#entomologist gohan

[jemcore]

drew gohan using this old picture of me as a child with a polyphemus moth caterpillar as a reference

[nagihonos]

finally got around to watching dragon ball super hero and

[warpedlegacy]

More Exalted posting on main! You're welcome @dice-wizard. Unit wanted to do Dragon Ball, so here we go!

Goku - Dawn Caste Solar. Boom. Done.

Gohan - Also a Solar but Twilight. Pursuit of knowledge moreso than glory in battle. Dude grows up to be a goddamn entomologist.

Bulma is Sidereal, Chosen of Journeys. She literally has the dragon radar and invented a time machine. Nuff said.

Piccolo is a Liminal of Flesh. A product of revenge and rage. Yep. Checks out.

Trunks is Getimian, natch. Spring sounds the most fitting for him.

Vegeta is Dragon-Blooded, Fire. Dude basically runs on Id.

[lordreptah]

I said this on twitter just now and ngl i think i was cooking but

This is how i would have changed Beast Mode Gohan in Super Hero, and some plot points to make it hit better, and make more sense. Orange Piccolo too

edit: i came back to this to elaborate on some ideas more and to clean this up a bit. maybe a bit more dramatic and serious on this pass

Here are how I would make improvements.

I think, instead of just feeling like an ass pull powerup, from both Gohan AND Piccolo (if im being honest). I think Beasthan should have been more of a manifestation of his untreated, unaddressed anger issues and trauma. Super has a shitload of issues, but one of them is how they just keep repeating the same fucking (<- im being so normal about this) arc of Gohan not training, and then forced into a fight, saying he'll train, then he stops training, only to be forced into a fight again and saying he'll train. It drives me crazy in a way that the explanation "Gohan doesn't like to fight!" just doesn't make it add up.

Beasthan is a transformation triggered by absolute helplessness and anger, but something more than just an imitation of his SSj2 transformation from the Cell Saga. It could be caused by Piccolo being hurt, maybe even a dual event where Pan also gets caught in the crossfire. Those would be the trigger events, but laid upon a base of something a little deeper.

Even though he's finally a scholar (entomologist at that 🥹), he is stressing over work; but part of that stress stems from that little unaddresed trauma I mentioned. Its actively sabotaging him, making him more of a scattered mess than usual (thus putting him in a place where he has to rely on Piccolo for help with things like picking Pan up). This could all be hinted at in small bits here and there such Pan mentioning somewhere that "Papa seems like he's down lately". Shown a little when Piccolo shows up at Gohans house to talk about picking Pan up. And then also later when Piccolo approaches Gohan in his RR disguise.

Now I realize this is the Piccolo movie, and I'm giving Gohan a lot of light here. And fair enough. But I think Piccolo is at his best when paired with Gohan. You get the best from both when they're together. And I think finally illuminating Gohan's issues, also leads to growth from Piccolo.

During the fight with Gamma 1 is where Gohan really starts showing how Piccolo's manipulations are backfiring. Multiple times in the movie Piccolo makes some really weird, and out of character decisions that felt quite gross for his character if im being real. And they aren't treated as what they are. Beast Mode happening as a result of Piccolo's actions would give it more weight.

So there are stages.

First stage is Gohan's work stress.

Second stage is when he sees the video of a "kidnapped" Pan.

Third stage is disguised Piccolo "hurting" Pan. This puts him at the edge.

and the Fourth and Final stage is Pan getting hurt, combined with Piccolo and the Z Fighters during the Cell Max fight.

He essentially breaks, losing his entire sense of self. Almost like turning into an Oozaru. On the outside it seems to everyone else that his anger has once again thrust him further towards power like it had previously. An SSJ2 like event has happened, and Gohan has surpassed himself. Only, is that really Gohan's Ki? It feels off...

Gohan visciously attacks Cell Max in a way that lacks any of that trained control of a Martial Artist. Its animalistic. Its brutal. Its more than just Gohan being angered. But his power is incredible! He may have really surpassed himself this time.

Cell Max goes down, seemingly defeated. The Z Fighters celebrate. Yay!!! We did it the day is saved. They approach Gohan, including a revealed to be healed (via Senzu) Pan. But Piccolo holds her back, and yells for the others to get away.

