Was Gohan more powerful than Goku at the Cell Games?

[SSJGoku93]

I have always pondered this, as there was no definitive answer.

We see Full-Powered Super Saiyan Goku engage Perfect Cell in a titanic battle, each of them seemingly matching blow for blow. Now, when Goku surrenders and asks Gohan to fight, he asks his son something along the lines of "were our abilities very different from your own?" Gohan responds by telling him something like "No, but that is because you and Cell were not serious.", and Goku responds with something like "I don't know about Cell, but I was serious". Of course everyone is shocked to hear that Gohan thought Goku and Cell has been holding back, but it is never specifically stated that Gohan has more power then Goku, even after he powers up and begins to fight.

When we see Gohan first take on Cell, all he appears to do is dodge for most the fight, and eventually begins to get thrashed around. If I remember correctly, he gets one hit on Cell, and it does nothing but draw a bit of blood.

So, my question to you guys is, do you feel Gohan was more powerful than Goku, or not? Personally, I think of it as Gohan might of had a higher power level, but lacked the drive to fight seriously, and of course is not nearly as skilled as Goku is in combat. What do you guys think, any theories?

[Kroni_Hunter]

Vegeta sure seemed surprised at Gohan's power, but that may have just been because of his age. Goku did a much better job against Cell than Gohan did before SSJ2, probably because Goku's a much more experienced fighter and had more confidence. Since they both had the same form, they had to have been relatively close to each other. I think Goku would have been the best fighter overall out of the two though simply because of what I said above.

[dbgtFO]

Gohan only seemed worse than Goku, because Gohan didn't fight Cell at full force like Goku did.
If Gohan had wanted to fight, he'd fare much better IMO.

And yes Gohan is stronger:

Chapter: 405 (DBZ 211), P12.1
Piccolo: “Don’t forget…! Even if his power is #1, he’s still a kid…!”

[Nazi Cola]

Goku puts his hopes in Gohan, Cell confirms that what Goku said wasn't a bluff, and even Piccolo pretty much says Gohan is stronger.

[Fox666]

Well, I am not sure if Gohan is or not stronger than Goku. I tend to think that not

I have always pondered this, as there was no definitive answer. We see Full-Powered Super Saiyan Goku engage Perfect Cell in a titanic battle, each of them seemingly matching blow for blow. Now, when Goku surrenders and asks Gohan to fight, he asks his son something along the lines of "were our abilities very different from your own?" Gohan responds by telling him something like "No, but that is because you and Cell were not serious.", and Goku responds with something like "I don't know about Cell, but I was serious". Of course everyone is shocked to hear that Gohan thought Goku and Cell has been holding back, but it is never specifically stated that Gohan has more power then Goku, even after he powers up and begins to fight.

That's not the first mention to that. After training with Goku, Gohan made comments like "why is everybody surprised? Dad improved that much?" and that sort of thing all time. But I won't take it as if Gohan was superior to Goku. But rather that they are very close in power, and everybody else is miles away from them.

For Piccolo or Cell commentaries,

Gohan: “I-I’m gradually starting to understand…What father means when he says I’m the only one who can defeat Cell…It seems that since long ago, whenever my anger flares up, I subconsciously begin fighting madly with outrageous power…So…father must be calculating on that…”

Goku: “That’s it…That’s fine, Cell! Get Gohan angry…! If you do, you’ll experience true fear for the first time…”

you must remember that were expecting for Gohan to unleash his hidden power (and he did afterall). This was Goku plan to begin with, he wasn't expecting that Gohan could defeat Cell by the power he had at the moment.

So I won't that it for sure that Gohan had a higher power than Goku.

Vegeta: “I’m looking forward to this…Show me the fruits of your training in the afterlife. *Goku transforms into Super Saiyan 2* Just as I’d expect. Your power is greater than Gohan’s was back then!”

This brings the question, does Goku improved his power as a Super Saiyan that much, or was it that Gohan wasn't stronger than him to begin with?

[Nazi Cola]

But he did say Gohan could beat Cell, hence implying Gohan was stronger than himself, and Cell basically said "Yeah, Gohan is stronger than you but he still won't beat me."

And Piccolo said "Even if he is #1 [...]!"

[Super Saiyan Turlast x4]

Gohan was stronger. I don't think the difference was astronomical or anything, but he definitely surpassed Goku by this point.

[Fox666]

But he did say Gohan could beat Cell, hence implying Gohan was stronger than himself, and Cell basically said "Yeah, Gohan is stronger than you but he still won't beat me."

