Tien Shinhan, Tenshinhan in Japanese, is the bald fighter with a third eye on his forehead who shows up at the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament to humiliate Master Roshi's students. He debuts in chapter 113 of the manga, released in February 1987, and is one of Dragon Ball's great redemption stories: from would-be assassin to honest martial artist, Goku's friend and a defender of Earth.
Who he is
Tien grows up under the Crane Hermit, Roshi's old fellow student and rival, alongside his inseparable friend Chiaotzu. The training is brutal and has a clear goal: to turn him into a professional killer like Tao Pai Pai, the master's brother and the Red Ribbon Army hitman Goku defeated.
According to the Daizenshuu guidebooks, the third eye is a legacy of alien ancestors, the Three-Eyed People. The character is loosely based on Erlang Shen, the three-eyed deity in Journey to the West who first fights the Monkey King and later becomes his rival and ally. His name comes from tenshindon, a crab omelet served over rice: Toriyama said he picked a food name on purpose, to be a little silly with an otherwise strong and serious character.
His story across the series
- Dragon Ball: at the 22nd tournament he ruthlessly breaks Yamcha's leg, then faces Jackie Chun, who shakes his convictions. In the final he takes on Goku; when he discovers Chiaotzu is freezing his opponent with psychic powers, he defies his master and refuses to win that way. He still takes the title in a chaotic finish, after blowing the stage apart with the Tri-Beam, and breaks with the Crane School. Against King Piccolo he joins Goku and studies the Mafuba to seal him away; at the 23rd tournament he beats a cybernetically rebuilt Tao Pai Pai, though he is left with a scar across his chest, and loses to Goku in the semifinal.
- Dragon Ball Z: against the Saiyans he beats a Saibaman but loses an arm to Nappa; after Chiaotzu's sacrifice he pours his last strength into a desperate attack and dies. He trains with King Kai and is revived by the Namekian Dragon Balls. During the Cell saga he fires Tri-Beam after Tri-Beam to pin the monster down so Android 16 and Android 18 can escape, pushing himself to collapse.
- Dragon Ball Super: at Bulma's party he tries to stop Beerus; against the revived Frieza he is saved by Whis. He has opened a martial arts dojo with Chiaotzu and agrees to join the Tournament of Power, where he backs Gohan's team-based strategy.
Powers and techniques
Tien is one of the strongest humans in the series. His third eye lets him track extremely fast movements, and he can copy a technique after seeing it once.
| Technique | What it does |
|---|---|
| Tri-Beam (Kikōhō) | A devastating energy wave that wears down its user |
| Neo Tri-Beam (Shin Kikōhō) | The upgraded version he unleashes on Cell |
| Solar Flare (Taiyōken) | A blinding flash, first used by him |
| Shi Shin no Ken (multiplication technique) | Splits into four copies of himself |
| Flight | The first character in the series to fly using Bukū-jutsu |
Relationships
- Chiaotzu is his best friend, so devoted that he sacrifices himself against Nappa.
- Goku is the opponent who shows him another way to fight, then a friend and a yardstick.
- Yamcha is his first victim at the tournament and later a comrade in arms.
- Master Roshi, as Jackie Chun, convinces him to change course.
- Launch, in her blonde persona, falls for him and moves in with him for a while.
Why he matters: our take
Tien is Dragon Ball's first "serious" antagonist: not a goofy bandit like Yamcha, but a ruthless warrior raised to kill. His decision to turn his back on his master in the middle of the final is one of the series' key moral scenes, because it shifts the manga from comedy toward martial arts as a way of life.
In Z, like the other humans, he is outclassed by the Saiyans. But Tien knows how to step aside with dignity: his assault on Cell, fully aware that he cannot win, is worth as much as plenty of victories.
Did you know? For a few episodes of Z, while Hirotaka Suzuoki was in hospital, Tien was voiced by Kōichi Yamadera, who more than twenty years later would become the voice of Beerus, the God of Destruction.
Trivia
- After Hirotaka Suzuoki's death in 2006, the Japanese role passed to Hikaru Midorikawa from Dragon Ball Kai onward.
- In Funimation's English dub he has been voiced by Chris Cason and John Burgmeier.
- Suzuoki once remarked that Tien's humanity comes through above all in his bond with Chiaotzu.