Will Chiaotsu ever be relevant in Dragon Ball again?

[DestructoDisc]

He stopped being relevant after the Saiyan saga which was always really dissapointing to me. I liked Chiaotsu, and i always wanted to know more about him. Is he human? Why does he look like a clown? How old is he? Will he ever get a girlfriend? At least Yamcha kept appearing in Super and even had an episode dedicated to him (the baseball one). Did Chiaotsu even talk in Dragon Ball Super? I know he appeared in some episodes but i don't remember him talking.

[Vegeta_Sama]

Naaah. It's a rare event finding someone who likes the pale midget.

[Dragon Ball Gus]

Are you high or something?

[TheBigBoy]

You can bet your bottom dollar

[omaro34]

If Tenshinhan is regarded as a joke after his pathetic performance in the ToP, how can Chiautzo be relevant since all he does is follow Tien around?

Never happening in a million years. He wasn't even considered as one of the ten fighters for universe 7.

[KBABZ]

Honestly Chiaotzu ceased to be relevant after Daimao killed him during his wish recital.

[sintzu]

Are you high or something?

This.

He was only relevant once which was against Krillin back in the 22nd Tenkaichi so there's 0 chance of him becoming so after all that's happened, especially with more important characters like Piccolo and Gohan rarely getting anything.

[Gyt Kaliba]

Honestly Chiaotzu ceased to be relevant after Daimao killed him during his wish recital.

An argument could even be made that he stopped being relevant after his fight with Kuririn. That was like, literally the only real fight we got to see him in (he pretty much just popped in and blew himself up on Nappa without really doing much 'fighting' prior to that), and also the only time he had any semblance of personality that wasn't 'Tenshinhan! Tenshinhan!'.

I mean, no offense to any fans of the guy, but...I honestly feel like the only reason the character doesn't catch as much crap and isn't the butt of as many jokes as Kuririn and Yamcha do/are, is because at least they're there to put in appearances that may leave some fans feeling like they were ineffective. Chiaotzu doesn't even get that. And it's a shame really, because utilized better back when he was introduced, he probably could have been a pretty fun character. But that time is long, looooonnnngg past now, sadly.

Though, uh, he gets used in an interesting way in the 'That Time I Was Reincarnated as Yamcha' spinoff manga, so there's that? I guess?

[KBABZ]

Honestly Chiaotzu ceased to be relevant after Daimao killed him during his wish recital.

An argument could even be made that he stopped being relevant after his fight with Kuririn. That was like, literally the only real fight we got to see him in (he pretty much just popped in and blew himself up on Nappa without really doing much 'fighting' prior to that), and also the only time he had any semblance of personality that wasn't 'Tenshinhan! Tenshinhan!'.

Very good point, he's Bulma to Tien's Goku, if that makes sense. He's there to worry, and any time Tien DOES make an appearance (say, the Buu saga) Tien says he told his bud to stay behind because it's too dangerous.

You brought up a good point too, Chiao had a very different moveset even in the face of Tien, having mystical non-physical moves like the stomach paralysis that would have given him a Krillin-like quality.

[Gyt Kaliba]

You brought up a good point too, Chiao had a very different moveset even in the face of Tien, having mystical non-physical moves like the stomach paralysis that would have given him a Krillin-like quality.

Exactly. If they'd done some more focus on his psychic powers being different from ki powers so-to-speak, and given him more neat tricks to do with them, then that could have made him stand out more. It also would have helped if they'd had him keep his 'little shit' personality he had towards others at first, especially if that was shown as completely different from how he was with Tenshinhan. Kuririn is the original 'little shit' personality character for the series of course, but by the time of the 23rd Budokai, he'd kind of grown out of that, so leaving that to Chiaotzu would have been another way to help him stand out.

[DBZAOTA482]

Again?! Chiaotzu was never relevant to begin with.

He only existed as a prop for Tien and to show Krillin's progression as a fighter.

[Logania]

The real question is, "has Chiaotzu EVER been relevant?"

Take him out of the series and essentially nothing will change. Poor midget boy, even more useless than Oolong.

[KBABZ]

The real question is, "has Chiaotzu EVER been relevant?"

Take him out of the series and essentially nothing will change. Poor midget boy, even more useless than Oolong.

