Tenlong

Tenlong
天龍 (Tiānlóng)
English Name(s)	Sky Dragon
Name Pun	"heavenly dragon" in Chinese
Anime Debut	Dragon Ball Episode 80
Appears in	Anime-only
Japanese VA	Kaneto Shiozawa
Funimation VA	TBD
Personal Data
Classification	Human-type Earthling
Occupation	Martial Artist
Relationship Data
Relatives	Shaolong (brother)

Tenlong is a fictional character in the Dragon Ball universe by Akira Toriyama. Son Goku encountered him in King Wonton's kingdom while training for the 22nd Tenka'ichi Budōkai‎. Tenlong is a martial artist in the Leopard Fang School, referred to as "demonic" by others in the area. He begins as an antagonist to Son Goku, but sees the error of his ways. His only appearance is in an episode written by Toshiki Inoue.

Biography

Not much is known about Tenlong prior to Son Goku's arrival. He was a martial artist and the sensei of the Leopard Fang School in King Wonton's kingdom. He also has a brother, Shaolong, who studied under him at the dojo. Over the years, he became a formidable fighter and was believed to have never lost a match, even able to defeat the strongest members of his school without using either his hands or his feet. He also mastered the Hyūga Spinning Kick and other techniques of his school. Unlike his brother, Tenlong is (in public at least) impeccably polite and appears to avoid drinking alcohol, at least prior to major competitions. By approximately Age 750, Tenlong developed a rivalry with the nearby Chin school and its master, Chin Taiken.

In approximately Age 750, King Wonton held a small tournament, the Imperial Match, to determine which martial arts school would be preeminent in his kingdom. Tenlong competed to represent his school and planned to kill Taiken during the competition. Unfortunately, Taiken's illness prevented him from attending and Son Goku took his place to represent the Chin school. Despite suffering from a dose of laxative (Goku was poisoned by Taiken's son who wanted to compete in his stead), Goku defeated Tenlong using the signature technique of the Chin school. As a result, Tenlong renounced his evil ways and joined Chin's school, promising to fight Goku again some day.

Name

Tenlong's name means "heavenly dragon" in Chinese, while his brother's name, Shaolong, simply means "dragon". They are both linguistically related to Shenlong which means "dragon god".

Production

Due to the production schedule inherent in producing a weekly anime series based on a weekly comic, the writers of Dragon Ball interjected anime-only material both as a means of extending the runtime and to flesh out the Dragon Ball universe. Tenlong and the Imperial Match help to flesh out Son Goku's training prior to the 22nd Tenka'ichi Budōkai‎.

In the Funimation English translation of Dragon Ball Z Movie 9, the writers included Tenlong ("Sky Dragon" in their localization) as one of the combatants. This was not the case in the original Japanese as Kung-Fun was a completely unrelated character.

Notable Skills

Tenlong is formidable martial artist and had a reputation for being unbeatable. He mastered his school's Hyōga Senpū Kyaku technique and served as a challenge to Son Goku, albeit while he was suffering from the effects of a laxative and unable to fight at his best.

Performance

Tenlong is played by Kaneto Shiozawa, a Japanese voice actor who was best known in Dragon Ball for voicing Namu. He would later also voice Sin-Shenron in Dragon Ball GT.

Notable Appearances

• Dragon Ball Episode 80 - Tenlong's introduction and only appearance to date.