I ask this question because not too many seem to like Gohan for who he really is. Whenever I see praise for him it’s usually for SSJ2 “Teen” Gohan, Future Gohan, or Ultimate Gohan. When his true character shines through (like the Gt. Saiyaman stuff) people complain about it and cry how he’s been “ruined”.

One example that stands out to me is when he got cold feet against Nappa. People were giving him shit for it believing he should just nut up and blitz Nappa. What these people don’t get is that while the boy is powerful, he’s still only 5 and on top of that it’s his first time on the battlefield, which he saw things that no kid could imagine happening (exploding plant monsters, Chiaotzu blowing himself up for nothing, Tien getting his hand punched off).

But to really get insight into Gohan’s character, let’s take at what when we were first introduced to him- he was a polite, mild-mannered, and studious little boy with immense amount of hidden power that only surfaces through his emotions especially rage, but lacking his father’s fighting spirit.

Compared to Goku, Gohan lived a sheltered childhood with no martial arts training because his mother insisted it was unnecessary during times of peace. However, that all changed when the Saiyans invaded Earth as Gohan was forced to grow up early in order to combat evil. He develops a strong sense of justice as result and while he does enjoy martial arts, he never develops Goku’s love for fighting.

Probably the biggest criticism against him is his lack of training during time of peace which is valid but he’s far from the only character guilty of this. All the other halfbreeds stop training eventually even Goten and Trunks by the end of the series despite enjoying it when they were younger. The only half-Saiyan that still actively trains is Future Trunks but that’s to be expected regardless of his Saiyan lineage due to his world being a huge dystopia.

Now to my last point is how his fans like to use his own mother (Chi-Chi) as a scapegoat for Gohan not being the “badass” they want him to be when in reality, they should be thanking her because she’s pretty much the only reason Gohan didn’t turn out just another battle-cazed freak (Goku and Vegeta) or a slacker (Goten and Trunks).

People can rag on her about being a nag all they want (though I still think it’s silly to pretend any other woman would or could put up with Goku) but you can never ever accuse her of being a bad mother or say she treated Gohan badly. Ever.

Anyways, if Gohan fans want to blame someone for Gohan being “lame” then blame Toriyama. He’s the one who built him up to be the new protagonist only to spontaneously deem him unworthy of carrying the mantle.

To add salt to injury, Super also been actively making a fool of Gohan by not only making him a scrawny weakling but generally making him look like an incompetent fool. Even GT did a better job at portraying him as a retired badass.

Sure, Gohan did get his chance back in the spotlight with the Tournament of Power but only after years pf constant backlash forcing writers tp finally cave in.

In the end, we got one of the biggest handjobs from the entire series and Gphan ultimately ends up doing nothing.

But now to conclude this post, are you really down with Gohan?