I disagree, he was a great foil to Krillin for a while there, and in particular he was somewhat crucial in getting Tsuru disgraced by being threatened to be killed. It's at that moment in particular that Tsuru becomes wholly iredeemable as a character and he self-implodes at that moment. He has no friends, no allies, and surrounds himself with rage and disgust. Cue exit, Kamehameha Left.

[Kunzait_83]

Chaozu WAS a very promising character with loads of potential. His fight with Kuririn in the 22nd Budokai is still a hoot, and his role in the story that early back left plenty of room for him to hang around as a major member of the cast. But as was already noted, that ship has long, long-since sailed unfortunately. He's got a great design and style of fighting and his personality in his debut story arc was great fun... but its been SO long since anything of note has been done with him, that suddenly having him brought to the fore this late in the game runs the risk of feeling sort of forced and like almost something of a non-sequitur.

Even Yamucha suddenly making a comeback has more genuine precedence to it. Muten Roshi coming back to fighting in Super was certainly a stretch in itself... but certainly not to near the same degree that it would be having Chaozu suddenly make a grand return to the front of the line.

I genuinely like the little guy (in a non-ironic way), and I still really like his earlier appearances when he was more of a prominent character: but the opportunity to develop him further is well long past sadly. File this one under "would've, could've, should've".

If they'd done some more focus on his psychic powers being different from ki powers so-to-speak, and given him more neat tricks to do with them, then that could have made him stand out more.

For the record, Ki powers throughout Wuxia lore DO indeed grant fighters all the same psychic-like abilities that Chaozu demonstrates: from telekinesis to even limited mind reading (which we see both Goku and Muten Roshi do in the series). Telekinesis in particular is one of the most common and basic forms of Ki manipulation across all Wuxia fiction, even much more so than energy blasts.

I'm not entirely knocking your idea mind you: just having Chaozu be a fighter who specifically relies on/specializes in a fighting style where telekinesis is his front and center main focus would in and of itself do quite a LOT to make him stand out as a fighter from the others. But you wouldn't necessarily HAVE to "differentiate" its nature/origins from Ki, since its such a common and baked-in part of Ki manipulation throughout both Dragon Ball and general Wuxia media already.

I liked Chiaotsu, and i always wanted to know more about him. Is he human? Why does he look like a clown?

His design isn't based on a clown's: he's modeled after Jiangshi, a type of Chinese vampire (who feed off of a person's Ki rather than their blood to survive) commonplace throughout Chinese horror and folklore, including throughout Wuxia/martial arts fantasy fiction.








(Like so much else from Wuxia lore, this is not at all obscure or super geeky trivia in Eastern regions: the above are depictions of Jiangshi taken from all kinds of cheap, cheesy, generic drugstore and novelty shop-bought Halloween decorations found all throughout China and Southeast Asia in general: Jiangshi are as mainstream among regular mom and pop normal everyday folks within that part of the world as Universal Monsters like Frankenstein and Dracula and The Wolfman are over here in the U.S./Western regions.)

There's no indication in DB itself that Chaozu is ACTUALLY an in-universe Jiangshi himself (though that'd certainly be cool, and I'd be for that): but that's absolutely and 100% unquestionably what Toriyama was predicating his whole look off of. I'd likely chalk this up to all the absurd amounts of Wuxia films the guy was taking in while writing/drawing this stuff: Jiangshi have always been fairly ubiquitous in more horror-slanted Wuxia films, all the more so especially throughout the 80s and early 90s, when there was something of a then-popular fad for Jiangshi-centric movies all throughout Chinese and Asian cinema (along with Wuxia films, TV shows, and books/comics blending other foreign genre-tropes with it like cheesy Sci Fi: hmmmmm...).

If Chaozu WERE established within DB as a full-on Jiangshi, that'd certainly make for yet ANOTHER way to differentiate him as a fighter apart from the psychic stuff: making him able to suck/siphon Ki from his opponents to make himself stronger.

[KBABZ]

If Chaozu WERE established within DB as a full-on Jiangshi, that'd certainly make for yet ANOTHER way to differentiate him as a fighter apart from the psychic stuff: making him able to suck/siphon Ki from his opponents to make himself stronger.

