Dragon Ball Z's Strongest Character Is Not Goku (Which Is SUPER Important)

"Dragon Ball" has been a pop culture fixture for a long time now, and over this time, its protagonist, Son Goku (Masako Nozawa), has developed a reputation as one of the most powerful fictional heroes out there. Goku's Saiyan heritage and unrelenting quest to be the ultimate warrior have certainly given him the strength to back up this reputation, to the point that fans often wonder who would win a fight between him and Naruto, or whether "One Punch Man's" all-powerful Saitama could beat Goku. In other words, Goku is a Superman-style measuring stick for other ultra-strong heroes. 

Because of this, it's easy to think that Goku is the strongest character in his native franchise — but, as it turns out, there is another character who surpasses him in terms of sheer power. In a Q&A session about the 2022 movie "Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero" (via Twitter user @herms98), "Dragon Ball" creator Akira Toriyama confirmed that Goku's son, Gohan (Nozawa), is the actual top dog of the series, power-wise. Toriyama's words on Gohan are immensely important because "Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero" is essentially about Gohan reclaiming his status as a massively powerful character ... and, possibly, as a worthy and welcome successor to Goku.

When asked about Gohan's relationship with Goku's enemy-turned-ally Piccolo and their battles with the Red Ribbon Army in "Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero," Toriyama casually noted the youngster's status as the show's power level MVP. "Gohan is actually stronger than anyone ... or so it's said, but lately he hasn't really gotten a chance to shine. In order to motivate Gohan, it takes his revered teacher Piccolo rather than his father Goku. I figured I'd try giving birth to a new superhero by putting these two in the spotlight through their intense battles with the [Red Ribbon Army's] Gamma androids."

Gohan has always been an odd duck as far as the franchise's warrior characters go. He has plenty of power potential but historically tends to care little about the franchise's main hobbies of training and combat, which has made him lag behind other major characters. Nevertheless, in one way or another, he rarely fails to step up — or at least try to – whenever the situation gets bad enough, and has scored some pretty unique power upgrades and impressive victories over the years.

With "Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero's" focus on bringing Gohan to the top of his game, Toriyama's words about him being the strongest character in the franchise could be massively important going forward — far more than the various past hints of Gohan being the ultimate warrior. After all, the franchise has tinkered with Gohan potentially replacing Goku as the main protagonist before. Considering the extreme critical acclaim and audience approval of the Gohan-centric "Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero," Toriyama's comments might indicate that the "Dragon Ball" franchise is finally ready to give the son of Son Goku that long-awaited promotion. 

Apart from the creator's comments and "Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero's" success, it's worth noting that the movie does a ton of heavy lifting to establish Gohan as a true main eventer in the "Dragon Ball" universe. He unlocks new transformations like no one's business, and his look is more distinctive than ever, thanks to the combination of his training under Piccolo (Toshio Furukawa) and his academic aspirations. He even beats Cell Max (Norio Wakamoto) with a Piccolo-style Special Beam Cannon instead of a classic Goku move like Kamehameha, which shows that his power set is distinctly different from that of his father. 

However, the franchise has walked back from putting Gohan front and center before, regardless of the feats he's displayed. This is why the film's most important scene in the grand scheme of things may very well be its final one. In the mid-credits stinger, we see Goku losing to Vegeta (Ryō Horikawa) in a sparring match. 

Granted, the two are training under the ultra-powerful Whis (Masakazu Morita), so even with his new powers, Gohan probably still has some way to go if he wants to surpass the older Saiyans. Nevertheless, the marketing material for "Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero" sold the movie as the beginning of the new era of superheroes — and with Gohan's meek "civilian" identity and great powers, it's clear who's meant to spearhead this era. The fact that the movie opts to show Goku taking a loss right after Gohan's finest hour seems awfully convenient for building up the son and knocking the father down a peg.