Beasts, apes, and Super Saiyans, oh my! These are the iconic power-ups Gohan has gotten during his decades in the world of "Dragon Ball."
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00:00Beasts, apes, and Super Saiyans. Oh my! These are the iconic power-ups Gohan has gotten
00:06during his decades in the world of Dragon Ball.
00:09Any Saiyan with a tail who lays eyes on a full moon or a Power Ball in Dragon Ball Z
00:14transforms into a Great Ape, an enormous cross between a chimp and a wolf that amplifies
00:19the Saiyan's power tenfold. Thanks to an early bedtime, however, Gohan never changes into
00:25a Great Ape until Piccolo forces him to live in the wilderness, where he wakes up in the
00:29middle of a full moon night. Stunned and panicked by Great Ape Gohan's destructive
00:34and uncontrolled power, Piccolo zaps the moon into nothingness and yanks Gohan's tail off,
00:40removing the child's means of transforming.
00:43Roughly a year later, the tail regrows and Gohan becomes a Great Ape again, thanks to
00:48a Power Ball created by Vegeta. Vegeta cuts the new tail off as well, but Gohan's Great
00:53Ape form reappears once more in the Tree of Might before losing his tail for good.
00:59And as they say, monkey see, monkey do.
01:05Gohan gains quite a few advantages in the Great Ape form, but it also has plenty of
01:09drawbacks. Because he's never taught how to control his fury as a monkey, his behavior
01:14is completely unpredictable, making him as much a danger to his friends as he is to his
01:19foes. Gohan's tail is also a huge liability for the form, as removing it neutralizes the
01:25transformation. Applying enough force to it can temporarily paralyze him or induce drowsiness.
01:31This ape may be great, but he's still got some pretty glaring weaknesses.
01:37In Vegeta's early mentions of the Super Saiyan, he makes it pretty clear that such a powerful
01:41being isn't said to come along very often. However, mere months after Goku first reaches
01:47Super Saiyan, Future Trunks appears, wielding the transformation with ease. After about
01:52three years later, Vegeta manages to achieve the enhanced form as well.
01:56It's not long after that that a fourth Super Saiyan debuts, Gohan. While training in the
02:01Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Goku makes it a point to have Gohan learn how to go Super Saiyan.
02:06Of course, Goku's savvy son realizes that he'll never become a Super Saiyan as long
02:10as his dad keeps treating him with kid gloves.
02:13Gohan's instincts prove to be right on the money, as Goku attacking with a lethal Kamehameha
02:18is exactly what the half-Saiyan needs to awaken his true power. While the scene is handled
02:23more plainly in the manga, the anime version is extremely emotional, featuring a powerful
02:28flashback montage of all the times Gohan feels like he's failed.
02:33In both versions, it's the first time a child is shown becoming a Super Saiyan. Proving
02:37age isn't a prerequisite for transforming. It's not Gohan's strongest transformation,
02:43it's powerful regardless, and the easiest for him to use.
02:47In the seven years that pass after Gohan's victory over Cell, the young man more or less
02:51puts martial arts behind him. As a result, he's defeated pretty easily when Majin Buu hits the
02:56scene. Luckily, old Kai has an ability that can bring every last drop of power in his body out
03:02to the surface. With that, Ultimate Gohan, also known as Mystic Gohan, is born. His debut is
03:08positively ferocious, as he humiliates Buu's latest stage, Super Buu, with next to no effort.
03:15Gohan's cockiness gets the better of him, however, as his deliberate delay in vanquishing
03:20Buu allows the evil being to add Gotenks' and Piccolo's powers to his own, dramatically
03:25flipping the fight back in Buu's favor. Regardless, Gohan's ultimate state is undeniably impressive.
03:31It features all the power from his two Super Saiyan forms, and then some. Better still,
03:36as long as Gohan keeps his training up, his ultimate state remains his default form,
03:42meaning he never has to waste energy changing into it. However, Gohan doesn't continue training
03:47regularly after Buu is defeated, and he has to go to Piccolo for help transforming again.
03:52"'I wanna see something even more powerful than just Super Saiyan."
03:56For many years, Ultimate Gohan appeared to be the strongest state Gohan would ever reach.
04:01However, the return of the Red Ribbon Army and Dragon Ball Super's superhero proves that
04:06assumption wrong in a big way. While fighting the monolithic Cell Max, Piccolo comes up with
04:11a plan. He tells Gohan to charge an energy attack of his choice while the Namekian distracts their
04:16opponent. Unfortunately, Cell Max is still quite a handful, even when Piccolo combines his orange
04:22state with his giant form. As a result, Cell Max actually subdues Gohan's mentor, lifting him up
04:28while roaring in triumph. That turns out to be the wrong move, as Gohan's fury at seeing Piccolo
04:33badly hurt summons a brand new power he didn't even know he had.
04:38Gohan Beast is the most visually unique of all of Gohan's transformations.
04:43Unlike his Super Saiyan forms, which turns his hair gold and eyes green,
04:47Gohan Beast gains gray hair and bright red eyes. His aura is a stunning mixture of white,
04:53pink, and blue, with magenta electricity crackling around him. The special beam
04:58cannon he uses on Cell Max is an equally jaw-dropping blend of red and blue energy.
05:03Beast is Gohan's most powerful form to date, and the first he undergoes in which he's fully
05:10in control of himself from the start, though it does somewhat affect his personality.
05:14"'Gohan, it's do or die time, so draw out all of your strength!"
05:19Goku's plan to have his son win the Cell games hits a major snag when Gohan reveals that fighting
05:25just doesn't agree with him. As a result, Gohan doesn't know how to act when Cell attacks him and
05:30tortures his friends with the Cell Juniors. Unexpected guidance comes from Android 16,
05:35but just as the robot finishes imparting his words of wisdom, Cell crushes him.
05:40A switch seems to go off inside Gohan. Energy erupts from his being,
05:45changing him into a state that previously even eluded his father, Super Saiyan 2.
05:50A whirlwind of events follows, culminating in Gohan destroying Cell with a massive Kamehameha.
05:56Super Saiyan 2 Gohan isn't as strong as Gohan Beast or Ultimate Gohan, nor is it as second
06:02nature to him as his base Super Saiyan form. So why does it top the list? Because of the
06:07significance of its debut, of course. This is the first time Gohan has ever surpassed Goku
06:12in both power and skill, setting the stage for him to assume Goku's place as Earth's
06:18main defender when his dad decides to stay in Otherworld.
06:21Super Saiyan 2 Gohan's introduction will forever be viewed as a badass passing-of-the-torch and
06:28coming-of-age moment. Plus, the long, upright gold hair, gold aura, and sparkling blue electricity
06:35look incredibly cool. Its only real downside is that, like almost all of Gohan's transformations,
06:41it brings out a bloodthirst on first usage, leading him to make some unfortunate mistakes.