Krillin’s something of a punching bag in the Dragon Ball universe thanks to not only how frequently dies, but how frequently his death is given a spotlight. Fans make fun, but when Krillin dies, it usually means things are at their lowest point. Killed by Tambourine? A literal Demon King has come back to life. Killed by Freeza? The trip to Namek is losing its point by the second.
Everything always works out for Krillin in the end– it’d be too depressing if it didn’t– but it’s worth taking a look at each of Krillin’s death across the Dragon Ball franchise. He’s been Goku’s best friend for almost as long as Dragon Ball’s been running, and Krillin won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. Even if he does ever die again.
6 Killed By Tambourine
Killing off Krillin is a rather bold way to close out the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai. It immediately sets in a dark tone that ends up ingrained into the series for just about the rest of its run. From here on out, Dragon Ball will be more dramatic. What’s worth noting, however, is that Krillin’s death is not depicted by Toriyama. Rather, Goku rushes to Krillin after the fact, already finding his body lifeless.
Goku holding Krillin’s dead body in his arm is a heavy image, especially since they’re both so young at the time. Krillin has been quietly, unceremoniously killed. In a fit of rage, Goku flies off to foolishly avenge his friend, nearly losing his life in the process. This wasn’t the first time Dragon Ball dabbled with death in a serious manner– that distinction belongs to Bora in the Red Ribbon Army arc– but this is the first time Toriyama kills off a major named character.
5 Blown Up By Freeza
Krillin’s dead for quite a bit after he’s killed at the end of the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai. He ends up spending the entire Demon King Piccolo arc dead while Master Roshi and Chaozu start getting chipped, leaving Goku and Tien the only main fighters left active. Krillin’s next death would be even more dramatic, but he’d only stay death for one fight.
Celebrating Goku seemingly taking out Freeza with the Genki Dama, Freeza shows back up to mortally wound Piccolo and then blow up Krillin. With no Dragon Balls active and Piccolo presumably bleeding out, Goku watches as his best friend dies for good. Enraged beyond belief, Krillin’s death ends up triggering Super Saiyan within Goku. In light of Goku defeating Freeza on Namek, Krillin is revived to die another day.
4 Killed By The Androids
And it actually doesn’t take him too long to die again in the main timeline! In Trunks and Cell’s futures, the Androids don’t take long to attack after Goku dies from his Heart Virus. Krillin is killed alongside the rest of the supporting cast, with Gohan standing as the sole survivor and the only martial artist left to fight the Androids & train Trunks.
It’s morbid to note that Krillin was killed by his wife and brother-in-law from another timeline. While Krillin manages to spark up a healthy relationship with both Androids in the main timeline, Goku’s death leaves the Androids purposeless, “forcing” them to eradicate everyone on Earth for their own amusement. Unfortunately, that also includes Krillin. Hopefully he died fast.
3 Eaten By Majin Buu
Krillin’s role in the Majin Buu arc is rather interesting. He’s undeniably unimportant by the back half (who in the supporting cast isn’t?), but this makes it easy to overlook how prominent Krillin is in the first half. He’s one of the first characters Gohan reintroduces to the audience, he sees one of the biggest visual changes, he gets an actual fight unlike Piccolo, and he even accompanies the Saiyan trio to Bobidi.
After being turned to stone by Dabra, though, Krillin’s relevance in the plot plummets. He spends a good chunk of the arc turned to stone and then comes back briefly before the Majin Buu conflict escalates and he’s turned into chocolate. From there, he’s just dead alongside the rest of the supporting cast until being revived at the end of the story arc. It’s a rather unceremonious last death for Krillin as far as the original series is concerned, but to be fair, he shares that trait with a decent chunk of the main cast.
2 GT: Killed By Super 17
The Super 17 arc is by arguably the single weakest story arc in the Dragon Ball franchise. It doesn’t make much sense within its own established continuity and it manages to be relatively short while exhausting from start to finish. To its credit, though, the arc does play with some rather compelling concepts: 17’s return, Hell breaking loose, and the main cast being forced to defend Earth while Goku is off.
What kick starts the heart of the conflict, though, is Krillin’s sudden death at the hands of Super 17. Krillin remains dead for just about the rest of the series, coming back in time to say goodbye to Goku in what’s probably Dragon Ball GT’s best scene. With Goku heading off to parts unknown on Shenlong, Dragon Ball GT flash-forwards far into the future.
1 GT & Online: Presumably Dies Of Old Age
Where everyone except Pan is dead! Presumably, Krillin just died of old age between the end of the Evil Dragons arc and the actual end of the final episode. It’s certainly possible something of note happened during that time frame, but it’s Dragon Ball GT, so: probably not, and who even cares? Krillin, along with the rest of the main cast, lived regular lives. Presumably.
While Krillin more than likely shares his same fate in the Dragon Ball Online continuity, he actually gets to inherit the Turtle School from Muten Roshi, becoming the new Kame Sen’nin in the process, opposite to Tenshinhan’s Tsuru Sen’nin. It’s a fantastic character beat for Krillin, and one that makes perfect sense. Goku was always the best martial artist, but Krillin was arguably Roshi’s best student. Most loyal if nothing else.