Editing Gohan (section)

==Creation and design==
Gohan's name comes from the Japanese word {{nihongo3|lit. "cooked rice" or "meal of any sort"|[[wikt:ご飯|ご飯]]|"gohan"}}, a continuation of the naming scheme of foods by Toriyama. Rice, being a grain, is not normally considered to be a vegetable, even though it is a common food. However, as the word "vegetable" is a culinary term, and not a botanical term, the name can also continue the naming scheme for Saiyan characters, which derives names from puns on vegetables.<ref>[http://www.freedict.com/onldict/onldict.php Online English to Japanese Dictionary] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070209175026/http://www.freedict.com/onldict/onldict.php |date=2007-02-09 }}</ref> In conceptualizing for Gohan's character, Toriyama originally included glasses or a jacket to his apparel, and commonly, his hair is spiked up as seen in the final design.<ref name = f>''Dragon Ball Daizenshū'', book 4, ''Dragon Ball World Guide''</ref> With the ending of the Cell arc, Gohan was meant to replace his father as the protagonist. However, Toriyama later decided against it, finding the character unsuited for the role in comparison to his father.<ref name="creation">{{cite book |last=Toriyama|first=Akira|title=DRAGON BALL 大全集 ➋ 「STORY GUIDE」 |year=1995 |publisher=Shueisha |isbn=4-08-782752-6}}</ref>

In contrast, Gohan is the main focus of the film ''Super Hero''. The movie is meant to change the focus of overpowered characters like Goku and Vegeta against Broly in the previous film and instead focus on Gohan and Piccolo as leads and thus bring a change of pace. One of the main fights is Gohan's and Gamma 1's which takes place during rain. Director Tetsuro Kodama found that this setting would be appealing. The narrative will further explore human drama, most notably the characterization of Gohan being a warrior as well as a scholar at the same time.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Brogan|first1=Joseph|title=Dragon Ball Super: Super Heroes interview confirms Gohan and Piccolo as main characters|url=https://www.sportskeeda.com/anime/news-dragon-ball-super-super-heroes-interview-confirms-gohan-piccolo-main-characters|access-date=June 5, 2022|website=SportsKeeda|date=4 January 2022 |language=en}}</ref> Toriyama said that he wanted the plot to focus on the dynamic between Gohan and Piccolo due to how their close relationship is the one thing that motivates the former even more than his father, Goku, in order to be determined to fight.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Gupta|first1=Abheet|title=Dragon Ball Super: Gohan Is The Strongest, Says Akira Toriyama|url=https://highoncinemaa.com/tv-shows/anime/dragon-ball-super-gohan-is-the-strongest-says-akira-toriyama/2364/|access-date=June 5, 2022|website=High on Cinemaa|date=28 May 2022 |language=en}}</ref> The film reveals the full awakening of Gohan's power through yet another instance of pure rage. This {{nihongo|"Beast" form|孫 悟飯・ビースト|Son Gohan Bīsuto}} is a culmination of his history of volcanic awakenings throughout his life. Toriyama feared it would come across as scary due to his angry expression but tried balancing it with the hair, ultimately settling on a more simplistic approach.<ref name="Toriyama">{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/Herms98/status/1541919202360995840|title=Herms' translation of Toriyama's comment|publisher=Twitter|accessdate=June 28, 2022}}</ref>

In an interview featured in the second ''Dragon Ball GT Perfect Files'', a companion book released in December 1997 by Shueisha's ''Jump Comics Selection'' imprint, Masako Nozawa, Gohan's voice actress, stated that her favorite episode voicing Gohan was "[[List of Japanese Dragon Ball Z episodes#Saiyan Saga|Sorry, Robot-san - The Desert of Vanishing Tears]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thegrandline.com/dbzinfo/mninterview.html|title=Masako Nozawa Long Interview|access-date=2008-05-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014091435/http://www.thegrandline.com/dbzinfo/mninterview.html|archive-date=2008-10-14|url-status=live}}</ref> Saffron Henderson, Gohan's original English voice actor, has stated she felt protective of the role and considers it to be one of her favorites.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.toonzone.net/article.php?ID=3259 |title=Magical Girl: Toon Zone Talks to Saffron Henderson |access-date=2008-05-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080929215742/http://news.toonzone.net/article.php?ID=3259 |archive-date=2008-09-29}}</ref> In addition, Gohan's original Funimation voice actor, Stephanie Nadolny has said that playing Gohan was a unique and much-loved experience.<ref name="Mania">{{cite news|url=http://www.mania.com/interview-stephanie-nadolny_article_83973.html|title=Interview with Stephanie Nadolny|last=Divers|first=Allen|date=April 6, 2003|publisher=Mania.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090428135934/http://www.mania.com/interview-stephanie-nadolny_article_83973.html|archive-date=April 28, 2009}}</ref>

