Gohan

Ten days after Perfect Cell’s challenge to the world, the Cell Games commence. The Z Fighters gather at the arena, accompanied by Earth's cameras and a tense global audience. To everyone's surprise, Goku elects to be the first to fight Cell, stepping into the ring with absolute calm and confidence. The battle is intense and evenly matched, showcasing Goku's full power as a Super Saiyan. They trade blows at incredible speeds, and Goku even lands a devastating Instant Kamehameha at point-blank range, severely damaging Cell but exhausting himself in the process.

Without warning, Goku forfeits the match. To the shock of his friends and the world, he announces that his son, Gohan, will be Earth's true champion. Though Gohan protests and lacks the confidence of a warrior, Goku remains steadfast in his belief that Gohan possesses a power far beyond even his own. Gohan enters the ring reluctantly, and Cell, intrigued, tests him slowly.

Despite easily matching Cell's strength when he tries, Gohan lacks the desire to fight or kill. He warns Cell that when pushed beyond his limit—when enraged—he loses control and unleashes a fearsome power he cannot fully restrain. Rather than be deterred, Cell becomes obsessed with forcing that power out. He humiliates Gohan, striking him repeatedly, laughing as the boy resists his instincts.

When Gohan finally retaliates with a sudden blow that bloodies Cell’s lip, the sadistic android becomes increasingly eager to provoke his transformation. In a calculated move, Cell escalates the threat. Android 16, having developed a deep respect for life, intervenes. He seizes Cell in a powerful hold, preparing to self-destruct and end the monster’s reign. But Krillin reveals a tragic truth—Bulma had removed 16's self-destruct bomb during repairs. Cell, now amused, breaks free and obliterates 16’s body.

Only 16’s head survives, landing near Mr. Satan, who, after persuasion, throws it toward Gohan. With solemn clarity, 16 urges Gohan to abandon his hesitation and protect the Earth, telling him that it's not wrong to fight for peace. Just as his message reaches Gohan, Cell mercilessly crushes 16’s head underfoot.

This brutal act shatters Gohan’s restraint. His sorrow and rage erupt in a furious scream, the heavens trembling as lightning surges around him. His aura transforms, golden hair becoming sharper, energy surging with newfound fury. In that moment, Gohan transcends his limits and awakens as the first Super Saiyan 2.

Now overflowing with power, Gohan's demeanor changes completely. Calm, focused, and unrelenting, he obliterates the Cell Juniors with ease—each one previously overwhelming the Z Fighters. One by one, they fall. Cell, shaken for the first time, launches an all-out assault. But Gohan outmatches him effortlessly, taunting and overpowering him with ruthless efficiency.

Desperate and humiliated, Cell attempts to self-destruct and destroy the planet. Goku sacrifices himself by teleporting Cell to King Kai's planet, where Cell detonates, killing everyone nearby. But it isn’t over. A single cell of his body survives, and Cell is reborn—stronger than ever—as Super Perfect Cell.

He returns to Earth to finish what he started, killing Future Trunks in a single blast. Enraged, Vegeta attacks in a blind fury but is quickly defeated. Just as Cell prepares to finish Vegeta, Gohan throws himself in the way, taking the hit to protect him. Gravely wounded and with one arm disabled, Gohan prepares for a final confrontation.

As Cell unleashes a massive Kamehameha to destroy the planet, Gohan, encouraged by his father's voice from the afterlife, fires his own one-handed Kamehameha in return. With Goku’s spirit at his back and Vegeta distracting Cell at a critical moment, Gohan overwhelms Cell’s attack and obliterates him completely.

With Cell defeated, the Z Fighters return to Dende’s Lookout. Gohan is healed, and the newly restored Dragon Balls are used to revive Cell’s victims. But Goku, speaking through King Kai, refuses resurrection. He believes that his presence only draws danger and that Gohan has surpassed him in strength—and in spirit. He entrusts Earth’s future to his son.

Appearance: In his base form during the Cell Saga, Gohan appears as a lean and youthful teenager, with a soft and composed expression that reflects his gentle nature. His black hair is spiked only slightly, with a looser, messier style compared to his father's more defined spikes. His eyes are large and dark, giving him an innocent yet determined look. He wears Piccolo’s trademark outfit—a dark purple gi with a red sash tied around his waist and matching red wristbands, paying homage to his mentor. Over this, he sometimes dons a flowing white cape and weighted shoulder pads, also in Piccolo's style.

When Gohan achieves full power in his Super Saiyan form, his appearance changes dramatically. His once-black hair turns golden and rises in defined, flame-like spikes, standing taller and more rigid with a pronounced widow’s peak. His eyes shift from dark to a sharp turquoise blue, and his brows become heavier, giving him a more serious, battle-hardened look. Though his facial features retain some of their youthful softness, his expression is more focused and intense. This form marks a turning point in his development, not just in strength but also in composure—able to remain calm and clear-headed while fully transformed, an advanced level of Super Saiyan known as "Super Saiyan Full Power."

Upon transforming into Super Saiyan 2, Gohan's appearance becomes visibly more fierce and electrified. His golden hair spikes become even more pronounced, extending upward and outward with greater volume and sharper definition. Thin arcs of crackling electricity begin to dance around his body—a signature trait of the form—accompanying a dramatic increase in aura intensity.

