As a gohan diehard for 2 decades, It's not simply that gohan is misunderstood by fans. The problem is that 2 major aspects of Gohan's personality keep getting overlooked by the writers, his sense of responsibility and intelligence. No matter how much he hates training, he's smart and caring enough to understand that he should continue training to protect his family, world and even universe at this point. The fact that he has to learn this exact same lesson not once, not twice, but three times (buu saga, TOP, and super hero), is ridiculous to the point where It belittles the quality of the character.
@@thedredayshow9246The point isn't that he hates stuff like that happening. The point is him being able to not let that happen without being yelled at by either Piccolo or Vegeta. Nobody wants him to be beaten to an inch of his life, but if he goes through every arc having to do the same "I stopped training during peace" for the next five years, then people shouldn't be shocked when he gets clapped by a villain way stronger than the last one he faced.
"The fact that he has to learn this exact same lesson not once, not twice, but three times (buu saga, TOP, and super hero), is ridiculous to the point where It belittles the quality of the character." Welcome to Dragonball Super. This happens to Goku every second episode or so.
@@miniman649 That really don't make it any better. In fact, it shows how fucked the characters are when they aren't able to naturally progress, and instead have to forget previous development in order to go through them again in worse ways.
@@miniman649i mean gohan was training after resurrection f tho people just don't watch their own show, I think what piccolo was talking off is about training hard as goku and vegeta which I think it's too earlier for him to hang on but he still gets job done with resources and preparation given I don't think he needs to be scolded this bad
The part that really sold this for me was the goku black arc when future trunks saw gohan with video and pan. He was amazed at how different he was to the gohan he knew then he smiles because he realised this is who gohan wants to be if given the choice.
@@padraig-bobotia-maria5176 calling non-manga scenes in DBS anime as ‘filler’ isn’t really accurate. The manga and anime are being produced at almost the exact same time, with the anime being slightly ahead during production. Toriyama provides more or less a general outline of the story to both the anime studio and Toyotarou for the manga. Both versions are produced to fit their mediums. I would argue DBS is one of the few stories where the adaptation and manga are on similar canonical levels due to how it is produced. General anime padding isn’t enough on its own to be considered true filler. Edit: just for clarity, DBS anime isn’t a true adaption of the manga because the manga isn’t its actual source material. Therefore scenes like Future Trunks and Gohan hanging out aren’t filler, it’s just a medium-appropriate interpretation of the material given to the studio.
I wonder what the right solution even is. On one hand, I don't want Gohan to force himself to always train simply out of guilt and fear of losing the people he loves, like his potential is a burden that decides his life. But on the other hand...Gohan fully giving up fighting to pursue his interests is just not feasible in a story like Dragon Ball. I guess this makes Krillin the perfect mentor for Gohan? He's the one person in the group with a life beyond martial arts, and unlike Gohan, he has no trouble mantaining those two sides of his life. They should hang out more.
I actually think a apology from vegeta for what he did while he was a child would be a good first step towards healing plus vegeta probably understand what he went through has a child more than anyone since he went through shit with freiza
Toriyama's original idea for Gohan to become a part time superhero while he studies is a great end for the character. A way for him to fight only when necessary while he gets to live an actual life. Is Saiya-Man goofy as all hell, is it the silliest most unserious thing? Absolutely. Is it perfect for Gohan? Also yes.
@@ragnarockerbunny It's also perfect for Dragon Ball, because Dragon Ball actually started primarily as a goofy comedy anime. Like, Krillin canonically beats a bad guy who fights through smell because he has no nose.
@@ragnarockerbunny The Saiyaman stuff has to be some of my favorite material in the franchise (Mainly because of the anime filler.). I wish Toriyama played around with that more before it was abandoned.
As much flack as GT gets, they handled Gohan near perfectly. He clearly got what he wanted with his peaceful scholarly career, but he was still always ready for what could come.
You forgot having his neck broken by Recoome on Namek. Laying there, helpless, paralyzed, near death, no hope in sight. If it wasn't for Goku arriving with senzu beans, he would have died on a foreign world with a shattered spine. Good luck unpacking how Gohan went from that experience with the Ginyu Force to emulating their dances and poses as Great Saiyaman as a teen :|
I feel like I need to put it into perspective for those who still don’t get it. At the very start of og dragon ball Goku was 12. By the end of the cell saga Gohan was 10 (11 if you count the near year he spent in the room of spirit and time with his father) years old. I don’t think y’all understand, by the time Goku was just starting his journey Gohan had been through enough to put a planets worth of grown ass men into a mental hospital due to the extreme trauma. While 5 year old Goku was living peacefully with grandpa Gohan and learning the basics of martial arts. 5 year old Gohan was laying half dead on the ground with a broken neck.
I can imagine anyone who went through what Gohan went through would hate fighting. I saw a Plague of Gripes video on this once, that went into detail about how Gohan's experiences with fighting are always negative. Filled with pain and death and fear. Total opposite to Goku's upbringing, which was always positive. Goku was already basically the strongest person out there, in the original Dragonball. There are very few instances of him actually being in mortal danger. Their childhoods are so different, that it's no surprise they view fighting differently.
Yeah like the 2 times he's ever and actually any danger it's because of a world superpower independent government trying to take over the world, and when he was fighting what was at the time supposed to probably still be a demon of some kind in the story, being King Piccolo before he ended up becoming an alien retroactively. Meanwhile Gohan over here has had literally every single fighting experience he's had marred by the violent, rampant, and unavoidable deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, including the repeated deaths of the people he holds the most near and dear to his heart
Couldn't have said it better. Literally the only time fighting was really fun in his youth was when he sparred with Goku for three years in the Room of Spirit and Time/Hyperbolic Time Chamber. They obviously bonded a lot when they came out of it, and then _immediately after_ things get worse again.
A great retrospective look at Gohan and why he doesn't like fighting. It makes sense for Gohan to be traumatized ever since his uncle Raditz showed up. Gohan has experienced many near death experiences and watched many of his friends die from a young age. Not to mention that he was forced into the role of a fighter and is always pulled back into that role whether he wants to or not. It's no wonder Gohan doesn't want to fight unless he truly has to.
well no. its more how chichi raised him. he became a coward due to having no self-confidence. if he trained with goku an equal amount as chichi forced him to study he would have a spine on him. also he would be much stronger as well. he could have kicked radits's ass if he trained with goku even casually. chichi is a shit mother. she forced too much of what she wants him to be rather than what he wants. also chichi is pretty stupid and doesnt think things through ever.
Yeah I never thought about how a child would deal with these type of issues. Partly because the series doesn’t encourage these types of discussions. Would have been interesting to see Goten have the opposite reaction. Being addicted to fighting and having a very hard time settling into peace.
You'd think it'd be simple to understand with how often it's said by the character but that definitely isn't the case. Through the highs and lows, he and Piccolo are my two favorite characters
The funny thing I wonder can people be mad at Gohan for hating fighting because every time he had to fight it’s because the world is about to be destroyed or his friends are about to die.
Gohan hates conflict and the necessity for him to fight/the necessity to kill, but he doesn't 'hate' fighting per se. There are multiple scenes where Gohan is seen enjoying a fight but it's always seen when the odds are stacked in his favour because he knows he can meet out justice or when he's teaching others like Trunks and Goten. It's just not a priority or motivational for him. He just wants a quiet life with his family but these damn planet ending villains keep popping up when his dad isn't around.
Simply put, Gohan has a heart of gold with the heart of a warrior When future Gohan lost his arm, he didn't waste time to fight the androids as he knows every lost minute marks lives being destroyed, the carnage needs to be stopped. You could say it was not smart of him to rush into battle again but his impulsive urge to protect surpasses the fear of dying (Young Gohan v. Raditz)
100%. I've been rewatching/re-reading Z since Super has been on these long hiatuses, and it's clear that Gohan is the equivalent of a Nam vet at the age of 5. The Saiyan Saga was practically his D-Day.
@@Godzilla00XI was watching episodes 16-19 the other night and I was just going "Good God, Gohan is watching all his friends and protectors be murdered in front of him."
Something that we say in the black community about Gohan is “Gohan been in the field early. No wonder he wants out.” And that means essentially what you think it means. He’s seen so much trauma and death especially so early, and fought for so long, it’s understandable that he is TIRED. And doesn’t want to do it anymore. And I mean. In hindsight and in growth…we understand Gohan’s plight. I’d love to see him train and fight SOLELY to PROTECT and not for blood and death. But. If he doesn’t, then I mean it is what it is. Lmao.
I think it's his human side too. Not to diss it, it does make him stronger. But the Full Saiyan's are genetically built for this nonstop. So it's why Goku and Vegeta don't get trauma.
There's a tldr if you want (I got caught up and enjoyed the anaylsis of the video, sorry!) I'd like to point out. VEgeta is BY ALL MEANS traumatized. Yes, he had the benefit of still having his community until Freiza fixed that, he still wasn't SOLEY alone. He carried that knoweldge Freiza erradicated not just his whole planet, but his race, his culture and kept it soley on him to keep that alive or Freiza would forever win. It DEFINES him. And yes, he still had the few Saiyans left, but the pain of losing what he had still trumped them. Trauma doesthat. Goku was raised in a combat way, but not forced. Grandpa Gohan taught him in love, in peace. It wasn't until wayyyyy further in Dragonball did things actually get to fighting to the death, and by then, Gohan had his support system, his friends, and his memories of Grandpa gohan to have a healthy relationship with combat that he's able to define his own experience with it, versus the combat defining him. Going further into it, Goten and Trunks loveeesss to fight, but they both are 1/2 Saiyans but Also, grow up with in a 'healthier' manner and respect for it. (Heck, I'd even argue that Goten's healthy relationship with sparring is what helps heal GOhan a bit with redefining part of his own) But Trunks, with how he uses it and desepreate for Vegeta's attention, who is still dealing with his own, but buried Trauma, gets overshadowed a lil as well. tl/dr Just . . . .Iono, I don't normally get to dissect DBZ theories so sorry about overloading! lol This is a great talking point ^^ I just hope you have a great day. I think that trauma def was apart of the full Saiyans, not just because of genetics, but more nature vs nurture.@@BlackWingedSeraphX
@@ForenzaAudioGood analysis and you are right, Vegeta does have trauma too. It was just easier for me to look past since Saiyans prided their selves on so much of the fighting. But it is true he has trauma.
I think another thing that would go into that is perhaps the 'unreliable narrator' I can't thing of anyone else besides Paragus that really gassed up the Saiyan pride thing other than Vegeta himself and think even more that he was just using that as a self defintion. GOku is really just in there for the fun of it at the end of the day XD.@@BlackWingedSeraphX
Goku isn't a perfect dad but he doesn't get enough credit for being so supportive of Gohan's choices. Yes, he messed up in the Cell saga by assuming Gohan wanted the same thing as he. But after that? Goku has never complained about Gohan's choice to be a scholar or nagged him for slacking off the way Piccolo does. He supports Gohan's ambitions, even if he doesn't fully understand them. Let's be real, if one day Trunks decided he didn't enjoy fighting Vegeta would NOT take it nearly as well.
In a lot of ways, isn't Trunks sort of the same way as Gohan? At least Future Trunks. He fights out of necessity because in his timeline, there's literally nobody else. Unlike Gohan, though, he's driven by his vindictive feelings to train and maintain fighting, but it doesn't come off to me as him enjoying it for the sake of it like the pure bloods.
Yeah, you're right. I've always believed there's a reason why Gohan loves his father Goku and looks up to him, even if he doesn't like fighting at all. ❤
Yeah, too bad Gohan. You’re just a character in a show, we don’t care about you as a person that has his own ideas, principles and values. This is dragonball z, either fight and entertain us or you will just be a sucky character cuz we all wanna see people fighting. Imagine having the potential to be a better sayain fighter than Goku and one of the greatest fighters of all time and not living up to it cuz he chose having a family and a more normal life.
Just makes my heart cry for Future Gohan. He didn't ask to be born. But he was and he got to see his dad die, be kidnapped and forced to fight at the ages of 4-5, saw Goku's friends die and his uncle figure, Piccolo, die, saw Freeza and his men kill elders and children, saw Krillin blow up, saw Goku die AGAIN, saw his friends die AGAIN and all for good (which most likely turned him into a SSJ), then 15 years later after seeing 17 and 18 turn Earth into a warzone....he finally dies after decades of fighting. He deserves rest.
@@MikeThePike316 I mentioned "future" Gohan. I'm not talking about present Gohan. And even so, yeah, he shouldn't slack on his training. He should balance it better with his daily life.
@@mrm64 he stills trains though, but much less than goku and vegeta, in the manga its showed more cause in the top arc he fight on equal against the Kefla fusion and it ends on both of them being eliminated together, now in the anime they put goku against kefla for some reason.
Well that future Gohan is the original gohan if you think about it. If Trunks didnt time travel Gohan will be broken, lost and then die in a place god know where.
Even when he was born with an almost unlimited immense fight potential, Gohan literally was thrown into the battle against his will for that reason: his great hidden power. Of course he will fight to protect the earth, but he will not do it unless he is driven be because his friends or family are in danger, but that he isn't like his father (eager to fight strong opponents) is not enough reason for belittling him. Gohan is an excellent character within his own terms.
You could argue he wasn't taking the fight serious. He was toying around with Cell, his entire mentality and personality changed and he lost his dad because of it.@@ratillecebrasquedubitantiu4451
"Gohan, look after your friends and family while I'm gone." "You got it, dad! .......welp, time to not do any of that." If you make a promise to protect people and you recognize a threat, you don't wait for that threat to start killing people before you do anything. If you know someone has a chance of killing people you love, you don't let them hurt someone before you fight. Gohan made a promise, and he turned back on it.
