Son Gohan, or simply Gohan in the English anime, is a fictional character in the Dragon Ball manga series by Akira Toriyama and the Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT anime series. He is the first son of Goku and a half-breed Saiyan. He is named after Goku's adoptive Grandpa Gohan. Gohan's name is a homophone for gohan (御飯), the Japanese word for cooked rice which also refers to meals in general.
Gohan has an unique personality which separates him from other Saiyans: he doesn't possess the desire of fighting. This doesn't mean Gohan is a coward or lazy; on the contrary, Gohan is willing to push to his limits and confront seemingly invincible enemies, but he needs reasons to do that - usually saving the Earth or his friends.
As a teen/young adult, he alternates between a school uniform, his Great Saiyaman costume, and a replica of the suit his father Goku wore while he was alive prior to the Buu Saga. His hair is much shorter and stands on end in a spiky formation.
In DBGT he is usually seen dressed smart in a shirt, tie, and glasses but he retains similar hair to his teen/young adult stage.
His eyes and hair are black and his skin is generally lightly tanned.
Son Gohan's childhood, unlike his father's or Vegeta's, was relatively well-balanced with a loving family and a nice home. Gohan was well-adjusted and intelligent, but unlike his father as a child, he lacked any affection for fighting and was easily scared at a level that most normal children would be. However, he still possessed a strong urge to protect those he loved and in desperate times was able to unleash an incredible level of power that outclassed even experienced Saiyan warriors like his uncle Raditz. His childhood ended quickly as he was drawn into training with Piccolo and forced to battle against Nappa, Vegeta, Freeza and Freeza's forces.
Like his father, Son Goku, Gohan has a noble and gentle heart, and is deeply concerned with his family and friends. Besides his parents and his eventual girlfriend and wife, Videl, Gohan is shown to have a strong attachment with his mentor, Piccolo, who saves his life many times during the Z sagas and the Dragonball Z movies. Piccolo's change of personality from evil to good is attributed to his friendship with Gohan.
As a fighter, Gohan is often mentioned to carry a large hidden potential, which is only completely released in the end of the Z series. Gohan may release this "hidden power" either by training or by becoming angry.
During the battle between Goku, Raditz, and Piccolo, Gohan became angry and broke free of the space pod he was trapped in. He delivered a devastating blow to Raditz, giving Goku and Piccolo time to kill Raditz, though Goku died in the process as well.
After the battle with Raditz, Piccolo, having seen Gohan's power first hand, decided to take Gohan out training in the wilderness. He left Gohan alone to survive against dinosaurs and other dangers for the better part of a year, though during this time he watched Gohan carefully. The rest of the year, Piccolo showed no mercy as he taught Gohan how to fight. Soon Gohan's bright and cheerful nature made Piccolo protective over the young boy. When the time came for the Z Fighters to take on the remaining two Saiyans, Vegeta and Nappa, Gohan was able to control his fear but at times his age caught up with him, and he became frightened.
When Nappa fired a lethal energy blast at Gohan, Piccolo threw himself in front of Gohan and took the impact, a self-sacrifice symbolic of the grown relationship he had developed with Gohan. Gohan was deeply hurt by Piccolo's death and in turn fired his trademark 'Masen-Kô' blast at Nappa, which would have done heavy damage had it not been blocked. Later in the saga, after Vegeta turns into an Oozaru and injures Goku, Gohan himself transforms into the Oozaru form, defeating Vegeta by landing on him after his tail is cut off.
During the Namek Saga, Gohan proved to be a great warrior who might be one day stronger than his father.
Gohan and the others are shocked after the Eternal Dragon Shenron refused the wish that Goku be brought back to life, but everyone rejoiced once the dragon explained that Goku was not actually dead at all. During this time of peace, everyone awaited the arrival of Goku, and Gohan went back to his studies while Piccolo watched over him and his mother.
