Beginning life as a manga in 1984 created by Akira Toriyama, English audiences and igniting a whole new fanbase.
Though most of the buzz surrounding the franchise focuses on ensemble of interesting villains and heroes. One of the longest-running and most powerful characters from Dragon Ball is the three-eyed Tien, often seen with his floating friend Chiaotzu. While Tien, by nature, doesn’t prefer the spotlight, he’s still helped his fellow Z Fighters defend the Earth more times than we can count thanks to his interesting biology, unique set of skills, and relentless determination. Here are 15 Things You Didn't Know About Tien!
15. He Used To Be An Assassin and Con Artist
Long before Tien Shinhan was fighting next to Goku and saving the Earth from monstrous threats, he and Chiaotzu were con artists and assassins in training. While most of the Z Fighters were trained by Master Roshi at his Turtle School, Tien and his little friend attended Master Shen’s Crane School. This difference in mentors is the reason Tien and Chiaotzu wear green Hanfu robes, while many of the other characters have the iconic orange Manchu-style outfits.
Though Roshi was hardly a saint, Shen preferred to teach his students in much more nefarious ways. His younger brother was the famous Mercenary Tao, and he led Tien and Chiaotzu along a similar path. The two eventual heroes were never shown to have completed their journey to becoming assassins, but they pulled plenty of cons.
In one instance, they attempted to convince an entire village they were saving it from the beast InoShikaCho, who they were actually in cahoots with. Goku himself tried to reveal their con, but the two turned it around on him by forcing the Saiyan to save the creature's life and make it seem as if Goku controlled it. While the two gave up this way of life shortly after, it adds some interesting shading to two crucially underused characters from Dragon Ball.
14. Tien’s Mentor Was Master Roshi’s Rival—And Former Friend
Part of what helped Goku recognize Tien’s and Chiaotzu’s con was the fact that InoShikaCho used to be the pet of Masters Roshi and Shen. Long before they chose separate teaching paths, Roshi and Shen both studied at Master Mutaito’s Training Academy. Though the two were friends for years, Shen’s heart grew dark and full of shame after he watched his master get defeated by King Piccolo. Even though Mutaito returned and was able to achieve victory over the despot, he lost his life in the process, further pushing Shen into darkness.
From there, he and Roshi parted ways and formed their own opposing schools. There, they each trained their students and prepared them for the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament. Despite the skill of his students, Shen and his group still used a number of cheats and deceptive tactics to influence the tournament. His lust for victory at any costs would eventually drive his prize pupils away.
13. Tien Fought Master Roshi and Goku in the World Martial Arts Tournament
After years of rivalry and training, the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament proved the ultimate testing ground between Shen’s Crane School and Roshi’s Turtle School. It also proved to be the undoing for Shen, as Roshi’s influence eventually moved Tien and Chiaotzu off the path of evil. Before that, though, Tien actually faced off against Roshi in battle.
Disguised as Jackie Chun (a reference to Toriyama and Jackie Chan's friendship), Roshi had actually won the previous Tournament. Shen and his student soon learned the fighter’s true identity, and Tien proceeded to use Roshi’s infamous Kamehameha move to battle the old man. Though hardly outmatched, Roshi still conceded the fight, and attempted to dissuade Tien from following Shen’s ways.
Tien’s next match was against Roshi’s star student, Goku (then still a child). Young as he may have been, he still proved a worthy adversary. Little did Tien know, Shen was actually commanding Chiaotzu to paralyze Goku using his mental powers. Tien delivered a vicious beating to Goku, but upon learning of the deception, refused to continue fighting and following Shen’s path.
Wanting a truly fair fight, Tien allowed Goku to wallop him for a bit in repayment, before the two continued their fight. They both exchanged some powerful blows, but Tien was able to eke out a win and redeem himself with Roshi and his students.
12. He’s One of the Most Powerful Humans
One of the biggest downsides of the transition from Dragon Ball to Dragon Ball Z is that many of the human characters were significantly weakened as the series became obsessed with the power of the Saiyans. When Tien first battled against Roshi’s students at the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament, his power level was at 180, rising to 250 by the time DBZ started. He even managed to pull it up to an impressive 1,830 after training with Kami, but it never seemed to stack up against Goku, Trunks, and the gang. Still, Tien has managed to pull off some impressive feats using his signature moves.
His most well-known attack is also his most powerful: the Tri-Beam. Aside from being visually interesting, the Tri-Beam is the move Tien turns to the most. He’s hardly the only character who employs it, but he’s made it into something of an art. Tien even uses a lightning-fast barrage of Tri-Beams to hold off Semi-Perfect Cell during the Z Fighters' brawl against the villain. Though it sadly doesn’t put much of a dent in the overpowered rogue, it still proves Tien can hold his own in this new world of gods.
11. Tien’s Only Half Human
One of the reasons Tien is so powerful for a human being may be that only half of his DNA is homo sapien. The other half comes from the Three-Eyed People, a humanoid species of aliens that share Tien’s literal third eye. While almost nothing is known about this alien race, it’s clear that their influence in Tien’s makeup is what grants him so many extraordinary abilities. The third eye, however, isn’t a given for Tien just because of his ancestry.
Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama has stated that those with a third eye have god-like powers and are capable of seeing through the illusions of the world. Tien, however, sacrificed many of these skills when he chose to follow Master Shen’s dark path. We also learn that Tien once possessed only two eyes, and achieved his third through intense meditation. Given his youthful deviations, we may never know the true power that Tien possessed or what the Third-Eye People are fully capable of unleashing.
