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| 13 | [[WMG:[[center:[-''Franchise/DragonBall'' '''[[Characters/{{DragonBall}} Main Character Index]]'''\ |
| 14 | '''Major Characters'''\ |
| 15 | [[Characters/DragonBallSonGoku Son Goku]] ([[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesAToH A-H]], [[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesIToZ I-Z]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallBulma Bulma]] | [[Characters/DragonBallKrillin Krillin/Kuririn]] | [[Characters/DragonBallPiccolo Piccolo]] | '''Son Gohan''' | [[Characters/DragonBallVegeta Vegeta]] ([[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesAToL A-L]], [[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesMToZ M-Z]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallFutureTrunks Future Trunks]] | [[Characters/DragonBallAllies Allies]] ([[Characters/DragonBallDragonTeam Dragon Team/Z Fighters]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallFamilies Families]] ([[Characters/DragonBallAndroids17And18 Androids 17 and 18]] | [[Characters/DragonBallTrunksAndSonGoten Trunks and Son Goten]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallFriends Friends]] | [[Characters/DragonBallFusionCast Fusions]]-]]]]] |
| 16 | |
| 17 | !!Son Gohan (孫 悟飯, a.k.a. Sun Wufan) |
| 18 | [[quoteright:280:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gohan_daizenshu.jpg]] |
| 19 | [[caption-width-right:280:[[labelnote:Click here to see Adult Gohan]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mystic_gohan.png[[/labelnote]]]] |
| 20 | [[caption-width-right:280:[[labelnote:Click here to see the Great Saiyaman]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/card_2000690_character.png[[/labelnote]]]] |
| 21 | ->'''Voiced by (Japanese):''' Creator/MasakoNozawa\ |
| 22 | '''Kid Gohan voiced by (English):''' Creator/StephanieNadolny (''Z'' and ''GT'', ''Battle of Gods''), Creator/ColleenClinkenbeard (''Kai'') (Creator/FUNimation dub); Creator/SaffronHenderson (''Z'' ep. 1-53, 108-150) Creator/JillianMichaels (''Z'' ep. 151-179) (Ocean dub); Jodi Forrest (AB Groupe/"Big Green" dub); Ethel Lizano (''Z''), E.J. Galang (''Cooler's Revenge'', ''The Return of Cooler'') (Creative Products Corp., Philippines)\ |
| 23 | '''Adult Gohan voiced by (English):''' Creator/KyleHebert[[note]]Creator/DameonClarke doubles a line in the original version of ''Z'' ep. 289[[/note]] (Creator/FUNimation dub); Creator/BradSwaile (Ocean dub); Scott Roberts (Blue Water dub); Creator/LexLang (''GT - Final Bout''), Creator/ChrisHackney (Bang Zoom!/Toonami Asia dub in ''Super'')\ |
| 24 | '''Kid Gohan voiced by (Latin American Spanish):''' Creator/LauraTorres '''(current voice)''', Creator/AraceliDeLeon (''Movie 8''), Karina Altamirano (''Kai'')\ |
| 25 | '''Adult Gohan voiced by (Latin American Spanish):''' Creator/LuisAlfonsoMendoza (up until ''Super''), Luis Manuel Ávila (''Super Hero'' onwards)\ |
| 26 | '''Kid Gohan voiced by (Brazilian Portuguese):''' Fátima Noya\ |
| 27 | '''Adult Gohan voiced by (Brazilian Portuguese):''' Vagner Fagundes\ |
| 28 | '''Kid Gohan voiced by (French):''' Brigitte Lecordier\ |
| 29 | '''Adult Gohan voiced by (French):''' Mark Lesser\ |
| 30 | '''Kid Gohan voiced by (Italian):''' Creator/PatriziaScianca\ |
| 31 | '''Adult Gohan voiced by (Italian):''' Creator/DavideGarbolino |
| 32 | |
| 33 | Son of Goku and Chi-Chi introduced in the ''Z'' series, and a half-Saiyan (the only one seen starting off life having a tail like Goku did). At first he was just a little crybaby with hidden strength, but under the tutelage of Piccolo and his experiences in battle, he turns into quite an accomplished warrior. However, despite his potential and in noted contrast to most to the cast, he would rather be a scholar than a fighter. |
| 34 | ---- |
| 35 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 36 | |
| 37 | [[folder: A-D]] |
| 38 | |
| 39 | * EleventhHourSuperpower: Him reaching Super Saiyan 2 during the Cell Games. The Kai's ritual was this for the Buu arc, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero but he screwed it up]]. |
| 40 | * AcademicAthlete: Even if he prefers to focus on his studies, he's still a strong fighter who excels at martial arts. |
| 41 | * AccidentalPervert: He saves a girl named Lime from drowning by holding her chest from behind when he flies her to safety. |
| 42 | * TheAce: Gohan excels at just about everything except social skills. He's incredibly smart, having scholar level intelligence, while being one of the Earth's strongest heroes. Even at kindergarten-age, Gohan doesn't hesitate to stand up to opponents much stronger than him if it means protecting his loved ones, and is able to land blows on Vegeta and Freeza. One of his best moments came when he destroys Cell, an android with the abilities of the strongest fighters in the universe, at the age of eleven (nine in the manga). His father was nowhere near as strong as Gohan at that age. He also has the potential to become ''the'' strongest fighter in the universe if he applied himself, but he prefers to live a peaceful life and save people as a superhero. |
| 43 | * AchievementsInIgnorance: By the time of the Cell games, he embodies this. When they come out and show their Mastered Super Saiyan forms, everyone at Kami's Lookout, including Vegeta, is astounded by and freaking out at what is revealed to be about 50% of Goku's power, putting him far ahead of everyone alive except for Cell, and even that isn't clear before they fight (though Korin guessed correctly)... but not Gohan, who believes Goku to be stronger than him regardless and is impressed by Goku's strength (admittedly, Goku was far more powerful than anyone Gohan knew at the time except Cell) until Goku actually has to fight, at which point Gohan has no problem following Cell or Goku's movements. This is because, as Goku points out, he was subconsciously comparing their energies to his. In actuality, Gohan is much more powerful than Goku even before he transforms into a Super Saiyan 2. He may very well have already been strong enough to kill Perfect Cell if he really wanted to, but refuses to fight seriously until Cell crushes 16's head. |
| 44 | * ActionDad: Once he becomes a father. He's almost always one of the first on the front lines, whether he's kept up with his training or not. |
| 45 | * ActingUnnatural: Gohan's attempts to appear normal at school are quickly undermined by the fact that he [[IThoughtEveryoneCouldDoThat doesn't really know what counts as normal for most people]], and is very conspicuous about what he hides. In the manga, Videl manages to figure out a fair chunk of his secrets ''overnight'' due to slip ups such as suspiciously withholding his family name when introducing himself. |
| 46 | * AdaptationalBadass: |
| 47 | ** In the manga, Ultimate Gohan never had a chance against Gotenks-Buu and was easily crushed. In the anime, he actually puts up a decent fight, even managing to draw blood from the monster, though the fight still descends into a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown after a few minutes. |
| 48 | ** Happens the other way around in ''Dragon Ball Super''. Whereas Gohan sees plenty of action in the anime, his most impressive fights are against Universe 6's Pirina and Saonel, and sacrificing himself to have Frieza take down himself and Dyspo in the Tournament of Power. Meanwhile in the manga, Gohan isn't seen fighting as much he falls out of the Tournament in the process of knocking Kefla out, a Potara fusion between Kale (a Universe 6 counterpart to Broly who was stronger than Golden Frieza) and Caulifla (a prodigy who's implied to be one of the strongest Saiyans in Universe 6.) |
| 49 | * AdaptationPersonalityChange: |
| 50 | ** How eager Gohan is to train and fight differs between the anime and the manga. In the anime, Gohan is often shown excited and eager to train to the point of sneaking off when he's supposed to be studying. There are also hints that Gohan being a scholar is all Chi-Chi's idea, although he never really showed that he disliked the idea. In the manga, Gohan only wants to train and fight to protect others and hang out with his dad and Piccolo, and it isn't something he particularly likes doing. It isn't until the Cell Games where Piccolo spells out that Gohan doesn't like to fight and Gohan doesn't have the stomach to kill someone even as evil as Cell; this is where the anime and the manga line up that Gohan doesn't really want to fight and only does so because he has to. |
| 51 | ** ''Super'' expands on Gohan's mentality towards fighting quite a bit. Gohan does enjoy martial arts per his Saiyan instincts, but only as a recreational activity to test his abilities while impressing his dad and Piccolo. The parts he can't stand are hurting people without a legitimate reason, and the constant universe threatening life-or-death struggles that [[WeirdnessMagnet Goku and Vegeta seem to draw toward them like flies]]. |
| 52 | * AdaptationalWimp: The anime version of ''Super'' (plus the ''Resurrection F'' movie adapted from Toriyama's vague script) plays up Gohan's weakness compared to the manga (also adapted from Toriyama's scripts, though with closer supervision). Part of this is due to the generally inflated power-scale of the anime [[note]]In the manga Goku never absorbed god power into his base form, so he and all related characters only stayed at around Buu arc levels outside of his new forms.[[/note]], but there's also other incidences like Future Trunks stating that Gohan no longer has the power his Cell Games self possessed. Manga Gohan doesn't seem to have decayed as much, as he still has his Ultimate form whenever we see him in combat and is treated as Universe 7's #3 strongest fighter, even though he didn't do extra training like in the anime. |
| 53 | * AdorablyPrecociousChild: As a kid. He fought on the battlefield along with the other protagonists against the Saiyans, Freeza, and Cell. He also traveled to another planet when he was five. |
| 54 | * AesopAmnesia: |
| 55 | ** During the Buu Saga, he's lectured about how because he stopped training after the Cell Saga, he's gotten weaker and his skills have decayed, hurting his ability to protect his friends and family. Despite this, he still fails to keep up with his training, and by the time of ''Resurrection 'F''' and the ''Super'' adaptation of the same story, he can barely maintain Super Saiyan and is completely helpless against Frieza, who's more powerful than ever; he finally learns his lesson in ''Super'' after Frieza is dealt with, asking Piccolo to retrain him. Even after this, he still has trouble keeping his training up to date seriously, as in ''Super Heroes'', Piccolo has to remind Gohan repeatedly to keep up with not only his training, but his fatherly duties too, as Gohan has allowed the idea of Goku and Vegeta to take care of business again. |
| 56 | ** In the Cell Saga, Gohan prolongs the beat down on a Cell who can no longer compare to his power and therefore isn't a threat as much as he is a punching bag, Goku and the other Z-fighters tell Gohan to stop delaying things and finish him off since there was no point in prolonging it. Gohan refuses out of a personal need to humiliate Cell, and this results in Goku having to sacrifice himself to save the Earth (and then subsequently Trunks' death at the hands of a reinvigorated Cell). Once Gohan finally appears after his near death experience with Buu, he humiliates Buu with his fists alone, making it more than clear that he could kill the demon once and for all. Unfortunately, Gohan once again wants to draw things out, and gives Buu an opportunity to self destruct and come up with a plan that leads Gotenks and Piccolo getting absorbed and Gohan's downfall. |
| 57 | * AllGenesAreCodominant: At least for Gohan, the offspring of a human and a Saiyan was a hybrid who had human psychology (the lack of a drive for battle and general empathy for others primarily) but Saiyan physiology, including the prehensile monkey tail, spiky hair, and superhuman ki control. As the series introduced more hybrids, they became almost totally indistinguishable from humans due to the series creator forgetting tails existed for Saiyan characters. |
| 58 | * AllLovingHero: LikeFatherLikeSon. He's actually even more all-loving than [[BloodKnight his father]]; he hates hurting people and will only fight when he has no choice. He also goes out of his way to look for people to save, hence why he became the Great Saiyaman, while Goku only help those who happens to be around him at that moment. |
| 59 | * AllUpToYou: |
| 60 | ** Whenever something happens to Goku that keeps him from dealing with the current threat, Gohan tries to fill his shoes. He distracts Vegeta while Goku hands Krillin the Spirit Bomb and was the one who ended up defeating Vegeta after turning into a Great Ape. He went to Namek with Krillin and Bulma since his father was gravely injured, and was the one who killed Cell. |
| 61 | ** After Gohan got powered up by Old Kai, he was seen as the last hope in stopping Buu. It gets {{Subverted}} since Buu absorbs Gotenks and Piccolo to undermine Gohan's newfound power and is eventually absorbed himself. |
| 62 | ** In the Garlic Jr Saga {{Filler}}, Gohan takes over as the primary defender of Earth and is the one who defeats Garlic Jr. and all his minions since his father is still in space. Piccolo lampshades this by saying that they did need Goku, and he was right there with them within Gohan. |
| 63 | ** This, like everything else, gets {{Deconstructed}} in ''History of Trunks''. Gohan tries to fill the role left by his father after he dies, but falls severely short because of his inexperience and lack of self-confidence in being the hero. |
| 64 | * AlternateIdentityAmnesia: Like his dad, he has no memory of turning into a Great Ape. Thankful, unlike his dad, he didn't kill anyone. |
| 65 | * AmazonChaser: He was impressed by [[ActionGirl Videl's]] fighting prowess as well as her looks. |
| 66 | * AngerBornOfWorry: When Goten nearly gets himself killed while on a dinosaur's tail and Gohan has to save him, he snaps big time. |
| 67 | * ArchEnemy: While their relationship is not to the same extent as Goku and Frieza's rivalry, Cell is the closest example of an archenemy to Gohan. In order to draw out his full power, Cell had all his friends tortured by his offspring, and eventually their fight results in [[YouKilledMyFather Goku's death]]. [[spoiler:[[Anime/DragonBallSuperSuperHero Years later]], an improved version of the bio-android, Cell Max, is awakened and brutally beats up his mentor Piccolo, causing Gohan's rage to overwhelm him again, which gives him the power to defeat Cell's successor.]] |
| 68 | * ArrogantKungFuGuy: He is never this and always does his best to fight... until during his fight with Cell, when he gets the upper-hand after being angered to power up, to the exasperation of everyone there. They trying to reason with him to just kill Cell already, but Gohan keeps toying with Cell, giving him enough time to pull underhanded tricks to shift the battle to his favor, which makes Gohan get a MyGodWhatHaveIDone. Piccolo calls him out on this while training him for the Tournament of Power, [[ToughLove blaming him for letting the Buu situation get out of hand because he let his newfound unstoppable power go to his head]]. |
| 69 | * TheArtifact: Usually, when he uses the Father-Son Kamehameha in games, he does it one-handed like he did against Cell. That said, the only reason he did it that way against Cell is because his other arm was broken. |
| 70 | * ArtisticAge: Look to the right at the above pic and then realize he's supposed to be ''nine'' years old (physically ten) there as a Super Saiyan. He's even regularly called "Teen Gohan" in the video games. Justified in that Saiyan physiology allows for growth spurts that are unique to each Saiyan and that recuperating from near-death experiences causes the Saiyan body to adapt to better survive. Saiyans as a whole tend to stay small until their late teens. |
| 71 | * TheAtoner: The main reason Gohan insisted on going to Namek; he feels he let the others down during the fight against the Saiyans, as his failure to follow through on a combo MeteorMove against Nappa indirectly resulted in Tien's death and Piccolo shielded him against Nappa's blast. |
| 72 | * AtrociousAlias: Most everyone considers "The Great Saiyaman" to be this in-universe, which Gohan doesn't get. Then again, he did make it up on the spot. |
| 73 | * AudienceSurrogate: Gohan is the sensitive, down to Earth every-boy that the audience can easily relate to amongst all the warriors. |
