Tien Shinhan

, is a fictional character in the created by Akira Toriyama, followed by its adaptation to anime, including Dragon Ball Z. Tien also makes cameo appearances in Dragon Ball GT. Initially trained by Master Roshi's rival, Crane Hermit, he is introduced as an enemy of the main protagonist Son Goku, but soon makes peace and becomes a Z Fighter. He is usually accompanied by his friend Chiaotzu. It is possible that Tien is an Earthling who is descended from an ancient alien race.. His three eyed physical characteristic resembles the character Erlang Shen. Also both warriors were adversaries of the main character. Toriyama did not recycle Tien from his earlier works, unlike Goku, Yamcha or Bulma.

Appearance
Tien is bald and has three eyes, the third placed on his forehead. The third eye is from becoming enlightened. His outfits change consistently as the series goes on, and he usually doesn't wear a shirt when fighting. In Dragon Ball, he wears blue pants, a red belt, a black hat, and a green and yellow surcoat bearing Tsuru-Sen'nin's kanji. After leaving his master, he abandons the surcoat and hat and wears a white sleeveless shirt. In the beginning of Dragon Ball Z, his outfit is the same, except that his pants are now green. During the fight against Androids, Tien replaces his shirt with a green sash that covers only his left side, exposing his scar on the right. During the Cell Games he wears a short-sleeved white shirt. During the Majin Buu Saga, Tien's outfit changes completely, consisting of a blue sleeveless-shirt over a white undershirt, blue-white pants, and a white cape.

Summary
Tien appears in mid-way through the original Dragon Ball series. He along with Chiaotzu enter the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai at their master, Crane Hermit's advice, as do Roshi's students, Goku, Krillin, and Yamcha. When Piccolo Daimao is released by Emperor Pilaf, Tien attempts to battle him but doesn't stand much of a chance and is defeated but not killed. In the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai, Tien defeats Cyborg Tao but is later defeated by Goku in the semi-finals.

In the beginning of Dragon Ball Z, Tien dies during the attack against the Saiyans, Vegeta and Nappa, along with Yamcha, Chiaotzu, and Piccolo, and they are sent to King Kai's planet in the afterlife for training. Later, Tien prevents the second form of Cell from absorbing #18, by firing his Kikoho continuously, but the effort drains him completely. Luckily, Goku arrives at the battlefield, and takes Tien to safety on Kami's Lookout. Tien later joins the others in the Cell Games and teams up with Yamcha to protect the weakened Goku from the Cell Juniors, before losing to them. After Cell's defeat and Goku's death, Tien and Chiaotzu choose to resume training, and remain away from civilization in the mountains, although Tien deflects an attack by Majin Buu that was targeted at a beaten down Son Gohan.

Abilities
Some of Tien's capabilities include the Kamehameha, as well as the ability to fire other chi energy blasts, telepathy, flight, and duplication. His main ki energy techniques are the Dodonpa (Dodon Ray in English), a beam of energy fired from his finger tip, the Taiyoken (Solar Flare in English), a flash of intense light that can temporarily blind an opponent Some pieces of merchandise have been released under his name and in his likeness. This merchandise includes T-shirts and action figures. Tien has also been featured in the Dragon Ball Z Collectible Card Game.

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See Also

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