But Piccolo suddenly thinks back to what Gohan told him earlier. Instead of the Saiyants, its about the behaviors of animals. About about how even docile animals lash out when they are cornered. Newfound strength when pushed to the brink. At the time Gohan had even mentions offhandedly, "Its kind of like Saiyans, huh?".

Something is wrong here.

Gohan turns on them. It is now that it becomes completely clear to Piccolo that Gohan has lost total control, and is not at the wheel. He blocks Gohan's attack on the others, sustaining VERY critical damage, and what ensues is an incredibly one-sided fight. Throughout he attempts to call out to Gohan and bring him to his senses, but its useless. Weakened from injuries sustained from Cell Max earlier, and giving his sole Senzu to Pan, its everything he can do just to block hits. Piccolo tries to use the fact that Gohan isn't "thinking", and is a mindless beast against him. But Gohan is evolving rapidly. His attacks are just as vicious, but getting smarter. Piccolo is losing. And at this rate; he will die.

Hopelessness creeping into his heart, a hit from Gohan sends Piccolo into the ground, and he is given a brief moment to think. There he makes a realization. He had made the same mistake as Goku. This wasn't just Gohan being green. Or being untrained and unpolished, losing control of his seemingly limitless power and potential. This was Piccolo's fault. He had been pushing Gohan towards this from the beginning. Just like Goku, he fell into the trap of thinking just because he knew what Gohan was capable of at his Best, he forgot about who Gohan was at his core. A gentle man, who loved fiercely. A man who wanted nothing more than to be a scholar.

And a man who detested fighting.

Having this realization, this is the moment he attains his Orange form. With newfound strength he jumps back into battle. Now, he's tanking attacks. The lumbering form is more than just a visual change. His defense has grown immensely, but no matter how you look at it, Gohan is still too strong and getting stronger still. Even with his strength, Piccolo can't defeat Gohan like this.

Grappling him, and using all his power just to hold Gohan back. Piccolo finally approaches this from a perspective rarely done in Dragon Ball. He tries to talk to Gohan. He gets vulnerable even. He acknowledges his treatment of Gohan from the Saiyan arc. He acknowledges the pain Gohan must be going through. Since he was five years old, his life has been nothing but endless fighting. With a father like Goku...

"Gohan, you were never given a choice, were you? It was fight or die; and back then I put everything on your shoulders. And now, after all this time, I've learned nothing. I've made the same mistake again."

Despite the struggle Gohan is still putting up, Piccolo attempts to remain steadfast. He tells Gohan that its that gentle, kind soul of his that saved him in the first place. He was a fool to forget that. He was a fool.

Cell Max, still alive, gets back up angrier than ever. But Piccolo is completely helpess, still grappling with Gohan and no clue if he is breaking through to him.

Gamma 1 and 2, along the the Z fighters fight back. But it seems hopeless. This is where #2 sacrifices himself in atonement, blowing both Cell Max and himself up. Its effective, destroying his legs and keeping him in one place. But Cell Max still has energy, enough to start to slowly create a planet ending ki bomb.

Piccolo, hopelessly watches on, unaware of the battle going on inside of Gohan. Piccolo's words di reach him, and Gohan wins his internal battle and regains his consciousness. Still retaining his Beast form, and with little time ar hand, Piccolo and Gohan charge up their attacks while the Z Fighters and Gamma 1 try to distract Cell Max and slow down the charging of his bomb.

And then together, after fully charged, they do a dual mentor/student Makankosappo (to parallel the father/son Kamehameha from the Cell games), killing Cell Max, and saving the day :)

And then, to wrap it up all nicely. At the end, Gohan admits to Piccolo that he doesnt completely hate fighting. Yea its true that he doesn't get a kick out of it the same way Goku does, but by fighting he can protect his family and the people he loves, AND he does get a certain satisfaction from it.

"Maybe its the Saiyan in me."

Gohan also thinks to himselr that he is always happy to fight by Goku and Piccolo's side.

Piccolo understands what's unsaid after learning Gohan was practicing the Makankosappo in secret. Making the comment "I guess I really don't understand you after all".

ALSO I think there was a complete missed chance to make Beasthans form to have elements of Oozaru similar to SSJ4. Showing that his power is derived from the ferocity of saiyan side of him, but still driven by the justice driven want to protect of his human side :)

Pan shows off her newfound ability to fly. Piccolo jokingly ribs into Gohan that Pan may have more potential than even he did as a kid, but then also points out that Theres also still hope to be found in the next generation, and that when Gohan fights, he will never have to fight alone.

