Gohan’s Strongest Forms in Dragon Ball Ranked by Power

One of the strongest characters in Dragon Ball history is Son Gohan, who is the firstborn son of Son Goku and is one of the most powerful Saiyans in the entire storyline. Of course, Gohan was introduced quite early in Dragon Ball Z as a hybrid Saiyan with untapped potential. However, he was a very kind boy that didn’t love fighting as much as his father did. But he was forced to become a fighter when Piccolo, the man who basically raised him, ended up mentoring him as a fighter.

Of course, throughout the series, Gohan also had a lot of great moments in the storyline because his potential was said to be better than everyone else in the main cast. The only problem was that he didn’t train as hard as Goku ever did. Nevertheless, when he did train, he was able to unlock powerful forms that allowed him to change the outcome of fights. In that regard, we are here to look at Gohan’s strongest forms ranked by power.

14. Saiyan Saga Kid Gohan

While Gohan was introduced during the first saga of Dragon Ball Z, he didn’t know how to fight yet because he was still just a young boy that was around the age of three. Raditz, in fact, used him as a bargaining chip against Goku. But Gohan was able to showcase his potential when he actually had a moment wherein he surprised even Raditz himself, who was more powerful than both Goku and Piccolo combined.

Meanwhile, after training with Piccolo, Gohan’s power improved well enough that he was able to fight well enough against both Vegeta and Napa during the Saiyan Saga. He wasn’t strong enough to defeat either of them, but he did have his moments, especially when his hidden power came out during times of distress or whenever he was quite angry that he needed to let his power out so that he could try to beat his enemy.

13. Great Ape Gohan

During the time when Piccolo basically raised Gohan by training him after Goku died at the hands of Raditz, the young boy was able to showcase his inner power a few times. But it was during a full moon that he was truly able to show how fearsome a Saiyan can be when he transformed into a Great Ape, which is often said to be the true nature of a Saiyan.

A Saiyan in the Great Ape transformation is said to be 20 times stronger. As such, Gohan was able to actually make things difficult for Piccolo, who needed to cut the young boy’s tail off so that he could never transform again. This was the only time we ever saw Gohan transforming into a Great Ape, as a Saiyan without a tail could never turn into one ever again.

12. Frieza Saga Kid Gohan

After Piccolo died during the Saiyan Saga, Bulma and the others needed the help of the Dragon Balls of Namek to wish those who had died back to life. Gohan and Krillin accompanied Bulma on a journey to Namek, only to find out that the galactic tyrant named Frieza, who was the strongest being in the universe at that time, was also on Namek to find the Dragon Balls so that he could wish himself to become the strongest being in the universe.

Gohan and Krillin realized that they had their work cut out for them because Frieza’s warriors were too tough for them to handle. Eventually, Gohan got a part of his hidden potential unlocked by the Great Elder Guru. This allowed Gohan to increase his power levels to a point where he was able to fight on par with Frieza’s henchmen. At one point, he actually was able to bring out a part of his incredibly vast potential to damage Frieza’s third form.

11. Golden Frieza Saga Gohan

After a short time of relative peace after Kid Buu was defeated at the end of Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball Super began. There was another time skip between the time Goku finished his battle with Beerus and the time that Frieza went to Earth to settle the score with Goku. During all those periods, Gohan never trained because he focused more on his career as an academic and as a father-to-be.

In that regard, Gohan became so weak that he struggled to even reach Super Saiyan. He could no longer access his most powerful transformations because of how long he had slacked off on his training. As such, he didn’t even do much during the battle against Frieza’s army, as the tyrant was far stronger than Gohan was while he was just in his Final form. Take note, Gohan was in Super Saiyan, the same form that both Goku and Trunks used to beat Frieza, but Gohan couldn’t even do anything against him before Goku arrived to save the day.

10. Great Saiyaman Gohan

Seven years passed after Gohan defeated Cell during the Cell Saga. During those seven years, Gohan slacked off on his training a bit because the world experienced a long time of peace, as he was allowed to grow up and become a normal young man for the first time in his life ever since Dragon Ball Z began. In that regard, Gohan probably wasn’t as strong as he was back in the Cell Saga, but he was still pretty strong and was probably the second-strongest Earthling, as Vegeta didn’t slack off on his training.

