Gohan used Piccolo’s Special Beam Cannon to destroy Cell Max in Dragon BallSuper: Super Hero, a creative choice that references Dragon BallZ in three major ways. In a rather symbolic decision, Dragon BallSuper: Super Hero makes Gohan the main character once again in a story that involves androids, Cell, and Piccolo – all of which are heavily connected with Gohan’s life. Dragon BallSuper: Super Hero is a celebration of the bond Piccolo and Gohan created in Dragon BallZ, and it cements their master/apprentice dynamic but also their father/son relationship that started during Dragon BallZ’s Saiyan Saga.
Despite being the most recent entry in a long list of Dragon Ball movies, Super Hero is unique in at least two ways. Dragon BallSuper: Super Hero is the first Dragon Ball movie made primarily with CG animation, and it is the first Dragon Ball story in years to truly sideline Goku and Vegeta to focus on other characters – in this case, Gohan and Piccolo. While Dragon BallSuper did try to fix Gohan as a character following Dragon BallZ’s Majin Buu Saga and Dragon BallGT, there was still a sense that Gohan’s story could be improved. Fortunately, improving Gohan is what Dragon BallSuper: Super Hero did best, including with a brand new Gohan form.
Gohan has a new transformation after Dragon BallSuper: Super Hero’s final fight: Beast Gohan. When in Beast Gohan form, a name that wasn’t actually said during Super Hero but had been previously confirmed by Akira Toriyama, Gohan had white spiky hair and a white aura in what appears to be his most powerful transformation yet. That said, to destroy Cell’s clone, Cell Max, Gohan had to concentrate all of his power into one single technique. Previously, Gamma 2 and the other Z warriors had managed to crack Cell Max’s head, leaving Gohan to give the final blow against the Cell clone. Curiously, even though Piccolo suggested that Gohan used Kamehameha to destroy Cell Max, Gohan chose to use Special Beam Cannon, Piccolo’s signature technique, as his final move in the Dragon BallSuper: Super Hero’s ending fight. Gohan killing Cell Max with the Special Beam Cannon tells a lot about Gohan’s relationship with Piccolo, and it mirrors two other Dragon BallZ moments.
Gohan Using Piccolo’s Special Beam Cannon Makes Their Dragon Ball Bond Stronger
While Gohan’s true signature technique is the Masenko, both he and Goten have used the Kamehameha passed down to them by their father, Goku. Kamehameha is the technique that defines Goku, and it makes sense for it to be his legacy for his sons Gohan and Goten. However, when faced with a situation in which he had to attack Cell Max with everything he had, Gohan chose not to use the Kamehameha. Instead, Gohan used Special Beam Cannon, a technique created by Piccolo. By choosing the Special Beam Cannon over the Kamehameha, Gohan proved in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero how important Piccolo has been to him during his entire life. Piccolo has been both a master and a father figure for Gohan ever since Goku’s first death in Dragon BallZ, and there are even those who argue that Piccolo was a better father for Gohan than Goku ever was. Dragon BallSuper: Super Hero nods to that by having Gohan choose Piccolo’s technique and not his father’s.
Gohan’s Special Beam Cannon Against Cell Max Mirrors Piccolo’s Raditz Fight
Cell Max’s death in Dragon BallSuper: Super Hero is also a direct callback to Piccolo’s fight against Raditz in Dragon BallZ. During the Saiyan Saga, the only way Goku and Piccolo found to kill Raditz was to have Goku hold the Saiyan while Piccolo used the Special Beam Cannon. A similar strategy was now used against Cell Max in Dragon BallSuper: Super Hero, except that it was Piccolo who grabbed the enemy this time. Just like Piccolo against Raditz, Gohan only had one chance to destroy Cell Max – and he succeeded by using Special Beam Cannon, the same technique Piccolo used on that occasion. Piccolo and Goku’s fight against Raditz in Dragon BallZ was to save Gohan, and it was the start of the bond between Piccolo and Gohan. Therefore, it is no coincidence that Gohan’s Super Hero final fight mirrors that moment.
Super Hero’s Final Fight Repeats Gohan’s Best Dragon Ball Z Story
Dragon BallSuper: Super Hero improves Gohan both as a character and as a fighter, and it does so by referencing Gohan’s best Dragon BallZ story – the Cell Saga. Ever since its first episode, Dragon BallZ teased how strong Gohan could become. That continued to be an important theme during the Saiyan and Frieza sagas, but it only paid off during Cell’s Tournament of Power. After witnessing Android 16’s death, Gohan entered a spiral of rage that led him to transform into Super Saiyan 2 for the first time in what is remembered as one of Dragon BallZ’s most iconic moments. Now, Dragon BallSuper: Super Hero does its own version of that scene by having Gohan transform into Beast Gohan for the first time after seeing Cell Max almost kill Piccolo. Dragon BallSuper: Super Hero was about Gohan finding his true potential, something that had not happened since Cell’s Tournament of Power, which is why it made sense for the movie to reference the original Cell vs. Gohan fight.