I think this ties it all up into a neat little bow.

I won't claim that this is a Perfect solution, and probably comes off more as just fanfiction than anything. But to me it feels more impactful, and also addresses Piccolo's really weird vibe he has going on in the movie that felt SUPER ooc. I wouldn't have minded as much if it had been recognized for what it was. At least here, even if he does those things, it gets addressed in a way that allows both him and Gohan to grow. Instead of the two of them evolving separately and spontaneously without any real build up, it entwines their story together and makes it more whole. Piccolo attaining his Orange form due to his love for Gohan would be a really nice touch, because it would be a physical manifestation of how Gohan really did change him, and for the better.

I also know Dragon Ball tries to be very surface level in its depiction of "trauma" and doesn't necessarily acknowledge it for what it is. It doesn't have to be said verbatim, "Gohan has trauma", but even just acknowledging the effects Z's events have actually had on him would be so nice. And show don't tell fits the series much more.

[imperfectercell]

hi have you thought about how much entomologist Gohan would like to study cell now that he's all grown up... putting him under the microscope and defeating him accidentally by cooking him alive

yes! i think it would take a Long, Long time for them to get to a point where theyre comfortable in the same room. and I think a part of that would be influenced by, Gohan DOES want to study him and learn about him! Gohan to me always has been someone who loves knowledge and learning, and learning about the things that hurt him in the past is his way of overcoming his fear of them (See the Ki Guide he writes in DBO, and becoming an entomologist)

On the other side, Cell is such a braggart. He would love to go over details of himself but the thing is most people don't wanna know this stuff or at least not the same degree that a studious person like Gohan wants to know. He'd hate that it is Fun to tell someone about himself and all his functions, and that its gohan! Less fun when Gohan points out his flaws.

cooke him

[dragon-deez-ballz]

making gohan an entomologist was the best most amazing actual thing they did in db super. he already had poor social skills / couldnt pick up cues..... and now he is #bugs knowledge warrior. i know like 2 people who are exactly like this (autism)

[sonohban]

it makes perfect sense to me that gohan turns out to be an entomologist. insects are the forgotten animals (yes they're animals!!) of the world, they are relegated to sub-living status and they are reviled by most people. yes there's some species that can decimate crops or spread fatal disease but do you know how many other species of insect are out there? over a million, and that's only how much we've DESCRIBED, we can barely project how many more there really are. insects can live anywhere from the tops of glaciers to deserts (except in the actual ocean, but there's some oceanic water striders tee hee). can you IMAGINE how much they're doing everywhere? the more animals there are doing different things, the more exponentially complex connections between life become, the more there is to understand rather than just going "what does this do and why should i care?" because we should want to get to know something before stomping on it because it's different

gohan loves to see the good in everyone, especially people he feels are not getting the treatment they deserve. he's always loved the natural world and who should he be more fascinated with than the infinite small creatures flying and running and swimming around his home that other people seem to run away from for no reason? entomology is one of the fields that i think exemplifies studying for the sake of studying, where not every connection discovered is of immediate economic use but still reveals something beautifully new yet familiar to us. he just wants to understand and care and make others feel the same way. if only justice could be delivered without fighting. the only fighting he has to do for insects are his thesis defenses.

[farflypants]

Random thought

Watched the Dragon Ball Super movie where Piccolo turns orange and like. Seeing Gohan be happy and nerding out about bugs and being an entomologist made me so extremely happy! Boy's been through too much, let him study lil' creatures.

[dragon-ball-meta]

So Gohan is an entomologist according to Super Hero, right? Did we have any details at all about what exactly he did before that movie?

Nothing specific, really. Just that he was "a scholar".

[is-the-owl-video-cute]

How are people arguing Mr briefs is a terrible person like King Vegeta? He’s just a genius inventor who likes goldfish.

I said Trunks bc he would fuck shit up and physically fight bad people and put the fear of god into them. I said grandpa (Mr. Briefs) because wealth and genius would let him address systemic issues in the world that trunks can’t punch, like world hunger. I didn’t say Gohan bc he wants to be an entomologist not a fighter and good for him. And then Goku and Vegeta are just not quite altruistic enough to be saving people from other people unless they get personally offended, usually.

sorry what.