I guess he meant that he's responsible for protecting Earth or rather the responsibility of being strong enough to do it. By the time he had a chance to prove himself the first time he ended up getting washed by Dabura and later Buu. Then when he truly got the chance agian with his power unlocked by Elder Kai, he got outplayed by Buu making a simalar mistake of playing with his food like he did with Cell@@therevolutioniscoming315
“Gohan is lazy for not fighting and not training!” Goku at 5: Trained alone in a forest as part of a morning routine Goten at 5: Trained lightly with his mom in a long period of peace Gohan at 5: Gets attacked by his evil uncle, then is brutally trained by his dads evil nemesis, and then is forced to fight the biggest threat known to earth and is called a coward when he doesn’t, then goes up into space getting his ass kicked by Friezas soldiers after nearly dying from a lethal highly skilled task force from Friezas army. Don’t even get me started on the cell/buu saga
actually, i feel like there should be a video about goku and the difference between goku, gohan, and goten. understanding perspective in these videos would be a good ways to help better understand each character more in-depth
Goku: Was an only child, until he found out that he was the youngest. Goten: Was the youngest child of the family. Gohan: The oldest child. Yeah makes sense
@@FollowerofChristSpidey that is entirely unreasonable. Goku made enough money to live off of for ages, just like the demanded. She promptly burned it all and then demanded more. That is insane, yes. It’s also unreasonable by any standard,
I think the fact Gohan dislikes fighting makes moments like his transformation in the Cell games or the fight with Super Buu much more fascinating. Contrary to Goku, Gohan isn’t driven by the thrill of the fight. Every fight against a major enemy is passionless and executed with the full intention to end things as fast as possible. He’s driven by survival. It becomes scary when he does gain the drive to watch his opponents suffer.
@babyninja1800 I feel like that blame comes from a writing decision rather than a character flaw. Gohan has never truly had moments of cockiness before. Has he let his anger get the better of him and not finished a fight when he could have before? Yes. But cockiness? Not so much.
Mate @@DParkerNunya , thats exactly why Goku died in the Cell Arc, Gohan didnt finished him of when he had a chance cause he got cocky and thought nothing Cell could do would matter
@@DParkerNunya gohan’s entire ssj2 segment was spent teasing cell not finishing the job ultimately getting goku killed. he definitely has the ability to be cocky
I do generally believe that Gohan does enjoy martial arts. As he has had one or two sparring sessions with Goku with no danger on the line. And due to the Saiyan side of his being, he does occasionally get a good kick out of it. He just doesn’t like hurting people or to see others get hurt.
I would argue maybe that's just cause well, it's his dad. Of course he likes to do things with his dad, especially when he's usually busy with so many other things
@@melissamurray8307 That's pretty much it. He gets kick out of using his martial arts and Saiyan hybrid strength for fun and even sparring occasionally with goku and goten. But if his family is the bargaining chip, he becomes desperate and panicking
Every kid wants to play with his dad and that play usually takes the form of rough housing. He doesn't like it; he likes being with his dad. I know guys who hate fishing or hunting who do those things because it allows them to spend time with their father. The issue is, as a dad, you're doing something you enjoy with someone you love. So you tend to assume that they love it too. As a dad you have to realize this. There are people unhappily playing pro sports because of it.
@@ghuff31theres SO much cases, it one of the most well known it's andre Agassi in tennis, was a succesfull legend, but has hoghs and ups that left that room to quedaron of he couldve done more with his talent like samprass did, and on his book Agassi detailed that he hated tennis with an unhealthy passion, sometimes talent or Big potential can be both a blessing and a curse at the same time, You Will be r xognized and phraised for it, but You Will have to shape your life arround it to not be see as a failure.
Yeah that’s why I love his character, he’s the closest character to an actual hero. Also I like the importance shown in him not enjoying fighting much, at best he could spar and enjoy helping someone train, but he is a scholarly nerd who prefers peace.
I think this video is a masterpiece. As someone who loves Dragon Ball and have ptsd, I find this not only interesting and well explained, but also kinda recomforting and vaalidating I guess. Thanks for your magnificent explanation.
It was always clear to me even as a kid that Gohan hated fighting. I didn't understand trama or what not cause I was a kid but I understood that if Gohan didn't have to save the day he'd be in the woods. Gohan's whole life has been forced on him, from studying to carrying the world on his back. It is no wonder that he lives closer to his wife's family then his own. He doesn't hate his family but with Videl he can be the true Gohan. A soft spoken man that gets little carried away studying nature. Videl clearly loves all parts of Gohan not just the hero side of him she met first. Frankly Krillin and Gohan have amazing partners that better their lives. And while we all joke Piccolo was the better dad (if he was, then just barely) it really is Krillin that Gohan copies the most. For me, a big Gohan fan I want him to finally retire the cape and gi, and maybe just maybe if he has to stay in the action he teaches Pan how to fight if she wants to.
You guys don't understand the mother son dynamic or something. Gohans reluctance to fight all stems from chi chi. She wanted him to have a normal life. When Gohan was boy he wanted to train with his dad but chi chi would prevent goku from taking him. That's why piccolo had to kidnap him to train him to which Gohan responded positively after conquering his feelings of being scared.
@@pyramidion5911 Did he want to train or did he want to spend time with his dad? My dad was big into sports and coached a lot of teams yet I never managed to learn to ride a bike or dribble a basketball but I still wanted to do stuff that made my dad happy even if I hated failing at it. Sides fighting and training are also not the same thing. They are damn close but training is testing yourself, bettering yourself. Fighting is the act of harming another. There can be a dozen reasons to fight someone but hurting someone is how you do it. Gohan only really fights when he's angry and being angry clouds your mind and does not reflect who you are at heart. Also Gohan enjoyed the nature of Piccolo's training he was still too scared to really fight Nappa. Him fighting on Namek is a mix of guilt and rage again not what he wants. Not saying Chi Chi had no impact on why he dislikes fighting but by the time of Super Gohan has had lots of time to reflect and he's happy as a non fighter.
Going back to his childhood and how he loved to look at animals and bugs suddenly makes more sense to me about his interest in his profession as an adult.
Because if his family were to be killed upfront of him, it would be his fault for not being prepared. He needs to train as hard as Goku and Vegeta, or the little family life he's built up will be destroyed.
@@joshku7488while I agree I still think it’s messed up to repeatedly put someone in a situation like that, he NEEDS to fight despite hating it or his family dies
One thing that really gets me is how it's Gohan's "responsibility" to fight. Like bro was literally just born and he's expected to fight aliens because he's strong. Let the man have his peace 😭
Boruto did it no problem, he even lost everything. Yet Gohan simps are everywhere while Boruto only gets haters .Its ok that he doesnt want to fight, its not ok that he hoggs all the screen time.
Gohan’s trauma justifies his beast form, it makes sense imo, seeing someone he’s seen die time and time again to this enemy he thought was gone forever, he doesn’t want to be violent, he doesn’t want to fight, he realizes it’s a need to be stronger. This snap is visualized as beast gohan
It's interesting to compare all off the young part-saiyan characters. Future Trunks, who also had a traumatic childhood doesn't particularly seem to like fighting either, but he trains intently and tries to keep growing stronger purely out of duty. He's the only one left in his timeline who's strong enough to protect it. He never fights just for fun or to prove that he's better than anyone, he just cares about being strong enough to defeat the threats he faces, and he would be perfectly happy to not have to. Present Trunks, Goten, and Pan all show a love of fighting, but unlike Gohan and Future Trunks, they didn't have brutal traumatic childhoods. Even though a lot of people died in the Buu Saga, the boys were largely shielded from it. They didn't see things like their friends and family being beaten to death or blown apart right in front of them, and it was all undone pretty quickly. Whereas Gohan's first exposures to fighting were life and death situations which always resulted in people he cared about dying, fighting was always just game for Goten and Trunks. Even when they faced Buu they didn't take the situation seriously enough.
This. My perfect version of Gohan that exists in my head is fully focused on being a teacher to the next generation that haven’t had fighting poisoned for them. Goten, Trunks, and Pan love fighting for its own sake, and have the potential to outdo even Gohan. It lets Gohan redefine training and fighting as something positive he can share with people
Bruh facts I don’t get how ppl have hard to understanding writing of hybrids and how Sayian side and human side sway their character development fake fans call it stupid plot or plot armor just because there not like goku when goku is savior universe while gohan was left as the savior of earth he like super hero for humans still being part sayian while goku is like hope it’s self or the light hence why gohan always had a lot of pride in being his dad son which big thing that pushed him every time he seen his dad basically make miracle even tho he doesn’t really like fighting all around
@@rileyrose5166 And honestly being that Gohan is the first half-breed Saiyan it’s his rightful place to be mentor to the next generation of half breeds.
This. I was looking for this. By this point, most people know he has trauma, but when u make this character more "real" compared to the rest of the cast, it makes him stand out as "lame" more in a Shonen.
@@hg06syndicate14Only because he is cursed to be measured by his fighting, instead of his intellect. Gohan could've become like Bulma, a scientist who creates great things. But since he started to show fighting potential in a shonen, the fandom doesn't care about any other gift, but him being able to punch things really hard. Because thats all that matters in a shonen...
@@DundGI mean in a universe where characters can blow up worlds how useful is that I'm sure bulma intellect would have worked well against frieza were being realistic and you are being idealistic
@@durrangodsgrief6503 It's useless. But how useless is it to be able to safe a world that has no great food, medicine, warm safe houses, shitty lawpess humans etc.? Gohans intellect and the work of the people can create the things that makes the world worth to be safed. Without it it is just a bleack world. He is part of what needs to be saved, because it has value.
I do wonder if they’ll ever do in canon proper what they did in dragon ball online with gohan. Where he still fights to protect the earth from threats, but he was able to combine being a great scholar and fighter to write a book that made the general population of earth aware of ki control and the advanced martial arts of the dragon team, thus sparking a new age of interest in fighting, and helping to shape generations of warriors to come.
gohan has no pride. unless his family at risk. he has no ego. why would he? all his friends are his old father friends. goten and trunks at least motivate each other. gohan has no peers. so he be chilling. and his dad been saving the world since he was born.
Honestly, yeah? Even Videl seems to have her own life in Super Hero. She runs a very successful business. Gohan just sort of shuts himself away. Actually sort of reminds me of Piccolo, who regularly went through periods of homelessness and basically living as a hermit.
Gohan is my favourite character since I was 11-12, I remember I saw myself into him, a peaceful boy who liked studying and didn’t like to play sports or compete under pressure. When I saw the Cell saga I felt like I was him, even when he finally raged and won against that monster. He was the type of guy I’d like to be. This video is the best introspective description of him I’ve ever seen on the web, and it helps me a lot to understand better my favorite DB character. I hope that he will overcome his trauma, definitely, now that he realised he must be trained in order to protect also his daughter’s innocence. I think he will face an interior struggle between its trauma blocking him from training and the love she feels for her daughter, and I think this love will bring him to resolve his conflict. Toriyama is often accused of bad writing on Gohan, but now I think he instead did a good one. But it’s time to help Gohan, and I hope it’s Toriyama’s desire too
@@lapplandkun9273why is that ridiculous? It's what Toriyama planned, he just last minute decided against it. I see no problem with Gohan being the hero of that arc. He was built up to it, but the writing was horrible
@@Valientlink Gohan was never intended to be the main character. I don't know why this rumor continues to see believers in it when Toriyama never once said that was his intent.
@@Cr3zant because Toriyama literally stated he planned to make Gohan the main character? How can you call a statement ludacrous without doing proper research lmao. He said in his own words it just didn't feel right. Not to mention DBZ was planned to be called dragon ball: the adventures of Son Gohan, which he had involvement with. As a wise man once said: check yourself before you wreck yourself :)
The issue is this cycle makes Gohan a stagnant character. His growth is stunted by the cycle repeating itself so often, so the only way for him to actually grow as a character at this point is for him to make a decision about fighting and stick with it, whether that's swearing it off or committing to training.
Exactly. He's had zero character development since he was 10. He learned hard lessons during his life up until the end of the Cell saga. Then the writers made him commit the same mistakes over and over for a decade plus. Instead of having growth, he stagnated and reverted. It made him look stupid and pathetic. Not even real people would have character arcs like that. Most people don't make the same mistakes 3 or 4 times when their life and the lives of their loved ones are at risk every time
As a fan of Gohan. What stood out to me is that he is the first Hybrid he’s literally built different than everyone else. In addition he detests violence because he is a pacifist. He was pushed into it. He didn't have a choice. Yet the irony is that he is the best fighter. He is unmatched at Hand to hand combat. And he has more potential then anyone. As it has been confirmed by his own Father.
Just to add on another point with the aforementioned Gohan being blackmailed and pressured to fight in the world tournament. When he eventually does, he's then jumped by two strangers and has his energy drained while everyone he loves just watches and does nothing. Yet again confirming whenever Gohan is forced to fight something inevitably bad happens to him.
The crazy thing is that he's never really been a bad fighter per-se, he just never wants his powers to be used, so much so that it occasionally detriments everyone, but it's not like he's trying to do that. He wants peace more than anything else, and is always more than content with his studies, but his life always leads him back to a path of fighting, an unfortunate scenario he can never escape because, try as he might, there will always be some new force, either from his universe or another, trying to cause harm to innocent people. His ssj2 unlocking signifies this the strongest, because he was trying so hard to get Cell to stop without pushing his anger over its limits, but couldn't. He had to be reassured that his fighting was a good thing, and watch that man die because he hadn't stepped in, which finally put his ultimate anger in motion. It truly is a shame that Gohan has to deal with a world that only ever causes fighting.
I think this is why gohan always seems to be one of my all time favorite characters. He doesnt want to fight. He just wants to live a happy nice life with his family and friends and i can relate to that. Obviously not to the level of life and death but i can relate to the wanting a simple peaceful life without life or death conflict.
You can't have a peaceful life if you can't protect yourself or your loved ones. He learned this lesson many times. When it finally fully clicked was when 16 gave his speech and got curbstomped. Then again when he let Goku die probably not even an hour later. He knows if he wants guaranteed peace he needs to be able to kill threats immediately instead of dicking around. Or worse, being completely outclassed. Real life is the same. If you're frail, overweight, and unprepared to protect people, you're at the whims of criminals. Hopefully they don't do any harm and just let you go in peace.
@ thats true. But gohan has a kind heart. You are absolutely right though. At the very least you need to be capable. Better to have and not need then to need and not have. I hate fighting and ill try to avoid a fight if possible but i know when i need to. I just hate fighting but thats because im an idiot and if i get riled up i dont know when to stop. Im too old to be fighting and while I neutralize the threat i also end up getting myself hurt all the time too. So if i get in a fight no one wins and it sucks and everyone ends up unhappy and in pain. But im not a smart person like gohan is and im also not a super powered half alien. Im just saying i get gohan’s point of view.
