Is Chi-Chi a bad wife? Is she a horrible mom? A horrible character? Is she annoying? A nag?
Well, is she?
The truth is, I just think Chi-Chi is a bit misunderstood; and while I can understand why she gets the hate to an extent, I don't think she deserves the hate at all. I remember hearing how a lot of people didn't necessarily like her, especially in Z, but I can understand where Chi-Chi is coming from.
Let's try and walk through it together, but before we dive into the potential reasons she gets hated, let's dive into Chi-Chi's background a bit.
Background
So Chi-Chi was first introduced in Dragon Ball. And as a Princess, nonetheless. Now not only was Chi-Chi the Princess of the Fire Moutain, but she's the daughter of the Ox-King. The Ox-King had quite the reputation and was referred to as terrifying. And as for her mother, Chi-Chi was said to have lost her at a very young age. As a kid, which is when she met Goku, she was kinda on the shy side - a big contrast to her father's personality at the time. And since we're on the topic of kid Chi-Chi, her design was not very appropriate for a kid.
I'm really surprised she was able to still ride the nimbus.
From what I've been seeing, she was said to be around 14 during the time she met Goku. I mean I could be wrong, but I don't see nor do I want to see any 14-year-old walking around in anything like this. Luckily, she was around someone as innocent and pure as her - Goku.
Anyway, she and Goku kinda had some fun for a bit, Goku ignorantly promised to marry her (not knowing what it was) and then Chi-Chi confronted & fought Goku at a martial arts tournament years later about his promise.
And then the rest is history.
Chi-Chi became the wife of an alien, birthed his half-alien babies, and has been by his side since then.
So let's start getting into some of the reasons Chi-Chi might get some hate.
Reason 1 - Gohan
While I don't agree with this, some may feel like Chi-Chi is the reason why Gohan doesn't fight. Or better yet, some may feel like Chi-Chi hindered Gohan a good bit by being overbearing and made him "weak". Now the reason I don't agree with this reason is that Gohan is not only half-Saiyan. But Gohan is half-human as well.
Half-human.
So, Gohan is not a full Saiyan.
Nor was he raised in the same environment that full-Saiyans like Vegeta were raised in.
I mean, to be fair, not even Goku was brought up in that same environment. He was sent off and was raised by Grandpa Gohan. Goku and Gohan weren't purging planets like Vegeta and Nappa and Raditz were; they didn't do half the things that pure Saiyans had to do.
They were pretty sheltered from that.
Yet I see no one really faulting Grandpa Gohan for how Goku was raised. Goku was raised pretty much on earth as a human until he learned otherwise. In a whole different environment than what's accustomed to full Saiyans.
So I don't understand why Chi-Chi is being faulted. I genuinely feel like any good mother would want what's best for her children and I feel like that is natural to feel towards your child.
Now some may say that Chi-Chi knew who she was marrying and she should have expected the same thing for their kids.
And maybe that's true, but clearly, Chi-Chi just wants the best for her son and wanted him to be educated. Even if it felt a bit overbearing or annoying. Just like any other human mother, I would assume. I don't know about anyone else, but my parents always tried to make sure that I came out better and tried to push me to have what they couldn't have. Was it annoying and a lot of pressure? Yes, it was. And I'm not saying parents always do things the right way because they mess up too, just like us. But I do feel like they had good intentions.
Just like Chi-Chi.
Not only that, but Gohan himself doesn't really like fighting like that. We've seen that many times; he just doesn't have it in him like Vegeta and Goku. And why would Gohan ever have the need to, considering that Goku is always going to save the day anyway? That's the way it feels like the series is written now.
Now I will say, that just like Future Trunks, we saw that Future Gohan did step up when Future Goku fell to the heart virus.
So I feel like Gohan would definitely take up the responsibility then because he's the only one that can.
But for now, in the present timeline, Gohan won't ever have to do that.
Reason 2 - Goku
Earlier, I made the comment that Chi-Chi was aware of who she married, and some may use that as an argument. And I mean, I can't say otherwise because it's true. After all, Chi-Chi and many others witnessed Goku's fight with Piccolo Jr. at the tournament. Now obviously I'm not saying that Chi-Chi is right for yelling or screaming at Goku. No one should yell at anyone they love or mistreat them, but that doesn't say that it doesn't get challenging.
Half of the time, it may not even be intentional.
But I will say that any marriage is challenging.
Marriage is work.
Even for us, and we're human.
And even that is tough, considering our divorce rate is insanely high.
So I'd imagine marriage with someone like Goku, a literal alien, is beyond our comprehension; It takes a special type of woman to be able to love someone like Goku.
Considering Goku thrives off fighting, attracts a plethora of enemies, is dying every other Saga, and is left to fend with the kids.
I said that because even though you know what you're getting into sometimes, doesn't make it any less hard or easy to deal with. I also want to add that Chi-Chi clearly loves Goku and we see that.
Maybe not as often as we should, because we probably see her yelling and being angry a whole lot more than we see her softer side. And I understand that that can get annoying to see, especially if that's all they portray her as.
But let's look a little deeper for just a second here; Chi-Chi is very passionate and cares a lot for her family. And sometimes, that is not delivered in the best of ways at times.
We're all guilty of that, I think.
Because guess who was by his side when he had the heart virus?
From the moment he fell sick and to the moment he woke up, Chi-Chi was there. Guess who rushed to his side the moment he woke up? Guess who encouraged him to win before he went to confront the Androids. It was Chi-Chi.
Now I get it. I completely get that there have been moments where people felt like Chi-Chi should've been more caring towards Goku over Gohan. Or maybe people like Chi-Chi should've cared about both more equally. I can see why people would feel this way and I don't fault anyone for feeling that way.
I'm not completely excusing it; I'm just saying that the love is there.
At least on Chi-Chi's end.
I don't necessarily know about Goku and how he feels towards her anymore. Personally, it's hard for me to gauge - even since Super. I honestly felt like they were progressing as a couple in Z.
Especially during the Android Saga and especially after the Cell Games.
But now it seems like, they've regressed a bit.