Viz Media
VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...
's release of the manga, is a
fictional character
In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...
in the ''
Dragon Ball
is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The Dragon Ball (manga), initial manga, written and illustrated by Toriyama, was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1984 to 1995, with the 519 individual chapters colle ...
'' manga series created by
Akira Toriyama
is a Japanese manga artist and character designer. He first achieved mainstream recognition for his highly successful manga series ''Dr. Slump'', before going on to create ''Dragon Ball'' (his best-known work) and acting as a character design ...
. He is introduced in chapter #113 "The 22nd Tenka'ichi Budōkai", first published in ''
Weekly Shōnen Jump
is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the ''Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many action scenes and a fair amount of comedy. The chapters of the series that run ...
'' magazine on February 24, 1987, entering the martial arts tournament to kill Son Goku and his fellow-students. However, he later teams up with them to defeat
Piccolo Daimaō
'' Dragon Ball'' is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The franchise features an ensemble cast of characters and takes place in the same fictional universe as Toriyama's other work, ''Dr. Slump''. While many of the c ...
, accompanied by his best friend
Chaozu
''Dragon Ball'' is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The franchise features an ensemble cast of characters and takes place in the same fictional universe as Toriyama's other work, ''Dr. Slump''. While many of the cha ...
. Tien becomes Goku's rival for a period and is notable for being the first person in the series to fly using and to use the technique.
The character of Tien has received praise from reviewers of manga and anime. They praised his quest for redemption in the Piccolo arc and his fights have been celebrated as dramatic, intense, and entertaining. Numerous pieces of merchandise have been released bearing his likeness including action figures, key chains, and capsule toys.
Design
The character's is named after ''
tenshindon
''Tenshindon'' ( ja, 天津丼), also known as ''tenshinhan'' ( ja, 天津飯), is a Japanese Chinese specialty, consisting of a crab meat omelette on rice, named after Tianjin in northern China.chūka dish consisting of a crabmeat omelet over rice. Toriyama said that although Tien is strong and cool, he based his name on a well-known Chinese food just to be "silly."
Tien is loosely based on
Erlang Shen
Erlang Shen () or Erlang, also known as the Lord of Sichuan (), is a Chinese god with a third truth-seeing eye in the middle of his forehead.
Erlang Shen may be a deified version of several semi-mythical folk heroes who helped regulate China ...
from
Journey to the West
''Journey to the West'' () is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is regarded as one of the greatest Classic Chinese Novels, and has been described as arguably the most popu ...
, a three-eyed taoist deity who first appears as an adversary of
Sun Wukong
The Monkey King, also known as Sun Wukong ( zh, t=孫悟空, s=孙悟空, first=t) in Mandarin Chinese, is a legendary mythical figure best known as one of the main characters in the 16th-century Chinese novel ''Journey to the West'' ( zh, ...
, later becoming his ally and rival.
Abilities
Tienshinhan is one of the strongest humans on Earth in the series. Through training with Master Shen, he became superhuman, gaining super strength, speed, agility, reflexes, the ability to fly, with telepathy, telekinesis, generate energy from his very being called ki, produce energy blasts, absorb energy and energy blasts, control as well as sense energy around him and enhance his abilities by increasing his energy through force of will.
Voice actors
Tien was voiced by
Hirotaka Suzuoki
was a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator from Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture who graduated from Tokyo Keizai University.
His best known roles include ''Mobile Suit Gundam'' ( Bright Noa), '' Captain Tsubasa'' ( Kojirou Hyuga), ''Saint Seiya'' ( ...
in most media, with the exception of episodes 82 and 84 of ''
Dragon Ball Z
''Dragon Ball Z'' is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation. Part of the ''Dragon Ball'' media franchise, it is the sequel to the 1986 '' Dragon Ball'' anime series and adapts the latter 325 chapters of the original ...
'', where he is voiced by
Kōichi Yamadera
is a Japanese actor, voice actor, narrator and singer from Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture. He graduated from Tohoku Gakuin University's economics school and is currently affiliated with Across Entertainment. Before that, he was affiliated with th ...
. Suzuoki said that despite joining the cast while the show had already been in production for a while, it was easy for him to relax and find his place. After Suzuoki's death in 2006,
Mitsuaki Madono
is a Japanese voice actor who was born in Osaka, Japan. He's known for voicing characters who are jokers, but sometimes hide a more insidious nature such as Emishi Haruki in ''GetBackers'', Loki in ''Valkyrie Profile'', Joker in ''Flame of Recca' ...
