Dragon Ball passed on an opportunity that would have changed the fate of the franchise. All this happened because the franchise is undoubtedly a legendary anime franchise with fans worldwide that has been running since 1986. However, It is one of the early series that popularized the art of Japanese animation that is anime.
The legacy and importance that Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z hold in the anime world are unparalleled. However, the newer installments in the franchise are not as good as the previous ones. One of the major reasons for that is the franchise serves the audience the same old goofy but extremely powerful protagonist with a stale style of storytelling.
The Funny Tone Needs to Go
Dragon Ball's trademark style of storytelling is that of heavy and breathtaking action sequences blended with an overall funny tone carried throughout the plot. This is the kind of storytelling that the Dragon Ball franchise is known and loved for by the fans. Every genre of manga and every manga has a signature style of characters and storytelling elements. But these same elements prove fatal for any manga or anime in the long run because after a point they make the storytelling style monotonous which is what has happened in the case of the Dragon Ball franchise.
Every arc in the new installments of the franchise, Dragon Ball Super, is almost similar in terms of plot, a new villain enters the story and threatens either the Earth or Goku's family. Initially, the villain defeats Goku then, Goku trains and reaches a whole new level of strength and trumps the villain. This same cycle repeats again and again without any real change in the storytelling style. And the forced humor throughout the Dragon Ball Super is what makes things worse than they already are.
The Rise and Fall of Gohan
The only character who could have been and still can be a great replacement for Goku as the protagonist of the Dragon Ball franchise is his half-Saiyan half-human son, Gohan. The idea of Gohan taking the mantle of the protagonist of the Dragon Ball franchise is certainly not new, however, the execution of this idea has been kind of sloppy in the past. Since his childhood, Gohan was destined to succeed his father, his transition from a crying little boy to a wise Saiyan is commendable. The initial phase of his character development resulted in the creation of one of the best anime arcs of all time that is the Cell Games saga arc. His fight with the antagonist Cell is quite commendable in terms of action and overall story development. It also gave the makers of the anime and the viewers a sneak peek into a possible future protagonist for the franchise.
The makers of anime even tried to actualize the possibility of Gohan replacing Goku as the protagonist of the series in the Great Saiyaman Saga of the Dragon Ball Z series that takes place after Goku's death during the Cell Games Saga arc. But because of bad writing and execution, Gohan never really got the right treatment as a protagonist, and the idea of him succeeding Goku as the protagonist was shelved. Akira Toriyama, the author of the Dragon Ball manga franchise also did not pay much value to this idea of seriously pushing Gohan for the role of the protagonist of the series, and Goku was brought back from the dead to once again take up the mantle of the protagonist of the series. And with that ended the experimentation with Gohan as the main character of the Dragon Ball franchise. Eventually, Gohan ceased to be an active fighter and became a professor.
An Alternate Reality
With the storyline of Gohan as the protagonist getting flopped, fans of the franchise have explored the idea that what could've happened had Gohan been treated right writing and storyline-wise as the protagonist, and try to speculate what could've been a possible alternate fate of the franchise. Things would have certainly been different with Gohan as the full-fledged protagonist of the Dragon Ball franchise, for instance, the Trunks Saga of the Dragon Ball Z series gives the fans a glimpse of one of the many possible alternate future realities. It is a future where all the Dragon Ball Z fighters die at the hands of two Red Ribbon androids that also destroy everything on Earth.
Every Dragon Ball Z fighter dies except for Trunks and Gohan who is also killed by the same androids 13 years later. In 13 years, Gohan becomes the protagonist of this Dragon Ball future and also takes up the role of Trunks' sensei. This short glimpse of an alternate future reality bestows the fans with an idea of how Gohan's character can be utilized properly by Akira Toriyama and the makers of the anime. If a well-thought storyline with Gohan at the center of the plot is crafted then, it has the potential to produce an arc even better than the Cell Games saga.
Is There Still Any Hope for Gohan?
With all things analyzed about Gohan's past and present position in the Dragon Ball franchise, there is still hope for him. Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero's release has brought forward what could be a rejuvenation of Gohan's character as he plays a crucial role in the movie in defeating the Red Ribbon Army androids.
He also got a new, cool and powerful transformation that is not given any name in the movie, though, Akira Toriyama revealed that it is called Gohan Best. According to Toriyama, the name of the transformation is rooted in the sensation that the wild beast within Gohan has awakened. After the movie's release, fans have high hopes of seeing Gohan in action more often in the future, and maybe he can finally become the next protagonist of the franchise as the Dragon Ball Super proceeds.