How Many Times Does Krillin Die? (& In Which Episodes?)

Krillin is known as one of the strongest characters in the Dragon Ball franchise. He’s one of the most powerful and talented martial artists on Earth. He is known to be courageous, faithful, and good-natured, as well as Son Goku’s closest friend and ally since both of them have trained together with Master Roshi as children. But, Krillin is also known as the Sean Bean of the Dragon Ball franchise, due to the number of times he has died and been resurrected over the years. In this article, we are going to tell you just how many times Krillin has died in Dragon Ball and in what episodes these deaths occurred.

Krillin has, so far, died a total of five times and has been resurrected every time. He died on May 7, Age 753, then twice during Age 762, once on December 24, on May 8, Age 774, and finally in Age 790. Over the years, he has been killed by various opponents and has died in various iterations of the Dragon Ball manga and anime.

The remainder of this article will give you a detailed overview of Krillin’s numerous deaths in the Dragon Ball franchise. You already know how many times he has died, so we are just going to bring you the details about each of these events so you know the whole context. Be careful, though, as the article is going to contain a lot of spoilers about the current events in the Dragon Ball manga.

How many times does Krillin die?

We are now going to go over Krillin’s deaths in the Dragon Ball franchise, one by one.

Krillin’s first death: May 7, Age 753 (Episode 101 of Dragon Ball)

Krillin’s first death happens in Episode 101 of the original Dragon Ball anime, titled “The Fallen”. Here, he was killed by the monstrous Tambourine. The story begins during the final fight of the World Tournament. After Ten Shinhan launches his attack, everyone sees Goku in the sky. Tien Shinhan continues to fly and tells his opponent that he didn’t intend to use Kikouhou on him but wanted him to fall out of the ring, so with the ring destroyed and Tien Shinhan could fly, Goku had no chance of winning.

However, with a reverse Kamehameha, Goku manages to get to Tien and headbutt him. As they quickly fall to the ground, Goku appears to have a slight advantage but crashes into a car, which causes him to hit the ground seconds before Tien Shinhan. The Tournament Announcer proclaims that the winner of the 22nd Martial Arts Tournament is Tien Shinhan.

Shortly after, Tien Shinhan offers half of his prize money to Goku, but he declines. Then, Tien apologizes to Yamcha for breaking his leg. The two become friends and with the others go to lunch. Just before they start eating, Goku realizes that he left the Magic Rod and Four-Star Ball in the tournament hall and wants to go back to get it, but Krillin offers to let Goku rest.

While they are eating, Goku has a bad feeling and goes to the tournament hall, only to find Krillin dead. The Tournament Announcer, who regains consciousness, says that a monster killed Krillin, stole a strange sphere, and the list of the tournament’s finalists. After King Piccolo’s defeat, Krillin and King Piccolo’s many other victims have later revived thanks to the Dragon Balls.

Krillin’s second death: December 24, Age 762 (Episode 64 of Dragon Ball Z)

Krillin’s second death was quite short, as he was kicked by Recoome and immobilized, but was soon healed and thus revived. All of this happened in Episode 64 of Dragon Ball Z, titled “Recoome Unleashed”. Recoome attacks, moving at high speed, giving Vegeta a strong blow to the chin with his knee. However, after receiving it, Vegeta manages to launch an attack, but without success.

Recoome tells him that he fights much better than before and then effortlessly lands a blow with which he knocks him down. This also demonstrates the great resistance of the Saiyans, he flies at high speed to launch a Ki attack, which he dodged, then receives a blow that would make him fall into the water.

Krillin and Gohan don’t know if he’s dead; they try to feel his energy, and Burter and Jeice cheer their ally on. Nobody knows what condition Vegeta is in, so Recoome, after calling him a coward, tells him to get out. Vegeta picks up great speed underwater to give Recoome a series of blows to the stomach, however, Recoome easily takes it off and dives to the ground at high speed.

He then goes down and confidently grabs Vegeta by the leg; Vegeta takes advantage of it and hits him with a Ki attack that seemed to have killed him. Recoome gets up from the ground very easily, then asks him why he betrayed Frieza; Vegeta clearly doesn’t answer. He didn’t think he was that strong, his attacks have barely hurt him, and it’s hard for him to stand up. He won’t be able to continue fighting Recoome, however, he knows that it wouldn’t make sense to give up.

