Kuririn: The Main Deuteragonist of the Series?

[Piccolo Daimao]

Don't you think that Kuririn is practically the main deuteragonist of the series, even after characters such as Gohan and Vegeta were introduced? I mean, he's basically been there from the beginning, he's the main character's best friend and first schoolmate, seems to get the most character development alongside Gokuu (he goes from being an arrogant cheat to a fully-fledged warrior with a family), and arguably has more complete character arcs than any other character in the series (he gets over his animosity towards Gokuu in one arc of training with him, later grows more out of his cowardly shell, and gets the girlfriend and daughter of his dreams by the end of the series).

Additionally, even though he's not one of the strongest characters in the series nor gets the biggest fights, he's still always been right beside them, even when he's not even fighting the villain(s), and has his own relevance in each of the arcs (in the Cell arc, he has his own subplot concerning #18, and in the Boo arc, he's the only Earthling who accompanies the others to Bobbodi's ground before being turned into stone along with Piccolo).

[Gaffer Tape]

Hmm. I'm fairly inclined to agree with you here. I don't really know if I have anything to add. Well, I guess all I could say is that, in an overall sense, he is, but it certainly varies from arc to arc. In the first arc, he's obviously not, since he wasn't there. In the second arc, he definitely is, but I'd say he doesn't really regain that role again until the Saiyan arc. He's not in the RRA arc much. His role isn't much more substantial than most of the other characters' roles in the 22nd or 23rd arcs. He's dead in the Piccolo arc. But in the Saiyan arc, he definitely regains that status, which increases as the arc goes on. Hell, in the Freeza arc, he's largely the main protagonist in its first half. And I certainly agree with that assessment in the Cell arc too. Boo's a bit iffier. I'm not sure if I'd call him a deuteragonist of that arc, but he certainly has his moments.

[coola]

Kuririn is really great character, despite not being that great fighter (compared to Saiyans, cyborgs, and few space/magical beings) he is the one, that took care of Gohan during Namek events, he rushed to save him, during Nappa attack, he was also the one, that spend most time with Future Trunks helping him, with both destroying Cell tube, and that Perfect Cell is stronger than he seem.

[B]

Nah, everything about the character screams "supporting player" and I like that about him. DB is totally "The Saiyan Show".

[penguintruth]

Gohan.

/thread

[Gaffer Tape]

Well, I have a hard time arguing with that, too, but I'm going to try anyway because, hey, where's the fun in not doing so?

First off, Gohan isn't even part of the series for over three years into its run. In the Saiyan arc, yeah, certainly. I'd say he has better claim to that than Kuririn. And possibly in the Freeza arc, too, but that one's a bit more complicated. Depending on how you classify Goku and Kuririn, Gohan could be any number of things including the main protagonist of that arc (but so could Kuririn). In the Cell arc, I don't think Gohan is important enough until the final fight with Cell to even be considered that, after which he becomes the actual, official protagonist. Now it is possible for a deuteragonist to briefly take over as protagonist, which is indeed what happens, but, then again, it seems he was supposed to actually become the protagonist.

At any rate, I'd say Gohan and Kuririn are pretty neck and neck. Kuririn, I think, has more opportunities where he is or can be, but Gohan has more high profile moments.

[bleed0range]

I actually think the deuteragonist of the series changes depending on what part of the series we're talking about. I'd say it is Kuririn, Gohan and Vegeta at various points.

[jjgp1112]

I think Krillin is the show's George Costanza, that's for sure.

[Piccolo Daimao]

Oh, I also forgot to mention that, despite being treated as Toei's perennial butt-monkey (yes, even moreso than Yamcha, since he, along with Tenshinhan, only appears in two films - DBZ Movie #3 and #9) throughout, he's, like, the only character to appear in all of the DBZ films. That's even when frontrunners like Gokuu, Gohan, Piccolo and Vegeta aren't there (e.g. DBZ Movie #10 - even if his role was more like a cameo made to poke fun at the continuous "Piccolo saves Gohan" scenes in the previous films - and DBZ Movie #11). Even when he's not fighting, he's always there, an ever-present charater, even if just in the background, to fight henchmen and root on the main protagonist and/or current big-billing fighter (for the former - Gokuu and Gohan interchangeably; for the latter - Gokuu, Gohan, Piccolo, Vegeta, or Trunks).

