In fact, Goku has the utmost confidence in Gohan’s abilities, so much so that he remains calm when learning that Cell’s power is still greater than his own. He notes how quickly he progresses and compliments his growth, showing nothing but pride and belief in his son’s potential. As the two train in the hyperbolic time chamber, Goku makes it clear that he believes Gohan is going to become stronger than him. Throughout the entire arc, Goku shows immense confidence, belief and pride in Gohan’s potential, power, progress and perseverance, saying as much throughout. The Cell Saga is perhaps the best source of moments like this. Read More: Dragon Ball Is Secretly Great At Romance A similar scene plays out in the Frieza Saga when Goku once again shows up to save Gohan and Krillin, he comments that Gohan has been through a lot, complimenting his perseverance - he’s less scared and a little stronger than before, and Goku makes sure he knows it. When Goku shows up to save Gohan from Nappa, he points out his son’s progress, “You’ve changed so much! You trained well!” Even though Gohan admits he couldn’t do anything against Nappa, it’s still important to Goku that his son knows he’s come a long way, and he does just that. Though he doesn’t force them to be martial artists like himself, Goku is incredibly proud of and confident in the strength, skills and results of hard work that his sons display, which is the quality of a great dad. Goku values working hard to get stronger and seeing those results paying off and this ties to him as a father. Goku is passionate about martial arts, but more specifically, his core character value is always wanting to get better. To analyse Goku as a dad, we have to look at Goku as a character. Throughout the original manga, we see Goku being a good dad in both traditional and nontraditional ways. I think the same applies to analysing Goku as a father. When I dove into why I love Dragon Ball couples so much, I concluded that Toriyama excels at putting relationships on display by showing, not telling, how they feel about each other through their dynamics, reactions to perilous situations and subtext.

Goku giving the thumbs up drawing