Krillin knows that Vegeta won’t take another hit. Until now, Recoome has been toying with him, but now comes the ultimate attack. He tells Gohan that after he kills Vegeta, they will go after them. Recoome keeps making numbers with his poses, while Burter and Jeice say that he should be an aerobics teacher. Finally, he launches a very powerful Ki attack through his mouth that even changed the climate of Namek for a few moments.

Krillin, from above, closes Recoome’s mouth causing him to lose a good pair of teeth, and Gohan grabs Vegeta so that he does not receive the attack, although he complains because so much kindness disgusts him. Still, him being still alive does not change the situation, as Frieza’s soldiers are far superior to them. Recoome gets back up, then asks Burter and Jeice if he can take care of the “insects” for attacking him, and they accept but want two chocolate bars in return.

Krillin is very close to him and with a single kick he pulverizes him. He says that they must surrender because they are too powerful. Recoome complains about having hit him too hard. Gohan tells him that he is not going to get rid of him so easily, and he does not stop laughing at his enemies for their weakness. Vegeta and Krillin can no longer fight (the latter cannot even stand up) and only Gohan remains to face the terrible Recoome. Krillin survived this by being healed later on, when Goku arrived.

Krillin’s third death: Age 762 (Episode 95 of Dragon Ball Z)

Krillin’s death at the hands of Frieza is probably his most famous death as it had the biggest impact on the series’ development. It happened in Episode 95 of the Dragon Ball Z anime series, titled “Transformed at Last”. When Gohan and Krillin wonder if they were the only ones to survive Genki Dama, Piccolo suddenly appears from the water and goes up to a nearby island with Goku.

Gohan and Krillin fly to their friends and they are reunited. On King Kai’s planet, King Kai breaks the news to Yamcha, Tien Shinhan, and Chaos. Recoom, Guldo, Burter, and Jeiceare skeptical, but the Z Fighters continue to fight them and ultimately force them off the planet and throw them into Hell. Angrily, they try to escape, but crash their heads into the clouds overhead. King Kai then reveals that he had invited the Ginyu Special Forces to his planet to give the Z Fighters a test.

On Namek, Goku, Piccolo, Krillin, and Gohan prepare to leave to find Bulma and return to Earth. Piccolo then hopes that the Grand Patriarch and the rest of the Namekians can rest in peace. Krillin starts to speak, but freezes when he looks at a point. The other fighters look at him and are also shocked: Frieza is still alive, with only his tail injured, and much more angry than before.

Frieza launches a Death Beam at Goku, but Piccolo pushes him aside and takes the hit. With this act, Piccolo’s true loyalty is finally revealed: having sacrificed himself for Goku, he no longer considers him his enemy. Very angry, Goku orders Gohan and Krillin to get Piccolo, find Bulma, and leave Namek immediately.

Gohan refuses, but Frieza butts in saying that they are mistaken if they think that Gohan and Krillin will be able to escape him and launches a sphere of red energy at Krillin, putting him under his telekinetic control. In an act of retaliation for cutting off his tail, Frieza launches Krillin into the air and, despite Goku begging him to stop, Frieza makes Krillin explode into a thousand pieces.

Frieza then makes Goku angrier by threatening to do the same to Gohan. Upon hearing this and already angry at the death of Krillin, who now cannot be revived with the Dragon Balls, Goku’s anger erupts and he undergoes a strange transformation, resulting in a golden aura, yellow hair, and green eyes.

Goku angrily orders Gohan to take Piccolo and leave Namek with Bulma, and this time, Gohan accepts. Goku then sets his furious eyes on a frightened Frieza, determined to make him pay for his actions. Frieza trembles in fear. Meanwhile, Ginyu returns to Bulma’s location and tries to explain what’s going on. She then looks at an island nearby and sees a huge aura being emitted: the same island that Goku and Frieza are on.

