Highlights
- Gohan’s lack of drive for combat stems from his desire to protect loved ones, not compete like Saiyans.
- Gohan’s arrogance when gaining power led to grave consequences in battles, showing a fatal flaw in him.
- Over time, Gohan matured and acknowledged his flaw, showcasing growth in battles like in the Tournament of Power.
In the early arcs of Dragon Ball Z, series creator Akira Toriyama divided screen time between the father-son duo of Goku and Gohan fairly evenly, with more focus given to the latter during his moment of glory in the Cell Games Saga. At the time, it appeared as if this was a setup for a proverbial passing of the torch from parent to child, which had been foreshadowed on numerous occasions.
The theme of older generations nurturing future challengers is a recurring theme throughout the Dragon Ball franchise, and there was perhaps no better example of this than the relationship between Goku and Gohan in the Cell Games Saga. However, Gohan’s eventual sidelining in the subsequent Majin Buu Saga of Dragon Ball Z, indicated that one of his character traits was hindering him from taking up his father’s mantle, and here is why that was the case.
A Hybrid Saiyan With Explosive Latent Potential
Even from childhood, Gohan’s mixed heritage tempered the lust for battle of his Saiyan side, contrasting the intense drive for training and fighting exhibited by Vegeta and Goku. By contrast, Gohan was gentle, kind, smart, and relatively shy. He was never one to jump head first into a fight, although he was quite capable of holding his own against experienced warriors, even as a young child.
Gohan’s lack of drive for combat is a consistent feature of his personality, and the only times he is ever drawn into battle are when his loved ones are threatened. In fact, Gohan derives his strength from a desire to protect others, rather than the more prevalent Saiyan drive to compete and dominate powerful opponents. That being said, Gohan displayed flashes of incredible power even from the start of the Saiyan Saga of Dragon Ball Z, when he was only four or five years old.
Unleashing His Dormant Strength
Anytime someone threatened his family or friends, Gohan’s rage would immediately empower him, to the point where he could momentarily take on adult Saiyans such as Raditz, Nappa, and even Vegeta. These outbursts of explosive power hinted at Gohan’s prodigious talent as a martial artist. Over battles against the Saiyans, and Frieza’s forces, Gohan demonstrated his blossoming power, until the Cell Games Saga showcased what was perhaps the greatest leap in his development at the time.
While training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber alongside his father, Gohan began to actively tap into this strength for the first time, resulting in him achieving the Super Saiyan transformation at only nine years old. Later on, in the battle against Perfect Cell, he finally permitted his emotions to erupt upon witnessing the death of Android 16, which triggered his ascent towards Super Saiyan 2. On attaining this form, Gohan began to dominate the fight and outclass Cell entirely, but this was where his shortcomings would make an appearance.
The Pitfalls Of Excessive Power
Despite his humility, intelligence, and compassion, Gohan has a tendency to be overcome by arrogance whenever he makes a major stride and attains more power. To an extent, this could even be perceived as him being a victim of his own strength, especially when it comes to achieving new transformations. In Dragon Ball Z, there were two particular instances where this turned out to be an issue, and it had grave consequences in the battles where it occurred.
The first instance came soon after Gohan’s transformation into Super Saiyan 2 during the Cell Saga. Upon realizing how much stronger he had become, Gohan took his opponent lightly, and this left him in an awful situation when Goku was forced to sacrifice his life to prevent Cell from taking out the planet while blowing himself up. Later on, after attaining his Ultimate form in the Majin Buu Saga, Gohan once again grew cocky, and did not finish off his opponent quickly enough, allowing Super Buu to gain the advantage and eventually absorb him, which was a catastrophic blow to the fate of the universe.
In this vein, Gohan’s tendency to become drunk on his own power and revel in his superiority over his enemies, has been a fatal flaw of his for quite some time now. He is incredibly fortunate that both situations were salvaged to some extent, in spite of his failure to take his fight seriously and finish off his opponent. From one perspective, this could be a trait from his Saiyan side, as other members of the warrior race have exhibited similar characteristics in such situations.
Overcoming His Old Mistakes
Fortunately, by the time the Tournament of Power came around, Gohan had begun to show remarkable maturity in acknowledging and even working on rectifying this flaw. During the events of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, Gohan seems to have overcome this challenge considerably in the battle against the reborn Red Ribbon Army and Cell Max. After awakening his new Beast form, Gohan wasted no time in concluding the battle, showcasing how he now understood the dangers of drawing a fight out for too long. As such, it may not be too long before Gohan fully matures into the warrior he was foreshadowed to be, and perhaps even surpass his father in due time.
Dragon Ball Zcan be streamed on Crunchyroll.
Leave a Reply