Majin Vegeta being stronger than Kid Gohan is a misinterpretation. It's just that no one learned to see the manga for what it is:
SSJ2 Goku and Majin Vegeta were never stated to be equal in 'power'.
Goku stated that they were evenly matched, the same way he was evenly matched with Frieza.
SSJ Goku vs. Frieza proves you can be evenly matched with someone even if you're decently stronger than them.
Majin Vegeta stated he closed the 'large' gap between them the same way 50% Frieza closed the 'large' gap between him and Goku when he powered up to 100%.
So when Frieza closed the 'large' gap there was still a lingering a 30% gap and that was enough for them to be "about equal". Swap pre-Majin Vegeta for 50% Freiza and Majin Vegeta for 100% Frieza and realize how everything falls into place. The only difference is that the gap between SSJ2 Goku and Majin Vegeta is much bigger than that because Frieza almost killed Goku in a fair fight.
All the fighters in these matchups were evenly matched even if one is stronger than the other:
Piccolo vs. 2nd Form Frieza
SSJ Namek Goku vs. 100% Frieza
Piccolo vs. Android 17
Android 16 vs. Imperfect Cell (Post-Absorption)
Perfect Cell (Suppressed) vs. MSSJ Goku
Vegeta (& Trunks) vs. Cell Jr.
Goten vs. Kid Trunks
SSJ2 Goku vs. Majin Vegeta
SSJ3 Gotenks vs. Super Buu
SSJ3 Goku vs. Kid Buu
So they are all about as strong as each other, and in some cases it's clear which one is stronger, like Cell Jr. > Vegeta & Trunks because it was stated the Cell Jr's were toying with the Z Fighters.
Kid Trunks was far away from SSJ2 Goku but he stated with certainty that one of them is stronger than the other, without making it explicit. So the gap was big enough that it left no room for uncertainty.
SSJ Goku/Frieza type-gap should be notable from a distance. But remember, Frieza did much better than Majin Vegeta in their fights so the gap should be a lot bigger.
Conversely, Piccolo was at a short distance away from Majin Vegeta yet he can't differentiate Kid Gohan and Majin Vegeta.
Distance is a very important detail in these comparisons because there's a clear contrast between the power differences;
the SSJ2 Goku/Majin Vegeta gap is unnoticeable to Majin Vegeta,
the SSJ2 Goku/Majin Vegeta gap is obvious to Kid Trunks,
the Kid Gohan/Majin Vegeta gap remains a big question mark to Piccolo.
So according to Piccolo, Majin Vegeta is somewhere around Gohan, that's the only thing he knows for sure. He doesn't know if he's equal, weaker or stronger, because it's vague; he's going off his intuition. He questions if it's stronger the same way Goku questions if SSJ2 Z sword Gohan is stronger than Fat Buu; they wouldn't question if they are equal or weaker because that's not how questioning or doubting works. So just because they questioned if they are stronger doesn't mean the other two are weaker either; it gets negated both ways.
The Kid Gohan/Majin Vegeta difference is unnoticeable. I'd take it a step further and say it doesn't exist. Otherwise Piccolo wouldn't be questioning it, he would just state with certainty that they're "about as strong," like Kid Trunks does.
And this is just based on the distance contrast.
Then you have Majin Vegeta not being able to tell SSJ2 Goku and Kid Gohan apart.
The distance factor coupled with which gap is more evident than the other, we are certain of this:
Kid Trunks's statement (certain) > Majin Vegeta's statement (shock) > Piccolo's statement (unknown)
When you decipher the order in reverse, it translates to either:
Majin Vegeta = Kid Gohan > SSJ2 Goku > Kid Gohan
or
SSJ2 Goku > Kid Gohan = Majin Vegeta
Vegeta wasn't even expecting SSJ2 Goku > Kid Gohan; he was completely taken by surprise when Goku showed his full power in SSJ2, hence why he finds that feat impressive.
Piccolo's statement on the other hand remains an 'unknown', despite the fact Majin Vegeta is right there in front of him which makes the comparison easy to make.
So the biggest gap out of the three is the one Kid Trunks noted.
Another possible interpretation is that Goku wasn't expecting Majin Vegeta to be as strong as the Gohan who fought Perfect Cell, because he lost his rage boost against SPC:
Kid Gohan (rage boosted) = Majin Vegeta (rage boosted) > SSJ2 Goku > Kid Gohan (non-enraged)
For argument's sake, we'll assume Kid Trunks meant Majin Vegeta > SSJ2 Goku by his statement, so either there are two levels of CG Gohan mentioned in these statements or Goku is the stronger one.
This could work if you consider the possibility that the SSJ2 multiplier for Majin Vegeta might be bigger than Goku's.
The biggest takeaway is that there was never a character in DB who stated x is equal to y. That's the most important realization you have to make. It's always "roughly equal", so the closest thing we got to "they are 'exactly' equal" is Piccolo and Goku's statements respective to Majin Vegeta/Kid Gohan and Z Sword Gohan/Fat Buu. The very mechanics and technicalities upon which DB is founded prevents these four from being anything but equal in power level, they will never be proven stronger or weaker.
By arguing Majin Vegeta > Kid Gohan you will ironically end up proving Kid Gohan > Majin Vegeta because there's evidence on both sides that negates either answer. So it's up for debate.
The middle ground is that it's 99.99% certain for Kid Gohan and Majin Vegeta to be equal because the gap between Goku and Majin Vegeta/Kid Gohan is the exact same.
That's the answer you will always get to no matter how many times you dance around this.
The rule of thumb is, if characters state "almost or about as strong," there is a difference. If they question it there is none. You either go by that or the debate never ends.
