Gohan

Creation and design

Gohan's name comes from the Japanese word gohan (ご飯, lit. "cooked rice" or "meal of any sort"), a continuation of the naming scheme of foods by Toriyama. Rice, being a grain, is not normally considered to be a vegetable, even though it is a common food. However, as the word "vegetable" is a culinary term, and not a botanical term, the name can also continue the naming scheme for Saiyan characters, which derives names from puns on vegetables. In conceptualizing for Gohan's character, Toriyama originally included glasses or a jacket in his apparel, and commonly, his hair is spiked up as seen in the final design. With the ending of the Cell arc, Gohan was meant to replace his father as the protagonist. However, Toriyama later decided against it, finding the character unsuited for the role in comparison to his father.

In contrast, Gohan is the main focus of the film Super Hero. The movie is meant to change the focus of overpowered characters like Goku and Vegeta against Broly in the previous film, and instead focus on Gohan and Piccolo as leads and thus bringing a change of pace. One of the main fights is between Gohan and Gamma 1, which takes place during the rain. Director Tetsuro Kodama found that this setting would be appealing. The narrative will further explore human drama, most notably the characterization of Gohan being a warrior as well as a scholar at the same time. Toriyama said that he wanted the plot to focus on the dynamic between Gohan and Piccolo due to how their close relationship is the one thing that motivates the former even more than his father, Goku, to be determined to fight. The film reveals the full awakening of Gohan's power through yet another instance of pure rage. This "Beast" form (孫 悟飯・ビースト, Son Gohan Bīsuto) is a culmination of his history of volcanic awakenings throughout his life. Toriyama feared it would come across as scary due to his angry expression, but tried balancing it with the hair, ultimately settling on a more simplistic approach.

In an interview featured in the second Dragon Ball GT Perfect Files, a companion book released in December 1997 by Shueisha's Jump Comics Selection imprint, Masako Nozawa, Gohan's voice actress, stated that her favorite episode voicing Gohan was "Sorry, Robot-san – The Desert of Vanishing Tears". Saffron Henderson, Gohan's original English voice actor, has stated she felt protective of the role and considers it to be one of her favorites. In addition, Gohan's original Funimation voice actor, Stephanie Nadolny has said that playing Gohan was a unique and much-loved experience.

Voice actors

Gohan is voiced in the original Japanese anime and all other media by Masako Nozawa. Nozawa, who also voices Goku, revealed that she did not know she would be playing Gohan until receiving the script on the day of recording his debut episode. Despite having to voice Gohan, Goku, Goten, and Bardock, Nozawa claims she can instantly get into the respective characters simply upon seeing their image.

In the Funimation and Saban Entertainment initial 1996 English dub of Dragon Ball Z, Gohan is voiced by Saffron Henderson. Henderson reprised her role in AB Group and Westwood Media's alternate dub for the UK and Canadian markets in 2000. Jillian Michaels replaced Henderson in the latter part of the Cell arc, while his adult version is voiced by Brad Swaile. Henderson believed her experience playing Goku in Dragon Ball made it simple to develop Gohan's voice, though she stressed performing as him was "tiring" due to the action of the series requiring louder volumes. She also remembered scheduling conflicts thanks to her wedding, setting the stage for the studio to audition other voice actors for the part of Gohan, and being disappointed at the role being recast.

In Funimation's in-house dub, Gohan's child incarnation is voiced by Stephanie Nadolny for various media until 2010 and Colleen Clinkenbeard for Dragon Ball Kai and later media while his adult incarnation is voiced by Kyle Hebert for almost all various media and Dameon Clarke as "Future Gohan" for some episodes and the History of Trunks TV special. Nadolny was called in to audition in 1999, when the English dub of Dragon Ball Z was recast. She said her most challenging time voicing the character was during his fight against Cell, where she had to make him sound as "deep, tough, and as much like a man as possible." Nadolny's voice was strained during the recordings, causing her to sometimes leave the studio in pain. Hebert said that his roles as Gohan and the narrator of Dragon Ball Z are close to him as they kickstarted his career. He also found Battle of Gods to be "genuinely touching" outside of its fighting, citing Gohan finding out that he was going to be a father among the moments he found sentimental and was happy to return to the franchise when reprising his role in Resurrection 'F', also expressing interest in redoing his lines in Dragon Ball Kai as he had more experience.