At the age of 10 (11 if you include the time spent in the Room, something that seems to be ignored in the manga) he emerged from the room as a Super Saiyan. At the Cell Games, to everyone's surprise Goku gave up after fighting Cell and chose Gohan to take his place. It was revealed that Gohan had a special power locked up inside him that came when his anger was pushed to the brink.
These fits of power were very rare during his life, the first time being when his power spiked to over 1,000 and he flew out of the ship in which he was locked, blowing it to bits, and flying into and devastatingly headbutting Raditz. Later, during his training with Piccolo, Piccolo threw him at a mountain. Gohan fired an energy blast clear through the mountain; finally, after Freeza nearly killed Kuririn, Gohan went into a rage and managed to damage Freeza, who was in his second form at the time.
After a short fight Gohan told Cell that he did not want to fight in fear of killing Cell since his anger could make him uncontrollable. However, Cell wanted to see how powerful Gohan could become and believed that he could surely beat Gohan, tried by all means to make Gohan get angry. He first tortured Gohan and then released seven Cell Juniors to kill Goku, Vegeta, Trunks and his friends. When they were about to be killed, and Cell had crushed the peace loving Android 16's head, Gohan's emotions finally exploded and he became the first to transform into Super Saiyan 2. He moved at lightning speed and destroyed all Cell Juniors, each in one hit. Cell boosted his own power up to maximum, but Gohan struck two heavy hits into Cell's stomach and jaw, seriously injuring him. Cell began to know the feeling of fear when Gohan ducked, blocked and redirected his attacks using bare hands. In desperation, Cell flew up high and conjured a full energy kamehameha, threatening that if Gohan did not take it would destroy the Earth. However Gohan countered the attack with an even more powerful kamehameha, destroying Cell's left arm, wings and legs. Goku warned Gohan to finish Cell, but Gohan wanted to let Cell suffer more. After a few more hits Cell spat out Android 18 and devolved. As a last resort Cell prepared to self destruct, in order to blow up Earth. Goku used Instant Transmission to transport Cell away from Earth, to King Kai's planet, sacrificing himself in the process.
Cell, who was not destroyed in the explosion, quickly regenerated from a single cell and in doing so his Saiyan genes caused him to become much stronger, in effect pushing his power to Super Saiyan 2 levels. Having absorbed Goku's teleportation technique in the final seconds before his explosion, Cell headed right back to earth to destroy Gohan and the remaining Z-Warriors. Cell critically wounded Trunks in one shot and then also Vegeta, who tried to avenge his son's death with a stream of Ki blasts. Cell then attempted to kill Vegeta by firing a massive attack at him. Gohan blocked it at the last minute but lost the use of his left arm. The young half-Saiyan felt his end was near.
Wishing to end the conflict once and for all Cell prepared to use a massive kamehameha. Gohan, nearly in shock from his fathers death and his wounds began to despair and saw no hope for victory. Just then Goku began to talk to his son from the afterlife encouraging him to fight. With his fathers urging Gohan prepared a single-handed Kamehameha of his own.
During the Kamehameha duel between the two, Cell had the upper hand for most of the time and his kamehameha hemisphere slowly engulfed Gohan's for several times. With Goku's encouragement that he still had not released his full power, Gohan managed to push his kamehameha hemisphere back to the even line. For fear that Gohan would lose, Piccolo, Yamcha, Tenshinhan and Kuririn flew behind Cell and attack him, hoping to give Gohan a hand. Since their power was little, Cell used his own Ki to blow them away. Just when Cell was about to use his full power to end the duel, Gohan took advantage of a critical distraction created by Vegeta, finding the confidence to use all the power within him and unleashing his might into his Kamehameha wave completely overpowering and obliterating Perfect Cell permanently. Including the anime-only Garlic Jr. saga, this is the second time Gohan had saved the world without his father.
Videl is highly suspicious of Gohan and spies on him to see if he's the Gold Fighter. Videl confronts Gohan several times to voice her suspicions but Gohan nervously denies them. Son Gohan decides to use a disguise when fighting crime and goes to Bulma to make him a costume. He becomes the Great Saiyaman to hide his identity so that the media will not bother his family. In the anime, the adventures of Gohan/Great Saiyaman and Videl finding out his identity were all fillers to keep the manga ahead.
