I'm fine with the ending we got as it wasn't as simple as "Goku saves the day" when it required everyone on Earth, Namek and the afterlife to pitch in for the ultimate contribution as well as a first-hand effort on Vegeta and Good Boo's part. If I had to pick an alternative though, it would have to be Gotenks. The next generation were set up as a big deal throughout the arc, more so Goten and Trunks due to Gohan slacking off, and Gotenks had a bit more of a personal stake than the others with his fusees being with Vegeta before his sacrifice, being taught fusion by Goku, Goten witnessing Boo kill his mother and it being through Gotenks' showboating that everyone at the Heavenly Realm bar Dende were eaten.
The fan favourite idea of Gohan being the hero is honestly the weakest route. It would've ended up just being a reiteration of the Cell Arc's message and add little new to the table and the direction taken with Ultimate Gohan showed a lot of problems. Him apparently losing his gentle nature and acting very tryhard in the cool factor of him was one of the few instances in Z where I'd agree with the notion of a new direction taken with a character being a character rewrite as it actively took away the aspects of Gohan that made him his own character. It does illustrate quite well why Toriyama said he didn't consider Gohan as someone to carry a story as a protagonist as his defining character traits make him someone who doesn't really seek battle unless the situation calls for it, compared to the more active attitude Goten and Trunks had.
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