What could have gone right for Gohan?

[Sephiroth]

No secret that the Cell Games arc was all about setting up the transition to Gohan as the main character of the franchise, but his run in the main event fizzled only a few episodes into the Buu arc. Ultimately the key difference maker would have been for Goku to stay dead, or maybe serve in a Yoda style role as an advisor from beyond to his son. But beyond that, what else could have served to solidify Gohan as the front runner? For as much of a convoluted mess as the Buy arc was I do think there were missed opportunities that could have fleshed Gohan out more to get the audience invested in him as the new hero, and I think his relationship with Videl was one of the biggest; unlike Goku and Chi Chi, Gohan and Videl should have had a slow burn path to becoming a couple with milestones like Videl discovering Gohan’s dual identity as Saiyaman but promising to keep his secret, deleting their connection from just being friends and classmates. Further, as great as the episode of Vegeta sacrificing himself was, it probably would have developed Gohan’s heroic status a lot had it been him to make the sacrifice and get resurrected.

Any further thoughts?

[dav]

I think actually fleshing out the Cell Arc more would have helped a bit, actually made it more of a titanic struggle between Gohan and Cell rather than just the swapping between beat downs. Make it closer to the Goku vs. Freeza fight in that regard.

Other than that, actually let him keep up his momentum more. The Saiyaman stuff, while fun, was a huge change from what came before and didn't give Gohan an actual struggle or opponent to face to push him. And when he did get that, Vegeta and Goku were on hand to take up the limelight as well. So, give him something to do on his own. Not every opponent can be the Andre to the Hogan, but they could have at least given him a filler feud to show he could stand as the main character rather than pulling in the rest at the first sign of trouble.

[TWERKIN' MAGGLE]

Or... Goku could stay the main character, because he's more fun.

[No Longer a Produceman]

Drop the Sayaiman bullshit and have him be the one to vanquish Buu.

[Alice Syndrome]

I'm not sure if having him be thought dead and off planet for most of the arc was before or after they decided to hand it back to Goku, but it didn't help.

[Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)]

Saiyaman did not help

And really just Toriyama not caving to pressure as fans were going to want Goku back no matter what. Gohan was always going to be diff from Goku in how he handles things but the way he written in the Buu arc from getting chumped early on and looking weak in the Dabura fight, to basically being "dead" and Offworld did not help matters

They still had a chance to even make things great again when he finally got the power and fought Buu and that was ultimately just a show for Vegeta/Goku to come along

[nickcave]

I mean they should have just had him beat Buu they had all of that setup with him training with the Supreme Kai and it felt like it was entirely pointless.

[Push R Truth]

I'd go back to the Freeza arc to start. All the same story but when Goku returns at the end, he still gets overpowered. Gohan snaps again and I would have had him go purely feral and uncontrollably obliterate Freeza by just ripping him apart with his bare hands (basically Hulk style) and killing Goku with collateral damage. The Cell Saga goes mostly the same but with Gohan kinda mindlocking himself and being terrified to go full feral again. Finally against Buu he embraces it and finds that by embracing it he retains a level of control. Gohan wins and steps out of his father's shadow and becomes the top dog in the franchise. The end.

[Dr. T is an alien]

I always maintained that the proper thing to do was for Gohan to get elevated to being Shin’s apprentice, start his eventual ascendence to godhood, and have him pair his newfound powers to magically bind Buu in place long enough for Goku to gather the spirit ball with Mr. Satan’s help, and use it to destroy his corrupt form, allowing him to reincarnate as Uub. That way the two can share the glory and they could then have divergent storyline possibilities moving forward; Goku with the fate-of-the-world stuff he’s good at while Shin takes Gohan and Videl through the cosmos to restore the damage done (you know, actually doing his job? Super has demonstrated he’s actually worse at his job than Beerus is).