But while trying to convince Videl to let him return a stolen dinosaur he and Goten knew well to its two pterodactyl parents, who wound up coming to the city in search of their child, he accidentally gives away his identity to Videl, who then blackmails Gohan to compete against her in the newly revived Tenka'ichi Budôkai in exchange for her silence. She deduces Gohan to be the son of Son Goku, the champion before her father, and thinks it would be a perfect matchup. Gohan, having no experience with kids his own age, especially girls, is helpless against the confident Videl. She also makes him promise to teach her to fly.
When Son Gohan tells all his friends about the tournament, they decide to compete so he'll have some real competition. Son Goku, listening in from the Other World, contacts them and tells them he'll come too, using his one-day pass to the human world.
When Videl shows up at the Son home to learn, Son Gohan learns that she has no knowledge of ki, since Mr. Satan believes it to be just a trick. Son Gohan then has to start her training from scratch, though she picks it up pretty quickly. In a humorous moment, Son Gohan suggests she cut her hair, at which Videl blushes, asking him if he is attracted to short hair on girls. Being the innocent guy that he is, Gohan explains that short hair is much more convenient for flight and combat, at which she becomes angered and leaves (despite which she appears the next day with cut hair).
Videl, like the rest of the world, believes her father is the strongest fighter on Earth and he laid down a rule she was not allowed to date anyone unless they were stronger than him. During his training of Videl as well as his brother Goten, Videl learns more about Gohan and grows closer to him. Goten lets it slip that their dad is coming back from the dead to compete, but Videl brushes it off, assuming they mean that Son Goku divorced their mom. She empathizes, since her Dad's like that himself.
At the contest Kuririn teased Gohan about Videl being his girlfriend, and Sharpner - a friend of theirs, was jealous and vowed to find out who Saiyaman was.
After the events of Majin Buu being brought back to life by Babidi and Dabura, Gohan is beaten severely and knocked out after he tries to defend Supreme Kai by using a Kamehameha and fleeing with the kai to get away. Kibito (Supreme Kai's bodyguard and friend) finds East Kaioshin and is told that Gohan is Earth's last hope against Buu. They bring Gohan to the Kaioshin Kai and tell him that he must pull the Z Sword from a stone and master the use of it in order to defeat Buu.
In mastering it, Gohan accidentally breaks the sword, releasing Rou Dai Kaioshin from the Z Sword which he had been sealed in. Rou Dai Kaioshin tells Gohan that the only way he can defeat Buu is if he awakens his sleeping power. After a 20 hour ritual is performed, Gohan's hidden potential is unlocked, granting him incredible strength, and making the use of the Super Saiyan form unnecessary.
Gohan is taken back to Earth by Kibito, and he flies at super speed to save Super Saiyan 3 Gotenks (Goten and Trunks fused) and a discouraged Piccolo from Super Buu. He seemingly easily defeats Buu at first, then learns Buu was testing him and knew he was coming, Buu then flees for a while. Buu later returns and taunts Goten and Trunks to fuse, Gohan with his guard down agrees to it and Gotenks is formed again. Buu quickly absorbs Gotenks and Piccolo with some of his amorphous body, gaining a huge amount of power. The new Super Buu easily overpowers Gohan.
Gohan is beaten severely and is taunted with Buu's mind games and his use of Gotenks's and Piccolo's attacks. Mr. Satan, his dog, and Dende watch from afar. Buu is ready to launch an attack toward a wounded and exhausted Gohan until Tien comes out of nowhere and stops the attack with his Kikoho. Tien fights Buu and is beaten. Buu then charges an attack that can destroy the Earth. At this time, Goku appears with his instant transmission, with life given him by the Rou Dai Kaioshin and bearing the Potara earrings for a new style of fusion, willing to fuse with Gohan.