| 74 | * AuthorityInNameOnly: As TheLeader of Team Universe 7. Goku, Vegeta, Frieza, 17, and 18 all break formation immediately into the tournament, leaving him in charge of all the WeakButSkilled characters, who end up picked off one-by-one as the tournament progresses, and even the members of that formation end up splitting off on their own for the most part. This despite the fact that ''Goku was the one who chose Gohan to be the team leader''. All in all, barely anybody besides Piccolo pays attention to his authority, with the ironic eventual exception of ''[[VillainRespect Frieza]]'', and even that took him testing him by pummeling him outright. Gohan himself also figures the least into ''Super'''s endgame once it's down to 7 and 11, while everyone else on both teams had massive character moments and fights drawn out over multiple episodes, not to mention [[spoiler:being the only fighter of Team Universe 7's final five to not fight [[TheJuggernaut Jiren]]]]. |
| 75 | * AwesomenessIsVolatile: In ''Fusion Reborn'', he punches Frieza so hard, the guy explodes immediately afterward. |
| 76 | * AxCrazy: Right after becoming a Super Saiyan 2, he loses every bit of his innocence and morality and ruthlessly kills the Cell Jr's and brutally pounds Cell into oblivion. Gohan does this so bad that it causes Cell to have a VillainousBreakdown. Gohan also adopts an arrogant, sadistic persona in this form. |
| 77 | * BabiesEverAfter: Videl gives birth to their daughter Pan not long after they marry. |
| 78 | * TheBabyOfTheBunch: He was the youngest character in the cast before present Trunks was born. Doesn't stop him from kicking more ass than some of the adults. |
| 79 | * BadassAdorable: Even when his little brother Goten took TheCutie status away from him, he became the ideal ''boyfriend'' amongst otaku fangirls. |
| 80 | * BadassBoast: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX3M9too6Ow "Fight you? No, I want to kill you."]] |
| 81 | * BadassBookworm: In his adult years. He became a scholar and is still one of the strongest in the universe. He was also this as a teenager, being a straight A student and able to go toe-to-toe with the likes of Majin Buu after his power-up. |
| 82 | * BadassCape: Gets one like Piccolo's for the Cell Games. He also had a superhero style one as the Great Saiyaman. |
| 83 | * BadassDecay: Discussed in-universe. Both Vegeta and Goku note that Gohan's strength has considerably decreased due to him neglecting training his body and suffering because of it. Vegeta is much more critical about it than Goku however. It comes up again in ''Super'', where Piccolo and Gohan both discuss how much he's suffered as a result of his negligence, Gohan eventually asks Piccolo to give him TrainingFromHell to whip him into shape, which the latter happily does. |
| 84 | * BadassInDistress: Despite becoming the most powerful unfused hero by the end of the Buu Arc, he is absorbed by Buu and needs to be rescued by Goku and Vegeta. |
| 85 | * BadassesWearBandanas: As the Great Saiyaman, whenever he can't wear the helmet, he wears a white bandana over his hair. |
| 86 | * BagOfSpilling: He loses access to his Ultimate form early in ''Super'' because he stopped training. Later, he wants to train again so he can protect his family from people like Frieza. |
| 87 | * BattleCouple: When teaming with Videl as Saiyaman and Saiyawoman, respectively. |
| 88 | * TheBerserker: Became this in his ''Super Saiyan 2'' state, most notably in Cell's fight. Although very downplayed considering that he only took this viewpoint towards Cell and Cell alone, saving the lives of everyone around him and helping Future Trunks and the rest of the group back on their feet. |
| 89 | * BerserkerTears: Is seen [[TranquilFury calmly]] weeping upon first accessing Super Saiyan 2 against Cell. |
| 90 | * BewareTheNiceOnes: His opponents learn the hard way what happens when Gohan is pushed to his RageBreakingPoint, especially as a Super Saiyan 2 Gohan, and later his Ultimate form which is even more powerful. |
| 91 | * BewareTheSillyOnes: Gohan when he's dressed as the Great Saiyaman. Yes, he looks like a dork spouting superheroes' cliches and striking poses that would make Captain Ginyu proud. However, this is still the same person who blew Cell into dust, even if he is a little weaker from slacking off. |
| 92 | * BigBrotherInstinct: Gohan gets angry with Goten when he almost gets himself hurt when playing with a dinosaur. He was just worried about his baby brother. |
| 93 | * BigBrotherMentor: Krillin was this to him growing up, he even called him bro. He is slightly less so to Goten and Present Trunks. |
| 94 | * BigDamnHeroes: |
| 95 | ** Pulls this from time to time. He came just in time to save Goten, Trunks, and Piccolo from Super Buu after Gotenks' fusion broke. On this particular occasion, it's subverted when Super Buu later reveals that he intentionally left them alive because [[CantKillYouStillNeedYou he wanted to absorb Gotenks later in order to overpower Gohan]], [[XanatosSpeedChess who he sensed coming ahead of time right before entering the Time Chamber]]. So Gohan wasn't actually saving anybody since Buu would have probably waited for him to arrive either way. |
| 96 | ** Played straight during the Namek saga, where he saves Vegeta and Dende from impending death at separate occasions. He also arrives in a nick of time to help an exhausted Piccolo defeat [=OG73-I=], Moro's power-copying enforcer, in the ''Super'' manga-exlcusive Galactic Patrol Prisoner arc. |
| 97 | * BigEater: Inherits his father's appetite, although he doesn't eat nearly as much until he becomes a Super Saiyan. Even then, he isn't as food motivated. |
| 98 | * BigShutUp: In the manga and the Kai Dub, he yells at Chi-Chi to shut up. |
| 99 | * BilingualBonus: Since his name is effectively rendered akin to a Chinese name like the main male members of his family, it's possible to read both his and Grandpa Gohan's name in Chinese pinyin as "Sun Wufan". The Chinese dubs make clear note of this. |
| 100 | * BlindWithoutEm: ''Super Hero'' reveals that Gohan's glasses aren't merely a nerdy affectation; he actually does have bad eyesight without glasses, though his transformations improve his vision. This might explain why he missed the Potara earring thrown to him by Goku way back in the Majin Buu arc. |
| 101 | * BloodKnight: |
| 102 | ** Severely downplayed and ultimately subverted normally. Gohan doesn't like fighting like his father and doesn't care for hurting people, which hinders his ability to bring out his full power. At the same time, he does enjoy the sport of fighting and sparring with his loved ones. He even demands his father power up to his fullest when sparring with him in ''Super'''s episode 90, but given the circumstances, this is less out of a desire to make a fight enjoyable, and more to see how he'd compare to the upcoming Tournament of Power. Unlike his dad, Gohan had never been in a fight that wasn't a lawless life-or-death battle until he became an adult, which made his views on fighting of any kind skewed from the rest of the cast, as Krillin points out. Later into ''Super'', specifically, when Goku brings him to the Zen Exhibition Match, Gohan starts to show more of his Saiyan blood and becomes excited about being able to fight strong opponents once he shifts his mentality to view most of his fights as non-lethal tests of skill. Ironically, this change in his mindset helps him gain the killer instinct to finish the opponents he lacked as a young man, but he restrains himself from being as irresponsible about starting random chaos just for a good fight. That said, Gohan lacks actual ''enjoyment'' of fighting, he views it as something that needs to be done to defend others. |
| 103 | ** PlayedStraight when it comes to his FatalFlaw of letting his anger and power get to his head, as it causes him to purposely draw out fights for opponents he could have undoubtedly killed nearly instantly. This, of course, is deconstructed, as it's because Gohan playing into the trope in such a dire situation, it always leads to consequences for the rest of the cast. |
| 104 | * BookSmart: Unlike his uneducated father, Son Gohan does very well academically. |
| 105 | * BornWinner: He has by far the most fighting potential of the entire cast and could become the strongest character in the series if he wanted to. He is also pure-hearted like his father and has an even nobler heart than Goku since he goes out of his way to look for people to save. Ironically, having been raised as a somewhat normal kid who goes to school instead of RaisedByWolves like his father or fed Saiyan doctrine like Vegeta, he instead becomes the weakest of the three adult Saiyans, but with a much better home and family life. |
| 106 | * BoringButPractical: "Mystic"/ "Ultimate" Gohan doesn't look flashy at all - the only real change is a single bang, and more intensity in the expression - but goes even beyond Super Saiyan 3 in power (and reaches close to Super Saiyan Blue in the ''Super'' anime, and becomes dead-even with [[ClimaxBoss Kefla]] in the manga) and doesn't require Gohan to spend energy or put any strain on his body to use it. Old Kai calls this form better than a Super Saiyan transformation. |
| 107 | * BoyNextDoor: To Videl. |
| 108 | * BrainySpecs: Post-TimeSkip after Buu is defeated, as an adult, when he's finally become a scholar. |
| 109 | * BreakingTheFourthWall: Near the beginning of the Buu Saga, after Krillin's non-bald redesign was shown, he makes an AsideGlance to [[https://youtu.be/hbWVvU6Itx8?t=8s inform the viewers that it's Krillin]]. |
| 110 | * BreakTheHaughty: Gets hit with this heavily after his transformation into a Super Saiyan 2. His false belief that Cell had no way to hurt him anymore led him to drag the fight out, which eventually resulted in the deaths of both his father and later Trunks. And then after Cell returns, he's immediately assuming he'll have the upper hand and won't have any trouble avenging Goku's death. Cue Vegeta's ill-fated RoaringRampageOfRevenge and Gohan ultimately letting one of his arms get broken in order to save Vegeta's life. |
| 111 | * BrilliantButLazy: Gohan has never been lazy by any meaning of the word, but most of his effort tends to go towards academics, his job, and raising his daughter which leaves him so little time to train that he lets his strength plummet into nothing. He has (by far) the most natural fighting ability out of the entire cast, and the sheer amount of power that he contained in his body without ever training for it at all at the age of 4 was an early defining trait of his. However, it's repeatedly noted that he doesn't really enjoy fighting the way most of the cast does, and thus he usually won't bother to train unless there's an active threat. Because of this, he actually gets ''weaker'' after the TimeSkip between the Cell and Buu arcs. Vegeta chews him out for it, although, being DBZ, he eventually gets a [[TimeToUnlockMoreTruePotential new powerup anyway]]. Gohan will always apply himself to the things he thinks are important at the time, and he's also capable of dedicating himself to fighting if he has a reason to. In ''Super'', this really comes to bite him in the ass when new threats show up without any warning whatsoever and Gohan's left completely unprepared to defend anyone properly. Eventually, he recognizes that he should at least try to maintain a decent amount of his strength, and after Goku's fight with Toppo during the Zen Exhibition Match, he shows brief excitement for the upcoming Tournament of Power, likely due to his Saiyan heritage and desire to impress Goku. Gohan's natural inherent fighting instincts are so strong that he's shown the ability to reach a comparable level of power to his father and Vegeta in just a few weeks of intense training, despite slacking off heavily for ''years''. |
| 112 | * BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu: |
| 113 | ** After Piccolo is murdered by Nappa, Gohan pulls all his remaining power into one powerful attack to avenge his mentor. It is easily deflected by Nappa and the attack only made his hand numb. |
| 114 | ** With Recoome, Gohan kept fighting despite being badly outmatched, using every technique and attack he knew. He gets his neck broken for his trouble, but he buys enough time for Goku to finally reach Namek. |
| 115 | ** Gohan gets the last blow against Vegeta, forcing the Saiyan to retreat. His dad is badly injured, and his mentor is dead and cannot be revived since his death also meant the death of the Dragon Balls. He also feels guilty for acting cowardly, which led to Tien's death. |
| 116 | ** With encouragement from his father from beyond the grave, Gohan finally kills Cell once and for all. However, Android 16 cannot be wished back since he was never really alive to begin with and Goku chooses to remain dead for everyone's protection, forcing Gohan to break the news to his mother. |
| 117 | * BroughtDownToBadass: In ''Resurrection 'F''', Gohan mentions that he's neglected training for so long that he can only use the base Super Saiyan form, and wasn't even sure if he could do that much. Even so, he easily takes down most of Frieza's army by himself. In the ''Super'' adaptation, it's shown that he really can't keep the form up and he has to quickly take out Captain Ginyu-in-Tagoma's body. This is even more obvious given that he's become quite too lanky in appearance, unlike how he used to be well-built. |
| 118 | * BruiserWithASoftCenter: After unlocking his full power, Gohan becomes noticeably more masculine and loses his hesitation about killing. He is still Gohan, who hates fighting, prefers living a peaceful life, and loves nature and animals. |
| 119 | * BullyHunter: Especially as the Great Saiyaman. He despises anyone who uses their power to terrorize those weaker than them. |
| 120 | * BullyingADragon: During the Cell Games, Cell went out of his way to piss off Gohan in order to get him to transform into a Super Saiyan 2, siccing Cell Juniors on his allies and later killing Android 16 in cold blood. [[GoneHorriblyRight It worked]], [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown and he got way more than he bargained for]]. |
| 121 | * CallingTheOldManOut: In the ''Super Android 13'' movie, Gohan asks Chi-Chi an ArmorPiercingQuestion when the latter tries to stop him from fighting along Goku. |
| 122 | * TheCape: Parodies this as a ShoutOut to ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' as the Great Saiyaman. He's a LargeHam who does goofy poses while spouting comments about justice, which causes just about everyone to question what he's doing. Overall, Gohan does play this straight, wanting to be a super hero that stops crimes and saves civillians, which is a lot more active in doing good that the rest of the Z-fighters. |
| 123 | * CharacterDevelopment: |
| 124 | ** He undergoes the most in ''Z'', appropriate to his aging throughout the series. Notably, his entire subplot in the Saiyan Saga revolves around his growth from a cowardly "spoiled brat" to standing up to his fears and being able to fight. |
| 125 | ** He undergoes a lot of character development in ''Super''. After he was powerless against Frieza, he realizes that he needs to be strong to protect his family again, so he learns to go straight for the kill after Piccolo chews him out for letting Cell and Buu take advantage of his mercy and overconfidence. He later realizes how important his father's approval is to him and sets out to make Goku proud[[note]]Goku already was proud of him despite Gohan's lifestyle choices; he just often wished Gohan would train more.[[/note]]. This leads Gohan to desire to prove himself to Goku, not by following in his footsteps, but by going in a way his father couldn't. He also learns to enjoy fighting as a way to test himself due to the Zen Exhibition and Tournament of Power not being horrific, bloody, and traumatizing fights to kill his opponent, even if the losers in the latter are erased. Gohan had never experienced honest competition until then due to the only tournament he had ever been in was interrupted by Babidi; all of his prior fights outside of training (and a lot of it inside of training) were lethal no-rules brawls to the death. |
| 126 | * CheerfulChild: In his childhood years, he's a happy and cheerful child, despite the number of tragedies and hardships he's been through, including his father dying twice, watching his other father figure give his life to protect him, and witnessing his HonoraryUncle be blown up from the inside out. |
| 127 | * ChickMagnet: In high school, he's quite popular with the ladies. Even as an adult and married to Videl, Gohan picks up female admirers with his genuinely sincere and kind personality. In ''Super'', Cocoa, the leading girl of ''The Great Saiyaman vs. Mr. Satan'', is blackmailed into taking Gohan to spend the night at her house by Barry Khan, the main star of said movie, in the hopes the resulting photos would ruin Gohan's marriage and have Videl run into his arms. As far as Gohan knows, he is just practicing dialogue with her, and his sincerity and kindness toward Cocoa changes her mind; even then, she could not resist giving him a parting kiss of ''genuine'' love as her appreciation, causing poor Gohan to of course fly off in adorable panic. Even applies out of universe, where a number of female fans dubbed him as the ideal boyfriend. |
