Why is it said that Gohan, before his Super Saiyan 2 awakening, was stronger than Goku? It’s all down to Gohan’s reaction!
One piece of evidence is Gohan’s reaction when he was examined by Karin
Gohan surprised everyone by cutting short his training in the [Hyperbolic Time Chamber] based on Goku’s decision.
Then, even though they still had time left, Goku declared, “We won’t be using the room anymore,” and left the palace.
On the way, they stopped by to see Korin…
Goku released about half of his ki in front of Karin and asked her, “Who is stronger right now, me or Cell?”
At this point, Gohan thinks to himself, “Huh? Was it really that impressive?”
If you read between the lines, this could also be interpreted as, “Is this only half of what I've got? If I really went all out, I'd be even stronger than him!”
Tomoya
At least, that’s how I interpreted it as a child
By the way, this scene marks Lady Karin’s final appearance in the original manga…
(To be precise, she does appear briefly in Volume 39 and on the last page of the final volume, but this is her last appearance with dialogue.)
Gohan's reaction to watching Goku and Cell fight
Here are Gohan’s thoughts after watching Goku’s battle with Cell in the Cell Games
While everyone else was so speechless at the sight of Goku at full power that they could only say, “Wow...,” Gohan reacted as if to say, “Huh? Do you really think it's that amazing?”
Then, Goku forfeits the fight against Cell midway through and names Gohan as his next opponent.
Goku asks, “Did you think the fight just now was too intense for you to keep up with?”
To that, Gohan firmly replies, “No way!”
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If you read between the lines, this could also be interpreted as, “If I really tried, I’d be stronger than him!”
Bonus: Piccolo’s Remark
This is a line Piccolo said to Goku during Gohan’s battle with Cell.
Facing Gohan as he was being overwhelmed by Cell, Goku tells him, “The only way to beat Cell is to rely on Gohan’s awakening.”
In response, Piccolo retorts, “Even if he becomes the strongest, Gohan is still just a kid!”
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Here, Piccolo mentions that “Gohan is number one.”
Since the wise Piccolo says so, Gohan must be number one!
Why I Think Goku Is Better
Next, I think Goku is better than Gohan! Let’s look at the reasons for this, again based on the original manga!
Because everyone else says so
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In the real world—and this applies to work as well—there are times when what others think of you matters more than your own self-assessment.
After all, outsiders can see things more objectively.
It’s pretty cringy when a shut-in NEET says, “I just haven’t shown what I’m really capable of yet!” isn’t it?
Even though Piccolo tells him, “Your power has increased so much it’s unrecognizable,” he’s still told it’s impossible.
Cell even says, “Don’t mess with me…” and gets really angry.
Judging by the reactions of those around him when he unleashes his ki, it’s clear he’s stronger than Trunks and Vegeta, but even so, Cell—who just knocked Gohan out—tells him, “Eat a Senzu Bean and fight me again!”
While all this is going on, Cell Junior appears and steals the Senzu beans from Gohan.
Gohan tries to take the beans back from Cell, but Cell easily brushes him off.
Even though he says he doesn’t like fighting, based on these scenes, I’d guess that Gohan’s power level is still lower than Goku’s, wouldn’t you agree?
Tomoya
Even if he were stronger, I think Goku is the better fighter due to his greater experience and personality.
Gohan thought Goku was even more amazing
After watching Goku fight, Gohan didn’t think he was quite that amazing, but he still believes Goku is stronger!
The reason is... Gohan believes Goku is “the strongest in the world!”
After all, this is Son Goku—his own father—who overwhelmed Nappa, who had been completely helpless right before his eyes, knocked out Recoome with a single blow... and even defeated Frieza...
From Gohan’s perspective, didn’t he see Goku as a figure far above the clouds... someone he could never hope to reach?
So even though he became a Super Saiyan himself, did he really become someone who could stand on equal footing with his father?
Thinking about it again, if I were to share my own biased opinion with no real basis,
I’d predict that if Goku is a 100, Gohan is probably around an 85.
For Gohan, who sees his father as a superior, wouldn’t it be natural to think, “There’s no way the gap between me and my father is only about 15!”?
Didn’t he think, “If I’m an 85, Goku must be at least 1,000!”?
What if we put ourselves in Gohan’s shoes when Goku first became a Super Saiyan?
All of the above is speculation, but I think it makes sense.
As proof, there’s Gohan’s line, “You two weren’t going all out, were you!?”… though maybe that’s a bit of a stretch?
Tomoya
Even though he’s a tough character to handle, I kind of wanted to see Gohan go toe-to-toe with Cell and put up a decent fight.
It makes for a more exciting story that way.
From here on out, things are going to get a bit meta, but…
He was just training in the Room of Spirit and Time, right?
I’m skeptical that he could have surpassed Goku there.
*Since he developed his own unique training method, I can understand him surpassing Vegeta and Trunks.
Personally, I think he only truly surpassed Goku after awakening as a Super Saiyan 2.
Isn’t that more moving?
Rather than declaring “I’m stronger than Goku!” the moment he stepped out of the Room of Spirit and Time, I think it’s more exciting to have various events leading up to it, and then in the heat of battle, realize, “In that moment, I finally surpassed Goku!”
