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Gohan is one of Dragon Ball Z’s strongest characters and has the most potential shown throughout the series. These assets make Gohan incredibly popular but also extremely divisive within the fandom and have even led to moments of tension between other characters within the series. Goku and Piccolo have both trained and taught Gohan by the time of the Cell Saga, and have different views and opinions on the young Saiyan’s personality. Goku has recognized the power within his son after watching his countless battles and training with him in the hyperbolic time chamber, and believes Gohan is the only person who can defeat Perfect Cell. On the other hand, Piccolo, after having trained Gohan during the Saiyan saga and growing closer with the half-Saiyan, has realized that his student lacks the desire for battle that the other Saiyans and fighters in the series are full of.
Goku has always been a combat-oriented character in both Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, and has shown that training and pushing to get stronger are the cornerstone of his motivations. Piccolo, similar to Goku, was born a fighter, and although we’ve learned that Piccolo’s race isn’t exactly a warrior race like Goku’s, he still lives to face off against the Saiyan for the early portion of his life. Both of these characters exist and live in a space that involves training and martial arts, but Gohan, on the other hand, does not. Gohan may be a Saiyan, but he is equally as human and has a naturally kind nature. These matters all come to a head when Cell and Gohan face off, and Cell is toying with Gohan, leading to an argument between Piccolo and Goku about the reality of Gohan’s feelings in this fight.
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Goku’s Belief in Gohan Is a Show of Unwavering Fatherly Support
Goku has no doubt in his mind that his son has the power and capabilities to defeat the overpowered bio-android. After having trained with Gohan and being aware of all of the moments Gohan’s rage pushed him over his limits, Goku was firm in his belief that Gohan, once angry, would far surpass every other fighter that Earth had to offer. Goku had kept in mind that as long as Gohan gets mad, like him, against Frieza, then he would be able to surpass not only his limits, but Cell’s as well. His resolution in this matter was so intense that he gladly quit his fight against Cell, knowing he couldn’t win, and even rebutted Piccolo’s criticism, saying that the young Saiyan needed only to awaken his true power.
“Wait until he has no choice. And then, right when Gohan is backed into a corner with no way out, he’ll awaken his furious inner strength, and when that happens, you watch. Gohan will break Cell down once and for all!”
– Goku, Dragon Ball Z Episode 183
Following this statement, Gohan is shown to still be struggling against Perfect Cell and doesn’t “get angry” until after the destruction of Android 16. That moment acted as the final straw to push Gohan over the edge, which finally allowed the half-Saiyan to reach his next level of power. In these moments, Goku’s small speech began to ring true as his son quickly began to turn the tide of his battle with Cell once tapping into the power of Super Saiyan 2.
While the situation Goku put Gohan in was dire, it did prove purposeful as the Saiyan rage within him allowed, as Goku predicted, him to grow beyond his constraints. However, the protagonist does not account for the elevated mental state Gohan would be in, which would lead him to toy with the bio-android instead of ending the fight. This leads directly to Goku having to give his life to save Gohan and the rest of the Earth, causing larger story implications throughout the rest of Dragon Ball Z.
Piccolo’s Concern Comes From a Place of Understanding
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the audience got to see one of Goku’s oldest enemies turned ally question the father’s plan. After spending a lot of time training and bonding with the young half-Saiyan, Piccolo began to empathize with him. As the fight between Cell and Gohan began, it was incredibly one-sided and was based on Cell attempting to force Gohan into powering up by getting him angry. This led to Cell tormenting Gohan and squeezing him, attempting to anger the boy. Piccolo intends to step in, and Goku rebuts him (see above). however, Piccolo brings to Goku’s attention that Gohan does not thirst for battle like the rest of the Saiyans.
“He’s not a fighter like you! Do you want to know what he’s thinking? He’s not thinking about strength or about competition. He’s wondering why his father is standing there letting him die. And so, your son may be the most powerful person in the world, but he’s also a scared 11-year-old boy!”
– Piccolo, Dragon Ball Z Episode 183
Piccolo’s points ring true to Goku as the Saiyan begins to realize that his son is far more human and much less combat-oriented than him. Piccolo does recognize Gohan’s potential in his speech, but reminds Goku that even if he is the strongest, he is still a scared little boy. It’s a shocking turn of events, as fans can truly see Piccolo’s compassionate side shine the brightest when Gohan is part of the equation, which contrasts sharply even with how he treated the boy in the Saiyan Saga.
As Goku realizes in horror to the backdrop of Gohan’s screams, he attempts to get a Senzu bean so he can intervene, but that is dashed by Cell. Throughout Dragon Ball ZGohan has had to fight time and time again and train non-stop because of the constant danger, but when there is finally peace for 10 years after the Cell Saga, we get to see that Piccolo was right in his assertion that Gohan is not thinking about strength or competition.
While both Goku and Piccolo clearly understand portions of Gohan’s personality, the two lack the full gauge of him as a person, mainly because they are both fighters and non-humans. Piccolo understood that Gohan, at the time of the Cell Saga, was a scared child wondering why his father would let him be in such peril, yet Piccolo’s fear and worry for Gohan were a disservice to the child’s power. On the other hand, Goku had never considered that his son was uninterested in combat, blinding him to the emotions of his child and putting both of them into a perilous position.
