Why didn't Yamcha ever surpass Tenshinhan or Kuririn?

[In Brightest Day]

While I think Yamcha was always in the same realm as these two, it seems as if Tien and Krillin were a step ahead of him for the majority of the series. Is there any reason as to why Yamcha was always the third wheel of the three main Earthling Z-Fighters?


Edit: There are exceptions of course. Yamcha was equal to Krillin at the 22nd Budokai, IMO. Kuririn was seemingly far ahead of both of them during the Trunks arc, too.

[Makaioshin]

Yamucha was one step behind Kuririn since he started his training with Muten Roshi after him. If you saw them as equals during the 22nd TB then I guess he may have slacked off during the time gap between the 23rd TB and Raditz's arrival.

[Savage68]

Well, Yamcha is a jobber, so it's always going to seem like he's a step or two behind his peers. And when you look at the training regimen of the three, Yamucha coming in last place only makes sense. Krillin's been trained formally at Orin Temple and with Roshi and Tenshinhan's been trained by the Crane Hermit for who knows how long (the Crane Hermit being almost as good as Roshi and all). Yamcha evidently came into a great deal of strength naturally, since he's like the first person we ever see give Goku a tough fight in the story, but he just sorta coasted along with Bulma until sometime following the 21st Tournament's end, but by then, Krillin and Tenshinhan already had a pretty sizable leg up on him.

[KakaR0T]

I always thought that Tenshinhan was always better than Krillin and Yamcha put together.

And there never seemed to be much of a focus on Yamcha. He was just some desert bandit when we first met him while we recognized Krillin and Tenshinhan as "martial artists" as soon as we met them. Yes, Yamcha did some of the same training as Krillin and Tenshinhan but Tenshinhan already trained with Crane and Tao and Krillin trained at the Orin Temple. So they seemed to be serious martial artists even before we met them whereas Yamcha just hung out with Puar doing Kami-sama knows what.

[Kaboom]

Short answer: Because Tenshinhan is a training addict, and Kuririn got a magical mega-power-up that gave him a gigantic head-start on both of them.

[Bussani]

Yamcha never did anything that would lead to him surpassing either of them. He started off behind Tenshinhan and then did the same sort of training as him, even training under the same masters. I wouldn't be surprised if he only kept up or maybe closed the gap between them, since he never does anything that would rocket him ahead. As for Kuririn, I'm not sure I agree that he and Yamcha were equals in the 22nd tournament. I could be wrong though, so I'll ask what you're basing that on. But again, Yamcha never does any better training than Kuririn until he trains under Kaio, and Kuririn got a magical boost in the meantime.

[Makaioshin]

I always thought that Tenshinhan was always better than Krillin and Yamcha put together.

And there never seemed to be much of a focus on Yamcha. He was just some desert bandit when we first met him while we recognized Krillin and Tenshinhan as "martial artists" as soon as we met them. Yes, Yamcha did some of the same training as Krillin and Tenshinhan but Tenshinhan already trained with Crane and Tao and Krillin trained at the Orin Temple. So they seemed to be serious martial artists even before we met them whereas Yamcha just hung out with Puar doing Kami-sama knows what.

Yamucha was a martial artist. When we first saw him he had general knowledge of the martial arts world, his own technique(the Roga Fufu Ken), and was even wearing the same clothes Toriyama gave members of the martial artist class in some Dragon Quest artwork . He definitely was a martial artist just like Kuririn and not a random naturally strong guy.

[In Brightest Day]

I always thought that Tenshinhan was always better than Krillin and Yamcha put together.

And there never seemed to be much of a focus on Yamcha. He was just some desert bandit when we first met him while we recognized Krillin and Tenshinhan as "martial artists" as soon as we met them. Yes, Yamcha did some of the same training as Krillin and Tenshinhan but Tenshinhan already trained with Crane and Tao and Krillin trained at the Orin Temple. So they seemed to be serious martial artists even before we met them whereas Yamcha just hung out with Puar doing Kami-sama knows what.

It's pretty obvious that Yamcha was a trained martial artist by the time he met Son Goku. Theirs no way an Earthling is just naturally that powerful. No way.

Yamcha never did anything that would lead to him surpassing either of them. He started off behind Tenshinhan and then did the same sort of training as him, even training under the same masters. I wouldn't be surprised if he only kept up or maybe closed the gap between them, since he never does anything that would rocket him ahead. As for Kuririn, I'm not sure I agree that he and Yamcha were equals in the 22nd tournament. I could be wrong though, so I'll ask what you're basing that on. But again, Yamcha never does any better training than Kuririn until he trains under Kaio, and Kuririn got a magical boost in the meantime.

