kinisking wrote: He was also relevant in changing Goku's character growth during the original dragonBall.
This. This more than anything.
Over time I've taken on the mindset that a character's relevance really depends on their function in the story, not by their literal actions if that makes any sense. I'll try to explain with two examples:
Chiaotzu. Most people say he is useless, and I disagree. It's easy to see why they think this. What has Chiaotzu done in the series action-wise? He has unique powers and design that are never EVER expanded upon, he fought Krillin and lost, hunted for the Dragon Balls with two people who could have found them alone, and was killed twice (Nappa and King Piccolo) in sacrifices that did not amount to any substantial story change, as other characters with stronger emotional ties had also been killed at the time. His interactions are fairly uninteresting as well: his rivalry with Krillin inexplicably being dropped, never speaking ONE WORD to our main hero, and having a static relationship with Tien. These things are not why he's in the story though, he's as an add-on to Tien, which is why he never receives any independent development. When Tien is introduced he seems to be a cynical, cold-blooded killer who will do anything dishonorable in order to win. At the same time though, he is shown as a caregiver to his little buddy, which paints another side to his personality. It makes him more well-rounded and allows him to be more interesting to the viewer. This helps us get more invested in his character arc and allows us to justify his later betrayal to Shen and Tao. But then why is Tien relevant? Because he aids in Goku's (the main character) development as a warrior. His arc and later contributions also add to to the broader themes of the series, but we don't have to get into all that right now. Point being: Chiaotzu IS integral to Dragon Ball as part of sort of a daisy-chain of development. Removing him makes Tien less effective in his purpose and thus hurting the story as a whole.
The opposite can be seen with Puar. Consensus says that he is useless, and I agree. Now don't get me wrong, I love the little guy and every scene he's given, but he is a perfect example of a character irrelevant to the broader story. Despite committing more relevant actions than someone like Chiaotzu (cutting off Oozaru Goku's tail, transforming a few times to aid the group, his participation in Baba's tournament, etc), he is still less relevant. What's his broader purpose? To develop Yamcha? Honestly Yamcha's relationship with Bulma does more for his character (and hers) than his relationship with Puar. The two don't have an interesting dynamic at all, Puar is simply a subservient cheerleader that Yamcha barely acknowledges. Does he develop Goku or anyone else? Nope. His only other substantial interaction is with Oolong and they don't play off each other well enough to add anything to his role as comic relief. Does Puar contribute as a Z-fighter support? Eh. There's a great scene when Yamcha is killed in the Saiyan Saga and Puar bursts into tears and runs up against the television set in a miserable frenzy. No matter what dub, I always found that moment particularly effective in heightening the impact of that death, which occurred to increase the hopelessness of the Saiyan landing and ramp up the tension. But then again... Bulma is also in that scene and her reaction is MORE moving because of her more developed relationship with Yamcha. She steals the scene from Puar here, making his emotional outburst unnecessary and redundant in heightening the tension. So in the end, Puar is either redundant and irrelevant to the to the broader story, despite his legitimate contributions that could simply be written to another character.
So we come to Krillin, who (as other have established) contributes to the plot like Puar as well as to the development of the story like Chiaotzu, but to much grander degrees in each area. The latter in particular, as someone else said, with his interactions with Goku, Gohan, and the rest of the cast are almost always entertaining to watch and add to our enjoyment of the story and out understanding of the characters. To the plot, he wins some and fails often, but always in a memorable way. It always adds to his development, someone else's, or the plot at hand. Even on his own, his story from child to adult that was gradually watch has so much impact on us and generates some of the themes of the series that we all love.
Apologies for my long-ass post, this topic just got me thinking. So that's my rambling viewpoint on the "Relevant" versus "irrelevant" issue, which seems to be a point of contention among fans regarding whether or not they like a character. To answer the topic at hand, do I like Krillin? Hell yeah! I'd argue he's the most likeable, integral, and well developed character on the show besides Goku, and would hurt the show quality the most if he was never included. Without his presence in DB and DBZ, the show would have been quite different, and the same can be said of Super if he had more of a presence.
