Goku's first transformation into Super Saiyan stands as one of the most iconic moments in Dragon Ball history. After his best friend Krillin's death, Goku's grief and rage would finally allow him to ascend into the mythic form, and put a stop to the alien tyrant Frieza once and for all. The next two Super Saiyan debuts, if not quite as iconic, still stand among the series' most striking moments.
When a half-mechanical Frieza comes to Earth for revenge, he's stopped by a mysterious young man -- in reality, Future Trunks -- who goes Super Saiyan and effortlessly cleaves the intergalactic tyrant in half. Later, Vegeta's attainment of Super Saiyan would turn the tide of battle against Android 19, with Vegeta delivering a one-sided beatdown to Dr. Gero's mechanical creation before destroying him with a Big Bang Attack. Yet there was another Super Saiyan transformation -- perhaps the most impressive of them all -- that tends to get overlooked as a result.
Gohan's Super Saiyan Transformation Gets Overshadowed
Following these key moments, Dragon Ball Z viewers would have been trained to expect an equally impressive debut when Gohan would finally go Super Saiyan later in the arc. Despite this, Gohan's ultimate attainment of this form is rather underwhelming in comparison, standing in stark contrast to the other scenes in question.
During Goku and Gohan's training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Goku pushes his son to ascend by throwing ki blasts at him and having him think about the deadly villain Cell killing his family members. After much hardship, Gohan finally taps into his rage and goes Super Saiyan for the first time.
It's a well-directed scene that works as intended, but it feels less impactful than the other characters' debuts of the form. All prior Super Saiyan transformations came during pivotal moments in the story and radically changed its trajectory. In comparison, Gohan goes Super Saiyan in a more relaxed scenario, sparring with his father with no real risk of depth. What's more, it happens in the B-plot of the episode -- with the A-plot showcasing Cell's transformation into his Perfect form as Vegeta, Trunks, Android 16 and Krillin watch in horror.
Dragon Ball Z Doesn't Treat Gohan Going Super Saiyan as That Important
Gohan's transformation ultimately gets overshadowed by Cell's far more dramatic change. While it's an interesting parallel that the character who would ultimately defeat Cell transforms in the same episode the villain does, in practice it ends up making Gohan's Super Saiyan transformation play second fiddle to Cell's far more sinister metamorphosis.
As underwhelming as Gohan's transformation may be in the Dragon Ball Z anime, it's still one step above what he got in the manga, where his first ascension takes place over a meager two panels with no prior build-up. It's clear that in either version, Gohan's Super Saiyan transformation is deliberately meant to be less dramatic than his forebears' -- so why was this the case?
One contributing factor might be Goku's overall attitude to Super Saiyan during this portion of the arc. While Vegeta and Trunks unveil flashy new Super Saiyan forms in their battle against Cell, Goku decides to concentrate on mastering the original ''grade'' of Super Saiyan by spending some time relaxing in it. In a sense, Gohan's more low-key attainment of the form matches Goku's philosophy, standing in stark contrast to Vegeta and Trunks' excessive displays of power.
Why Gohan's First Super Saiyan Form Isn't as Memorable as Other Transformations
There's also the fact that Gohan would later have the emotional catharsis Super Saiyan transformations usually entail later in the arc, when he ascends into Super Saiyan 2 against Cell. If Akira Toriyama already had that moment in mind, it's possible that he chose to keep Gohan achieving Super Saiyan 1 in a less dramatic scene so as not to undermine the more important transformation.
Still, it has to be highlighted how impressive the moment is for the character, given that at this point Gohan was the youngest character to go Super Saiyan. While his father and Vegeta wouldn't achieve the form until adulthood, and Trunks in his teen years, Gohan attaining it at just ten-years old highlights what a prodigy he is among the Saiyan fighters.
This would be somewhat undermined by the time of Dragon Ball Z's ''Buu'' arc, in which Goten and Trunks both attain the form at a younger age and it gets played off as a gag. Between the low-stakes transformation scene, Super Saiyan 2's debut being far more memorable, and Goten and Trunks making Gohan's achievement look less impressive, it's no wonder why Gohan's original Super Saiyan transformation goes overlooked in the fandom. Still, it's one of the character's most impressive moments and demonstrates just how adept Gohan already was as a warrior.