This one of the best character analysis I seen inna while. Always was drawn to Gohan & felt he was more relatable than Goku even after watching original Dragon Ball
You know, i have had all this thought process for gohan but im terrible at explaining things so when people say gohan is just a poorly written character i always think quite the contrary he is one of the best more realistic written characters in the show. Glad someone made a video that puts into perspective gohans feelings and thoughts on why he does what he does.
I actually relate to Gohan a lot; introverted, peaceful nature and hates conflict, but with a strong sense of justice and will jump in without hesitation despite his docile nature, in order to protect someone. I honestly feel like if I were put in Gohan's shoes, I wouldn't have done a single thing different, including going berserk against Cell. And you can bet my black ass would've become a cheesy superhero without a second thought. (The weird poses are like the one thing that I wouldn't have done..)
@@miquelr2353 that's not a contradiction. 16's final speech to Gohan drove home the point that pacifism does not always work, and some people have to be stopped by violence.
@@keyblader1985 Which is why Gohan would have never quit training. That 16 speech and death traumatized him. As did letting Goku die. The writers unfortunately don't understand the character. His weakness allows innocent people to be killed. Especially after his lack of killer instinct got his father killed, he would have become a hardened assassin, killing all threats immediately before they could cause any more harm. Instead he forgets all that somehow, becomes weak again, lets innocent people die again, is helpless, and gets an ass-pull power boost to fight Buu. Quite literally the same character development we had with Cell except worse because it made him look stupid, he repeated mistakes from lessons he already learned, and he got power he didn't earn. He was never a scholar. He was groomed by his mom to think that his whole life. He's always been a warrior.
“Have you ever in your life asked your son what he likes? He spent that year with you because he wanted to spend time with YOU! HIS FATHER! The man who spends half his time training, and the other half dead. Sometimes both!” That line hit way too hard for me after having grown up on DBZ and having seen some of super
@Xeno_Solarus It's DBZA yeah, but also it's just another point of reference, so what's wrong with that? There's nothing wrong with pointing out how a 'parody show' hits the nail on the head when the main show has to keep realigning the hammer.
I feel so identified with this man because since I was a child, I have always hated trouble. It doesn’t mean I can’t deal with trouble and fights. I can be competent in solving conflicts. But I just abhor the energy drainage I feel when those instances happen.
Note, when Piccolo kidnapped Gohan, everyone, piccolo included thought he was a literal demon. Which that surely makes the experience all the more terrifying for a lil baby Gohan.
This is brilliant. I was just discussing the cognative dissonance amongst DB fans. The expectation of where characters arcs are really versus what fans want them to be
To be fair, especially during his childhood. Gohan has always had to fight for his life. He never got to fight for fun and people always died. He should hate fighting
Same. Gohan's hinted himself that he doesn't like fighting if he can help it. ChiChi might not have liked her husband and son fighting during the first three sagas, but she didn't hold them back. If that were true, then how come each saga didn't end in tragedy?
@@bruh_bruh_the_bruhest_bruhwhich is weird given that she’s a martial artist herself and a warrior princess who knowingly married the strongest man on the planet who likely would want to train his children but hey atleast she lightly trains Goten right?
I think its also worth to mention that all he has ever aspired to be was a great scholar. Every time they needed him to get serious they reminded him of what he wanted for his future.
I think this is a fabulous case of retrospective convenience on Akira Toriyama’s part. As improvised as his writing is he probably wouldn’t plan something like that, so it’s very likely the pieces fell into place for an analysis like this to work. I think it’s a shame that you missed two important things for gohan for me. Both in the cell saga. He very willingly and happily trains with Goku, where he pushes himself hard to become as strong as possible. He isn’t training to make Goku happy, or to be a better sparring partner for his dad, but for the sake of the training, or the strength itself. He adopts his fathers goal of gohan becoming as strong as possible. Goku could’ve gone in the HTC with vegeta, trunks, or piccolo in that case. The second is Gohans primary motivation for not fighting cell. It’s twofold. First, which you did mention is that he wants to settle it in a Non violent way, which does actually parallel freeza very nicely as that’s when Goku learned the same lesson. But another thing was that he was afraid of himself. Gohans potential has always been his rage. When Goku turned super Saiyan he became an entirely different person for that fight. The fun loving peaceful martial artist gave way to a hot blooded warrior completely, almost mindlessly consumed by rage. Gohan was more afraid of losing control of himself, and of taking a life than he was if any past trauma or inadequacy. Gohan knew for a fact that if he snapped cell was fucked. He know for a fact that if he lost control, he was going to kill cell. I would argue, contrary to the primary point, Gohans actual loss of innocence was with cell. Where he realized mercy wasn’t an option, and for the first time in his life he didn’t just fight, he killed. I would argue Gohans hatred of fighting starts there. When he knows his dad believes in him he takes to the battlefield with no hesitation, it’s only when he realizes he needs to get angry, and that for the battle to end he must kill cell that he stops. He carried his innocence with him throughout everything and where it truly broke was when 16 died. As you said, it was the exact mirror of freeza killing Krillin. Gohan know, understood, and accepted what he had to do, he gave up his innocence to kill another being. Cell (and the cell Jrs) as far as I know are the only lives gohan ever takes.
Thank you. While the video would kind of make sense if we look at it in a realistic matter, the fact is that the story just wasn't written that way. Gohan didn't have any particular issue with fighting ever since the end of the Saiyan saga during which he got the courage to. What he didn't have yet as you pointed out is the courage to kill, which this time was resolved with Cell. We know for a fact that Gohan was built up to take over Goku's legacy, which he did after Cell until Toriyama changed his mind midway through the Buu arc. At this point his character arc was basically over, he grew up past what was holding him back so he could be the new hero of the story. So having him carry such a trauma at this point in the story would be bizarre, and you tell me something like this wouldn't be mentioned in any way, shape or form? Nah, just not possible
@@enzomercier2789 yeah. Toriyama writes in such an improvised manner that he literally changed protagonists halfway through the buu saga. He definitely did not intend for any of his characters to be taken so deeply, he writes comedy and action, not drama.
I'm glad I found this before I wrote the same thing. While I enjoyed the video, I felt there was a bit of projection. I don't agree that everyone misunderstands Gohans' feelings towards fighting. He stated it quite clearly many times. We watched him get traumatized and almost die multiple times. Like you, I believe Gohan's trauma died with Cell. I think most of his trauma was based off guilt. Knowing that his cowardice killed his friends must have been worse than watching his friends die. Especially because he knew the Dragon Balls could bring them back. This is why I believe watching their deaths weren't as traumatizing as everyone makes them out to be. That's obviously just my take. Formed over the last 3 decades of being a DB Fan. Mixed with my own life experiences.
@@HansDester yeah I feel you. Gohans story has been more about the responsibility of those in power. That’s why he loses control of himself and acts like vegeta Imo. It’s the first time in his life he’s ever had control of a fight, it’s not about overcoming ptsd, it’s about having the resilience to do what’s right, the right way.
Never watched a lot of dragon ball or really any of it, but when i heard the story of Gohan from a friend i sat there and thought, "Yeah, this is my favorite character i heard about by far" and when i told him he asked me why. I told him he seemed the most real, not wanting to fight others due to the fact that he doesn't dream of fighting others, but just finally being able to be at peace and rest, knowing who he cares about is safe.
Same for me lol. I got roped in with these yt shorts and everything I saw of gohan made me go “oh so you’re like the best and I’m obsessed with you” then I found out his tragic origin story and it cemented my already cemented love for him
Ive always understood what they went for with Gohan. I like the fact he's a big dork. My favorite scenes are just seeing him at high school in the buu arc. Gohan is arguably the most relatable character.
I really hope superhero is somewhat of a turning point for his character, you know with his literal most traumatic experience being presented to him a second time. Like at least have him train with piccolo and pan, which not only gives him time to not be extremely rusty but also time with his daughter.
The entire point of Gohan was that he was not Goku. This video does an excellent job at telling us what about Gohan is different from Goku and even how his journey through childhood is completely different from Goku’s. A part of me is always going to wonder how the series may have turned out of Toriyama was able to commit to Gohan being the new main character like he was meant to be.
I want to see a version of Gohan who trains not because he's having fun but because he understands he's one of the few people who can prevent/stop any threat to his family and planet like Buu , cell or when Frieza returned and finally goes down a path that isn't based on negative emotions like ssj
Okay, I agree with you on your points the only issue is I’m pretty sure Toriyama didn’t write Gohan in mind with having trauma that he should rightfully have from his experiences. So in the narrative/world it diminishes his character because he knows after each time like in Cell, like in Buu and beyond that evil will always show up, a fight will always show up and threaten his friends and family yet he keeps getting “reset” even though he’s smart enough to know he should be training. Because his character isn’t written to have trauma (even though we as the audience understand he should) and it’s just that he’s a reactive character so when he gets reset after stepping up again and again, it hurts his character because we are pretty sure it’s not gonna stick, making the trope of him being the strongest yet never doing anything about it making it the most annoying thing about him. Even though he’s a brilliant character otherwise.
I never realized that gohan witnessing his first fight as what it was would be massively traumatic for any child. It’s actually more realistic for him to never want to fight at all.
I think in some ways, it's even more complex because while his peaceful nature and trauma are true, deep down his Saiyan heritage does give him the thrill to fight and makes him even more self-conflicted.
I genuinely cried watching this. And not just a tear, but several, down my face. No form of media has made me cry like this before. Idk if it’s my current mental state or not, but fuck you and thank you for this perfect psychological analysis.
Gohans a deep character man, and hits home with alot of people for good reason. We grew up on DBZ man for some people DBZ taught us our morals as children. No shame here brother.
Really amazing channel! The video had great edits, music, and a solid perspective. Love the philosophy behind beloved anime/manga characters and hope to see much more! I feel like Broly would be a good next video
What you did wasn't describe Gohan you described an entire generation of 90s kids who are stuck in an anime loop in their heads because they always thought perhaps through their own guilt or through the words of others that their trauma doesn't matter and they have been fighting that trauma ever since. The endless reddit thread fights, the RUclips video responses to video responses the insane hours of watched gaming content on Twitch. It is all an attempt to escape that Trauma. Your channel doesn't have many subscribers but I hope it gets more. Your psychoanalysis here is spot on and I hope you continue to create much more content like this in the future.
I always always thought it's not so much that he hates fighting, but that he hates fighting for sport and instigating. He'll gladly end a fight if it means defending Earth and the people he loves, but he doesn't do it because he wants to. He will only do it out of necessity, He'd much rather be pursuing his career.
While Gohan is my favorite character, I think this what makes his story post-Cell Saga so frustrating. Most of the time, they don't really build upon Gohan's supposed "trauma" from his fights, and his story boils down to, "He's not into fighting, and woukd rather be a scholar." That would be fine if they left him as a background character, bittersweet as it could have been, but they know that people want that Cell Saga/Mystic aura from him, so they keep putting him into fights by rehashing the exact same storylines, and it somehow makes him a more static character than Goku at this point. Like, I thought the point of Resurrection F was for him not to let his guard down and keep up his training, but we're in Super Hero and doing the same song & dance 7 years later. And before some tells me, "Uh, He WaS AcTUalY TrAiNiNg In SecREt." He only claimed to practice the special beam cannon, a singular move. He was still so out of the groove that he couldn't even sense Piccolo, a skill so simple that his daughter, Pan, could do at the age of 3. Even at the end when Piccolo was scolding him to keep up his training, he agreed, implying that he was slacking off. I hate that Gohan can't become more proactive, because the moment he has any sort of agency, then people will bitch that, "He's becoming too much like Goku" as if training automatically means you share the personality as another guy who trains. Like if Vegeta can turn from a cold-blooded killer into a honest man looking out for those he cares about, then I doubt it's impossible for Gohan to learn not be completely against fighting. Despite this, I could forgive all of this if they showed how much he's been traumatized and how it affected him afterward. Unfortunately, Dragon Ball isn't that type of series, so any deep dive into stuff like trauma or generational divide between parents and children will either be ignored or be labeled as "overly-edgy/depressing fanfic dribble."
I just imagine Gohan dying after his fight with Cell from natural causes. Then it's easier to stomach the massacre of his character. The new Gohan is just an imposter. Because the writers write them like two completely different characters with two different experiences and personalities. There is just no possible way that the kid who learned from 16 that he has to be a DEFENDER OF EARTH would just quit training and let the world fall into peril again and again. He already saw his friends and family being hurt and it broke him. "I won't watch anymore. I'll never forgive you for what you've done." He realized he can't be a passive weakling and let evil do whatever it wants. It was the defining moment in his life. Yet the writers somehow think that lesson and trauma wouldn't stick. Because he makes the same mistakes over and over like a low-IQ loser for over a decade after the Cell saga.
I dont think Gohan should have to train constantly like Goku but bro has seen the world almost end (and actually end) too many times to not keep up with some sort of training.
To be fair, he is training. Gohan states that he's been training in secret. That's how he was able to use the Special Beam Cannon, and he was able to wear the weighted training clothes with no problem.
I hope Pan gets him back into fighting having a daughter who enjoys fighting and making his dad train with him. Like a reverse of his relationship with Goku, it would go full circle.
This is a level of character analysis I didnt expect to ever see for Dragonball characters after Totally not Mark finished his years ago. For such a new channel, these videos are amazing. You've got a new subscriber from me and I'm eagerly awaiting whatever you make next, even if the topic shifts.
While I appreciate the well-made analysis, the video does ignore crucial points in Gohan's character with Dragon Ball Super that elevates him past this synopsis. There are several: -Black Arc, where he was very frustrated that no one told him about Future Trunks' problems. -Pre-ToP Tournament vs the Trio. Gohan does state that he cannot ignore his saiyan heritage and feels the thrill of battle. -The Piccolo Training Episode, where Piccolo tackles his arrogance when he's drunk on power. Yes, Gohan hates fighting, but he loves saving others. That's why he became a crime fighter and eventually a superhero. The Great Saiyaman costume isn't something he got rid of either. As such I do not believe that basing every character moment he has based on his trauma to be an accurate interpretation.
I don't want him to become a battle-crazed maniac like his father, but it's about responsibility. In a world where big threats show up so often, he of all people should understand the value of strength to protect the people one might care about. Goku can't always be there to bail everyone out, and when he can't, he's one of the few with that strength; and with great power comes great responsibility.
So... Trunks and Goten could do the job just as good? Their fusion could hold up Buu of all threats amd they grew up in a healthier way towards fighting than Gohan.