| 128 | * ChildProdigy: In both fighting ''and'' academics. Gohan has so much natural fighting talent that his power level was three times higher than his dad and Piccolo's at the age of four. If he trained like his father, he would be the strongest being in the universe. Academically, he was doing Algebra when he was five and gets straight As in high school. |
| 129 | * ChildSoldier: He was dragged into the Z-Fighters' fights at age ''four''. |
| 130 | * ChronicHeroSyndrome: One of Gohan's defining characteristics. He absolutely cannot bring himself to pass up someone in need. This leads to his friendship with Dende, saving Vegeta ''twice'', becoming Saiyaman, and his eventual death fighting the androids in the other timeline. |
| 131 | * ClarkKentOutfit: Downplayed; his high school outfit looks a little too big for him, likely to hide that even after seven years of peace, he still has plenty of muscle. He kind of renders this moot during baseball, however… |
| 132 | * ClassicalAntiHero: Gohan tries to play the IdealHero when he is the Great Saiyaman, but he's much closer to this trope since he's often plagued with self-doubt in himself, has no real love for fighting outside of sport (which greatly affects his power), and often depends on his father and Piccolo to protect him when he screws up (which has cost them both their lives at one point). He still fights to protect the world, despite his shortcomings. |
| 133 | * CloseRangeCombatant: Downplayed, Gohan ''is'' perfectly capable and willing to use long range ki attacks, but he repeatedly shows a preference for direct melee so that he may either rush them down with a bunch of quick attacks or deliver slower, yet much more powerful hits. When he gets a power up in both the Cell Saga and the Buu Saga, he foregoes almost any ki attacks, preferring to use his own fists. The best example of this would have to be his fight against Super Buu, as despite the monstrosity doing his damnest to kill Gohan, the latter delivers a beatdown entirely only using his hands and feet. |
| 134 | * ColdBloodedTorture: After ascending to Super Saiyan 2, Gohan subjects Cell to this. Instead of killing Cell right away, he slowly takes his time picking the android apart and gives him a vicious TheReasonYouSuckSpeech before causing Cell to have an epic VillainousBreakdown, both mentally and physically; he even goes so far as to let Cell [[HealingFactor regenerate]] on the grounds that [[RevengeBeforeReason Cell hadn't suffered]] ''[[RevengeBeforeReason enough]]''. This, however, came back to bite Gohan in the rear since the resulting breakdown caused Cell to attempt to RageQuit. |
| 135 | * CoolBigBro: To Goten. His little brother absolutely adores him and thinks his Saiyaman outfit is awesome (at least until he's older in ''Super''). |
| 136 | * CompressedVice: His pacifism is this. Before his fight with Cell, while he wasn't interested in looking for fights like Goku, when he had to fight he never really was opposed to it (he was only opposed to fighting in early Saiyan Saga, and in that case it's because he was understandably terrified), and he may even be the first one to impulsively to start a fight while another character to tries to stop him, like when he tries to save Dende, or when Goku told Gohan to slow down when they were going to meet everyone else to fight the androids. It's during his fight with Cell he's suddenly against fighting, and this trait started and ended in that fight, since in Buu saga he's excited to fight Dabura, and is never against fighting any Buu (Although he does wonder if the fat Buu can be tamed given his personality, but even [[BloodKnight Goku]] wondered the same). |
| 137 | * CostumeEvolution: When he first became the Great Saiyaman, he initially wore an orange helmet with a black visor to mask his identity. He later swapped it out for a [[BadassesWearBandanas white bandana]] and a pair of CoolShades to participate in the World Martial Arts Tournament, since the rules forbid armor of any kind, and keeps them afterwards. Not that he didn't also keep the helmet for standard crime-fighting. |
| 138 | * CowerPower: When he was introduced, he could be seen hiding behind his father's leg, especially when Raditz came. |
| 139 | * CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Much like his father, he has an easy-going, innocent demeanor with a dose of dork. However, he is among the strongest in the universe and could become ''the'' strongest if he desired. And let's not get started on what happens when he reaches his RageBreakingPoint. |
| 140 | * CruelMercy: Discussed: In ''Super'', after defeating Captain Ginyu in Tagoma's body with relative ease, Gohan decides to spare Ginyu, telling him to get lost. In this case, Gohan is sincere in his mercy, but the sight of him doing so reminds Frieza of Goku's CruelMercy towards him back on Namek and triggers a massive FreakOut. He personally steps into the battle, and blasts Gohan with {{Beam Spam}}s until he's left crippled on the ground. |
| 141 | * CuteBruiser: He was one of the strongest fighters on Earth when he was just five and he destroyed Super Perfect Cell at the tender age of eleven, nine in the manga. |
| 142 | * TheCutie: Especially as a child. |
| 143 | * DeadGuyJunior: Named after Goku's adopted grandfather. |
| 144 | * DeathGlare: Gohan's Super Saiyan 2 is made of this. His "Ultimate Gohan" appearance also has this as his default expression, as Lampshaded by Piccolo. |
| 145 | * DeconReconSwitch: Gohan's character can be viewed as a play on the Scholar archetype featured in many classical {{Wuxia}} stories, from which ''Dragon Ball'' owes much of its inspiration. The Scholar usually serves as an academically gifted but physically frail and foppish {{Foil}} to the manly action heroes of the story and he tends to contribute very little of substance, only existing to make the real men look better. Gohan stands out for having the greatest potential of all the Z-Warriors, but he genuinely prefers to be a simple scholar and hates fighting. This frequently causes problems as he grows complacent in peacetime and neglects his training in favour of his studies. Plus, his job is so insignificant to the story that it was completely unrevealed what it even was until 2022. All that said, while Gohan is most useful when he unleashes his potential as a fighter, his passion for studying and supporting his family is mostly portrayed positively (so long as he maintains a healthy balance of his studying and his training for future threats), in contrast to his BookDumb father who can barely hold a job and often abandons his family in order to train for extended periods. |
| 146 | * DecoyProtagonist: |
| 147 | ** In the Buu Saga, it's established that he has taken over his father's role as the key protector of the world (as the finale of the Cell Saga supported). In the manga, the beginning of the Buu saga even starts off with Master Roshi saying that the series will continue "just a while longer" with Gohan as the main character, while in the anime, the intro and outro sequences for the Buu saga focuses on Gohan as the lead protagonist. A good chunk of the Buu arc either focus directly on Gohan or a good amount of side-character stalling while Gohan trains on the Kai Planet to awaken his dormant powers, presumably arriving at the last minute to save the day much like how Goku was previously portrayed. However, Gohan ends up being absorbed by Buu, leaving his father to take over as TheHero once more for the remainder of the arc and even into the next series. |
| 148 | ** He seemed to regain, at least, a solid {{Deuteragonist}} status during the Universe Survival saga, being made TheLeader of his team, getting a lot of buildup to the regaining of his powers, and even being the one to finish off Universe 10 in a big character moment for him. One of the Universe Survival ending credits even ended on the note of [[{{Fauxshadow}} him and his father standing side by side and charging forward.]] When the saga actually gets down to the U7 vs U11 endgame, however, after a single episode, he's eliminated while fighting [[UnskilledButStrong Dyspo]] due to Frieza's running out of stamina to keep up the cage, necessitating that he takes himself down with him as the endgame continues to focus on Goku, Vegeta, Frieza, and most shockingly ''17.'' After defeating [[ButtMonkey Universe 10]], he didn't have all that much to do until that point, either, besides team up with Piccolo to defeat Universe 6's final members. |
| 149 | * DefeatingTheUndefeatable: Gohan killed Cell at the height of his power, something not even Goku could do. |
| 150 | * DefenceMechanismSuperpower: As a child, he could only access his hidden power when threatened or angry; Piccolo demonstrates the latter by tossing him at a mountain. |
| 151 | * DemotedToExtra: |
| 152 | ** In ''GT'' where he plays no major role in any of the story arcs outside of being one of Baby's slaves - he isn't even treated as an EliteMook - and acting as a battery to re-power Super Saiyan 4 Goku. |
| 153 | ** Gohan's role in ''Super'' is semi-minor, all things considered. While he is one of the fighters during the ''Battle of Gods'' and ''Resurrection 'F''' sagas, he is PutOnABus during the Universe 6 saga, having an important work to do on school. In the anime version of the Future Trunks saga, he is living his daily life, which Future Trunks admires since his Gohan was never happy, but is never told about Goku Black's rampage on the future until very late in the arc, and he doesn't appear at all in the manga version until the end, being the reason Future Trunks goes back to the future. This is eventually subverted as he does have his DayInTheLimelight with his mini arc and goes back to prominence as a warrior for the Universal Survival Arc, even among the first characters to fight along Goku and Majin Buu. |
| 154 | * DespairEventHorizon: Gohan comes dangerously close to this after Goku [[HeroicSacrifice sacrificed]] his life to save Earth because he was too focused on revenge to kill Cell right away. He falls into further despair after Cell returns, cripples his arm, and is about to blow up the solar system. Only Goku talking to him from the grave brought him back to his senses. |
| 155 | * {{Determinator}}: Gohan started to show this trait as he got older and GrewASpine. {{Deconstructed|Trope}} by his future self from ''[[Anime/DragonBallZTheHistoryOfTrunks History of Trunks]]''; Gohan's refusal to back down cost him his left arm and eventually, his life. This is how he barely gets by in ''Super'' after losing most of his power, the standout examples when he nearly killed himself to summon Goku and Vegeta. Later, he was able to force a tie with Lavender ''while his eyes, organs, and limbs were rotting away'' due to Lavender's poison, which was made worse since he transformed into a Super Saiyan. He luckily keeps the trait after getting his ultimate power back. |
| 156 | * DeusExitMachina: |
| 157 | ** After unlocking his full power, Gohan is absorbed by Super Buu and later killed by Kid Buu when he destroyed the Earth. If Gohan had lived, he would of had an easier time with Kid Buu than Goku and may have killed him without Goku needing the Spirit Bomb. |
| 158 | ** He gets this in the Champa Saga. He wants to be part of the tournament, but can't because he has a conference that day. During the months after the Frieza invasion, Gohan has been training to get himself back into shape and is only behind Goku and Vegeta in strength. Him being part of the U7 team would have made them stronger and he would have been a viable substitute for Buu after he slept through the intelligence test. |
| 159 | * {{Deuteragonist}}: Though he's promoted to Protagonist and subsequently demoted to Tritagonist over the course of the Buu Saga. By ''Super'', and especially ''GT'', he's closer to DemotedToExtra. |
| 160 | * DidIJustSayThatOutLoud: "There is no way I'm gonna let my girlfriend kiss that old relic!" after several instances of denying anything more than friendship with Videl. |
| 161 | * DidntSeeThatComing: |
| 162 | ** Because he did not heed his father's advice and kept torturing Cell, he is taken by surprise when Cell decides to self-destruct. He, like everyone else, also didn't think Cell would return stronger than ever. |
| 163 | ** He didn't know Buu could absorb people, so he never saw coming Buu taking Gotenks and Piccolo. |
| 164 | * DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: Gohan destroyed Super Perfect Cell, whose power surpassed that of the Supreme Kai. |
| 165 | * DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength: He broke a lot of dishes and furniture along with his dad when trying to learn to use Super Saiyan in everyresponsibilityheDogBitesBack: He’s put through the wringer by his EvilUncle Raditz, but makes him suffer dearly for traumatizing him. Let’s start off with- |
| 166 | ** At only four years old, Raditz kidnaps him, threatening his father, Goku, that unless he kills a hundred earthlings by the next day, Gohan’s life will be forfeited, or depending on the translation, taken away to be raised by Raditz as a SpacePirate like himself. |
| 167 | ** Naturally, this turns the poor kid into a tearful wreck, and Raditz relishes in his misery, even holding him close to his face as he laughs at Gohan fearfully pleading for help. In the ''Z'' anime, Gohan tries to hide from Raditz by hiding under a truck, only to be found. Raditz scares him by blowing up the truck and gives him a BigShutUp because Gohan’s crying annoyed him. Then Raditz locks him up in his Attack Ball because he didn’t want to hear any more of Gohan’s crying. He was so heartbroken at being alone, Gohan outright pleaded for Raditz not to leave him. Raditz left him anyway. |
| 168 | *** What finally made Gohan stand up to Raditz is hearing him torture his dad, almost instantly breaking out of his ship and giving him [[UseYourHead a nasty armor-crushing headbutt]]. Sure he forgot of what has happened, along with Raditz knocking him out with a nasty punch, but it really stung Raditz to have suffered great damage by his own nephew that he had originally terrorized. |
| 169 | * DontMakeMeDestroyYou: He begs Cell to give up his plans and surrender peacefully, because Gohan knows that if he should enter his UnstoppableRage mode, he'd utterly annihilate Cell, and he doesn't wish that on anyone, not even a monster like Cell. Cell, however, decides that he wants to see this fantastic power for himself. [[GoneHorriblyRight He gets his wish]], and it does not end well for him. |
| 170 | * DorkKnight: Has a bad case of ChronicHeroSyndrome, perfect grades, superpowers, and grew up in a tiny, isolated house up in the mountains with absolutely no frame of reference to tell him that no, normal people cannot jump eight meters into the air (it does not help that his mother is also ridiculously strong compared to normal people). Becoming a superhero with really clear {{Sentai}} influences really was the only option. |
| 171 | * DotingParent: Absolutely 100% a doting father to Pan. He adores her and regularly dons his Great Saiyaman persona to play with her. His phone background is her picture, and he later is seen turning down a job that would have kept him away from his family, because he would rather be able to spend time with her. When he starts slipping into ParentalNeglect towards her in ''Super Hero'' because hes become too obessed with work to pay attention to her [[WhatTheHellHero Piccolo chews him out for it]]. |
| 172 | * DramaPreservingHandicap: [=SSJ2=] Gohan was still stronger than Super Perfect Cell. However, him breaking his arm to protect Vegeta brought him down to a level that Cell could fight to a standstill. Gohan's personality itself also serves as this because if he always went full power even after the times where he got an insane power-up, he could've instantly killed the villains with no effort and the ''DBZ'' plotlines would be over before they started. |
| 173 | [[/folder]] |
| 174 | |
| 175 | [[folder: E-N]] |
| 176 | * EarnYourHappyEnding: After going through a lot of things that children his age shouldn't have gone through, Gohan ends up living a normal life. He goes to high school and achieves his dream of being a scholar. He then ends up getting married and having a child. In ''Dragon Ball Online'', as a scholar, he later writes a best selling book called "Groundbreaking Science" that introduces ''Ki'' energy to the general populace of Earth sparking renewed interest in martial arts among the human population. |