===Voice actors===
[[File:野沢雅子.png|right|thumb|upright|[[Masako Nozawa]] has been Gohan's Japanese voice actress in every single piece of ''Dragon Ball'' media.]]
Gohan is voiced in the original Japanese anime and all other media by [[Masako Nozawa]]. Nozawa, who also voices Goku, revealed that she did not know she would be playing Gohan until receiving the script on the day of recording his debut episode. Despite having to voice Gohan, Goku, Goten and Bardock, Nozawa claims she is able to instantly get into the respective character simply upon seeing their image.

In Funimation and Saban Entertainment initial 1996 English dub of Dragon Ball Z, Gohan is voiced by [[Saffron Henderson]]. Henderson reprised her role in AB Group and Westwood Media's alternate dub for the UK and Canadian markets in 2000. Jillian Michaels replaced Henderson in the later part of the Cell arc, while his adult version is voiced by [[Brad Swaile]]. Henderson believed her experience playing Goku in Dragon Ball made it simple to develop Gohan's voice, though stressed performing as him was "tiring" due to the action of the series requiring louder volumes. She also remembered scheduling conflicts thanks to her wedding, setting the stage for the studio to audition other voice actors for the part of Gohan, and being disappointed at the role being recast.<ref>{{cite web|title=Interview with Saffron Henderson|url=http://www.myfavoritegames.com/dragonball-z/Info/Interviews/Interviews-SaffronHenderson.htm/|website=www.myfavoritegames.com|access-date=2017-08-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220170309/http://www.myfavoritegames.com/dragonball-z/info/interviews/interviews-saffronhenderson.htm|archive-date=2016-12-20|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In Funimation's in-house dub, Gohan's child incarnation is voiced by [[Stephanie Nadolny]] for various media until 2010 and [[Colleen Clinkenbeard]] for ''Dragon Ball Kai'' and later media while his adult incarnation is voiced by [[Kyle Hebert]] for almost all various media and [[Dameon Clarke]] as "Future Gohan" for some episodes and the ''[[History of Trunks]]'' TV special. Nadolny was called in to audition in 1999, when the English dub of ''Dragon Ball Z'' was recast. She said her most challenging time voicing the character was during his fight against Cell where she had to make him sound as "deep, tough and as much like a man as possible." Nadolny's voice was strained during the recordings, causing her to sometimes leave the studio in pain.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Divers|first1=Allen|title=Interview with Stephanie Nadolny|url=http://Mania.com|access-date=6 April 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030409043437/http://www.mania.com/|archive-date=9 April 2003|url-status=live}}</ref> Hebert said that his roles as Gohan and the narrator of ''Dragon Ball Z'' are close to him as they kickstarted his career.<ref>{{cite web|last1=K|first1=Luke|title=Kyle Hebert: MCM Expo 2010 interview|url=http://criticalgamer.co|access-date=31 July 2010}}{{Dead link|date=March 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> He also found ''Battle of Gods'' to be "genuinely touching" outside of its fighting, citing Gohan finding out that he was going to be a father among the moments he found sentimental and was happy to return to the franchise when reprising his role in ''Resurrection 'F''', also expressing interest in redoing his lines in Dragon Ball Kai as he had more experience.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Harris|first1=Jeffrey|title=Pop Geeks Interviews Voice Actor Kyle Hebert-Pop Geeks|url=https://popgeeks.net/pop-geeks-interviews-voice-actor-kyle-hebert/|newspaper=Popgeeks.com|access-date=31 July 2015|date=2015-07-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905155405/http://popgeeks.net/pop-geeks-interviews-voice-actor-kyle-hebert/|archive-date=5 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the English dub of Dragon Ball GT produced by Blue Water Studios distributed in Canada, he was voiced by Scott Roberts. In the English dub of movies distributed in Europe by [[AB Groupe]], Gohan was voiced by Jodi Forrest, with [[David Gasman]] voicing Gohan as an adult in ''The History of Trunks''. In the Toonami Asia dub produced by [[Bang Zoom! Entertainment]] of ''Dragon Ball Super'', Gohan here is voiced by Chris Hackney.

In a rare English dub of the anime produced in the Philippines by Creative Products Corporation, Gohan was voiced by Ethel Lizano who also directed that dub. In the 1996 dub of the double feature combining ''[[Cooler's Revenge]]'' and ''[[The Return of Cooler]]'' also by Creative Products Corp.; young Gohan was voiced by E.J. Galang, who was 12 years old at the time he voiced Gohan.