Sure, but people are bad at doing things they know they should. Look at people trying to go on a diet. If it was that easy you wouldn't have entire industries around them.
@@viennasavage9110 1. they are kids and already got ss. They can grow 2. Their fusion still could hold itself against Buu. 3. This is a writing issue since the plot mostly focuses on Goku and Vegeta to keep tension. And weirdly, the stronger bad guys only appear after there is some way that one of them, usually Goku, can beat them. Imagine if Cell traveled back in time when Goku was still a kid. He would've won easily.
This video single handedly increased my respect for Gohan as a character and made me truly understand the cycle of trauma he’s going through. This video was amazing! Well done!
the way he was acting with buu falls in line. he trained, unlocked his power, hes been through this before. he knows his power is through the roof now, thats what always happens. he knew what he had to do and he knew he was strong enough to do it he was finally gona conquer those demons he has and make up for his previous inability through destroying buu and finally being able to save his family and he is overwhelmed with it, revels in it to the point where he becomes drunk with power, again. he chokes, again. toying with the enemy just like last time. and now we are back to square one.
this is anime filler, in the manga he doesnt play at all and gets like 2 pages of him beating buu before he decides to explode and hiding from them. This was a case of Gohan learning his goddamn lesson but toriyama felt like giving the spotlight to goku again.
Honestly this is justice for Gohan and Chi Chi. I can only imagine the love and peace Gohan was raised in during those first 4 1/2 years. His character is perfectly depicted in how great of a father and husband he is to Pan and Videl. His heroism while fighting is second in my eyes. Such a great video.
This is a pretty revelatory take for me, as someone who's always liked Gohan but also felt sort of confused and frustrated about where they've been taking him, development-wise. As satisfied as I am with the explanation you give, it almost makes me feel worse that the writers just...keep pushing him towards hurt and trauma as the source of his powerups. I want to see the realization of Gohan's potential be free of that guilt.
Piccolo and Gohan are in the same age group. They don't have a father son dynamic they are more like brothers, Piccolo fills an older brother slash leader role
You forgot one thing. Nemekians mature faster than humans or saiyans. Despite being around the same age piccolo when he meets Gohan is already mentally and physically in the state of a young adult. So despite his age he is seen still as a mentor role to Gohan.
@@Mystic_Magirano I know they do.What I'm saying the relationship they have is more like older brother or like an uncle. Like ObiWan and Anakin. Me personally I have an 18 year age gap between me and my youngest brother and we have a similar relationship. My point is Piccolo was never his dad nor did he ever act like it or play the role
@@crimsonking4151If we want to compare them to Anakin and Obi-Wan, then we should also realize that Anakin and Obi-Wan have a rather unhealthy dynamic. Anakin does see Obi-Wan as a father, while Obi-Wan sees him as a brother and treats him as such, which isn't what Anakin wanted
My only issue is the repetitive lesson that Gohan didn’t really train seriously and now he is weak against a threat that he would have stomped, happens three separate times. Either have him learn that he can still not devote everything to fighting but actually still train to improve himself just in case, or have him not fight at all. The circle of his character development is just repeating over and over again and is getting annoying.
@@ivoneo2806 it’s annoying where a part of the buu saga is that he could have done something against Dabura and stopped Buu’s resurrection had he trained at all, Ressruection F he got weaker again due to not training at all and got bodied by first form frieza while putting in effort to become a super saiyan, and then Super hero he got weaker because he didn’t train again (besides one comment about the special beam cannon) where he has to be pushed again to go beyond his super Saiyan form and get ultimate back after he already did this same thing in the T.O.P arc. Either have him learn from this or just don’t have him be a fighter so he can enjoy his life.
During the Moro arc, it really seemed to me that Gohan's character arc moving forward was to be him getting past his vicious cycle. Mainly because he IS strong, and that strength can be used to protect what he really loves. It'll be interesting to see how that ends up manifesting (if at all) moving forward.
Most of us understand Gohan, but it's a case in which he is in a position that only he can fill up, and he always leaves it unattended until it gets to a critical point in which he needs to be given plot device for him to be logical to defeat their foes. I think that is what it annoys me mostly of the character, out of that, Gohan's great
The problems are that 1. The actual series does a very poor job of explaining that Gohan doesn't like fighting, to the point where his fear of losing control and killing Cell seems to come out of nowhere since he had no problem killing the very first Frieza soldier he came across on Namek, and when taken filler into account has a bodycount at that point. The anime and manga also have differences beyond all the people he kills in the Garlic Junior Saga. During the Buu arc, he's just as enthusiastic about the whole rock paper scissors to see who fights in what order as Goku and Vegeta, and he's excited to see who his opponent is going to be when it's his turn - it's that excitement that prompts Goku to say he's excited to see how strong Gohan's become, which in turn prompts the whole discussion about how he's gotten weaker instead of stronger. The anime version of him is even clearly having fun during the fight with Dabura despite the stakes and the danger, a problem that the manga doesn't have. 2. The repetition of the exact same story with him ad nauseum. That's a big part of why I dislike Evangelion. To have a Rocky 3 story where he loses his fighting edge and needs to get it back is fine - it could have been great if Toriyama didn't turn it into a giant gag with the Old Kai's 'training.' But the first chance was botched thanks to Toriyama; 's funny bone, and the second was just stupid in the Resurrection F story. In the manga, he finally learns his lesson and actually does train in his free time using a gravity room like Vegeta, which is how he can equal Kefla. In the anime, he does some training with Picollo to the point where he can fight at Goku's level if they're both in base or SSJ1 forms, but seems to drop that as well and doesn't even seem to be able to access SSJ2 until his pre-tournament of power training. Super Hero seems to at least imply that he actually has been training this time, which is why he say says he hasn't gotten rusty when he blocks Picollo's first hit, and especially when it's revealed that he taught himself the makankosapo in his spare time. 3. The fact that he just stopped being the Great Saiyaman for seemingly no reason. To me, this is actually the worst thing, because this was something that he truly enjoyed, that was his own, and that he did together with his wife, and there was no reason for him to stop. It would have allowed him to go his own path and still be a hero while having the job and family life he loves. This is what really makes him look like a lazy flake instead of someone who is retreating from a past trauma. Toppo should have been Gohan's main rival and foil in the Tournament of Power given the similarities between Toppo and Gohan's Great Saiyaman persona. Then when Toppo drops that to become a god of destruction, effectively doing what Picollo told Gohan he needed to do in terms of letting go of fighting with his emotions, that would have created a perfect contrast that would have allowed Gohan to show that he could fight by staying true to who he is rather than by acting like Tien or Vegeta for a day as he does whenever he decides to start fighting again. But since Saiyaman was thrown out, any chance of that happening was as well.
Gohan already explained it in the Saiyan Arc his fight against Cell that he didn't like fighting. It wasn't Toriyama's fought that the more irrational Gohan fans never accepted it. Even now in Super, it had to be mentioned against because ppl obsess over the idea that Gohan should be the MC instead of Goku.
@@decepticonxhunter4850 that was just a b******* lie he enjoys fighting he hates killing if Gohan didn't like fighting why was he so happy to want to fight Debora why was he so happy to fight criminals in the great lane man why was he so happy to want to have a sparring match with Goku if he hates fighting he enjoys fighting if he hated fighting. He would not go out playing superhero because that means you have to fight
@@leosnyder5264there are times where people can enjoy something even if they don't like it most of the time or something,I mean the criminals thing were simple to take down and the one about his father in a way was just for fun
@@leosnyder5264tbf, when you're one of the few mortals in the verse who can proudly wear the title of "can beat goku", a couple street thugs isn't a fight
Great video bro. I'm a Gohan Stan and I love how you broke this down. I wanted to hear more about the arrogance that Gohan displays when he knows that he is superior to his opponent. As you said, it bites him in the ass in both situations with Perfect Cell and Super Buu. With Cell Max, he finished him off quickly. Was that due to it being a movie and writers being pressed for time, or is that growth where we know Gohan could've saved the earth in both the Perfect Cell fight and Super Buu fight w/o there being additional casualties In both situations Gohan preserves the fight because he wants his opponent to "suffer". ..time will tell.
I think the scene on babidis ship was evidence he enjoyed fighting as well as the buu fight just because You can contextualize the situation doesn't make it less true that he can enjoy fighting at times. It's weird to just think of him as a character that hates it and is too good for it when they don't write it in a interesting way. I genuinely think toriyama would just say he's lazy because he's simple and the most obvious answer is usually the correct one with him
My problem isnt that Gohan isnt this badass warrior, but its that they keep reusing the whole cant find a work life balance and blatantly insult how weak he is, then have him pull up at full power, and then he loses his work life balance, and its just an infinite cycle Theres this illusion of character growth because at the end of his character arc, they reset him back to the start. After the Buu arc, thats where the character arc shouldve been over and moved on to different things for him. Buu arc Gohan was amazing. Yeah he slacked off, but he wasnt a warrior and he had years of peace, and he regretted it when shit did happen and he wasnt strong enough. We also got to see more of his casual life which was amazing for characterizing him. Between Buu and Beerus, he should not have been slacking off and as pathetic as the Revival of F arc made him out to be
What's also worse is his lack of screentime. Like majority of Super's first half had him disappear for multiple episodes, and it seemed like even the show itself forgot he existed when we got to the beginning of TOP. I thought they were gonna solve it with when the TOP arc actually started and gave him some much needed development and attention, but then Super Hero kinda falls into the same pitfalls by making him more as a glorified secondary character to Piccolo's solo film for most of the runtime. I think more people would care about what Gohan wants to do if the show bothered to explore what he does, and why it's so important instead of relating it to a gag of, "Heh, he likes bugs. Isn't that so quirky and relatable?"
The uphill battle that I have with this video is whether or not I think Toriyama really thought this deeply in writing Gohan. I'm not saying he's a bad writer - but I always will see DB as a series for excitement and action over development and deep writing/lore. Things occur in the series, imo, because it'd be exciting to see it happen - and it's kinda that way with a lot in the series.
Wow as a teenager I readed Dragon Ball 20 years ago and I never saw it this way and thought Gohan was stupid for not training. As an adult now its so clear and I feel so sorry for Gohan now.... Dragon Ball hits alot diffrent now when you are young
![Blox Fruits Dragon Rework Update [Full Stream]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EqDAp8udhm0/mqdefault.jpg)
As a gohan diehard for 2 decades, It's not simply that gohan is misunderstood by fans. The problem is that 2 major aspects of Gohan's personality keep getting overlooked by the writers, his sense of responsibility and intelligence. No matter how much he hates training, he's smart and caring enough to understand that he should continue training to protect his family, world and even universe at this point. The fact that he has to learn this exact same lesson not once, not twice, but three times (buu saga, TOP, and super hero), is ridiculous to the point where It belittles the quality of the character.
Your Gohan? Cool. So tell me, how was it like beating the crap out of a galactic overlord?
@@thedredayshow9246The point isn't that he hates stuff like that happening. The point is him being able to not let that happen without being yelled at by either Piccolo or Vegeta. Nobody wants him to be beaten to an inch of his life, but if he goes through every arc having to do the same "I stopped training during peace" for the next five years, then people shouldn't be shocked when he gets clapped by a villain way stronger than the last one he faced.
"The fact that he has to learn this exact same lesson not once, not twice, but three times (buu saga, TOP, and super hero), is ridiculous to the point where It belittles the quality of the character."
Welcome to Dragonball Super.
This happens to Goku every second episode or so.
@@miniman649 That really don't make it any better. In fact, it shows how fucked the characters are when they aren't able to naturally progress, and instead have to forget previous development in order to go through them again in worse ways.
@@miniman649i mean gohan was training after resurrection f tho people just don't watch their own show, I think what piccolo was talking off is about training hard as goku and vegeta which I think it's too earlier for him to hang on but he still gets job done with resources and preparation given I don't think he needs to be scolded this bad
The part that really sold this for me was the goku black arc when future trunks saw gohan with video and pan.
He was amazed at how different he was to the gohan he knew then he smiles because he realised this is who gohan wants to be if given the choice.
same, one of my favorite moment in super
that's anime filler
@@padraig-bobotia-maria5176and yet nobody gives a shit.
@@padraig-bobotia-maria5176 shut up
@@padraig-bobotia-maria5176 calling non-manga scenes in DBS anime as ‘filler’ isn’t really accurate. The manga and anime are being produced at almost the exact same time, with the anime being slightly ahead during production. Toriyama provides more or less a general outline of the story to both the anime studio and Toyotarou for the manga. Both versions are produced to fit their mediums.
I would argue DBS is one of the few stories where the adaptation and manga are on similar canonical levels due to how it is produced. General anime padding isn’t enough on its own to be considered true filler.
Edit: just for clarity, DBS anime isn’t a true adaption of the manga because the manga isn’t its actual source material. Therefore scenes like Future Trunks and Gohan hanging out aren’t filler, it’s just a medium-appropriate interpretation of the material given to the studio.
I wonder what the right solution even is. On one hand, I don't want Gohan to force himself to always train simply out of guilt and fear of losing the people he loves, like his potential is a burden that decides his life. But on the other hand...Gohan fully giving up fighting to pursue his interests is just not feasible in a story like Dragon Ball.
I guess this makes Krillin the perfect mentor for Gohan? He's the one person in the group with a life beyond martial arts, and unlike Gohan, he has no trouble mantaining those two sides of his life. They should hang out more.
I actually think a apology from vegeta for what he did while he was a child would be a good first step towards healing plus vegeta probably understand what he went through has a child more than anyone since he went through shit with freiza
Toriyama's original idea for Gohan to become a part time superhero while he studies is a great end for the character. A way for him to fight only when necessary while he gets to live an actual life. Is Saiya-Man goofy as all hell, is it the silliest most unserious thing? Absolutely. Is it perfect for Gohan? Also yes.
@@ragnarockerbunny It's also perfect for Dragon Ball, because Dragon Ball actually started primarily as a goofy comedy anime. Like, Krillin canonically beats a bad guy who fights through smell because he has no nose.
@@ragnarockerbunny The Saiyaman stuff has to be some of my favorite material in the franchise (Mainly because of the anime filler.). I wish Toriyama played around with that more before it was abandoned.
As much flack as GT gets, they handled Gohan near perfectly. He clearly got what he wanted with his peaceful scholarly career, but he was still always ready for what could come.
