The Dragon Ball franchise has been all about Goku and Vegeta ever since the Majin Buu arc ended. Every other super powered supporting character has been relegated to small fry, with tertiary roles that don't do them justice. Fans have been pretty vocal about this and have criticized the writers for their lack of focus on character development and storywriting. Except for the Zamasu arc, Dragon Ball Super has mostly been the Goku show and in some cases, the Vegeta show.
Before Dragon Ball Super began, Gohan was almost universally regarded as the strongest non-fused character in the franchise. The character turned into a fan-favorite after the Cell arc. He was the first Saiyan to break the barrier and achieve the Super Saiyan 2 form, in a legendary burst of pure rage, and defeated Cell. Towards the end of the Majin Buu arc, he trained with the Supreme Kais on their planet, using the Z-Sword to unlock his full potential and achieve the super-powerful Mystic form.
Gohan was clearly was the strongest character in the series at this point and gave Majin Buu a proper beatdown before he tricked everybody and absorbed Gotenks in their fused state, gaining the upper hand on the young Saiyan. With the release of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, Gohan finally gets the limelight again and some moments of glory that his fans can cheer on.
Spoilers Ahead: The article contains a list of Gohan's best moments from the latest Dragon Ball film; Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. Readers that haven't watched the film are advised to avoid reading more if they want to avoid spoilers.
5 When He Terrifies A Soldier By Turning Super Saiyan
While it is understood that Super Saiyan is not much of a power statement anymore in the Dragon Ball series, it is one for Gohan as a character. It has been established that he doesn't like fighting and prefers a human life to that of a Saiyan warrior. After the Majin Buu saga, he stopped training completely and when it came to training for the tournament of power, he had forgotten how to turn into a Super Saiyan.
The time-skip between the Tournament of Power and Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero was also a period where Gohan returned to his regular human life and gave up on fighting. So when a Red Ribbon soldier held his daughter, Pan hostage against him, he immediately tapped into his power and transformed into a Super Saiyan. This was a moment in the movie that marked his return to power. To see Gohan transform into a Super Saiyan effortlessly meant he hadn't been slacking off as much as the audience must have thought.
4 When He Reveals That He Has Been Training
Before his big fight against the Androids, Gohan was pretty much treated like a write-off by Piccolo and the others. Everyone just assumed that he's been slacking off on his training and reverted to enjoying his life as a regular person again. The film sets the precedent that he's up against insurmountable odds, having given up on fighting again and lost all his power. Piccolo believes he needs a push to unlock his potential again and conjures up a plan to lure him into a fight against the Androids.
Towards the end of the movie, he tells Piccolo that he actually has been practicing in secret all this time, explaining how he has retained his ability to transform into Super Saiyan and Mystic forms. Having access to those transformations meant he was closer to unlocking a new transformation than everyone believed. This also adds up with what he said at the end of the Tournament of Power, claiming he wanted to achieve his own potential and explore a form he can call his own, like Goku with Ultra Instinct or Kefla with the controlled Berserker form.
3 When He Transforms Into His Mystic Form
When Gohan unlocked his untapped potential in the Majin Buu arc, training under the Supreme Kai using the Z-Sword, he achieved a new form unlike any Super Saiyan form. Akira Toriyama referred to him as the most powerful non-fused character in the series, setting a benchmark for his strength. It was a unique and exciting transformation where he had a powerful aura around him without his hair turning yellow like he would as a Super Saiyan. He laid a proper beatdown on Super Buu, who completely dominated even a Super Saiyan 3 Goku. It is widely regarded as one of the best transformations in the series. He achieved this form once more during the Tournament of Power arc in Dragon Ball Super, and it held up well against some strong opponents.
In Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, Gohan was on the brink against the android, Gamma 1. Having reduced his training after the Tournament of Power, he couldn't cope with the fight. When he realized Pan's life was in danger, he unleashed his Mystic form with a burst of rage and fought on equal ground against the Android. It was interesting to see him hold his own against Gamma 1, when Piccolo was struggling against Gamma 2, who is roughly as strong as Gamma 1. It also caught the Red Ribbon Army leader and Dr. Hedo by surprise, revealing that they hadn't taken this transformation into consideration.
2 When He Unlocks The Beast Gohan Transformation
Gohan's penultimate moment in the film was when he unlocked his latest transformation. Just like Goku's Ultra Instinct state or Vegeta's Ultra Ego state, this transformation is completely unique and doesn't have a "Super Saiyan" monicker. The fanbase largely considers this form Gohan's final version of his Mystic state and it looks incredibly powerful. Unlocking this form allowed Gohan to become strong enough to take on Cell Max and defeat the abominable giant.
What's most impressive about this transformation was the circumstances under which it was achieved. Gohan was under the impression that Cell Max had dealt a fatal blow to Piccolo and this broke his rage, just like the original Cell did when he destroyed Android 16's head. The animation that focused on the change in his eye color to a feral, rage-induced red was magnificent and viewers just knew this was the moment Gohan would steal the show. His attitude also become significantly more brutal with Cell Max, drawing parallels with his Super Saiyan 2 transformation against Perfect Cell in Dragon Ball Z.
1 When He Launches The Special Beam Cannon
When Gohan had to finish off Cell Max with a final charged attack, most viewers would have expected him to launch a Kamehameha wave, or maybe even a Masenko assuming that this film was supposed to give him the limelight. However, he chose to fire a Special Beam Cannon at the powerful, raging giant. This was a brilliant moment, to sum up a film that goes out of its way to highlight his relationship with Piccolo.
It also canonically made sense to use this attack because while the Kamehameha wave or the Masenko are large, powerful attacks that blast an entire radius with a huge explosion, the Special Beam Cannon, invented by Piccolo, is a focused beam that deals massive damage to whatever it hits. It so happened to be that they needed an accurate and powerful charged attack to defeat Cell Max and this was the perfect moment to recall just how much of his combat knowledge and prowess he owes Piccolo. The two characters also have a wholesome exchange about it at the end.