Oh, and when I was talking about Kuririn in the Boo arc - no, he's not so much a deuteragonist or even particularly relevant there, but he still gets to go along with the Super Saiyans, Piccolo, Kaioushin and Kibito when they're following Spopovich and Yamu, and eventually lay eyes on Bobbodi, Dabra, and later Boo. Yeah, he's turned to stone along with Piccolo, and doesn't even get a subplot like his one with #18 in the Cell arc, but he's still, y'know, there, to make relatively valid comments on the events at hand.

Apart from Gokuu and Yamcha, when people think of characters that have been there from the beginning and still maintained relevance throughout the series, it's Kuririn that comes up. From the second arc up to the final arc, he's been there, right by Gokuu's side, fighting the bad guys with him, and he's often represented as the "everyman", or the character in the series that we're most meant to identify with. He's neither the strongest nor the weakest, he's almost always thrown into things where he's in over his head, and he's got one of the most human personalities and desires out of all the characters in the series. He just wants to get stronger, have a girlfriend, marry her, and settle down with a child. And he succeeds. He completes his character arc in a better way than any of the other characters, even better than Vegeta at the end of his "Gokuu is #1" speech during Gokuu's battle with Pure Boo.

Anyway, what was my point here? Yeah, just that Kuririn seems to be given a whole lot of attention for just a "supporting player". Saiyans, and furthermore, Super Saiyans, don't even hog the spotlight until Z (yeah, remember everything that happened before that, guys, before Vegeta came onto the scene?). Apart from Gokuu, of course; DB was always his story, that's undeniable. But I think there's a very good argument for Kuririn being the main deuteragonist of the series. Gohan might take over around the Saiyan arc, or the Freeza arc, but Kuririn's been in the game longer than he has.

[Puto]

Oh, I also forgot to mention that, despite being treated as Toei's perennial butt-monkey (yes, even moreso than Yamcha, since he, along with Tenshinhan, only appears in two films - DBZ Movie #3 and #9) throughout, he's, like, the only character to appear in all of the DBZ films. That's even when frontrunners like Gokuu

Gokū is in *every* DB movie, including 11 (even if just a cameo at the end while he's stuffing his face).

[Piccolo Daimao]

Oh, I also forgot to mention that, despite being treated as Toei's perennial butt-monkey (yes, even moreso than Yamcha, since he, along with Tenshinhan, only appears in two films - DBZ Movie #3 and #9) throughout, he's, like, the only character to appear in all of the DBZ films. That's even when frontrunners like Gokuu

Gokū is in *every* DB movie, including 11 (even if just a cameo at the end while he's stuffing his face).

I guess I should clarify by saying that he doesn't always have an actual "frontrunner" role in every DB film. In DBZ Movie #10, he just appears at the end to help Gohan and Goten defeat Broli, and afterwards, no-one's even sure whether or not he was actually there (I know, he probably was, Broli saw him too and all, but the film itself left it up in the air). In DBZ Movie 11, like you said, he has that short gag cameo where he's stuffing his face and decides to fight a destructive Broli in Hell until afterwards. But in at least DBZ Movie #11, Kuririn has a larger role than Gokuu, since we see him actually fight the villain alongside Goten and Trunks (and #18 - I don't think Mr. Satan did anything other than cower, though).

But, as far as the films went, he lasted longer than Piccolo, who dropped out completely after #9, and appeared in both #5 and #10, where Vegeta was absent too.

[DBZAOTA482]

Piccolo Daimao certainly knows what's up, Kuririn's had Goku's back since day 1.