Hikaru Midorikawa
is a Japanese Voice acting in Japan, voice actor from Otawara, Tochigi who is represented by Aoni Production. He is best known for the roles of Softon in ''Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo'', Tamahome in ''Fushigi Yûgi'', Seiran Shi in ''Saiunkoku Monogatari'' ...
took over the role for ''
Dragon Ball Kai
''Dragon Ball Z Kai'' (known in Japan as ) is a revised version of the anime series '' Dragon Ball Z'', produced in commemoration of its 20th anniversary. Produced by Toei Animation, the series was originally broadcast in Japan on Fuji TV from A ...
'' and all media since.
In the
Funimation
Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...
dub of the series, Tien is voiced by
Chris Cason
Christopher S. Cason is an American voice actor for English-language productions of Japanese anime shows mostly with Funimation. Some of his major roles include Babbit in '' Kodocha'', Haruki Hanai in ''School Rumble'', Gluttony in ''Fullmetal Al ...
and
John Burgmeier
John Burgmeier is an American voice actor, writer and musician who works for Funimation for English dubbed anime. As a voice actor, he is best known as the voice of Kurama from ''Yu Yu Hakusho'', Tien from the '' Dragon Ball'' series, Shigure So ...
.
Appearances
In ''Dragon Ball''
Tien is introduced as the star pupil of
Kame-Sen'nin
Master Roshi, known in Japan as as well as , is a fictional character from the '' Dragon Ball'' series created by Akira Toriyama.
Within the series, he is an elderly martial arts master, born on March 20th, who is the innovator of the techni ...
's rival, , who has him and Chaozu enter the Tenka'ichi Budōkai to prove his students' superiority. He begins as an arrogant, but talented martial artist, antagonizing Goku, Krillin, and especially
Yamcha
is a fictional character in the ''Dragon Ball'' manga series created by Akira Toriyama. He is first introduced as a desert bandit and an antagonist of Son Goku in chapter #7 "Yamcha and Pu'ar", published in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' magazine on ...
.''Dragon Ball'', volume 10, chapter 113 — He first fights Yamcha in the tournament, whose leg he ruthlessly breaks to win. Upon learning that Goku killed
Taopaipai
The is a fictional group of characters featured in Akira Toriyama's ''Dragon Ball'' anime and manga series. The many operatives of the Red Ribbon Army, led by , serve as opponents for series protagonist Goku during his second quest for the Drago ...
, the younger brother of Tsuru-Sen'nin and a mentor of Tien's, he decides to kill Goku in revenge. He fights Kame-Sen'nin (disguised as Jackie Chun) in his next match, and Kame-Sen'nin shakes his resolve to kill Goku. In the final fight, he battles Goku and brutally beats him down early in the fight, before Goku uses his full power, making the fight more even. Chaozu interferes with the fight by using his psychic powers to paralyze Goku without Tien's knowledge or consent, but once Tien realizes that Chaozu is cheating, he defies his master and refuses to kill Goku. Tien wins the Tournament after destroying the stage with the powerful but potentially life-threatening Kikōhō, and after abandons Tsuru-Sen'nin with Chaozu. Launch falls in love with him and asks him to live at Kame House with her and Roshi, but Tien refuses, saying that he does not want to live with the rival of his former master.
After the death of
Krillin
(known as Kuririn in Funimation's English subtitles and Viz Media's release of the manga, and Kulilin in Japanese merchandise English translations) is a fictional character in the '' Dragon Ball'' manga series created by Akira Toriyama. He is in ...
at the hands of Piccolo Daimaō, Tien and Chaozu offer to help Kame-Sen'nin in the search for the Dragon Balls. But when Chaozu and Kame-Sen'nin are both killed and Piccolo wishes for his youth, he learns the suicidal Mafuba technique in order to seal away Piccolo Daimaō. After Piccolo chooses to attack West City, Tien intercepts him despite knowing that he cannot be revived by the Dragon Balls, but must defeat Piccolo's strongest son Drum first, having to be rescued by Goku. In the final battle against Piccolo Daimaō, Tien uses the last of his energy to save Goku from Piccolo's strongest attack, but is then taken hostage by Piccolo as he cripples Goku. After Goku kills Piccolo, he is taken by Yajirobe to be healed at Karin tower, while Tien reunites with
Bulma
is a fictional character featured in the ''Dragon Ball'' franchise, first appearing in the manga series created by Akira Toriyama. She debuted in the first chapter "Bulma and Son Goku", published in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' magazine on June 19, 1 ...
,
Yamcha
is a fictional character in the ''Dragon Ball'' manga series created by Akira Toriyama. He is first introduced as a desert bandit and an antagonist of Son Goku in chapter #7 "Yamcha and Pu'ar", published in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' magazine on ...
