AlthoughDragon Ballis mainly the story of Goku’s life and development as a martial artist, the series pays quite a lot of attention to Goku’s first son: Son Gohan. Starting with the Saiyan arc, Gohan is introduced in a focal role that only expands more and more asDragon Ball Zgoes on. Despite being Goku’s son, Gohan has always been his own character with clear contrasts to his father.
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Where Goku loves martial arts above all else, Gohan treats it like a healthy hobby at best. Where Goku always pushes past his own limits for his own sake, Gohan’s rage is often what unlocks his deep potential. Gohan has a lot in common with his father – make no mistake – but he’s always been more than Goku writ small.
Updated Jul 11, 2025 by Mark Sammut:Dragon Ball will be forever relevant, or at least that has proven to be the case so far. A new movie is set to come out in 2022, while the Dragon Ball Super manga is ongoing. Although nothing has been announced, it is only a matter of time before a new Dragon Ball game hits the scene. The Z Fighters are all iconic in their own right, even if Goku tends to hog the limelight. An adaptive fighter with a lovable personality, Goku is capable of nearly anything within the confines of a battle; however, outside of it, the Saiyan has some blind spots, some of which are not shared with his son, Gohan. What canGohan do that Goku can’t(or doesn’t want to)?
12Commit To A Healthy Work Life
Goku will work if he has to, but he doesn’t like it.Dragon Ball Superbegins with Goku exhausted from his work life followingMajin Buu’s defeat, after all. It isn’t a lifestyle that suits him, but that’s work for most people.
Gohan takes a healthier approach to work, but he’s also fortunate enough to work in his field. While Gohan’s academic pursuits have never been clarified, becoming an academic was his passion growing up so it stands to reason he’s doing something that he loves.
11Access Higher Education
Goku isn’t dumb, he’s just uneducated. His schooling came almost exclusively from Grandpa Gohan and Master Roshi. For what it’s worth, training with Roshi nurtured social and intellectual skills that would help Goku develop into a mature, kind adult, but he never had the same educational opportunities as Gohan.
It’s no kid’s dream, but Gohan is strictly homeschooled by Chichi during his young life. The anime also introduces a tutor for him during Cell arc filler before sending Gohan off to Orange Star High School. Considering Gohan is an academic at the end ofDragon Balland duringDragon Ball Super, he must have also gone to university.
10Slow Down
Goku’s changed a lot sinceDragon Ball Superstarted, with an emphasis being put on his inability to slow down. Goku always wants and needs to be training to the point of obsession. This wasn’t the case in the originalDragon Ball Z, however, where Goku took the time to relax with Gohan leading up to theCell Games.
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It’s easy to dismiss Gohan’s inability to keep training as a bad thing, but it’s also important to let yourself enjoy times of peace. Gohan being able to slow down and live his life is further reinforced when Future Trunks reunites with him in the anime’s adaptation of the Goku Black arc.
9Be A Present Father
Goku isn’t a bad father by any means, but he’s also not anywhere as present as he should be. Granted, this wasn’t a problem in the originalDragon Ballwhere Goku’s absences were always attributed to things out of control: likebeing deador lost in the confines of outer space.Dragon Ball Superhas since revealed that Goku wasn’t even present for Gohan’s birth, though.
This isn’t a good look for Goku no matter how it’s cut. Goku missing Gohan’s birth because he was training doesn’t exactly help matters either. While audiences haven’t seen much of Gohan raising Pan, it’d be hard to buy that he missed her birth. He’s already more present by virtue of that alone.
8Be A Present Husband
In the same way that Goku is not a bad father, he’s not a bad husband. He thinks about Chichi constantly and clearly respects her as a person, even if he initially disagrees on how they should raise Gohan. But Goku’s even less present as a husband than a father.
Granted, this works for the relationship Goku and Chichi have (so no harm, no foul there), but Gohan is a family man at his core. As a result, he’s coming home to Videl every single day. It’s a lifestyle that works for him and one he clearly wants.
7Reciprocate Romantic Feelings
Goku is not the most romantic character and it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that his marriage with Chichi borders on aromantic at times. This isn’t to say that Goku doesn’t care about Chichi dearly – he quite obviously loves her – just that his way of showing affection isn’t traditionally romantic.
Dragon Ball Superhas only doubled down on this notion by revealing that Goku and Chichi have never kissed on the lips. This isn’t the case for Gohan who falls head or heels for Videl. The two have a clearly loving romantic relationship in bothDragon Ball SuperandDragon Ball GT.
6Power Up With Little To No Training
Goku is constantly training and for good reason: he needs to. Both to keep up with the martial artists around him and for his own personal wellbeing, Goku sees training as an absolute necessity. Gohan doesn’t, letting himself slip up in his training throughout multiple points in his life.
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Unlike Goku, however, Gohan doesn’t really need the same caliber of training. As evidenced in the Cell arc, nine months of Super Saiyan training was enough for Goku to turn Gohan into the strongest character at the end.Piccolo also managed to trainGohan’s power back up in a freakishly short amount of time inDragon Ball Super.
5Tap Into His Rage
From Tao Pai Pai to Tambourine to Frieza, Goku’s been pushed to the extreme by some truly vile villains; but he never quite gives in to his rage on the same level as Gohan. Goku getting mad is a surprise. Gohan getting mad is a given.
More importantly, Goku works out most of his rage issues after training with Beerus.Gohan’s rage helps him fight Raditz, Vegeta, Frieza, and Cell. The only time Gohan doesn’t give into anger for a major fight in the originalDragon Ballis against Majin Buu.
4Retire In Peace
WhileDragon Ball Superhas since backtracked to put Gohan back in the middle of the action, the originalDragon Ballby all accounts ended with Gohan retiring in peace. After unlocking his Ultimate potential at the end of the Majin Buu arc and winding up thestrongest unfused characterin the series, Gohan doesn’t even bother participating in the 28th Tenkaichi Budokai.
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Instead, happy enough just watching martial arts play out, more focused on his academic work than anything else – a beatDragon Ball Online’s timeline would actually play around with.
3Write A Book
Dragon Ball Onlineestablishes that Gohan’s research leads him to investigate the history of martial arts and ki. The Saiyan finds this path so fascinating, he ends up writing a successful book that sparks a new era of interest in martial arts. While this plot point is unlikely to feature in themanga or an anime, it also makes total sense considering Gohan’s scholarly ambitions and his educational session with Videl during the Majin Buu arc.
Goku, obviously, has shown no interest in sharing his wealth of knowledge with the world through something as accessible as a book. As Gohan knows, his father is not against the idea of training other people, but Goku is not a natural educator since he tends to lose interest if a sparring session doesn’t also test him.