| 177 | * EmotionalBruiser: Despite growing to be bigger than his dad, who is the anime poster boy for HeroicBuild, Gohan remains as emotional as ever. Unlike as a child, his softer side is painted in a much more positive light. |
| 178 | * EmotionalPowers: Gohan becomes sufficiently stronger when he's enraged since his hidden power is released when he is emotional. He only learns to control this power after becoming a Super Saiyan 2 and later when Old Kai unlocks all his hidden power. |
| 179 | * EndearinglyDorky: Both the later parts of ''Z'' and the general run of ''Super'' establish that Videl finds Gohan's weird poses, LargeHam tendencies, and general kind-heartedness to be things worthy of admiration. Also in ''Super'', Gohan's daughter Pan thinks that her dad is the coolest superhero that there ever was. They're more-or-less the only ones, as even the people that Gohan saves as the Great Saiyaman think he's a massive dork who's trying way too hard to look cool. |
| 180 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: Differs between the manga and anime: |
| 181 | ** In the manga, we are introduced to Gohan at Master Roshi's house. He politely greets the group by bowing and hides behind his father when Turtle approaches him, showcasing Gohan as a well-mannered, but meek boy. |
| 182 | ** In the anime, we see Gohan lost in the woods crying and calling for his dad, but he immediately cheers up when he see animals and introduces himself to them. This showcase Gohan as something of a crybaby who is very fond of nature. |
| 183 | * ExplainingYourPowerToTheEnemy: He gets into this during the fight with Cell. He doesn't like to fight, let alone kill, and reveals his hidden power and how it [[EmotionalPowers only comes out when he's angry]]. While Gohan told Cell this in the hopes that it would get him to back down, [[ThreatBackfire it does the exact opposite]]; now that Cell knows about Gohan's hidden power, he, being a big-time BloodKnight, is determined to see it for himself. |
| 184 | * ExpositoryHairstyleChange: Subverted most of the time. For Gohan's entire life, it's been a running thing that his hairstyle changes roughly every new story arc, rather than based in his own personal change (although he often does enter a new stage of life in tandem). |
| 185 | ** While training in the wilderness with Piccolo, his hair grows out into a wild, spiky mullet. |
| 186 | ** His first major haircut was a bowl cut given to him by Chi-Chi before he left for Namek, simply so that he could look like a proper student. He grows it out again in the Android arc. |
| 187 | ** The second one was a trim given by Goku after he transformed into a Super Saiyan for the first time in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, symbolizing the next stage of his training. |
| 188 | ** ''Super'''s Golden Frieza Saga has his hair combed and flat to go with his skinnier frame, signs of how complacent he has become with his ordinary lifestyle and how poorly conditioned his body has become. Once he starts regularly training again, he gets his spiked hair back again. |
| 189 | ** Throughout most of ''Super'', Gohan's hair was spiky but it lacked his signature drooping bang from back in ''Z'''s Buu Saga. When he regains his Ultimate form again, the bang returns. |
| 190 | ** His hair changes again in ''Super Hero''. It's back to being spiky, but it's gone completely out of shape and looks more like bed-head. When he goes Super Saiyan and Ultimate, his hair goes back to a more moderately-spiky look. |
| 191 | * ExtremeDoormat: Has tendencies toward this. When Videl blackmailed him, and all the times he ran into Vegeta as a child. Especially one infamous moment when Vegeta lectured him by [[BrutalHonesty being brutally honest]] because of his fight with Dabura. In both situations, he just stood and did nothing instead of standing up for himself. |
| 192 | * ExtremeOmnivore: In the Dragon Ball Super Exciting Guide, Gohan's favorite food is literally listed as "will eat anything". |
| 193 | * FamilyThemeNaming: Son Goku and his sons--'''Go'''han and '''Go'''ten. Further, the kanji for "ku" in Goku's name (空) means "sky" and the "ten" in Goten's name (天) means "heaven." Later, Gohan ("rice") marries Videl and has a daughter named Pan ("bread"). |
| 194 | * FatalFlaw: He has two. [[SmugSuper Cockiness]], something Piccolo addresses in the Universe Survival Saga. Gohan lets his ego get out of control every single time that he has the obvious upper hand on his opponent and lets his guard down, which always allows his opponents to turn the tables on him. This led to him dragging out his CurbStompBattle with Cell, leading to Cell getting desperate and trying to blow up the planet, which would have succeeded were it not for Goku [[HeroicSacrifice sacrificing himself]] and nonetheless led to Cell becoming [[CameBackStrong Super Perfect]], and also allowed Super Buu to absorb Gotenks and Piccolo and beat him into the ground, which would have been the end of Universe 7 had Goku and Vegeta not been resurrected to handle the situation. As part of his training, Piccolo endeavors to remove this flaw from Gohan, and ultimately succeeds. The second flaw is his complete inability to find a work life balance as an adult. Gohan has a tendancy to hyper focus on certain aspects of himself to the point where he ignores everything else. This causes him to fall behind on training multiple times and in one instance completely ignore his responsibility to take care of his daughter. Because he's weakened so much from lack of training he is rarely up to defending the earth from the current threat of the story after the Cell saga. |
| 195 | * FatherIDontWantToFight: Despite knowing that he is the last hope to defeat Cell and his father's encouragements, Gohan can't bring himself to destroy the android. He doesn't like to fight and, at least in the manga, has never taken a life before. He begs Cell to surrender, but Cell chooses to push him past his RageBreakingPoint to bring out his hidden power. This ends ''really'' badly for Cell. |
| 196 | * FirstFriend: Gohan would become this to Piccolo back when he was still an enemy of Goku. Piccolo originally kidnapped Gohan to both train him to fight the Saiyans and corrupt him in his image, only to ironically befriend the boy due to his kindness and [[IncorruptiblePurePureness purity]], setting him on the path to good and becoming TrueCompanions with the very man he was born to kill. |
| 197 | * FishOutOfWater: Gohan's misadventures in high school. Gohan lived a very shelter life (fighting super-powered aliens and androids notwithstanding) where the only people he's closed to are aliens, powerful humans, and a genius. Him learning how normal people act and behave is a major theme while he's in school. |
| 198 | * {{Foil}}: Gohan is this to his family members: |
| 199 | ** To his father, Goku. They are both [[TheGift extremely gifted warriors]] who represent the peak of their groups. Goku is the strongest pure-blooded Saiyan, while Gohan is the most powerful of all the hybrids. They are both also [[IncorruptiblePurePureness pure-hearted]], fun-loving, [[AllLovingHero have a love for animals and people]], and are somewhat naive about the outside world. However, they're also both BrilliantButLazy — in exactly the opposite ways. Goku loves to fight and challenge himself, while Gohan hates fighting and hurting people, and won't train unless there is an immediate danger. Goku is BookDumb and doesn't work to support his family, while Gohan is very well educated and has a steady job by the end of ''Z'' and into ''Super''. There’s also the fact that Gohan, while also sharing in his father’s BloodKnight tendencies in certain situations, has the self-discipline to temper his instincts to the point that it doesn’t affect his reasoning, unlike his father who lets his Saiyan instincts run amok to the point of becoming a junkie enslaved to his lust for combat. While the BrilliantButLazy difference gets ironed out by Goku adapting to his farming job by using it as light training and Gohan rededicating himself to getting stronger after failing to protect his loved ones from Frieza and his men, [[spoiler:Piccolo training him to get his Ultimate state back and weeding out the SmugSuper tendencies to make Gohan fighting fit again]] causes Gohan to further differentiate himself from his father in combat; where Goku will let his guard down by doing things such as dragging out his transformations for entertainment value or momentarily pausing to taunt and chat with his opponent, Gohan stays alert and competent the entire time. |
| 200 | ** Gohan to his young brother Goten. They both have many similarities to their father like their [[IncorruptiblePurePureness pure-hearts]], love of animals, their innocents, and fun-loving nature. Goten inherited his father's carefree personality, while Gohan is serious and down to Earth. Goten is quite hyper, while Gohan is very reserved. Goten is allowed to be a child, while Gohan was forced to grow up fast because of the constant danger the Earth was exposed to. |
| 201 | * FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: The Responsible Sibling to Goten's Foolish Sibling. Gohan is the man of the house since his father is dead and he needs to take care of his mom, although he was serious and down to earth even before Goku died. Goten is similar to his father in that he's carefree, irresponsible, and mischievous. [[{{Foil}} Despite being near polar opposites]], they both adore each other with Goten hero-worshipping his big brother. Goten does become more polite like Gohan as he grows older, however. |
| 202 | * ForcedToWatch: Cell makes him watch as his [[MookMaker Cell Jrs.]] beat the Z-Fighters to near-death for the sake of making Gohan reach his RageBreakingPoint and seeing his hidden power. When Cell crushes the still-living head of Android 16 right in front of him, that's the straw that breaks the camel's back... |
| 203 | * ForegoneConclusion: Unless the creative team retcon ''End of Z'', no matter how strong a fighter he gets in ''Super'', he'll eventually go back to being a scholar first and foremost. Justified because he only really trains when he needs to, and generally doesn't want to be a typical Saiyan BloodKnight. |
| 204 | * FragileSpeedster: As a child, he is fast, but his endurance is very low. |
| 205 | * FreakinessShame: Gohan can be very self conscious about the fact he's far from normal and tries to keep his abilities and history under wraps when interacting with regular people. |
| 206 | * FriendlessBackground: Subverted. Because Gohan was raised in seclusion, [[IntergenerationalFriendship all but one of his friends are adults,]] before he goes to high school. The one exception is Dende, the Namekian he rescued from Dodoria and Frieza, who later became the Guardian of Earth after Kami fused with Piccolo. |
| 207 | * FriendToAllLivingThings: Has his father's tendency to love and befriend animals. |
| 208 | * FriendToBugs: His work in ''Super Hero'' implies his primary field of study as an adult is entomology. |
| 209 | * FuryFueledFoolishness: After Cell pushes Gohan into an UnstoppableRage for the sake of [[EmotionalPowers unleashing his hidden power]] and getting a WorthyOpponent, he [[GoneHorriblyRight gets his]] [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor wish]]; Gohan ascends to Super Saiyan 2 and beats Cell to a pulp, but when he has the chance to end it, he refuses despite Goku [[KillHimAlready screaming at him to finish it before Cell gets desperate]] purely because he felt Cell [[ColdBloodedTorture hadn't suffered enough for his crimes]]. This bites him in the ass ''big time'' when Cell is driven to a VillainousBreakdown and tries to blow up the Earth, forcing Goku to sacrifice himself to save the world. On top of it all, Cell is able to regenerate FromASingleCell and return [[CameBackStrong stronger than ever]] thanks to his Saiyan genes, and Gohan [[ItsAllMyFault knows he has only himself to blame for it all]]. |
| 210 | * GainingTheWillToKill: |
| 211 | ** Gohan, while being in several life-or-death fights throughout the series where he usually acted on instinct (and was never powerful enough to kill enemies on his own outside of filler arcs), was faced with the decision to consciously kill Cell during the Cell games. Despite being brutalized by Cell and watching him torment all the other Z-Fighters and threaten the planet, Gohan doesn't gain the will to kill until Android 16 encourages him that in this instance that it's okay before being crushed to death just a few feet away from him. This turning point pushes him into a sustained Super Saiyan 2 form for the first time. |
| 212 | ** Piccolo points out in ''Super'' that Gohan has never had the killer instinct to win in any of his fights, and when he has the upper hand, he tends to show off rather than finishing off the enemy, which led to Cell killing Goku and Buu blowing up the earth. Even in non-lethal fights, Gohan has trouble winning because he lacks that will to end his opponent, so Piccolo decides [[ToughLove to literally beat it out of him by using trickery and almost villainous methods in their sparring matches whenever Gohan starts slipping up]]. This method is a complete success, which leads to Gohan being crucial for multiple eliminations of dangerous opponents during the Tournament of Power. |
| 213 | * GameBreakingInjury: During the Cell Games; after TakingTheBullet for Vegeta, Gohan's left arm is crippled, and his power level is reduced to less than half, giving Cell the upper hand. |
| 214 | * GeekPhysiques: In ''Resurrection F'' and the early arcs of ''Super'', he has become incredibly thin and gangly, having lost almost all of his musculature due to failing to keep up with his training. Fortunately, he gets his HeroicBuild back after training with Piccolo for the Tournament of Power. |
| 215 | * GenerationXerox: PlayedWith. Gohan is something of a daddy's boy, even surpassing Goku in potential, but whose gentle, pacifistic nature ultimately drives him to abandon his father's fighting legacy. Which makes him an xerox to his grandmother, Gine, who also chose to abandon fighting because of her gentle nature. |
| 216 | ** However, his showdown with Cell is a clear parallel to Goku's battle with King Piccolo, from being crippled in one arm while protecting an enemy-turned-ally (Vegeta instead of Tien) to a one-handed Kamehameha technique being what ultimately dispatches the villain. |
| 217 | * GeniusBruiser: He is incredibly bright, topping his class in high school, but for a while was the strongest character in the series and still remains in the top five or so. Though it's not shown during his younger years, as he gets older, he starts to fight smarter as well: His fight with Dabura shows this plenty, using his brain and brawn to cover his rustiness against the Demon King. When he meets Broly in ''The Second Coming'', he tricks the Legendary Super Saiyan into being trapped by lava. In the preliminary matchup to the Universal Tournament: [[spoiler: He uses his energy to throw out from Super Saiyan to form a ''radar'' to counteract his [[AHandfulForAnEye blindness]]]]. He comes up with a plan to beat [[FragileSpeedster Dyspo]] when both him and Frieza were getting destroyed 2v1. It only didn't go completely smooth due to Frieza's endurance reaching its limit, but they still were able to eliminate him by Gohan preforming a non-lethal HeroicSacrifice to hold him down that wouldn't have been possible if Gohan hadn't thought of the plan. |
| 218 | * GenreBlindness: Gohan runs into this since he tends not to train during times of peace. While understandable since he doesn't like to train and fight like his dad or Vegeta, you would think keeping in shape and maintaining his current strength would be a somewhat high priority given how many times the Earth has been in danger. Even worse, even after the Buu Saga, he still slacks off to the point that he couldn't reach his Ultimate form, leaving him woefully unprepared when Frieza returns. In ''Super'', it seems he finally learns his lesson and trains with Piccolo. |
| 219 | * GentlemanAndAScholar: An intellectual student who has better manners and education than his father, and very humble and kind most of the time. |
| 220 | * TheGift: Even among his fellow hybrids, Gohan possesses the most fighting potential and could trump many fighter in the series. In the Universal Survival Saga, after some training with Piccolo and overcoming his mental block, he not only regains his Ultimate form but he gets so strong that he's a match for Super Saiyan Blue Goku, despite lacking godly ki himself. In the ''Super'' manga, Gohan is explicitly stated to have increased his power from his state in ''Resurrection of F'' all the way to being capable of fighting Super Saiyan Kefla to a draw, ''while in his normal form.'' While the manga seems to be considering that Ultimate Gohan was originally viewed as simply Gohan with his power maxed, rather than a transformation, that's still a huge leap in power, particularly when you consider how powerful Kefla was. As a Super Saiyan, Kale (one half of the Kefla fusion) was able to overwhelm Golden Frieza with raw power, and Kefla was also explicitly stated to be a perfect fusion, granting her all of Kale's strength with Caulifla's sense of battle. |