, and Launch, the latter of which nurses him back to health. Tien participates in the next Tenka'ichi Budōkai, where he fights the previously assumed dead Taopaipai, who had been saved by cybernetics and wants revenge on both Tien, for turning his back on him and his brother, and Goku. Tien easily outmatches Taopaipai, but does not want to humiliate his former master and tries to drag him out of the ring peacefully. Taopaipai catches Tien by surprise and gives him a scar across his chest, which he retains for the rest of the series, before Tien defeats him with a single punch. Tien then fights Goku again in the semi-finals, is defeated, and later protects their allies from being caught up in Piccolo Jr.'s attacks during the final fight.
Tien prepares for training along with the other heroes at Kami's in order to fight the invading Saiyans. Tien manages to defeat a Saibaman, but when Chaozu sacrifices his life in a failed attempt to kill
Nappa
Nappa may refer to:
Places
* Nappa, Finland, a village in northern Kymenlaakso
*Nappa, North Yorkshire, a village in England
* Nappa Hall, North Yorkshire, England
People
* Mike Nappa (born 1963), American author
Other uses
* Nappa (chara ...
, he knowingly uses the last of his power attempting to kill Nappa, but fails. Along with Yamcha, Chaozu, and Piccolo, he goes to
Kaiō-sama
'' Dragon Ball'' is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The franchise features an ensemble cast of characters and takes place in the same fictional universe as Toriyama's other work, ''Dr. Slump''. While many of the c ...
's planet to train under him in the afterlife. He is revived by the Dragon Balls and prepares to fight against the returning
Frieza
, also known and spelled as Freeza in Funimation's English subtitles and Viz Media's release of the manga, is a fictional character in the ''Dragon Ball'' manga series created by Akira Toriyama. He makes his debut in Chapter #247: "Dark Clouds ...
, before Trunks appears and beats them to it. He trains for the battle against the Androids, but does not bring Chaozu as he believes that he is not strong enough. He accompanies Piccolo and Goku to fight Android 20 and Android 19. He searches for Doctor Gero's hideout. After Androids 17 and 18 are released, he tries to fight them with Vegeta, Piccolo, and Trunks, but they are all defeated. He saves Android 18 and Android 16 from being absorbed by Cell and gives them time to escape by continuously attacking Cell (who had just easily defeated Piccolo and Android 16), expending all his energy and having to be rescued by Goku. He then participates in the battle against the Cell Jr.s. When Goku returns from the afterlife and asks where Tien is, Krillin says that he is not coming. However, after
Majin Boo
, generally spelled Majin Boo in subtitles of the Japanese anime, and rendered as Djinn-Boo in the Viz Media manga, is the final antagonist in the '' Dragon Ball'' manga series created by Akira Toriyama, before the release of ''Dragon Ball Sup ...
is released, Tien appears and saves,
Gohan
is a fictional character in the ''Dragon Ball'' manga series, created by Akira Toriyama. Gohan is introduced as the first son of the protagonist Goku, and his wife Chi-Chi, in chapter #196 "Kakarrot", published in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' maga ...
, Dende, and Mr. Satan from being killed by Boo. He fights Boo, but is unable to damage him, and is defeated by a single kick. He and Chaozu later contributed their energy for Goku's ''Genki Dama'' attack to defeat Boo once and for all.
In a filler episode of ''Dragon Ball Z'', during the Saiyan arc, Tien trains for the Saiyans by fighting members of their race in the past using the Pendulum Room.
Beerus
is a fictional character in the '' Dragon Ball'' franchise created by Akira Toriyama. Beerus made his first appearance in the 2013 feature film '' Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods'' as the main antagonist and returned as a supporting character in ' ...
after Buu angers him, the three being defeated; and in '' Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F''', Tien assists in the battle against the resurrected Frieza and his henchmen, being saved from death by
Whis
'' Dragon Ball'' is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The franchise features an ensemble cast of characters and takes place in the same fictional universe as Toriyama's other work, ''Dr. Slump''. While many of the c ...
. The events of ''Battle of Gods'' and ''Resurrection 'F have been adapted as the first two story arcs for the ''Dragon Ball Super'' anime, with Tien's role in the ''Super'' retelling of the story arcs relatively unchanged.
After these two events and beyond, Goku decides to recruit Tien for the Tournament of Power team for Universe 7, and learns that he and Chaozu have formed a martial arts dojo. Tien initially turns down Goku's request and works with Goku, Chaozu, and Master Roshi to reverse the brainwashing of his students by Yurin, a woman that Tien used to be classmates with during his time at Crane School who had sworn revenge on him after he left and declined fighting her. After Yurin brainwashes Master Roshi, the latter defeats Tien, who agrees to join the Tournament of Power as he believes the ten million Zeni falsely promised by Goku will help repair the village. Tien agrees to participate in a fight against Gohan and Piccolo with Goku, calling off the match after Piccolo destroys the mountain fighting stage. Tien is part of the group that adheres to Gohan's plan of remaining together and later fights Universe 2's Harmira, using his multiplication technique to give himself time against Harmira. Three of Tien's four clones are defeated by Harmira, who shoots the ground from underneath Tien to knock him off stage and is grabbed by Tien's three other clones, eliminating them both from the tournament.
