohan gets for slacking off, when Goku's done the same thing twice (after the 23rd Budokai and after Kid Buu if you follow the new stuff).

Of course, somehow Goku never loses power when he slacks off.

I don't recall Goku slacking off after Boo.

[Doctor.]

It's rather ridiculous how much shit Gohan gets for slacking off, when Goku's done the same thing twice (after the 23rd Budokai and after Kid Buu if you follow the new stuff).

Of course, somehow Goku never loses power when he slacks off.

Gohan slacking off is literally not training. Obviously, he's gonna get weaker.
Goku slacking off is training less. Obviously, he's not gonna get too much stronger, like it was demonstrated.

[fadeddreams5]

It's rather ridiculous how much shit Gohan gets for slacking off, when Goku's done the same thing twice (after the 23rd Budokai and after Kid Buu if you follow the new stuff).

Of course, somehow Goku never loses power when he slacks off.

I don't recall Goku slacking off after Boo.

IIRC, he either implies or admits it in the 2008 OVA special. Later, you can see he isn't really training hardcore at the beginning of BoG; he's seen doing a light exercise. Once he gets clocked by Beerus, he starts training rigorously, like usual, and continues in F.

[ABED]

It's rather ridiculous how much shit Gohan gets for slacking off, when Goku's done the same thing twice (after the 23rd Budokai and after Kid Buu if you follow the new stuff).

Of course, somehow Goku never loses power when he slacks off.

Goku's stronger than he was at the end of DB. I think Gohan atrophied due to lack of training, but Goku simply trained to maintain.

[SingleFringe&Sparks]

I completely disagree. The one thing I think Gohan fans seem to ignore is that it makes more sense in his character development that he retired. He hated fighting and his fight with Cell had him forced to give in, and it turned him into something he couldnt control. I think the undertone of his development was deeply eclipsed by his power which this fanbase seems way too attached to. (The same way they see Broly and Vegeta). Him retiring after he beat Cell should have closed the book on his potential. His SSJ2 was his ceiling and now 7 years later. He set the bar for Goku & Vegeta need to match.

If anything Gohan should have passed the torch onto Goten, considering sometime in the middle of the gap, Chi Chi changed her mind and wanted to teach Goten how to fight. Perhaps because he reminded her of Goku or she missed it herself. He could have very well picked up the slack while being a new inclusion to the series after training him for the tournament, instead of having him waste time being Trunks's gullible sidekick. Goten going SSJ2 reminescent of Gohan would somewhere keep both sides happy. Chi Chi raised him to fight in her mourning of Goku and his resemblence. So it makes more sense why he would be the one that should have trained with Elder kai.

None of what you listed is character development, not to be rude or anything but you just listed things he did during the Buu arc that had little to no significance to the story as a whole. Him going to school, hooking up with Videl, being a good brother etc literally had no real pay off story wise, you could take them out and Gohan himself would remain virtually the same as a character.

It is character development because thats the direction he took to mature through. Right now, you come off like one of those usual Gohan fans who only care about his power - and like Goku - only see him as some sort of tool; not reading into the psychology of why things came to be. Gohan retiring from the stress he grew up in, is character development because he would finally be free to live the way he wants to, not live on call to what his estranged father suddenly wants him to do. I mean, even Piccolo noticed this about him and Piccolo has no prior social or parental experience whatsoever.

Btw when was it established that he explicitly wanted to become a Scholar? If you're talking about something he said at the age of four then I have to remind you that people's life goals change when they grow up. As a four year old I wanted to be lots of things that I grew out of. I'm not saying being a fighter couldn't be one of the things but that's something he's been around for most of his life so it's built into him by the start of the Buu arc, even if he wanted to get rid of it it's still a big part of who he is.

But at what point did he ever say he wanted to be a fighter like Goku? Never. He only wanted to be a Scholar because of his mother (who raised him) influenced him to look toward. Goku just appears in and out every near-decade to tell him, no he must fight. Goku doesnt know a thing about his son and still doesnt, he only sees him as a his son and forced him to follow him. Even throughout the Buu saga, Goku did nothing but tell Gohan how to be just like him and it always failed because it wasnt who Gohan was. Even being cocky was akward for him in the Babidi arc.

Gohan did not have a reason to fight anymore after Cell died. Why should he train? What argument could he give if Chi Chi wanted him to finally go to school? Considering Goku was also dead, it was her opinion over his. Bringing Gohan back into the fights felt like he was yet again forced back into an expectation he cant live up to. His ultimate form was the biggest waste of time in the series and overpowering him past the point of relevance use now in FnF where he doesnt fight at all and lost all his muscles.

[Rocketman]

Gohan retiring would be great, but they won't let that happen. He's stuck in a weird middle ground now where he can't leave, but he also can't ever learn from the constant alien invasions, and thus will only pop up to get broken, feel bad about it, then continue to not train.