In the English dub of Dragon Ball GT produced by Blue Water Studios, distributed in Canada, he was voiced by Scott Roberts. In the English dub of movies distributed in Europe by AB Groupe, Gohan was voiced by Jodi Forrest, with David Gasman voicing Gohan as an adult in The History of Trunks. In the Toonami Asia dub produced by Bang Zoom! Entertainment of Dragon Ball Super, Gohan here is voiced by Chris Hackney.

Abilities

Gohan possesses superhuman strength and durability, as well as superhuman speed and reflexes, as seen during his training with his younger brother Goten. As a child, Gohan is depicted with an immense amount of hidden potential, which at first only revealed itself when he experienced fierce rage or distress. The vastness of this potential is shown consistently throughout the series as he ages and learns to master his powers from constant training and battles, the earliest example was during his short fight with Raditz. Gohan's potential was unlocked twice in the series: first by the Namekian Grand Elder, and then further unlocked by the Old Kaiō-shin, which sees his power level rise to new heights, capable of easily overwhelming the seemingly invincible Majin Buu.

As a Half-Saiyan, he can become an Oozaru, a gigantic ape-like creature, by absorbing waves from a full moon. He lost this ability after his tail was cut by Piccolo, and later Vegeta. He was the third youngest Saiyan to achieve the Super Saiyan transformation at the age of nine whilst training and surpassing his father Goku in the Room of Spirit and Time (Hyperbolic Time Chamber) and as a display of his hidden potential which he unlocked during his training with his father, Gohan becomes the first Saiyan in the series to become a Super Saiyan 2 during his battle against Cell. Though Gohan had gotten much weaker due to making the mistake of not training after the Cell Games, he became stronger than he ever had after his potential was unlocked from Old Kaiō-shin. Gohan, with this power up, was stronger than Super Saiyan 3 Gotenks since he was able to dominate Super Buu with ease without transforming.

Ever since this fight, Gohan has given up on fighting and has continually gotten weaker to the point that he can't use his Super Saiyan transformations without straining himself, while his Ultimate form was locked. Gohan can still hold his own against Frieza's soldiers, Shisami, and Tagoma in his base form and overpower them when he transforms into a Super Saiyan. After Frieza attacked Earth, Gohan returned to training with Piccolo. During his training with Piccolo before the start of the Tournament of Power, Gohan is pushed beyond his limits and manages to unlock his hidden power once again, becoming stronger than ever before. After this, he has shown that he is now able to combat foes of God-level might, having been able to hold his own in a sparring match against his father Goku in his Super Saiyan Blue form, and hold his own against Frieza in his Golden Frieza form. In the manga, Gohan manages to stalemate the fused sayian fighter, Kefla.

Transformations

Gohan's transformations are often triggered by immense potential and emotional catalysts.

Great Ape (Ōzaru): Like all Saiyans with a tail, Gohan could transform into a giant, primal ape form by absorbing enough Blutz Waves, typically from a full moon or artificial moon. This transformation increased his power but made him feral and violent. Gohan lost this ability when his tail was cut off.

Super Saiyan: Gohan first achieved this iconic, golden-haired form while training with Goku in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber during the Cell Saga. He later mastered it as the "Full Power" state, which diminished the form's strain on his body, allowing him to use it as if it was a base state.

Super Saiyan 2: Gohan was the first warrior to reach this level, which was triggered by his grief and rage after Android 16's death at the hands of Cell. This form features spikier hair and a constant electrical aura.

Ultimate Gohan (Potential Unleashed): Gained after Old Kai's unlock ability ceremony, this state draws out all of his latent power without requiring a Super Saiyan transformation. It became his standard powerful form for a long period, but his lack of training between the end of Z until the Resurrection of Frieza rendered it locked again until the Tournament of Power.

Beast Gohan: Gohan's most recent and powerful form, achieved during the events of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. It is an evolution of his Ultimate state, characterized by white/grey hair, red eyes, and a massive surge in power, once again triggered by traumatic anger.

