Power to the Kuririn

kenisu3000 · Post by **kenisu3000** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 12:40 pm

So, I think Kuririn deserves a definite day in the sun. The poor guy seems to get pooped on (and, if you've seen Dead Zone, literally piddled on) a lot, and I have to say, I'm appalled that even some forumgoers seem to think he's one of the crummier characters.
Kuririn is my favorite, favorite character in the entire series overall (well, maybe I like him more in DBZ than I do in DB or GT), and I'll tell you why.
Kuririn is... a whole lot like me. He's the short guy who gets overlooked by all except seemingly the villains who are looking for a quick and easy victim. Also, he has to watch on, virtually helplessly, as all of his friends surpass him in power, and general life progression. Thus, he becomes the comic relief, especially in the movies, where he's given the tag line "Why is it always just me?"
But it's the comic relief that makes him Kuririn. I mean, his name is a play on "chestnut" (referring to his bald head - that's why Japanese Goombas from the Mario games are known as Kuribo, it means "chestnut noggin" if I'm correct). Of course, I have a (somewhat) full head of hair, but aside from that, and the fact that I'm no martial artist, Kuririn is the character I relate to the most.
Now, I've heard the argument that Kuririn does finally get married, has the family he's always dreamed of, etc. That only contributes to my (fully heterosexual) admiration of him - his story has a happy ending. He spends the best part of the series single and having to watch his friends attain the one thing HE wants the most - falling in love and getting married - and eventually he winds up with who is widely considered the most attractive woman in all of DragonBall. OK, OK, all you Bulma/Lunch/Maron/Videl/Chichi fans, put down that gun. I'm not here to start a debate.
Of course, it's only fair to acknowledge the fact that Yamcha, in the end, is the one who gets pooped on the most, seeing as how he never ends up with ANY girl, and the girl he WAS dating for the longest time winds up marrying his killer. Now, I can relate to Yamcha as well, but only in the sense that in the very beginning, Yamcha had the prude-syndrome so bad he felt that the only way to overcome it would be to have his wish granted by the DragonBalls. Eventually he (seems to) overcome it on his own, though. But like I said earlier, Kuririn's story has a happy ending, and though that really is a slap in the face to Yamcha, what can I say - I'm a sucker for happy endings.

Now, I can understand Kuririn getting the hard knocks in the actual series (after all, if he didn't have a rough time, I probably wouldn't like him as much), but I don't see why even the fans of DragonBall should join in the "Kuririn is a loser" mentality. In MOTHER 3, there's a player-controlled character named Duster who suffers from serious B.O.; has a limp and thus hobbles unattractively when he walks; has a boney, oblong face with a short, plain haircut; and probably also has the creepy "Senior Cardgage" thing going for him (well... maybe not, but I tend to picture him that way); and yet, he's very popular among the female fanbase of MOTHER. Perhaps that's because he's had a hard life with a semi-abusive father (hence the limp), or... well, it might be because he's in a game and you can't smell his B.O., but no doubt knowing the story behind this less-than-average Joe Blow contributes to his popularity with da ladies, and makes them overlook his physical disadvantages.

What I want with this thread is for people to bring on their favorite Kuririn moments, be it comical or serious. I'll start by mentioning ONE of my personal faves. I love the scene in Movie 9 when Kuririn is faced up against Piccolo, and he gets all frustrated even before the match begins; and Piccolo just stands there in his cross-armed stance, as calm as a summer breeze, which enfuriates Kuririn even more ("What's with that nonchalant stance? He must me making a fool out of me! He's definitely making a fool out of me!"), who rushes in only to fall off the platform and hoist himself back up Wile E. Coyote-style, and win by default when Piccolo leaves in disgust.
Come to think of it, possibly every Kuririn scene in Movie 9 makes me laugh out loud.

BlueSky · Post by **Kaboom** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 12:56 pm

"Kuririn: More than Freeza fodder after all!"

Dayspring · Post by **Dayspring** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 1:18 pm

**Tosses in the fact that he becomes the strongest human** That's right, I said it. There's only mild ambiguity regarding Tenshinhan being stronger in the manga. The daizenshuu confirms he is the strongest!

Mr.Piccolo · Post by **Mr.Piccolo** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 1:23 pm

I never had a problem with Krillin. He's like George from Seinfeld. He's logical and act s like a normal person would within the madness that is DragonBall. Just throwing this out there, I don't know why people don't like him with the hair.

He'd be even cooler if he had his hair throughout Z IMO. Anyway, my favorite Krillin moment would be when he tried fighting Super Buu (anime). It was pretty noble of him and was just another reason why I like that character.

