Gohan has long been one ofDragon Ball’s most popular central fighters. Introduced into the story after a significant timeskip, the half-Saiyan son of Goku became a regular cast member as the destructive Saiyans arrived on Earth, and slowly began to make his way into the spotlight as Akira Toriyama’s original series moved along.
Throughout early major conflicts, the series continuously hinted at his endless potential, showcasing just how his rage was able to send his strength skyrocketing. Gohan would finally become the focus during the Cell Saga, unlocking Super Saiyan 2 before any other character and cementing himself asa fan-favorite for an entire generation ofDragon Ballfans.
Unfortunately,his downfall would begin shortly after his greatest victory. Gohan not only fell behind the rest of the cast, but he did so in embarrassing fashion, eventually struggling to transform into a Super Saiyan at all. However,Dragon Ball Super: Super Heroreturned Gohan to relevance with his all-new Beast form, the original design of which would have changed him completely.
Beast Gohan’s Original Design Was Truer to Its Name
Akira Toriyama Revealed The Original Design ‘Didn’t Feel Like Gohan’
Beast Gohan’s final design is similar to that of his old Super Saiyan 2 design from the Cell Saga, including Piccolo’s outfit, which he hasn’t worn since early in the Majin Buu Saga. His hair stays in roughly the same shape, though it’s much bigger than it was then.
Aside from the color of his hair, the design itself isn’t too different from what fans have seen from Gohan before. However, in acomment posted to the officialDragon Ball SuperX accountaround the time ofSuper Hero’s release, Toriyama revealed that his original design for Beast Gohan was a bit truer to its name. He said:
“For the design,I tried drawing him with a scary face and pale skin, but somehow this didn’t feel like Gohan, so in an effort to improve it, I added big upturned hair. This went over surprisingly well: everyone said, ‘it looks so cool!’, which actually made me feel humbly grateful.”
Interestingly enough, the Japanese word Toriyama used for ‘pale’ can also be translated to ‘blue’, which would be an even further departure from the final design. What fans ended up getting was the red-eyed, gray-haired Gohan, which suits him far better than the more animalistic, beastly design the creator mentioned. If there’s a further evolution of Beast that causes him to fully lose control, then a scarier appearance might work.
Dragon Ball Is Better When Gohan Plays a Major Role
The Series Has a Diverse Cast That Deserves More Screen Time
Gohan played a massive role in Akira Toriyama’s original manga series, and with his all-powerful Beast form, he’s once again strong enough to make a meaningful impact in battle. ThoughDragon Ballis Goku’s story, and functions at its best with him in the leading role, the series benefits from having Gohan and other supporting cast members in the spotlight.
Dragon Ball Super: Super Heroallowed for bothGohan and Piccolo to return to form, and whenever the series returns, fans can expect the two iconic fighters at center stage in their new, most powerful forms. Luckily, Gohan’s Beast transformation will appear as it has since its debut, sparing viewers from what might have been a rare scaryDragon Ballcharacter.
Dragon Ball
From the creative mind of Akira Toriyama, Dragon Ball is a mega multimedia franchise that spans back to the 1980s. Dragon Ball expanded quickly, starting as a serialized manga for Weekly Shonen Jump in Japan. It made its way overseas via manga and an anime adaptation that is enjoyed worldwide. Dragon Ball was the initial starting animated series that followed the adventures of the young Son Goku as he sought after the Dragon Balls. These mystical orbs would grant the wish of any who gathered them together. Then, the series would branch off into the immensely popular Dragon Ball Z, which followed Goku as an adult and featured high-intensity battles and Goku’s never-ending search to be the strongest. The series has also enjoyed several popular video game adaptations and continues to release several new animated series and theatrical films up to the recent popular Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.
