You Don't Understand Gohan... 

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.

“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

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.

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.

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 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.

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 😭

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.

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

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.

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.

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 don’t understand why people don’t let him study his little ants, leave the poor guy alone

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.

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..)

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.

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.

They’ve gotta gather the Dragon Balls and wish away Gohan’s trauma

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.

“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

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 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

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.

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

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.

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

its really telling about how much fans of DB think of gohan. he's only cool when he's fighting or using a new form but when he's living his life, he's lame. considering all the trauma and crap he's seen and experienced in his life, its a testament to his own personality that he's a normal person with a healthy family life. in that way, he's not like his dad. he's better than his dad.

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.

actually i think gohan already conquered his trauma by the TOP. he still doesnt train as hard as goku and vegeta but he still trained enough to maintain being able to tap into ultimate still and learned the special beam cannon on his own time, people dont give him enough credit that he HAS been training somewhat consistently, just he doesnt train in the way to exceed his potential, just maintain a level a comparable power. now i think hell train to be able to tap into beast, but hes never going to do what goku does just because that isnt his desire.

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.

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.

You articulated it perfectly. It's a shame that some fans are too pigheaded to understand. The character development works really well for him.

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.

Finally, someone who actually understands.

Its also important to say that his upbringing was really different from Goku's, Grandpa Gohan was Goku's first caretaker so a gentle and positive introduction to martial arts. Gohan first caretaker was Chichi and she prioritized studies that he enjoyed. Piccolo was his second teacher and also a traumatic introduction to martial arts, no matter how good their relationship is in their adult years, Piccolo was violent and desperate to turn child Gohan into a fighting machine able to defeat the saiyans. So while Gohan has the tools to become a fighter because of Piccolo, he also has the tools to be a normal human because of Chichi and the second its actually something he enjoys and excells at. Now that I think about maybe its also Goku's sense of dedication manifesting in Gohan too. Goku loves fighting so he will pursue that to the end of his days, Gohan loves studying so he will pursue that with everything he has too. Its kind of obvious if you compare them with Goten or Trunks who are way more relaxed in what they want to do compared to their saiyan fathers.

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.

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.

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.

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."

its nice seeing someone understanding gohans character

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 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.

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.

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.

THANK YOU!!! I've had this argument with people who insist Gohan loves fighting and he's just been written into not liking it later (which very well could be the case in a real life sense) it shows throughout the entire series that he has never been enthusiastic about fighting. Ever. But people just really like the character and wants him to be the main character

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

These are some great character analysis videos. great work!

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, 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

Your Dragon Ball videos are by far the most insightful out there

After watching a video of this quality I would've thought you were a huge channel. I was surprised to see you're new. You've got great potential! Your storytelling, clean editing and concise way to deliver information kept me hooked throughout the video! All the best for the future I hope you get big! 😁

I hate when fans blame all Gohans lack of fighting prowess on Chi Chi

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

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.

THIS VIDEO IS SO FUCKING GOOD OMG INSTANT SUBSCRIBE I love the quality that you put into it, the research, the visuals to add on to what you're saying, and taking the character seriously & from a psychological standpoint; I do this in my every day conversation with people about series so it's so relatable & validating, and I plan on sending out this video and hopefully more that you make to even non DB fans because it was so concise that you provided all the context required to understand it!!! 🤩😱 - FOrce

This was beautifully constructed and well thought out. I love watching video essays like this in comparison to others which more often than not sound like a lot of whining or poo pooing.

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.

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.

Thank you for the work you put into this video.

Gohan doesn't hate fighting. Gohan fights when he has to. Gohan just prefers to resolve challenges using intelligence rather than strength.

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.

Nice video. Gohan has always been my favorite character in the series and I’ve always just been happy for him regardless of whether or not he fights or trains.

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.

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

Goku learned to fight because he wanted to Gohan fought because he was forced to People often forget that early Dragonball was pretty whimsical it was only after king piccolo that battles started to become life or death

I clicked this out of respect for Gohan, and came away with a much deeper appreciation of the character, and the analysis of trauma that lies within him. Gave me a new name (Lacan) to look up and study too - so, amazing video! I cant wait to see more from you.

Got my sub within the first minute of the first video of yours I have ever watched. Nicely done son.

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.

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.

Great video, my friend!