You forgot having his neck broken by Recoome on Namek. Laying there, helpless, paralyzed, near death, no hope in sight. If it wasn't for Goku arriving with senzu beans, he would have died on a foreign world with a shattered spine. Good luck unpacking how Gohan went from that experience with the Ginyu Force to emulating their dances and poses as Great Saiyaman as a teen :|
Extremely valid point.
I mean. He could still think the poses are cool despite what happened.
Gohan lowkey thought Ginyu Special Force was cool
He was also like 5 when that happened.
@@narutonagato95Thats worse honestly. These super cool guys show up doimg cool poses, then one breaks your neck and beats your friends near death.
I feel like I need to put it into perspective for those who still don’t get it.
At the very start of og dragon ball Goku was 12.
By the end of the cell saga Gohan was 10 (11 if you count the near year he spent in the room of spirit and time with his father) years old.
I don’t think y’all understand, by the time Goku was just starting his journey Gohan had been through enough to put a planets worth of grown ass men into a mental hospital due to the extreme trauma.
While 5 year old Goku was living peacefully with grandpa Gohan and learning the basics of martial arts.
5 year old Gohan was laying half dead on the ground with a broken neck.
I can imagine anyone who went through what Gohan went through would hate fighting. I saw a Plague of Gripes video on this once, that went into detail about how Gohan's experiences with fighting are always negative. Filled with pain and death and fear. Total opposite to Goku's upbringing, which was always positive. Goku was already basically the strongest person out there, in the original Dragonball. There are very few instances of him actually being in mortal danger. Their childhoods are so different, that it's no surprise they view fighting differently.
Yeah like the 2 times he's ever and actually any danger it's because of a world superpower independent government trying to take over the world, and when he was fighting what was at the time supposed to probably still be a demon of some kind in the story, being King Piccolo before he ended up becoming an alien retroactively.
Meanwhile Gohan over here has had literally every single fighting experience he's had marred by the violent, rampant, and unavoidable deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, including the repeated deaths of the people he holds the most near and dear to his heart
Yeah its really something too see there different perspectives on fighting
Couldn't have said it better.
Literally the only time fighting was really fun in his youth was when he sparred with Goku for three years in the Room of Spirit and Time/Hyperbolic Time Chamber.
They obviously bonded a lot when they came out of it, and then _immediately after_ things get worse again.
For Goku, fighting was a way to make new friends and become a better person. For Gohan, it was war.
@@mAcChaosChreal
A great retrospective look at Gohan and why he doesn't like fighting. It makes sense for Gohan to be traumatized ever since his uncle Raditz showed up. Gohan has experienced many near death experiences and watched many of his friends die from a young age. Not to mention that he was forced into the role of a fighter and is always pulled back into that role whether he wants to or not. It's no wonder Gohan doesn't want to fight unless he truly has to.
"Uncle Raditz is PISSED-!"
"We at team four star do not condone child violence. We do however, find it hilarious."
well no. its more how chichi raised him. he became a coward due to having no self-confidence. if he trained with goku an equal amount as chichi forced him to study he would have a spine on him. also he would be much stronger as well. he could have kicked radits's ass if he trained with goku even casually. chichi is a shit mother. she forced too much of what she wants him to be rather than what he wants. also chichi is pretty stupid and doesnt think things through ever.
Yeah I never thought about how a child would deal with these type of issues. Partly because the series doesn’t encourage these types of discussions. Would have been interesting to see Goten have the opposite reaction. Being addicted to fighting and having a very hard time settling into peace.
Ima say it was racuum dude snapped lil guys neck.
Gohan still wanted to throw hands with his dad tho
You'd think it'd be simple to understand with how often it's said by the character but that definitely isn't the case. Through the highs and lows, he and Piccolo are my two favorite characters
Most dragon ball fans put power levels before the character.
The funny thing I wonder can people be mad at Gohan for hating fighting because every time he had to fight it’s because the world is about to be destroyed or his friends are about to die.
@@ingram4056 They just want him to be how he was during the Cell Games 24/7 or miserable like Future Gohan
@@justiceiria869 Exactly. Just a small understanding for the character they claim to love is all that's needed and so much discourse would be avoided
i see @@chefinabottle
Gohan hates conflict and the necessity for him to fight/the necessity to kill, but he doesn't 'hate' fighting per se. There are multiple scenes where Gohan is seen enjoying a fight but it's always seen when the odds are stacked in his favour because he knows he can meet out justice or when he's teaching others like Trunks and Goten. It's just not a priority or motivational for him. He just wants a quiet life with his family but these damn planet ending villains keep popping up when his dad isn't around.
Yeah alot of dubs and tfs said in a way that he just doesn't want to fight
Simply put, Gohan has a heart of gold with the heart of a warrior
When future Gohan lost his arm, he didn't waste time to fight the androids as he knows every lost minute marks lives being destroyed, the carnage needs to be stopped. You could say it was not smart of him to rush into battle again but his impulsive urge to protect surpasses the fear of dying (Young Gohan v. Raditz)
100%. I've been rewatching/re-reading Z since Super has been on these long hiatuses, and it's clear that Gohan is the equivalent of a Nam vet at the age of 5.
The Saiyan Saga was practically his D-Day.
Bro, that's such an accurate way to describe it
@@Godzilla00XI was watching episodes 16-19 the other night and I was just going "Good God, Gohan is watching all his friends and protectors be murdered in front of him."
And Namek was his Vietnam.
Indeed!@@nathansquared2685
Well duh, VietNam-ekian
Something that we say in the black community about Gohan is “Gohan been in the field early. No wonder he wants out.” And that means essentially what you think it means. He’s seen so much trauma and death especially so early, and fought for so long, it’s understandable that he is TIRED. And doesn’t want to do it anymore.
And I mean. In hindsight and in growth…we understand Gohan’s plight. I’d love to see him train and fight SOLELY to PROTECT and not for blood and death. But. If he doesn’t, then I mean it is what it is. Lmao.
I think it's his human side too. Not to diss it, it does make him stronger. But the Full Saiyan's are genetically built for this nonstop. So it's why Goku and Vegeta don't get trauma.
There's a tldr if you want (I got caught up and enjoyed the anaylsis of the video, sorry!)
I'd like to point out.
VEgeta is BY ALL MEANS traumatized. Yes, he had the benefit of still having his community until Freiza fixed that, he still wasn't SOLEY alone. He carried that knoweldge Freiza erradicated not just his whole planet, but his race, his culture and kept it soley on him to keep that alive or Freiza would forever win. It DEFINES him. And yes, he still had the few Saiyans left, but the pain of losing what he had still trumped them. Trauma doesthat.
Goku was raised in a combat way, but not forced. Grandpa Gohan taught him in love, in peace. It wasn't until wayyyyy further in Dragonball did things actually get to fighting to the death, and by then, Gohan had his support system, his friends, and his memories of Grandpa gohan to have a healthy relationship with combat that he's able to define his own experience with it, versus the combat defining him.
Going further into it, Goten and Trunks loveeesss to fight, but they both are
1/2 Saiyans
but Also, grow up with in a 'healthier' manner and respect for it. (Heck, I'd even argue that Goten's healthy relationship with sparring is what helps heal GOhan a bit with redefining part of his own)
But Trunks, with how he uses it and desepreate for Vegeta's attention, who is still dealing with his own, but buried Trauma, gets overshadowed a lil as well.
tl/dr
Just . . . .Iono, I don't normally get to dissect DBZ theories so sorry about overloading! lol This is a great talking point ^^ I just hope you have a great day. I think that trauma def was apart of the full Saiyans, not just because of genetics, but more nature vs nurture.@@BlackWingedSeraphX
@@ForenzaAudioGood analysis and you are right, Vegeta does have trauma too. It was just easier for me to look past since Saiyans prided their selves on so much of the fighting. But it is true he has trauma.
I think another thing that would go into that is perhaps the 'unreliable narrator' I can't thing of anyone else besides Paragus that really gassed up the Saiyan pride thing other than Vegeta himself and think even more that he was just using that as a self defintion. GOku is really just in there for the fun of it at the end of the day XD.@@BlackWingedSeraphX
@cauliflowerfan161Well it's not something that would be said commonly in a white community.
Goku isn't a perfect dad but he doesn't get enough credit for being so supportive of Gohan's choices. Yes, he messed up in the Cell saga by assuming Gohan wanted the same thing as he. But after that? Goku has never complained about Gohan's choice to be a scholar or nagged him for slacking off the way Piccolo does. He supports Gohan's ambitions, even if he doesn't fully understand them.
Let's be real, if one day Trunks decided he didn't enjoy fighting Vegeta would NOT take it nearly as well.
In a lot of ways, isn't Trunks sort of the same way as Gohan? At least Future Trunks. He fights out of necessity because in his timeline, there's literally nobody else. Unlike Gohan, though, he's driven by his vindictive feelings to train and maintain fighting, but it doesn't come off to me as him enjoying it for the sake of it like the pure bloods.
Goku literally died twice for his son he’s a good dad
@@sunnyd9321for sure
@toren2099 yes he is good enough I guess, but Vegeta is better and Piccolo is the best
Yeah, you're right. I've always believed there's a reason why Gohan loves his father Goku and looks up to him, even if he doesn't like fighting at all. ❤
Gohan: “I don’t like to fight”
Us: “THATS TOO DAMN BAD “
On god get your ass out their!
so true bro!!!!!!!
If he like, Every problem will end in 3 seconds on the 1st episode so... not really.
YOU KEEP FIGHTING!!!
Yeah, too bad Gohan. You’re just a character in a show, we don’t care about you as a person that has his own ideas, principles and values. This is dragonball z, either fight and entertain us or you will just be a sucky character cuz we all wanna see people fighting. Imagine having the potential to be a better sayain fighter than Goku and one of the greatest fighters of all time and not living up to it cuz he chose having a family and a more normal life.
Imagine being Gohan’s therapist and hearing Gohan spill all of this with an entirely straight face
Just makes my heart cry for Future Gohan. He didn't ask to be born. But he was and he got to see his dad die, be kidnapped and forced to fight at the ages of 4-5, saw Goku's friends die and his uncle figure, Piccolo, die, saw Freeza and his men kill elders and children, saw Krillin blow up, saw Goku die AGAIN, saw his friends die AGAIN and all for good (which most likely turned him into a SSJ), then 15 years later after seeing 17 and 18 turn Earth into a warzone....he finally dies after decades of fighting. He deserves rest.
He saw all of this and still has excuses not to train. It makes for decent drama, but Gohan doesn't get a pass from me.
@@MikeThePike316 I mentioned "future" Gohan. I'm not talking about present Gohan. And even so, yeah, he shouldn't slack on his training. He should balance it better with his daily life.
The definition of crap end of the deal.
@@mrm64 he stills trains though, but much less than goku and vegeta, in the manga its showed more cause in the top arc he fight on equal against the Kefla fusion and it ends on both of them being eliminated together, now in the anime they put goku against kefla for some reason.
Well that future Gohan is the original gohan if you think about it. If Trunks didnt time travel Gohan will be broken, lost and then die in a place god know where.
Even when he was born with an almost unlimited immense fight potential, Gohan literally was thrown into the battle against his will for that reason: his great hidden power. Of course he will fight to protect the earth, but he will not do it unless he is driven be because his friends or family are in danger, but that he isn't like his father (eager to fight strong opponents) is not enough reason for belittling him. Gohan is an excellent character within his own terms.
Don't forget the one time he actually took a fight proper serious his dad died.
You could argue he wasn't taking the fight serious. He was toying around with Cell, his entire mentality and personality changed and he lost his dad because of it.@@ratillecebrasquedubitantiu4451
"Gohan, look after your friends and family while I'm gone."
"You got it, dad! .......welp, time to not do any of that."
If you make a promise to protect people and you recognize a threat, you don't wait for that threat to start killing people before you do anything. If you know someone has a chance of killing people you love, you don't let them hurt someone before you fight. Gohan made a promise, and he turned back on it.
@@alecdickens1042could you give an example of this happening? Nothing big attacked when goku was gone, gohan never went back on it..
I guess he meant that he's responsible for protecting Earth or rather the responsibility of being strong enough to do it. By the time he had a chance to prove himself the first time he ended up getting washed by Dabura and later Buu. Then when he truly got the chance agian with his power unlocked by Elder Kai, he got outplayed by Buu making a simalar mistake of playing with his food like he did with Cell@@therevolutioniscoming315
“Gohan is lazy for not fighting and not training!”
Goku at 5: Trained alone in a forest as part of a morning routine
Goten at 5: Trained lightly with his mom in a long period of peace
Gohan at 5: Gets attacked by his evil uncle, then is brutally trained by his dads evil nemesis, and then is forced to fight the biggest threat known to earth and is called a coward when he doesn’t, then goes up into space getting his ass kicked by Friezas soldiers after nearly dying from a lethal highly skilled task force from Friezas army. Don’t even get me started on the cell/buu saga
Reminds me of people being mad at momonosuke from one piece, like they're literal childs give them a break bruh💀
actually, i feel like there should be a video about goku and the difference between goku, gohan, and goten. understanding perspective in these videos would be a good ways to help better understand each character more in-depth
Dude then studies in school and wants to become a scientist, but sure, this is lazy.
@@DundGi mean he still trained in hiding after resurrection f
Goku: Was an only child, until he found out that he was the youngest.
Goten: Was the youngest child of the family.
Gohan: The oldest child.
Yeah makes sense
I've never psychoanalyzed Gohan, but I have always been on the side of "Leave Gohan alone" It's nice to feel validated
And people say Chichi is unreasonable.
Chichi spent like 10 million dollars in a day. She’s absolutely unreasonable.
@@chillchinna4164 That makes her insane, not unreasonable
@@FollowerofChristSpidey that is entirely unreasonable. Goku made enough money to live off of for ages, just like the demanded. She promptly burned it all and then demanded more. That is insane, yes. It’s also unreasonable by any standard,
@@chillchinna4164 My fault.
@@chillchinna4164I mean any person would do that in a day tbf
I think the fact Gohan dislikes fighting makes moments like his transformation in the Cell games or the fight with Super Buu much more fascinating. Contrary to Goku, Gohan isn’t driven by the thrill of the fight. Every fight against a major enemy is passionless and executed with the full intention to end things as fast as possible. He’s driven by survival. It becomes scary when he does gain the drive to watch his opponents suffer.