Conan the SSJ · Post by **Conan the SSJ** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 1:37 pm

Dayspring wrote:**Tosses in the fact that he becomes the strongest human** That's right, I said it.

**Tosses in the fact he dies more than anyone else in the anime franchise** That's right, I said that.

Mr.Piccolo wrote:I never had a problem with Krillin. He's like George from Seinfeld.

Little thing worth noting, Kuririn in his early days in DB reminded me of Newman from Seinfeld; mainly how he gave Goku that beady eyed look when they were about to compete against each other. I definitely like Kuririn a lot (though I dunno how much that's worth saying considering I don't play with him much in the Ps2 games). He went into martial arts to meet girls, yearned for a girlfriend all his life (his stint with Blue Marron notwithstanding) and ended up with a knockout whom gave him a daughter and lifetime of eternal-youth hotness. Hell, after everything he'd gone through in the series, I say he deserves it. Ironically, one of the most touching scenes in Kuririn's history in the series IMO is his death in GT by #17's hands, as we finally get to see 18 express her love for him rather than the standard sarcastic "Yeah, I'm the wife and look there, Goku noticed me. Woohoo?"

DaemonCorps · Post by **DaemonCorps** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 1:39 pm

It's good to know that Kuririn is appreciated within the DB fanbase. And how could he not be?! As Rick said, he's the "normal" guy who's witness to all this madness. In fact, if they were to re-animate the entire series, I would like for it to be from the perspective of all the overlooked people from those particular arcs (ie: from the Dog King's perspective in the King Piccolo arc, the camera man's perspective from the Cell Games, etc...). But that's a topic all on its own.

My favorite Kuririn moment would be when he fights against Goku in the Tenshinhan saga. I always like it when there are fights between friends, since there's no kiling intent and they're just fighting for the sake of it being fun for both of them. And even if there was some killing intent, that would make it all that more interesting, since they're also perceived as friends (er-hem... one of the best moments in the suck-tacular Spidey 3 was the Harry vs. Pete fight, but I digress). I especially like when Goku and Kririn give each other a fist pound for good luck before they enter the ring.

Grandmaster J · Post by **Grandmaster J** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 5:08 pm

Kuririn is the strongest man on Earth, indeed. He only died by the hands of aliens. That is a fact. No other human being could touch him. And that also is a fact.

BlueSky · Post by **Kaboom** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 6:41 pm

DaemonCorps wrote:(er-hem... one of the best moments in the suck-tacular Spidey 3 was the Harry vs. Pete fight, but I digress).

What's this hokey?!

But I digress. Another conversation for another time.

Pieter · Post by **Pieter** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 6:56 pm

It's the friendship he has with Goku that makes him so great. I'm sure Goku doesn't have a better friend, and the other way around as well.

Except King Kai later, maybe

sailorspazz · Post by **sailorspazz** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 7:15 pm

Grandmaster J wrote:Kuririn is the strongest man on Earth, indeed. He only died by the hands of aliens. That is a fact. No other human being could touch him. And that also if a fact.

Except when he's kill by Super #17 in GT....Android doesn't equal alien

*prepares for the barrage of posts about how GT doesn't count*

Chaozu · Post by **Chaozu** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 7:59 pm

Well, Kururin has has pretty much maintained being one of the more active human fighting character thoughout the series, outside of maybe Tenshinhan. He really got to shine in the Namek portion and had one of the most lethal special techniques in the series up until it proves useless against the likes of Cell and Boo

So, I don't think I ever considered Kuririn underrated except maybe in comparison to Saiyan characters. I still always liked the gues since he was a wisecracker, as well as being someone you could always depend on.

He was an underdog character throughout most of the series, and you couldn't help but feel sorry for him when things didn't go his way, like in Movie 2, in which Gohan and Piccolo both land attacks on robotic Dr. Wheeler, but when Kuririn's turn comes up, he gets smacked and exclaims "Why only me?"

Godo · Post by **Godo** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 8:03 pm

What people seem to forget is that Krillin is a genious when it comes to fighting. Just look at how he suprises enemies a lot stronger with his techniques. I can't think of another fighter that innovative as Krillin.
We have the blast that splits and hits several opponents, the kienzan, the heat seeking energy ray he shoots at Piccolo ect.
The only limitations Krillin has is his power. In Dragonball he is a skilled fighter, putting up a minor challenge to Piccolo Jr., which made him decide that Krillin was too dangerous to keep around.
Later, in DBZ, the zenkai and saiyan genes makes it possible for the saiyans to outclass the humans, and therefor, Krillin is out of the game.