I love Gohan and this video really sums up his struggle throughout the series, gotta appreciate your efforts for explaining such a misunderstood topic!

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.

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

Very interesting take! Subscribed

You did Gohan justice! So eloquently done, marvelous! 👏

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.

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

Gohan: “I don’t like to fight” Us: “THATS TOO DAMN BAD “

I love this video. You combined two of the things I've been passionate about from childhood: psychology and gohan!

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.

He is a realistic character that's why people relate most at him if compared to Goku and Vegeta. This video shows perfectly what Gohan has gone through and the fact that he doesn't like fighting (not being selfish rather the TRAUMA in him that knows something bad usually happens when he decided to fight). People would see Gohan as a coward, as someone unreliable and they don't even realise that trauma isn't something you can overcome that easily especially when involved violence and death (sure it looks normal to us because we consider it as anime lol) I'd say he is also the most reliable family man when compared with goku and vegeta, this makes sense with his half human genes. Perhaps he too would be like Goku and Vegeta if he was a full blooded saiyan

Jesus dude, if all your content is this well done you just found a new fan.

beautifully made video

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.

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

Very nice video! ❤

This video raises the question, would Gohan enjoy fighting as much as Goku if he was introduced to it in a much healthier way and with no stakes other than pride?

He doesn’t hate fighting, he understands certain battles must be fought which is why he was training the entire time in secret. He just doesn’t care for meaningless fights like his father and their ancestors‼️ Fighting is like a sport for them, almost recreational. While Gohan only sees it as a necessary chore.

Love your video. Thank you

This video helped me relate to Gohan’s character on a personal level. I don’t love him, but I don’t dislike him as much as I did before viewing this video. Great work! 👌🏿

Gohan may not love fighting but he obviously loves saving the day and that involves fighting so he’s still got Saiyan spirit in him. For Goku and Vegeta their lust for battle and getting stronger gets to a point where it regresses their personalities into something childish and stupid Gohan can have the best of both worlds the maturity of fighting for a good reason and thrill of being so powerful.

So, a couple things. Gohan... definitely dislikes fighting, but he actually doesn't entirely seem to mind sparring that much, as long as he has time for it. And on the flip side, he's also willing to do what he needs to do to protect his loved ones. He has priorities, and his work comes before any sort of training or sparring. We also see that even though he doesn't train much, he still has a passion for martial arts - in the extended canon, in age 804, Gohan publishes a book titled "Groundbreaking Science" which is basically a massive scientific paper on ki and how it works. What he absolutely hates, though, is being in life-or-death fights, and how his father is so casual about them.

good video it made me realize a lot of things about the narrative i never put together.

Good video dawg

Gohan doesnt "hate" fighting. He just doesnt want to do it. I think this is best emphasized in the buu saga. Once gohan finishes training his ego is reginited and he really enjoys humilating buu. Just like when he let cell regenerate. He still finds enjoyment in a fight and will fight when necessary he just doesnt want to fight and train all the time. This is even shown again in the ToP in dragon ball super, gohan gets en ego and enjoys fighting even though their entire universe is on the line

I think the major problem is that Gohan's character development versus Cell is completely ignored come the start of the Buu Saga. Gohan's seen Piccolo die for him, he's seen Goku die for him. Twice. Gohan then went on to see many people get killed on Namek because he wasn't strong enough to stop them. He then heard about the androids and saw everyone around him fighting for their life and for the peace he loved so much. He might not have enjoyed his fight with Cell because of the fight itself, but he DID enjoy making a monster pay for the evil they've done. He should have entered the Buu Saga as a more heroic version of the kid who killed Cell and saved the world, not a physically developed version of the kid who was crying because he didn't WANT to fight.

This was a good video. Not a big lacanian but I was happily surprised to see you present a lacanian perspective. I hadn't actually thought through his aversion to violence/combat but this gives his character such nuance in a series where, let's be honest, nuance is hard to come by. Such a good watch.

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 always thought it was the Cell Saga that broke him. It was the one time he "let himself go" in a fight. The one-time he allows himself to be a saiyan and enjoy the fight. Then his father gets killed and it's directly because of him. Because of his lust for fighting in the moment and his unwillingness to end the fight. His unwillingness to kill Cell. He admittedly never wanted that responsibility and never really wanted again. He never wanted to be counted on ever again after that