| 221 | * GlassCannon: When he gets mad as a child, his latent powers are temporarily released resulting in a massive strength increase, but a good solid blow usually brings him out of it. |
| 222 | * TheGlassesComeOff: He usually takes off his glasses before a fight begins. |
| 223 | * GlassesOfAging: Come the events of ''Super'', Gohan needs glasses in order to see whenever he isn't in his Super Saiyan form. Prior to that, Gohan had no glasses. |
| 224 | * GoneHorriblyRight: On two levels during the Cell Games: |
| 225 | ** After learning of Gohan's hidden power, which only surfaces when he goes into an UnstoppableRage, Cell does everything he possibly can to push Gohan to his breaking point and unleash said hidden power for the sake of a challenge. He succeeds, and Gohan goes Super Saiyan 2 and beats Cell senseless, even taking the time to remind him that him going all out is ''[[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor exactly]]'' [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor what Cell wanted]]. |
| 226 | ** On the good guys' side, Goku's entire plan to defeat Cell [[BatmanGambit hinged on Cell pissing Gohan off enough to unleash his hidden power]]. It works a little too well; Gohan does indeed get the power to defeat Cell, but Goku never anticipated that Gohan, in a state of RevengeBeforeReason, would deliberately prolong the fight just so he could humiliate Cell and make him suffer even more, which eventually causes Cell to flip out and try to destroy the Earth. |
| 227 | * GoodCannotComprehendEvil: Even after all of the atrocities he's committed, Gohan still doesn't want to kill Cell and actually thinks he can reason with him, begging him to repent of his crimes and surrender peacefully. Instead, Cell goes out of his way to torment Gohan and force him to bring out his hidden power; when he finally crushes Android 16's head underfoot, Gohan [[RageBreakingPoint finally snaps]], goes Super Saiyan 2, and completely shifts gears, going from not wanting to hurt Cell at all to [[ColdBloodedTorture making sure Cell suffers as much as possible for everything he's done.]] |
| 228 | * GoodFeelsGood: He truly enjoys helping people to the point that he becomes a superhero so he can save people and protect his identity and family. As a child, he truly couldn't [[GoodCannotComprehendEvil understand why someone would take joy in causing pain and suffering]]. |
| 229 | * GoodIsNotSoft: Gohan is very easygoing like most in his family, and unlike his dad, he hates violence and prefers to fight only for sport. That is not to say he won't beat the ever-living daylights out of you if you hurt those he cares about. [[ColdBloodedTorture Cell]] and [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown the Cell Jrs]]. learned this the hard way. Not to mention the smackdown he laid on Super Buu, Cell Max and even Frieza when properly provoked. |
| 230 | * GoodParents: He is extremely loving towards Pan. He passes up a high paying job so he wouldn't be away from her and dresses as Saiyaman when playing with her. Although, he admits that he spoils Pan too much, but can't stop himself since she's so cute. |
| 231 | * GoofyPrintUnderwear: In "Gohan's First Date", Angela informs Videl of the fact that she stumbled upon Gohan getting changed and she saw his teddy bear underwear. |
| 232 | * HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Normally as a Super Saiyan, but subverted as a Super Saiyan 2 where he drops his restraints and holds nothing back against Cell or the Cell Jr.s afterwards. |
| 233 | * HalfHumanHybrid: The first half-human, half-Saiyan to exist. |
| 234 | * HandicappedBadass: Gohan breaks his arm and hand against Super Perfect Cell, turning him into one of these on the Kamehameha Struggle. |
| 235 | * HappilyMarried: To Videl after the Buu saga. |
| 236 | * HardWorkHardlyWorks: Averted. While Gohan is indeed a talented prodigy and has the potential to become one of the most powerful beings in the universe, he, like Goku, has to constantly train for his power, and is explicitly noted in both the Buu Saga and ''Resurrection 'F''' to have gotten much weaker due to lack of training. |
| 237 | * HarmfulToMinors: This guy saw his dad die at four years of age, and was exposed [[WarIsHell to the horrors that come along fighting with the protagonists]] at ''five''. This led to not following up on a {{comb|inationAttack}}o MeteorMove against Nappa, and panicking behind a rock, with Piccolo later chewing him out because of it, nearly dismissing him [[note]]As Piccolo was born basically to avenge his father/himself and kill Gohan's dad, it kinda makes sense why he couldn't understand why Gohan ran away.[[/note]], whilst Krillin was more sympathetic and understanding. He later grows out of his fear by the end of the Vegeta arc, battling alongside his senior warriors with guys like [[EvilOverlord Frieza]] and [[MixAndMatchMan Cell]]. |
| 238 | * HasAType: On top of ''Super'' revealing an attraction to strong willed women hardwired into his Saiyan genes, a factor that hints at his growing relationship with Videl is her cutting her hair for him (thinking he has a thing for short-haired girls). |
| 239 | * TheHeart: Shares this role with his father, Goku. Their positive outlooks on life and their gentle, but powerful natures help change almost everyone in their group into better people. Piccolo says several times throughout the series that Gohan is one of the only reasons why he isn't like Vegeta. |
| 240 | * HeroProtagonist: He was originally meant to replace Goku as the main hero after his death to Cell. However, Toriyama felt that Gohan wasn't suitable for the role and brought Goku back. In a later interview, Toriyama admitted that he noticed that Gohan was much happier being a scholar than he ever was being a warrior. |
| 241 | * HeroesPreferSwords: He was originally meant to be the true main character of ''Z''. That said, his most prominent weapons were a shortsword Piccolo gifted him, and the Z-Sword, thought to be the InUniverse InfinityPlusOneSword by the Supreme Kai. |
| 242 | * HeroicBSOD: In ''Super'', Gohan suffers this when [[spoiler:Piccolo sacrifices himself to save him from Frieza.]] He also falls into one when Goku ends up dead because he wouldn't finish off Cell when he had the chance. Krillin barely helps him out of it before Cell teleports back and tries to blow up the solar system. |
| 243 | * HeroicBuild: After he gains his Ultimate form, Gohan becomes noticeably more muscular to the point that he surpasses his father. Before then, Gohan had a more lean build. He loses this build after he loses access to his Ultimate form due to neglecting his training. |
| 244 | * HeroicLineage: He is the son of Goku, a man who've saved the world three times before he was even born. |
| 245 | * HeroicRROD: Not long after Piccolo is killed protecting him in ''Super'', Gohan pours his remaining energy to signal his father so he can teleport to Earth. |
| 246 | * HeroicSacrifice: Nonlethal version; this is how he gets taken out of the Tournament of Power. [[spoiler:He grabs Dyspo and lets Frieza ring them both out, in a manner not unlike his father's first death against Raditz.]] |
| 247 | * HeroicSelfDeprecation: Gohan showed hints of this in the Cell Arc by berating himself for his docile nature. At the end with Gohan's final showdown with Cell, Goku tells Gohan to stop attacking himself, and pushes him to believe in himself. |
| 248 | * HeroicWillpower: Even as a kid, his willpower was tremendous. He managed to resist the frenzy of the Great Ape form enough to direct his animalistic fury on Vegeta alone when he and Goku first fought, and despite going AxCrazy as a [[UnstoppableRage rage-filled]] Super Saiyan 2, he managed to gain enough of a grip on himself to rein in such a ferocious rage (which mind you is greater than a first-time Super Saiyan's) into a TranquilFury, keep his fight strictly between him and Cell as well as take the time to pull innocent bystanders out of the crossfire, when he could have easily gone berserk and killed everyone in the vicinity. |
| 249 | * HeroismWontPayTheBills: Part of the reason Chi-Chi is so dead-set against him being a martial artist and pushes him into getting a proper education. The only time she ''wants'' Gohan to fight is not to save the world, but in the World Martial Arts Tournament because the prize money would more than cover his college tuition. |
| 250 | * HeroWorshipper: |
| 251 | ** Gohan thinks really highly of his dad. It's to the point that he didn't think it was possible for him to surpass his father, until Goku points out to him how strong he became. Even as an adult, he constantly calls Goku the strongest in the universe and the greatest fighter ever, even during times he was stronger. |
| 252 | ** He also adores Piccolo, saying he admires him almost as much as his dad. Until near the end of the Buu Saga, his gis were based off of Piccolo's clothes. He outright wore a complete copy of Piccolo's gi and cape during the Cell Games. |
| 253 | * HesBack: [[spoiler:In episode 88 in ''Super'', while training with Piccolo, Gohan regains the ability to use his Ultimate form. And with it, he has the power to rival his father as Super Saiyan Blue.]] |
| 254 | * HighSchoolSweethearts: Meets his wife on his first day of high school. |
| 255 | * HomeschooledKids: Since he lived hundreds of miles away from the nearest school, Gohan was privately tutored at home until he was sixteen. Sharpner in particular gives him a lot of stick for being a sheltered bookworm. |
| 256 | * HonorBeforeReason: Will protect the innocent ''no matter what.'' |
| 257 | * HopeBringer: Goku tries to make Gohan into this during the Cell Games in his bid to have Gohan succeed him; he's only half successful. Goku's friends think Gohan is too young to hold such responsibilities and Gohan himself has little faith in himself. Even so, he restores hope in his disheartened friends by standing up to Cell one last time. When Gohan returns after getting his power-up from Old Kai, he is seen as the last hope for the universe against Buu and raises the spirits of Piccolo, Goten, and Trunks. Unfortunately, this is cut short after Buu absorbs Gotenks and he's later absorbed as well. |
| 258 | * HorrifyingTheHorror: After becoming perfect, Cell was completely unstoppable and became TheDreaded to the people of Earth after he announced the Cell Games. This same monster is left shaking in complete terror after Gohan goes Super Saiyan 2 and beats him senseless. Cell is left so horrified that he calls ''Gohan'' a monster. |
| 259 | * HumbleHero: Much like his father. He saves the world from Cell, but takes no credit for it; he didn't even care that Mr. Satan had been living large off of his accomplishment. He also calls his dad the strongest in the universe, even when he surpasses him during the Cell Games and the last half of the Buu Saga. And when he is saving people as a super hero, he does it in a mask and is fiercely protective of his secret to the point of being blackmailed several times. In his words, he doesn't want his family in the spotlight. |
| 260 | * {{Hunk}}: Once he unlocks his Ultimate form as a teenager, Gohan gains a HeroicBuild that surpasses even his father. His voice, at least in the dub, also becomes noticeably deeper when he's dead serious. And even before he bulked up, he was quite popular with the ladies. |
| 261 | * HybridPower: As a Saiyan-hybrid, he has far more inherent power than pure members of either race. He can, in fact, become the strongest fighter in the universe if he so desired. |
| 262 | * IGotBigger: Between the end of the Cell Games and the beginning of the Buu Saga, Gohan goes from a child to a teenager. He becomes even taller than his father. |
| 263 | * IJustWantToBeNormal: If he wanted, he could be the most powerful being in the entire universe, but he'd much rather have a normal life. He succeeds in the DistantFinale. |
| 264 | * IThoughtEveryoneCouldDoThat: |
| 265 | ** Having grown up with literally ''everyone'' in his life having superhuman powers, he doesn't realize that normal people ''cannot'' effortlessly jump 30 feet into the air. |
| 266 | ** He doesn't realize that since common crooks are far less dangerous than Frieza and Cell, Videl can take care of herself in fights with them. Then again, he's right to be worried about her, since she often makes mistakes dealing with terrain hazards (cliffs, falling objects) that could easily prove fatal without his help. |
| 267 | * IWantMyMommy: As a kid, when he got lost and when he got kidnapped by Piccolo, you can hear him saying this. |
| 268 | * IWarnedYou: Says this word-for-word to Cell after becoming a Super Saiyan 2, killing all the Cell Jrs, and putting the fear of God into Cell after beating him senseless. Gohan ''did'' warn Cell of what would happen if he made him mad, but those pesky BloodKnight tendencies that Cell inherited from the Saiyans just wouldn't let him pass up the challenge. |
| 269 | * IconicSequelCharacter: He isn't introduced until the very beginning of ''Z'', but he easily ends up as one of the series' most recognizable characters. |
| 270 | * IcyBlueEyes: When he becomes a Super Saiyan 2 for the first time, he becomes cold and sadistic, much like his father when he first went Super Saiyan. His eyes also become a more piercing blue, losing the InnocentBlueEyes he had as a mastered Super Saiyan. |
| 271 | * IdealHero: He parodies one when he's dressed as the Great Saiyaman. When he's in SuperHero mode, he's a mixture of Power Rangers and Franchise/{{Superman}} with his poses and grand speeches. In reality, he's really a ClassicAntiHero, since he is always bogged down with self-doubt and lives in his father's shadow. |
| 272 | * ImprobableInfantSurvival: From the Saiyan Saga to the Cell Saga, he was the only Z Warrior not to die at some point. Though he does die during the Buu saga, he's already in his late teens by that point. |
| 273 | * IncompletelyTrained: A large part of why he struggles in the later arcs. Due to Chi-Chi's overprotectiveness and Goku's absence, he's never fully trained himself in the use of his natural abilities. |
| 274 | * IncorruptiblePurePureness: Like his father, he has a pure heart that manages to turn the former Demon King into a good and honorable person. He can also ride the Flying Nimbus even when he's a teenager. |
| 275 | * InfinityPlusOneSword: He trained using the Z-Sword, which the Supreme Kai thought was the greatest weapon in Universe 7. That said, it might just be an extremely heavy Greatsword, as the true power was from the Old Kai sealed inside. |
| 276 | * InformedAttribute: |
| 277 | ** In ''GT'', Gohan is stated to have kept up his training, being stronger than his brother Goten. However, this is never shown, as Gohan both immediately gets infected by Baby while he was losing his battle against the infected Goten, and his (only) battle against minor villain Rilldo ends with him needing to be saved by Uub. |
| 278 | ** Toriyama states that [[spoiler:Gohan Beast]] has a rather scary expression on his face, although in all honesty, there's not much difference between this expression and him scowling normally. |
| 279 | * InformedFlaw: |
| 280 | ** A few characters such as Piccolo and Goku himself, call Gohan a SpoiledBrat when not putting his all into fighting his opponent. While Gohan ''does'' have it better than the likes of Goku living on his own, Gohan seems to be a pretty well mannered kid, though it could just be characters commenting that he doesn't have the luxury of holding back in fights like he'd prefer. |
| 281 | ** Despite being quite muscular in the Buu Saga, Vegeta can tell at a glance that he hasn't been training, and Sharpner dismisses the notion that he could be the "Golden Warrior" because he doesn't have the physique for fighting. This is more believable in later media where he has in fact lost a lot of muscle mass. |
| 282 | * InnocentBlueEyes: Since he mastered Super Saiyan along with his father in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, his eyes are just as innocent as normal. It's not until he becomes a Super Saiyan 2 that he gains the IcyBlueEyes that the Super Saiyans are known for. |
| 283 | * InSpiteOfANail: While it's not as bad as outright losing it, and it did get better eventually, like his BadFuture counterpart, he becomes a HandicappedBadass who, while fighting androids (well, one in the main timeline), becomes unable to use his left arm. |
