Krillin "retiring" from fighting not getting much complaints

[precita]

Why don't people complain that Krillin has essentially retired from fighting in the same manner that Gohan has? Sure we saw him right Freeza's soldiers in the movie, but aside from that, it seems Krillin is pretty much done.

Even in the Boo arc he was pretty much left on the sidelines, immediately turned to stone when Babidi arrived and then didn't get to do much if/any fighting against Boo, and what little he did was filler fights added by TOEI. And for the entire span of Super he's not participated in any fights outside the Freeza henchmen.

Why are people OK with Krillin retiring from fighting when he's one of the series most important characters, yet are complaining that others get sidelined?

[LordCrumb]

Krillin is a human and has probably reached his maximum power... that's why. He's also not that important anymore.. much like Piccolo and Tien. The others have surpassed them so much and so have the enemies.

Gohan is a Saiyan who could have almost unlimited power like his father.

[MozillaVulpix]

At least Krillin always showed up. He knew he was outclassed, but he still showed up to help fight. It gives you a lot of respect for him.

To be fair, we don't know if Gohan will show up later to this arc, but so far, it doesn't look like he will.

[omaro34]

Because Krillin was never very powerful to begin with. He was always outclassed by villains from a very early part of the series.

You get complaints with Gohan because he's a Saiyan with so much potential and the foreshadowing early in Z really showed that.

You get some complaints even from Piccolo fans because he did keep up with the Saiyans in strength for a good while. He was the strongest when he first fused with Kami and went to Gingertown.

[Cure Dragon 255]

That's YAMCHA, Krillin could actually give Goku a run for his money for most of the first half of Dragon Ball.

[Nejishiki]

To be fair to Kuririn, he has completed his primary motive for learning martial arts and that was to get married! Of course, after that, he's always been willing to help just as Gohan is. It's no surprise that the two quickly became friends as they're both crime-fighters and share similar opinions about times of peace. Their motives for battle primarily lie in light competition and protection. They aren't into the self-improvement philosophy of martial arts like Goku, Tenshinhan, Piccolo, and other warriors of similar ilk are. That should be okay. Everyone has their own reasons and take within their unique lessons from fighting in the entire series. It's made them who they are for the better or worse. As for the complaints, well, that's all situational.

[Kunzait_83]

To be fair to Kuririn, he has completed his primary motive for learning martial arts and that was to get married! Of course, after that, he's always been willing to help just as Gohan is. It's no surprise that the two quickly became friends as they're both crime-fighters and share similar opinions about times of peace. Their motives for battle primarily lie in light competition and protection. They aren't into the self-improvement philosophy of martial arts like Goku, Tenshinhan, Piccolo, and other warriors of similar ilk are. That should be okay. Everyone has their own reasons and take within their unique lessons from fighting in the entire series. It's made them who they are for the better or worse. As for the complaints, well, that's all situational.

I think Kuririn cared a fair bit more about martial arts for self-improvement than Gohan ever did, though he's certainly not as dedicated to it as the others are and even before he got married he seemed to have much more of a "regular life" outside of training (ironic, considering his Shaolin monk background). He certainly took the competitiveness throughout original DB (and early Z) FAR more seriously than Gohan would've had he been around back then.

Kuririn may have settled down and retired by the Boo arc, but he poured a LOT of his life into martial arts up till then completely by choice. Finding a wife played a big role in things for sure, but I don't think it was 100% central (despite how much he talks about it). He's always genuinely loved martial arts and training and competing against the others in a way that Gohan rarely ever did. Gohan from moment one was dragged kicking and screaming into that life and found himself forcibly thrust into a lot of fights and situations that Kuririn back in the old days would've had few problems diving head first into.

I think Kuririn's definitely in a middle ground somewhere between the two extremes of a Goku and a Gohan. He's not going to live like a hermit in the mountains pouring every waking moment into training like Piccolo or Tenshinhan (again, ironic considering where he came from), but that certainly doesn't mean that pre-retirement he didn't care a whole lot about his training and growth as a martial artist: its definitely a MUCH bigger part of his makeup than it ever was Gohan's.

[Puto]

Small nitpick, but "Toei" is not an acronym (it's technically short for Tokyo Eiga, though nobody actually calls them that anymore--their original name was "Tokyo Eiga Haikyuu"). It shouldn't be written in all-caps.

[Nejishiki]

I think Kuririn cared a fair bit more about martial arts for self-improvement than Gohan ever did, though he's certainly not as dedicated to it as the others are and even before he got married he seemed to have much more of a "regular life" outside of training (ironic, considering his Shaolin monk background). He certainly took the competitiveness throughout original DB (and early Z) FAR more seriously than Gohan would've had he been around back then.

