For ages, Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball manga and anime series has been praised by its fans for its superior storytelling, and featuring the classic elements of a shonen series. The show has been consistent as it showcases the relentless pursuit of self-development with its characters. What started as an idea, now stands tall as one of the most popular franchises of all time.
While the characters present in the show come from different backgrounds, one thing unites them, and that is the loss of their close ones. Popular characters like Goku, Vegeta, Bardock, Broly, and even Yamcha have tragic stories. However, none of the grieving sagas could come close to Future Gohan’s as Toriyama-Sensei has developed him out of pure torment and mourning for his beloved ones.
Akira Toriyama Developed Future Gohan Out of Complex PTSD
Growing up with Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball series was the ultimate escape from reality, as the series featured several iconic moments and numerous well-written characters that will become an instant fan-favorite. One such character in the Shonen Series was Future Gohan, who made his short but iconic debut in Dragon Ball Z’s episode 164 titled Ghosts from Tomorrow, he became iconic.
The character was also featured in the manga’s special chapter titled Trunks The History- The Lone Warrior, which received a TV special, Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks. The special, which showcased the life of Future Trunks and how the Androids wreaked havoc in his reality, was a massive hit for showcasing a gripping story in the franchise.
Unlike Gohan, his future counterpart is regularly visited by tragedy and the loss of his dear ones. Future Gohan witnessed the death of the Z-Fighters including Krillin, Vegeta, Piccolo, Yamcha, Tien, and Chiaotzu all meeting similar faith by the Future Androids 17 and 18. If all these killings were not enough, he witnessed the death of Future Goku, who also perished from a fatal heart virus.
As a result, he could not revive his father using the Dragon Balls because he died of natural causes. While each character in the DB series has met with loss and grief, they also received some relief. In the present timeline, Gohan was to marry Videl start a family of his own, and have a normal life, just like his mother wanted.
However, such was not the case with Future Gohan because Akira Toriyama scarred the character by depriving him of such joys as the future population had been massacred by the Androids, leaving the possibility of Future Videl likely to be eradicated as well. To top it all off, he lost his arm before he was brutally executed by Android 17 and Android 18.
Akira Toriyama Decided To Replace Goku with Gohan in a Change of Heart During The Cell Games Saga
While Toriyama-Sensei decided to develop Future Gohan out of grief, he decided to give the present Gohan some limelight in DBZ’s arguably most popular arc ever, The Cell Games.
Dragon Ball Z is renowned for featuring Son-Goku in all of its fights, something did not feel right to the mangaka. For once, he felt that Goku might not be the right choice for the fight. Instead, he gave Gohan a chance to prove himself as the main character of the series.
One of Toriyama-Sensei’s interviews was featured in Dragon Ball Daizenshuu 2: Story Guide and it was shared by Levelup, the manga artist opened up about having a change of heart and felt it was time for Goku to relax and give an opportunity to his son, Gohan to be the main character.
He said,
“I had intended to put Gohan in the leading role… it didn’t work. I felt that, compared to Goku, he wasn’t ultimately the right one for the role.”
Gohan did not disappoint, as he was stunning as he unlocked Super Saiyan 2, which was a pretty big feat back then, and blew him into bits with an overwhelmingly powerful Kamehameha. Sadly, he could not continue being the main character of the series because, during the Majin Buu saga, he was a ghost of his former self.
Dragon Ball Z can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