| 284 | * IntergenerationalFriendship: He is extremely close with Krillin, who is a year older than his father. During the later parts of the Saiyan Saga and throughout the Namek Saga, they were practically BashBrothers. Heck, most of Gohan's friends were his father's friends first. Piccolo is still clearly an adult [[note]]albeit technically only four years older[[/note]] while Gohan is a child, and Trunks is still a kid into his adulthood. |
| 285 | * InterspeciesRomance: He (a [[HalfHumanHybrid half-saiyan, half-human]]) ends up falling in love and later marrying Videl (a human). |
| 286 | * InvoluntaryShapeshifting: Like his father, he turns into a great ape whenever he looks at the full moon while he has his tail, which was once used to the heroes' advantage as a [[SummonBiggerFish last resort in the battle against Vegeta.]] |
| 287 | * ItsAllMyFault: Blames himself for his father's second death, when he could've just instantly slaughtered Cell and instead decided to [[RevengeBeforeReason torture him]], which led to Cell having a VillainousBreakdown and attempt a TakingYouWithMe, prompting [[ChronicHeroSyndrome Goku]] to step up and sacrifice himself for Earth's sake. |
| 288 | * ItsPersonal: After Cell crushes Android 16's head, this pushes Gohan over the edge. He makes it his personal mission to make Cell suffer as much as possible before killing him. This backfires since it leads to Goku getting killed and Future Trunks murdered when Cell returns. Before Vegeta recklessly attacked Cell, Gohan expressed happiness that Cell was alive, so he can kill him to avenge his father. |
| 289 | * JockDadNerdSon: While Gohan could give his father a run for his money in combat, he prefers to live a normal life as an intellectual and leaves the martial arts lifestyle to his father. |
| 290 | * JuggleFu: In his battle against Cell, upon becoming Super Saiyan 2 in a blaze of glory and awesome, he snatches back the bag of senzu from Cell, gets attacked by several mini-Cells, throws the bag in the air, brushes his opponents away and... casually waits for the bag to fall in his hand, with his near-permanent DeathGlare locked on the horizon. |
| 291 | * JustAKid: Although not as much as his father, he was often underestimated as a child. Like his father before him, he quickly proves them wrong, especially when mad. |
| 292 | * KamehameHadoken: Later learned to do after training with his dad in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. |
| 293 | * KidHero: Was this until the Buu Saga. He helped his father and friends fight against beings such as the Saiyans, Frieza, and the androids, going as far as to kill Perfect Cell. |
| 294 | * KidHeroAllGrownUp: He starts out ''Z'' as a four-year-old boy, and by the end, he is in his mid-to-late twenties. |
| 295 | * LamarckWasRight: When Gohan asked if he can really become a Super Saiyan, Goku answered, 'Of course, you're my son after all'. |
| 296 | * LargeHam: While Gohan is quite shy and mild mannered, he drops all of this the moment he dresses as the Great Saiyaman. He gives grand speeches, strike poses, and even dances in the name of justice. |
| 297 | * TheLeader: Goku makes Gohan the levelheaded captain of the U7 team for the Tournament of Power. His job is mostly to come up with battle strategies and team formations. |
| 298 | * LickedByTheDog: His relationship with Piccolo, who was once the feared [[TheDreaded Demon King]]. After befriending him, Piccolo eventually becomes a good and moral person. |
| 299 | * LikeFatherUnlikeSon: Upon meeting him, Bulma is immediately struck by how timid and polite Gohan is compared to his WildChild of a father. While his similarities to his father do arise as the series goes on, he always serves as an introverted, duty-driven foil to him. |
| 300 | * LikeParentLikeSpouse: |
| 301 | ** Videl is one of the strongest women on the planet, just as Chi-Chi was at her age. The Funimation dub even had Gohan explicitly say that he's never met someone so headstrong and obstinate, "except for my mother." They didn't bother hiding this one. Not only that, but both Chi-Chi and Videl were both immensely more wealthy than their husbands. |
| 302 | ** Averted as Videl grew older, as she grows into Chi-Chi's polar opposite. She's still strong-willed (as shown by her completely humiliating Barry), but she's has a soft and compassionate demeanor that couldn't be farther from Chi-Chi's aggressive demeanor. She also doesn't worry about her child to insane degrees like Chi-Chi tends to, and supports Gohan no matter what he wants to do, whereas Chi-Chi is very controlling of Goku (not that he minds). |
| 303 | * LightningBruiser: In his Super Saiyan 2 form. He gains all the power of an Ultra Super Saiyan, but lost no speed, something Future Trunks notes. |
| 304 | * LineageComesFromTheFather: Being Goku's son is played up more than his mother's side of the family. He gets his fighting potential from his father as well as [[AllLovingHero his love for nature and people]]. |
| 305 | * LittleBitBeastly: Like his dad, Gohan was born with a tail. He lost it permanently by the end of the Saiyan Saga. |
| 306 | * LivingEmotionalCrutch: His father is this to him. When Goku isn't around, Gohan tends to have less self-confidence in himself and it's his father's encouragements that inspires him to make one final stand against Cell. |
| 307 | * {{Lunacy}}: The Oozaru transformation. |
| 308 | * MadeOfIron: As a Super Saiyan 2, Cell's attacks are a NoSell to Gohan. Subverted when Cell actually damages Gohan's arm after he saves Vegeta. |
| 309 | * MagicFeather: After the Z-Sword broke, it's how he justified the legend (it was extremely heavy even without being in the stone, so he figured it was a glorified training weight). Subverted because the true power came from the Old Kai sealed within unlocking his full potential. |
| 310 | * MajorInjuryUnderreaction: |
| 311 | ** In his battle with Cell as a [=SSJ2=], his arm looked like it was in pain, but Gohan was able to keep his composure very well. |
| 312 | ** He's amazingly stoic about his eyes and body rotting out during his fight with Lavender, and fights through the pain with only his desire for Goku's approval keeping him going. He was unconscious and on death's door at end of the fight before Goku gave him a senzu bean. He also is fairly unfazed after [[spoiler: shrugging off being fried by Frieza's energy cage (something that had just seriously hurt Dyspo) and when [[StuffBlowingUp Frieza nuked him and Dyspo off the stage at the Tournament of Power]].]] |
| 313 | * ManlyTears: When he went Super Saiyan 2 for the first time. |
| 314 | * MartialPacifist: Has the potential to be the strongest person in the universe; ''hates'' watching people get hurt. He doesn't mind fighting for fun or sport, but he ''will'' take up arms if you hurt someone he loves or an innocent. |
| 315 | * MasterApprenticeChain: Although Gohan trained primarily under Piccolo, Goku becomes his master during the Cell Saga, passing on the teachings of the Turtle School: |
| 316 | ** Piccolo > Son Gohan > Goten |
| 317 | ** Mutaito > Master Roshi > Son Gohan, Sr > Son Goku > Son Gohan > Son Goten |
| 318 | ** Master Korin > Master Roshi > Son Goku > Son Gohan > Son Goten |
| 319 | ** Master Korin, Kami, and King Kai > Son Goku > Son Gohan > Son Goten |
| 320 | * MasterSwordsman: He eventually starts pulling off some sweet moves when training with the Z-Sword. Even before then, when he had to survive in the wild as part of Piccolo's training, he got good enough with the sword Piccolo gifted him that his regular diet involved steaks made from a T-Rex's tail. |
| 321 | * MeaningfulName: Half Saiyan + Half Human = Saiyaman |
| 322 | * MessianicArchetype: In the original Japanese version of the chapter where he achieves Super Saiyan 2 and saves the world from Cell's genocidal killing-spree ("Son Gohan Erupts!!"), the subtitle blurb of the chapter cover is ''"[[Theatre/{{Hamlet}} Savior, Thy Name is Son Gohan!!]]"'' This of course, is changed to "A Great Fighter, His Name Is Gohan" in the English version to avoid offending the religious. |
| 323 | * TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody: Just like his father, Gohan loses all sense of himself when he becomes a Great Ape. Although, Goku is able to guide Gohan to attack Vegeta during the climax of the Saiyan Saga. Krillin suspects this is because Gohan is half-human and not a full Saiyan like Goku, who couldn't be reached at all once he transformed. Similarly, when Gohan became a Super Saiyan 2, he became a cold-hearted and cruel Saiyan warrior, losing all of his gentle traits. |
| 324 | * MinoredInAssKicking: Became a scholar in the finale. |
| 325 | * MistakenForDyed: When Gohan is first seen in his Super Saiyan form by his mom, she quickly assumes he bleached his hair blonde when it really just turns gold when he goes Super Saiyan. In Japan, bleached blonde hair is associated with teen delinquency, hence her overreaction. |
| 326 | * MomentOfWeakness: Apparently, he considers the moment when he cowered behind a rock instead of attacking Nappa back in the Vegeta arc to be this. Moments afterward, Tien dies, and he blames himself for not being strong enough to prevent it. Worse, Piccolo ''agrees'' with him and chews him out even more, nearly dismissing him. Even in the Cell arc in the anime, it's shown that he ''still'' feels guilt over this, enough for it, and his other insecurities to push him into a Super Saiyan transformation for the first time. |
| 327 | * MommasBoy: Downplayed. Chi-Chi doesn't make every decision for him in his adulthood, he just has a close relationship with her. |
| 328 | * MoralityPet: To Piccolo. More than once, Piccolo says he's only a good person because of Gohan. |
| 329 | * MultiSlotCharacter: Video Games often divide him into his five-year old self(called "Kid Gohan"), his eleven-year old self ([[NonIndicativeName erroneously]] called "Teen Gohan"), and his adult self (simply called "Gohan"), due to their different body types making it difficult to combine them into one character. There are also times when Gohan is playable as the Great Saiyaman, who is either treated as a completely separate playable character from his undisguised self, or as a transformation for his 16-year-old self. Whether or not his Ultimate transformation ''is'' a transformation or is a separate character for Gohan also varies from game to game. |
| 330 | * NerdsAreSexy: Even when wearing orange pants and heavy glasses. He's been called a nerd in series. |
| 331 | * NerdGlasses: As an adult, he's rarely seen without glasses. |
| 332 | * NeverFoundTheBody: When he's blasted to kingdom come by Majin Buu, the Z-Fighters are all convinced he's dead simply because [[ICantSenseTheirPresence they can't sense his Ki]]. Videl even invokes this, pointing out they didn't find Gohan's body. As it turns out, Gohan was NotQuiteDead; the Supreme Kai rescued him and took him to the Kai's realm, and he was simply too far away for them to detect. |
| 333 | * NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: Gohan's Ultimate form. After accidentally freeing Old Kai from the Z-Sword, Old Kai performs a ritual to unleash all of Gohan's latent power and pushed them past its limit. This comes off as convenient, especially since Gohan had his potential unlocked before by the Elder Namek (though it could've just been what the Namekian could reach; he never said it drew 'all' latent power), and his unleashed potential pushes him to surpass almost everyone in the series. On top of that, not only is Gohan's Ultimate form powerful, it has none of the power drain issues of Super Saiyan 3, making it the best power-up in the franchise until Super Saiyan Blue. |
| 334 | ** [[spoiler: His new "Beast" Form from ''Super Hero''. There is absolutely nothing in the franchise prior to this that hints that Gohan had even more depths to his power beyond his Ultimate form. While Gohan did mention offhandedly he had been considering the possibility of a different way to ascend that wasn't Super Saiyan Blue (aka not dipping into Divine Ki) back in ''Super'' it is unlikely that it is related to this, as it is yet another transformation triggered from Gohan snapping ala his initial, iconic Super Saiyan 2 Transformation. Within this new form he completely shrugs off any offense from Cell Max and one shots him (though Cell Max was weakened previously from Gamma 2's HeroicSacrifice with the Special Beam Cannon. There is much implication from Piccolo and the setup for the movie that this new form either equals or outright surpasses Super Saiyan Blue, if not Super Saiyan Blue Kaioken and Super Saiyan Blue Evolution. There is no real explanation for what this power even is, if it's related to the Super Saiyan class of transformation, or how Gohan even had this within him when he's had his latent abilities unlocked TWICE already.]] |
| 335 | * NiceGuy: |
| 336 | ** One of the most unambiguously kind characters in the whole franchise. |
| 337 | ** Given a LampshadeHanging in the ''Battle of Gods'' film. When it's revealed that the prophecy to create a Super Saiyan God requires six righteous saiyans, Piccolo is quick to point out that Gohan and Goten might be the only ones who qualify. Goku, while good and pure-hearted, is [[BloodKnight obsessed with combat]] sometimes to the detriment of those around him, Vegeta was a villain in the past and is the resident {{Jerkass}}, and Trunks being too young to have a girlfriend (meaning Mai). The last one is obviously supposed to be a joke about how much of a prude Piccolo is being, although Trunks's kiddish jerk tendencies would call into question his righteousness. |
| 338 | * NiceJobBreakingItHero: After utterly decimating Cell at Super Saiyan 2, leaving him badly wounded and missing several limbs, Gohan decides to hold back and savor Cell's pain and suffering for a bit longer even while Goku and the others urge him to finish the fight, unfortunately giving Cell the time to regenerate and then try to blow up the Earth, leading to Goku's semi-SenselessSacrifice. Trunks was also killed when Cell returned more powerful than ever. |
| 339 | * TheNondescript: During the Great Saiyaman saga of ''Super'', Jaco calls him "Goku's kind of mediocre son". This is actually a mistranslation, as Jaco's original quote was talking about how average Gohan looks compared to his [[AnimeHair dad]]. This dates back all the way back in ''Z'', where Gohan design wasn't that remarkable (he shared many design elements with Yamcha, to put an example) which helped him in his status as an AudienceSurrogate, and even as a teenager, nobody thought he was remarkable until they saw him do things no ordinary guy could do. This trend continues in ''Super'', with him having short hair during the ''Resurrection of F'' saga that any Joe could have. |
| 340 | * NoSocialSkills: In the Great Saiyaman - Buu Arc, Gohan is shown being socially awkward and having issues socializing with his high school classmates, especially girls. He does outgrow this, eventually. Justified, considering how he was basically home-schooled growing up and interacted mostly with adults. |
| 341 | * NonIndicativeName: What's usually called "Teen Gohan" and "Adult Gohan" is actually him as a 9 year old, and a teenager, respectively. Subverted for the latter after the Majin Buu fiasco, though. |
| 342 | * NotHimself: During the Cell Games. Compare Gohan before he unlocks Super Saiyan 2 and after. Before [=SS2=] - a humble, soft-hearted MartialPacifist who makes it clear on more than one occasion that he doesn't like to hurt people, not even truly evil monsters like Cell. After [=SS2=] - an arrogant, borderline {{sadist}}ic, {{revenge}}-driven SmugSuper who eagerly beats Cell within an inch of his life and even deliberately prolongs the CurbStompBattle [[RevengeBeforeReason just because he wanted Cell to suffer as much as possible before he died]], even ignoring Goku ordering him to finish Cell off before he did something desperate. It takes Cell's imminent self-destruction, and Goku's semi-SenselessSacrifice to stop it, for him to snap out of it. |
| 343 | * NoNonsenseNemesis: When he goes up against Bojack and his minions as a Super Saiyan 2, he skips the taunting and torture and just proceeds to bifurcate Bujin and Bido, and blast Bojack himself off the face of the planet with a minimum of dialogue. And come the Universe Survival Arc in ''Super'', [[spoiler: Piccolo trains out the SmugSuper tendencies that ailed him against Cell and Buu after they re-obtain his Ultimate form, and teaches him to never drop his guard for a second, allowing him to stay up to speed in the fight as well as fight much more competently than before, as we see in his sparring match with Goku. [[VillainRespect Frieza even respects him enough now]] to wordlessly plan with him to eliminate Frost.]] |
