Time to address this here.
Now to be clear, there’s not a whole lot seemingly wrong with this premise as initially described,
Fair enough, everyone’s had moments where they make mistakes at some point. But as soon as we start getting into the alleged reasons, it becomes clear that these are being presented and framed in such a way as to deliberately make him look bad.
Let’s get started.
Yes. Krillin tried to bribe his way into Roshi’s tutelage with porn. Absolutely true. However, the problem here is the assertion that Goku put in work to be accepted whereas Krillin did not. The truth of the matter is, Goku also had to do something to appeal to Roshi’s baser instincts. The difference is, Goku just doesn’t know that’s what it is.
Roshi says that he’ll take on Goku as his pupil, but ONLY if Goku brings him a “hotty”. Which Goku actually fails at twice, once because he has no concept of what that term really means, and once because he brings... well, a mermaid.
But the fact is, even Krillin’s porn fails to get him in, as Roshi assigns the same task to both Krillin and Goku again, which is how we meet Launch.
Yes, Krillin was more willing to do whatever it took, but both had to fulfill this task to get in.
Moving on...
This is... kind of valid yet not. I get why it seems this way on the surface, but at the same time, it ignores that Krillin recognized something Kami did as well; for one, the Androids actually didn’t attack them, but rather ignored them and tried to be on their way until Vegeta forced a conflict. They weren’t the mindless killing machines he’d been told about.
Second, challenging them at that point would have been absolutely fruitless and foolish, as had been aptly demonstrated by the way Vegeta, Trunks, and Piccolo were dealt with as if they were nothing, and would have resulted in there being no one left standing to heal the others, to say nothing of informing them of the true motivations of the Androids.
So really... it was actually far smarter to hang back and talk to them than to just be added to the pile of unconscious or dying bodies. But again, I do get the complaint at the surface level.
This next entry, however... that’s where things get to silly levels of BS.
You’ve gotta be kidding me. They’re really playing the “he always dies” meme.
I mean firstly, he’s died a whole three times. Each time, it was a sacrificial death, either dying in an ambush meant for his friend while trying to protect a Dragon Ball, dying in combat, or sacrificing himself to try to save his family. Know who else has died three times?
Goku.
Vegeta.
Piccolo.
But for some reason, their deaths aren’t bemoaned like this.
And the best part is they make no bones about implying he’s not useful... but then say no one’s holding these deaths against him.
I... genuinely have no idea how this makes him unlikable. If anything, it gives him an arc and, being honest? It’s a fairly relatable starting motivation for a lot of people. And then they go ahead and admit things changed so... no clue why it’s on a list like this, let alone so high on it.
...
...
...HE BROKE THINGS OFF WITH A WOMAN WHO WAS CONSTANTLY CHEATING ON HIM AND EVEN TRYING TO SEDUCE HIS CLOSE FRIENDS, HOW IN THE *HELL* DOES THAT MAKE *HIM* UNLIKABLE HERE?
I mean my GOD that’s toxic. You can’t possibly miss the point harder than this.
Or can you?
Yes. Yes you can.
In this particular case, you can both miss what happened with Vegeta and Trunks as well as misread what Krillin was upset about.
Vegeta and Trunks never bond in this arc. In fact, most all of it has been spent being callous and antagonistic to his son, even forcing his son to attack him in order to try to stop Cell. Vegeta only acknowledges and respects his son after that moment. Sweet indeed.
The point of Krillin’s ire, however, was this.
Vegeta’s act of blind rage, rage he felt only because the son he finally respected was felled by an enemy, had wound up with Gohan seriously injured against a full-capacity Cell. Even VEGETA acknowledges he screwed up here too.
This is a pretty big misrepresentation of the situation. Krillin didn’t give Vegeta grief for mourning Trunks, but for his actions and what they resulted in. Grief Vegeta gave himself too.
...do I even need to explain this one?
The toxicity in this fandom and even the press covering the series in question is ridiculous. How on Earth does taking responsibility for your family and getting a job to provide for them make you unlikable? Look at how they treat Gohan for this too.
This one gets to me pretty badly as, frankly? It misses the entire point of this story arc, Krillin’s character arc, and... well, simple details about it.
First and foremost, Goku WANTED to train with Krillin, reminisce about old times, and keep his reflexes sharp. It’s not like he got roped into doing this, or that Krillin dragged him along. He WANTED to spend time with his best friend. Get that right.
Secondly, nothing about this required Goku’s help. Period. In fact, nothing Goku did COULD help. The Forest of Terror was looking inside Krillin’s mind, and testing him and him alone. Nothing Goku did or could have done influenced this. It was all Krillin having to confront his fear and learn to still himself and find his center in the face of said fear.
And thirdly... this was not about the Tournament of Power. At all. In fact, when the ToP comes around, Krillin is more than ready, something Goku knows and tries to convince Gohan of.
I have no idea how in the heck they missed this, but it’s simply a symptom of a bigger issue. People simply cannot give Krillin his dues. Even when he improves, even when he trains to better himself, it’s somehow just wasting the time of whomever his partner is, which they could have used to make THEMSELVES stronger, right?
Good grief.
...yep, that’s right. Krillin’s single-greatest act of kindness, his refusal to blame the victims, his stance against prejudice toward someone because of circumstances outside their control, or judging them for something they MIGHT do or did in a timeline where they were very different people?
That’s just downright unlikable.
I could sit here and write a whole essay on how even shutting down 18 wouldn’t guarantee victory. I could. But the truth of the matter is, they’re even taking issue with removing their self-destruct devices, which are dangerous to themselves AND others, and trying to give them a chance at having the lives stolen from them back.
That’s... kind of messed up, CBR. Kind of really messed up.
...the same ex they earlier acknowledged was a filler character not present in the original work.
Yeah, we’re done here. This was utterly ridiculous. But when I say peeps REACH for reasons to dump on this guy, I mean it.
