Dragon Ball Z What if Gohan defeated Majin Buu himself instead of Goku?

[PanSimpson]

What if Gohan came out as the hero that saved the day in the end like everyone wanted and decided to never slack off his training ever again?

We know that never would have happened and that Goku was going to be the one that ended up saving the day because he is Goku, but it's fun to think if the Majin Buu Saga ended in a different way.

 

[Super Kami Guru]

Gohan had the potential to be something truly special, but his heart is gentle, as we know from how he had to be pushed to SSJ2. Had he been pushed, I'm sure he could've become something far greater than even Goku's maximum, but because it's DB and DB = Goku...well...that's now how it goes.

I think Gohan could have been an amazing Super Saiyan God, for instance, and a formidable SSB, could even push himself as far as UI, maybe? An interesting thought!

 

[Beerus]

I feel like that was almost the plan... almost.

Seeing how it was done for the Cell Games, it would imply that him getting his special training and everything would have led him to be victorious against Buu and he did have the upper hand to begin with. He was strong enough. He just messed up. I think they wanted to introduce the fusions though and it made sense to do this with Goku and Vegeta.

 

[LividJay]

I feel like that was almost the plan... almost.

Toriyama forgot he was going to let someone else be the hero.

If this would have happened, it would have been a pleasant surprise. It would have made all those boring-ass pulling out the sword and sitting with Elder Kai episodes seem worthwhile.

 

[Super Kami Guru]

Toriyama forgot he was going to let someone else be the hero.

If this would have happened, it would have been a pleasant surprise. It would have made all those boring-ass pulling out the sword and sitting with Elder Kai episodes seem worthwhile.

This. So much this. Mystic Gohan SHOULD have been great, but he really become a bit of a joke...shame.

 

[Yoshi]

I feel like it was for the best. It would actually have been repetitive if Gohan defeated a main villain again.

 

[Ultra instinct Chi-chi]

Gohan and Goku's relationship would be different as they would have a friendly rivalry.

Also, Gohan would train Goten and Trunks , resulting in another saiyan fighters that would also be at the center of attention with the other saiyans.

Goten and Trunks would therefore replace Tien and Frieza in the universe survival tournament.

 

[ahill1]

That was what was intended iirc. But Gohan being the savior didn't seem as suiting as Goku, I think. We'd at least have a different EoZ, with no Oob, since Goku wouldn't wish for a Boo reincarnation as he did in Kid Boo's last standing.

 

[India Actual]

Then unless they invented a new way to keep the story going Goku would have remained dead because Gohan handled business and then Gohan would just drift off because he doesn't like to fight. He would have married Videl as usual and had Pan, but yeah....the end I guess.

 

[Mustafar Reginald]

We would've lost one of the best moments in all of Z, the finish of the Kid Buu fight. Hell, we may have also lost Candy Vegito vs. Super Buu too, depending on how you write Gohan winning. I've grown to accept Gohan's role in the Buu saga, it is a disappointing follow-up from the passing of the torch in the Cell Saga, but I can reconcile that with how much I love the ending of the Buu arc.

 

[LividJay]

We would've lost one of the best moments in all of Z, the finish of the Kid Buu fight. Hell, we may have also lost Candy Vegito vs. Super Buu too, depending on how you write Gohan winning. I've grown to accept Gohan's role in the Buu saga, it is a disappointing follow-up from the passing of the torch in the Cell Saga, but I can reconcile that with how much I love the ending of the Buu arc.

I'll admit that the ending to Z was pretty good. Vegeta really stood out taking a royal beat down and coming up with the idea for the Super Spirit Bomb. One of my favorite parts though, was Mr. Satan's redeeming moment. The Earthlings were largely refusing to help and didn't believe what was going on. You can see Mr. Satan visibly becoming upset at this until he speaks up and really saves the day using his fame. I thought that was really cool.

 

[Mustafar Reginald]

I'll admit that the ending to Z was pretty good. Vegeta really stood out taking a royal beat down and coming up with the idea for the Super Spirit Bomb. One of my favorite parts though, was Mr. Satan's redeeming moment. The Earthlings were largely refusing to help and didn't believe what was going on. You can see Mr. Satan visibly becoming upset at this until he speaks up and really saves the day using his fame. I thought that was really cool.

Yeah, Hercules is the linchpin to them winning and it's amazing. He's honestly the best thing about the entire Buu Saga, I loved his relationship with Buu and Bee early on too. I do love Vegeta coming up with the Spirit Bomb too, arguably Goku was the least important player in defeating Buu (at least of those who played a role in defeating him) since it was Vegeta's idea, Hercules' fame, and Buu's stalling Kidd Buu. Goku was basically just the vehicle for everyone else to drive across the finish line.

It's also just straight up the strongest thematic conclusion to any Dragon Ball arc. The whole Buu arc is basically about the positive influence of letting other people into your life (Vegeta's entire character arc, Buu/Hercules' relationship, or the concept of fusion in general) and Kid Buu is chaotic evil incarnate explicitly because he lacks any connection, each Kai he absorbed the better he became, so defeating him with the collective efforts of everyone was poetic.