Krillin’s fourth death: May 8, Age 774 (Episode 260 of Dragon Ball Z)

This is probably the most interesting one among all of Krillin’s deaths because of the way it was executed. Namely, Majin Buu never actually killed Krillin, he evaded an attack, turned him into a bar of chocolate, and then ate him. So, he wasn’t actually killed, he was eaten. All of this happened in “Feeding Frenzy”, the 260th episode of the Dragon Ball Z anime.

Piccolo destroyed the exit to the Room of Time, so there is no way for Majin Buu to escape. Gotenks gets angry because he knew that if he used his special technique, he could kill Majin Buu. Majin Buu is confused and asks if he will be able to eat candy again, but Piccolo says that there is no candy in the Room of Time. Hearing this, Majin Buu gets very angry because he is hungry.

On Kami’s Lookout everyone wonders what the noise was, and Mr. Popo tells them that Piccolo destroyed the door, so they are trapped there. Gotenks then yells at Piccolo about why he destroyed the door, and Piccolo yells back. Out of nowhere, Majin Buu screams very loudly. The vibrations caused by the scream make a hole in the Room of Time and he exits through it.

However, the hole closes before Piccolo and Gotenks leave. So they come up with the idea of ​​doing what Boo did, but it doesn’t work. Goku sees what has happened and worries that the world will be destroyed. Gohan is still going through his training and asks Goku what happened, but Goku doesn’t tell him. On Earth, the rest of the group is worried to see that Majin Buu has made it out.

Krillin comes up with an idea to attack Majin Buu while Android 18 makes everyone flee. It doesn’t work, and Krillin is turned into candy and eaten. So Majin Buu turns Android 18 and Brown into candy and does so with all the people on the Lookout. In the Room of Time, Gotenks and Piccolo are still trying to punch a hole in the wall of the Room of Time to get out, but they can’t.

So Gotenks talks about his special technique again and Piccolo tells him to do it. Out of nowhere Gotenks powers up and transforms into Super Saiyan 3. Piccolo is shocked that a child can have so much power. Gotenks then says that he doesn’t like this transformation plucking his eyebrows. He then screams and punches a hole in the Room of Time, and he and Piccolo leave.

Majin Buu is sitting on the floor eating candy when they leave. Supreme Kai thinks that Super Saiyan 3 was an effect of the fusion until Goku says he can do it too. On the Sky Platform, Majin Buu sees that Gotenks has changed. Piccolo asks Majin Buu where everyone is, and he says he ate them all. Gotenks gets angry and starts to increase his powers because Bulma died.

Krillin’s fifth death: Age 790 (Episode 44 of Dragon Ball GT)

This death was actually a non-canon future event from Dragon Ball GT, when Android 17 found and killed Future Krillin. “17 Times 2” is the title of Episode 44 of Dragon Ball GT, in which this death occurred.

Android 17 tries to convince Android 18 to team up with him to do Dr. Gero. For a few moments, Krillin tries to talk to him, saying that 17 wouldn’t do that because he hates the doctor. However, the new Android 17 telepathically communicates with him and tells him to come soon, so 17 loses control and kills Krillin, much to the horror of his wife and daughter.

Then 18 gets furious and attacks her brother. However, she doesn’t respond and launches a powerful beam of energy, which leaves 18 apparently dead. Meanwhile, in Hell, Cell and Frieza are tricking Goku, who is trapped in a block of ice. When they set out to destroy him, the ice starts to melt, as Goku is a living person and so the ice melts with his life energy.

Finally, he manages to break the ice. Then, he attacks his two opponents, who fall into the freezing machine, and turn into a block of ice. Then he accidentally hits Frieza’s block, which hits Cell’s, and the two break. On Earth, Gohan is fighting General Rilldo, who has the upper hand. Just as he is about to defeat him, Oob appears and defeats him.

Then Pan appears, with Gill and Mr. Satan. The robot returns Gohan’s arm to normal. Meanwhile, Vegeta and the new Android 17 continue to fight. Then comes the other Android 17. The two androids merge, creating the Super 17, which has enormous power. Warriors fight him, but they have no effect on him. Gohan launches a Kamehameha, but it has the same results. Then, the android counterattacks and defeats them easily. Then, everyone transforms into a Super Saiyan, but the Android attacks them again.

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