The mother of all fights: Did Gohan Beast defeat Goku Ultra Instinct in Dragon Ball Super?

‘Dragon Ball Super’ manga chapter 103 has been the talk of social media and internet forums. Not only does it contain an emotional dedication to the late Akira Toriyama, but it also shows us the limit of Gohan Beast, capable of fighting Goku Ultra Instinct one on one. Or maybe that’s what they wanted us to believe? We analyze the details of this controversial battle.

Author’s note: For obvious reasons, this article contains spoilers for chapter 103 of ‘Dragon Ball Super’. You can read this chapter of the manga completely legally and for free here.

The battle between Gohan Beast and Goku Ultra Instinct from “Dragon Ball Super” 103: Is the son really on the same level as his father?

It’s been a long time since Gohan was the strongest Z-Warrior of them all. We would have to go back to the Cell story arc, where a teenage Gohan, having reached Super Saiyan 2 status and with certain sadistic tendencies, managed to completely eradicate the android created by Dr. Gero.

The fight between Goku Ultra Instinct and Gohan Beast in episode 103 of “Dragon Ball Super” ends abruptly with Goku ending the fight, satisfied with Gohan’s new level of power and the control he has gained over his Beast form. According to Goku himself, having perfected his Ultra Instinct mode, his body moves on its own, and so Gohan is unable to land a single blow... until Gohan accumulates an immense amount of Ki and manages to deliver a powerful blow to his father’s stomach.

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Many have taken this single, precise punch as a sign that Gohan Beast has not only mastered his Beast Mode, but also surpassed Goku Ultra Instinct. In fact, the blow is so powerful that Goku returns to his original state for a few moments.

But in one of the following pages, Goku, again in Ultra Instinct, is the one who gets rid of Gohan at will and decides to stop the fight. And this is exactly what shows that it was Goku who was in control all the time, something that is obvious on the other hand. It was a simple “test” fight between father and son, where Kakarot just wanted to see how far Gohan would go.

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In other words: Gohan was not able to surpass his father. The one powerful blow that manages to catch Goku off guard comes from the fact that Kakarot wasn’t really fighting. This was not a threat on a planetary or galactic scale, but his own son in friendly combat.

This, in turn, has other no less interesting implications on an editorial level. As mentioned above, there was a time, almost thirty years ago, when Gohan was the most powerful Saiyan of all, being the first to reach Super Saiyan 2 status. Although in works like ‘Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero,’ Gohan has regained importance and prominence - especially with the introduction of his Beast Mode - there still seems to be some reluctance at the editorial level to let the son surpass his father again.