History Characters / DragonBallSonGohan

* 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-

* DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength: He broke a lot of dishes and furniture along with his dad when trying to learn to use Super Saiyan in everyday life.

* TheDogBitesBack: He's put through the wringer by his EvilUncle Raditz, but makes him suffer dearly for traumatizing him. Let's start off with-

* 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 responsiblity to take care of his daughter. Because hes 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.

* TheHero: 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.

* 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.

* FatalFlaw: [[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.

* {{Mutants}}: Possibly. While it was initially speculated that Gohan's abnormally high and fluctuating power was the result of mixing Saiyan and human genes, later story arcs and interviews with Toriyama lean into the idea that high power levels are a mutation. Specifically, Broly's retconned appearance in ''Dragon Ball Super'' is stated to be a mutation and his rage-fuelled power-ups mimic Gohan's.

* WouldHitAGirl: Would beat one into unconsciousness actually, as he does in his fight with Kefla in the ''Super'' manga. She gives as good as she gets.

[[Characters/DragonBallSonGoku Son Goku]] ([[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesAToH A-H]], [[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesIToZ I-Z]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallBulma Bulma]] | [[Characters/DragonBallKrillin Krillin/Kuririn]] | [[Characters/DragonBallPiccolo Piccolo]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSonGohan 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]]-]]]]]

[[Characters/DragonBallSonGoku Son Goku]] ([[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesAToC A-C]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesDToH D-H]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesIToO I-O]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesPToZ P-Z]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallBulma Bulma]] | [[Characters/DragonBallKrillin Krillin/Kuririn]] | [[Characters/DragonBallPiccolo Piccolo]] | '''Son Gohan''' | [[Characters/DragonBallVegeta Vegeta]] ([[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesAToD A-D]] | [[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesEToN E-N]] | [[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesOToZ O-Z]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallFutureTrunks Future Trunks]] | [[Characters/DragonBallAllies Allies]] | [[Characters/DragonBallFamiliesAndFriends Families & Friends]] ([[Characters/DragonBallChichi Chi-Chi]] | [[Characters/DragonBallAndroids17And18 Androids 17 and 18]] | [[Characters/DragonBallTrunksAndSonGoten Trunks and Son Goten]] | [[Characters/DragonBallMrSatan Mr. Satan/Hercule]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallFusionCast Fusions]]-]]]]]

** Finally {{averted|Trope}} somewhat 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.]]

** Poor Gohan... First, he loses his father and then his mentor 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.

** 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.
* InformedFlaw: 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.

* CompressedVice: His pacifism is this. Before his fight with Cell, while he wasn't interested to look 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 he was understandably terrified), and may even have been the first one to impulsively try to 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 began and ended during 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).

* 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.

* GutturalGrowler: A rare child example. Funimation's Creator/StephanieNadolny gave his kid version a more raspy and growling tone to his voice, even when he's five years old. Creator/ColleenClinkenbeard would later give Gohan a less raspy kid voice.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** Despite training for a whole year to prepare for the Saiyans, he's borderline useless against Nappa and has a FreakOut during a team attack. Piccolo lashes out into Gohan for being a coward, while Krillin rightly points out that Gohan is ''five'', has never been in a real battle before, and really shouldn't be here to begin with.
** Gohan becomes weaker because he doesn't keep up with his training, just like how real world athletics can get out of shape when they stop training. After all, just because someone has the [[TheGift god-given gift]] to do something extremely well, doesn't mean they actually like the activity they're gifted in.
** He gets DemotedToExtra in ''Super'' and ''GT'' because he's busy with a career in academia and looking after his family. Despite being one of the Earth's primary defenders in his youth, he still has adult responsibilities to which he needs to attend once the world isn't being threatened by an OmnicidalManiac every couple of years.

* 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.
* 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.
* 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.

** 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 unodubtedly 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.

* 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 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.

* 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 and even Frieza when properly provoked.

* TheReveal: Just what is it that Gohan studies for a living? ''Super Hero'' finally hints that he's some kind of biologist or lepidopterist, 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.

* AchievmentsInIgnorance: 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.

* AchievmentInIgnorance: 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.

* HurtingHero:
** Poor Gohan... First, he loses his father and then his mentor 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.
** 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.

** Finally {{Averted}} somewhat 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.]]

* 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 RatedMForManly 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.

[[Characters/DragonBallSonGoku Son Goku]] ([[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesAToC A-C]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesDToH D-H]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesIToO I-O]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesPToZ P-Z]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallBulma Bulma]] | [[Characters/DragonBallKrillin Krillin/Kuririn]] | [[Characters/DragonBallPiccolo Piccolo]] | '''Son Gohan''' | [[Characters/DragonBallVegeta Vegeta]] ([[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesAToD A-D]] | [[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesEToN E-N]] | [[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesOToZ O-Z]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallFutureTrunks Future Trunks]] | [[Characters/DragonBallAllies Allies]] | [[Characters/DragonBallFamiliesAndFriends Families & Friends]] ([[Characters/DragonBallChichi Chichi]] | [[Characters/DragonBallAndroids17And18 Androids 17 and 18]] | [[Characters/DragonBallTrunksAndSonGoten Trunks and Son Goten]] | [[Characters/DragonBallMrSatan Mr. Satan/Hercule]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallFusionCast Fusions]]-]]]]]