Community thoughts/reflections on Tenshinhan as a character

[Doctor.]

Both of his matches against Goku would say otherwise. There's also his fight against Jackie Chun.

His second fight against Goku and his fight against Jackie Chun are alright, nothing great, not bad either by any means.

His first fight against Goku was terrible, the worst main fight in the series and a huge reason I think that specific tournament arc is the worst arc in the manga. Toriyama tries to portray Goku and Tenshinhan as equals throughout the entire fight, but what the fight actually shows is just Goku one-upping Tenshinhan at every single turn. There's not one time where he had the upper-hand besides the ending. And even with Goku having the upper-hand for a majority of the fight, he loses due to sheer luck. Piccolo Jr. vs Goku is a great example of how a fight between two beings who are portrayed to be equals should look like.

[ABED]

Both of his matches against Goku would say otherwise. There's also his fight against Jackie Chun.

His second fight against Goku and his fight against Jackie Chun are alright, nothing great, not bad either by any means.

His first fight against Goku was terrible, the worst main fight in the series and a huge reason I think that specific tournament arc is the worst arc in the manga. Toriyama tries to portray Goku and Tenshinhan as equals throughout the entire fight, but what the fight actually shows is just Goku one-upping Tenshinhan at every single turn. There's not one time where he had the upper-hand besides the ending. And even with Goku having the upper-hand for a majority of the fight, he loses due to sheer luck. Piccolo Jr. vs Goku is a great example of how a fight between two beings who are portrayed to be equals should look like.

I disagree entirely. We see in the fight both of them one upping each other. If it is as you say, then Goku wouldn't have been so worn out by the end. It's reversal upon reversal. I think you should go rewatch the fight because it doesn't play out as you claim. It's true to an extent that Goku lost due to bad luck, but not completely. Had he not been so worn out, he would've been able to do something to avoid hitting the ground first.

[omaro34]

Tenshinhan is an honorable warrior who trains at his own pace and doesn't care how strong his Saiyan comrades become. I respect that.

[kinisking]

Tenshinhan is an honorable warrior who trains at his own pace and doesn't care how strong his Saiyan comrades become. I respect that.

Yeah, thats my favorite characteristic of him. He deserves to be stronger than Krillin but apparently krillin is stronger. Which makes no sense because Krillin stopped training but I guess that only affects Gohan's power.

[B]

Yeah, the 22nd title fight is not nearly that one-sided. And the fact that Tenshinhan's victory is meaningless is the entire point. I guess if you're looking for a fight in the style of Naruto where there's always some sort of play-by-play, and your main investment is that of a spectator who paid to see skilled martial artists fight like the in-universe audience, then OK, the ending's a letdown. As far as the (in my opinion, very obvious and very clear)narrative is concerned, the fact that Goku was always just slightly ahead of Tenshinhan and that Ten won by technicality was tantamount to Ten's growth and decision to abandon the Crane Hermit and the path of an assassin. Ten had a new goalpost to aim for, and even when Saiyans started bullshitting up the place, he never saw that as a reason to give up.

The title fight in the 23rd Budokai, in retrospect, is the complete opposite, I suppose. Piccolo's vengeful streak stems more from being a demon; he's got no real investment or affection for the father that spat out his egg. The fight is, of course, a grand spectacle. There's not a lot going on beyond "holy shit this guy is strong as heck he's gonna kill us if we don't win hey look feet Kamehameha oh no he's big aw damn the stadium's been blown up" and it thrives on Toriyama's skill as an artist of battle scenes. If you have to make case for the effectiveness of Toriyama's yearning to create something "with no content" that would be it, I guess. There's some attempt at emotion with Kame Sennin's speech, but it's unrelated to Piccolo specifically. It's more about the importance of the Dragon Balls.

[ABED]

Tenshinhan is an honorable warrior who trains at his own pace and doesn't care how strong his Saiyan comrades become. I respect that.

Yeah, thats my favorite characteristic of him. He deserves to be stronger than Krillin but apparently krillin is stronger. Which makes no sense because Krillin stopped training but I guess that only affects Gohan's power.