10. Tien and Dragon Ball Were Inspired by Journey to the West
It’s no secret that when Toriyama was first crafting the Dragon Ball manga, he drew a lot of inspiration from Journey to the West. Also known as Monkey, the legendary tale is often presented as Chinese mythology. In fact, it’s more folklore, deriving from a 16th century story about a group of monks on a pilgrimage to India. As they search for Buddhist texts, the heroes encounter a number of adventures involving gods and demons in the Chinese pantheon. It’s a source of constant inspiration for many forms of media and has been adapted countless times.
For Toriyama, it served as the jumping off point for a tale of martial arts, incredible journeys, and dragons. There are also direct analogues to a number of his characters. Tien is most definitely inspired by Erlang Shen, the three-eyed god from the tale that Son Wukong (the inspiration for Goku) must battle. Even more interesting, Erlang is served by a white-skinned child, the inspiration for Chiaotzu. Talk about some deep cuts.
9. He Has Some Truly Unique Abilities
While Tien is often associated with the Tri-Beam, he actually has a number of even more unique abilities. Thanks to his Three-Eyed People lineage, Tien can execute a number of moves that are impossible (at least in the manga) for regular humans to employ. The most visually interesting of these, and one that would certainly come in handy, is the Four Witches Technique.
Translated from the manga to literally mean “Four Supernatural Fists,” the technique allows Tien to grow two extra arms out his back. It debuted in the puntastic manga chapter “The Arms Race,” and popped up on the anime during the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament when Tien used it against Goku. Sadly, Goku countered it using his Eight Arm Technique (what a show off). Later on, Tien was seen using the move to help him farm, proving it’s got many uses.
Tien is also capable of splitting himself into multiple fighters using the Multi-Form Technique. More than just mere mirages, this move allows Tien to fight as four separate entities, proving to be one of his most useful skills. He also used this unique ability against Goku in the next tournament they fought in, but the young Saiyan outmaneuvered it once again. Nevertheless, it’s just one more example of how powerful Tien truly is.
8. Tien and Chiaotzu Were the First Z Fighters Who Could Fly
Further evidence in the case that Dragon Ball Z significantly weakened the human character is in the ability to fly. Back in Dragon Ball, most characters could only accomplish this feat using a rad flying car or Goku’s amazing flying cloud. While the flying car was a great means of transportation (one we’re still waiting for here in a real life) and the cloud gave Goku a unique advantage, neither are a substitute for the power to fly yourself. Long before every powerful character in the franchise could accomplish this feat, however, Tien and Chiaotzu were the only two heroes that could manage it.
Okay, they weren’t always heroes, but Tien’s ability to fly was one of his key advantages during his World Martial Arts Tournament fights. Chiaotzu, of course, prefers to float around at all times, but Tien reserved the skill for transport and battle. Back then, it was a fairly impressive feat for both warriors, but was sadly rendered less impressive when Dragon Ball Z established that just about everyone could manage flight.
7. Tien Can Fuse with Yamcha in the Video Games
As the Dragon Ball franchise has grown in popularity and moved beyond the manga written by Toriyama, a number of deviations from the original source material have been introduced. One such example is the 2003 game Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2, the sequel to the popular fighting game on Sony and Nintendo platforms that allowed players to control their favorite heroes and villains from the franchise. In the game, you’re able to use the Fusion Dance to combine friends Tien and Yamcha into the bizarre looking Tiencha, a feat that was never shown in the manga or anime.
The dance is one of the more popular elements of Dragon Ball lore, with Gohan and Trunks famously using it in the anime to become Gotenks. Tiencha actually wears that exact same Metamoran uniform as the young fs, but the blend of Tien’s and Yamcha’s appearances is rather odd. The final look features Yamcha’s spiky hair coming out of the back of Tien’s bald head, with Tien’s third eye rotated sideways on Tiencha’s forehead and Yamcha’s facial scar included.
Still, the result is pretty cool as they can use Tien’s Tri-Beam, Yamcha’s Wolf Fang Fist, and Dodohameha, a combination of the Dodon Ray and the Kamehameha. It’s likely only a matter of time before this and other crazy fusions make their way into the anime, and we certainly won’t be complaining when they do.
6. Tien Savagely Defeated Yamcha Back in the Day
Long before Tien and Yamcha were comfortable enough with each other to fuse bodies, they were rivals. In Dragon Ball Z, Tien’s friendship with Yamcha is second only to his relationship with Chiaotzu. Their history, however, is quite contentious. Back in Dragon Ball during the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament, the first member of Roshi’s school that Tien faced was Yamcha. In fact, even though Tien objected to cheating during his battle with Goku later on, he had no problem with fixing the tournament brackets to help himself.
Tien had quite a hankering to take on Yamcha, so he had Chiaotzu use his mental powers to alter the lineup of the fights so that he could face Yamcha in the quarter-finals of the tournament. After verbally sparring for much of the event, Tien was keen to face Yamcha in the ring. Though his future friend put up a fight, Tien easily defeated the Turtle student, knocking him unconscious. Tien proved his viciousness, however, by breaking Yamcha’s leg while he was ed out. Somehow, Tien’s change of heart at the end of the tournament lead to the two sparking a friendly rivalry, even while Yamcha hobbled around on crutches he had to use thanks to Tien’s brutality.