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While Dragon Ball Super is a hit with fans, one character has constantly been treated poorly by the franchise. Despite being one of the characters with the most potential in the series, Goten has not had a single canon moment that allowed him to shine.
Goten is Goku's second son and was able to transform into a Super Saiyan at the ripe old age of seven. The anime introduced fans to a character with a potential far exceeding Gohan's. However, he has never been treated right by the manga creator Akira Toriyama to this day.
Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers from the Dragon Ball Super manga. Reader's discretion is advised. The opinions expressed are solely those of the author. Individual opinions may vary.
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How Goten was treated poorly by Dragon Ball Super manga
When Goten was first introduced in the Dragon Ball Z anime, he was shown to be very strong, managing to become Super Saiyan at the age of seven. However, besides the fight between him and Trunks during the World Martial Arts Tournament, he hasn't been given a moment to shine.
The only other method the franchise gave him some attention was through Gotenks, the fusion of Goten and Trunks through the Fusion Dance. While the character had half of Goten's personality, looks, and power, Trunks's presence didn't allow Goten's solo character to shine through the fusion.
Apart from this, Goten had some moments where he became a hero. However, those moments only came in the movies Broly – Second Coming and Bio-Broly, which weren't part of the canon storyline.
While things seemed terrible, Dragon Ball Super manga presented a storyline where Goten could have been the series' focus for some time. However, the arc was slowly diverted to the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero storyline.
As fans already knew after watching the film, the movie featured Goten again imperfectly fusing with Trunks to become part of the film's gag. All in all, the manga failed Goten despite introducing fans to a possible storyline for the same.
How fans reacted to Dragon Ball Super's treatment of Goten
Fans were disappointed at how the entire Dragon Ball franchise used Goten. The only feat Goten achieved was being the youngest Super Saiyan. However, his strength was considered low, with the power level of villains that approached Earth later being bumped up. His only other feat was fighting toe-to-toe with Super Buu after fusing with Trunks as Gotenks. But as evident, that was not an individual achievement.
Many fans were convinced that Goten was only introduced to the series to have a marketing tool similar to Kid Goku. For fans who are unaware, when Goku died against Cell, Gohan was planned to become the series' next protagonist. Thus, it has been theorized that Goten was created to replace Gohan while giving him Goku's look. Nevertheless, the decision was later altered.
Meanwhile, other fans had lost all hope in Dragon Ball Super and were waiting for the anime adaptation of Dragon Ball Kakumei (doujinshi series). In the series, both Goten and Trunks are seen training with Whis to become Super Saiyan God Super Saiyans. Hence, they were hoping for Goten to shine in that series.
Nevertheless, some fans did not care about Goten's moments being canonical, as they considered them great regardless. While they weren't complaining, they still hoped for the series to do justice to the character in the future.
