Third eye

[kaioken12]

Hi,

I heard three theories and now I am curious if you know something about the third eye which Tienshinhan has.

1. theory was that he obtained it by meditation.
2. theory was the he was born with it (mutant human)
3. theory was that he isn't human, but another being like a "triclops"

Is there an "official" explanation?
Or if not, what can be most assumed to be true?

[Tyro]

Is there an "official" explanation?

Unless it has some Japanese/Chinese meaning I'm unaware of, he's just some guy with a third eye...because he is.

[TheGreatness25]

The real reason he has a third eye is because when Akira Toriyama sat down to draw him, he decided to give him a third eye. That's the best I can do...

[NeptuneKai]

I always just found him to be a human with a birth defect.

[TheGreatness25]

I wouldn't call it a birth defect. In a world with talking animals, people that live for centuries, and all that, I'd say having a third eye is the least of this society's problems.

[Xyex]

Is there an "official" explanation?

Unless it has some Japanese/Chinese meaning I'm unaware of, he's just some guy with a third eye...because he is.

Enlightenment = third eye. Third eye = mind's eye. That was the intent.

Is there an "official" explanation?

Well, the Daizenshuu claims he's 'descended of the 3-eyed tribe' or something like that. Some kind of distant part alien ancestry. But there's nothing mentioned of that in the series so the Daizenshuu staff probably just made it up to explain the eye.

[Olivier Hague]

there's nothing mentioned of that in the series so the Daizenshuu staff probably just made it up to explain the eye.

There's nothing about the Scouters being a Tsufuru invention in the series, and yet it was Toriyama who came up with the idea.
Ura settei happen.

[Raki]

I thought Tenshinhan's third eye was a play off Chinese legends,which say some gods have 3 eyes.

[TripleRach]

There was a three-eyed deity or something in Journey to the West, wasn't there? (Can't remember his name for the life of me, and Google is not helping.) And there's that idea about a third eye being equated to enlightenment, but I've only heard about that second hand.

Also, as stubborn as I've been about admitting Ten is an alien, I want to point out another thing that supports it. I recall someone once saying that Daizenshuu 4 contradicts what 7 says by calling him a human. However, such is not the case. He's grouped among the Earthlings there, but he's still listed as a "descendant of aliens."

[DemonKingPiccolo]

There was a three-eyed deity or something in Journey to the West, wasn't there? (Can't remember his name for the life of me, and Google is not helping.) And there's that idea about a third eye being equated to enlightenment, but I've only heard about that second hand.

Yes, Tenshinhan's character is a parody of the three eyed demon that is in Journey to the West. This is actually the OOU reason why he has a third eye, however, "logical DB universe" answers were created later on, such as being decended from aliens and being enlightened, stuff like that. But then again, I've never seen another pure human in Dragon Ball grow arms from their back, that's just bizarre as f*ck.

Also, as stubborn as I've been about admitting Ten is an alien, I want to point out another thing that supports it. I recall someone once saying that Daizenshuu 4 contradicts what 7 says by calling him a human. However, such is not the case. He's grouped among the Earthlings there, but he's still listed as a "descendant of aliens."

Well his heritage is primarily human, which would explain why he is grouped with them. Example: Personally, I would class Pan with humans because she is primarily human. A real life example: My grandfather who is a quarter native American is considered white, not native American.

[kaioken12]

Well, I didn't know about the alien stuff that exactly (being in Daizenshuu) and yeah, now I remember about this 3-eyed deity in the west again ^^

So if I recall everything, there just isn't a clear hint given in DB/DBZ directly, is there?