Appearances

Dragon Ball Z

Gohan is introduced as the four-year-old son of Goku and Chi-Chi, named after Goku's adoptive grandfather. Described as well-mannered and reserved, Gohan is abducted by the extraterrestrial Saiyan named Raditz, revealed to be his paternal uncle. While Goku is pinned to the ground, Gohan's extreme distress explodes with the release of his dormant power, which allows him to injure Raditz. With Goku training in the realm of the dead, Piccolo trains him for the upcoming battle against the two other Saiyans, Vegeta and Nappa. His tutelage under Piccolo forms a deep bond between the two characters, with Piccolo ultimately sacrificing himself to save Gohan during their fight with Nappa. After Vegeta's defeat, Gohan travels with Bulma and Krillin to planet Namek to use the Dragon Balls there to revive their fallen friends. Gohan and the others wish Piccolo back to life, causing Kami and the Dragon Balls to be returned. Gohan, along with Krillin and Vegeta, is then forced into an encounter with Frieza. After a long fight, Gohan is replaced by Goku. In the final fight, the Dragon Balls bring everybody from Namek to Earth. Frieza is found in space by his father, King Cold, and is turned into a cyborg.

Years later, Trunks kills Frieza and warns Goku about the appearance of Androids. Gohan goes into the wilderness with Goku and Piccolo to train for the upcoming threat. In the upcoming battle, they are unable to defeat Dr. Gero's creations, Gohan enters the Room of Spirit and Time with Goku, where they train for 1 year in a single day. Gohan makes the jump to Super Saiyan while he is in the chamber, and after they emerge, both Goku and Gohan retain the physical characteristics of a Super Saiyan. In the tournament organized by the android Cell, Goku tells his son to replace him in the battle. With Gohan being unable to use the rage Goku told him, Cell tortured him by harming his friends with his own children. After Android #16 is murdered by Cell, Gohan unleashes his rage and full power. Gohan easily defeats the Cell Juniors and proceeds to toy with Cell. However, Cell attempts to self-destruct when transformed back, and Goku dies with him. Cell returns, having regenerated from a single Cell that survived the blast. Right before Cell is about to finish, Vegeta, Gohan intercede, which costs him the use of his left arm. As Cell charges up one final Kamehameha wave to finish the Earth, Gohan hears the voice of his father, who gives him the resolve to attack with the father-son kamehameha. Gohan unleashes all his fury into his attack, which kills Cell.

The Gohan of the alternate timeline, referred to as "Future Gohan", to distinguish him from the character's present-timeline incarnation, is presented in the volume #33 sidestory of the original manga, Trunks the Story and its film adaptation Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks, in which he is shown to be the only surviving fighter; the others have all died at the hands of the androids (sans Goku due to having died from a heart virus 6 months before the androids' arrival). Gohan is shown training Trunks to assist him in battling Androids #17 and #18. In this timeline, Gohan has become a Super Saiyan and is depicted wearing a uniform similar to his father's, one with his own kanji symbol on the back, Han, 飯. Gohan states he wears it in hopes of becoming as strong as his father one day, and it is mentioned that he bears a striking resemblance to Goku when donning it. He eventually loses his left arm fighting Androids #17 and #18. He is ultimately killed by the two androids during a battle where they ganged up on Gohan, killing him with machine gun-like ki blasts. This is only depicted in the anime; his cause of death is left ambiguous in the manga, where he is already dead by the time Trunks arrives at the scene.

Dragon Ball Super

In Battle of Gods, Gohan fights Beerus and provides his aid in transforming his father into a Super Saiyan God, with his unborn daughter Pan, also contributing as well, and in Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F', Gohan confronts the resurrected Frieza and avoids being killed with the majority of the Earth's population thanks to a save by Whis.

After the latter two films' events, Gohan decides to resume his training with Piccolo, vowing to protect his family and not repeat the same mistake he made in slacking off in his training. Following a short time of civilian life, where he is unable to participate in the Universe 6 vs Universe 7 tournament thanks to a scheduling conflict, and Gohan turns down a new job, and with Pan already born, he is reunited with Trunks, being unaware of his reason to return to the past until after Goku, Trunks and Vegeta have had multiple encounters with Goku Black and he goes in search of his father. After Pan gets sick, Gohan has Shenlong to cure her and Gohan later follows Goku around after Hit targets Goku. Gohan becomes a stuntman for a movie featuring his Great Saiyaman persona against Mr. Satan, defeating Watagash and being attacked by Jaco, who thinks Gohan is Watagash's new host. Gohan then defeats a Watagash possessed Barry Kahn.

Citing a desire to protect his family, Gohan participates in Zen-Oh-sama's Universal Survival tournament for the Universe 7 team. In the exhibition round, Gohan is matched against Universe 9's Lavender, who fires a mist into his eyes that blinds him. Gohan powers up, causing the poison to accelerate through his body, and he knocks out Lavender to the ground, thus winning the fight. While Gohan and Goku recruit fighters for the Tournament of Power, Gohan is outsmarted by Krillin in a sparring match after being blinded with the Solar Flare x 100, leading him to get eliminated from that sparring match.

