Toriyama's decision to leave Yamcha/Tenshinhan/Chiaotzu dead the entire Namek arc

[precita]

Why do you think he did that? Granted at the rate the story went of course the humans would have done nothing against Freeza and most likely died again (wasting their wishes), but if the Namek arc was written differently you could have had them come back to life earlier on.

If it weren't for the anime filler giving them things to do, it pretty much feels like their whole role on King Kai's planet is pointless in the manga. You could have literally just shown Piccolo there and not mentioned the humans even in the manga and nothing would change. The anime constantly cutting to King Kai's planet showing Yamcha and Tien's constant commentary on the Freeza fight also made it seem like they were more relevant than they were.

So I ask, why did Toriyama bother to show them make it to King Kai's planet in the first place? They could have simply been dead and remained off-screen all the way till they get wished back at the end of the saga.

[KBABZ]

Toriyama writes by the seat of his pants. I imagine that he introduced them in the lead-up to Goku arriving on Namek so that they could help contribute to the final battle he was planning there... and then forgot/changed his mind later. This is chiefly impacted by how Porunga operates slightly differently from Shenron in regards to bringing people back to life, done of course for drama and unexpectedness. I also think it comes down to logistics; the hunt for the Dragon Balls on Namek is quite different from the previous two in that it's much more like a game of capture the flag mixed with chess, so the Dragon Balls were being jostled quite a bit for a long period of time. Not to mention how Frieza's fight went down... there wasn't any room or time for them until the aftermath back on Earth.

[Michsi]

I always felt like these three especially were the biggest casualties of Toriyama's by-the-seat-of-his-pants writing style, and having them sidelined like that for an entire arc probably sealed their fate as far as their involvement went. He most likely never intended for their time on King Kai's planet to amount to nothing, he just never went in a direction that needed them as characters. But it's not just that. Toriyama is also unapologetic when it comes to characters being left in the dust, so while he may have never meant for Yamcha&co. to become so irrelevant, he also didn't make any efforts to correct it and instead went with it and went with it hard. Yamcha gets pushed aside the minute the android arc starts, but what's more significant than that is the fact that he doesn't want to engage in battle at all anymore and just accept his uselessness with a defeated smile. In any other story that might have been taken as a narrative cue that the character would find his groove again and prove his worth, but that never happens. One of the oldest and most memorable characters of the cast, and Toriyama had no qualms about doing that to him. Same with Tien. At the start of the Android Saga you have him mention that he is jealous of how strong the saiyans and Piccolo have become, yet that leads to nothing too. He point blank refuses to get in the ROSAT believing it'd be useless. So Toriyama doesn't even let them down gently.

[nickzambuto]

Toriyama simply outgrew these characters. Kuririn inherited all of Yamcha's interesting character traits, and Tenshinhan no longer had any role to fulfill.

[GamerSkull]

If he wanted to have them be irrelevant then fine... but I really dislike his retconning and continuity issues. When I first saw the arc, I thought he might have been having them undergo training so that by the time they returned they were strong enough to keep up with the saiyans and still be relevant in later portions of the series (of course years have passed and every time I see that stuff now, I just see wasted potential).

I'd have been more willing to accept Toriyama's decision had he given each of them a more meaningful send-off. The way he goes about this is jarring, especially since I love the human characters.

But no, Yamcha's a meme. Krillin is all "Juhachi-san" 24/7. And Tenshinhan just didn't do much thereafter.

I guess Krillin is the only one that I'd consider having gotten a meaningful send-off as far as human characters go. Yamcha, Tenshinhan, and Chaozu really suffered though.

My point is... if Toriyama outgrew these characters and was no longer interested in them, then having them bow out in a respectable manner might have been a good option since I know there must have been probably a moderately sized fanbase for each of those characters in Japan and in the West.

But I think he more just tossed them to the side... which I really dislike.

[FoolsGil]

imo a better question would be why he brought Yamcha/Tenshinhan/Chaozu to fight the Saiyans, only to die. But imo he probably did it because he had no idea where else to put them. The story was already becoming Saiyan centric, and then he started making character hundreds and thousands times stronger than Vegeta

[Cure Dragon 255]

To motivate the others to bring them back and raise the stakes!

