Son Gohan

Son Gohan
Dragon Ball character
Son Gohan by Akira Toriyama
First appearance	Dragon Ball chapter 196 (Dragon Ball Z chapter 1) Dragon Ball Z episode 1
Last appearance	Dragon Ball chapter 519 (Dragon Ball Z chapter 325) Dragon Ball Z episode 291
Voiced by	Masako Nozawa (Japanese) Saffron Henderson (English, Ocean Group) Stephanie Nadolny (English, FUNimation) Kyle Hebert (English, FUNimation) Dameon Clarke (English, FUNimation) Jillian Michaels (English, Blue Water) Brad Swaile (English, Blue Water) Lex Lang (English)
Profile
Age	4 (Vol. #1)[1] 6-9 (Vol. #28 - #35) 16-26 (Vol. #36 - #42)[2]
Date of birth	Sometime in May A.D. 757[3]
Known relatives	Son Goku (Father) Chichi (Mother) Future Gohan (Alternate timeline counterpart) Son Goten (Brother) Videl (Wife) Pan (Daughter) Ox King (Maternal grandfather) Bardock (Paternal grandfather) Raditz (Uncle) Mr. Satan (Father-in-law) Son Goku Jr. (Great grandson)
Information
Japanese name	孫 悟飯
Romaji	Son Gohan
Anime name	Gohan
Manga name	Son Gohan
Alternate names	The Great Saiyaman The Gold Fighter

Son Gohan (孫 悟飯, Son Gohan^?, Gohan in most English versions), is a fictional character created by Akira Toriyama, written and illustrated for his Dragon Ball manga, originally published by Shueisha and Bird Studio in 1989. Gohan makes his debut appearance in volume #17, or the premier episode of its animated adaptation, Dragon Ball Z. In the series, Gohan is the first son of the primary protagonist, Son Goku, and his wife, the Ox princess named Chichi. Gohan was the first Saiyan/Human hybrid in the series, and as a result, has unusual physical abilities. Gohan was named after Goku's adoptive grandfather,^[1] and is a pun on the Japanese word for cooked rice or meal.^[4][5]

Overview

Main articles: Saiyan Saga, Freeza Saga, Cell Saga, and Majin Buu Saga

Premiering in chapter #196 of the original manga, Gohan is depicted as a sheltered boy (whose manners, Bulma noted, are starkly more polite than Goku's)^[1] whose early childhood was disrupted following his abduction at the hands of his father's older brother, Raditz. Intended to be used as a bargaining chip, the fight that ensued shortly thereafter visually demonstrated Gohan's unusual fighting potential. This drew the attention of the character Piccolo, who proclaimed his power an indispensable necessity in the coming battle against Vegeta and Nappa.^[6] Fraught at first with inhibitions about his untapped abilities in issues shortly following his introduction (his stated desire is to become a scholar rather than a martial artist),^[7] Gohan is shown unaccustomed to the rigorous training lifestyle (he was, initially, preoccupied with distress about where food, a bathroom, or a bed would be).^[8] However, the results of his work become apparent in later chapters, and his tutelage under Piccolo forms a deep bond between the two characters.^[9] As Gohan is drawn into further battles, he is depicted as increasingly confident in his strength as a warrior (if never growing to love fighting as his father did), and after defeating Cell, Gohan succeeded Goku as the world's greatest defender for a time. The consequent peace that followed allowed him to continue his studies, and later, a sixteen-year-old Gohan is shown enrolling at Orange Star High School in Satan City.^[2] Following the defeat of Majin Buu and a ten year gap at the end of Dragon Ball, Gohan is depicted with a wife, Videl, and a daughter, Pan.

Future Gohan

In the alternate timeline presented in the volume #33 interquel, Trunks the Story - A Warrior All Alone, Future Gohan (未来の悟飯, Mirai no Gohan^?, known simply as Gohan) is shown to be the only surviving individual capable of fighting the Artifical Humans. As a result, he's depicted training Bulma's half-Saiyan son, Trunks, to assist him in battling #17 and #18, the two stated responsible for the murders of all his friends (Goku aside, who is described as having died of a fatal heart disease soon after defeating Freeza and King Cold on Earth).^[10][11] Here, Gohan has become a Super Saiyan. Depicted wearing a uniform similar to his father's, one with his own symbol on the back (kanji for Gohan), Gohan's hair is cut short and he has a scar running down the left side of his face. With the deaths of Goku and Piccolo, Gohan's training was cut short, and he is therefore much weaker than his past counterpart becomes. Gohan battles #17 and #18 in which he loses one of his arms. Gohan is eventually killed by #17 a fight trying to defend Pepper Town,^[12] leaving Trunks to do battle alone. Future Gohan and his super saiyen form are playable characters in the new DragonBall Z game Budokai Tenkaichi 3/Sparking Meteor in which his techniques are simelar to teen Gohan,Goku and Piccolo's.