Goku launches a Kienzan-like attack at Buu, slicing him in half. Goku throws one earring to Gohan who misses it and goes looking for it. Goku quickly turns into a Super Saiyan 3 and fights Buu, stalling for time. When Gohan finds the earring, Goku tells him there is no need to fuse because Buu's absorption of Gotenks was over (because Gotenks as well as any fusion done with the fusion dance lasts for only 30 minutes). Buu was weak once again but used his other separated limb from a distance and absorbs Gohan from behind. Goku is left with only one choice finding a person to fuse with until he senses a newly brought back Vegeta from afar.
After Gohan is released from Buu and subsequently killed when the Earth was destroyed, he is then brought back to life with the Dragonballs. He gives his energy to Goku's Genki Dama during the climax of the final battle with Kid Buu.
Finally, a few years later, Gohan and Videl are married and have a child, Pan. According to the manga, when Pan was 4, it's alleged that Gohan became a scholar.
Gohan and Trunks fight the androids until Trunks inexperience leads to him being at the mercy of #18. To save his friend, Gohan sacrifices himself, losing his arm in the process.
Gohan continues to train with Trunks when he can, desperately trying as best he can to help Trunks ascend into a Super Saiyan. Gohan admits the difficulty of being a teacher when he never really had the chance to be taught, his mentors all being murdered fairly early on in his life.
As another attack occurs, Gohan and Trunks prepare to face the androids but Gohan, realising Trunks is simply not ready, knocks his young friend unconscious and flies off to face the androids alone. Gohan manages to hold his own in the fight even with one arm but in the end he cannot defeat the pair together and is murdered. After Trunks awakens, he finds Gohans lifeless body, his death giving Trunks the motivation to finally become a Super Saiyan 1, an action which leads to his eventual saving of their future. Gohan dies a hero.
As Goku becomes the main focus of this series, Gohan is rarely seen, with his most major contribution being that the evil alien, Bebi, possesses him briefly as he considered him to be the strongest warrior around until finding Vegeta. Following this, Gohan is seen as a mind-controlled follower of Bebi Vegeta until Bebi's demise.
Gohan, during DBGT, is much more focused on being a husband to Videl and father to Pan than fighting and has embraced, to his mothers joy, a more educated and job-oriented lifestyle.
Great Saiyaman is Son Gohan's alter ego.
Great Saiyaman made his first appearance when Gohan went to high school, after transforming into a Super Saiyan to stop bank robbers. Gohan decided to become a hero donning a costume designed by Bulma. Great Saiyaman was to some a mockery of the Ginyu Force, mostly because he would do pointless and silly poses. Later Videl finds out that Gohan is the Great Saiyaman, then soon becomes his 'sidekick' as the Great Saiyawoman (Great Saiyaman Two in the Japanese original).
This form offers no power enhancements at all to Gohan but it was a persona he took on to fight crime in the world without having to sacrifice his normal life or upsetting his mother Chi-Chi. He wore a helmet that covered most of his face except his mouth and a costume that mixed parts of Saiyan clothing (Vegeta's boots, gloves and tight suit) and regular fighting gear normally worn by people like Goku, except the clothing was green. When Gohan participates in the Tenkaichi Budokai as Saiyaman, he wears a turban and sunglasses instead of a helmet, as he is not allowed any protective gear.
In the canonical manga, Gohan's Mystic form remains permanent, but in the non-canonical Dragon Ball GT anime series, he is shown to have lost his Mystic form, and uses Super Saiyan and Super Saiyan 2. Dragon Ball GT never explained why Gohan's superior mystic form was replaced by his Super Saiyan forms instead, although there are many theories. Dragon Ball GT makes numerous other errors and oversights, so Gohan's "loss" of the Mystic form can be ignored due to the non-canonical nature of the third series.
FUNimation (in-house actors):
Son Gohan | Sangohan | Son Gohan | Gohan | Son Gohan | Son Gohan | 孫悟飯 | Son Gohan | Son Gohan | Son Gohan
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