Gohan is a shy and studious intellectual child who lacks the Saiyan fighting spirit, so he had to utilize his incredible half-breed Saiyan potential and emotional reserves to protect those he loves, becoming one of the most powerful Z Fighters. As an adult, he achieves his dream career of becoming a great scholar.

Being only half-Saiyan, Gohan is unusual in his values and personality compared to most full-Saiyans. These unique values and personality separate him from pure Saiyans; as powerful as he is, he does not like fighting much. However, when he is forced to fight, he shows special interest in protecting his family and friends. Like his father, Gohan has a truly pure and gentle heart, apart from having the typical Saiyan appetite and will eat anything.[3]

Though he claims he does not share the love of fighting Goku has, Gohan does indeed love martial arts and adventures. It is also clearly obvious that he enjoys his superhuman powers, and he greatly enjoys using them to be a superhero, though he dislikes receiving the fame and attention that comes with it and prefers to keep a low profile, which is why he created the Great Saiyaman persona, in order to keep his identity a secret. This is even more evident when he didn't acknowledge Cell's defeat at his hands to the public after Mr. Satan falsely took credibility for it. During the Zeno Expo, he admitted that his Saiyan half was getting excited from the challenge shown by Top of Universe 11, demonstrating that even though he despises senseless violence, he actually does enjoy fighting as a sport. It is possible that he prefers not to fight due to the many gruesome and painful fights he experienced in the past, and because of these battles, Gohan has negative emotions associated with fighting.