Gohan's training with Piccolo, during which Piccolo chastises Gohan for being reckless as a result of wanting to protect his family, concludes with Gohan becoming stronger than ever before and the two agreeing to develop combination moves. Gohan then challenges Goku to a duel, Gohan shows power that rivals Goku, but still loses the match. Goku is impressed with his son's power and decides to make him the captain of their team in the Tournament of Power. In the Tournament of Power, Gohan defeats Universe 6's Botamo, Universe 10's Obuni, Universe 6's Saonel and Pirina, and Universe 3's Anilaza before Universes 7 and 11 become the only remaining teams in the tournament. Gohan initially partners with Android 17 to battle Toppo, firing a Kamehameha wave at Android 17 and Toppo while they are inside Android 17's barrier in effort to ring them out, though Gohan retracts the beam out of concern for Android 17. Gohan breaks away from the fight with Toppo and comes to Frieza's aid against Dyspo, Gohan defeats Dyspo and holds him down while both of them are blasted out of bounds by Frieza.

In other media

Gohan appears in twelve of the thirteen Dragon Ball Z side story films; in the first movie, Gohan is kidnapped by Garlic Jr. due to his hat having a Dragon Ball on it and causes the villain's plan to fail when he uses his dormant power against him; in the second, Gohan participates in the fight against Dr. Wheelo and frees Piccolo from further mind control; in the third, Gohan is forcibly made to combat his father as an Oozaru before having his tail removed; in the fourth, Gohan attempts to fight Lord Slug's men only to be defeated; in the fifth, Gohan watches over his father's body after Goku shields him from a blast from Cooler. He also goes to Kirin Tower for Senzu beans to give to his father; in the sixth, Gohan travels to New Namek and fights Cooler's army of robots; in the seventh, Gohan intervenes in the battle against Android 13 by attacking him and then defending his father against the android when he tries to power the Genki-Dama; in the eighth, Gohan tries fighting Broly but does worse than everyone else and is defeated and later aids in the Saiyan's defeat by providing his energy; in the ninth, Gohan faces Bojack and his henchmen, struggling initially before transforming into a Super Saiyan 2 and successfully stopping Bojack and his group of invaders; in the tenth, Gohan comes to the aid of Goten and Trunks after they are confronted by Broly, who he seemingly kills alongside his father and brother in a family Kamehameha wave; in the twelfth, Gohan combats the villains that have escaped from Other World and defeats Frieza with one punch; in the thirteenth, Gohan battles Hirudegarn following his appearance.

In filler episodes of Dragon Ball Z, while training for the Saiyans, Gohan makes friends with C-6 and a dinosaur. During the Namek arc, Gohan also encounters the Mirror spaceship and a fake version of Namek, where he, Krillin and Bulma collect Dragon Balls during a distraction, and prevent their ship from being stolen. In the Garlic Jr. arc, entirely composed of filler, Gohan is one of only a few unaffected by the Black Water Mist and after fighting his allies, he travels to the lookout where he kills the henchmen of Garlic Jr. after they severely injure Krillin, Gohan then sending Garlic Jr. back into the Dead Zone by destroying his power through shooting out the Makyo Star after being attacked by Piccolo and Krillin as they pretend to be under the effects of the Black Water Mist. Leading up to the Cell Games, Gohan encounters Taopaipai, his father's old enemy, who flees from a potential battle once recognizing Gohan as Goku's son and celebrates his 11th birthday, it being shown in flashbacks how he acquires his name and how he had hidden potential within infancy. Before the Buu arc beginning, Gohan's high school antics are explored such as his masquerading as Great Saiyaman and his first date. After Buu is defeated, Gohan attends a party with his family.

Video games

In the 1992 Video game Dragon Ball: Get Together! Goku World, Gohan, along with Goku, Trunks, Bulma, and Krillin, travel back in time to examine events in the past.

