Though Dragon Ball's Goku is world-famous, the series was originally supposed to continue long after he was gone. After Goku's death, the series' creator had originally planned for Gohan to take over as Dragon Ball's main protagonist.

The Cell Games arc of Dragon Ball saw a bio-mechanical android named Cell set up a tournament to test his power against Earth's greatest fighters. After Cell beats Vegeta, Goku easily recognizes that Cell is the better fighter. Goku then volunteers his teenage son Gohan as Cell's next combatant, shocking everyone. Though Gohan is powerful, his innate good nature and desire to be a pacifist make it so that he doesn't fight to his full potential. Eventually, Goku sacrifices himself to save the Earth from Cell, and Gohan is left as the only fighter capable of matching Cell. Gohan saves the day, and though Goku stays dead for some time, he does eventually come back to life. However, that wasn't always the plan.

Gohan Was Meant to Replace Goku as the Hero

In a 1995 guidebook for Dragon Ball titled Daizenshuu, series creator Akira Toriyama said, "I intended to put Gohan into the leading role... It didn’t work out. I felt that compared to Goku, he was ultimately not suited for the part." Though this is obviously not the path that the series went down by the time it returned for the Dragon Ball Z's Majin Buu arc, looking at the Cell Games again, Toriyama's original plans become clear.

Cell is one of the few big Dragon Ball villains that isn't directly defeated by Goku. Going even further, Goku himself makes it abundantly clear that he can't beat Cell, and that the only one who can is Gohan. Goku even goes as far as saying that he wouldn't want to be resurrected after his death. Realizing that many of the threats he and his friends had faced only came to Earth because of him, Goku chose to stay dead. More than just a possible different outcome, putting the series' focus back on Goku ended up undoing much of the character development which made the Cell Games Dragon Ball's best storyline.

All the potential that is a focal point of Gohan's battles with Cell goes under-explored as Gohan becomes an adult. Additionally, Goku admitting that his son is stronger than him is an incredibly powerful moment. To see Goku go from being obsessed with strength to being someone who can admit that his son is stronger is solid character development, as is his acceptance of and peace with death. Instead of following through with that, though, the series would see Goku develop more increasingly powerful forms.

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero Finally Gave Gohan Main Character Status

Despite this feeling that Gohan wouldn't make a good protagonist, Gohan was chosen (alongside Piccolo) to act as the primary protagonist for the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero film and its corresponding manga arc. The film's story highlights the difference between Gohan and Goku as protagonists, with his daughter Pan's safety being Gohan's top concern, rather than a desire for strength or simple necessity of saving the world. The movie's success would seem to prove that Gohan does have what it takes to be the main hero. Perhaps Dragon Ball would have been better off if Akira Toriyama had stuck to his guns and let Goku truly pass the torch on to Gohan as originally intended.