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When people think of the major players of the Cell Arc, those that immediately come to mind are Gohan, Goku, Future Trunks, Vegeta and Cell. When you think about it though, Future Gohan may be one of the most important characters to the arc's narrative, despite only appearing in one spinoff chapter as well as a TV Special and filler scene of the manga and anime respectively during their original run.
Leaving aside matters such as him being the one to train Trunks and help bring out his Super Saiyan power, there's the differences between him and his other timeline self. Leaving aside their differences in personality and goals due to differing experiences, one failed in their task (beyond some vicarious success in passing their hope to Trunks) whereas the other succeeded. Even with the obvious of one knowing about the Rosat whereas the other didn't, it's made apparent Gohan wouldn't have been thrust into the position to unleash his latent power or fight back against SPC if not for Goku's teachings and encouragement, which ties into the initial premise of the arc in that a future without Goku to help save it (or prepare someone to help fill that role) is doomed.
Perhaps the most important aspect of Future Gohan though is his death and the domino effect it caused. It's apparent the time machine only became an option due to his death. Had he acquired the strength to have beaten #17 and #18 at the time or waited until he definitely had, then that means no time machine, which in turn means Cell would just ravage the future timeline if Gohan and Trunks weren't yet at a level to stop him. It was thereby necessary for Future Gohan to die to bring peace to both timelines, as well as very fitting narratively that the death and failure of one Gohan led to a Gohan eventually saving the world and assuring peace for both timelines.
Leaving aside matters such as him being the one to train Trunks and help bring out his Super Saiyan power, there's the differences between him and his other timeline self. Leaving aside their differences in personality and goals due to differing experiences, one failed in their task (beyond some vicarious success in passing their hope to Trunks) whereas the other succeeded. Even with the obvious of one knowing about the Rosat whereas the other didn't, it's made apparent Gohan wouldn't have been thrust into the position to unleash his latent power or fight back against SPC if not for Goku's teachings and encouragement, which ties into the initial premise of the arc in that a future without Goku to help save it (or prepare someone to help fill that role) is doomed.
Perhaps the most important aspect of Future Gohan though is his death and the domino effect it caused. It's apparent the time machine only became an option due to his death. Had he acquired the strength to have beaten #17 and #18 at the time or waited until he definitely had, then that means no time machine, which in turn means Cell would just ravage the future timeline if Gohan and Trunks weren't yet at a level to stop him. It was thereby necessary for Future Gohan to die to bring peace to both timelines, as well as very fitting narratively that the death and failure of one Gohan led to a Gohan eventually saving the world and assuring peace for both timelines.
