Orin Temple Monks

[Toadster]

What's the deal with these guys? Krillin was bullied by them, and he wanted to be trained by Master Roshi to become stronger than them. However, Krillin already appears to be a super human by the time he arrives at Master Roshi. Would that mean that the Orin Temple Monks are super humans as well? For the record, I consider any human that has at least beginning of Dragon Ball Goku comparable strength to be super human.

[DragonBalllKaiHD]

Not all humans have superhuman strength.

Kuririn's buddies are martial artists. They are just a little stronger than him at the beginning.

[Toadster]

I just find it surprising that someone could bully Krillin whom we see have exceptional strength... not even the best martial artists could hurt Krillin if he's that much more powerful. I suppose it's possible Krillin wasn't that strong, but traveling to Master Roshi's made him very powerful...

[Saiga]

I don't think Goku or Kuririn were superhuman (by Dragon Ball standards) until after their training with Roshi. So it isn't surprising to me that the older students would bully him.

[In Brightest Day]

From what I remember, Bulma freaked out when Goku survived a bullet to the head. It seems to me that he had fairly abnormal strength right from the start.

[Toadster]

Mr. Satan's supposed to be the strongest regular human there is (after Videl) and he's nowhere near as strong as beginning of DB Goku.

[Saiga]

From what I remember, Bulma freaked out when Goku survived a bullet to the head. It seems to me that he had fairly abnormal strength right from the start.

Yeah, I remember that, though I always chalked that up to being a Saiyan because I'm pretty sure there are later scenes where Roshi and Kurilin get wounded by bullets (from Lunch).

[Makaioshin]

I just find it surprising that someone could bully Krillin whom we see have exceptional strength... not even the best martial artists could hurt Krillin if he's that much more powerful. I suppose it's possible Krillin wasn't that strong, but traveling to Master Roshi's made him very powerful...

It isn't that surprising given the amount of exceptionally strong humans we have seen throughout the story. Many much, much stronger that come out of nowhere.

[Herms]

Does Kuririn really do that much that'd qualify as superhuman during that point in the story? It's clear he's considerably weaker than Goku. He survives being shot by Lunch, but it's basically just a gag scene, and he's scared of fighting armed policemen. He runs at an Olympic level, which is obviously impressive but by definition still within real world standards, and Kame-sennin flat-out says that he (and the much faster Goku) haven't surpassed the "human wall" yet. Axes break on Goku's head, but Kuririn is scared by Lunch chasing him with a knife (though I guess you could say this is also a gag). He beats...what was it, a saber tooth tiger? Which I think is the most impressive thing he does before being trained by Kame-sennin. But then he hides from the triceratops rather than fight it. He did train at Oorin Temple for 8 years, so he's obviously no newbie, but by DB Earth standards he's probably nothing too special. Not compared to Namu, Chapa, or even Pan-Poot.

[DragonBalllKaiHD]

Pan-Poot? What an odd name.

[FNF]

Pan-Poot is a bawwws.

[Piccolo Daimao]

How did Kuririn appear to be a superhuman before his training with Kame-sennin? You mean the part where Lunch shot at him, Gokuu and Kame-sennin, and they all survived with little pain? Yeah, that was a gag scene. It’s not meant to be taken seriously as a feat.

And I believe that Kame-sennin said Gokuu and Kuririn only broke past the wall of normal human limits until after his training. So not even Gokuu, with his non-gag bullet-tanking durability, was superhuman yet, in Roushi’s eyes. He may’ve just been at the peak of human ability.

[Toadster]

Gag or not, Krillin was already able to kill sabre tooth tigers, run incredibly fast, and tank bullets. Although the latter is obvious gag, it's still a bit reinforced.

Krillin being cowardly from the start doesn't make him less powerful. He began a coward and hesitant to fight, and later developed into a brave, noble character.

Also, of course Roshi is going to push Goku and Krillin to be the best they can be. Obviously there's some super humans out there, but by the time the Cell and Buu sagas roles around, it's pretty much inconceivable to every common citizen on Earth that Mr. Satan could be surpassed. By all means, Mr. Satan is the strongest average human, but we know that there are stronger humans out there. That shows me that super humans, although common in Dragon Ball, are not so common as to oppose Mr. Satan. Hell, everyone freaks the hell out when they see someone flying... did everyone forget about King Piccolo? The 21st, 22nd, and 23rd tournaments? People should have been aware that there are people out there that can jump insanely high, move at super fast speeds, and destroy normally durable objects easily.

