5 Best Gohan Moments in Dragon Ball Z That Still Gives Us Chills

Akira Toriyama’s iconic Dragon Ball manga redefined the Shonen demographic and continues to inspire creators to this day. The manga was adapted into two anime parts, with more than half of the story included in the sequel anime, Dragon Ball Z. While the original anime Dragon Ball laid down the foundation of the story, DBZ helped the series reach new heights of popularity thanks to the iconic transformations, overpowered villains, and several intriguing characters introduced in the anime. One of them is obviously Gohan, Goku’s son, who made his debut in the Saiyan Saga as a four-year-old. Goku named him after his adoptive grandfather, who died when he was still young.

Gohan immediately grabbed everyone’s attention with his cuteness, but no one realized that the half-Saiyan would turn out to be a prodigy with even more potential than his father. Throughout the entire Dragon Ball Z, he had several iconic moments, often shocking the Z Warriors along with the viewers, with his overwhelming talent. Even Gohan’s Super Saiyan transformation was sort of a miracle since he was so young at the time.

5) Ultimate Gohan Fights Super Buu

Dedicating seven years of his life to studying instead of training made Gohan a bit rusty, and while he was multiple times stronger than ordinary villains, Buu was another case entirely. When the Z Warriors were incapable of defeating the villain, who kept growing more powerful, all hope rested on Gohan’s shoulders yet again. Thanks to the help of Elder Kai, Gohan unlocked his full latent potential, surpassing Goku’s Super Saiyan 3 form without the need for the actual transformation.

Although this form of Gohan is more commonly known as “Mystic Gohan,” officially it’s “Ultimate Gohan.” He could have defeated Super Buu all on his own, but his lack of experience and a moment of carelessness resulted in a frustrating defeat.

4) Gohan’s Enraged Assault at Frieza Didn’t End Well

Just like his father, Gohan deeply cares about the people around him. As a kid, he was always afraid in front of his enemies, and it was almost too brutal for him to join the fight in the Frieza Saga when he was just five years old. However, when Krillin was mortally wounded by the villain and thrown into the river, the kid couldn’t contain his rage and attacked Frieza.

Gohan’s enraged assault on Frieza was incredibly shocking since that was the first time someone was able to knock the Galactic Tyrant down. Unfortunately, a little kid couldn’t have been more powerful than the worst villain in the universe, which is why Gohan ultimately lost horribly after launching several powerful strikes.

3) Gohan Delivers a Devastating Blow to Raditz

Saiyans’ powers are always fueled by their emotions, and it doesn’t even have to be a transformation. The more rage they feel, the greater their power becomes. During the beginning of the Saiyan Saga, Goku was no match for his brother, Raditz, who had more training as a Saiyan than him. As a result, Goku was being brutally beaten by the villain while a four-year-old Gohan was forced to witness the situation unfold.

However, he couldn’t control his rage and landed a devastating blow on Raditz, enough to severely weaken him. Piccolo, who witnessed the shocking event unfold in front of him, took the kid after Goku’s death and trained him for a year so he could be powerful enough to defeat the Saiyans.

2) Gohan Transforms into Super Saiyan 2

During the Cell Games, Gohan was 11 years old and significantly more powerful than his past self. This is why he was again burdened with the responsibility of saving the world from Cell, since even Goku admitted he couldn’t defeat the villain, but his son could. However, Cell wasn’t going to give Gohan an easy way out, and he continued to torture his friends and even brutally killed Android 16 right in front of him.

That was his breaking point, which forced him to reach new heights of the Super Saiyan transformation and easily overpower Cell. Fueled by rage and grief, Gohan became the first Saiyan to unlock the Super Saiyan 2 stage. What followed was the most satisfying moment of Cell getting bashed by a kid he looked down on.

1) The Father-Son Kamehameha Is Gohan’s Best Moment of All Time

Gohan’s new power made it too easy for him to toy around with the villain, so much so that he ignored everyone’s warnings and kept dragging on the fight. He was confident he could easily kill Cell once he tortured him enough, but that allowed the villain to trigger his self-destructive ability to wipe everyone out. However, Goku took Cell to King Kai’s planet and died after the explosion. On the other hand, Cell easily regenerated and came back to Earth using Instant Transmission and fought Gohan again.

Consumed by the guilt of his father’s death, Gohan was already at his limit, but Goku’s words of encouragement from the other side helped him regain his strength. The famous Father-Son Kamehameha didn’t physically include Goku’s powers, but it symbolized that he would always be with his son in spirit, watching over him. Over the years, Gohan has had several incredible moments, but nothing comes close to this.

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