Power scaling is a thorny subject in the Dragon Ball fandom. While the notion of characters perpetually getting stronger and the scope getting broader is a built-in facet of the series, the degree to which keeping characters’ power levels 100% consistent matters will vary from fan to fan.
One of the biggest debates to emerge from this is the question of who is the strongest human being. When the human characters became eclipsed in terms of strength over the course of Dragon Ball Z by the Saiyans, the details of who the strongest is became murkier, leading to two distinct camps.
Krillin vs. Tien is one of the Dragon Ball Fandom’s Oldest Debates
For starters, most fans don’t consider human-Saiyan hybrids like Gohan or Trunks among the human fighters, nor Uub as he inherited Kid Buu’s divine powers. While the Daizenshuu guidebooks state Tien is a distant descendant of the alien three-eyed clan, he is still considered human and gets consistently grouped with the other Earthling characters in the series. Based on these qualifiers, the two main candidates for Dragon Ball Z’s strongest human are Krillin and Tien.
Even after his fellow human fighters were rendered redundant, Tien still fought against many of the series’ strongest foes, successfully pinning Semi-Perfect Cell down with the Neo Tri-Beam, and stopping an attack from a Gotenks-absorbed Super Buu. In the film Bojack Unbound, Tien even gets the best of Future Trunks in a tournament match, forcing the latter to go Super Saiyan to win.
Despite this, Krillin is stated to be the strongest human in Dragon Ball both in and out of universe. Yamcha calls him such at the beginning of DBZ’s ‘’Majin Buu’’ arc, a statement that goes unchallenged. Creator 706z87″ title=”akira”>Akira Toriyama, meanwhile, confirmed that Krillin was the strongest Earthling fighter in a 2004 interview. Despite lacking as many feats as Tien, Krillin has a major advantage in that his latent potential was unlocked by the Elder Guru on Namek — an advantage that apparently lasted him the rest of the series.
Dragon Ball Super Brought Master Roshi Back Into the Fold
These statements did little to quell the debate, and the arguments surrounding the strongest human fighter continued to rage well after DBZ ended. Dragon Ball Super would end up reigniting the debate by adding another candidate to the race: Master Roshi. Resurrection F saw Roshi fight for the first time since his retirement in the ‘’King Piccolo’’ arc, effortlessly dispatching hundreds of Frieza soldiers alongside Krillin and Tien.
While it was the most impressive feat seen from Roshi up to that point, the Turtle Hermit wouldn’t become a contender for the title of strongest human until the ‘’Universe Survival’’ arc. When Goku goes to recruit Tien and Roshi for the impending Tournament of Power, Yurin, a former Crane School student out for revenge against Tien, ends up possessing Roshi using paper talismans, and the possessed Roshi effortlessly manages to defeat Tien.
The possessed Roshi then goes on to trade blows with Goku, who remarks that his old master must be doing some intense training. Said training pays off in the Tournament of Power when Master Roshi outlasts both Tien and Krillin, takes out some of the other universes’ strongest warriors, and even momentarily puts Frost — an opponent who defeated both Super Saiyan Goku and Piccolo at the previous tournament — on the ropes.
All of that is in the anime’s version of events, but the Super manga has Roshi performing even more impressive feats. Tthe Turtle Hermit manages to keep the Universe 11, the tournament’s strongest team, at bay alongside Gohan, even knocking out their General Kahseral. When Goku struggles against Jiren, Roshi goes on to demonstrate an unmastered version of Ultra Instinct able to briefly dodge Jiren’s attacks, which becomes the trigger for Goku to finally unlock the form for himself.
Are Super’s Top Three Strongest Humans the Same as DBZ’s?
Many fans took Master Roshi’s feats across Dragon Ball Super to mean he has become the strongest human in the series, surpassing his former students. One key moment challenges this notion, however. In the Super manga’s ‘’Galactic Patrol Prisoner’’ arc, Yamcha joins the Galactic Patrol’s battle against Moro’s forces. When Moro’s goons remark on how strong Yamcha is, he tells them that he’s one of the three strongest Earthlings.
This statement is in line with Dragon Ball Z, where Yamcha was the third-strongest human behind Krillin and Tien, but seems to contradict Super’s new status quo. Given that Yamcha has acted as the author’s surrogate in clarifying other characters’ power before, this line seems to be an attempt to straighten the record on who Dragon Ball’s current strongest earthlings are. There is nothing to indicate Yamcha has surpassed Krillin or Tien, so the implication with this line is that the top three is the same as it was in Z.
If Master Roshi still isn’t among the top three strongest Earthlings, then what explains his feats in Super? It’s important to note that Super in general has deemphasized Dragon Ball Z’s notion that strength is the most important trait in a fighter, instead noting that martial arts prowess can still turn the tide in battle. Roshi explicitly tells Goku this during his manga-exclusive battle against Jiren, and this lesson allows Goku to finally go toe-to-toe with Universe 11’s strongest fighter.
Yamcha’s comments seem to be an attempt by Super manga author Toyotarou to clarify this, establishing that while Master Roshi eclipses his protegees in experience, that doesn’t mean he’s outmatched them in terms of power levels. The anime is a different beast entirely — Roshi may very well be the strongest human in that continuity — but he’s not the top contender in the manga.
Krillin Has Become Dragon Ball‘s Most Prominent Human Fighter Again
While the matter may not be entirely settled just yet, recent Super storylines may indicate that Krillin still holds the title. In the ‘’Galactic Patrol Prisoner’’ arc, he emerges triumphant in the battle against Yunba, one of Moro’s strongest soldiers. Meanwhile, in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, Krillin is the only human to contribute to the group fight against Cell Max, even managing to land several clean hits on the mighty foe.
Like with Roshi, these feats might reflect Krillin’s martial arts experience rather than just his strength, but either way, his recent contributions serve to once more establish him as the series’ most prominent human fighter after spending much of Super relegated to the background. Tien, meanwhile, has sadly struggled in comparison, with a greatly reduced role in Super compared to Z.
The debate surrounding the strongest human fighter will likely continue for as long as Dragon Ball fandom exists. Regardless of the answer, hopefully Super will get the chance to further demonstrate the fighting prowess of its human cast members, and maybe even give Tien his time in the spotlight like it has with Krillin and Master Roshi.
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