Until he becomes cocky and loses ie super buu
@babyninja1800 I feel like that blame comes from a writing decision rather than a character flaw. Gohan has never truly had moments of cockiness before. Has he let his anger get the better of him and not finished a fight when he could have before? Yes. But cockiness? Not so much.
except it isn't because he doesn't like fighting or killing so he goes straight into torture.
Mate @@DParkerNunya , thats exactly why Goku died in the Cell Arc, Gohan didnt finished him of when he had a chance cause he got cocky and thought nothing Cell could do would matter
@@DParkerNunya gohan’s entire ssj2 segment was spent teasing cell not finishing the job ultimately getting goku killed. he definitely has the ability to be cocky
I do generally believe that Gohan does enjoy martial arts. As he has had one or two sparring sessions with Goku with no danger on the line. And due to the Saiyan side of his being, he does occasionally get a good kick out of it. He just doesn’t like hurting people or to see others get hurt.
I agree, he is not opposed to sparing with family and friends. He just doesn’t like fighting for his or his family’s and friend’s lives.
I would argue maybe that's just cause well, it's his dad. Of course he likes to do things with his dad, especially when he's usually busy with so many other things
@@melissamurray8307 That's pretty much it. He gets kick out of using his martial arts and Saiyan hybrid strength for fun and even sparring occasionally with goku and goten. But if his family is the bargaining chip, he becomes desperate and panicking
Every kid wants to play with his dad and that play usually takes the form of rough housing. He doesn't like it; he likes being with his dad. I know guys who hate fishing or hunting who do those things because it allows them to spend time with their father.
The issue is, as a dad, you're doing something you enjoy with someone you love. So you tend to assume that they love it too. As a dad you have to realize this. There are people unhappily playing pro sports because of it.
@@ghuff31theres SO much cases, it one of the most well known it's andre Agassi in tennis, was a succesfull legend, but has hoghs and ups that left that room to quedaron of he couldve done more with his talent like samprass did, and on his book Agassi detailed that he hated tennis with an unhealthy passion, sometimes talent or Big potential can be both a blessing and a curse at the same time, You Will be r xognized and phraised for it, but You Will have to shape your life arround it to not be see as a failure.
Yeah that’s why I love his character, he’s the closest character to an actual hero. Also I like the importance shown in him not enjoying fighting much, at best he could spar and enjoy helping someone train, but he is a scholarly nerd who prefers peace.
He just puts more time into his studies than he does training. Considering he's already top 3 on earth we can cut him a little slack.
Superman would be proud.
I want more Great Saiyaman.
23:18 feels like when your father and uncles start to rant about you in your face. And you just accept every bad comments they said about you
I think this video is a masterpiece. As someone who loves Dragon Ball and have ptsd, I find this not only interesting and well explained, but also kinda recomforting and vaalidating I guess. Thanks for your magnificent explanation.
It was always clear to me even as a kid that Gohan hated fighting. I didn't understand trama or what not cause I was a kid but I understood that if Gohan didn't have to save the day he'd be in the woods. Gohan's whole life has been forced on him, from studying to carrying the world on his back. It is no wonder that he lives closer to his wife's family then his own. He doesn't hate his family but with Videl he can be the true Gohan. A soft spoken man that gets little carried away studying nature. Videl clearly loves all parts of Gohan not just the hero side of him she met first. Frankly Krillin and Gohan have amazing partners that better their lives. And while we all joke Piccolo was the better dad (if he was, then just barely) it really is Krillin that Gohan copies the most. For me, a big Gohan fan I want him to finally retire the cape and gi, and maybe just maybe if he has to stay in the action he teaches Pan how to fight if she wants to.
Fr Gohans just wants to be a family man of peace after his otherworldly battles, and I wouldnt blame him..
You guys don't understand the mother son dynamic or something. Gohans reluctance to fight all stems from chi chi. She wanted him to have a normal life. When Gohan was boy he wanted to train with his dad but chi chi would prevent goku from taking him. That's why piccolo had to kidnap him to train him to which Gohan responded positively after conquering his feelings of being scared.
@@pyramidion5911 Did he want to train or did he want to spend time with his dad? My dad was big into sports and coached a lot of teams yet I never managed to learn to ride a bike or dribble a basketball but I still wanted to do stuff that made my dad happy even if I hated failing at it. Sides fighting and training are also not the same thing. They are damn close but training is testing yourself, bettering yourself. Fighting is the act of harming another. There can be a dozen reasons to fight someone but hurting someone is how you do it. Gohan only really fights when he's angry and being angry clouds your mind and does not reflect who you are at heart. Also Gohan enjoyed the nature of Piccolo's training he was still too scared to really fight Nappa. Him fighting on Namek is a mix of guilt and rage again not what he wants. Not saying Chi Chi had no impact on why he dislikes fighting but by the time of Super Gohan has had lots of time to reflect and he's happy as a non fighter.
Dragon Ball GT has Gohan and family living next to his mother though...
@@mekalunia Did they? Sorry it has been years since I've seen GT.
i don’t understand why people don’t let him study his little ants, leave the poor guy alone
Frfr
Going back to his childhood and how he loved to look at animals and bugs suddenly makes more sense to me about his interest in his profession as an adult.
Because if his family were to be killed upfront of him, it would be his fault for not being prepared. He needs to train as hard as Goku and Vegeta, or the little family life he's built up will be destroyed.
@@joshku7488 shaddaaap let the dude look at his little ant farms
@@joshku7488while I agree I still think it’s messed up to repeatedly put someone in a situation like that, he NEEDS to fight despite hating it or his family dies
One thing that really gets me is how it's Gohan's "responsibility" to fight. Like bro was literally just born and he's expected to fight aliens because he's strong. Let the man have his peace 😭
With great power comes great responsibility
i liked him as a kid because he had good manners, unlike his father
@mikesmith8299 thanks Mike Smith
Boruto did it no problem, he even lost everything. Yet Gohan simps are everywhere while Boruto only gets haters .Its ok that he doesnt want to fight, its not ok that he hoggs all the screen time.
@@abhabh6896 It's almost as if quality of a character isn't exclusively determined by their willingness to fight.
Gohan’s trauma justifies his beast form, it makes sense imo, seeing someone he’s seen die time and time again to this enemy he thought was gone forever, he doesn’t want to be violent, he doesn’t want to fight, he realizes it’s a need to be stronger. This snap is visualized as beast gohan
In the latest Manga, gohan seems to enjoy fighting now that he has beast form
It's interesting to compare all off the young part-saiyan characters. Future Trunks, who also had a traumatic childhood doesn't particularly seem to like fighting either, but he trains intently and tries to keep growing stronger purely out of duty. He's the only one left in his timeline who's strong enough to protect it. He never fights just for fun or to prove that he's better than anyone, he just cares about being strong enough to defeat the threats he faces, and he would be perfectly happy to not have to.
Present Trunks, Goten, and Pan all show a love of fighting, but unlike Gohan and Future Trunks, they didn't have brutal traumatic childhoods. Even though a lot of people died in the Buu Saga, the boys were largely shielded from it. They didn't see things like their friends and family being beaten to death or blown apart right in front of them, and it was all undone pretty quickly. Whereas Gohan's first exposures to fighting were life and death situations which always resulted in people he cared about dying, fighting was always just game for Goten and Trunks. Even when they faced Buu they didn't take the situation seriously enough.
This. My perfect version of Gohan that exists in my head is fully focused on being a teacher to the next generation that haven’t had fighting poisoned for them. Goten, Trunks, and Pan love fighting for its own sake, and have the potential to outdo even Gohan. It lets Gohan redefine training and fighting as something positive he can share with people
@@rileyrose5166This is a great idea.
Bruh facts I don’t get how ppl have hard to understanding writing of hybrids and how Sayian side and human side sway their character development fake fans call it stupid plot or plot armor just because there not like goku when goku is savior universe while gohan was left as the savior of earth he like super hero for humans still being part sayian while goku is like hope it’s self or the light hence why gohan always had a lot of pride in being his dad son which big thing that pushed him every time he seen his dad basically make miracle even tho he doesn’t really like fighting all around
Goten sees his mother die in front of him, yet still treats fighting Boo like a game.
@@rileyrose5166 And honestly being that Gohan is the first half-breed Saiyan it’s his rightful place to be mentor to the next generation of half breeds.
I think we reasonably understand why Gohan is like he is. As shonen/DBZ fans, we unreasonably want him to be more, especially after Perfect Cell
This. I was looking for this. By this point, most people know he has trauma, but when u make this character more "real" compared to the rest of the cast, it makes him stand out as "lame" more in a Shonen.
@@hg06syndicate14Only because he is cursed to be measured by his fighting, instead of his intellect. Gohan could've become like Bulma, a scientist who creates great things. But since he started to show fighting potential in a shonen, the fandom doesn't care about any other gift, but him being able to punch things really hard. Because thats all that matters in a shonen...
@@hg06syndicate14i mean him going from no training to realize power necessity was a great development, it would be boring if gohan didn't had it
@@DundGI mean in a universe where characters can blow up worlds how useful is that I'm sure bulma intellect would have worked well against frieza were being realistic and you are being idealistic
@@durrangodsgrief6503 It's useless. But how useless is it to be able to safe a world that has no great food, medicine, warm safe houses, shitty lawpess humans etc.? Gohans intellect and the work of the people can create the things that makes the world worth to be safed. Without it it is just a bleack world.
He is part of what needs to be saved, because it has value.
I do wonder if they’ll ever do in canon proper what they did in dragon ball online with gohan. Where he still fights to protect the earth from threats, but he was able to combine being a great scholar and fighter to write a book that made the general population of earth aware of ki control and the advanced martial arts of the dragon team, thus sparking a new age of interest in fighting, and helping to shape generations of warriors to come.
That sounds f*cking awesome
That's actually amazing
Actually pretty smart. If the Z-fighters are ever wiped out, there's many other warriors that have the potential to tale over for them.
gohan has no pride. unless his family at risk. he has no ego. why would he? all his friends are his old father friends. goten and trunks at least motivate each other. gohan has no peers. so he be chilling. and his dad been saving the world since he was born.
Honestly, yeah? Even Videl seems to have her own life in Super Hero. She runs a very successful business. Gohan just sort of shuts himself away. Actually sort of reminds me of Piccolo, who regularly went through periods of homelessness and basically living as a hermit.
@@rosesweetcharlotte Well gohan did learn a ton of things from piccolo
Jesus dude, if all your content is this well done you just found a new fan.
Gohan is my favourite character since I was 11-12, I remember I saw myself into him, a peaceful boy who liked studying and didn’t like to play sports or compete under pressure. When I saw the Cell saga I felt like I was him, even when he finally raged and won against that monster. He was the type of guy I’d like to be.
This video is the best introspective description of him I’ve ever seen on the web, and it helps me a lot to understand better my favorite DB character.
I hope that he will overcome his trauma, definitely, now that he realised he must be trained in order to protect also his daughter’s innocence. I think he will face an interior struggle between its trauma blocking him from training and the love she feels for her daughter, and I think this love will bring him to resolve his conflict.
Toriyama is often accused of bad writing on Gohan, but now I think he instead did a good one. But it’s time to help Gohan, and I hope it’s Toriyama’s desire too
Toriyama's accused of it because they wanted gohan to be in the main character role after cell, which is frankly ridiculous
@@lapplandkun9273why is that ridiculous? It's what Toriyama planned, he just last minute decided against it. I see no problem with Gohan being the hero of that arc. He was built up to it, but the writing was horrible
@@Valientlink Gohan was never intended to be the main character. I don't know why this rumor continues to see believers in it when Toriyama never once said that was his intent.
@@Cr3zant because Toriyama literally stated he planned to make Gohan the main character? How can you call a statement ludacrous without doing proper research lmao. He said in his own words it just didn't feel right. Not to mention DBZ was planned to be called dragon ball: the adventures of Son Gohan, which he had involvement with.
As a wise man once said: check yourself before you wreck yourself :)
They’ve gotta gather the Dragon Balls and wish away Gohan’s trauma
That wouldn’t help, that trauma is part of him. He needs a therapist. Without his traumatic childhood Gohan would not be who we know now.
It'd be funny if that worked
@@zenithstrikerz1720removed bombs, proobably could
@@zenithstrikerz1720 Gohan is the only DB character I can think of that would willingly go to therapy.
I think trunks might openly take therapy.
The issue is this cycle makes Gohan a stagnant character. His growth is stunted by the cycle repeating itself so often, so the only way for him to actually grow as a character at this point is for him to make a decision about fighting and stick with it, whether that's swearing it off or committing to training.
Exactly. He's had zero character development since he was 10. He learned hard lessons during his life up until the end of the Cell saga. Then the writers made him commit the same mistakes over and over for a decade plus. Instead of having growth, he stagnated and reverted. It made him look stupid and pathetic. Not even real people would have character arcs like that. Most people don't make the same mistakes 3 or 4 times when their life and the lives of their loved ones are at risk every time
@travz21 And then I understood that he's probably the only character in the series to get everything he wanted and he's a pacifist on top of that.
As a fan of Gohan. What stood out to me is that he is the first Hybrid he’s literally built different than everyone else. In addition he detests violence because he is a pacifist. He was pushed into it. He didn't have a choice. Yet the irony is that he is the best fighter. He is unmatched at Hand to hand combat. And he has more potential then anyone. As it has been confirmed by his own Father.
Exactly. He’s basically the only person like him. Not many can relate to him, so I’d understand that that makes things much worse for him.
great video. didn't expect to sit through 20+ minutes of dragonball content in 2024.
Just to add on another point with the aforementioned Gohan being blackmailed and pressured to fight in the world tournament. When he eventually does, he's then jumped by two strangers and has his energy drained while everyone he loves just watches and does nothing. Yet again confirming whenever Gohan is forced to fight something inevitably bad happens to him.
The Kai told them to watch
@@leosnyder5264 Gohan didn't know that at the time. No one told him before it happened.
The crazy thing is that he's never really been a bad fighter per-se, he just never wants his powers to be used, so much so that it occasionally detriments everyone, but it's not like he's trying to do that. He wants peace more than anything else, and is always more than content with his studies, but his life always leads him back to a path of fighting, an unfortunate scenario he can never escape because, try as he might, there will always be some new force, either from his universe or another, trying to cause harm to innocent people. His ssj2 unlocking signifies this the strongest, because he was trying so hard to get Cell to stop without pushing his anger over its limits, but couldn't. He had to be reassured that his fighting was a good thing, and watch that man die because he hadn't stepped in, which finally put his ultimate anger in motion. It truly is a shame that Gohan has to deal with a world that only ever causes fighting.