For some reason I now imagine him and Fangs the Vampire from Baba being fierce rivals, with Fangs usurping Chiaotzu's spot in Baba's lineup and he's all high and mighty about it.

[Vijay]

He stopped being relevant after the Saiyan saga which was always really dissapointing to me. I liked Chiaotsu, and i always wanted to know more about him. Is he human? Why does he look like a clown? How old is he? Will he ever get a girlfriend? At least Yamcha kept appearing in Super and even had an episode dedicated to him (the baseball one). Did Chiaotsu even talk in Dragon Ball Super? I know he appeared in some episodes but i don't remember him talking.

You know...I seriously giggled when I read "is he a human? Why does he look like a clown. Will he ever get a girlfriend

Dude's clown design seems more like joker reference.

He's to Tien as what Krill's been to Goku....uh I know it sounds weird, but actually a waifu

Chiaotzu really cares for Tien

Dafuq he needs a waifu. Where is he gonna find a girlfriend or wife? Like its not Bleach we're talkin about where we got 50+ weird looking masked gangstas lurking around & Chaotzu can pick one...

I really wish Toriyama utilized him better cuz his role & character in 22nd TB was.....eerie & mysterious to the core

[Gyt Kaliba]

If they'd done some more focus on his psychic powers being different from ki powers so-to-speak, and given him more neat tricks to do with them, then that could have made him stand out more.

For the record, Ki powers throughout Wuxia lore DO indeed grant fighters all the same psychic-like abilities that Chaozu demonstrates: from telekinesis to even limited mind reading (which we see both Goku and Muten Roshi do in the series). Telekinesis in particular is one of the most common and basic forms of Ki manipulation across all Wuxia fiction, even much more so than energy blasts.

I'm not entirely knocking your idea mind you: just having Chaozu be a fighter who specifically relies on/specializes in a fighting style where telekinesis is his front and center main focus would in and of itself do quite a LOT to make him stand out as a fighter from the others. But you wouldn't necessarily HAVE to "differentiate" its nature/origins from Ki, since its such a common and baked-in part of Ki manipulation throughout both Dragon Ball and general Wuxia media already.

Very true, and I could have phrased that a lot better. Generally speaking, the psychic powers in DB are never really presented any differently from ki techniques in-series, even when they're met with surprise by other characters (I'd assume that's more so a case of 'oh shit, this guy can DO that?' rather than full-on surprise that the skills exist?). It was very much more in the vein of having Chiaotzu focus on that style of fighting to help him stand out more that I was referring to.

I guess in a sad way, part of it could be attributed to the power creep that certainly began to take more and more of a hold in the series once the 'Z' portion arrived. Even with that though, at least Tenshinhan and Kuririn both got moments to do things in the Androids arc (Yamcha too, to...some...degree?) even after having 'peaked' during the Saiyan/Freeza material, whereas Chiaotzu basically stopped doing anything but sideline commentary after Nappa. He was introduced at the same time as Tenshinhan but Ten at least got to do stuff despite the power creep, so I can't put the blame solely on that either though.

His design isn't based on a clown's: he's modeled after Jiangshi, a type of Chinese vampire (who feed off of a person's Ki rather than their blood to survive) commonplace throughout Chinese horror and folklore, including throughout Wuxia/martial arts fantasy fiction.

If Chaozu WERE established within DB as a full-on Jiangshi, that'd certainly make for yet ANOTHER way to differentiate him as a fighter apart from the psychic stuff: making him able to suck/siphon Ki from his opponents to make himself stronger.

I was aware of the Jiangshi inspirations, and was aware that they were a type of vampire, but somehow I'd never heard about the feeding off of ki before. That's really interesting.

...I guess if he were actually a Jiangshi, it could help explain for some how Tenshinhan never manages to surpass Kuririn, despite training nigh-constantly. Guess he really should've been training with someone else after all.

[8000 Saiyan]

I really doubt it and besides, did he ever really do anything important in the series?

[Saturnine]

Well, the fact that he's actually weaker than Yamcha doesn't really help much

Then again, he's been training with Tien all this time and Yamcha hasn't, this isn't even certain, lol

[KBABZ]

Even against Nappa his signature technique of the stomach paralysis was outright stated to not work, meaning the power creep overpowers his technique at that stage in the story.