'Dragon Ball Super' Teases Gohan's Next Transformation

The latest episode of Dragon Ball Super saw Goku and company trying to put the final preparations into their Universe 7 team before the dire stakes of the Tournament of Power begin. And one particular fighter seemingly had their next transformation teased.

Out of the powerful fighters Goku gathered for his team, the one who lacked confidence the most was no doubt Gohan, who wasn't sure that he would be able to keep pace with the rest of the fighters in the universe, having let his training slip for so long. After Piccolo gave Gohan an initial training session to tap back into his latent powers, Gohan wanted to push even further -- and to do that, Gohan challenged Goku to a fight.

Well, Gohan's fight with Goku ends pretty much how you would expect: with Goku using his massive power gained during Dragon Ball Super's various arcs (Super Saiyan Blue Kaioken, to be specific) to KO Gohan. However, it's during the fight that Gohan makes an interesting revelation to his father: that he's working to unlock a new transformation -- one that no other Saiyan has achieved before!

Here's what Gohan tells Goku during the fight:

Gohan: "Well dad, this is me at my current full power."

Goku: "Nice, but don't you still have to go Super Saiyan?"

Gohan: "No, I have a new goal now: an ultimate form that no Saiyan has achieved before. And I'm gonna pursue this form by going down a different path. "

This proclamation from Gohan sounds very Vegeta-esque when you think about it. Like Gohan, Vegeta is constantly chasing Goku's power-up achievements, albeit by using his own methods to reach those some goals. However, where this situation is different is in the fact that Gohan's power has always been radically different in nature than Goku's; Gohan was much more powerful as a young child than Goku ever was. You might recall Gohan, as a boy, was able to unlock the second level of Super Saiyan before any other character did, and as a young man, Gohan has shown a latent power that makes him every bit as powerful in base form as his father and/or Vegeta are in SSJ or even SSB form (minus a Kaioken boost). Not only is it possible for Gohan to achieve some kind of new transformation, at this point it's the only logical progression to his character there is.

Dragon Ball has admittedly been inconsistent with how it treats the power of its half-human, half-Saiyan generation. Gohan, Goten, Trunks and Future Trunks all demonstrate uncanny ability to unlock power-ups or even fusion power-ups much easier than their fathers - as well as discovering new techniques, such as Gohan's latent powers in the Majin Buu saga of Dragon Ball Z, or Future Trunks' Spirit Bomb "Sword of Hope" attack, used to defeat Zamasu in DBS' "Future Trunks Saga" finale. And yet, for some reason, this new generation of Saiyans always gets pushed to the back, so that Goku and Vegeta can shine once again.

Warning: "Tournament of Power" SPOILERS follow!

As fans of the Dragon Ball Super anime sub series already know, the same issue occurs again here with Gohan's power development; it's largely skipped over so that Goku and Vegeta can get big shiny new transformations during the Tournament of Power. In the anime, Gohan doesn't get much of a heroic arc at all. However, the manga version of the story does see him unlock that new power while doing battle with the fused female Saiyan Kefla during an epic showdown. In the end, Gohan's new power proves equal to that of a fused SSJ2 and LSSJ brute. Not too shabby.

Dragon Ball Super: Broly officially releases in Japan this December. Funimation will be bringing the film to theaters in the United States on January 16th. Dragon Ball Super currently airs its English dub on Adult Swim during the Toonami programming block Saturday evenings at 9:30 p.m. It is also available to stream on Funimation and Amazon Video. The Japanese language release of the series is complete, and available to stream on FunimationNOW, VRV, and Crunchyroll.