So if Majin Vegeta is stronger than Gohan; how would that work?
SSJ2 Goku and Majin Vegeta were never stated to be equal in 'power'.
Goku stated that they were evenly matched, the same way he was evenly matched with Frieza.
SSJ Goku vs. Frieza proves you can be evenly matched with someone even if you're decently stronger than them.
Majin Vegeta stated he closed the 'large' gap between them the same way 50% Frieza closed the 'large' gap between him and Goku when he powered up to 100%.
So when Frieza closed the 'large' gap there was still a lingering a 30% gap and that was enough for them to be "about equal". Swap pre-Majin Vegeta for 50% Freiza and Majin Vegeta for 100% Frieza and realize how everything falls into place. The only difference is that the gap between SSJ2 Goku and Majin Vegeta is much bigger than that because Frieza almost killed Goku in a fair fight.
All the fighters in these matchups were evenly matched even if one is stronger than the other:
Piccolo vs. 2nd Form Frieza
SSJ Namek Goku vs. 100% Frieza
Piccolo vs. Android 17
Android 16 vs. Imperfect Cell (Post-Absorption)
Perfect Cell (Suppressed) vs. MSSJ Goku
Vegeta (& Trunks) vs. Cell Jr.
Goten vs. Kid Trunks
SSJ2 Goku vs. Majin Vegeta
SSJ3 Gotenks vs. Super Buu
SSJ3 Goku vs. Kid Buu
So they are all about as strong as each other, and in some cases it's clear which one is stronger, like Cell Jr. > Vegeta & Trunks because it was stated the Cell Jr's were toying with the Z Fighters.
Kid Trunks was far away from SSJ2 Goku but he stated with certainty that one of them is stronger than the other, without making it explicit. So the gap was big enough that it left no room for uncertainty.
SSJ Goku/Frieza type-gap should be notable from a distance. But remember, Frieza did much better than Majin Vegeta in their fights so the gap should be a lot bigger.
Conversely, Piccolo was at a short distance away from Majin Vegeta yet he can't differentiate Kid Gohan and Majin Vegeta.
Distance is a very important detail in these comparisons because there's a clear contrast between the power differences;
the SSJ2 Goku/Majin Vegeta gap is unnoticeable to Majin Vegeta,
the SSJ2 Goku/Majin Vegeta gap is obvious to Kid Trunks,
the Kid Gohan/Majin Vegeta gap remains a big question mark to Piccolo.
So according to Piccolo, Majin Vegeta is somewhere around Gohan, that's the only thing he knows for sure. He doesn't know if he's equal, weaker or stronger, because it's vague; he's going off his intuition. He questions if it's stronger the same way Goku questions if SSJ2 Z sword Gohan is stronger than Fat Buu; they wouldn't question if they are equal or weaker because that's not how questioning or doubting works. So just because they questioned if they are stronger doesn't mean the other two are weaker either; it gets negated both ways.
The Kid Gohan/Majin Vegeta difference is unnoticeable. I'd take it a step further and say it doesn't exist. Otherwise Piccolo wouldn't be questioning it, he would just state with certainty that they're "about as strong," like Kid Trunks does.
And this is just based on the distance contrast.
Then you have Majin Vegeta not being able to tell SSJ2 Goku and Kid Gohan apart.
The distance factor coupled with which gap is more evident than the other, we are certain of this:
Kid Trunks's statement (certain) > Majin Vegeta's statement (shock) > Piccolo's statement (unknown)
When you decipher the order in reverse, it translates to either:
Majin Vegeta = Kid Gohan > SSJ2 Goku > Kid Gohan
or
SSJ2 Goku > Kid Gohan = Majin Vegeta
Vegeta wasn't even expecting SSJ2 Goku > Kid Gohan; he was completely taken by surprise when Goku showed his full power in SSJ2, hence why he finds that feat impressive.
Piccolo's statement on the other hand remains an 'unknown', despite the fact Majin Vegeta is right there in front of him which makes the comparison easy to make.
So the biggest gap out of the three is the one Kid Trunks noted.
Another possible interpretation is that Goku wasn't expecting Majin Vegeta to be as strong as the Gohan who fought Perfect Cell, because he lost his rage boost against SPC:
Kid Gohan (rage boosted) = Majin Vegeta (rage boosted) > SSJ2 Goku > Kid Gohan (non-enraged)
For argument's sake, we'll assume Kid Trunks meant Majin Vegeta > SSJ2 Goku by his statement, so either there are two levels of CG Gohan mentioned in these statements or Goku is the stronger one.
This could work if you consider the possibility that the SSJ2 multiplier for Majin Vegeta might be bigger than Goku's.
The biggest takeaway is that there was never a character in DB who stated x is equal to y. That's the most important realization you have to make. It's always "roughly equal", so the closest thing we got to "they are 'exactly' equal" is Piccolo and Goku's statements respective to Majin Vegeta/Kid Gohan and Z Sword Gohan/Fat Buu. The very mechanics and technicalities upon which DB is founded prevents these four from being anything but equal in power level, they will never be proven stronger or weaker.
By arguing Majin Vegeta > Kid Gohan you will ironically end up proving Kid Gohan > Majin Vegeta because there's evidence on both sides that negates either answer. So it's up for debate.
The middle ground is that it's 99.99% certain for Kid Gohan and Majin Vegeta to be equal because the gap between Goku and Majin Vegeta/Kid Gohan is the exact same.
That's the answer you will always get to no matter how many times you dance around this.
The rule of thumb is, if characters state "almost or about as strong," there is a difference. If they question it there is none. You either go by that or the debate never ends.
So if Majin Vegeta is stronger than Gohan; how would that work?
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