Anyway, thanks for all the information about that ^^

[Drunken Master]

Erlang Shen is the character Tenshinhan was apparently made from. Erlang Shen also had a close ally named Lao Tzu. Sound familiar...? Chao Tzu? Obviously. Quote form Wiki -

"He fought Sun Wukong near the start of the Journey to the West. Erlang, who is titled as being either True Lord, or Illustrious Sage, is the nephew of the Jade Emperor. Erlang made his first appearance when he had been ordered by the Jade Emperor (in which Erlang was also with his seven elite sages whom he called his brothers) to subdue Sun Wukong, who was to be punished for his havoc in heaven. This is the description of the True Lord Erlang when Sun Wukon had first seen him:

His bearing was refined, his visage noble,
His ears hung down to his shoulders, and his eyes shone.
The hat on his head had three peaks and phoenixes flying,
And his robe was of a pale goose−yellow.
His boots were lined with cloth of gold; dragons coiled round his socks;
His jade belt was decorated with the eight jewels,
At his waist was a bow, curved like the moon,
In his hand a double−edged trident.
His axe had split open Peach Mountain when he rescued his mother,
His bow had killed the twin phoenixes of Zongluo.
Widespread was his fame for killing the Eight Bogies,
And he had become one of Plum Hill's seven sages.
His heart was too lofty to acknowledge his relatives in Heaven;
In his pride he went back to be a god at Guanjiang.
He was the Merciful and Miraculous Sage of the red city,
Erlang, whose transformations were numberless.

Throughout the course of Erlang's duel between Sun Wukong, he had been the stronger adversary. After Many transformations that were performed in their duel (Sun Wukong fleeing as a fish; Erlang and Sun Wukong becoming larger birds, and so forth). Near the conclusion of the battle, he managed to see through Sun Wukong's disguise (as a temple) using his third-eye. He was defeated, but eventually defeated Wukong through teamwork with several other gods; Lao Tzu personally had dropped his refined golden ring that had hit Sun Wukong on the head, giving Erlang a chance to bring him down, and Erlang's dog bit him in the leg. After Sun Wukong had been captured, he and his heavenly soldiers would burn random areas of the Bloom Mountains. Erlang would once again be seen far later into the novel, in which he would assist Sun Wukong through chance by fighting against a certain ancient Dragon King and his allies."

Yes, the Daizenshuu says he came from an alien ancestry, and I fully believe it.

[Teclo]

So it's the same as Goku then. His real life origin is that he was based on a mythical character and the in-series origin is that he comes from another planet. It perfectly fits with the change from DB's fantasy world with high adventure to DBZ's sci-fi world with more "serious" elements.

[Sun_Wukong]

All the early characters in DB are based on Journey to the West characters

Son Goku - Sun Wukong or Monkey
Bulma - Xuanzang
Yamucha - Sha Wujing/ Friar Sand
Oolong - Zhū Bājiè or Pigsey

After the Pilaf arc, DB is pretty much disconnected from the original legend.

[TheGreatness25]

Tien's not really an EARLY character.

[Xyex]

So it's the same as Goku then. His real life origin is that he was based on a mythical character and the in-series origin is that he comes from another planet. It perfectly fits with the change from DB's fantasy world with high adventure to DBZ's sci-fi world with more "serious" elements.

Well, even the Daizenshuu doesn't say that Tien himself is from space. It says he's descended from aliens. So he could be anywhere from 1/2 (like Gohan is) or, like, 1/4096 or something.

[Olivier Hague]

It says he's descended from aliens. So he could be anywhere from 1/2 (like Gohan is) or, like, 1/4096 or something.

He could also be pure alien. "Descended" doesn't necessarily imply otherwise.

[caejones]

Hmm, if the characterhe is based on is from Heaven, and we consider Heaven something different from Earth (Though I guess the YinYang version ... urm... *head explodes*), we could say Tenshinhan having an alien ancestry mirrors Journey to the West in more ways? Except... not really... o.o *dies*

[Xyex]

It says he's descended from aliens. So he could be anywhere from 1/2 (like Gohan is) or, like, 1/4096 or something.

He could also be pure alien. "Descended" doesn't necessarily imply otherwise.

Except that if they meant he was full alien they would have said 'member of', not 'descended of' as they did.

[Olivier Hague]

if they meant he was full alien they would have said 'member of', not 'descended of' as they did.

Maybe, but not necessarily. 'Just pointing out a possibility.