Why Was Gohan Handled So Poorly In The Cell Arc?

[Michsi]

Enter the Cell games, and that goes out of the window. Suddenly he needs to get the boost before he tries to attack. And when he did try to attack before then, there's no visible spirit behind his effort, just a consistent half-assed performance with the exception of that one hit that he could have followed up with more attacks and hits but didn't (really, he just stood there and watched Cell get up and recuperate instead of following up his attack...).

I always attributed that to his emotional turmoil his father left him in. Wasn't it even clearly mentioned by Piccolo as a reason why he couldn't gather the anger he usually had during these moments? That's why I said that his behavior isn't unusual given those circumstances. He was willing to fight, like he always had, he just lacked the enthusiasm because of how and why he was sent to fight.

[thatdbzguy]

]
Yeah, you're ignoring a vital part of my argument. Gohan didn't just stand there watching, he was very obviously trying to unlock his hidden power, not just waiting for it to randomly pop-up. With Piccolo, it was different, because he wasn't the last hope anyone had of beating Freeza like he was against Cell, so if Gohan happened to get killed in the process, it wouldn't have mattered as much.

With Cell, Gohan knew that the only chance they had against beating Cell was his hidden power, and that just charging in without unlocking all of it could just get him killed and end up screwing everyone over.

And you are ignoring that he was trying to achieve a boost while just standing there. In the past, he always, ALWAYS, achieved a boost, WHILE attacking. He attacked to defend his friends and family and, WHILE attacking, he would achieve his boost, which allowed for his attacks to be somewhat effective. In fact, we can say that he achieved a boost BECAUSE he was attacking with all his spirit.

Enter the Cell games, and that goes out of the window. Suddenly he needs to get the boost before he tries to attack. And when he did try to attack before then, there's no visible spirit behind his effort, just a consistent half-assed performance with the exception of that one hit that he could have followed up with more attacks and hits but didn't (really, he just stood there and watched Cell get up and recuperate instead of following up his attack...).

And no, Gohan was the only one that could save Piccolo from Freeza. And he did. Being the only one capable of doing something at the time never bothered Gohan before the Cell games. Even against Nappa he froze up not because he was the only one but simply because he was terrified of Nappa.

Except that those times, he never released ALL of his hidden power. The Cell Games was the first time Gohan realized that he would have to release ALL of his hidden power in order to win. In the past, just a bit of his power could get the job done. This wasn't the case here, now was it?

Gohan shows a "half-assed" effort because he doesn't know what to expect when he releases all of his power. Think. He already became a raging lunatic when he released just a bit of his energy. What would happen if ALL of it got released? Would he become some cold-blooded killer with no care for his friends safety, which goes against everything he previously stood for? There was no way of knowing. And that lack of knowledge made him reluctant to fight with all of his power.

And once again, the situation with Piccolo was different. With the Cell arc, Gohan was the only one who was capable of defeating the villain. Any slip up, and he would doom all of them. With Freeza, he and everyone else were still banking on Goku to fix anything that occurred. If Gohan had died trying to save Piccolo, would that mean that there was no one left capable of defeating Freeza? Nope, because Goku and the constant foreshadowing of the Super Saiyan were still open contenders.

[rereboy]

I always attributed that to his emotional turmoil his father left him in. Wasn't it even clearly mentioned by Piccolo as a reason why he couldn't gather the anger he usually had during these moments? That's why I said that his behavior isn't unusual given those circumstances. He was willing to fight, like he always had, he just lacked the enthusiasm because of how and why he was sent to fight.

I agree with that as the reason for why he wasn't able to summon more power from the start. But its more than that, its not just a matter of power, he actually doesn't try as hard as he should to fight. He spends most of his fight with Cell just dodging, he doesn't take advantage of the hit he landed on Cell, allowing Cell to get up and recuperate without any trouble, he just stands there watching the Cell Jrs beating everybody to death...