Kuririn may have settled down and retired by the Boo arc, but he poured a LOT of his life into martial arts up till then completely by choice. Finding a wife played a big role in things for sure, but I don't think it was 100% central (despite how much he talks about it). He's always genuinely loved martial arts and training and competing against the others in a way that Gohan rarely ever did. Gohan from moment one was dragged kicking and screaming into that life and found himself forcibly thrust into a lot of fights and situations that Kuririn back in the old days would've had few problems diving head first into.

I think Kuririn's definitely in a middle ground somewhere between the two extremes of a Goku and a Gohan. He's not going to live like a hermit in the mountains pouring every waking moment into training like Piccolo or Tenshinhan (again, ironic considering where he came from), but that certainly doesn't mean that pre-retirement he didn't care a whole lot about his training and growth as a martial artist: its definitely a MUCH bigger part of his makeup than it ever was Gohan's.

Great points all around. Perhaps I oversimplified it a bit, but you gathered where I was going with the similarities. They're there, but it's not exact like a science. On the subject of competitiveness, I agree that Kuririn took it more seriously. Gohan, in comparison, only found his own fun with competing after Videl coerced him into joining the Tenkaichi Budoukai. That was mainly reuniting with his father and friends in a get-together. He even finds it fun to provide his little brother pointers about fighting. So, to correct my interpretation, Gohan enjoys lighthearted competition while Kuririn will give it 100% effort and attempt to be at his best possible form. It's a part of his own pride in his upbringing and enjoying the teachings of Turtle Hermit helping him grow as an individual. Gohan was introduced into the world of fighting in the worst possible way. While he did attempt to maintain some of its values when he was his own free man, his dedication towards it dwindled as he approached closer to his personal aspirations. That was a clever catch with Kuririn serving as a bridge to both extremes.

[Baggie_Saiyan]

At least Krillin always showed up. He knew he was outclassed, but he still showed up to help fight. It gives you a lot of respect for him.

To be fair, we don't know if Gohan will show up later to this arc, but so far, it doesn't look like he will.

I don't think they were going to dedicate a whole ep to Gohan if he was going show up again. Gohan not even knowing why Trunks is back pretty much seals he's not gonna show up again.

[Kunzait_83]

Great points all around. Perhaps I oversimplified it a bit, but you gathered where I was going with the similarities. They're there, but it's not exact like a science. On the subject of competitiveness, I agree that Kuririn took it more seriously. Gohan, in comparison, only found his own fun with competing after Videl coerced him into joining the Tenkaichi Budoukai. That was mainly reuniting with his father and friends in a get-together. He even finds it fun to provide his little brother pointers about fighting. So, to correct my interpretation, Gohan enjoys lighthearted competition while Kuririn will give it 100% effort and attempt to be at his best possible form. It's a part of his own pride in his upbringing and enjoying the teachings of Turtle Hermit helping him grow as an individual. Gohan was introduced into the world of fighting in the worst possible way. While he did attempt to maintain some of its values when he was his own free man, his dedication towards it dwindled as he approached closer to his personal aspirations. That was a clever catch with Kuririn serving as a bridge to both extremes.

Also worth bringing up: in both GT and Super there are scenes where a retired Kuririn shoots the shit happily and nostalgically about the old days with Goku; and in GT they have a friendly sparring match while in Super Kuririn eagerly wants to see how well he can still take a punch from Goku since the gap in their skills has widened so much. All of these are characteristics of someone who clearly still (to a substantial degree) cares a great deal about martial arts and has a very deep, deep love for it still even after retiring from it. This is a pretty far cry from where Gohan usually is, where as noted he often has to have his arm twisted by someone else to get him to train on his own. He'll find his own fun in it once that happens, but he's nothing like Kuririn (in this regard at least) who genuinely enjoys it as a part of who he is.

Kuririn still has a fair degree of common ground with Gohan, probably more so than a lot of the other fighters do (like you said, they hit it off for a reason): Kuririn's DEFINITELY not someone who would endanger other people's lives over a good challenge like the others often end up doing (hooking up with a girl on the other hand...) and takes other factors of a situation beyond the fighting aspect much more into account. And like Gohan he also sees the value in other life pursuits beyond martial arts: family, raising kids, etc.

But I think overall his thoughts on martial arts still leans a bit more on the side of Goku and the others than Gohan's does, where he's totally all in on martial arts as a life commitment and a means of self-improvement and personal growth: he simply has more outside life interests and obligations beyond it than the others do which keeps him from being as single-minded about it. But like with Gohan, Kuririn ALSO hit it off with Goku, Yamucha, Tenshinhan, etc. for a good reason: there's lots of common ground between THEM also.

