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Cover of 22nd Tournament Saga, vols. 10–12
Dragon Ball (vols. 1–16) · Weekly Shōnen Jump, 1987

22nd Tournament Saga, vols. 10–12

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Three years later, Master Roshi's school faces the Crane school and Tien; chapters 113–134 (VIZ: Dragon Ball vols. 10–12)

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Do you need to read it?

Yes. It's in the Main story, the list of only what moves the plot forward to the end of the saga.

Where it falls in the order

  • Main story4 of 10
  • Everything4 of 17
Spoilers for this title

Quick recap

Three years later, Goku makes it to the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament just in time. Roshi's school faces the Crane school, his old rival, represented by three-eyed Tien and little Chiaotzu, who has psychic powers. Tien humiliates Yamcha and beats Mercenary Tao, back as a cyborg. Krillin beats Chiaotzu. Jackie Chun faces Tien and loses on purpose. Goku beats Krillin and meets Tien in the final. Midway through, Tien defies the Crane Hermit and breaks with his master. The final is decided by a hair, and Tien wins. Goku takes the loss in stride and makes a friend of his new rival.

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3 trivia

Trivia

  1. Behind the scenesNamed after Chinese food

    Tien's name comes from tenshindon, a crab omelet over rice. Toriyama said that, strong and cool as he was, he wanted a silly Chinese food name.

    source ↗
  2. Behind the scenesThe third eye

    Tien is loosely based on Erlang Shen, a three-eyed Taoist deity who also appears in Journey to the West.

    source ↗
  3. SetupA three-year jump

    The previous arc closes in chapter 112 with a three-year time skip. The 22nd tournament opens in chapter 113, published in February 1987, with everyone older.

    source ↗
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