[jemcore]

watching dragon ball super and my jaw literally dropped because i have this exact outfit that i wear all the time HAHAHAHHA

[marezablr]

good loser (4/6) by mareza

Gohan says, “I want one month.” They both stop. As one, they turn pale blue eyes down to where he stands in the wreckage they have made. They’ll never agree to one month. It’s too high. Seventeen is going to take the offer back and they can all pretend this never came up. But it would be one month to train Trunks in safety. One month for Bulma to do her work without the threat of death from above. They’ll never, ever agree.

(Seventeen comes up with new games to ease his boredom. Gohan tries to give Trunks, and the world, more time.)

chapter 4 (4.3k) of 6 of future timeline gohan + android seventeen character study

In this chapter: An entomologist and a park ranger spend four hours in the wild. Or that's what this would be, in another life.

Characters: Future Son Gohan, Future Android Seventeen, Future Trunks Briefs, Future Bulma Briefs, Future Android Eighteen, all those dead people haunting the narrative Relationships: Future Son Gohan & Android Seventeen, Future Son Gohan & Trunks Briefs, Future Son Gohan & Bulma Briefs, Future Son Gohan & Android Eighteen

[secretsofdbz]

Gohan, for the character ask

(took me ages to get back to you sorrryyyyy)

Going to answer with "main timeline Gohan", but Future Gohan my beloved <3

Give me a character and I will answer:

Why I like them: He's cute, earnest, wholesome, and transforms his trauma in such interesting ways! (Ginyu to Great Saiyaman, Cell to Entomologist...)

Why I don’t: He's not the protag. He should've been though :(

Favorite episode (scene if movie): Oh that's a hard one. I will have to say either when he says he's going to Namek to rez Piccolo, or when he discovers of the other time machine with Trunks!

Favorite season/movie: Saiyaman Gohan my beloved.

Favorite line: I can't think of any :/

Favorite outfit: Saiyaman outfit during the tournament; no bandana, no cape ;)

OTP: There are very few ships I actively dislike about Gohan, so they're all great!

Brotp: Krillin. They're such a good team!

Head Canon: Volume DB is wrong, Gohan was 3 when Raditz abducted him :D

Unpopular opinion: he is a pacifist. He likes fighting as a sport, but not as a way to "push his own boundaries" or "prove his worth". Gohan's fights to save the world are because he must, in my opinion

A wish: that he finally becomes the protag again, with a double life as a scholar by day, hero by night :p

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: more eyesight / not catching stuff :/

5 words to best describe them: cute, wholesome, optimist, attentive and resolute

My nickname for them: I don't have one

[cupcraft]

gohan entomologist??

GOHAN BUG LOVER REAL NOT FAKE

pov your mentor basically 2nd father is telling you to train but all you can think about how ants go glowy

[technoxenoholic]

oh and also canonical entomologist gohan gives me so much life. i'm very proud of him, in an evil step-parent sort of way of course

[db-gochifan]

Character Ask - Gohan

Woot, let's go :D

Why I like them: He's perfect. I'll sum it up to that lol. I liked him instantly.

Why I don’t: It's impossible to find something I don't like about him.

Favorite episode (scene if movie): Maybe when he goes to HS.

Favorite season/movie: Z (though I like him in GT in Baby arc and onward)

Favorite line: "Beat you? No, I want to kill you." (This is the first one I could think of)

Favorite outfit: Definitely the Great Saiyaman one <3

OTP: Videl, though I don't ship them that strongly.

Brotp: Either Krillin or Piccolo. Yamcha too (see Headcanon for that)

Head Canon: Krillin, Piccolo and Yamcha were the Z fighters who were there for Gohan after Goku died and they all supported each other (and Chi-Chi too) until things got a little easier.

Unpopular opinion: He does like to fight, he just isn't driven by it like Goku and Vegeta are.

A wish: That people stop hating on him because he chose to be a entomologist and not train that much. He still does it, and there's nothing wrong in wanting to focus on his academic career.

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: Sudden unleashed power coming out of nowhere without a reasonable explanation.

5 words to best describe them: Amazing, badass, sweet, smart, awesome.

My nickname for them: LOML lol (I'm kidding... maybe). Sometimes I call him "my man"

Thanks for the ask :D