Summary
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Now Gohan’s life of peace and family support fueled his new powerful transformation.
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Future Gohan faces trauma and loss, missing the emotional bonds that powered present Gohan.
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Gohan’s growth and strength are influenced by his loving environment, differentiating him from even Goku and Vegeta.
Gohan has recently emerged as perhaps the new strongest character in Dragon Ball SuperHaving fought toe to toe with not only his father, but also Vegeta and even Broly. Gohan’s Beast Mode is a powerful new transformation, to be sure, but it’s one he was only able to achieve in this timeline; In Future Trunks’ time, Gohan never reached this new level of power. So what makes the present Gohan so much stronger than his future counterpart?
Future Trunks highly respected Future Gohan as his mentor, with Gohan having to step up and take the main role in the future after the death of Goku to heart disease, and Vegeta and so many others to the androids. Future Gohan is said to be around 23 years old when he dies, making him only slightly younger than the super hero-Era Gohan, meaning both had equal amounts of time to train their power. And while main timeline Gohan spent many of those years happily married and working a normal job, Future Gohan definitely spent that time training. If anything, it seems that Future Gohan should have completely unlocked the beast transformation before Gohan had.
Future Gohan is held back by the circumstances of his life
No matter how you look at it, Future Gohan has certainly had a rough life. Like his main timeline counterpart, he lost his father at a young age, but while main timeline Goku would be revived years later, Future Goku’s death was irreversible. Future Gohan also had to watch as the friends and family he’d known all his life, like Piccolo, were killed by the androids one by one, until basically only he and Future Trunks were left to fight.
Without Piccolo or Goku to guide their training, it is likely that Future Gohan and Future Trunks struggled with gaining control and mastering their power. After all, Future Gohan was still just a kid himself when most of the Z Fighters were killed, and even though he had been trained some by that point, there was still a lot of potential left unused. They also lost access to the Dragon Balls when Piccolo died (therefore Kami along with him), meaning no shortcuts as desired for his potential to be unlocked were available. Future Gohan also loses an arm at one point, which no doubt also affected his ability to train.
Although there is the practical loss of access to the wisdom and resources of the older Z Fighters, One also has to consider how much of a burden this must have been on Future Gohan. Righteous rage can certainly be the trigger for greater power in Saiyans, but the absolute desperation that Future Gohan and Trunks faced when fighting the androids alone for years must have been a hard thing to endure. Future Gohan not only had to endure this, but had to be a pillar that Trunks could lean on for strength as well.
Gohan’s loving and supportive environment was his true strength
In contrast, the main timeline’s Gohan has had a much better life, living alongside the other Z Fighters in relative peace. Although Gohan definitely endured his share of hardships, such as growing up for several years without Goku, he had a chance to develop more as a person and as a warrior. While Goku may not be the best father, his presence in Gohan’s life has undoubtedly been positive. Gohan also faced powerful opponents like Buu in the main timeline, which helped propel his power to even greater heights.
Because he is so busy with the androids, Future Gohan never meets Videl, and thus never gets married or becomes a father. On the surface, this might seem like it would make him stronger, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. Gohan’s desire to protect his daughter and family is a true source of strength for him. It may sound cliche, but the love he has for his friends and family really is crucial to his power. After all, Gohan awakens the beast transformation after watching Piccolo nearly killed by Cell Max, and Piccolo is perhaps even closer to him than Goku.
Additionally, Gohan never had to bear the emotional burden of being the sole survivor of the original Z Fighters, nor the weight of being the only one standing in opposition to the Androids. That (relative) lack of trauma may actually be the key difference between Future Gohan and Dragon Ball SuperGohan’s. It allowed him to start a family, to grow as a person and really experience what life is like. While Future Gohan has nothing like war, Gohan has gotten to see what peace is like, and has learned why it is so important to protect it from those who would destroy it.
The real reason for Gohan’s strength also hints at why Saiyans will surpass him
Gohan, of course, isn’t the only one who has had a peaceful life. Trunks, his younger brother Goten, and his own daughter Pan, all had much more peaceful lives than even Gohan had. Goten and Trunks’ strong bond has already allowed them to do some pretty incredible things, even if they aren’t quite up to the task of stopping Buu alone. Pan himself has already proven to be something of a prodigy, flying even as a baby Dragon Ball Super And already training successfully with Piccolo in just a few years in super hero.
Just like Gohan, Shalom caused Goten and Trunks to turn away from training, but that doesn’t mean their potential isn’t as great as Gohan’s. Goten and Trunks could show some astonishing growth given the right motivation; Future Trunks’ own abilities also show the potential that Trunks holds in him as a solo fighter, and Goten has at least as much potential. Their greatest weakness at the moment is likely their overreliance on fusion, as the two boys are rarely shown fighting unfused.
If a peaceful life full of love and bonds with others is what it takes for a Saiyan to reach their ultimate potential, as Toriyama’s S-Cell theory indicates, Goten and Trunks certainly have the potential to become the strongest Saiyans ever, Even higher than theirs. Fathers. Pan’s prodigy status could mean she holds all of her father’s potential and more, and it will be interesting to see Pan develop as a potential fighter. super hero.
Gohan’s new power makes him different from Goku and Vegeta
As Future Gohan, Goku and Vegeta lived relatively ordinary lives, being among the few survivors of their planet’s destruction, and having witnessed the death of friends on numerous occasions. Their impressive power is born from training and suffering, working hard to draw out their full strength and constantly finding new ways to expand their abilities. Much of Gohan’s power is said to be “latent potential,” at least before receiving the Gohan Beast transformation, but he didn’t have to train quite as much as they did to bring it out. This would seem to support the idea that Gohan’s peaceful life is actually better for his growth.
Ultimately, Future Gohan, despite being a valiant warrior, simply did not have the strength of his emotional bonds with others to rely on the path of his main universe counterpart. He lost everything a long time ago, and never had a chance at a family, so while he fought bravely for his ideals and to protect the innocent, that’s all he really needed to give him strength. Comparing the two versions of Gohan and their power, it is clear that Dragon Ball SuperS Gohan has benefited from a happier life, and hopefully this will apply to Goten, Trunks and Pan.