In the 2004 video game Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors, Gohan comes to Goku's aid against the androids and defeats Android 18. After Goku passes away from a heart disease, Gohan inherits his role as Earth's primary protector. Gohan confronts Dr. Gero, whom he defeats and is warned by of an upcoming threat from Cell, the latter announcing the Cell Games after being revealed, and Gohan training with Piccolo in the Room of Spirit and Time to prepare. After Gohan and Piccolo struggle against Cell, and Piccolo sacrifices himself to save Gohan, Gohan unleashes his hidden power and destroys Cell. In the 2005 video game Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors 2, after his defeat of Cell, Gohan is recruited by Trunks to assist him with defeating the androids in his timeline. After defeating Android 18, Gohan and Trunks confront and defeat Cell. The two travel to Dr. Gero's laboratory and defeat various clones of the android and destroy the computer that created them. Years later, he encounters Cooler when the latter comes to Earth searing for the Saiyan that defeated his brother Frieza. Piccolo is turned evil when taking a blast from Bobbidi to protect Gohan, who is forced to fight Piccolo before the latter flees. Gohan later confronts Piccolo and defeats him.

In the 2006 game Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai, Gohan confronts Frieza after the latter is resurrected and unsuccessfully tries donning his Great Saiyaman persona, becoming worn out in the process of fighting him before Frieza departs.

Gohan then confronts Cooler after seeing him search for a Dragon Ball and bests him in battle, before Cooler escapes with the Dragon Ball using the Shunkan Idō.

Later, Janemba's influence allows Gohan to kill Cell with ease and nearly become consumed with evil energy before Goku's intervention. In the 2007 game Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai – Another Road, Gohan travels to Trunks' timeline to assist him with the Majin Buu threat. and fights Janemba while searching for the timeline's version of himself to pull the Zeta Sword. Gohan meets Pikkon and his grandfather Bardock for the first time.

In the 2010 arcade game Dragon Ball Heroes, Gohan attains both the Super Saiyan 3, the result of continued training with Piccolo after the Cell Games, and Super Saiyan 4 forms.

Reception

In 1993, Gohan placed first in a Dragon Ball character popularity poll voted on by Weekly Shōnen Jump readers, and was also voted the third most popular character by fans of the series for the 2004 book Dragon Ball Forever. Due to the popularity of Gohan, other merchandise, such as action figures, video games, and clothing have featured Gohan in Japan and various countries around the world. C.J. A. Glover of Moviepilot ranked Gohan his third favorite comic character, admitting Gohan "has always been somewhat of an idol to me" as he related to bottling up his anger and being a gentle person that, when snapping, "would let loose and it would be hard to bottle it back up again." In conclusion, Glover wrote that Gohan was definitely "one of my favorite anime and manga characters ever." Gohan's relationship with mentor Piccolo during the Saiyan arc was praised, being seen as "complex" and "culminating in a truly emotional and inspiring moment that one doesn't often expect from your average animated series." Tomoko Hiroki from Bandai Namco considered Gohan her favorite character from the series.

Most of Gohan's praise is derived from his role in the Cell arc of Dragon Ball Z. IGN writer D. F. Smith liked how during the Cell Games, Gohan has more screen time than Goku, and praised his scenes as one of the biggest moments from said story arc. Theron Martin from Anime News Network celebrated Gohan's development in the Cell Games as he had grown up and become stronger. The character's battles against Cell during the arc and his transformation into a Super Saiyan 2 were positively received as some of the best in the entire series, the fight additionally being praised for its animation. Both Anime Focus and John Begley believed Dragon Ball Z could have ended with Gohan's defeat of Cell, the latter reasoning concluding it there would have "provided it a sense of poignancy and closure that retroactively would have provided a greater sense of depth and purpose." Luke Ryan Baldock of The Hollywood News felt Gohan's progression was the focus of the Cell Games and that he had begun to match his father Goku in ability, calling their relationship "a fascinating one to watch unfold." Reviewer Nick Hartel expressed that the "continuing elevation of Gohan" pleased him and the last episodes of the Cell storyline "properly sees this is paid off from a narrative standpoint." Reviewer Todd Douglass Jr. wrote that the series split its focus between Goku and Gohan during the start of the series as they grew on their own, finding it to be "an interesting way to handle the flow of story but also important because it shows Gohan's growth as a person and warrior."

Gohan's role and character in the latter part of the series were met with more mixed reviews. Reviewer Michael Zupan wrote of his disappointment with the character, "Gohan was once the most promising warrior in the galaxy, with the potential to even best his father, Goku... and this is where he's at seven years later? Dressing up in a green dress, black tights, and a Lost in Space helmet to put the beat down on robbers?"

Merchandise

Gohan has been featured on various merchandises, including action figures, plushies, and keychains. Adidas, in 2018, released a Dragon Ball collaboration that featured a sneaker design with Gohan. Swatch also collaborated with the franchise, to release a character branded wristwatch.