Of course, Gohan took on the Great Saiyaman persona and became a superhero that fought crime before Buu reawakened. In his Great Saiyaman form, Gohan was still quite strong but opted not to fight in his full power because he was never supposed to kill or severely injure anyone. As such, he kept his power in control while he was Great Saiyaman.

9. Buu Saga Adult Gohan

Even though Gohan spent a good time as Great Saiyaman during the Buu Saga, he did fight as himself a few times during that arc. Of course, he was still incredibly powerful, especially when he took part in the World Martial Arts Tournament and later when he fought the Demon King Dabura. However, during the fight against Dabura, he was severely weakened after Yamu and Spopovich drained his energy to awaken Majin Buu.

During this point, Gohan was still strong enough to be one of the strongest fighters on Earth. Still, he was weaker than Vegeta, who had kept up with his training. Meanwhile, Goku, who was in the afterlife, never stopped training as well and had already surpassed Gohans’ strength. It is safe to say that Adult Gohan, during the earlier part of Buu Saga, was not as strong as either Goku or Vegeta, who surpassed him while they were training during the timeskip.

8. Cell Saga Kid Gohan

Cell Saga Kid Gohan was actually quite powerful because this was the point in his life in Dragon Ball Z when he trained the hardest. He didn’t slack off on his training because he needed to prepare for the arrival of the androids that were said to be a lot stronger than Frieza. Of course, after this, Goku personally trained Gohan in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, where they both were able to increase their powers.

In his base form, Gohan was probably just as strong as Goku was during the Cell Saga. As such, there is no doubt that this was one of the strongest points in Gohan’s lifetime, as he was extremely powerful at the age of 9 or 10 during the Cell Saga. In his base form, he was probably right up there with Goku and Vegeta as the strongest fighters in the world.

7. Future Gohan

Future Gohan is the alternate version of Gohan that existed in Future Trunks’s timeline. He was the strongest defender of Earth against Androids 17 and 18 before Trunks was able to unlock his own Super Saiyan transformation. In that regard, he was quite strong and was more battle-hardened than the regular version of Gohan. But he could only access Super Saiyan, which was not strong enough to defeat the androids.

This version of Gohan was more muscular than the regular Gohan but was never strong enough to save the planet from the androids that terrorized the planet. In that regard, his Super Saiyan form wasn’t quite as strong as the Full-Powered Super Saiyan form that Gohan achieved quite early in his life.

6. Super Saiyan Adult Gohan

After the Cell Saga, Gohan was still able to achieve his Super Saiyan transformation even though he slacked off on his training. In fact, Gohan used this form against Dabura in the manga, as he didn’t use Super Saiyan 2 for some odd reason. Gohan only used his Super Saiyan form as an adult a few times during the Buu Saga because he relied more on Super Saiyan 2 and, later on, his potential-unleashed form.

Nevertheless, adult Gohan in his Super Saiyan form was still quite powerful, despite the fact that he wasn’t as strong as he was back when he fought Cell. Gohan regained form during the preparation for the Tournament of Power, but he only used his Super Saiyan form in the battle against Lavender when Universe 7 sparred against Universe 9. Gohan fought Lavender to a draw as he was yet to regain his full fighting form at that time.

5. Super Saiyan Kid Gohan

When Cell became a clear threat to the world during the Cell Saga, Goku personally trained Gohan in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, where Gohan was able to unlock the Super Saiyan transformation at the tender age of 9. As such, he was the youngest Super Saiyan in history before Goten achieved this form at the age of 7.

During this time, Kid Gohan was at his strongest before he got his potential unleashed in the Buu Saga. He wasn’t strong enough to defeat Perfect Cell in his Super Saiyan form, but he was still able to put up a good fight, even though Cell wasn’t putting his all into it. Nevertheless, he seemed to be stronger than anyone else that Earth had to offer because Goku personally chose him to fight Cell one-on-one during the Cell Games.

4. Super Saiyan 2 Adult Gohan

After the Cell Games, the seven-year gap allowed Gohan to grow into his body, even though he actually slacked off on his training. This allowed adult Gohan to retain some strength, even though he didn’t train as hard as he did back in the day. Still, Gohan could use Super Saiyan 2, which he showed to Kibito during the World Martial Arts Tournament. Then, in the fight against Dabura in the anime, he used this form but struggled against the Demon King.