Yamcha stated that he had done extra training outside of his time with Roshi and Kuririn and he had already mastered the Kamehameha (to Jackie Chun's suprise) while Chaozu took Kuririn's Kamehameha head on and was only shaken up a little bit. Lastly, Yamcha was actually able to trade off with Tenshinhan for a while and was at least able to give him a bit of trouble, while Kuririn was blatantly out-matched against his equal (Son Goku) and even with his respectable tactics, he didn't even make Goku work up a sweat.

After the 22nd Budokai, Yamcha's broken leg at the hands of Tien restricted his progress in my opinion (we see it's still somewhat injured in his battle against Kami) and in turn lost his edge. But as we see here...



Kuririn still doesn't really have a significant lead on him anyway. Sure, in a battle I think he would've had a small advantage at the beginning of Z, but I don't think either Kuririn (or Tien, for that matter) could've taken Yamucha lightly at that stage.

[Bussani]

Yamcha stated that he had done extra training outside of his time with Roshi and Kuririn and he had already mastered the Kamehameha (to Jackie Chun's suprise) while Chaozu took Kuririn's Kamehameha head on and was only shaken up a little bit. Lastly, Yamcha was actually able to trade off with Tenshinhan for a while and was at least able to give him a bit of trouble, while Kuririn was blatantly out-matched against his equal (Son Goku) and even with his respectable tactics, he didn't even make Goku work up a sweat.

Training alone isn't necessarily "better" training, and mastering the Kamehameha before Kuririn doesn't necessarily mean he was stronger. I don't really see a big difference between Goku and Kuririn in their fight and Tenshinhan and Yamcha in theirs, either; Kuririn and Yamcha both got some good moves in, but Goku and Tenshinhan won without working up a sweat in the end. It seems to close to make a judgement if you ask me.

Edit: As a master of fact, Kuririn says this:

Chapter: 122, P13.3-7
Kame-sennin: “Panput was truly fearsomely skilled master, but only when seen from an ordinary level…To your eyes, however, he didn’t look like anything special…That shows just how much you two have acquired strength that surpasses the ordinary.”
Kuririn: “But…Yamcha lost, and he was about as good as me. And even I had a really tough fight against that runt.”
Kame-sennin: “There’s no helping that. It’s because your opponents were also super masters who have surpassed the ordinary.”

we see it's still somewhat injured in his battle against Kami

I couldn't spot anything like that with a quick glance. Whereabouts is that?

[SylentEcho]

Well, Yamcha is a jobber

Wrestling fan, are you?

Yamcha was actually very strong and had a lot of potential, his Roga Fu Fu Ken was a pretty devastating move. He and his transforming cat, Puerh could have done a lot of great things, but just didn't.

He was a slacker. He just wanted money more than anything else. If you offered him all the money in the world or all the skills in the world, I'm pretty sure he's choose the money unlike Ten and Kuririn.

[Kid Buu]

Wrestling fan, are you?

Most heels that turn face in DB become jobbers, lol.

That being said, Yamcha at least got to beat the Invisible Man...and with Puar he stopped Oozaru Goku.

[Bussani]

That being said, Yamcha at least got to beat the Invisible Man

The only thing that made the Invisible Man tough was the fact that he was invisible. And Yamcha could only beat him once he wasn't invisible, which was thanks to Kuririn. So...man, Yamcha, why can't you do anything? He's barely a step above Chaozu in terms of successes.

[Kid Buu]

That being said, Yamcha at least got to beat the Invisible Man

The only thing that made the Invisible Man tough was the fact that he was invisible. And Yamcha could only beat him once he wasn't invisible, which was thanks to Kuririn.

Really? I remember Yamcha was about to beat him by finding his vibrations and then Baba started to sing to distract Yamcha.

...Or is that filler? :/

[In Brightest Day]

Edit: As a master of fact, Kuririn says this:

Chapter: 122, P13.3-7
Kame-sennin: “Panput was truly fearsomely skilled master, but only when seen from an ordinary level…To your eyes, however, he didn’t look like anything special…That shows just how much you two have acquired strength that surpasses the ordinary.”
Kuririn: “But…Yamcha lost, and he was about as good as me. And even I had a really tough fight against that runt.”
Kame-sennin: “There’s no helping that. It’s because your opponents were also super masters who have surpassed the ordinary.”

we see it's still somewhat injured in his battle against Kami

I couldn't spot anything like that with a quick glance. Whereabouts is that?

Just remembered that that was filler. I still stand by Krillin and Yamcha pretty much being completely even at the 22nd Budokai however. Statements and their individual performances kind of suggest it pretty clearly, IMO. I wish it wasn't filler, though.

He was a slacker. He just wanted money more than anything else. If you offered him all the money in the world or all the skills in the world, I'm pretty sure he's choose the money unlike Ten and Kuririn.

I'm not sure theirs anything that really suggests that at all, especially earlier in the series. Krillin and Yamcha seemed a lot more similar in personality than Tien. Ten had the personality of a brick, while the other two were pretty much just regular guys.

