One of the most confusing ages to be explained in the entire anime fandom will not be other than Goku’s Son Gohan. Not only that, he has beaten several high-ranking enemies within a considerable amount of time span, and that is why fans of the series always wonder how old Gohan was when he fought Cell in Dragon Ball Series.
To cover Gohan’s age throughout the series, there is no better place to start off than the beginning. Gohan was born in Age 757 in the time skip between Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z. Four years later, Raditz attacked in Age 761.
This means that Gohan, at the time of this, was four years old, which is something most of you probably already knew. The following year, Gohan was five years old, of course, and this was Age 762, the same year Vegeta and Nappa arrived on Earth and also when the entirety of the Namek and Frieza Sagas took place.
Two years pass before Trunks arrives and warns everyone about the threat of Androids. At this time of the story, Gohan is actually seven years old, and this is where things start to get weird as this is Age 764.
How Old Was Gohan When He Fought Cell In Dragon Ball Series?
This was when we saw that there was a three-year time skip to the Android and Cell Sagas, which means that we are now at Age 767, and Gohan should be ten years old by comparing his birthdate to the current date.
However, Gohan has spent just under one year in the Room of Spirit and Time, which means that he aged by an additional year, and he was actually eleven years old physically.
Now, this is not a problem yet, outside of the fact that Gohan, for the past twenty years, is at best, of Pre-Teen and at worst, a child. That aside, though, everything that I said is completely fine on its own until we get to the Buu Saga, which takes place in Age 774.
As the Cell Games took place in the story on May 26, Age 767, and the birth year of Gohan was 757, which shows that chronologically he was 9 or 10 years old when he fought Cell and almost killed him.
However, when we think of it in a way that he has spent the majority of his life during these years at the Room of Spirit and Time with his father, Goku, it is also possible that he would be at the age of 10 or 11 years old during his fight with Cell.
Why Gohan’s Age Is So Confusing?
In addition to that, when the Buu Arc starts, we see that he started attending the school, and as most commonly, the school starts its academic year in Springs, the school most probably started in April, and that shows that his birthday at the time of the start of the Buu Arc that means at Age 774, had not already passed at that time, and that means that his birthday could be later that year, after April of Age 774.
However, if his birthday most probably could have been the time before the Cell Games, it would show that he was 10 or 11 years old when he killed Cell. On the other hand, if his birthday was after the Cell Games or at the start of the Buu Arc, it shows that he was slightly younger, that is, 9 or 10 years old when he fought and killed Cell.
To be more precise, both the Cell and Buu arcs take place in May of their respective years. This would simply mean that Gohan’s birthday would have to be in the latter half of the year and lucky enough, we do have a birthday for Gohan, as provided by Daizenshuu Volume 7.
This is the seventh volume of the Dragon Ball Encyclopedia and is considered one of the most, if not the most, accurate guidebook series to date.
That Birthdate is May 18th, Age 757, Cell is defeated on May 26th of Age 767, and that means that Gohan’s calendar age is still 10, and their physical age is still 11. However, the Buu Ac takes place from April 7th to May 8th of Age 774. This means that Gohan’s calender is 16, and their Physical Age is 17.
In addition to that, the same book Daizenshuu Vol.7, also says that Videl, Sharpener, and Erasa were all born a year before Gohan in Age 756, and these characters are all classmates of Gohan, making the situation more perplexing, as Gohan would actually be portraying himself as his Physical Age.
