One of the biggest misconceptions about Dragon Ball is that Goku is a bad father. The idea has its roots in the fact that Piccolo trained Gohan and took care of him when the latter was a child. His father, Goku, had no choice at that moment.
Goku is actually a good father in Dragon Ball, and there are plenty of strong reasons to believe likewise. In case you’re not too familiar with the Dragon Ball universe, keep reading to find out the top reasons why you shouldn’t consider Goku to be a bad father to his son, Gohan!
Goku trained Gohan to fight Cell
After the Saiyan Saga where Gohan has been training under the command of Piccolo, it was Goku’s turn to train his beloved boy. Goku and Gohan had been training for a whole year together in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber on Kami’s temple in order to become powerful enough to fight Cell. It was during that training that Gohan became a Super Saiyan for the first time. He even obtained a level beyond the regular Super Saiyan during his battle against the nefarious Cell, becoming what is known as a Super Saiyan 2.
In other words, Gohan became a lot stronger while training with his father, compared to how strong the boy was when Piccolo trained him. Goku did a lot more than Piccolo when it comes to making Gohan stronger.
Why Goku “abandoned” Gohan
Piccolo was the first trainer of Gohan to the detriment of Goku for a good reason. Goku had to sacrifice himself to defeat the evil Saiyan Raditz, who was willing to kill all life forms on Earth. As a result, Goku was no longer anywhere to be found and went to King Kai’s planet to train in the afterlife in order to become even stronger. Gohan was trained by Piccolo in order to face the evil Saiyans a year later, meaning Vegeta and Nappa.
Therefore, Goku never abandoned Gohan as some people still believe. He was just forced to let go of him. On the contrary, without Goku’s sacrifice to get the world rid of Raditz, everybody would have been dead, along with Gohan.
There you have it! Goku might act foolish and careless in some situations, but he was never a bad father. He was always known as a very altruistic person who cares about his friends and family to the point of abnegation.