ABED wrote:Goku was the one that told him to fight when Gohan gave up, he told him not to hold back, then he told him when the best opening was. Gohan isn't at all doing what he decides, he's just listening to his father.
There's no development in Gohan.
I know I've said this before but your being totally unfair to Gohan and I can't understand why. Yes Gohan gives up in the moment, Yes his father has to talk to him and tries convince him to fight, but it's
Gohan's decision to continue to fight. Goku doesn't posses his son and fight the battle for him. Gohan could have let his despair continue to have a hold on him but he doesn't, he listens to his father. To suggest that Gohan has nothing to do with defeating Cell makes no sense to me. This is why I said we have two very different interpretations of the moment cause I don't see your issue here.
ABED wrote:Passivity isn't becoming of the main character and if you are going to show growth, growth is the key to victory, it's not "hero wins, then he grows."
No, but this is a story where an 11 year old is the strongest in the universe.
That's Amazing though! You're explaining an amazing quality of Gohan. That one of his character traits (passivity) is in direct contradiction with his responsibility (the strongest in the universe). There is so much you can do with that conflict, it creates drama, complexity, potential for great story-telling, not just here in Cell but it could have been explored in great depths later on in the series as well.
ABED wrote:So risk losing the fight and letting the Earth die anyway?
It's a catch-22, of course Gohan is not going to know what to do, we're really holding this against him?
ABED wrote:Once again, my biggest problem is that he chooses certain death to not even trying. If Gohan's supposed to be the main character from here on, giving up is a terrible quality to give him
It's not terrible at all, I don't know how to make this clearer, I like this aspect, because as I said before Gohan is not a finished product at Cell. As the story continued there was unlimited potential for Gohan to rise above this and explore new qualities about himself because of the events that happened with Cell because it wasn't a perfect victory. Which is fantastic, and unlike a lot of other characters in the series that have to just redo what they've already done because they reached the top.
In Cell, Gohan needs an external stimulus to defeat him, if he was to remain the hero in buu you could have explored him finding that stimulus internally, and thus he continues to grow. AT is leaving Gohan things to still accomplish in his life, his story isn't over.
ABED wrote:Gohan's problem has only ever been self doubt against the Saiyans. He's faced overwhelming odds before. I fail to see how this is different.
Because the failure is his. He blames himself for his father's pointless death. He failed his friends and his families unlike anytime he has before because they were relying on him unlike anytime they have before. So when Cell returns I fail to see how his Self-Doubt in that moment is unjustified.