My point is, by Dragon Ball Z standards, beginning of Dragon Ball Goku and Krillin are easily super human. Mr. Satan can't tank a bullet and everyone freaks out when he's defeated (though he convinces them it's a fluke). Videl is convinced he's the strongest human alive. Characters like Nam, Bora, General Blue, King Chappa... people with above average strength have disappeared. And seeing as how the Orin Temple Monks could best Krillin, whom was "super human" to a degree, the Orin Temple Monks should be super themselves. They could probably easily defeat someone like Videl and Mr. Satan and posess phenomenal strength... something unheard of by the time Mr. Satan enters the picture.

[NANLIT]

Was the Orin Temple in the same city that Nappa destroyed when he and Vegeta arrived on Earth? Those people weren't revived by the Dragon Balls so if the Orin Temple was there, it ceased to exist after Nappa destroyed it.

[penguintruth]

I wonder what Kuririn's life was like before he joined the Orin Temple. I imagine he still has family.

Though it would be funny if Kuririn's parents were killed by somebody voiced by Ryusei Nakao.

[caejones]

Being at peak human condition should be enough to tank a few bullets, as do Roshi and Kuririn.
Goku's head is apparently the hardest object in the universe next to stuff made from kachin.

The Orin Temple Monks could probably beat Mr. Satan and start-of-series Yamcha, is I guess what I'm saying. So they'd give start-of-series goku trouble, but he could probably beat them.
It's worth noting that Kuririn, while probably outmatched while at the temple, probably had as many psychological barriers holding him back from defending himself.

[Piccolo Daimao]

Gag or not, Krillin was already able to kill sabre tooth tigers, run incredibly fast, and tank bullets. Although the latter is obvious gag, it's still a bit reinforced.

Krillin being cowardly from the start doesn't make him less powerful. He began a coward and hesitant to fight, and later developed into a brave, noble character.

Also, of course Roshi is going to push Goku and Krillin to be the best they can be. Obviously there's some super humans out there, but by the time the Cell and Buu sagas roles around, it's pretty much inconceivable to every common citizen on Earth that Mr. Satan could be surpassed. By all means, Mr. Satan is the strongest average human, but we know that there are stronger humans out there. That shows me that super humans, although common in Dragon Ball, are not so common as to oppose Mr. Satan. Hell, everyone freaks the hell out when they see someone flying... did everyone forget about King Piccolo? The 21st, 22nd, and 23rd tournaments? People should have been aware that there are people out there that can jump insanely high, move at super fast speeds, and destroy normally durable objects easily.

My point is, by Dragon Ball Z standards, beginning of Dragon Ball Goku and Krillin are easily super human. Mr. Satan can't tank a bullet and everyone freaks out when he's defeated (though he convinces them it's a fluke). Videl is convinced he's the strongest human alive. Characters like Nam, Bora, General Blue, King Chappa... people with above average strength have disappeared. And seeing as how the Orin Temple Monks could best Krillin, whom was "super human" to a degree, the Orin Temple Monks should be super themselves. They could probably easily defeat someone like Videl and Mr. Satan and posess phenomenal strength... something unheard of by the time Mr. Satan enters the picture.

And despite all this, Kame-sennin only classes them as having broken past the wall of normal human ability after they've undergone his training.

So that makes me think that Gokuu and Kuririn before Kame-sennin's training would probably count as superhuman in our world, but not the Dragon Ball world. So "peak of human ability, but not yet superhuman ability" works for me. Which isn't so much of a farfetched assumption, considering how wacky it is, with anthropomorphic sword-wielding bears, as well as the fact that Dragon Ball originated as a gag manga with little to no established limits, and then Toriyama just built it up from there.

[Toadster]

The thing is, by the time the Cell saga comes around, it's pretty much implied that the Dragon Ball world has become like our world, at least to the common citizens. No one knows about creatures that can jump 50 feet in the air, creatures that can survive a bullet, fly, or move faster than what is humanly possible.

You can take Roshi's statement literally, but even in the canon of the story's world, Goku has far surpassed any normal human the first time he was shown on a panel. No average human in Dragon Ball is "super" compared to real world humans, that's why they freak out whenever they see people who can tank a bullet, move super fast, and hit absurdly hard.

[DoomieDoomie911]

The older students that were picking on him had probably been training a lot longer than he had, besides he was a lot younger. I really don't think that Kuririn had super human strength when he met Kame-sennin.

[In Brightest Day]

Goku (and Yamcha, on a related note) being superhuman in our world but peak human within Dragonball would work for me, but Mr. Satan being killed by a bullet pretty much ruins that theory, IMO.