Son Gohan - Dragon Ball

Son Gohan is the first child of the protagonist Son Goku. He is kind and loving and generally doesn’t seem to enjoy fighting, contrary to his Saiyan heritage. From a young age, Gohan was forced by his mother Chi-Chi to study and martial arts were generally forbidden. Reluctantly, Chi-Chi allows Gohan to train with his father Goku, enabling him to become one of the strongest unfused characters in the series at his peak. Gohan is voiced entirely by Masako Nozawa in all Japanese versions of all the series.

Appearances in Dragon Ball Z

Gohan first appeared in Dragon Ball Z as a small child visiting Master Roshi’s island with his father and his friends. Raditz then suddenly appears and takes him away as a threat to Goku. Gohan is locked inside a Saiyan space pod by Raditz while the battle between him, Piccolo and Goku commences. Upon seeing his father injured, Gohan flies into a rage and attacks Raditz with a flying headbutt to the abdomen, cracking his armor. After Raditz is defeated, Gohan is taken by Piccolo to be trained in the wilderness until Vegeta and Nappa arrive on Earth. During the fight with Nappa and Vegeta, however, Gohan proves to be of little use, as he is overcome by fear and nerves. Due to this, he fails to correctly execute a strategy conceived by Piccolo and Krillin and ultimately causes Piccolo’s death by sacrifice. With Goku being injured and unable to continue the fight against Vegeta, Gohan transforms into his Great Ape form, giving Goku a slight reprieve. After the fight, Gohan travels to Namek in search of their Dragon Balls, as Piccolo’s death rendered Earth’s inert. There, they meet Dende and Gohan has his potential unlocked by the Guru of Namek before heading into battle with Frieza himself. Frieza, in his second form, is surprised by a powerful Masenko delivered by Gohan. This grants the Z Fighters a slight opening, but forces Frieza to transform into his third form. Following this, Gohan becomes unable to assist in the battle any longer. During the Cell saga, Gohan begins training with Goku and gains the Super Saiyan form in preparation for the battle with Cell. Gohan, however, goes beyond Super Saiyan in the battle with Cell and achieves the Super Saiyan 2 form. He defeats Cell with a one handed Kamehameha, thanks to some assistance from Vegeta.

Some years pass and Gohan has given up training in pursuit of studies and is attending high school in the city. He receives a special watch from Bulma that allows him to transform into a superhero costume, which he uses to fight crime in the city with his girlfriend Videl until news of Majin Buu’s awakening arrives. Gohan is the first fighter to face off against Majin Buu and is quickly knocked out. Gohan is then taken to Elder Kai’s planet and has his potential further unlocked by Elder Kai. This grants Gohan new powers that are often referred to as ’Mystic Gohan’ or ‘Ultimate Gohan’, depending on the translation. As powerful as this form is, though, he is soon absorbed by Super Buu and is rendered unable to continue the fight.

Appearances in Dragon Ball Super

In Dragon Ball Super, Gohan is now the proud father of Pan and the husband of Videl, Mr. Satan‘s daughter. He has become very rusty with regards to fighting and training due to his activity as a father and husband. When Frieza is resurrected and attacks Earth, Gohan emits a huge amount of ki to signal Goku, though his body is damaged in the process. During the Universal Survival saga, Gohan trains with Piccolo to regain as much of his strength as possible and joins the team as team leader. He manages to defeat a number of powerful fighters, but is in the end himself knocked out of the ring by Frieza when he sacrifices himself to eliminate Universe 11’s Dyspo.

Appearances in Dragon Ball GT

In Dragon Ball GT, Gohan, now much older, is happily married to Videl and is raising his daughter Pan while working as a researcher for Bulma’s company, Capsule Corporation. He is one of the first to discover that Goku has been wished back into a child and quickly finds out that the Earth will explode if the Black Star dragon balls are not returned. Gohan is later possessed by Baby and attacks Vegeta, fighting him to a standstill. When Baby-Goten arrives, Baby-Gohan manages to cut Vegeta allowing Baby to get inside his body. Gohan, later freed of Baby’s possession with sacred water, helps to restore Super Saiyan 4 Goku’s power along with Goten, Trunks, and Pan. Gohan helps evacuate the Earth before it explodes and is distraught to discover Piccolo stays behind to sacrifice himself once again. In the final battle with Syn Shenron, he also helps restore Goku’s energy to bring the fight to a close.

Powers and Abilities

Gohan’s abilities include all of the typical feats, super strength, super speed, and super sonic flight. He also possesses some characteristics of the Saiyan race due to his Saiyan heritage. He is born with a tail, which increases in power rapidly and allows him to transform into a Great Ape.

Some of his most used techniques and transformations are:

• Masenko - An energy beam attack originally developed by Piccolo and taught to Gohan in preparation for the battle against Nappa and Vegeta.
• Kamehameha - The same energy beam attack often used by Son Goku and developed by Master Roshi.
• Justice Finishing Pose - The pose he assumes while in the guise of Great Saiyaman.
• Justice Punch - Great Saiyaman’s signature attack.
• Great Saiyaman Beam - Another special attack developed by Gohan for use while in the guise of Great Saiyaman.
• Great Ape - Gohan can transform into Great Ape form so long as he has a tail and looks at the full moon.
• Super Saiyan - Achieved when training with Goku in the hyperbolic time chamber before fighting Cell.
• Super Saiyan 2 - Achieved during the fight with Cell when witnessing Android 16’s head being crushed by Cell.
• Ultimate / Mystic form - This is the form Gohan assumes when his hidden potential is unlocked by Elder Kai.

Family

• Chi Chi - Mother.
• Goku - Father.
• Goten - Brother.
• Videl - Wife.
• Pan - Daughter.
• Grandpa Gohan - Adoptive Grandfather.
• Bardock - Grandfather.
• Raditz - Uncle.

Links

Dragon Ball Series
Dragon Ball Z Series
Dragon Ball Kai Series
Dragon Ball Super Series
Dragon Ball GT Series
Super Dragon Ball Heros
Akira Toriyama