When it comes to being a martial artist, Tien Shinhan seems to do everything right. He trains on a regular basis and has taught himself an eclectic range of techniques. Yet he can never get close to Goku and Vegeta in terms of strength, or even the non-Saiyan whose dedication most resembles his, Piccolo. His win record has also gotten somewhat spottier over time.
However, these partly stem from issues Tien could easily address. If he took a good hard look at his fighting and training practices (including with his “all-seeing” third eye), Tien might find it easier keeping up with his stronger friends.
10 Relying Too Much On The Tri-Beam (When It Drains His Life Energy)
One of Tien’s signature offensive attacks is the Tri-Beam: a powerful energy blast fired when Tien puts his hands together in the shape of a triangle. It is a spectacularly powerful move, capable of hurting enemies far above Tien’s own power level (such as Second-Stage Cell).
However, the Tri-Beam has one major downside: overuse can seriously drain the user’s life energy, to the point where it could even kill them. While training has made Tien much more resistant to the Tri-Beam’s repeated use (even leading him to create a stronger variant, the Neo Tri-Beam), he can still experience the technique’s downside after several uses.
9 Not Using The Kamehameha & Dodon Ray More
While the Tri-Beam is a very powerful and useful technique, there are other energy attacks in Tien’s arsenal that are remarkably effective and can be used without draining one’s life energy. The first is the Kamehameha, which he learned presumably after watching Yamcha use it at the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament.
The other is the Dodon Ray, a common technique among the fighters of the Crane School shot from the user’s finger. While the Dodon Ray seems like the punier attack, by comparison, both energy techniques are actually exceptionally powerful and can be used many more times in battle than the Tri-Beam.
8 Not Copying More Techniques
Tien has the ability to copy certain martial arts techniques the first time he sees them, explaining not only how he learned the Kamehameha, but also the Evil Containment Wave after watching Master Roshi use it (though he still required practice to perfect his accuracy). While he somewhat implied that his Mimicry skill wasn’t absolute, Tien also insinuated that it worked on a wide variety of techniques.
Given how the moves he has copied are fairly strong, Tien could likely mimic a lot more, should he choose. Could he add techniques like the Galick Gun and Yamcha’s highly maneuverable Spirit Ball at first glance, for instance…?
7 Not Training More With Others (In Addition To Chiaotzu)
Tien is fortunate in that he always has a training partner, namely his closest friend, Chiaotzu. However, the two are not entirely compatible martial artists; though Chiaotzu has impressive psychic powers, he’s not as adept of a physical fighter.
Tien might therefore also benefit from training with martial artists who challenge him more physically. Though he has trained with talented fighters before (e.g. while under Kami and King Kai’s tutelage), these instances were more the exception than the norm. If Tien spent more time training with his powerful friends, he’d undoubtedly grow even stronger and learn a lot from them… including new techniques to copy.
6 Underestimating Himself
Tien was a fairly arrogant martial artist early on but became more humble after meeting Master Roshi and his students, particularly Goku.
While not necessarily hesitant in his abilities currently, Tien has doubted himself more than he likely should have. When training for the Cell Games, for instance, Tien chose not to enter the Hyperbolic Time Chamber to receive a year’s worth of training in a day, believing Cell to be far beyond his reach in terms of strength. While Tien likely wasn’t wrong, he still would have gotten an exceptional boost from training in the chamber, whose taxing environment he probably could have withstood.
5 Never Learning Or Trying Any Fusions
For all Tien’s training, he always seems to lag behind the non-human leads. However, there’s a fairly easy solution: fusion. Merging with virtually any other member of the Dragon Team would give Tien an enormous power boost, along with a sleuth of new abilities that would make him a great ally in battle.
While the Dragon Ball video games have given Tien memorable fusions like Chiaohan (Chiaotzu and Tien) and multiple versions of Yamhan (a.k.a. Tiencha, a Yamcha/Tien fusion), Tien has never fused with another fighter in the main saga. A pity, as he could learn the Fusion Dance and borrow Potara earrings fairly easily.
4 Not Using The Multi-Form Technique Long-Term (Presumably) To Get Four Different Training Experiences
Tien’s training regimen has never been shown in detail, but likely incorporates the Multi-Form Attack, so he can spar with himself, for example. However, that’s not the only way he can train with the technique.
Like Marvel Comics’ Multiple Man, Tien could divide himself up for long periods and send his duplicates across the world to train separately. This could help Tien develop a greater variety of techniques and strategies, as he’d undergo four completely different training experiences. Given how Tien’s fighting repertoire hasn’t grown much outside of upgrading preexisting techniques, it's unlikely he’s tried this before, though it’s unclear if the Multi-Form can last long-term.
3 Not Using Chiaotzu To Psychically Attack Others In Secret
Though Chiaotzu can’t keep up with Tien as a fighter anymore, his psychic abilities remain impressive, even temporarily holding base-level Goku still in Dragon Ball Super.
Chiaotzu’s powers would work far better on fighters even slightly weaker than Goku’s base form. Better yet, Chiaotzu could use his abilities on Tien’s opponents while hidden; if the challenger cannot sense ki, then Chiaotzu could make it look as if Tien were using psychic powers, thus never revealing his presence. Alternately, if Tien’s opponent can sense energy, Chiaotzu could suppress his ki when not attacking and continuously switch locations, all while Tien distracts their enemy so Chiaotzu isn’t found.
2 Leaving Yamcha Behind (Or Forgetting To Include Him)
Yamcha is more competent than he’s often given credit for, having learned the Kamehameha on his own and developed the Spirit Ball, an attack completely directed by the user’s finger movements.
Nevertheless, he remains underestimated, even by Tien. In the Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ movie, Tien claimed Yamcha was too weak to battle Frieza’s forces —surprising at the time, given Master Roshi’s inclusion and the fact that Roshi’s secret training was not yet known. Later, neither Tien nor anyone else considered recruiting Yamcha for the Tournament of Power; as useful as Master Roshi’s techniques were, Yamcha was very likely still the stronger choice.
1 Doesn’t Explore His (Supposed) Alien Origins
The Daizenshuu, arguably the most famous series of Dragon Ball guidebooks, mentions repeatedly that Tien is a human descended from an alien species called “Three-Eyed Tribe,” which at one point came to Earth.
Tien has never been said to have an extraterrestrial heritage in the manga or anime, although the Daizenshuu further explains that his connection to the species is why he can sprout two more arms from his back and use his signature Multi-Form Attack. Should Tien’s alien origins finally be confirmed in Dragon Ball Super, he might be able to track down the Tribe and learn new, incredible moves from them.