Appearance

Early concept art of a teenage Son Gohan

Gohan's appearance changes dramatically throughout the series, with his beginning as a child and concluding when fully grown. As opposed to full-blooded Saiyans, whose hair does not grow throughout their lives,^[13] Gohan's is drawn at varying lengths, and changes markedly in style. Initially, he's illustrated garbed in a kimono-like surcoat, with the four-star Dragon Ball fitted on top of his hat. Normally thereafter, he's drawn with a gi modeled after his mentor's, Piccolo (likewise having his obi recolored from red to blue in Toei's animated adaptation of the Cell Games tournament), or his father's (such as during his training for the Saiyans or when fighting Majin Buu), and on occasion he is portrayed in battle armor worn by Freeza's henchmen. In conceptualizing Gohan's character as a teenager, Toriyama originally included glasses or a jacket to his apparel, and commonly, his hair was not spiked up as seen in the final design.^[14]

Abilities

Gohan is observed to have unusual abilities because of his mixed heritage. As a child, Gohan is depicted with a seemingly limitless dormant power, which at first only revealed itself when he experienced fierce rage.^[15][16] Like pure Saiyans, Gohan was born with a monkey tail. This allowed him to transform into the Oozaru, a Saiyan great ape.^[17] However, during his fight with Vegeta, Gohan's tail is removed permanately, and he therefore loses this transformation.^[18] On Namek, Saichoro helped unlock a portion of his untapped potential, unable to bring out the fullest of his tremendous latent abilities.^[19] In later chapters, as he got older, Gohan's training expanded his use to a larger portion of this power, ultimately giving him access to the legendary Saiyan-state called the Super Saiyan,^[20] as well as becoming the first to achieve the ascended state, Super Saiyan 2.^[21] During the final story arc of the series, the Rou Dai Kaioshin helped bring out Gohan's potential, enabling him to utilize power beyond his natural limits Making him more powerful than Buu.^[22] The second Daizenshuu book labels him in this state as saikyô no gohan (literally: Ultimate Gohan).^[23]

Appearances in other media

A playable character in various Dragon Ball Z-related video games (with Future Gohan selectable in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 and Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai - Another Road), Gohan has also appeared in crossover media such as Battle Stadium D.O.N and Jump Super Stars. Further, he appeared in the original video animation for the Playdia game, Dragon Ball Z Side Story: The Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans. Gohan (along with Goku) is also parodized in the Robot Chicken Christmas Special, where the two fight an evil Mrs. Claus along side Santa's reindeer in an attempt to save Christmas. Recently, Gohan, along with Goku and Goten, has appeared in a Japanese showa note commercial, where the three advertise school supplies.

Family tree

References

Bibliography

• Dragon Ball Z manga, Volume 1 — ISBN 978-0-57508-009-6
• Dragon Ball Z manga, Volume 2 — ISBN 978-0-57508-010-2
• Dragon Ball Z manga, Volume 4 — ISBN 978-1-56931-933-8
• Dragon Ball Z manga, Volume 7 — ISBN 978-1-56931-698-6
• Dragon Ball Z manga, Volume 12 — ISBN 978-1-56931-985-7
• Dragon Ball Z manga, Volume 16 — ISBN 978-1-59116-328-2
• Dragon Ball Z manga, Volume 17 — ISBN 978-1-59116-505-7
• Dragon Ball Z manga, Volume 18 — ISBN 978-1-59116-637-5
• Dragon Ball Z manga, Volume 20 — ISBN 978-1-59116-808-9
• Dragon Ball Z manga, Volume 25 — ISBN 978-1-42150-404-9
• Dragon Ball Daizenshuu: Story Guide — ISBN 978-4-08782-752-1
• Dragon Ball Daizenshuu: Dragon Ball, Big Encyclopedia — ISBN 978-4-08782-757-6