Krillin

Goku's oldest friend and sparring partner, Krillin is among the strongest humans alive yet constantly outclassed by the Saiyans and androids he fights beside. What keeps him in the field is loyalty and a stubborn refusal to hide. His mercy toward Android 18 during the Cell arc changes both their lives, and he eventually trades the battlefield for family life at Kame House.

Krillin is the shortest of the Earth-raised fighters, compact and solidly built despite his size. For most of the series his head is shaved smooth and marked with six burn dots on the forehead, a relic of monastery discipline, and his face is notably noseless. He favors the orange Turtle School gi over a blue undershirt, with wristbands and the school kanji on chest and back. In later arcs he lets his hair grow out, pairing a dark short cut with casual civilian clothing. His build is wiry rather than bulky, suited to the speed and agility that define his fighting style.

Warm, quick-witted and refreshingly honest about being frightened, Krillin is the most human-feeling member of a cast of monsters and aliens. He cracks jokes to defuse terror, complains about the odds, and then throws himself into hopeless fights anyway because his friends are standing there. Early insecurity about his height and his place among stronger warriors never fully disappears, but it matures into a steady self-awareness. He is compassionate to a fault, incapable of finishing an opponent who seems harmless, and that mercy repeatedly reshapes the plot. Loyal to Goku since childhood, fond of Master Roshi despite the old man's antics, and sentimental about the life he eventually builds for himself.

Raised in a temple where smaller monks were bullied relentlessly, he left to seek strength and talked his way into Master Roshi's tutelage, becoming Goku's training partner and first real friend. Together they endured absurd training regimes and entered the World Martial Arts Tournaments, where Krillin's cleverness often outshone his raw power. He was murdered by one of King Piccolo's offspring and restored by the Dragon Balls, an experience that left him wary but not deterred. By the time the series opens he is a seasoned tournament veteran, comfortably one of the strongest humans alive, and living a quiet life at Kame House between crises.

1. Saiyan Saga

   He gathers the surviving fighters for training under Kami after Goku's death, then faces the Saiyan invasion with Gohan and Yamcha. He destroys several Saibamen, watches his friends fall, and is one of only two Earth defenders left standing when the dust settles, sparing Vegeta at Goku's request.

2. Frieza Saga

   Travelling to Namek with Gohan and Bulma, he hunts Dragon Balls while dodging Frieza's forces. Near-fatal wounds twice lead to healing from Guru that unlocks his hidden potential, and he survives the Ginyu Force and the final battle by nerve and timing before being killed by Frieza and later revived.

3. Android and Cell Sagas

   Handed the remote that could shut down the androids, he cannot bring himself to use it on Android 18 and destroys it instead, a decision that lets Cell reach his perfect form. He fights in the Cell Games tournament crowd's shadow, helps the wounded, and afterward uses a wish to remove 18's self-destruct device.

4. Majin Buu Saga

   Now settled with a family and out of serious training, he returns for the World Martial Arts Tournament and is drawn into the Babidi crisis. Turned to stone by Dabura and later restored, he survives Buu's rampages on the Lookout and contributes energy to the final Spirit Bomb.

Goku

Oldest friend and training partner

Their rivalry under Master Roshi became an unbreakable friendship. Krillin's deaths have twice pushed Goku to new heights, and Goku repeatedly trusts him with decisions no one else would be given.

Android 18

Wife

His refusal to destroy her, and his later wish to free her from Dr. Gero's failsafe, turns a lethal enemy into the partner he builds a home with by the series' later chapters.

Master Roshi

Teacher and housemate

The Turtle Hermit trained him from an untested monastery dropout into a world-class fighter, and Krillin continues to live at Kame House, treating the old man with exasperated affection.

Gohan

Comrade and younger friend

He protects the boy throughout the Namek journey, acting as the steadier adult presence when Gohan's power outstrips his own, and remains one of the few people Gohan speaks to without formality.

• He is one of only two defenders left conscious after the Saiyan attack on Earth, and he chooses to let Vegeta leave alive.
• His murder at Frieza's hands on Namek triggers Goku's first Super Saiyan transformation.
• He crushes the shutdown remote rather than use it on Android 18, changing the course of the Cell conflict.
• He wishes the self-destruct devices removed from the androids, an act of mercy toward a former enemy.
• He enters the World Martial Arts Tournament years later as a settled family man and still outclasses most of the field.

• The six dots on his forehead are ceremonial burn marks from his monastery upbringing.
• He invented the Destructo Disc himself rather than learning it from a master.
• He is frequently described as the strongest pure human fighter on Earth.
• His Japanese voice actress also voices Yajirobe in the same series.
• He grows out his hair in the later arcs, having been bald for most of his appearances.

• Son Goku
• Vegeta
• Piccolo
• Bulma
• Frieza
• Future Trunks

• Son Gohan
• Android 18

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