Few characters in Dragon Ball are more divisive as fighters than Gohan. Despite how often the series talks about Gohan’s hidden potential, he rarely ever shows it for long before falling back to being weak from a lack of training, and that’s created a constant divide between fans who are fine with Gohan’s character and fans who want him to be a more serious fighter.

Gohan’s handling will always be divisive with Dragon Ball fans, but it’s not as if nothing can be done to fix it. When Dragon Ball fans are asked about how to best handle Gohan, they’ll either say that he needs to be a more serious fighter or that he’s fine being the way he is, but the best way to handle Gohan’s character in Dragon Ball would take inspiration from both ideas for his character. It’s unknown if Dragon Ball would ever do something like that, but it would still be an ideal direction to take Gohan’s character.

Dragon Ball Needs To Combine Both Parts Of Gohan’s Character To Make Him Great

How Dragon Ball Can Get The Most Out Of Gohan

Many Dragon Ball fans see Gohan’s commitment to his studies as a detriment to his character, but if anything, it’s been fairly underutilized. From the moment Gohan was introduced, his dream of becoming a great scholar was always played for laughs, and whenever it comes up in modern stories, it’s always just as an excuse to weaken Gohan or keep him out of the plot, with Gohan not even showing up in Daima because of it. Gohan’s studying is a problem not because it makes him weak, but because it’s always a plot device, and that’s arguably far worse.

Fixing that issue with Gohan’s studious nature is the best way to fully utilize his character in Dragon Ball. It’s far too late to outright abandon that part of Gohan’s character, despite what some people would believe, but rather than treat it as a joke, Dragon Ball should expand on Gohan’s scholarly nature to make him an intellectual and tactical fighter who relies more on creativity and outplaying his opponents as opposed to brute strength. That would allow Gohan to remain a fighter while staying true to his character, and it would be a great direction to take him in.

What makes that idea especially viable is how it’s hardly anything new for Dragon Ball. As often as Dragon Ball’s combat is criticized for being simplistic, there’s almost always some level of strategy that goes into the fights, with even Goku usually having to do something clever to outsmart his opponents. How far Dragon Ball goes with that varies by the era, but whatever the case, Dragon Ball has always been a series that was at its best when it put some thought into its action, and Gohan is the perfect character to use to expand on that idea.

Dragon Ball’s History With Gohan Is The Biggest Challenge To His True Potential

Dragon Ball Has Never Been Too Kind To Gohan

There’s plenty of opportunity to do something new with Gohan, but unfortunately, that’s unlikely to happen. All the way back in the original manga, Akira Toriyama had earnestly intended for Gohan to take over as the protagonist, something the early parts of the Buu saga did commit to, but at some point, Toriyama decided that Gohan wasn’t fit to be the protagonist, thus forcing Goku to be the hero again in the climax of the arc. Gohan’s lack of relevance over the years stems from Akira Toriyama deciding he didn’t work as a protagonist, and that’s unlikely to change anytime soon.

That sort of treatment of Gohan can also be seen as recently as 2022’s Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. According to Dragon Ball producer Akio Ikoyu, Gohan was only given a role in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero because Akio Ikoyu begged Akira Toriyama to put him in the story; Piccolo was originally the sole main character, and even in the finished product, he gets far more focus and development than Gohan. Akira Toriyama lost interest in Gohan a long time ago, and the series has shown little interest in changing that.

The most egregious case of Gohan’s absence, of course, was Gohan’s absence from Dragon Ball Daima. While most of Dragon Ball’s cast, aside from a few characters, were given nothing to do in Daima, Gohan was treated the worst by not even getting a cameo appearance, with his absence being excused by his being busy with his studies. The fact that Akira Toriyama didn’t even want Gohan to cameo in Dragon Ball Daima makes it clear how little interest he had in him, and that could make any potential for him a moot point.

How Dragon Ball Super’s Manga Is Setting Gohan Up For A Comeback

Why Things Are Finally Looking Good For Gohan

It’s hard to say if Gohan will ever get to live up to his potential, but the Dragon Ball Super manga has already done a lot to build up to it. The most recent chapters were an epilogue to Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, and surprisingly, Gohan didn’t become weaker by neglecting his training and worked with Piccolo to master his Beast form. Dragon Ball Super is finally allowing Gohan to remain a powerful fighter between arcs, and series author Toyotaro has even outright stated that Goku and Gohan are roughly equal in power, as are Vegeta, Piccolo, and Broly.

Gohan’s renewed commitment to his training will be especially important for Dragon Ball Super’s Black Frieza arc. Whenever the manga does come back, the story will undoubtedly focus on Goku and everyone else having to fight Frieza again, and Gohan, as powerful as he is, will undoubtedly be one of the main characters fighting against him in his powerful Black Frieza form. Dragon Ball Super’s Black Frieza arc will be the perfect chance to keep Gohan in the spotlight as a true fighter, and considering how much Frieza humiliated Gohan in Resurrection ‘F’, that would be great to see.

In modern Dragon Ball, sometimes Gohan will be treated like he might as well not exist, but other times, he’ll be given the respect he’s deserved for years, with plenty more to come. Gohan’s future is one of the most uncertain things about Dragon Ball, right now, but hopefully, Dragon Ball will see fit to allow Gohan to stay relevant from here on out. Whether that would be by making him a tactical fighter or by simply maintaining his competence is unknown, but hopefully, Dragon Ball will find a way to give Gohan the respect he deserves.

Source: @Herms98 on X.