I think this is why gohan always seems to be one of my all time favorite characters. He doesnt want to fight. He just wants to live a happy nice life with his family and friends and i can relate to that. Obviously not to the level of life and death but i can relate to the wanting a simple peaceful life without life or death conflict.
You can't have a peaceful life if you can't protect yourself or your loved ones. He learned this lesson many times. When it finally fully clicked was when 16 gave his speech and got curbstomped. Then again when he let Goku die probably not even an hour later. He knows if he wants guaranteed peace he needs to be able to kill threats immediately instead of dicking around. Or worse, being completely outclassed.
Real life is the same. If you're frail, overweight, and unprepared to protect people, you're at the whims of criminals. Hopefully they don't do any harm and just let you go in peace.
@ thats true. But gohan has a kind heart. You are absolutely right though. At the very least you need to be capable. Better to have and not need then to need and not have. I hate fighting and ill try to avoid a fight if possible but i know when i need to. I just hate fighting but thats because im an idiot and if i get riled up i dont know when to stop. Im too old to be fighting and while I neutralize the threat i also end up getting myself hurt all the time too. So if i get in a fight no one wins and it sucks and everyone ends up unhappy and in pain. But im not a smart person like gohan is and im also not a super powered half alien. Im just saying i get gohan’s point of view.
Your Dragon Ball videos are by far the most insightful out there
This one of the best character analysis I seen inna while. Always was drawn to Gohan & felt he was more relatable than Goku even after watching original Dragon Ball
You know, i have had all this thought process for gohan but im terrible at explaining things so when people say gohan is just a poorly written character i always think quite the contrary he is one of the best more realistic written characters in the show. Glad someone made a video that puts into perspective gohans feelings and thoughts on why he does what he does.
I actually relate to Gohan a lot; introverted, peaceful nature and hates conflict, but with a strong sense of justice and will jump in without hesitation despite his docile nature, in order to protect someone. I honestly feel like if I were put in Gohan's shoes, I wouldn't have done a single thing different, including going berserk against Cell. And you can bet my black ass would've become a cheesy superhero without a second thought. (The weird poses are like the one thing that I wouldn't have done..)
Hates conflict yet goes out as 2 superheroes to fight crime?
Seems like someone who is trying to find conflict out of boredom
@@miquelr2353 that's not a contradiction. 16's final speech to Gohan drove home the point that pacifism does not always work, and some people have to be stopped by violence.
Ok lil bro
This is real as hell
@@keyblader1985 Which is why Gohan would have never quit training. That 16 speech and death traumatized him. As did letting Goku die. The writers unfortunately don't understand the character. His weakness allows innocent people to be killed. Especially after his lack of killer instinct got his father killed, he would have become a hardened assassin, killing all threats immediately before they could cause any more harm.
Instead he forgets all that somehow, becomes weak again, lets innocent people die again, is helpless, and gets an ass-pull power boost to fight Buu. Quite literally the same character development we had with Cell except worse because it made him look stupid, he repeated mistakes from lessons he already learned, and he got power he didn't earn.
He was never a scholar. He was groomed by his mom to think that his whole life. He's always been a warrior.
“Have you ever in your life asked your son what he likes? He spent that year with you because he wanted to spend time with YOU! HIS FATHER! The man who spends half his time training, and the other half dead. Sometimes both!”
That line hit way too hard for me after having grown up on DBZ and having seen some of super
Thats from tfs im sure
Don't peddle DBZA talking points as if they are fact
@@Xeno_Solarus don’t get mad over a fictitious story
@@Xeno_Solarusthey aren't lol.
@Xeno_Solarus It's DBZA yeah, but also it's just another point of reference, so what's wrong with that? There's nothing wrong with pointing out how a 'parody show' hits the nail on the head when the main show has to keep realigning the hammer.
"fight you? No im going to kill you"
-the kid that had extreme trauma in his childhood
I feel so identified with this man because since I was a child, I have always hated trouble. It doesn’t mean I can’t deal with trouble and fights. I can be competent in solving conflicts. But I just abhor the energy drainage I feel when those instances happen.
Note, when Piccolo kidnapped Gohan, everyone, piccolo included thought he was a literal demon.
Which that surely makes the experience all the more terrifying for a lil baby Gohan.
This is brilliant. I was just discussing the cognative dissonance amongst DB fans. The expectation of where characters arcs are really versus what fans want them to be
To be fair, especially during his childhood. Gohan has always had to fight for his life. He never got to fight for fun and people always died. He should hate fighting
The problem is the writers of Dragon Ball Super also dont understand Gohan. Nor any of the other characters either.
I never thought I'd encounter some of my favorite philosophy/psychoanalysis in a db character analysis video... Well done.
I hate when fans blame all Gohans lack of fighting prowess on Chi Chi
Same. Gohan's hinted himself that he doesn't like fighting if he can help it. ChiChi might not have liked her husband and son fighting during the first three sagas, but she didn't hold them back. If that were true, then how come each saga didn't end in tragedy?
She literally bans Goku from teaching Gohan martial arts
@@bruh_bruh_the_bruhest_bruhwhich is weird given that she’s a martial artist herself and a warrior princess who knowingly married the strongest man on the planet who likely would want to train his children but hey atleast she lightly trains Goten right?
@@PrincessQ-fj9ly Because Dragon Balls are a thing
I think its also worth to mention that all he has ever aspired to be was a great scholar. Every time they needed him to get serious they reminded him of what he wanted for his future.
I think this is a fabulous case of retrospective convenience on Akira Toriyama’s part. As improvised as his writing is he probably wouldn’t plan something like that, so it’s very likely the pieces fell into place for an analysis like this to work.
I think it’s a shame that you missed two important things for gohan for me. Both in the cell saga. He very willingly and happily trains with Goku, where he pushes himself hard to become as strong as possible. He isn’t training to make Goku happy, or to be a better sparring partner for his dad, but for the sake of the training, or the strength itself. He adopts his fathers goal of gohan becoming as strong as possible. Goku could’ve gone in the HTC with vegeta, trunks, or piccolo in that case.
The second is Gohans primary motivation for not fighting cell. It’s twofold. First, which you did mention is that he wants to settle it in a Non violent way, which does actually parallel freeza very nicely as that’s when Goku learned the same lesson.
But another thing was that he was afraid of himself. Gohans potential has always been his rage. When Goku turned super Saiyan he became an entirely different person for that fight. The fun loving peaceful martial artist gave way to a hot blooded warrior completely, almost mindlessly consumed by rage. Gohan was more afraid of losing control of himself, and of taking a life than he was if any past trauma or inadequacy. Gohan knew for a fact that if he snapped cell was fucked. He know for a fact that if he lost control, he was going to kill cell. I would argue, contrary to the primary point, Gohans actual loss of innocence was with cell. Where he realized mercy wasn’t an option, and for the first time in his life he didn’t just fight, he killed.
I would argue Gohans hatred of fighting starts there. When he knows his dad believes in him he takes to the battlefield with no hesitation, it’s only when he realizes he needs to get angry, and that for the battle to end he must kill cell that he stops. He carried his innocence with him throughout everything and where it truly broke was when 16 died. As you said, it was the exact mirror of freeza killing Krillin. Gohan know, understood, and accepted what he had to do, he gave up his innocence to kill another being. Cell (and the cell Jrs) as far as I know are the only lives gohan ever takes.
Thank you.
While the video would kind of make sense if we look at it in a realistic matter, the fact is that the story just wasn't written that way. Gohan didn't have any particular issue with fighting ever since the end of the Saiyan saga during which he got the courage to. What he didn't have yet as you pointed out is the courage to kill, which this time was resolved with Cell.
We know for a fact that Gohan was built up to take over Goku's legacy, which he did after Cell until Toriyama changed his mind midway through the Buu arc. At this point his character arc was basically over, he grew up past what was holding him back so he could be the new hero of the story. So having him carry such a trauma at this point in the story would be bizarre, and you tell me something like this wouldn't be mentioned in any way, shape or form? Nah, just not possible
@@enzomercier2789 yeah. Toriyama writes in such an improvised manner that he literally changed protagonists halfway through the buu saga. He definitely did not intend for any of his characters to be taken so deeply, he writes comedy and action, not drama.
I'm glad I found this before I wrote the same thing. While I enjoyed the video, I felt there was a bit of projection. I don't agree that everyone misunderstands Gohans' feelings towards fighting. He stated it quite clearly many times. We watched him get traumatized and almost die multiple times. Like you, I believe Gohan's trauma died with Cell.
I think most of his trauma was based off guilt. Knowing that his cowardice killed his friends must have been worse than watching his friends die. Especially because he knew the Dragon Balls could bring them back. This is why I believe watching their deaths weren't as traumatizing as everyone makes them out to be.
That's obviously just my take. Formed over the last 3 decades of being a DB Fan. Mixed with my own life experiences.
@@HansDester yeah I feel you. Gohans story has been more about the responsibility of those in power. That’s why he loses control of himself and acts like vegeta Imo. It’s the first time in his life he’s ever had control of a fight, it’s not about overcoming ptsd, it’s about having the resilience to do what’s right, the right way.
He killed one of Freeza's goons
Never watched a lot of dragon ball or really any of it, but when i heard the story of Gohan from a friend i sat there and thought, "Yeah, this is my favorite character i heard about by far" and when i told him he asked me why. I told him he seemed the most real, not wanting to fight others due to the fact that he doesn't dream of fighting others, but just finally being able to be at peace and rest, knowing who he cares about is safe.
Same for me lol. I got roped in with these yt shorts and everything I saw of gohan made me go “oh so you’re like the best and I’m obsessed with you” then I found out his tragic origin story and it cemented my already cemented love for him
Ive always understood what they went for with Gohan. I like the fact he's a big dork. My favorite scenes are just seeing him at high school in the buu arc. Gohan is arguably the most relatable character.
I really hope superhero is somewhat of a turning point for his character, you know with his literal most traumatic experience being presented to him a second time. Like at least have him train with piccolo and pan, which not only gives him time to not be extremely rusty but also time with his daughter.
The entire point of Gohan was that he was not Goku. This video does an excellent job at telling us what about Gohan is different from Goku and even how his journey through childhood is completely different from Goku’s. A part of me is always going to wonder how the series may have turned out of Toriyama was able to commit to Gohan being the new main character like he was meant to be.
I want to see a version of Gohan who trains not because he's having fun but because he understands he's one of the few people who can prevent/stop any threat to his family and planet like Buu , cell or when Frieza returned and finally goes down a path that isn't based on negative emotions like ssj
Okay, I agree with you on your points the only issue is I’m pretty sure Toriyama didn’t write Gohan in mind with having trauma that he should rightfully have from his experiences.
So in the narrative/world it diminishes his character because he knows after each time like in Cell, like in Buu and beyond that evil will always show up, a fight will always show up and threaten his friends and family yet he keeps getting “reset” even though he’s smart enough to know he should be training.
Because his character isn’t written to have trauma (even though we as the audience understand he should) and it’s just that he’s a reactive character so when he gets reset after stepping up again and again, it hurts his character because we are pretty sure it’s not gonna stick, making the trope of him being the strongest yet never doing anything about it making it the most annoying thing about him. Even though he’s a brilliant character otherwise.
I never realized that gohan witnessing his first fight as what it was would be massively traumatic for any child. It’s actually more realistic for him to never want to fight at all.
I think in some ways, it's even more complex because while his peaceful nature and trauma are true, deep down his Saiyan heritage does give him the thrill to fight and makes him even more self-conflicted.
I genuinely cried watching this. And not just a tear, but several, down my face. No form of media has made me cry like this before. Idk if it’s my current mental state or not, but fuck you and thank you for this perfect psychological analysis.
Its very inspiring to hear that my videos can have such an impact, thank you for sharing this! ♡
Father, can't you see I'm burning?
Gohans a deep character man, and hits home with alot of people for good reason. We grew up on DBZ man for some people DBZ taught us our morals as children. No shame here brother.
Really amazing channel! The video had great edits, music, and a solid perspective. Love the philosophy behind beloved anime/manga characters and hope to see much more! I feel like Broly would be a good next video
What you did wasn't describe Gohan you described an entire generation of 90s kids who are stuck in an anime loop in their heads because they always thought perhaps through their own guilt or through the words of others that their trauma doesn't matter and they have been fighting that trauma ever since. The endless reddit thread fights, the RUclips video responses to video responses the insane hours of watched gaming content on Twitch. It is all an attempt to escape that Trauma. Your channel doesn't have many subscribers but I hope it gets more. Your psychoanalysis here is spot on and I hope you continue to create much more content like this in the future.
I always always thought it's not so much that he hates fighting, but that he hates fighting for sport and instigating. He'll gladly end a fight if it means defending Earth and the people he loves, but he doesn't do it because he wants to. He will only do it out of necessity, He'd much rather be pursuing his career.
You articulated it perfectly. It's a shame that some fans are too pigheaded to understand. The character development works really well for him.
While Gohan is my favorite character, I think this what makes his story post-Cell Saga so frustrating. Most of the time, they don't really build upon Gohan's supposed "trauma" from his fights, and his story boils down to, "He's not into fighting, and woukd rather be a scholar." That would be fine if they left him as a background character, bittersweet as it could have been, but they know that people want that Cell Saga/Mystic aura from him, so they keep putting him into fights by rehashing the exact same storylines, and it somehow makes him a more static character than Goku at this point.
Like, I thought the point of Resurrection F was for him not to let his guard down and keep up his training, but we're in Super Hero and doing the same song & dance 7 years later. And before some tells me, "Uh, He WaS AcTUalY TrAiNiNg In SecREt." He only claimed to practice the special beam cannon, a singular move. He was still so out of the groove that he couldn't even sense Piccolo, a skill so simple that his daughter, Pan, could do at the age of 3. Even at the end when Piccolo was scolding him to keep up his training, he agreed, implying that he was slacking off.