Except that those times, he never released ALL of his hidden power. The Cell Games was the first time Gohan realized that he would have to release ALL of his hidden power in order to win. In the past, just a bit of his power could get the job done. This wasn't the case here, now was it?

What? When this is ever stated? That's not true at all. In the past, he released ALL of the hidden power that he had AT THE TIME. He's much stronger on the Cell games because he trained in ROSAT with Goku for a year, and that, plus his hidden power AT THAT TIME is what makes him that strong.

But, on the Saiyan saga, Gohan best shot with ALL his hidden power AT THE TIME in a fit of rage, couldn't even defeat Nappa after he killed Piccolo.

Gohan shows a "half-assed" effort because he doesn't know what to expect when he releases all of his power. Think. He already became a raging lunatic when he released just a bit of his energy. What would happen if ALL of it got released? Would he become some cold-blooded killer with no care for his friends safety, which goes against everything he previously stood for? There was no way of knowing. And that lack of knowledge made him reluctant to fight with all of his power.

What? What....? All he has ever become with his boosts is enraged. Why the hell would be become a "cold-blooded killer with no care for his friends safety" for once again using his hidden power?? . At most he should fear becoming cocky, like Vegeta and other characters usually get when they are stronger, and that's pretty much what ended up happening. But that's no reason to act like he did. The risk of becoming cocky is a minor one compared to the risk of not fighting seriously.

And once again, the situation with Piccolo was different. With the Cell arc, Gohan was the only one who was capable of defeating the villain. Any slip up, and he would doom all of them. With Freeza, he and everyone else were still banking on Goku to fix anything that occurred. If Gohan had died trying to save Piccolo, would that mean that there was no one left capable of defeating Freeza? Nope, because Goku and the constant foreshadowing of the Super Saiyan were still open contenders.

Once again, what? Goku was completely beaten up, helpless inside of a tank and without anyone knowing when he would be healed and without anyone even knowing if he would be strong enough to take on Freeza when he was healed. If Freeza had killed Piccolo, he would have killed the strongest of them at that moment, and then he would kill Gohan and the others. Goku was, at that moment, completely out of commission and powerless to help anyone. There was no one to save Piccolo, or them, if Gohan hadn't acted. And that's what he did, without caring that Freeza was way stronger than him and that he stood no chance agaisnt him and that there was no one else to save them at that moment. He acted, and was able to use his hidden power while attacking, like usual.

[thatdbzguy]

allowing Cell to get up and recuperate without any trouble

This is just classic DBZ logic. Characters do this kind of shit all the time for no real reason. Just look at how Goku let Cell recuperate after he hit him with his IT Kamehameha.

[rereboy]

allowing Cell to get up and recuperate without any trouble

This is just classic DBZ logic. Characters do this kind of shit all the time for no real reason. Just look at how Goku let Cell recuperate after he hit him with his IT Kamehameha.

Goku had just spent an enormous amount of energy on that attack and was even breathing heavily. He needed the pause and he was also checking if Cell was dead, like everyone else. That's nothing like what Gohan did.

[SingleFringe&Sparks]

allowing Cell to get up and recuperate without any trouble

This is just classic DBZ logic. Characters do this kind of shit all the time for no real reason. Just look at how Goku let Cell recuperate after he hit him with his IT Kamehameha.

Bu Goku didnt know he could regenerate until it happened.
At least in the dub when Gohan fights him after his Super Kamehameha, Piccolo and Goku bring it up again trying to remind Gohan why stalling was an issue; where as in Kai they seem to forget about his regeneration entirely in the same scene.

[Kid Buu]

You mean no one told Goku that Cell can regenerate?

[penguintruth]

Some of you clearly have severe reading comprehension problems.

Gohan doesn't "suddenly become a pacifist". From literally any perspective.

I weep for the future of humanity.

[Kid Buu]

noun: pacifist; plural noun: pacifists

1. person who believes that war and violence are unjustifiable.