Add that to Tenshinhan being shown to be a prodigy. Kuririn's great in his own way, but when he was introduced, Tenshinhan's battle smarts and techniques were a step above everyone's except Goku.

[kinisking]

Tenshinhan is an honorable warrior who trains at his own pace and doesn't care how strong his Saiyan comrades become. I respect that.

Yeah, thats my favorite characteristic of him. He deserves to be stronger than Krillin but apparently krillin is stronger. Which makes no sense because Krillin stopped training but I guess that only affects Gohan's power.

Add that to Tenshinhan being shown to be a prodigy. Kuririn's great in his own way, but when he was introduced, Tenshinhan's battle smarts and techniques were a step above everyone's except Goku.

And thats the complete truth. In fact, he seemed like an equal or better the first time he was introduced. It was only until the second tournament that Goku showed his superiority. Then again, he was trained by god. Seemed like Toriyama was just picking favorites when he made Krillin stronger because it doesn't make much sense.

[omaro34]

Yeah, thats my favorite characteristic of him. He deserves to be stronger than Krillin but apparently krillin is stronger. Which makes no sense because Krillin stopped training but I guess that only affects Gohan's power.

Add that to Tenshinhan being shown to be a prodigy. Kuririn's great in his own way, but when he was introduced, Tenshinhan's battle smarts and techniques were a step above everyone's except Goku.

And thats the complete truth. In fact, he seemed like an equal or better the first time he was introduced. It was only until the second tournament that Goku showed his superiority. Then again, he was trained by god. Seemed like Toriyama was just picking favorites when he made Krillin stronger because it doesn't make much sense.

One can make the legit argument that Tenshinhan was stronger. Definitely now in Super. Krillin has become a cop and has given up on martial arts, while Tien is never one to give in.

I absolutely loved how he tried to fight Super Buu, knowing he couldn't win, but still tried anyway. His act against Cell was one of his highlights in the Z series too.

Outside of Krillin's Destructo Disc, Tenshinhan had the more creative techniques. Krillin used Tien's Solar Flare numerous times throughout the series.

[kinisking]

Add that to Tenshinhan being shown to be a prodigy. Kuririn's great in his own way, but when he was introduced, Tenshinhan's battle smarts and techniques were a step above everyone's except Goku.

And thats the complete truth. In fact, he seemed like an equal or better the first time he was introduced. It was only until the second tournament that Goku showed his superiority. Then again, he was trained by god. Seemed like Toriyama was just picking favorites when he made Krillin stronger because it doesn't make much sense.

One can make the legit argument that Tenshinhan was stronger. Definitely now in Super. Krillin has become a cop and has given up on martial arts, while Tien is never one to give in.

I absolutely loved how he tried to fight Super Buu, knowing he couldn't win, but still tried anyway. His act against Cell was one of his highlights in the Z series too.

Outside of Krillin's Destructo Disc, Tenshinhan had the more creative techniques. Krillin used Tien's Solar Flare numerous times throughout the series.

Toriyama seems dead set on krillin being stronger. He even said it in an interview so I wouldn't be surprised if Krillin was still considered stronger. Logically Tien should be stronger though.

[omaro34]

Toriyama seems dead set on krillin being stronger. He even said it in an interview so I wouldn't be surprised if Krillin was still considered stronger. Logically Tien should be stronger though.

It certainly didn't seem that way during Super's version of the RoF Arc, where Krillin was initially scared to fight weak Freeza soldiers while the others kept fighting.

[TobyS]

Toriyama seems dead set on krillin being stronger. He even said it in an interview so I wouldn't be surprised if Krillin was still considered stronger. Logically Tien should be stronger though.

It certainly didn't seem that way during Super's version of the RoF Arc, where Krillin was initially scared to fight weak Freeza soldiers while the others kept fighting.

I'm also in the "Kuririn is canonically stronger but this makes no sense" camp.

The Freeza troops thing is not proof of Ten's superiority though. Ten never fought in the Namekian Campaign. Kuririn got his neck broken, gored, and exploded. It's implied he has some specific-to-him PTSD kinda thing he has to overcome.