[Scott]

I was fine with it. The original point of Namek was to bring their friends back to life after being killed by Nappa (and a Saibaman), seeing them achieve their goal at the end of all of that trouble on Namek was a satisfying ending to that arc.

[KBABZ]

imo a better question would be why he brought Yamcha/Tenshinhan/Chaozu to fight the Saiyans, only to die.

To set a baseline. All characters involved trained their butts off to fight the Saiyans, particularly Piccolo who is a major villain and on par with Goku, and they're still completely overpowered. Them gradually dying adds a sense of urgency to Goku trying to make it there in time, and of course it evokes emotions in the readers when they get picked off one by one. They are also the only ones really qualified to fight them in the first place, and they have to until Goku arrives or else they'll wreck the planet looking for the Dragon Balls.

[OhHiRenan]

Leaving them dead for the entire arc was the smartest thing to do. It kept the cast small and allowed the main characters to have a serious goal in mind. People complain about these three losing relevance, but they needed to die with Piccolo for the Namek arc to work. Yamcha and Tenshinhan alone are two of the most memorable characters up to that point. Of course we want to see them revived.

One of the series’ best qualities is Toriyama’s detachment to characters. I know that sounds backwards, but the fact he doesn’t get caught up in the sentimentality of an old fan favorite let’s other characters grow naturally. I doubt Vegeta, Piccolo, and Trunks would develop as strongly in the Android arc if they had to share screen time with Yamcha, Tenshinhan, and Chaozu.

[ABED]

Leaving them dead for the entire arc was the smartest thing to do. It kept the cast small and allowed the main characters to have a serious goal in mind. People complain about these three losing relevance, but they needed to die with Piccolo for the Namek arc to work. Yamcha and Tenshinhan alone are two of the most memorable characters up to that point. Of course we want to see them revived.

One of the series’ best qualities is Toriyama’s detachment to characters. I know that sounds backwards, but the fact he doesn’t get caught up in the sentimentality of an old fan favorite let’s other characters grow naturally. I doubt Vegeta, Piccolo, and Trunks would develop as strongly in the Android arc if they had to share screen time with Yamcha, Tenshinhan, and Chaozu.

Plenty of stories can handle big casts very well. I do agree that I wish that characters who lost relevance weren't simply dropped and were given fitting sendoffs.

[Baggie_Saiyan]

Tbh they should have just stayed dead, they would have gone out in a blaze of glory and would have been forever remembered for their brave efforts against the Saiyans.

[ABED]

Nah. The reason they go to Namek is to bring them back.

[Ozotto]

It was the perfect excuse for the anime to have them fight the dead Ginyu Force.
I regret nothing about his decision.

Plus they had to go to Namek to bring them back.

[JulieYBM]

Toriyama freely admits he really doesn't feel anything for his artistic creations so I totally see how this factors into him simply moving on from the majority of the cast without giving them much thought. Toriyama can only handle so much information at once...being selective is a natural outcome of this.

[Android 21]

They should’ve stayed dead. They played no significant role after the Vegeta Saga.

[ABED]

They don't have to stay dead. It was cathartic to see them come back to life. It's not that hard to imagine that from that point, they get a happy sendoff.

[Android 21]

Aside from a nice little reunion, their resurrection was pointless. Porunga should’ve had the same weakness as Shenron in that he can’t bring back someone that’s been brought back once already. That would leave Tien and Yamcha alive, but Krillin and Chiaotzu should’ve stayed dead. Krillin’s revival in particular really took away from Goku’s Super Saiyan transformation as well. Looking back at it now, it’d be a much more touching moment if Krillin stayed dead. That’s my opinion, at least.

[Marugoto]

The premise of DBZ 2 on Famicom is that only Piccolo died in the fight against the Saiyajin, so Yamucha, Tenshinhan and Chaozu all pack their and join Gohan and Kuririn. It is a pretty cool premise. Earths strongest Wulin all traveling together to the far away homeworld of the their former adversary who redeemed himself in death. Kicking lots of ass in the process.

[ABED]

Tenshinhan wouldn't have come back without Chaozu, leaving only Yamcha to be revived. How would leaving everyone dead have been more touching? I get it, but that nice little reunion was sweet. I'm ambivalent about Kuririn's death. On one hand, I want stakes, but on the other hand, Kuririn finally getting the thing he wanted most - a wife, makes me smile.