Considering A.) Gohan refused to one-shot the Cell Jrs and kept saying STOP IT and B.) #16 had to give Gohan a speech that fighting isn't bad; Gohan is clearly a pacifist.

[penguintruth]

A pacifist doesn't fight. Gohan fights. Frequently. He was fighting Cell.

Not WANTING to fight isn't pacifism. Anybody can not WANT to fight. Be he fights, and therefore isn't a pacifist.

[Kid Buu]

A pacifist doesn't fight. Gohan fights. Frequently. He was fighting Cell.

Not WANTING to fight isn't pacifism. Anybody can not WANT to fight. Be he fights, and therefore isn't a pacifist.

If you say so. He spent more time preaching STOP IT then "fighting" which was just a single kick out of self-defense.

[rereboy]

Some of you clearly have severe reading comprehension problems.

Gohan doesn't "suddenly become a pacifist". From literally any perspective.

I weep for the future of humanity.

Pacifist is just a convenient term to try to classify his apparent and sudden unwillingness to fight seriously. If you had reading comprehension, you would realize that is what we were referring to, instead of trying to make it look like we were only referring to the strict literal meaning of pacifist.

[thatdbzguy]

What? When this is ever stated? That's not true at all. In the past, he released ALL of the hidden power that he had AT THE TIME. He's much stronger on the Cell games because he trained in ROSAT with Goku for a year, and that, plus his hidden power AT THAT TIME is what makes him that strong.

But, on the Saiyan saga, Gohan best shot with ALL his hidden power AT THE TIME in a fit of rage, couldn't even defeat Nappa after he killed Piccolo.

I can ask you the same question. When was it ever stated that ALL of his hidden power was released during those times? He's much stronger in the Cell Games because of his training, not because his hidden power suddenly got some magical power boost.

What? What....? All he has ever become with his boosts is enraged. Why the hell would be become a "cold-blooded killer with no care for his friends safety" for once again using his hidden power?? . At most he should fear becoming cocky, like Vegeta and other characters usually get when they are stronger, and that's pretty much what ended up happening. But that's no reason to act like he did. The risk of becoming cocky is a minor one compared to the risk of not fighting seriously.

He became a sadistic fighter who loves torturing his opponents once he hit SSJ2 despite never showing that when he used his hidden power before.

Again, this contributes to the fact that Gohan never released ALL of his power up until the Cell Games, so Gohan didn't know what to expect when he did unleash it all.

Once again, what? Goku was completely beaten up, helpless inside of a tank and without anyone knowing when he would be healed and without anyone even knowing if he would be strong enough to take on Freeza when he was healed. If Freeza had killed Piccolo, he would have killed the strongest of them at that moment, and then he would kill Gohan and the others. Goku was, at that moment, completely out of commission and powerless to help anyone. There was no one to save Piccolo, or them, if Gohan hadn't acted. And that's what he did, without caring that Freeza was way stronger than him and that he stood no chance agaisnt him and that there was no one else to save them at that moment. He acted, and was able to use his hidden power while attacking, like usual.

Except that Goku was stronger than anybody at the time, and they knew that he would be revived soon enough, even if they didn't know the exact time. Even if Freeza killed Piccolo and Gohan, the Z-fighters aren't automatically doomed because they still have Goku as their best chance. Again, not like the Cell saga, where Gohan is their only hope and one fuck-up by him is almost guaranteed to be disastrous for the Z-Fighters.

[thatdbzguy]

allowing Cell to get up and recuperate without any trouble

This is just classic DBZ logic. Characters do this kind of shit all the time for no real reason. Just look at how Goku let Cell recuperate after he hit him with his IT Kamehameha.

Goku had just spent an enormous amount of energy on that attack and was even breathing heavily. He needed the pause and he was also checking if Cell was dead, like everyone else. That's nothing like what Gohan did.

Goku still had enough energy to finish off Cell's lower half. Once Cell's legs shot up, Goku could've easily blasted them away, but he didn't because plot.