Personality: Gohan, from a young age, was a shy, soft-spoken child with a deep intellectual curiosity and a gentle disposition—traits that sharply contrasted with the typical warrior instincts of his Saiyan heritage. As a half-Saiyan raised on Earth by scholarly parents, Gohan's values were shaped more by peace and learning than by battle. He lacked the innate bloodlust and thrill for combat that defined his father and other full-blooded Saiyans, often reluctant to fight unless he had no other choice. Yet, beneath his quiet demeanor rested an immense, latent power—one fueled not by a desire to conquer, but by his fierce need to protect those he loved.

Though he claimed he didn’t enjoy fighting like Goku, Gohan held a subtle love for martial arts and adventure. He found purpose in testing himself and experiencing the world, especially when it meant defending others. This duality—his compassion versus his hidden strength—would come to define many of his greatest trials.

Gohan’s bonds run deep, particularly with his mentor Piccolo. What began as a harsh and bitter training regimen during childhood evolved into one of the most profound relationships in his life. Gohan came to view Piccolo as a second father, or at the very least a cherished uncle, admiring the Namekian's strength, discipline, and moral clarity. His relationship with Krillin is also familial in nature, akin to an uncle-nephew dynamic, stemming from Krillin's close ties to Goku and his consistent presence through Gohan's formative years.

Despite his humility, kindness, and academic brilliance, Gohan is not without flaws. When pushed to extremes and granted tremendous surges in power—such as during his transformation into Super Saiyan 2—Gohan can become overconfident, even arrogant. The rush of newfound strength has, at times, clouded his judgment, making him taunt enemies or prolong fights instead of ending them swiftly. This arrogance, born not from cruelty but from inexperience and suppressed emotion, reveals a more volatile side of his nature—one that mirrors the Saiyan pride buried deep within him.

Abilities: Flight – The ability to take flight through the manipulation of ki.

Ki Sense – The ability to sense the energy of other beings.

Masenko – The attack is performed by the user placing both hands above the head with the palms facing the target and one hand in front of the other with the fingers going in opposite directions. When the user thrusts their hands forward, they call the name and fire a beam of yellow, white, or orange energy.

Full Power Masenko – Gohan forms a golden energy shield around himself, condensing it into a sphere in front of him, and then fires it in energy wave fashion.

Kamehameha - A powerful ki blast fired with two hands after concentrating a large amount of ki.

Chou Maretsugeki - As he shouts, "Watch this!", Gohan charges at the opponent and elbows them up into the air. Then, he flies up into the air and hook kicks the opponent in their stomach. Next, he attacks the opponent with a punch and a barrage of kicks before roundhouse kicking them away. Finally, Gohan flies after the opponent and hand chops them down to the ground, inflicting a massive amount of damage.

Explosive Demon Impact - As he shouts, "I'm not finished!", Gohan charges at the opponent and roundhouse kicks them in their face. Then, he charges at the opponent again and hook kicks them away, inflicting a high amount of damage.

Soaring Dragon Strike - As he shouts "Hi-ya!", Gohan attacks with a sharp hook punch to the opponent's gut. Then, he follows up with a swift uppercut to the opponent's chin, knocking them away and inflicting a high amount of damage.

Quiet Rage - Gohan throws a single blow that slices the opponent in two, and detonates the body. In some cases, the environment temporarily turns dark as Gohan uses the ability.

Super Kamehameha - Like many variants, the fundamentals for this technique are no different from a regular Kamehameha. The only defining traits of the Super Kamehameha are the greater ki generation and higher tier of power. This often causes the build-up of ki to shine brightly and push apart the user's hands slightly during charging. The bulbous portion of the beam near the user's hands is much larger when fired, and the beam itself is bigger than normal, often over two times the size of the user.

Father-Son Kamehameha - First, Gohan fires a Super Kamehameha at the opponent, who struggles against the attack. Then, the spirit of his father Goku appears behind him in a Kamehameha stance and shouts to him "Now!!" Finally, Gohan pulls his hand back and throws it forward as he charges more power into the attack, overpowering the opponent and inflicting a massive amount of damage.

Super Saiyan Full Power – Gohan is one of the first to gain full mastery over Super Saiyan. After Goku noted the inherit weakness of transforming, a reduction in stamina and ki, Gohan learned to perfect this form with his father. By working to remain transformed for extended periods of time, Gohan and his father gradually learned to overcome the transformation's drawback to feel as natural in this form as their base state. This mastery of Super Saiyan enables full control over the energy output and consumption, completely diminishing strain on the body, even while constantly maintaining maximum power for. In this state, his musculature grows more defined, while his eyes become sterner and green, and his hair turns blond while standing up more with no loose strands. His energy is manifested as a golden aura.

Super Saiyan 2 - Gohan was the first and the youngest to reach Super Saiyan 2. While in this form, Gohan's muscle mass increases slightly and hair stands straight up and spikier with the exception of one lock that hangs down. Also, his aura is surrounded by repeated flashes of blue electricity. Originally, so new with this massive boost of power, it warped Gohan's attitude, giving him an almost sadistic sense of mind as he wanted to make Cell suffer for his evil actions, whereas before Gohan was a pacifist to a fault who didn't want to hurt the villainous Cell.