Gohan recently took his place as one of the most powerful characters in Dragon Ball Super, but unfortunately, that development occurred after he missed his chance to fight one of the strongest DBS villains in the franchise’s history – in two separate timelines, at that. However, one undeniably epic piece of fanart totally fixes that, as it pits Gohan against the sinister Goku Black aka Zamasu.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), user KAKERU (handle: @DBSKAKERU1) shares a piece of fanart done in the same style as the Dragon Ball Super manga (a colored version) featuring Gohan challenging Goku Black with a stunned Trunks watching from the sidelines. Goku Black is powered-up to Super Saiyan Rosé as Gohan is channeling his Mystic form, taking off his button-down shirt and tie to prepare for the imminent battle.
This fanart is giving Dragon Ball fans something that they were robbed of in Dragon Ball Super (manga and anime), as Gohan did not travel to Trunks’ alternate future to help him fight Goku Black with Goku and Vegeta during Super’s original “Future Trunks” storyline. While the fanart doesn’t include the fight itself, it does allow fans the opportunity to consider how the fight would have gone, as well as how Gohan would have measured-up to the seemingly unstoppable Zamasu.
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Dragon Ball Fanart Redeems Both Versions of Gohan
Gohan Fighting Zamasu Redeems His Future Timeline & Main Timeline Selves
Gohan challenging Goku Black is more than just a badass image Dragon Ball fans were robbed of in the main series canon, but it also allows Gohan the chance to redeem both versions of himself from the future timeline and main timeline. In the future timeline, Gohan dies before Zamasu attacks, as he’s killed by Android 17 and Android 18 during the events of Dragon Ball Z. That’s why Future Trunks was forced to handle Goku Black all alone in Super, and why Future Gohan never got the chance to challenge him.
Then, when Future Trunks traveled to the main Dragon Ball timeline to recruit anyone who was willing to go to his future timeline and fight Zamasu, he met with Gohan – and he was initially disappointed by what he saw. The ‘adult Gohan’ Trunks was used to seeing was his one-armed master from his timeline, and the last time he saw the main-timeline Gohan was when he defeated Cell as the world’s first Super Saiyan 2. But, when Trunks met Super’s adult Gohan, he saw that Gohan had effectively put fighting behind him, committing himself instead to his family and career.
Now, in this fanart, Gohan not only gets the chance to challenge Goku Black just as his ‘Future’ counterpart would have, he gets to prove to Trunks that he’s more than just a family man, but also the immensely powerful warrior Trunks remembers him as.
Gohan Fighting Goku Black is Exciting, but It’s Good It DIDN’T Happen in Dragon Ball Canon
While it’s true that Gohan probably would have risen to the occasion to fight Goku Black, that would have betrayed Gohan’s story – and Trunks himself would agree.
After spending time with Gohan and his family (and initially being disappointed), Trunks eventually sees how happy he is, and realizes that this Gohan is living a life his former master could only dream of, and neither Trunks nor Gohan would trade that for anything in the world. Gohan is the epitome of a reluctant warrior, something that’s greatly explored during the Tournament of Power and then cemented in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. And that’s because he did what few warriors are able to do: Gohan found peace.
Gohan wasn’t at a stage in his life to upset that peace with violence during the “Future Trunks Saga”, which makes the times when Gohan does fight that much more impactful to his wider storyline. However, while it would have upset the status of Gohan’s arc, seeing him fight Goku Black would have been undeniably epic all the same, and that’s exactly what Dragon Ball Super fans get with this amazing piece of fanart.