Personally, I think Mystic is the best sign-off for him. A permanently high strength plus all his hidden power unleashed means he never has to train again, and it wouldn't do anything if he did. So he can retire and read books and teach classes and slap Videl's ass in total confidence that he's the best he can ever be.

Isn't that better than the fucking retard we have now who refuses to protect his newborn daughter?

[fadeddreams5]

Gohan retiring would be great, but they won't let that happen. He's stuck in a weird middle ground now where he can't leave, but he also can't ever learn from the constant alien invasions, and thus will only pop up to get broken, feel bad about it, then continue to not train.

Personally, I think Mystic is the best sign-off for him. A permanently high strength plus all his hidden power unleashed means he never has to train again, and it wouldn't do anything if he did. So he can retire and read books and teach classes and slap Videl's ass in total confidence that he's the best he can ever be.

Isn't that better than the fucking retard we have now who refuses to protect his newborn daughter?

No, it's not better because Gohan never liked to fight and if he doesn't like to fight then it's only normal that his lack of will saps him of his powers. It's called character development. And why should he protect his daughter when he can just use her as a battery to power up someone that actually LIKES to fight? They can always protect her for him while he studies about living dinosaurs and shit.

[NitroEX]

It is character development because thats the direction he took to mature through. Right now, you come off like one of those usual Gohan fans who only care about his power - and like Goku - only see him as some sort of tool; not reading into the psychology of why things came to be. Gohan retiring from the stress he grew up in, is character development because he would finally be free to live the way he wants to, not live on call to what his estranged father suddenly wants him to do. I mean, even Piccolo noticed this about him and Piccolo has no prior social or parental experience whatsoever.

I think you're jumping to conclusions there as I don't only care about Gohan's power and I'm not really sure why you think I do, my posts really don't indicate that at all. I also don't get how I "see him as some sort of tool" either but whatever. I consider myself in the minority of fans who actually find him to be one of the few likable and relatable characters of the group. I think you might have read my post and thought I meant "Gohan shouldn't have gone to school, met Videl or be a brother etc and that's... not what I was saying at all. What I was getting at is simply listing off trivial things Gohan did in the Buu arc and calling it character development doesn't make it character development.

There were very few things in that arc that forced him to grow and change as a person (emotionally and in terms of character), the only thing that comes to mind would be him being beaten by Buu which forced him to try and get stronger. This was done in a cheap way though since he was basically just following Kai's orders the whole time and didn't have to change mentally at all. Keep in mind that throughout that arc he gets to meet with his dead father who he hasn't seen in 7 years, surely that's got to be leading up to some profound life changing event for him right? RIGHT!?... Nope, not really.

Aside from Goku, If Videl or Goten had gotten hurt because Gohan failed to protect them, THAT would have been some good character development because it would have been a negative consequence of his slacking off.

Another example would be If we actually saw him and Videl develop a romantic relationship. She could have given Gohan some newfound wisdom that helped him along the way.

But at what point did he ever say he wanted to be a fighter like Goku? Never. He only wanted to be a Scholar because of his mother (who raised him) influenced him to look toward. Goku just appears in and out every near-decade to tell him, no he must fight. Goku doesnt know a thing about his son and still doesnt, he only sees him as a his son and forced him to follow him. Even throughout the Buu saga, Goku did nothing but tell Gohan how to be just like him and it always failed because it wasnt who Gohan was. Even being cocky was akward for him in the Babidi arc.

Gohan did not have a reason to fight anymore after Cell died. Why should he train? What argument could he give if Chi Chi wanted him to finally go to school? Considering Goku was also dead, it was her opinion over his. Bringing Gohan back into the fights felt like he was yet again forced back into an expectation he cant live up to. His ultimate form was the biggest waste of time in the series and overpowering him past the point of relevance use now in FnF where he doesnt fight at all and lost all his muscles.

I don't agree that Goku forced Gohan into fighting, the only real time this happened was during the Cell arc and that was a time of crisis so it was understandable. Gohan was a reluctant hero from the very start when Piccolo trained him but he eventually saw the need to fight after witnessing people around him die. Gohan's motive has always been protecting people he cares about and using his power to do so. He never cared much for training but his hidden power and unlimited potential made him a constant formidable fighter regardless. The whole point of the Buu arc should have been to keep feeding Gohan's motivation to fight and protect (which it kinda did but very poorly).

If he wanted to be a scholar after the story is finished then fine but to use that as a reason for him to quit fighting altogether seems like a backwards rationalisation to me (and a weak one at that). It's pretty clear to me that Gohan was just a victim of poor writing in the Buu arc, the lack of training really doesn't matter either since there are no rules stating he must get weaker if he doesn't train.

[ABED]

He hated fighting

No, Gohan didn't. He didn't love it, but he didn't hate it either.

