Gohan during the Cell Games

[PolatGuy92]

So I was watching today on youtube Gohan vs Cell fight. After that I was reading some comments and notice that one guy said that Gohan was already stronger than Cell before he went SSJ2 before he unleashed his full power.

Think it's better to copy the comment about what the guy said on youtube, so you guys can see for yourself what he said:
The reality is that Gohan was already stronger than Cell before he went SS2 (during the cell games, he just refused to fight because he knew he was on the verge of a new and unexperienced transformation and was afraid of the extent to which he might be pushed by tapping into it. As we can see, the moment Cell made him snap, the transformation took place.

Is this true? I actually never thought about that. I always thought that Gohan surpassed Perfect Cell when he went SSJ2, but before that he was weaker than Perfect Cell, but maybe a stupid question, but how strong is SSJ Gohan anyway? Is he stronger than SSJ Goku or weaker? He may be stronger because he said he didn't had any trouble to see the movements between Cell and Goku so probably stronger right? But stronger than Cell? Don't know about that any thoughts?

[rereboy]

Well, I think that Gohan with just his SSJ was already stronger than Goku, so, if he fought seriously, he should at least do better agaisnt Cell than Goku did.

However, most people forget that the Cell that fought Goku was still a suppressed Cell. Cell only showed his true and full power when Gohan turned SSJ2. That wasn't nearly enough to face SSJ2 Gohan, as Cell quickly discovered, but it would be enough for SSJ Gohan, even if SSJ Gohan was able to beat suppressed Cell, I believe.

[TheMightyOzaru]

No. Cell flat stated he was a good deal stronger. Gohan was also unable to get past Cell when unleashed the Cell juniors.

[Cursed Lemon]

Yes, it's stated that Gohan is stronger than Goku in SSJ form, but as to whether Gohan was stronger than suppressed Cell, well I doubt it.

It was obvious that Gohan wasn't interested in fighting, perhaps it was possible that SSJ Gohan might've somewhat rivaled suppressed Cell had he gotten into the swing of things, but again I'm skeptical.

[90sDBZ]

Suppressed Cell>SS1 Gohan>SS1 Goku

But even though Gohan was already stronger than Goku I have a hard time seeing him do as well against Cell as Goku did at just SS1. I say this because Gohan although stronger lacked the experience and fighting smarts of Goku. I don't think Gohan would ever be smart enough to think of something like the IT Kamehameha. And he lacked Goku's martial arts skills. Sure he'd trained with him for a year but that was mainly powerbuilding training rather than skillbuilding.

[Pantalones]

It's hard to tell just how strong SSj Gohan is here. We know he's stronger than Goku at least, but whether he could possibly be stronger than Cell's full power already really depends on just how far away from full power Cell was when fighting Goku (and when attempting to get Gohan to let out his power and fight, pre-SSj2.) If Cell was using something like 70% or 80% or so of his power against Goku, then Gohan probably could be close to full-power Cell (or even a little bit stronger) without any problems. He might not actually be able to beat Cell without SSj2, of course, since Cell (and Goku) are just so much better at fighting than Gohan is...

If what Cell was showing off against Goku was more like 50%, though, it seems really unlikely... that would mean Gohan would have be twice as strong as Goku to be equal to full-power Cell, and I don't think the gap between them (pre-SSj2 anyway) was nearly that big.

[freezamite]

Gohan was nowhere close to Perfect Cell full power. It was stronger than Goku, but he never approached Perfect Cell in terms of strength. If PC is at 100, then Gohan would be at 85-90 and Goku at 80 more or less.

[Kingsley]

I don't believe there is any reason to think that Gohan in SSJ1 was stronger than Cell. In SSJ1 he was stronger than the Surpressed Cell that Goku fought, we see that easily displayed when Gohan outspeeds and overpowers Cell fairly easily when he actually tried at the start and even when he stops trying Cell attacks weren't doing real damage, but then we see Cell raise his speed and his power and he easily starts picking Gohan apart. He needed SSJ2 to beat Cell.

[Saiga]

I believe that Gohan was already superior to the Cell that fought Goku, judging from the pre-fight dialogue:

Goku: “In the Room of Spirit and Time, the dormant power sealed away deep, deep inside him began to be released. Why don’t we try asking him? How about it, Gohan? Did you think that dad and Cell’s fight just now was too incredible and you couldn’t keep up?”
Gohan: “N-no, I didn’t think so…But neither of you were fighting all-out, right…!?”
Goku: “I don’t know about Cell, but I was going all-out. So in other words, to you it felt like I was holding back?”

And Goku did seem to believe that Gohan would win because of how strong he was, not because of his rage boost. When Gohan explains about his rage boosts to Cell, and why they must be the reason Goku thinks he can win, it always strongly gave me the impression that Gohan was just trying to rationalize Goku's confidence because he couldn't accept that he was stronger than Goku. It was made clear that he had a very hard time accepting that, and he didn't actually seem to do so.

Cell also makes a comment about how he'll need to go all out in speed, and from that point on all he's seen doing is outspeed Gohan and catch him in a bear hug (with his speed). So it is indeed possible that Gohan was stronger the entire time, and I would say that's definitely the case.

[Super Saiyan Turlast x4]

While I think it's possible Gohan is somewhat stronger than the Cell Goku fought, it's still implied he was relying on Gohan's hidden powers to defeat Cell. After Gohan knocked Cell down, the next page has Goku smiling and thinking to himself that Gohan's going to show Cell real fear if he continues to piss him off. There's also Goku later admitting to Piccolo that Gohan's hidden powers are their only chance at victory.

[Kingsley]

While I think it's possible Gohan is somewhat stronger than the Cell Goku fought, it's still implied he was relying on Gohan's hidden powers to defeat Cell. After Gohan knocked Cell down, the next page has Goku smiling and thinking to himself that Gohan's going to show Cell real fear if he continues to piss him off. There's also Goku later admitting to Piccolo that Gohan's hidden powers are their only chance at victory.

It's not possible, it's fact. Gohan just before he goes into fight Cell, actually thought that both his dad and Cell were just playing around. They were at level that Gohan considered child's play. Gohan outspeeds and overpowers Cell in the start of their fight, and when he stops trying to fight Cell, Cell's attacks don't damage Gohan one bit until Cell raises his speed and power. Goku and the Cell that fought Goku are so weak compared to Gohan, they can't even do real damage to him unless they were to do an amped KHH or something like that.