Gohan: Goku's Son and His Hidden Potential

He'd rather read books than fight, and yet he's the one who ends Cell's reign. Gohan fights first and foremost to protect his loved ones, but his anger hides a power that even his father came to acknowledge. Whether you've known Gohan for years or you're just discovering him today, here's his journey, from the little boy in the four-star hat all the way to his Beast form.

A tribute name and a four-star hat

Big brother to Goten, he'll also go on to become Videl's husband and Pan's father. He's named after Goku's adoptive grandfather, Grandpa Gohan, a martial artist who trained under Master Roshi. The Japanese word “gohan” means cooked rice, or a meal: here Akira Toriyama sticks with his habit of naming characters after food.

In memory of Grandpa Gohan, Goku attached the Four-Star Dragon Ball to his son's hat. The boy first appears in chapter 196 of the manga, “Kakarot,” published in October 1988, then in the first episode of Dragon Ball Z, which aired in Japan on April 26, 1989.

Unlike his father, Gohan is a brilliant mind, focused on his studies, with no passion for fighting. His strict, protective mother pushes him to concentrate on his lessons and forbids him from practicing martial arts.

🧢 As a little boy, Gohan wore a hat topped with the Four-Star Dragon Ball; to cover your own head, take a look at our Dragon Ball caps.

From Raditz to Namek: potential unleashed

Everything changes when Raditz, Goku's older brother, tells Goku about his Saiyan origins and kidnaps Gohan. Locked inside his uncle's space pod, the boy registers a power level of 710 on the scouter, which Raditz first mistakes for a malfunction. Gohan then lands a devastating blow on Raditz, allowing Goku and Piccolo to finish him off; Goku dies in the fight.

Having seen the boy's power, Piccolo takes Gohan away and first leaves him alone for six months to face dinosaurs and the dangers of the wild. During that time, the boy looks at the full moon and transforms into a Great Ape; Piccolo destroys the Moon to stop him.

Against the Saiyans, Piccolo throws himself in front of Gohan to take a fatal attack from Nappa that was meant for the boy. Facing Vegeta, Gohan in turn transforms into a Great Ape by looking at the prince's Power Ball, and takes him out of the fight by falling on top of him.

On Namek, Krillin brings Gohan to Guru, the Namekians' Grand Elder, who unlocks his hidden potential. Against Frieza, it's Vegeta who saves him from a deadly beam by kicking him out of the way.

Cell and Super Saiyan 2

During the Cell arc, Gohan becomes a Super Saiyan for the first time while training with Goku in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. But against Cell, he has neither his father's fighting spirit nor the will to kill, which at first gives the monster the upper hand.

Android 16 tells him not to be afraid to unleash his anger, and that it's right to fight to protect the ones he loves. When Cell crushes Android 16's head right before his eyes, Super Saiyan 2 makes its debut with Gohan: the transformation begins at the end of chapter 407 of the manga and erupts in chapter 408, “Gohan Explodes!!” In the anime, it begins in episode 184 of Dragon Ball Z, which aired in Japan on May 5, 1993.

Drunk on his power, Gohan refuses to finish Cell off so he can make him suffer; the monster then decides to blow himself up along with the Earth, and Goku sacrifices himself by taking him to King Kai's planet. Consumed by guilt, the teenager blames himself for his father's death. He finally defeats Cell with a colossal one-handed Kamehameha, backed in spirit by Goku and helped by a diversion from Vegeta.

Goku then refuses to be brought back to life: he believes he draws villains to Earth, and adds that Gohan has far surpassed him and will be able to protect it. As for Gohan, he doesn't publicly claim his victory, which Mr. Satan takes credit for.

Great Saiyaman, Videl and the awakening of Ultimate Gohan

Seven years after the Cell Games, Chi-Chi enrolls Gohan at Orange Star High School in Satan City. To hide his identity while he fights crime, he creates a superhero persona with Bulma's help: the Great Saiyaman, the same name used in Funimation's English dub. The character parodies sentai heroes, hence his elaborate choreographed poses, which even those closest to him often find ridiculous.

His classmate Videl, Mr. Satan's daughter, eventually uncovers his secret and blackmails him: he has to enter the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament and teach her how to fly.