Well, Yamcha is a jobber

Wrestling fan, are you?

I wish this wasn't at the expense of Yamcha haha.

That being said, Yamcha at least got to beat the Invisible Man

The only thing that made the Invisible Man tough was the fact that he was invisible. And Yamcha could only beat him once he wasn't invisible, which was thanks to Kuririn. So...man, Yamcha, why can't you do anything? He's barely a step above Chaozu in terms of successes.

I would consider his battle against the Cultivar a victory, personally. He had beaten it and showed that he was completely superior to it.

[Bussani]

Really? I remember Yamcha was about to beat him by finding his vibrations and then Baba started to sing to distract Yamcha.

...Or is that filler? :/

Well, it wasn't filler, so okay. I guess you can argue that both sides used outside interference.

Just remembered that that was filler. I still stand by Krillin and Yamcha pretty much being completely even at the 22nd Budokai however. Statements and their individual performances kind of suggest it pretty clearly, IMO. I wish it wasn't filler, though.

Even though it was filler, that quote from the Strength Checker shows that you're basically right about Kuririn and Yamcha being about the same at the 22nd. It's pretty impressive that he caught up that much considering what a big lead Kuririn had on him in terms of Roshi's training.

I would consider his battle against the Cultivar a victory, personally. He had beaten it and showed that he was completely superior to it.

I think I'd call that a tie. But I get your point.

Anyway, apart from doing really well to catch up to Kuririn that much by the 22nd, after that he's basically just training under the same masters or training by himself while they train by themselves. I'm not surprised he never got ahead of them since their training is all almost identical. They only really diverge after that when Yamcha and Tenshinhan train with Kaio and Kuririn doesn't; Tenshinhan stays longer and Kuririn gets a magical power up instead, so Yamcha kind of ends up with the short stick in the end.

[Piccolo Daimao]

Yamcha basically started one or two steps behind the others. He'd started his training with Roshi after Goku and Kuririn had already done so and were now training independently, and he was already far behind Tenshinhan, who was even stronger than Kuririn, due to his training under Tsuru-sennin.

Apparently Yamcha was around Kuririn's level at the 22nd TB.

Chapter: 122, P13.3-7
Kame-sennin: “Panput was truly fearsomely skilled master, but only when seen from an ordinary level…To your eyes, however, he didn’t look like anything special…That shows just how much you two have acquired strength that surpasses the ordinary.”
Kuririn: “But…Yamcha lost, and he was about as good as me. And even I had a really tough fight against that runt.”
Kame-sennin: “There’s no helping that. It’s because your opponents were also super masters who have surpassed the ordinary.”

But, again, Kuririn was still one step ahead of him. And they all pretty much do the same training afterwards. The gap between them widened after Kuririn had his hidden power drawn out by the Great Elder, which boosted his power far beyond both Yamcha and Tenshinhan.

[Sun-Wukong]

Because he's Yamcha.

[Saiyajin no Tatsujin]

I always thought that Tenshinhan was always better than Krillin and Yamcha put together.

Same here. Tenshinhan was definitely the better martial artist, especially in Dragon Ball. He just had the bad luck of being under the tutelage of the Crane hermit and his brother Tao Pai Pai, who both lacked the necessary characteristics to be good mentors to him.

By the way, the flashback Tenshinhan has about his training is one of my absolute favorite moments in all of Dragon Ball.

[kaioshoryuken]

I always thought that Tenshinhan was always better than Krillin and Yamcha put together.

Same here. Tenshinhan was definitely the better martial artist, especially in Dragon Ball. He just had the bad luck of being under the tutelage of the Crane hermit and his brother Tao Pai Pai, who both lacked the necessary characteristics to be good mentors to him.

By the way, the flashback Tenshinhan has about his training is one of my absolute favorite moments in all of Dragon Ball.

That's one of the things I liked about Tenshinhan - we know now underneath that evil and darkness he had a really good heart.

Getting back to Yamucha though, I'm actually pretty glad he wasn't that strong and big of a character later. I really grew to hate him, and I guess I've really sided with Bulma on this one. He really doesn't have a good track record with the ladies, and boy, did he get ugly after all those battle scars on his face D:

No offense to Yamucha lovers out there - above is my opinion only. You can agree or disagree with it, your choice

[Gaffer Tape]

I could only find myself siding with her if there was any real evidence that Yamucha ever cheated on her. As it is, I find the accusation completely laughable. And considering that Toriyama even threw in a line where Yamucha gets all giddy about starting a family with Bulma, I find it hard not to believe that Toriyama didn't find the idea laughable too. "Yes, yes, I know. I'm screwing over Yamucha. But it's just because I really, really need Bulma to become breeding stock for the next blonde-haired super warrior. I know. It doesn't really make sense. And I'm really very sorry." *insert drawing of Toriyama on his knees with the sunglasses and surgical mask, sheepishly scratching the back of his head*