| 344 | * NotQuiteDead: Got blasted to kingdom come by Buu only to narrowly survive thanks to the Supreme Kai. Everyone thought he was dead. |
| 345 | * NotWithThemForTheMoney: For Videl who is one of the richest people in the world. |
| 346 | * NowLetMeCarryYou |
| 347 | ** After saving Gohan and Krillin from Nappa, Goku sends them away so he can fight the much more powerful Vegeta without worrying about their safety. Then when Goku gets into trouble during the fight, Gohan and Krillin returns, saving him. |
| 348 | ** After Piccolo sacrifices his life to save Gohan, he goes through Hell and beyond to bring his mentor back to life. He also rushes Frieza when he almost kills Piccolo. |
| 349 | ** In the final battle against Omega Shenron in ''GT'', Gohan rushes into the battle his father is losing to pull the man to safety, despite being massively out-classed. |
| 350 | [[/folder]] |
| 351 | |
| 352 | [[folder: O-Z]] |
| 353 | * OOCIsSeriousBusiness: |
| 354 | ** Gohan ''yells'' at his mother after she attempts to forbid him from going to Namek to revive Piccolo. Up to this point, Gohan has ''never'' raised his voice to his parents; then again, Gohan does apologize for his actions in the anime. From his father's side, the only two times he has ever gotten mad at Goku were when Goku would not let him try to save Piccolo from Imperfect Cell, and when Goku caused the Universe Survival Arc [[WhatTheHellHero and had absolutely no plan to save their universe other than "Try my best and rely on Gohan"]] as [[AchievementsInIgnorance no one knew at that time that Zeno was going to erase them anyway and Goku inadvertently gave them a chance to survive]]. |
| 355 | ** He ignores his father, who begs him to finish Cell off before he does something desperate. Until that moment, Gohan has always obeyed his father, even more than his mother. |
| 356 | ** Any time Gohan loses his docile demeanor and intends to kill. It happened when he ascends to Super Saiyan 2 and again when he confronts Super Buu. |
| 357 | * ObliviousToLove: |
| 358 | ** Endearingly and ''completely'' clueless about Videl's affections towards him until it's spelled out in black and white. Once that happens, he [[ChasteHero tries to deny his own feelings toward her for a while]], but it doesn't last long at all. |
| 359 | ** He can't tell that Erasa has a crush on him either when she's clearly hitting on him while doubling as [[MrExposition Ms. Exposition.]] |
| 360 | * OnlySaneMan: Most of the time, especially around Goten and Trunks. |
| 361 | * OurWerebeastsAreDifferent: He, like all Saiyans with tails, turns into a giant were-monkey under the light of a full moon. He unintentionally uses this form to defeat Vegeta during the Saiyan Saga by landing on him. |
| 362 | * OutOfFocus: |
| 363 | ** Despite it being Gohan's inarguable high point as a character, one finds that Gohan (barring Future Gohan, anyway, who is a very different character) plays almost no role in the arc until his bout with Cell. He doesn't have a real fight with any of the Androids, he doesn't make any big plans or new techniques, and he doesn't even meet Cell until the Cell Games themselves. He becomes significantly more in focus at that point, but that's near the ''final episodes of the saga''. |
| 364 | ** After being one of the primary protagonists during the entirety of ''Z'', his role in ''GT'' is little more than a cameo at times. He is also absent during most of the Champa Saga in ''Super'', and not really involved in the Future Trunks Saga either, mostly because Future Trunks didn't want to disturb his peaceful life. |
| 365 | * PalsWithJesus: His father becomes a PhysicalGod, and one of his childhood friends is the Guardian of Earth, which is basically Earth's residential {{God}} in the franchise's Polytheistic pantheon. |
| 366 | * PapaWolf: When prima-donna jackass actor Barry Khan tried to break up Gohan's family with the photo of a chaste kiss that actress/idol Cocoa gave him, Gohan ''politely'' tells Barry to leave. When Barry starts ''shouting'' threats of paparazzi hounding them, Gohan ''politely'' tells him to stop or he will wake his daughter. When [[BullyingADragon he still didn't get the message]], Gohan grabs onto him, rushes him at hypersonic-speed, and stops just before a wall, scaring the living daylights out of him, and once-more ''[[TranquilFury politely]]'' tells him to leave. |
| 367 | ** Once again shown in ''Anime/DragonBallSuperSuperHero'', when [[spoiler: being shown of a video of his daughter being kidnapped results in Gohan being so angry that he turns Super Saiyan and nearly destroys his own house from pressure alone.]] |
| 368 | * PayEvilUntoEvil: When he turns Super Saiyan 2 against Cell, he embraces this mindset, eagerly beating Cell within an inch of his life and even allowing him to regenerate just to prolong his suffering, and finally, during their BeamOWar, slowly atomizing Cell while he screamed in agony. While this ''does'' backfire and end up causing Goku's second death, after all of the atrocities Cell has committed[[note]]eating 600,000 innocent people, killing thousands of others, blowing up an entire archipelago just to lure out Android 18, and making Gohan watch as he used the Cell Jrs. to torture his father and friends[[/note]] and planned to commit[[note]]methodically hunt down every last human on Earth one at a time ForTheEvulz, then go to other planets and repeat the process while [[LovesTheSoundOfScreaming savoring their despair and terror]] until [[OmnicidalManiac all life in the universe is dead]][[/note]], to say Cell completely deserved everything Gohan dished out to him and more would be a '''''massive''''' understatement. |
| 369 | * PhysicalGod: |
| 370 | ** After gaining access to his Ultimate Form, he becomes the first opponent to actually overpower Super Buu handily, who was roughly even with Super Saiyan 3 Gotenks, which forced Buu to absorb Gotenks and Piccolo to regain the advantage. Even then, after Gotenks' fusion time ends, Goku muses that Gohan could still beat Buu without resorting to Potara Fusion even with the added power of Piccolo, Goten and Trunks, which was only prevented by Buu absorbing Gohan. |
| 371 | ** In ''Super'', after retraining himself and regaining access to his Ultimate power-up. When he spars with Goku in Episode 90, [[spoiler: he's able to fight evenly his father as a Super Saiyan Blue, and Goku needed to stack Kaioken on top of it to knock him out in one hit]]. |
| 372 | ** [[spoiler:In ''Super Hero'', after witnessing Cell Max beat Piccolo to a pulp, Gohan snaps and transforms into Gohan Beast, a form that was powerful enough to effortlessly defeat Cell Max.]] |
| 373 | * PintSizedPowerhouse: As a child. By the time he was nine (eleven in the anime dub), he was ''the'' strongest being in the universe before the Buu Saga. |
| 374 | * ThePollyanna: A family trait of the Sons family. Despite everything he's been through since he was four, he remains a happy and relatively normal child who has a pure heart like his dad. It is this optimistic view on life that allows him to change Piccolo into a good person. Although, he did lose this trait temporary after Goku died stopping Cell from blowing up the Earth, seeing it as all his fault. |
| 375 | * PowerIncontinence: At the start of ''Z'', Gohan had great power that far surpasses his father, but he had no control of it; the power only awakened when he got mad. Even after training with Piccolo back then, Gohan's true power is tied to his emotional state. He didn't gain control of it until he becomes a Super Saiyan 2 during the Cell Games. |
| 376 | * ThePowerOfHate: His hatred for everything Cell had done is what pushes him to become a Super Saiyan 2. |
| 377 | * PowerStrainBlackout: When Gohan first goes Super Saiyan 2, he triggers it for only a second then passes out. This was seen in one of Goku's flashbacks of their training in the time chamber and was the moment that convinced him that Gohan could beat Cell if he could sustain that power. |
| 378 | * ProneToTears: During the Saiyan Saga, Gohan was very much a crybaby. He ends up crying so much that the [[EnemyMine still-evil Piccolo]] eventually gets sick of it and [[QuitYourWhining threatens to snap his neck]] if he doesn't stop. |
| 379 | * ProtagonistPowerUpPrivileges: He is the first to become a Super Saiyan 2 and the only one to receive a power-up from Old Kai, awakening all his latent abilities. |
| 380 | * PsychoactivePowers: Especially as a young child; his power is pathetic when scared, but when he's angry, it climbs and keeps climbing to the point where he can almost knock a full-grown Saiyan off his feet. Goku actually [[ExploitedTrope exploits]] this during the Cell Games, knowing that Gohan is at his strongest when he's angry and counting on Cell to ''make'' him angry. |
| 381 | * PunnyName: Saiyaman! (Remember that hito/jin means "person".) |
| 382 | * PurpleIsPowerful: Every time Gohan wears his purple gi to the FinalBattle of a story arc, he ends up being the one to defeat the BigBad. He took out Vegeta after transforming into an Oozaru, and completely destroyed Cell with a Kamehameha. |
| 383 | * RagsToRiches: Not only does he become a bestselling author eventually, when he introduces Ki to the world, his wife is the daughter of one of the richest men in Satan City. Quite the far cry from a country boy who lives in the mountains. |
| 384 | * RageBreakingPoint: Gohan is an easygoing person like most in his family, but hurting people he cares for or using your power to abuse others is a ''major'' no, no for him. With that said, he only truly reaches his breaking point after Cell steps on Android 16's head, killing him. That trauma on top of all Gohan has been through is what causes him to go Super Saiyan 2 and maintain his power outside his standard explosion of rage. |
| 385 | * TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: |
| 386 | ** He gives an epic one to Goku during their training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber when he realizes that Goku is holding back his power during their sessions, and Gohan is unable to receive proper training as a result. This forces Goku to drop his restraints and fight Gohan at full force. |
| 387 | ** He gives a brutal one to Cell after ascending to Super Saiyan 2 and started beating him senseless, taking the time to remind Cell that him getting angry and cutting loose is ''exactly'' what he wanted, and now that he's gotten his wish, he's terrified at the realization that Gohan is actually stronger than him. |
| 388 | -->'''Gohan''': What are you so afraid of, Cell? [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor Isn't this what you wanted?]] [[IWarnedYou I warned you]]. I told you what would happen if you pushed me too far. But you didn't listen. You forced me to awaken my hidden power, and now that you've seen it, you're afraid... because you know that I'm going to destroy you. |
| 389 | * ReluctantWarrior: Is this, in contrast to [[BloodKnight most other Saiyans]]. He doesn't really enjoy fighting the way his dad and Vegeta do and won't bother training in the absence of an imminent threat from a villain. Taken to a LogicalExtreme by the time of the Buu Saga, becoming probably the only character in the series shown to explicitly have gotten ''weaker'' since the last arc due to lack of training. He eventually remedies this with training from Supreme Kai, only to fall back into this in ''Super''. By the end of the ''Resurrection 'F''' Saga, however, he begins training again with Piccolo since he wants to become strong enough to protect his family from beings like Frieza. |
| 390 | * RememberWhenYouBlewUpASun: Gohan defeating Cell is often used to tell anyone what a badass he is or in Vegeta's case, was. |
| 391 | * ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated: After returning to Earth as Ultimate Gohan, he gets a BigDamnHeroes moment by saving Goten, Trunks and Piccolo from Super Buu. All of them were glad to see him very much alive. Even ''Buu'', who nearly killed him, was himself pleased, for BloodKnight reasons. Although, that quickly stopped when he started kicking his ass... |
| 392 | * {{Retcon}}: In ''Z'', Ultimate Gohan was just Gohan gaining full access to his massive stores of hidden power (which makes him more powerful than a Super Saiyan 3, but without the massive power drain, and without any form of Super Saiyan). In ''Super'', it was turned into a really powerful, extremely efficient transformation. |
| 393 | * RetiredBadass: Gohan zigzags. He doesn't actively fight after getting married and rarely trains. However, the moment something happens he is one of the first people on the scene ready to kick butt. After the events of Frieza's revival, he trains again with Piccolo, wanting to become stronger so he can protect his family. |
| 394 | * TheReveal: Just what is it that Gohan studies for a living? ''Super Hero'' finally hints that he's some kind of biologist or entomologist, as he can be seen studying moths and other insects (including an ant that turns golden, just like a Super Saiyan), but doesn't go into specific detail. Until this point, Gohan's chosen field of scholarly research hadn't been hinted at in the slightest. |
| 395 | * {{Revenge}}: When Cell returns stronger than ever from his near-death experience, Gohan is actually happy. He saw it as his chance to avenge his father. Goku even uses his death as a motivator when Gohan lost hope after his left arm is disabled. |
| 396 | * RevengeBeforeReason: Super Saiyan 2 Gohan [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim refused to just kill Cell already]], despite Goku and the others yelling at him to do so, because he felt that Cell hadn't suffered enough. It [[NiceJobBreakingItHero backfires]] ''[[EpicFail spectacularly]]'', as Cell suffers an epic VillainousBreakdown and attempt a SuicideAttack that could've [[EarthShatteringKaboom destroyed the whole Earth]], had his father [[MessianicArchetype Goku]] [[HeroicSacrifice not stepped in and sacrificed himself for the sake of everyone]], [[SenselessSacrifice which ultimately failed]]. |
| 397 | * RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Cell pulls every trick in the book to push Gohan to his RageBreakingPoint in order to make him into WorthyOpponent. After Cell coldly murders Android 16, who manages to talk Gohan in to giving into his rage, he ascends to Super Saiyan 2 and kicks the shit out of Cell with the same ease as swatting a fly. After Goku sacrifices his life to stop Cell from blowing up the Earth, he stops toying with Cell and finally gets around to obliterating him. |
| 398 | * {{Sadist}}: Gohan is one of the nicest and gentlest people in the series, even compared to his father. However, when he ascends to Super Saiyan 2 for the first time, he takes great delight in torturing Cell to death and causing him to have a mental and physical breakdown, to the extent that he deliberately drags the fight out purely because he wanted Cell to suffer more. |
| 399 | * SanityHasAdvantages: While he's definitely more powerful than Cell at Super Saiyan 2, Gohan has nonetheless lost a good chunk of his sanity and chooses to torture and humiliate the bio-android rather than finish him off before he gets desperate. This bites him in the ass ''big time'' when his decision to prioritize revenge and sadism over pragmatism drives Cell to a VillainousBreakdown and leads him to try to blow up the Earth, forcing Goku to sacrifice himself to save the world. |
| 400 | * SignatureMove: Like his father, he doesn't have any ki blast moves of his own, but Burst Rush (the brutal combo he gives Super Buu when they first fight) is solidly claimed as his. He's also rather well known for the Masenko, which technically isn't his creation, but since Piccolo only rarely uses the move himself, it's very strongly associated with Gohan. |
| 401 | * SmitingEvilFeelsGood: During the Cell Games, Gohan fully embraces this mindset after reaching Super Saiyan 2, taking sadistic pleasure in beating Cell to a pulp as retaliation for all of the atrocities he committed. He even drags the fight out by ''letting'' Cell regenerate at one point just to prolong the beatdown and make him suffer as much as possible. |
| 402 | * SmugSuper: During the Universe Survival Saga, Piccolo cites this as Gohan's FatalFlaw. As he explains, Gohan gets incredibly cocky when he beats his opponents down and drops his guard long enough for his opponents to fight back, citing how Super Buu was able to get the better of him as an example. As part of his training, he seeks to remove that from Gohan. |
