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So, Why Isn't Tien Shinhan The Strongest Human on Dragon Ball?

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TaterTots

TaterTots

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Oct 27, 2017
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The guy shows up and defeats Jackie Chun and Goku in the same tournament. Comes back and makes it to the semi finals. I see a lot of talk about Krillin, but when has he actually won a tournament and then followed it up by making semis? Are we really calling him the strongest human because he made it to the semi finals twice? Or is it because Tien has a third eye and we're disqualifying him as a human? If that's the case why aren't we saying Roshi is the strongest? He's won 2 tournaments and made it to semis.
 
Lee Chaolan

Lee Chaolan

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Oct 25, 2017
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Pretty sure Tien would wipe the floor in a fair fight with Krillin right now in Super.

Toriyama just forgets about Tien is all.
 
Jarate

Jarate

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KZXcellent

KZXcellent

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Because Krillin is super tight with Goku. Gives him more relevancy.

Also the people running the series seem to hate Tien.
 
TheCthultist

TheCthultist

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Oct 27, 2017
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Is he not the strongest human? I thought Krillin was considered to be weaker than him and it was just destructo disk that made him dangerous.

Also, since its never not the right time for a Plague video:
 

Imperfected

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Nov 9, 2017
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Toriyama insists it's Krillin, but I don't think he's ever written Krillin in such a way where he's been demonstrably stronger than Tien for an entire arc, so it's entirely possible Toriyama doesn't write well.
 

Deleted member 35011

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Because Toriyama said so, and he doesn't take Dragonball super seriously so there isn't always a straight answer other than 'eh, it's cool, don't stress over it.' And I'm okay with that.
 
Mr Spasiba

Mr Spasiba

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Before Super it's because Toriyama hated him. In Super it's because all the writers hate him.
 
Lee Chaolan

Lee Chaolan

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Krillin had more time to shine early on in DBZ because Tien maned up and took on Nappa earlier, which unfortunately got him killed.

Had Krillin been killed earlier and Tien lived through the Saiyan saga and got to Namek the character could have really shined before his awesome stand against Cell.
 
Lee Chaolan

Lee Chaolan

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Oct 25, 2017
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Toriyama said krillin was the strongest a long damn time ago. Since then Tien most likely surpassed him with Krillin slacking off in training and becoming a police officer.

Plus ToP spoiler
Tien lasted longer than Krillin anyway
of course that's not saying much, but it's ammunition. ;p
 

Imperfected

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Nov 9, 2017
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The best case you can make for Krillin was probably on Namek, but considering Piccolo was pretty seriously outclassing Krillin as soon as he showed up it seems like Tien would have, too, if he got off the bench.
 

Deleted member 721

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He isnt even in DBZ, its no 17, they are cyborgues (Akira confirmed This) so they are more human than tien probably.
 
Fulminator

Fulminator

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Oct 25, 2017
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he didnt get his potential unlocked by old green

P sure one of the writers explained its actually because Tien is technically not human
 
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TaterTots

TaterTots

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Oct 27, 2017
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Imperfected said:
Toriyama insists it's Krillin, but I don't think he's ever written Krillin in such a way where he's been demonstrably stronger than Tien for an entire arc, so it's entirely possible Toriyama doesn't write well.
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yap said:
Toriyama said Krillin's the strongest human and we're just gonna have to accept it.
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He might SAY that, but it doesn't look that way at all from what I'm seeing on the shows.
 
Stopmotionkai

Stopmotionkai

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Oct 26, 2017
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i think krillin's Potential being unlocked should is the reason he's strongest though i believe Tien should have far surpassed him after 10 years of training nonstop.
 
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TaterTots

TaterTots

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Oct 27, 2017
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Eylos said:
He isnt even in DBZ,
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Who isn't in DBZ? Tien? The dude held off Cell.

Also, can we agree that these endless power levels have rendered a lot of the cast useless? Krillin, Tien, Piccolo, Roshi, Yamcha, etc. are all considered weak because they cant stop making the saiyans stronger and stronger. The supporting cast is basically useless.
 

Imperfected

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Nov 9, 2017
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TaterTots said:
He might SAY that, but it doesn't look that way at all from what I'm seeing on the shows.
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Oh, believe me, I understand, and there's something to be said for authorial intent not actually being as important as actual narrative content.

Like, Tolkien can say allegory is for morons all he likes, but whether meant to or not he sure did make a pretty allegorical story.
 
Jack Remington

Jack Remington

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When Toriyama said it, he got fed a leading question during an interview and basically just agreed with the interviewer. Given that he doesn't remember what he wrote a year ago, who knows if that was his actual long held opinion or if he even has one.

We're basically talking about biggest ant though. The humans should have gotten power upgrades a long time ago. They should all be at least Piccolo level. Gohan trained for like two days and bodied Tien who had been training nonstop for years. It's tragic.
 
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