In other media
Tien appears in two non-canon ''Dragon Ball Z'' movies; in the
third
Third or 3rd may refer to:
Numbers
* 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3
* , a fraction of one third
* Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute''
Places
* 3rd Street (d ...
, Tien battles the henchmen of Turles; in the
ninth
In music, a ninth is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a second.
Like the second, the interval of a ninth is classified as a dissonance in common practice tonality. Since a ninth is an octave larger than a second, its ...
, Tien is involved with an intergalactic tournament and helps Gohan with Bojack's minions;
Tien makes very brief appearances in ''
Dragon Ball GT
is a 1996–1997 Japanese anime television series based on Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball (manga), ''Dragon Ball'' manga. Produced by Toei Animation, the series premiered in Japan on Fuji TV and ran for 64 episodes from February 1996 to Novem ...
'', the anime-only sequel to the series.
Tien appears in most ''Dragon Ball'' games. In the 2003 game '' Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2'', Tien and Yamcha can be absorbed by Majin Buu to create a form exclusive to the game. In the 2009 game '' Dragon Ball: Raging Blast'', Chaozu is told by Burter and Jeice that he drags Tien down, the latter arriving during Chaozu's fight with the pair and defeating them both, Tien afterward asserting that the duo's claim was false. The two are subsequently challenged by Goten and Trunks, who fuse into Gotenks, and Goku and Vegeta, defeating both pairs to assert themselves as the best tag team. In the 2018 game ''
Dragon Ball FighterZ
''Dragon Ball FighterZ'' (pronounced "fighters") is a 2.5D fighting game, developed by Arc System Works and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Based on the ''Dragon Ball'' franchise, it was released for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Micr ...
'', Tien is guarded by Chaozu while the two are approached by clones until Goku and Krillin arrive. After Krillin explains the situation, Tien states his intent to fight alongside them against the clones and agrees to Chaozu's help on the condition that he does not leave his side. After Android 21 follows the heroes to the Kaiō-shin planet, Tien uses the ''Neo Tri-Beam'' to aid in destroying her.
He is referenced by American rapper
Soulja Boy
DeAndre Cortez Way (born July 28, 1990), known professionally as Soulja Boy (formerly Soulja Boy Tell 'Em), is an American rapper and record producer. He rose to prominence, after his self published debut single "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" peake ...
in the uncut version of his song "Goku", where he states that he "feels like Tien" along with other ''Dragon Ball'' characters and
Pikachu
is a fictional species in the ''Pokémon'' media franchise. Designed by Atsuko Nishida and Ken Sugimori, Pikachu first appeared in the 1996 Japanese video games ''Pokémon Red'' and ''Green'' created by Game Freak and Nintendo, which were ...
.
Reception
Tien is a popular character in the series, in 2004 fans of the series voted him the sixteenth most popular character for the book ''Dragon Ball Forever''. Tien's voice actor for the original broadcast, Hirotaka Suzuoki, said despite the character not being an ordinary human, the character's interactions with Chaozu showed his humanity. Tien has received both praise and criticism from numerous publications. Theron Martin of
Anime News Network
Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and oth ...
stated that it was 'fun' seeing the groundwork for Tien being laid and reflecting on how he later changed. Martin went on to say that Goku's fight with Tien "presents the most dramatic and intense duel to date in the series." Davey C. Jones of Active Anime noted that "Tien's redemption made an interesting side story" and that it was "crucial in the final episodes" of Piccolo Daimaō arc.
Chris Beveridge of Mania Entertainment commented on episodes 62-92 of ''Dragon Ball'', saying, "there are some dull moments to be had, especially as I don't find Tien or Chaozu to be interesting characters." However he went on to say that Tien's fight with Goku "was really quite good" and expressed mixed feelings about the character, saying that as a villain "he was fairly one dimensional." But after being influenced by Kame-Sen'nin's teachings Beveridge said, he "becomes a much more interesting character" and was disappointed that he did not have a really "strong story told for him after this series." Sean Connolly of the same site said that Tien "shows his worth" by holding off Cell "with a flurry of high powered attacks." ANN's D.F. Smith said that Tien's fight against Piccolo Daimaō's minions was entertaining, but the conclusion of his fight against Goku was random.