Dragon Ball's Biggest Mistake Was Not Making Gohan the Strongest & Here's Why

The unlikeliest of Saiyans became its most powerful in Dragon Ball, when the kind-hearted Goku began a never-ending journey to the top of the power ladder. Vegeta follows so closely behind that it never lets Goku rest on his laurels, and with the introduction of Broly the above statement is certainly in question, as he’s proven to be extremely formidable too. Whatever the case may be, one character never reached his full potential and that’s Gohan.

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This story would’ve kicked off in the Cell Saga and never stopped had Gohan continued training. The young Saiyan was only a child when he first attained Super Saiyan 2 and obliterated Cell. At the time no one could match his ability, but in just a few short years Gohan became a scholar and stopped his training. He’s had a few moments where he’s been called back to the battlefield since though. The momentum he had came to an abrupt halt after the Cell Saga, however, and Gohan could’ve been truly great in an another timeline.

Gohan Gives Goku A Run For His Money At Different Points

Goku never asked for someone else to take up the mantle as the Universe 7 defender, but his son did help accomplish such a feat before he was called upon against Perfect Cell. The start of his martial arts’ career came out of necessity when his father was killed in the Saiyan Saga, and then Gohan is quickly trained under the tutelage of Piccolo. He learns quickly and is an asset, despite his youthfulness, in stalling Frieza long enough to get Goku back into the fight and to ultimately defeat him. It’s just more evidence that Gohan could’ve elevated into the stratosphere had he not stopped.

In the Cell Saga, it’s learned that Gohan is an even more kind-hearted Saiyan than his father. Now in fairness, Gohan is still a child in many ways but has grown up quite fast, as he’s seen multiple violent acts against his friends and family. It only took one final button push from Cell to bring the rage necessary for Gohan to ascend to Super Saiyan 2 and tear Cell limb from limb with a Kamehameha. His maturity, controlled aggression and fast learning set him up to be a better fighter than Goku. However, he became a diligent student, then dutiful husband and father.

He got rusty and stopped leveling up as a result, but it wasn’t the last time he was needed. It seemed time and time again that Gohan could tap into his power when the situation called for it. The lull falls in about this time. His relationship with Videl is explored, his superhero phase as The Great Saiyaman occurred and he attended high school. There’s a lot of lost time where he could’ve stacked training days. Now, Goku obviously stopped training long enough to have a family with Chi-Chi, albeit he’s never around much after. Still, Gohan could’ve become a doting husband and father, but maybe put the books down more and taken his father’s route to greatness.

Gohan Could Have Gone a Much Different Route

Nevertheless, Gohan moved on and managed to defeat a number of fighters in the Tournament of Power and even got back into shape while training with Piccolo. Gohan made the switch pretty easily, but even in that instance, it wasn’t all on his shoulders. To that point, he’d only defeated one major villain in the series – that situation would soon change. However, it just proves that his accelerated skill set could carry a long way, even on short notice.

In Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, the movie acknowledges the debate. Pan asks Piccolo if Gohan could be stronger than Goku if he wanted to be. Piccolo answers that at one time he could be, but he wasn’t sure anymore. Still, his mentor then stated that when the time would come for Gohan to step up he’d find a way. It’s Gohan’s time to shine front and center of this film, and the nostalgia-boost hits a lot harder this time as Cell Max learns. A callback to Android 16’s head getting smashed, Gohan finds out that Pan has been kidnapped by the Red Ribbon Army, and he snaps. Within one turn, he explodes into a Super Saiyan and gets right back to his old ways.

And almost as a full-circle moment, he has to face a different iteration of the villain he defeated to become the strongest Saiyan at that time. After accessing “Gohan Beast” he literally splits Cell Max’s head in half with a Special Beam Cannon. And for the thousandth time in Dragon Ball history, Gohan goes from nerd to world saver in just a few short moments. Since the series decided to create a multiverse, it’s worth exploring the what-if involving Gohan.

Will we get a world where he keeps training and becomes a Super Saiyan 3 first before his father? Also, what kind of different transformations could he achieve if he went to train with Beerus, Whis, Vegeta and his father? The story is loaded up with a lot of different outcomes, but the series has explored plenty of fun plot lines here recently – why not this one? Do you think Dragon Ball should branch off and create a what-if timeline for the son of the world’s greatest Saiyan? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.