[rereboy]

Goku still had enough energy to finish off Cell's lower half. Once Cell's legs shot up, Goku could've easily blasted them away, but he didn't because plot.

The anime takes a very long time in just about everything. The manga doesn't suffer from this problem. In the manga, Cell's regeneration appears to be fast. That, plus Goku recuperating from the attack, plus Goku checking to see if Cell was alive and then being shocked to see him move without a head = not nearly as big of a problem as Gohan not following up his attack (if it can be considered a problem at all).

[Michsi]

I agree with that as the reason for why he wasn't able to summon more power from the start. But its more than that, its not just a matter of power, he actually doesn't try as hard as he should to fight. He spends most of his fight with Cell just dodging, he doesn't take advantage of the hit he landed on Cell, allowing Cell to get up and recuperate without any trouble, he just stands there watching the Cell Jrs beating everybody to death...

Yes, it's not just a matter of power, but I wasn't referring to his anger induced power boost alone. The emotional and mental state are key elements in anybody's performance . No matter how good you are at something, if your hearts no in it, if your stressed and sad and scared, you cannot be at your best. And Gohan was never a fan of fighting to begin with. His anger did more than just give him extra power, as in his punches hit harder, it also made him more eager to punch something. And I don't think "he just stands there watching the Cell Jrs beating everybody to death..." is a fair description of the moment either. More like paralyzed with fear?

[Cold Skin]

"Cell Arc" Gohan was actually one of the most charismatic and best written character.
His evolution makes sense, he has now grown-up to an age where he can start having his own opinion on things and expressing them regardless of what his father and other people think. And the truth is, his nature was never about fighting.

Piccolo knows it and he's the one to tell Goku to wake up about it because he knows first hand: he was the first one to ever force Gohan out of his "pacifist" nature. It's a great callback to see that those initial scenes between them still matter years later.

Gohan is also explicitely stated as being smarter than his father by Goku himself, it makes sense that when his father joyfully engages into fighting without further thought, Gohan thinks it's stupid and tries to see if his opponent can be smart enough to understand this sort of event is pointless.

He's grown much in maturity, but with maturity, you lose your ability to let yourself explode, partly cause you think about consequences, which he did not as a kid. He's not totally wrong, because letting go, he does become partly an agressive and sadistic monster, resulting in his father's death for playing too much with Cell's distress and suffering. So he was right to fear the consequences of letting the beast out in the end.

Finally, it makes sense that he would give up against Cell having his power reduce by half (Kame Hame Ha with one arm instead of two, when the opponent already returned as pretty much his equal now, is it even worth trying?). Gohan is still a young warrior at this point and one that relies on thoughts more than instinct: to him, the math is probably clear with his strength being divided by two. He lacks experience, he needs his father to encourage him and tell him that despite what he believes, he technically still has chances to win despite the odds.

[ABED]

His power was reduced by half, but it still is ridiculous that the hero is giving up. Even if he is right that he can't win, why not go down swinging?

And again, he doesn't have to like to fight, that's not the issue. It's never been the issue. The issue is that he's confronted by a monster that wants to kill everyone. He's faced that kind of evil before, and he's defended his friends and family before, but for some reason he doesn't want to defend them now? Gohan never thought fighting was stupid.

now grown-up to an age where he can start having his own opinion on things and expressing them regardless of what his father and other people think.

He flat out yelled at his mother, telling her he wanted to go to Namek to help his friends.

[DBZGTKOSDH]

He flat out yelled at his mother, telling her he wanted to go to Namek to help his friends.

He didn't know that Freeza & Vegeta or any other enemy would be there though. All they knew was that there are about a hundred peaceful Namekians. No fighting was in the plans.

[DBZAOTA482]

He flat out yelled at his mother, telling her he wanted to go to Namek to help his friends.

He felt obligated to make things up to Piccolo, and wasn't exactly expecting any threats to show up on Namek.