During the Buu Saga, Gohan manages to pull out the Z Sword, a sacred blade supposed to grant him immense power. In the end, it's Elder Kai who unlocks his potential through a ritual: he announces five hours of ceremony, then twenty hours for the power-up.

This form, often called Ultimate Gohan, doesn't change his appearance: only his power increases. Back on Earth, Gohan easily dominates Buu, until the monster absorbs Gotenks and Piccolo, then Gohan himself.

📖 At Orange Star High School, Gohan juggles classes and rescues; to keep your place in your textbooks or manga, slip in one of our Dragon Ball bookmarks.

Scholar, father and Beast Gohan

In the years after Buu's defeat, Gohan fulfills his mother's dream by becoming a scholar; he also marries Videl, who gives him a daughter, Pan. In the Dragon Ball Super anime, he even goes on to turn down a job as a professor's assistant that would take too much time away from his family life.

Still, fighting catches up with him. When Frieza returns, he admits to Master Roshi that he hasn't been training. In the Tournament of Power, the anime makes him captain of the Universe 7 team, while the manga shows him holding his own against Kefla by unleashing his full power.

The movie Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, released in Japan on June 11, 2022, and in France on October 5, 2022, puts Gohan back in the spotlight. Toriyama wanted the story to rest on his bond with Piccolo. At the start of the movie, Gohan spends days holed up writing a report on insects, much to the annoyance of his former mentor.

Believing Piccolo has been killed by Cell Max, Gohan reaches his Beast form out of pure rage, just as he first went Super Saiyan 2 against Cell. According to Toriyama, the name comes from the feeling that “the wild beast inside has awakened.” Later in the manga, impressed by this form, Whis even puts him forward as a candidate for the role of God of Destruction, but Beerus refuses: Gohan doesn't have the personality for the job. In Dragon Ball GT, an anime-only sequel, Gohan works as a researcher at Bulma's company and rarely trains.

For fans of Gohan

Dragon Ball Cushion Cover - Gohan

As a kid, as a Super Saiyan or in his Beast form: find several faces of Goku's son on this Dragon Ball cushion cover.

€34.90

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Creation and English Voices

At the end of the Cell arc, Gohan was supposed to replace his father as the hero of the series. Toriyama dropped the idea during the manga's final arc, finding the character less suited to that role than Goku.

In Japanese, Gohan is voiced by Masako Nozawa, who also lends her voice to Goku. In Funimation's English dub of Dragon Ball Z, Stephanie Nadolny voices him as a child, and Kyle Hebert voices teen and adult Gohan. Starting with Dragon Ball Z Kai, Colleen Clinkenbeard takes over from Stephanie Nadolny as the voice of young Gohan.

Gohan at a glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Why is Goku's son named Gohan?
  He's named after Goku's adoptive grandfather, Grandpa Gohan. In Japanese, “gohan” means cooked rice or a meal: a nod from Toriyama, who takes many of his names from food.
• When does Gohan become a Super Saiyan 2?
  During the Cell Games, when Cell crushes the head of Android 16, who had just encouraged him to unleash his anger. The transformation appears in chapter 408 of the manga and from episode 184 of Dragon Ball Z onward.
• Who is the Great Saiyaman?
  It's the masked vigilante identity Gohan creates with Bulma's help when he starts at Orange Star High School. Funimation's English dub keeps the same name: the Great Saiyaman.
• What is Gohan's Ultimate form?
  It's the form Elder Kai awakens in him through a ritual during the Buu Saga. Unlike Super Saiyan, it doesn't change his appearance: only his power increases.
• What is Beast Gohan?
  It's the form Gohan reaches in the movie Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero (2022), out of pure rage, believing Piccolo has been killed by Cell Max. According to Toriyama, the name comes from the idea that the wild beast inside has awakened.
• Who voices Gohan in English?
  As a child, he's voiced by Stephanie Nadolny in Funimation's English dub of Dragon Ball Z, then by Colleen Clinkenbeard starting with Dragon Ball Z Kai; Kyle Hebert voices him as a teen and an adult. In Japanese, it's Masako Nozawa, who also voices Goku.

☕ To get through long work sessions like Gohan bent over his research, pour yourself a coffee in one of our Dragon Ball mugs.