Here is the DEFINITIVE PROOF that Gohan was indeed more powerful than Super Perfect Cell and the reason Cell was able to hurt Gohan was Gohan's own fault.
Let’s begin: We all know that Gohan’s power throughout most of Dragon Ball Z was based on his anger. Much like The Hulk, you don’t want to make Gohan angry…. You won’t like him when he’s angry. Just ask Raditz:
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2851-14/dragon-ball/chapter-202.html
After seeing his father beaten down Gohan’s power explodes. Enough to break out of his prison. But that’s not all:
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2852-8/dragon-ball/chapter-203.html
Barely controlling his rage… And then BOOM!
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2852-9/dragon-ball/chapter-203.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2852-10/dragon-ball/chapter-203.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2852-11/dragon-ball/chapter-203.html
Such POWAH!!! But then sadly the FEAR creeps in…
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2852-12/dragon-ball/chapter-203.html
Look closely at Gohan’s face here in the first panel.. or second panel I guess.
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2852-13/dragon-ball/chapter-203.html
His eyes are full of FEAR! That theme continues throughout the series. Angry is his ally but FEAR cripples him.
And that’s what I want to focus on here.
Piccolo is the first to discover Gohan’s emotions are the key to his power:
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2855-6/dragon-ball/chapter-206.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2855-7/dragon-ball/chapter-206.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2855-8/dragon-ball/chapter-206.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2855-9/dragon-ball/chapter-206.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2855-10/dragon-ball/chapter-206.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2855-11/dragon-ball/chapter-206.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2855-12/dragon-ball/chapter-206.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2855-13/dragon-ball/chapter-206.html
The story is full of Gohan’s power growing exponentially while angered. This is as clear as day. But Toriyama also made it clear that when he gets scared he has trouble maintaining this power. We see this quite a few times in the story Raditz as posted earlier, Nappa too:
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2871-6/dragon-ball/chapter-222.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2871-7/dragon-ball/chapter-222.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2871-8/dragon-ball/chapter-222.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2871-9/dragon-ball/chapter-222.html
But then the FEAR sets in. As you can see in the first panel he’s terrified:
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2871-10/dragon-ball/chapter-222.html
The FEAR leaves him powerless and frozen:
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2871-10/dragon-ball/chapter-222.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2871-12/dragon-ball/chapter-222.html
Piccolo must step in since Gohan’s FEAR makes him useless:
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2871-12/dragon-ball/chapter-222.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2871-14/dragon-ball/chapter-222.html
It’s made clear time and again Gohan has trouble embracing his power because he is a child. He gets scared like any kid would but that FEAR cuts his power and makes him vulnerable.
We see it again here, his FEAR cripples him in the face of the powerful Vegeta:
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2885-9/dragon-ball/chapter-236.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2885-10/dragon-ball/chapter-236.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2885-11/dragon-ball/chapter-236.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2885-12/dragon-ball/chapter-236.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2885-13/dragon-ball/chapter-236.html
But then he gets angry and he’s able to go toe to toe with the monstrous Saiyan:
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2885-3/dragon-ball/chapter-236.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2885-4/dragon-ball/chapter-236.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2885-5/dragon-ball/chapter-236.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2885-6/dragon-ball/chapter-236.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2886-1/dragon-ball/chapter-237.html
This is important because it shows that Gohan can be “snapped” out of his FEARful state and get angry enough to fight back. Keep that in mind…
Next up we see his rage in the face of the tyrant Frieza:
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2946-5/dragon-ball/chapter-297.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2946-6/dragon-ball/chapter-297.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2946-7/dragon-ball/chapter-297.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2946-8/dragon-ball/chapter-297.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2946-9/dragon-ball/chapter-297.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2946-10/dragon-ball/chapter-297.html
But of course Vegeta makes the FEAR set in:
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2946-11/dragon-ball/chapter-297.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2946-12/dragon-ball/chapter-297.html
And as always the FEAR causes Gohan’s power to plummet:
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2947-2/dragon-ball/chapter-298.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2947-2/dragon-ball/chapter-298.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2947-4/dragon-ball/chapter-298.html
He tried to fight back but that original anger is gone:
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2947-8/dragon-ball/chapter-298.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2947-9/dragon-ball/chapter-298.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2947-10/dragon-ball/chapter-298.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2947-11/dragon-ball/chapter-298.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2947-12/dragon-ball/chapter-298.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2947-13/dragon-ball/chapter-298.html
Sad. So sad.
Fast forward a few years and we have Gohan vs Cell. After seeing all of this you might be asking yourself “why oh why are you going through all of this?” Well friends…. I’m bored. BUT it all becomes relevant here!!!
Since we’ve been talking about Cell I’ll assume I don’t need to post the pages where they all talk about Gohan’s anger and if he’s angry enough that he will become a power house. But what we should focus on is the FEAR!!!!!
Gohan eclipsed Cells power and was able to toy with him. When Cell came back he was more powerful but Gohan, knowing fully what he was capable of, was able to feel Cell’s power and was unimpressed:
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-3064-3/dragon-ball/chapter-415.html
But then we never see the fight play out because of punk ass Vegeta! But we do have this. Cell prepares to finish Vegeta, and Gohan, fearing for Vegeta’s life, jumping in the way. Fearing for Vegeta’s life.
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-3064-10/dragon-ball/chapter-415.html
FEARing
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-3064-11/dragon-ball/chapter-415.html
FEAR!!!!
Gohan allowed Cell to injure him because he allowed the FEAR into his heart!
Now we all know that more powerful fighters can be harmed by weaker fighters right? We also know that when the stronger fighter lowers his Ki, whether purposely or otherwise, he can be severely injured by weak sauce guy like Krillin:
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-2952-14/dragon-ball/chapter-303.html
And Gohan when was injured and at half power he was afraid. He felt the FEAR:
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-3065-1/dragon-ball/chapter-416.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-3065-2/dragon-ball/chapter-416.html
Just look and that FEAR in his face! Hence why his power was so low!
And Cell, by his own admission wasn’t “playing around anymore”
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-3064-14/dragon-ball/chapter-415.html
So Gohan at half mast was able to hold back a non “playing around” Cell! Impressive. But wait there’s more!
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-3066-6/dragon-ball/chapter-417.html
“You haven’t released all of your power yet”. Possibly because he still had FEAR in his heart? He needed his anger boost!
And then once he really got angry, most likely due to having his father scream in his ear, he was able to outright overpower a non “playing around” albeit possibly slightly “distracted” Super Perfect Cell!
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-3066-8/dragon-ball/chapter-417.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-3066-9/dragon-ball/chapter-417.html
http://www.mangapanda.com/105-3066-10/dragon-ball/chapter-417.html
So we know that Gohan’s power rises and falls due to his emotion far more than anyone else in the series. We also know that his anger swells his power while, much like Hal Jordan, FEAR limits him. So I say unto you, that it was not Cell’s own power that was responsible for Gohan’s injury but Gohan’s own FEAR that was the culprit. Without it Gohan would have wiped the floor with Cell for a second time.
All of this is 100% fact and not speculation at all. Suck on that!!!