| 403 | * StrongAndSkilled: By the time he turns Super Saiyan 2, he became this and increased his overall strength but also retained his speed and skill unlike Trunks who just had a rise in power. Over the next seven years in the Buu Saga, he starts to decrease in strength and becomes weaker than Vegeta. But during Buu's rampage, he actually gains all of his strength through the Elder Kai unlocking his powers and he now becomes the WorldsStrongestMan without fusion. |
| 404 | * StudentAndMasterTeam: He trained under Piccolo and his father in combat and has teamed up with both several times since. |
| 405 | * SuperiorSuccessor: Zig-Zagged. He was born with immense power and has the potential to surpass his father, if he was committed to actual training. However the moments where he turns Super Saiyan 2 against Cell, unlocking his full potential to fight Majin Buu, [[spoiler: and the transformation into Gohan Beast]] are all moments where he surpassed Goku. |
| 406 | * SupermanSubstitute: Gohan becomes a kind of Superman Substitute in the Buu Saga when he becomes Great Saiyaman. This hero persona has a red cape and tights and contrasts wildly with his soft-spoken introverted and nerdy bespectacled civilian identity. Like Supes, Gohan has to balance his hero life with his normal life and is suspected by his dark haired outspoken LoveInterest Videl, before she like Lois learns the truth. Gohan’s HighSchool adventures are even somewhat similar to ''Series/{{Smallville}}''. Although there are a few differences as besides Gohan being half-alien while Superman is full alien, Great Saiyaman is more inspired by ''Franchise/KamenRider'' and {{Toku}} than western superheroes like Superman. |
| 407 | * SuperpoweredEvilSide: His initial transformation into Super Saiyan 2 is a particularly chilling example, considering that Gohan goes from a [[NiceGuy kindhearted, sensitive little boy]] to a sadistic, cold-blooded murderer that would put the likes of Frieza and Broly to shame. Cell, a RoboticPsychopath who ''drank'' 600,000 innocent people, killed hundreds of others in cold blood, and openly admitted that he [[LovesTheSoundOfScreaming loves seeing people's faces twisted in fear]] and intends to kill every last being on Earth one at a time while savoring said fear after winning the Cell Games, ends up [[HorrifyingTheHorror so terrified]] by Gohan's demeanor and power in this form that he openly calls him [[YouMonster a monster]]. |
| 408 | * TalentedButTrained: It's often noted that Gohan has far greater natural potential than Goku, and sure enough, he does briefly surpass his dad during the Cell Games. However, whereas Goku ''lives'' for challenging fights, Gohan has nowhere near the same enthusiasm and has a tendency to skip out on training, [[WeHaveBecomeComplacent causing his power and fighting ability to decay]] and allowing other characters to surpass him in strength. During the Universe Survival Saga, it's noted that had Gohan continued to train consistently up to that point, he would have been undisputedly the strongest fighter in the universe. |
| 409 | * TalentVsTraining: Gohan has more raw power than his father and could potentially become more powerful than him. The only reason this is not the case is that Gohan doesn't really like fighting and doesn't train as much as Goku. |
| 410 | * TallDarkAndHandsome: Once he hits puberty, Gohan becomes much taller than his father and a bona fide ChickMagnet. |
| 411 | * ThisIsUnforgivable: Despite all the atrocities Cell has committed, including devouring 600,000 innocent people, killing thousands of others in cold blood, killing an alternative version of Future Trunks, and nearly killing Piccolo, Gohan is still unwilling to kill him and begs Cell to repent for his crimes. It's not until Cell crushes 16's head underfoot that Gohan finally snaps, going from not wanting to hurt Cell at all to wanting nothing more than to spill his blood and [[ColdBloodedTorture make it as painful and humiliating as possible]]. |
| 412 | * ThreatBackfire: When fighting Cell, he's at a distinct disadvantage. However, he knows that he can beat Cell if he goes into an UnstoppableRage and warns him of this, hoping to get him to back down. However, Gohan fails to consider that Cell is the kind of person who ''wants'' him at full strength for the sake of a challenge, and Gohan's revelation just makes Cell determined to keep pushing Gohan's buttons until he [[RageBreakingPoint snaps]] and unleashes his hidden power. [[GoneHorriblyRight It]] [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor works]]. |
| 413 | * TranquilFury: As a Super Saiyan 2, this is his natural state. Zigzaggs with this and UnstoppableRage during his fight with Cell. This comes back in full [[spoiler: after he hits his RageBreakingPoint against Cell Max, calmly demolishing the insane beast before blasting the top of his head off with a greatly boosted Special Beam Cannon]]. |
| 414 | * TraumaCongaLine: |
| 415 | ** Poor Gohan... First, he’s kidnapped and almost killed by his EvilUncle, loses his father, and then his mentor along with a lot of his father’s friends dying left and right during the Saiyan invasion. He then has to fight a galactic tyrant who nearly caused the genocide of all the Namekians. He also watched his {{Honorary Uncle}} and new found friend murdered before his eyes and his recently revived mentor shot through the chest by the same tyrant. After returning to Earth, he had to train to get ready for two killer androids that murdered everyone he loves in an alternative timeline, and is thrown into a life-and-death battle against a bio-android by his own father. Gohan didn't have an easy childhood. |
| 416 | ** In the ''Resurrection 'F''' Saga of ''Super'', Gohan's lack of training has far more dire consequences compared to the movie. He is almost killed three times and Piccolo had to [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifice his life to save him from Frieza]]. By the end, Gohan can only lament that [[ItsAllMyFault Piccolo wouldn't have died if he kept training]]. By the end of the saga, he decides to train again so he can protect his family and friends. |
| 417 | * TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening: Both of his Super Saiyan transformations. First, in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, he unleashes his Super Saiyan power by knowing that no one can save him all of the time and realized he needed his power in a life or death situation. Secondly, his Super Saiyan 2 form after Android 16's head was crushed by Cell. Gohan then saw 16's innocence and desire to protect life and he finally broke through his pacifism and gentle mentality and dropped his restraints and awaken his rage. |
| 418 | * TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: During the Cell Games, after going Super Saiyan 2. Gohan shocks everyone present when he [[ColdBloodedTorture gleefully tortures Cell]] during their fight, going so far as to deliberately let Cell regenerate rather than finish him off when he had the chance on the grounds that he [[RevengeBeforeReason deserved to suffer as much as possible]]. Keep in mind that Gohan was only ''nine'' (eleven in the dub) when he did all of this, and such rage has been lurking inside him since he was ''four''. |
| 419 | * UnskilledButStrong: |
| 420 | ** As a child, he had a lot of unyielding power but only activated when he was endangered or got angry. As he would lose control during his rages, it would be extremely hard to control his power but he would learn how to keep it under control through training with Piccolo and Goku and use it at the right time. |
| 421 | ** In ''Super'', it's made clear that he's this with regards to Tournament fighting. Gohan is one of the most powerful beings in the world, but nearly every major battle he's been forced to partake in has been life-or-death no-holds-barred. Gohan is unaccustomed to fights where you win or lose via ring-out, so when he does a practice battle with Krillin, someone who has ''loads'' of experience in tournaments, Gohan loses quickly even though Krillin is much weaker in terms of power. |
| 422 | * UnstoppableRage: Whenever Gohan got extremely angry, he flew into a uncontrollable rage and it was very hard for him to stop. He zigzaggs with this and TranquilFury during his fight with Cell. |
| 423 | * VocalDissonance: Like his father before him, Gohan in the Japanese version retains his child-like voice even as an adult. Again, this is averted in almost all foreign dubs (particularly English) where the grown-up Gohan has a more mature sounding voice. |
| 424 | * ViolenceReallyIsTheAnswer: Unlike his dad, Gohan never wanted to be a warrior and only started fighting villains reluctantly. This culminates in the Cell Arc when he is send in to fight Cell and tries to convince him to leave peacefully as he is afraid of what will happen if he loses control. Cell, being a Blood Knight himself, is delighted to learn about Gohan's hidden potential and proceeds to do everything in his power to set him off. Ultimately, Android 16 explains to Gohan that pacifism won't work for genocidal monsters like Cell and that it is okay to fight. After 16's death, Gohan unleashes his full power and never holds back against evil opponents like Cell again. |
| 425 | * WarriorPrince: Though the story doesn't bring it up, Gohan is technically a prince with his mother being a princess and his maternal grandfather the Ox King. This applies to Goten as well. |
| 426 | * WeakButSkilled: In ''Super'', he actually reverts to this. He lost all of his innate strength and skill and has become weaker; he even has trouble fighting Frieza's henchmen. The only thing keeping him from being killed is his ability to use his finesse and skillful technique. |
| 427 | * WellTrainedButInexperienced: |
| 428 | ** During the Saiyan Saga. He trains with Piccolo for a year in preparation for the Saiyan invasion, but when push comes to shove, he breaks down under the pressure and cowers behind a rock during a team attack, which leads to Tien's death at Nappa's hands moments later. Piccolo furiously rips into him for it, but Krillin quickly tells him off, reminding him that Gohan is a five-year-old boy who's never been in a real battle before and shouldn't even ''be'' fighting in the first place. |
| 429 | ** He also gets this in ''Super'' during the Universe Survival Saga. For all of his power and skill, Gohan has never been in a major fight that wasn't a no-holds-barred life-or-death struggle, so fights where one can win or lose via ring-out are new to him. During a practice battle with Krillin, he quickly loses despite the massive gap in power because Krillin has much more experience in tournament fighting. |
| 430 | * WeHaveBecomeComplacent: A recurring problem for Gohan, as he lacks the drive to actively train when there's no immediate threat: |
| 431 | ** By the time of the Buu Saga, he's neglected training for seven years. He struggles against Dabura, a fighter he could easily have defeated had he kept in shape, and is no match for Majin Buu, who beats him so brutally that his loved ones and friends believe him dead. He makes up for it after the Old Kai unlocks all of his hidden power. |
| 432 | ** He falls into it again in ''Resurrection ‘F’'' and its subsequent ''Super'' adaptation, where he's slacked off to the extent that he's lost his Ultimate power-up and can barely maintain the basic Super Saiyan state. This bites him in the ass big-time; he's completely outmatched by the even more powerful Frieza, which leads to Frieza torturing him to near-death, killing Piccolo, and blowing up the Earth. After this, Gohan finally realizes how far he's fallen and he can't depend on his father forever. Once Piccolo is revived, Gohan goes to him for retraining. Unfortunately, he still prioritises his job over his training (he ducks out of the Universe 6 tournament because of a conference he has on the same day) and Piccolo has to give him some ''really'' ToughLove when they train together again for the Tournament of Power. |
| 433 | ** Finally {{subverted|Trope}} in ''Anime/DragonBallSuperSuperHero''. Gohan appears to have once again neglected his training in favour of studying, which enrages Piccolo, but Gohan later reveals that he ''has'' been training in secret and hasn't gotten as rusty as on previous occasions, though he has slacked off a little since he believes that Goku and Vegeta can be relied on if another big threat appears. Gohan can still go Super Saiyan at will and can go Ultimate with only a bit of a jump start of motivation, [[spoiler:and later gains an even higher transformation when his anger explodes called Beast. He also masters Piccolo's signature technique, the Makankosappo (Special Beam Cannon), thanks to his training.]] |
| 434 | * WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: Gohan's personality is repeatedly shown to change upon him first unlocking a new level of power, starting with his extreme berserker rage at the age of 4 that cracked Raditz' armor. Upon unlocking Super Saiyan 2, as well as his Ultimate potential unleashed form, he becomes arrogant to a fault, even somewhat sadistic, developing a tendency to toy with his opponents in a drawn out manner. While he always gains control over his power eventually, the change is very striking and noticable, given that Gohan is normally a very kind, polite, and emotional person who actually doesn't enjoy fighting very much. |
| 435 | * WorldsStrongestMan: At the end of the Cell Saga, he becomes the strongest character after becoming a Super Saiyan 2. By the end of the Buu arc, he was the strongest unfused character after Old Kai unlocked his full power. However, he falls behind both times [[BrilliantButLazy because he lacks the dedication and interest to train consistently]] unlike his father and Vegeta and is more interested in academics than fighting. By the time of ''Resurrection 'F''', he can only go up to a base Super Saiyan, and his poor performance during that time and the universe being in danger ''[[TheWorldIsAlwaysDoomed again]]'' causes him to start training again. Despite all of this, Goku and Vegeta agree that Gohan's potential far exceeds either of theirs, even after they unlock Super Saiyan Blue, and if he fully committed himself to training like they did, Gohan would be the undisputed strongest being in Universe 7. [[spoiler:However in ''Super Hero'', Gohan unlocks his Gohan Beast form, which was powerful enough to destroy Cell Max.]] |
| 436 | * TheWorfEffect: |
| 437 | ** When he ascends to Super Saiyan 2, he runs circles around Perfect Cell, and it's soon made clear that Cell is laughably outclassed. After self-destructing, Cell comes back [[CameBackStrong super perfect]], and proves how much stronger he is now when Gohan takes the bullet for an attack meant for Vegeta, crippling his arm and bottlenecking his power to less than half. |
| 438 | ** Despite being rusty, he puts up a decent fight against Dabura, who's stated to be as powerful as Perfect Cell. When Majin Buu is revived, Gohan is completely outmatched and almost killed. |
| 439 | ** In ''Battle of Gods'' and the ''Super'' adaptation, Gohan was among the heroes Beerus easily dealt with (though in the movie, he was the first to actually touch him... for one second before being taken down). This is especially of note since, on account of the movie and adaptation happening after the Buu Saga, Gohan had to have been the strongest of the Saiyans and the heroes, but considering his tendency to slack off during peaceful times and Goku and Vegeta continuously training, they might've caught up and surpassed him. |
| 440 | ** During ''Resurrection 'F''' and the ''Super'' adaptation, Gohan proves able to handle most of Frieza's army by himself, despite having slacked off on training so much that he's lost his Ultimate power-up. Then Frieza enters the fray and proves [[LookWhatICanDoNow how much stronger he is now]] by nearly killing him, either by punching him so hard his heart stops (movie) or torturing him with BeamSpam until he's left crippled on the ground (''Super''). |
| 441 | ** In the Universe Survival Saga, he's retrained himself and regained his Potential Unleashed form, which allows him to hold his own against Super Saiyan Blue Goku and actually pressure him. Then Goku breaks out the Super Saiyan Blue Kaio-ken and [[OneHitKO knocks Gohan out with a single punch]]. |
| 442 | * WorfHadTheFlu: He struggles against Dabura during the Buu Saga, because he had neglected his training for seven years; Vegeta himself notes that Dabura would have been no match for Gohan had he bothered to keep in shape. |
| 443 | * YouKilledMyFather: A variation after Goku's gives his life to stop Cell from blowing up the Earth. When Cell comes back, Gohan is actually pleased, saying he has a chance to avenge his father's death. |
| 444 | * YoungAndInCharge: He was the youngest of the Universe 7 Champions and was appointed leader of the team because of his intelligence. |
| 445 | [[/folder]] |
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