Toriyama originally created Krillin along with the Tenkaichi Budōkai as a method to help add depth to the story, as his editor Kazuhiko Torishima had stated that the series' protagonist, Goku, was too plain.

[6] Torishima explained that in order to develop Goku's characterization, they needed someone petty and mischievous to provide contrast, thus leading to the introduction of Krillin.

[8] Toriyama cited Krillin and Bulma's older ages at the end of the manga as a reason he chose for Battle of Gods to take place after the Buu arc since they were in their "strongest condition at that time.

He does not possess a visible nose, and has six spots of moxibustion burns on his forehead called jieba, a reference to the practice of Shaolin monks.

[15] When he settles down with his family, Krillin is shown wearing a workout outfit consisting of a red "Tacos" T-shirt and brown drawstring pants.

Krillin continues to train with Roshi and helps Goku to collect the Dragon Balls by fighting against General Blue and participating in Baba Uranai's tournament.

[23] Several years later, in the span of a day, Krillin is attacked by Raditz while attending a reunion,[24] and is unable to save Gohan from Piccolo, who takes him for training.

[25] A year afterward, Krillin confronts the Saiyan invaders Vegeta and Nappa along with his friends,[26] following months of training in preparation for their arrival.

[27] Krillin double teams Nappa with Piccolo, creating multiple copies of themselves with the Tri-Form and failing thanks to the clones cutting their power.

[29] After Nappa is defeated, and Goku arrives, Krillin requests that he fight Vegeta elsewhere to prevent their friends' corpses from being destroyed.

[31] After Vegeta yields from further conflict given his extensive injuries, Krillin takes Yajirobe's sword and moves in to kill him, but agrees to spare his life per Goku's request.

[39] When the group recovers from the Genki-Dama, and Frieza emerges unscathed, the latter detonates Krillin from the inside, killing him instantly, which triggers Goku's first ever transformation into a Super Saiyan.

[56] In the film, Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, Krillin attends Bulma's birthday party; he later backs down from engaging Beerus due to not knowing his power.

Krillin was later resurrected using the Dragon Balls, and later appears on Master Roshi's island, and spars with his old friend, Goku, one last time, until he vanishes suddenly.

[87] When Krillin and Yajirobe, another character voiced by Tanaka, appeared in the same scenes, she gave the latter a Nagoya dialect in order to distinguish them.

[88] Canadian actress-musician Wanda Nowicki performed the English voice of Krillin (here named Bongo) in the rare Harmony Gold dub of Mystical Adventure.

When Dragon Ball Z received a short-lived English dub by Saban Entertainment, Funimation, and Ocean Productions in the mid-1990s, Krillin was voiced by Terry Klassen.

He reprised his role in the Ocean dub of the latter half of the series produced by AB Groupe for European and Canadian markets.

When the series' full production was taken over by Funimation in the US, Krillin was voiced by Laurie Steele as a child in Dragon Ball and Sonny Strait as an adult in all media released to the US.

"Turtle Destruction Wave"), an attack he learned from Master Roshi, which enables him to emit a powerful ki energy blast from his hands.

Lacking the other protagonists' advantage of getting stronger every time he is injured, Krillin is however the strongest Earthling and was recognized as having a great array of techniques by Vegeta.

[92][citation needed] In the later parts of the Dragon Ball Super series, Krillin learns to improve and develop variants of his Kienzan and Solar Flare techniques, giving him a tactical edge in battle.

In filler episodes of Dragon Ball Z, during the Saiyan arc, Krillin fails to tell Chi-Chi of Goku's passing after being tasked with informing her,[94] though does inform Yamcha when coming to one of his baseball games followed by recruiting him for training with Kami,[95] and trains for the Saiyans by facing members of their race from the past using the Pendulum Room.

[109] In the 2002 game Dragon Ball Z: Budokai, Cell has a nightmare where he accidentally absorbs Krillin and becomes Cellin (セルリン, Serurin), the form making him weaker.

[110] In the 2015 video game Dragon Ball: Xenoverse, Krillin serves as a mentor to the player character, teaching his Kienzan.

These songs feature his voice actor Mayumi Tanaka in character singing cheerfully about certain thing pertaining to Krillin.

[121] Then with "Ichido wa Kekkon Shitai Manbo" from Dragon Ball Z Hit Song Collection 8: Character Special 2 released in 1991.

[124] Krillin appears in an episode of Mad watching the other Dragon Ball characters after they are drafted for the Oakland A's by Billy Beane in a parody of the film Moneyball.

She also said it was more fun to play Krillin when he was a dirty-minded bad kid, that she was not fond of him growing his hair out and was shocked when he died for the first time.

[129] Various publications for manga, anime and other media have commented on Krillin's character, adding praise and criticism to his development and traits in the series.