And Piccolo said "Even if he is #1 [...]!"

Well, Gohan couldn't beat Cell... so that's why I think that they were talking about Gohan's hidden power (which turned in the SSJ2) instead of his normal state. And how could Gohan be #1, if he is fighting Cell right there?

[Super Saiyan Turlast x4]

I always thought the #1 was in regards to Gohan being the strongest among the Z-warriors.

[TheDevilsCorpse]

I always thought the #1 was in regards to Gohan being the strongest among the Z-warriors.

Ditto...I also don't see how this topic keeps coming up.

There are multiple panels after Goku and Gohan come out of the RoSaT where Gohan's lil thought bubble contain one of these, or some variation since I paraphrased due to laziness: "That can't be dad's full power...", "He can't be fighting at full power...", "You weren't fighting at full power...", "Sure dad's power is great, but...", "You two weren't fighting for real.", etc. All these statements imply that Gohan is stronger than his dad, and that he only thinks Goku should be stronger because that is what he is used to. His mind automatically makes his father the super strong, unreachable hero that he always looked up to. Add this in with everyone's statements about Gohan's ability to possibly defeat Cell, being stronger than Goku, or him being #1 and I think it becomes pretty obvious that Gohan had the edge over Goku.

[Rory]

I thought it was pretty obvious.
Gohan was constantly unimpressed by his fathers abilities, this fact gets referenced several times. He's not a little shit about it, but was actually shocked when he found out Gokuu was giving it his all. I thought it was the point of the Cell Game arc, to show that Gohan's natural talent is so huge, that he's already surpassed his father.

[CatouttaHell]

Son Gohan is strong enough to stomp Son Goku imho.

[TheGreatness25]

I'm confused. Are we talking about Super Saiyan Gohan as compared to Super Saiyan Goku? In that case... yeah I don't think he was more powerful than Goku. But I thought it was pretty obvious that Super Saiyan 2 Gohan was. I was under the impression that Goku knew that Gohan could reach Super Saiyan 2, even if he did not know exactly what the Super Saiyan 2 transformation was. All Goku knew was that Gohan could tap into much more power, which ended up being Super Saiyan 2, so that's exactly what Goku was referring to.

[dbgtFO]

I'm confused. Are we talking about Super Saiyan Gohan as compared to Super Saiyan Goku?

I thought it was pretty obvious, that it was that, we're talking about...
Just being curious here, but did you read the first post?

[jackjack]

But he did say Gohan could beat Cell, hence implying Gohan was stronger than himself, and Cell basically said "Yeah, Gohan is stronger than you but he still won't beat me."

Well, Gohan couldn't beat Cell... so that's why I think that they were talking about Gohan's hidden power (which turned in the SSJ2) instead of his normal state.

You seem to have missed NC's point. You're addressing Goku's quote, but the key lies within Cell's.

[Fox666]

I thought it was pretty obvious.
Gohan was constantly unimpressed by his fathers abilities, this fact gets referenced several times. He's not a little shit about it, but was actually shocked when he found out Gokuu was giving it his all. I thought it was the point of the Cell Game arc, to show that Gohan's natural talent is so huge, that he's already surpassed his father.

Yeah, I guess that can convince me

[Ranmarotto]

He might have been, but I think that it was more emotion being put into the fight. At first, Cell didn't even take Gohan seriously, and had no trouble in thrashing him about. After #16 told Gohan to try his hardest, he truly "awakened", and although he may have seemed more powerful than him at the time, Gohan was indeed still not as strong as Kakkarot (It's a half-breed thing - they're very touchy on emotions).

I mean, look later on in the series. When did Gohan ever turn Super Saiyajin 3? I know that you are talking about the Cell Games here, but can we honestly assume that Gohan's power wavers that much? Although he might have just been thrown aside in the end of the series, maybe Toriyama was just bored with his character.

[Chibi Gohan]

I think you answered your own question. Gohan was stronger that Goku at that point, but didn't have the same drive to fight at his best. I believe he was also afraid of releasing his full power.

[Michsi]

Gohan was stronger than his father even before reaching SSJ2. As TheDevilsCorpse pointed out, Gohan's dialog leaves little room for doubt.
His performance against Cell was worse than his dad's because of the emotional turmoil inside, as Piccolo states.

[Dabooyaka]

Yes, of course he was. Goku said it, Cell said it, King kai said it. All the z fighters were n awe when Gohan powered up...