When people say he looks like a doll I assume they're referring to Kokeshi; the traditional Japanese dolls.10gigtriforce wrote: ↑Fri Jan 17, 2020 11:14 am I doubt it, aside from them being co-students at the crain dojo and becoming best bros there, chiaotzu looks way too much like a kid. Like i get hes old technically, and based off of those weird doll things but he looks 11.
Chaozu, in actuality, is inspired by the Jiangshi (Chinese zombie or vampire); a resurrected human. They're usually depicted with pale white, green or blue skin and wearing Hanfu clothing (Ancient Chinese clothing; think the Qing Dynasty.)
They also may or may not have the polka dots on their face or the talisman on their Qing Guanmao (the circular traditional Chinese hat with the ball on top, Gohan and Empreror Pilaf also wear one). For the fighting game fans there's Hsien-Ko from Dark Stalkers.
Around the time Chaozu debuted there was a Jiangshi movie craze in East Asia, namely Mr. Vampire (1985-86):
So when you see Chaozu stick out his hands to activate his Paralysis ability it's actually a homage to the trademark Jiangshi stance:
It's also the reason why he constantly floats above the ground instead of standing 99% of the time since Jiangshi tend to levitate.
If you take his design at face value you could infer that he was resurrected at some point in his youth which would explain why he never ages even by the time of GT, it would also explain his childish behavior. With those plausibility's in mind I can't help but wonder about his and Tenshinhan's backstory and how they met. I can't see them as anything more than having a brotherly bond since it's actually pretty damn possible (considering how many mythical elements already exist in the Dragon World and given how on the nose his design is) that he's technically still a kid that just physically can't age.