I wonder, what do you guys think Krillin's power would be if he got a "mystic powerup"?

Super Sonic · Post by **Super Sonic** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 8:08 pm

Seeing this reminds me of good talk about Krillin from Krillin himself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnCGUHTX3Ec

Grandmaster J · Post by **Grandmaster J** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 9:02 pm

sailorspazz wrote:Except when he's kill by Super #17 in GT....Android doesn't equal alien

Yeah, but come on now. Kuririn was an old man when #17 killed him.

gohanku · Post by **gohanku** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 12:37 am

Yeah, Kuririn is comic-relief in the later parts of DragonBallZ but he will alway be "mondo-cool" in the hearts of fans...

shannarafan · Post by **shannarafan** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 2:01 am

Krillin has to be one of the most loveable characters ever. I think it's lame when people diss him for being short and it just sucks that you don't see him come up in people's favorites too often.

As far as favorite moments go, I think mine is when Roshi refuses to train him and he pulls out the porn with a glint in his eye.

Gotta love early DB humor.

Chaozu wrote:So, I don't think I ever considered Kuririn underrated except maybe in comparison to Saiyan characters

Haha, every character is underrated compared to the Saiyans...

Snail · Post by **Snail** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 2:44 am

Not to mention Kuririn's weird, shady facial appearance during the early-db days. XD.

KinoFourpaws · Post by **KinoFourpaws** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 3:49 am

Godo wrote:What people seem to forget is that Krillin is a genious when it comes to fighting. Just look at how he suprises enemies a lot stronger with his techniques. I can't think of another fighter that innovative as Krillin.
We have the blast that splits and hits several opponents, the kienzan, the heat seeking energy ray he shoots at Piccolo ect.
The only limitations Krillin has is his power. In Dragonball he is a skilled fighter, putting up a minor challenge to Piccolo Jr., which made him decide that Krillin was too dangerous to keep around.
Later, in DBZ, the zenkai and saiyan genes makes it possible for the saiyans to outclass the humans, and therefor, Krillin is out of the game.

I wonder, what do you guys think Krillin's power would be if he got a "mystic powerup"?

Well, I know Goku is quite innovative with the attacks he knows as well, and that's not even considering the fact he's Saiyan. Remember when he shot the Kamehameha out of his feet during his fight with Piccolo Jr.? That was awesome.

That aside, I do agree that Kuririn needs more lovin'. It just doesn't seem that many people really take him seriously, which is a shame. He just seems the kind of guy you'd really want to get to know.

I think one of the things I really like about him is how he's such good friends with Goku. In the Piccolo Jr. fight, for instance, when it looks like Piccolo's gonna kill Goku once and for all, you see almost everybody's faces, but Kuririn's got a panel all to his own where he screams to his friend. And in the same fight, Kuririn is also the first one to notice that Goku's somehow managed to survive Piccolo's attack. The connection between them is really emphasized in that fight.

Another thing I like about him is the fact that, although he knows he's often outmatched against later enemies, it doesn't stop him from confronting them if he thinks he can help at all. The only time I actually recall him backing away from a fight completely is in movie 8... and, well, we all know why. 8D; It takes a lot of guts to stand up against someone you know you don't have a chance against, and Kuririn does it again and again. He may not be able to make much of a difference at time, but damn it, he tries, he really does. That commands a lot of respect in my book. :>

theoriginalbilis · Post by **theoriginalbilis** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 2:57 pm

If it wasn't for all the stuff Kuririn did in the Saiyan & Namek arcs, our heroes would've been long dead by now. He's not the strongest, but he's cunning and rational at times (Of course, we've seen this since his first appearance in DB)...

He's pretty much my 2nd favorite character in the series. (1st is Vegeta.)

- Bilis

Godo · Post by **Godo** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 3:32 pm

We can add the fact that Krillin has perfected his Ki-sense. He feels changes and reserves that no other character can sense. That is a good quality for a fighter. As often told in the story, a good fighter is not only muscles, but brains.
I honestly believe that if Goku and Krillin were at the same powerlevel, Krillin would have a good chance of defeating Goku. Goku would have the Shunkan Idou to rely on though.
Krillin does a great difference against stronger opponent.

Offtopic: Why doesn't Goku learn any other of the fighters the Shunkan Idou? That would help the other less stronger characters a lot!
Plus, I hate that Kaio-sama didn't learn the humans the kaio-ken. At least it is not shown.
I guess they could handle the 10x at the time the androids appear. That would help them from being killed that easily (Trunks timeline).

Kanzenshuu

Power to the Kuririn

Power to the Kuririn

Who is online