Future Gohan’s existence is nothing short of calamitous and is undeniably the most gut-wrenching story in Dragon Ball’s history. Although Dragon Ball has several tragic characters: Android 16, Vegeta, Bardock, Raditz, Future Trunks, and even Goku at times, Future Gohan’s toiled and devastating life is unequivocally the saddest. Gohan’s life isn’t just tragic; it’s cruel.
Original (Future) Timeline Gohan
Hailing from the true original timeline, Future Gohan’s life is dreadfully gruesome, bearing a tragic Shakespearean weight. In a sadistic future ruled by Androids, Gohan is Earth’s only protector aside from his pupil Trunks. Everyone he ever loved was killed by the merciless androids, leaving him as the calloused, lonely, exhausted, and dismembered hero in a world razed to ruin.
Gohan never wanted this life. All he wanted was to be a scholar, surrounded by his family and friends, living in peace. Instead, he was forced to fight alone and afraid for most of his life—especially in his last moments. He tried to embody everything he remembered his father representing. At his core, Gohan was a luminous pillar of hope, a broken bastion in a hopeless world ruled by a constant cataclysm.
And although he embodied as much of his father as he could, it wasn’t enough to save anyone from the Androids’ onslaught—not even himself. Without the Dragon Balls or his father’s indomitable fighting spirit, Gohan lost everything—yet he still fought to protect whatever aspirations remained, even when all seemed lost.
Perhaps the saddest part of Future Gohan’s life was Bulma’s posthumous discovery that finally enabled Trunks to travel back in time to correct the course of history from this calamity. At least in the past timeline, Trunks got to see Gohan persevere and be the hero he remembered him as.
In the end, Gohan died alone—murdered without mercy and left face-down in the dirt, like he was just another casualty in a world that stopped caring. But even as everything crumbled, he kept fighting. Not because he thought he’d win, but because someone had to try. He died the way he lived—tired, broken, and still holding on to a future he’d never get to see.
Final Thoughts
If not for future Bulma’s genius, Trunks’ determination, and Gohan’s ultimate sacrifice, the Dragon Ball timeline as we know it would not exist. A dreadful end for our forgotten hero. Before the upheaval, Gohan was an optimistic child. He never knew he’d be the last savior to a lost future in a world that would never know his sacrifice.