In terms of the Z Warriors' group dynamics, Kuririn's a lot more part of the "in group" there than Gohan is (there's a lot of history between them that Gohan wasn't around for, and they all share very similar values as martial artists that Gohan doesn't) but at the same time he's also often Gohan's lifeline into feeling more included, a bit less like an outsider among all these hardened warrior-types. Lots of scenes will have Gohan (back when he was a kid at least) standing quietly among the others awkwardly and its usually Kuririn who's the first to approach him and strike up a conversation, thus helping to break the ice of the situation for him.

So yeah, I would definitely say that he's somewhat of a gray area (or a "bridge", better word for it) between the two extremes.

[ABED]

Agreed that Kuririn was more into martial arts than Gohan was. Kuririn actively sought Muten Roshi's training and had to convince/bribe him in order to get training from a man who was considered the greatest martial artist on Earth.

[Lionel]

In a way I am but I recognise that it's far less plausible and realistic for the likes of him to regain his own status with all the newfangled transformations and power gaps. However, please note that I didn't say it's impossible. If you introduce Elder Kaioshin with his Potara fusion method a few arcs earlier, plus give Mystic Krilinshan the Kaioken, you could watch him stand in formation with the Super Saiyans against villains from the cyborg arc and up onwards until the beginning of Buu. Anything after that requires God Ki, training sessions with Whis and something innovative to keep him in the game like raising the Kaioken multiplier to 100 or 200x normal power. He would likely still be inferior to Goku and Vegeta but he wouldn't be totally eclipsed by them as is the current standard in Super.

[kinisking]

Krillin is less popular. Plus even if krillin trained it wouldn't matter because he's hopelessly outclassed.

[Captain Strawberry]

Krillin doesn't get a lot of awesome moments like Gohan. It doesn't seem like he wants to break his limits his like Goku who has this ability. Plus Gohan with his powers from Elder Kai, he has bottomless power from within.

[FoolsGil]

Humanity has been outpaced since Dragonball and with Toriyama's choice to focus on Saiyans except for the occasional deus ex Kikoho, humanity was left in the dust a long time ago, Krillin can retire because we never expect anything from him.

But Gohan, well damn that's just irresponsible. The main thing about RoF was that Goku and Vegeta weren't on Earth. And in the Buu saga those bastards were negligent as hell and because of it evil almost won. And Gohan is the only one who can keep making gains, who has the right head on his shoulders, and the only one left that could stop a threat if Goku and Vegeta are missing or negligent and if he really wanted to, could balance work, family, and training. That's why people want Gohan to keep up his training and fighting. It's all leave it to the next guy until the next guy isn't there, then the Earth might be destroyed because you wanted to be normal instead of accepting you have responsibilities.

[ABED]

the occasional deus ex Kikoho

How is it even related to deus ex machina?

[Spencer_23]

Krillin is much older and never had that much potential. If Gohan wasn't Goku's son people wouldn't be as upset but we've seen some of the best moments in the series due to Gohan, so him "hanging it up" is tough for a lot of people.

[TheGreatness25]

I think it's because people refuse to accept that Gohan is finished. You can't really blame the fans. From the very beginning, we were conditioned to believe that Gohan had the potential to become the strongest fighter. We spent the Saiyan arc knowing that Gohan can turn it on when it's needed, but he struggled getting there. Then the Namek and Freeza arcs were more of the same: we know that Gohan has so much in him, but it's just not coming out. One of the greatest moments in the series is even Gohan takes his place as most powerful fighter in the Cell Games. Then we get the Saiyaman stuff, which I felt was fun, but it was no SS2 Gohan. Then he again arguably becomes the most powerful fighter in the series against Boo, but he doesn't end up saving the day.

Throughout all of Z, we were told that Gohan is possibly the most powerful fighter in the world. So why is he sitting in the background changing diapers when the world is in peril?

Just throwing it out there: I have no issues with him being a family man. That's his character. He never wanted to fight. I think the fans are just frustrated at the wasted potential. I will say that I had no problems with his model in the end of Z or GT, but that Resurrection F model made me cry for Gohan. He looks like Erkel and a noodle had a baby resulting in the fashion styles of Erkel and the arms of a noodle.

[ABED]

We knew he had potential. He doesn't have to be the strongest for his potential to be fully actualized. How many times was his potential power released? It gets annoying.

we were told that Gohan is possibly the most powerful fighter in the world

Were we, really?

we know that Gohan has so much in him, but it's just not coming out.

But it did come out. He was vital in those arcs. His arc was complete by the end of the Saiyan arc. I like Gohan turning Super Saiyan 2, but it's not as fulfilling because he's so periphery in that entire story.