I hate that Gohan can't become more proactive, because the moment he has any sort of agency, then people will bitch that, "He's becoming too much like Goku" as if training automatically means you share the personality as another guy who trains. Like if Vegeta can turn from a cold-blooded killer into a honest man looking out for those he cares about, then I doubt it's impossible for Gohan to learn not be completely against fighting. Despite this, I could forgive all of this if they showed how much he's been traumatized and how it affected him afterward. Unfortunately, Dragon Ball isn't that type of series, so any deep dive into stuff like trauma or generational divide between parents and children will either be ignored or be labeled as "overly-edgy/depressing fanfic dribble."
I just imagine Gohan dying after his fight with Cell from natural causes. Then it's easier to stomach the massacre of his character. The new Gohan is just an imposter. Because the writers write them like two completely different characters with two different experiences and personalities. There is just no possible way that the kid who learned from 16 that he has to be a DEFENDER OF EARTH would just quit training and let the world fall into peril again and again. He already saw his friends and family being hurt and it broke him. "I won't watch anymore. I'll never forgive you for what you've done." He realized he can't be a passive weakling and let evil do whatever it wants. It was the defining moment in his life. Yet the writers somehow think that lesson and trauma wouldn't stick. Because he makes the same mistakes over and over like a low-IQ loser for over a decade after the Cell saga.
I dont think Gohan should have to train constantly like Goku but bro has seen the world almost end (and actually end) too many times to not keep up with some sort of training.
To be fair, he is training. Gohan states that he's been training in secret. That's how he was able to use the Special Beam Cannon, and he was able to wear the weighted training clothes with no problem.
I genuinely love the giant nerdy goof ball that Gohan is at the beginning of the Buu saga.
I hope Pan gets him back into fighting having a daughter who enjoys fighting and making his dad train with him. Like a reverse of his relationship with Goku, it would go full circle.
This is a level of character analysis I didnt expect to ever see for Dragonball characters after Totally not Mark finished his years ago. For such a new channel, these videos are amazing. You've got a new subscriber from me and I'm eagerly awaiting whatever you make next, even if the topic shifts.
While I appreciate the well-made analysis, the video does ignore crucial points in Gohan's character with Dragon Ball Super that elevates him past this synopsis. There are several:
-Black Arc, where he was very frustrated that no one told him about Future Trunks' problems.
-Pre-ToP Tournament vs the Trio. Gohan does state that he cannot ignore his saiyan heritage and feels the thrill of battle.
-The Piccolo Training Episode, where Piccolo tackles his arrogance when he's drunk on power.
Yes, Gohan hates fighting, but he loves saving others. That's why he became a crime fighter and eventually a superhero. The Great Saiyaman costume isn't something he got rid of either. As such I do not believe that basing every character moment he has based on his trauma to be an accurate interpretation.
I don't want him to become a battle-crazed maniac like his father, but it's about responsibility. In a world where big threats show up so often, he of all people should understand the value of strength to protect the people one might care about. Goku can't always be there to bail everyone out, and when he can't, he's one of the few with that strength; and with great power comes great responsibility.
So... Trunks and Goten could do the job just as good? Their fusion could hold up Buu of all threats amd they grew up in a healthier way towards fighting than Gohan.
@@DundG That depends if Gotenks can keep his monster ego under control.
Sure, but people are bad at doing things they know they should. Look at people trying to go on a diet. If it was that easy you wouldn't have entire industries around them.
@dennisguntner8372 trunks ans goten aren't at that level, they haven't even unlocked super saiyan 2.
@@viennasavage9110 1. they are kids and already got ss. They can grow
2. Their fusion still could hold itself against Buu.
3. This is a writing issue since the plot mostly focuses on Goku and Vegeta to keep tension. And weirdly, the stronger bad guys only appear after there is some way that one of them, usually Goku, can beat them.
Imagine if Cell traveled back in time when Goku was still a kid. He would've won easily.
his attitude reminds me of my brother who passed away. so innocent, always wanting best for others. I just Slept and never woke up 💔🥺
This video single handedly increased my respect for Gohan as a character and made me truly understand the cycle
of trauma he’s going through. This video was amazing! Well done!
0:20 oh my god I forgot about the other namekians from the tournament of power and the part with the locket oh my god😂
I like when akira toryama talks about the character flaws in goku and gohan because you get to realise that the flaws are intentionally placed
the way he was acting with buu falls in line. he trained, unlocked his power, hes been through this before. he knows his power is through the roof now, thats what always happens. he knew what he had to do and he knew he was strong enough to do it he was finally gona conquer those demons he has and make up for his previous inability through destroying buu and finally being able to save his family and he is overwhelmed with it, revels in it to the point where he becomes drunk with power, again. he chokes, again. toying with the enemy just like last time. and now we are back to square one.
this is anime filler, in the manga he doesnt play at all and gets like 2 pages of him beating buu before he decides to explode and hiding from them. This was a case of Gohan learning his goddamn lesson but toriyama felt like giving the spotlight to goku again.
Hes been in the fields since he was 4 no wonder he hates fighting, bro has been through everything.
Honestly this is justice for Gohan and Chi Chi. I can only imagine the love and peace Gohan was raised in during those first 4 1/2 years. His character is perfectly depicted in how great of a father and husband he is to Pan and Videl. His heroism while fighting is second in my eyes. Such a great video.
This is a pretty revelatory take for me, as someone who's always liked Gohan but also felt sort of confused and frustrated about where they've been taking him, development-wise. As satisfied as I am with the explanation you give, it almost makes me feel worse that the writers just...keep pushing him towards hurt and trauma as the source of his powerups. I want to see the realization of Gohan's potential be free of that guilt.
Piccolo and Gohan are in the same age group. They don't have a father son dynamic they are more like brothers, Piccolo fills an older brother slash leader role
You forgot one thing. Nemekians mature faster than humans or saiyans. Despite being around the same age piccolo when he meets Gohan is already mentally and physically in the state of a young adult. So despite his age he is seen still as a mentor role to Gohan.
@@Mystic_Magirano I know they do.What I'm saying the relationship they have is more like older brother or like an uncle. Like ObiWan and Anakin. Me personally I have an 18 year age gap between me and my youngest brother and we have a similar relationship. My point is Piccolo was never his dad nor did he ever act like it or play the role
@@crimsonking4151If we want to compare them to Anakin and Obi-Wan, then we should also realize that Anakin and Obi-Wan have a rather unhealthy dynamic. Anakin does see Obi-Wan as a father, while Obi-Wan sees him as a brother and treats him as such, which isn't what Anakin wanted
My only issue is the repetitive lesson that Gohan didn’t really train seriously and now he is weak against a threat that he would have stomped, happens three separate times. Either have him learn that he can still not devote everything to fighting but actually still train to improve himself just in case, or have him not fight at all. The circle of his character development is just repeating over and over again and is getting annoying.
Indeed.
After Cell he should’ve at least kept to a decent train regiment Dabura, Buu and Frieza (again) wouldn’t have gotten as far as they did
I mean it was only three times so I don't see how that's annoying and he did technically in the movies tbf
@@dayvonlouis5187I guess but I think in the manga or filler episodes he did
@@ivoneo2806 it’s annoying where a part of the buu saga is that he could have done something against Dabura and stopped Buu’s resurrection had he trained at all, Ressruection F he got weaker again due to not training at all and got bodied by first form frieza while putting in effort to become a super saiyan, and then Super hero he got weaker because he didn’t train again (besides one comment about the special beam cannon) where he has to be pushed again to go beyond his super Saiyan form and get ultimate back after he already did this same thing in the T.O.P arc. Either have him learn from this or just don’t have him be a fighter so he can enjoy his life.
The way you ended the video was brilliant
During the Moro arc, it really seemed to me that Gohan's character arc moving forward was to be him getting past his vicious cycle. Mainly because he IS strong, and that strength can be used to protect what he really loves.
It'll be interesting to see how that ends up manifesting (if at all) moving forward.
Most of us understand Gohan, but it's a case in which he is in a position that only he can fill up, and he always leaves it unattended until it gets to a critical point in which he needs to be given plot device for him to be logical to defeat their foes. I think that is what it annoys me mostly of the character, out of that, Gohan's great
The problems are that 1. The actual series does a very poor job of explaining that Gohan doesn't like fighting, to the point where his fear of losing control and killing Cell seems to come out of nowhere since he had no problem killing the very first Frieza soldier he came across on Namek, and when taken filler into account has a bodycount at that point. The anime and manga also have differences beyond all the people he kills in the Garlic Junior Saga. During the Buu arc, he's just as enthusiastic about the whole rock paper scissors to see who fights in what order as Goku and Vegeta, and he's excited to see who his opponent is going to be when it's his turn - it's that excitement that prompts Goku to say he's excited to see how strong Gohan's become, which in turn prompts the whole discussion about how he's gotten weaker instead of stronger. The anime version of him is even clearly having fun during the fight with Dabura despite the stakes and the danger, a problem that the manga doesn't have.
2. The repetition of the exact same story with him ad nauseum. That's a big part of why I dislike Evangelion. To have a Rocky 3 story where he loses his fighting edge and needs to get it back is fine - it could have been great if Toriyama didn't turn it into a giant gag with the Old Kai's 'training.' But the first chance was botched thanks to Toriyama; 's funny bone, and the second was just stupid in the Resurrection F story. In the manga, he finally learns his lesson and actually does train in his free time using a gravity room like Vegeta, which is how he can equal Kefla. In the anime, he does some training with Picollo to the point where he can fight at Goku's level if they're both in base or SSJ1 forms, but seems to drop that as well and doesn't even seem to be able to access SSJ2 until his pre-tournament of power training. Super Hero seems to at least imply that he actually has been training this time, which is why he say says he hasn't gotten rusty when he blocks Picollo's first hit, and especially when it's revealed that he taught himself the makankosapo in his spare time.
3. The fact that he just stopped being the Great Saiyaman for seemingly no reason. To me, this is actually the worst thing, because this was something that he truly enjoyed, that was his own, and that he did together with his wife, and there was no reason for him to stop. It would have allowed him to go his own path and still be a hero while having the job and family life he loves. This is what really makes him look like a lazy flake instead of someone who is retreating from a past trauma. Toppo should have been Gohan's main rival and foil in the Tournament of Power given the similarities between Toppo and Gohan's Great Saiyaman persona. Then when Toppo drops that to become a god of destruction, effectively doing what Picollo told Gohan he needed to do in terms of letting go of fighting with his emotions, that would have created a perfect contrast that would have allowed Gohan to show that he could fight by staying true to who he is rather than by acting like Tien or Vegeta for a day as he does whenever he decides to start fighting again. But since Saiyaman was thrown out, any chance of that happening was as well.
Gohan already explained it in the Saiyan Arc his fight against Cell that he didn't like fighting. It wasn't Toriyama's fought that the more irrational Gohan fans never accepted it. Even now in Super, it had to be mentioned against because ppl obsess over the idea that Gohan should be the MC instead of Goku.
@@decepticonxhunter4850 that was just a b******* lie he enjoys fighting he hates killing if Gohan didn't like fighting why was he so happy to want to fight Debora why was he so happy to fight criminals in the great lane man why was he so happy to want to have a sparring match with Goku if he hates fighting he enjoys fighting if he hated fighting. He would not go out playing superhero because that means you have to fight
I think that's Bs to not like evangelion cause of that and I think in the manga or filler episodes he fixed the problems u had imo
@@leosnyder5264there are times where people can enjoy something even if they don't like it most of the time or something,I mean the criminals thing were simple to take down and the one about his father in a way was just for fun
@@leosnyder5264tbf, when you're one of the few mortals in the verse who can proudly wear the title of "can beat goku", a couple street thugs isn't a fight
0:07 Gohan ❤❤❤❤ that's one hit if in reality, I bet none can recover that
Great video bro. I'm a Gohan Stan and I love how you broke this down.
I wanted to hear more about the arrogance that Gohan displays when he knows that he is superior to his opponent. As you said, it bites him in the ass in both situations with Perfect Cell and Super Buu. With Cell Max, he finished him off quickly. Was that due to it being a movie and writers being pressed for time, or is that growth where we know Gohan could've saved the earth in both the Perfect Cell fight and Super Buu fight w/o there being additional casualties
In both situations Gohan preserves the fight because he wants his opponent to "suffer".
..time will tell.
I love this, thank you for taking your time to research his trauma and format it in a way that we can all understand.
I think the scene on babidis ship was evidence he enjoyed fighting as well as the buu fight just because You can contextualize the situation doesn't make it less true that he can enjoy fighting at times.
It's weird to just think of him as a character that hates it and is too good for it when they don't write it in a interesting way. I genuinely think toriyama would just say he's lazy because he's simple and the most obvious answer is usually the correct one with him
My problem isnt that Gohan isnt this badass warrior, but its that they keep reusing the whole cant find a work life balance and blatantly insult how weak he is, then have him pull up at full power, and then he loses his work life balance, and its just an infinite cycle
Theres this illusion of character growth because at the end of his character arc, they reset him back to the start.
After the Buu arc, thats where the character arc shouldve been over and moved on to different things for him. Buu arc Gohan was amazing. Yeah he slacked off, but he wasnt a warrior and he had years of peace, and he regretted it when shit did happen and he wasnt strong enough. We also got to see more of his casual life which was amazing for characterizing him. Between Buu and Beerus, he should not have been slacking off and as pathetic as the Revival of F arc made him out to be
What's also worse is his lack of screentime. Like majority of Super's first half had him disappear for multiple episodes, and it seemed like even the show itself forgot he existed when we got to the beginning of TOP. I thought they were gonna solve it with when the TOP arc actually started and gave him some much needed development and attention, but then Super Hero kinda falls into the same pitfalls by making him more as a glorified secondary character to Piccolo's solo film for most of the runtime. I think more people would care about what Gohan wants to do if the show bothered to explore what he does, and why it's so important instead of relating it to a gag of, "Heh, he likes bugs. Isn't that so quirky and relatable?"
The uphill battle that I have with this video is whether or not I think Toriyama really thought this deeply in writing Gohan. I'm not saying he's a bad writer - but I always will see DB as a series for excitement and action over development and deep writing/lore. Things occur in the series, imo, because it'd be exciting to see it happen - and it's kinda that way with a lot in the series.
This video essay won me over. I've looked at this character wrong the entire time - as I want him to be not for what he is.
Wow as a teenager I readed Dragon Ball 20 years ago and I never saw it this way and thought Gohan was stupid for not training. As an adult now its so clear and I feel so sorry for Gohan now.... Dragon Ball hits alot diffrent now when you are young