Krillin
Template:DB Character Kuririn (クリリン), Kulilin, or Krillin in the English anime, the English video games, and the English trading card games, is a fictional character in the manga Dragon Ball/Dragon Ball Z, and the anime Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball GT. In the early Harmony Gold English Dragon Ball dub from the 1980's, he is known as Bongo. His seiyuu is Mayumi Tanaka.
Name Pun
Like most Dragon Ball characters, Kuririn's name is a pun. In his case, it is made up of two parts. The first two syllables come from 栗 kuri, which means "chestnut" in reference to his shaved head (the "chestnut" pun is also carried over to his daughter, Marron). The second part of his name comes from 少林 Shōrin ("Shaolin" in Chinese), as his early character designs were closely modeled on Shaolin monks.
Character Information
He is the best friend of Son Goku, and is the student of Muten-Rôshi a.k.a. Kame-Sen'nin (Master Roshi) in his first appearance in the anime and manga. He is often used as comic relief or cannon fodder by the author, and has been killed several times in the series.
Despite this reputation, he's widely believed to be the most powerful full-blooded, non-mystically enhanced human in the series, easily a thousand times stronger than the average person, which is partly confirmed by Yamcha during a conversation with Marron during the Buu Saga. Unfortunately, he is quickly outclassed by many of the other characters in the series. Still, he is fairly brave and resourceful, and the audience identifies with him as a good-natured underdog. He has also arguably adjusted to a relatively normal life better than most of his friends,
A running joke in the anime is Krillin's poor luck with women despite his enthusiasm. Consistent with the theme of redemption in the series, he spared Android 18's life when presented with the chance to activate her self-destruct sequence because he found her to be redeemable. In a bit of ironic fortune, he later married the beautiful cyborg and later had a relatively normal daughter named Marron.
Another running joke in the anime is Krillin's high spirits when ready to fight. However, he is always taken out in the first blow, and then does not get back up again.
History
Template:Spoiler He trains under Muten Rôshi alongside Goku in preperation for the 21st Tenka'ichi Budôkai (World Martial Arts Tournament). In it he fares very well, easily advancing as one of the eight warriors going on into the main event. He is defeated in the quarter finals, being defeated by Jackie Chun.
After the tournament, he trains under Muten Rôshi again, this time alongside Yamcha. He enters the 22nd Tenka'ichi Budôkai and again makes it to the quarter finals, this time defeated by Goku. After the Budôkai, he is killed by Tambourine, a servant of Demon King Piccolo, who was out to kill all of the greatest martial artists so that Piccolo would go unchallenged. He is later revived by the Dragon Balls.
He plays a key role early in Dragonball Z, as he is one of the few fighters to survive the battle with Nappa. He accompanies Gohan and Bulma to Planet Namek where he gets his hidden powers unlocked and fights alongside Gohan against Freeza's forces.
In terms of deaths, Krillin has been I) Struck in the head by Tambourine, II) Self-Destructed at the hands of Freeza, III) Killed in Future Trunks's alternate timeline by Artificial Humans #17 and #18, IV) Eaten by Buu and V) Blasted to death by Android 17. At the very end of Dragon Ball GT, he has died of natural causes. He has died more times than any other character, with a total of six deaths under his belt. Not to mention his secondary record for coming back from all of them!
Trivia
Despite popular fan belief, Kuririn is not bald. Due to his original monastic training, he merely shaves his head. After settling down with his new family, his hair grows out, although his original smoothcrowned look is the most familiar to fans. The six dots on his forehead are probably scars from incense burns, based on the similar pattern that appears on the forehead of a Shaolin monk.
In the original manga Krillin once faces an opponent with a body-odor strong enough to knock out most of his opponents with no apparent ill effects. This is a humorous reference to Krillin being drawn without a nose. (A similar joke appears in the Dr. Slump series)
It is often debated about whether or not Kuririn is the strongest human, or whether Tenshinhan is. Most fans say that during the events of the Freeza saga Kuririn surpassed Tenshinhan and by the Cell Saga he was far more powerful. A few others point out that Tenshinhan received the same training Son Goku did from North Kaiô while Kuririn didn't. But it has on the other hand been accepted that Tenshinhan is the most skilled fighter of the two and would beat Kuririn in a fight thanks to his more powerful techniques and the fact that Krillin did not train for the seven years leading to the Saiyaman Saga (Or very much thereafter, unlike Tenshinhan, which has been seen constantly training all the way up to the conclusion of DBGT).
Special Abilities
Double Tsuihikidan
Krillin shoots a fairly weak ki blast out of each hand and guides them towards his opponent. He used this move in the 23rd Tenka'ichi Budôkai when fighting against Piccolo as a distraction.
Kakusandan
Krillin fires two blasts, one from each hand, and merges them. He then directs the blast above his opponents where it breaks up and rains down on them. Kuririn used this technique to destroy the Saibamen when Vegeta and Nappa first arrived on Earth.
Kamehameha
A powerful energy wave, Kuririn is able to use it in its basic form.
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Krillin's most powerful attack, the Kienzan is a razor sharp disk of energy that can slice through nearly any opponent. Its main drawback is its lack of accuracy. Krillin can create and launch several of these discs at once. This attack is called Destructo Disc in the English series. Some fighters use this kind of attack, like Goku, Android 18, Vegeta, and Freeza (Or Frieza in the English Anime)
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Krillin creates a brilliant flash of light that temporarily blinds and stuns those in close proximity. This is known as the Solar Flare in the English series.
Zanzo-ken
Krillin moves very quickly over a short distance, so fast that it leaves an after-image of where he was. It's almost like a mini-teleport. Called the After-image technique in the U.S.