When it comes to Gohan’s power level and fighting ability in the current Dragon Ball continuity, there is a lot to be desired especially in comparison to his father, Goku, who has been able to unlock god-tier power within the pages of Dragon Ball Super, however, that isn’t from a lack of inherent ability as Gohan was able to master Goku’s deadliest attack in his very first fight.
Gohan was introduced in Dragon Ball chapter 196 by Akira Toriyama as the four-year-old son of Goku who was blissfully unaware of his father’s violent and world-saving past. However, Gohan is soon kidnaped by Goku’s Saiyan brother, Raditz, who stole Gohan away from his dad in an attempt to coerce Goku into joining him and his team of bloodthirsty Saiyans on a mission to lay waste to another, far off world. While Gohan seems helpless initially, he quickly proves that he is anything but after showing off his impressive battle skills despite being completely untrained.
In Dragon Ball chapter 203 by Akira Toriyama, Gohan—who before this chapter was placed in Raditz’s space pod while crying in fear—bursts forth from the pod in a fit of rage. As Gohan exploded from his containment, Raditz was in the process of beating Goku to death with a badly-injured Piccolo trying his best to charge up a deadly attack, but seemingly failing at producing anything that could kill the Saiyan villain. After Gohan made his explosive presence known, however, everyone–especially Raditz–stops what they’re doing as they are taken aback by his extreme rise in power. Before Raditz had time to react, Gohan was already charging towards him and launched himself into his villainous uncle, striking Raditz in the chest with his head in an attack that used every bit of his newfound strength.
Gohan Takes After Goku More than Most Think
This deadly move has been used a number of times by Goku when he was just a child himself, and it proved to be incredibly effective. Goku’s first fatality using this attack was when Goku decimated the Red Ribbon Army all by himself until the only villain left standing was General Black who tried to escape in a massive mech-suit. Rather than allowing him to retreat, Goku shot through the torso of that suit head first, resulting in its destruction and General Black’s death. Goku then used this same move as his final killing blow against the original King Piccolo as he flew through the Namekian’s chest head-first and created a giant, fatal hole in Piccolo’s chest.
In this Dragon Ball chapter, without any training or any awareness of Goku’s previous victories, Gohan uses this attack flawlessly and even directly leads to Raditz’s defeat. The blow Gohan delivers weakens Raditz enough for Goku to grab his sinister sibling and allow Piccolo the time he needs to charge-up his killing attack. Gohan is directly responsible for defeating the greatest threat Dragon Ball had seen up until that point, and he did so after instinctively mastering Goku’s deadliest attack.