Tomoya
This is a bit off-topic, but in the anime, Gohan’s awakening scene was really intense, with added “music” and “tears.” It’s one of the most iconic scenes ever.
Aside
I think there are plenty of other points worth discussing, so I’d like to cover them all here.
Should Goku have told Gohan about his plan beforehand?
Goku’s plan was to “make Gohan lose his temper and unleash his true power!”
But there’s a scene where Piccolo asks, “Did you two discuss that beforehand?”
Personally, I think that if the goal was to make Gohan really, really angry, wouldn’t it be kind of pointless to tell him about it beforehand?
If you’re aiming to make him fly into a rage, shouldn’t you avoid telling him? Can you really get angry just because someone tells you to?
It’s kind of like a comedian being told in advance, “We’ve got this prank planned, so please act surprised!”
Instead, I wonder if he shouldn’t have told someone other than Gohan—especially Piccolo—about it beforehand?
For example, after Goku surrendered, what if they’d chosen Piccolo as the next opponent? What if Piccolo had pretended to get beaten by Cell right then?
Or what if they’d sent Piccolo to rescue Gohan while he was fighting Cell, only for him to get knocked out…
I’m guessing Gohan would have lost his temper instantly, wouldn’t he?
He went ballistic when Piccolo was defeated in the Nappa fight too, so with that flashback in mind, he might have awakened instantly.
I often see opinions saying, “Piccolo is Gohan’s greatest confidant!” but in this case, Goku understood him better.
As a result, Gohan awakened, and things went pretty much exactly as Goku had planned.
However, Goku’s miscalculation was that he didn’t realize Gohan would awaken because of someone else’s pain, right?
Gohan doesn’t get angry even when he’s the one being hurt. He started getting uneasy after Cell Junior appeared, and every time Gohan has snapped and powered up in the past, it’s always been when his friends were hurt.
Oh, and another miscalculation on Goku’s part was probably that he couldn’t predict how Gohan’s personality would change when he snapped… Well, I guess that was unavoidable… Nobody could have predicted Gohan-chan turning out like that.
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It was a scene where Goku looked heartbroken after being defied for the first time, and even Piccolo seemed a little taken aback.
Why did Goku give Cell a Senzu Bean?
There’s a scene where Goku gives Cell a Senzu Bean as he switches places with Gohan.
People on the internet sometimes say things like, “What’s wrong with Goku!?”
But after actually fighting him, Goku probably judged that “even if Cell has some unknown power we haven’t seen yet, Gohan can handle him even if we let him recover to full power!”
Tomoya
Goku totally trusts Gohan and is totally underestimating Cell, isn't he? (lol)
I also think they gave him a Senzu Bean “to give Cell some breathing room.”
Cell had been pretty worn out from fighting Goku, and Gohan was stronger than Vegeta and Trunks, even managing to knock Cell on his butt with a kick at one point. Vegeta and Trunks joined the fray partway through, and it would have been a disaster if they’d cornered him too aggressively and he’d self-destructed.
Cell actually judged the Senzu Beans to be a nuisance and went out of his way to steal them. While this has been thoroughly mocked online, he might have been worried that if Gohan recovered and they launched a wave of attacks together, things would get really bad.
In fact, Super Saiyan 2 Gohan cornered Cell relentlessly, forcing him to self-destruct and ultimately leading to Goku’s loss…
Goku foresaw this in the story and urged Gohan to finish him off quickly.
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Since we don’t know what he might do if he loses his composure, we had to make sure Cell completely underestimated Gohan as an inferior opponent. That’s why they gave him the Senzu beans.
By deliberately letting Cell keep his cool, they were secretly manipulating him to carry out the “make Gohan snap” plan (when you think about it, Goku is quite the strategic character).
Even from a meta perspective, defeating a weakened, exhausted Cell wouldn’t feel satisfying as a story, would it?
Regarding Goku’s death
Goku’s life had been saved by Future Trunks, but whether due to the force of history or not, he ultimately lost his life in the battle against Cell… As a kid back then, I remember thinking, “Damn it!”
But well, in the original timeline, Goku was destined to die of illness.
The other members were killed by the Androids.
Setting aside the murders, dying of illness was his fate, so they twisted the timeline to forcefully keep Goku alive.
If you think of it as a life he was given to save everyone… doesn’t that sound a little romantic?
Future Gohan gets taken out by the Androids, but Goku’s lifespan was extended to make Gohan stronger.
And then, just as Gohan brilliantly surpasses his father, he dies… Isn’t that a really beautiful ending?
You could even say it’s no exaggeration to call the Cell arc a story created to facilitate the generational handover to Gohan. *Although, in reality, the story continues into the Buu arc…
Tomoya
It seems Mr. Toriyama really did intend to end it here.
Summary
In this post, I’ve shared my personal thoughts on the question: “Was Gohan stronger than Goku before his awakening in the Cell arc?”
Even if Gohan was technically stronger than Goku at that time, I don’t think he could have surpassed Goku in terms of personality or experience.
Above all, the idea that he finally surpassed his father at the last possible moment really adds a lot of excitement to the story, so I’m going to go with that theory!