Despite the fact that Dabura was only as strong as Perfect Cell, Gohan wasn’t able to overpower him. That’s because, as Vegeta noted, Super Saiyan 2 adult Gohan wasn’t nearly as strong as he was when he defeated Cell seven years ago. As such, while still quite strong, Super Saiyan 2 adult Gohan was quite weaker than he was when he was still the young boy that fought and defeated Cell. In fact, Goku and Vegeta had already surpassed him while they were in their own Super Saiyan 2 forms.

3. Super Saiyan 2 Kid Gohan

Super Saiyan 2 kid Gohan was an incredibly powerful fighter that was able to reach the peak of what it meant to be a Super Saiyan back when he was just around 9 or 10 years old, Gohan achieved Super Saiyan 2 for the first time in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber but fainted before he could sustain it. Goku understood this, and that’s why he chose Gohan to fight Cell during the Cell Games.

Gohan achieved the form and sustained it after Android 16 told him that it was okay to fight, shortly before Cell crushed the head of the peaceful android. He was so angry that Gohan was able to let all of his inner power out and become the first character in Dragon Ball history to achieve Super Saiyan 2. In this form, Perfect Cell could not do anything against him as Gohan could have easily finished him off had he wanted to. Against Super Perfect Cell, Super Saiyan 2 Gohan fought him on par and eventually defeated him with a Super Kamehameha, despite his arm injury and stamina depletion.

2. Ultimate/Mystic/Potential Unleashed Gohan

After Gohan was defeated by Majin Buu, who had been awakened using his power, Kibito took him to his planet so that he could train the young adult, as he believed that Gohan was the only one capable of defeating Buu. Kibito gave him the Z-Sword, which is a weapon that was supposed to draw out Gohan’s inner power. However, the Z-Sword broke, and out came Old Kai, who unlocked Gohan’s inner potential.

When Gohan unlocked his inner potential, he no longer needed to access Super Saiyan 2 because he had power that exceeded Super Saiyan 3 by a mile. This allowed him to have power strong enough to completely overwhelm Super Buu. Often called Ultimate or Mystic Gohan, this form allowed Gohan to become the strongest non-fusion character in Dragon Ball Z because he was a lot stronger than Super Saiyan 3 Goku, who was just about as strong as Majin Buu.

While Gohan couldn’t access this form for a long time after Dragon Ball Super started, he was able to regain it after training with Piccolo before the Tournament of Power. In this form, Gohan was strong enough to fight Super Saiyan Blue Goku. He also gave Golden Frieza a hard time in their fake fight, although it was possible that Ultimate Gohan could have fought the golden tyrant on par in this form.

1. Gohan Beast

After the Tournament of Power, Gohan once again slacked off a bit because he relied too much on Goku and Vegeta always being there to save the day. However, Goku and Vegeta weren’t around when the Red Ribbon Army became a threat again, and that was what forced Piccolo to fake kidnap Pan so that Gohan would have reason to reawaken his power. In the fight against Gamma 1, Gohan regained his Ultimate form, which was strong enough that he was able to tip the scales of battle in his favor.

However, when Cell Max was awakened, Ultimate Gohan didn’t stand a chance, as it was only Orange Piccolo that could actually fight him to an extent. When Gohan thought that Piccolo had been killed by Cell Max, he released all of his inner power and rage to unlock a new form called Gohan Beast, which resembled his Super Saiyan 2 form but with greyish white hair that was longer than his usual hair. Gohan’s body was also covered with a bluish-white aura and with purple electric sparks.

In this form, Gohan Beast was so powerful that he completely shrugged off Cell Max’s full-powered punch. After Piccolo immobilized Cell Max, one shot of Gohan Beast’s Special Beam Cannon was enough to completely defeat the massive monster. It is suggested that Gohan Beast was far stronger than Goku’s Super Saiyan Blue Kaioken x20 because he said that he didn’t think that Goku and Vegeta could have defeated Cell Max, considering that it was confirmed that Cell Max was stronger than Broly as well. As such, it is possible that Gohan Beast is at least just as strong as Goku’s Ultra Instinct.