He only wanted to be a Scholar because of his mother (who raised him) influenced him to look toward. Goku just appears in and out every near-decade to tell him, no he must fight. Goku doesnt know a thing about his son and still doesnt, he only sees him as a his son and forced him to follow him. Even throughout the Buu saga, Goku did nothing but tell Gohan how to be just like him and it always failed because it wasnt who Gohan was.

I don't agree with a single thing in this paragraph. Goku was constantly there for his son except at times when he was dead. Chichi didn't raise Gohan by herself. Goku does know his son and NEVER forced him to follow in his footsteps. I don't recall him ever telling Gohan to be just like him.

[Kid Buu]

To me Gohan's character was already ruined with how he was handled in the Cell arc, so I already had no investment with in this arc.

[Zephyr]

Gohan retiring would be great, but they won't let that happen. He's stuck in a weird middle ground now where he can't leave, but he also can't ever learn from the constant alien invasions, and thus will only pop up to get broken, feel bad about it, then continue to not train.

Personally, I think Mystic is the best sign-off for him. A permanently high strength plus all his hidden power unleashed means he never has to train again, and it wouldn't do anything if he did. So he can retire and read books and teach classes and slap Videl's ass in total confidence that he's the best he can ever be.

Isn't that better than the fucking retard we have now who refuses to protect his newborn daughter?

Seriously, we had ONE incident, with Beerus, after which his dad became ridiculously powerful. Then we had Freeza which he had no reason to expect, and then we've yet to see what he did about anything afterward. You keep posting this complaint as if we've seen anything after FnF yet. If Gohan's still the same in Super, then fair point, sure, whatever, we've had that conversation before and we're not going to agree on anything, but seriously, stop pretending that we've seen more than we have. It's ridiculous.

[Rocketman]

Seriously, we had ONE incident, with Beerus, after which his dad became ridiculously powerful. Then we had Freeza which he had no reason to expect, and then we've yet to see what he did about anything afterward. You keep posting this complaint as if we've seen anything after FnF yet. If Gohan's still the same in Super, then fair point, sure, whatever, we've had that conversation before and we're not going to agree on anything, but seriously, stop pretending that we've seen more than we have. It's ridiculous.

So why did Gohan lose his Mystic state between bog and faff?

[Zephyr]

So why did Gohan lose his Mystic state between bog and faff?

We both know you won't be satisfied with any answer that anyone gives you for that. The question also has no bearing on there not actually being "constant" alien invasions prior to FnF (the time period in which you're criticizing Gohan for not learning from "constant" alien invasions), nor has it any bearing on there not being anything to base any ideas on what post-FnF Gohan does with his time (the Gohan that you're criticizing). I've already made my point and you seem to have ignored it. Carry on.

[Vijay]

I'll be honest. I'm a hardcore Gohan hater. I always felt he was a lousy son for an Awesome Dad.

Suprisingly, his Buu Arc version was a lot more likable & managed to feel realistic. He is a perfect side-character. But lacks the edgyness which made guys like Goku, Vegeta or Super Namekian Piccolo as great Main leads regardless of their short duration.

His character development in Buu Arc

1. High-school lifestyle. Sticking out as the sore thumb among other regular students & his adaptation is very realistic

2. Gohan-Videl romance.

3. Great Saiyaman is a nice lead-up to T.Budoukai & subsequent Buu Saga.

Truth is, the dude got sandwiched between the popularity of Goku & Vegeta.

Even when he tried stopping Buu's hatching, Goku/Majin Vegeta fight was the main.

Likewise, his epic fight (episode 266) against Buutenks was overshadowed by Goku & Vegeta's return to fight Buu.

Had those 2 guys were completly erased frm the show, Buu Arc Gohan would've turned out as great as his CG self.

[Rocketman]

We both know you won't be satisfied with any answer that anyone gives you for that.

Since he still has it at the end of the manga, you're right on that.

The question also has no bearing on there not actually being "constant" alien invasions prior to FnF (the time period in which you're criticizing Gohan for not learning from "constant" alien invasions), nor has it any bearing on there not being anything to base any ideas on what post-FnF Gohan does with his time (the Gohan that you're criticizing).

No, I'm criticizing faff Gohan. The last time he slacked off, Buu happened. Then the Tarble incident, then Billy knocks him down at his full power and his reaction iiiiis...

[Puto]

To be fair, even the kids were enough to take care of 'the Tarble incident'.

[rereboy]

It's rather ridiculous how much shit Gohan gets for slacking off, when Goku's done the same thing twice (after the 23rd Budokai and after Kid Buu if you follow the new stuff).

Of course, somehow Goku never loses power when he slacks off.

Goku never slacked off and became weaker. After the 23rd tournament, he kept training and got stronger, keeping his edge over Piccolo's level, who also trained. Radditz was simply too strong and so he needed help.

After Kid Buu, it's exactly the same. Goku didn't slack off, he still grew stronger. Beerus was just too strong and so he needed help.