Tien Shinhan

"I no longer wish to kill you. I have no where else to go or do. I just want to win now."
— Tien to Goku

Tien Shinhan (天津飯Tenshinhan) (most commonly just called Tien in the English dub) is a three-eyed Human introduced towards the end of the Fortuneteller Baba Saga in the Dragon Ball anime/manga series. Due to this harsh upbringing, he is initially cold and ruthless, thinking nothing of exploiting innocents and inflicting pain, but he is constant companions with Chiaotzu showing a nicer side. However, Master Roshi and Goku eventually help him to see the folly of his master's teachings, and he later becomes a trusted friend. He continues his training as a martial artist, all through Buu saga, and GT. He is usually training by waterfalls.

Name Pun[]

Tien Shinhan's Japanese name is a pun on Tenshindon, a quasi-Chinese dish that was actually invented in Japan. It consists of a crab meat omelet over rice. It gets its name from the fact that it was originally made using high-quality rice. The character’s name is written in kanji (天津飯) with a katakana furigana reading (テンシンハン, Tenshinhan) to indicate that it has a foreign (ie Chinese) rice, although, unlike Chiaotzu , “Tenshinhan”is actually also the normal Japanese reading for the kanji.

Personality and Appearance[]

Tien Shinhan originally was a cold-hearted and ruthless warrior, never caring for anyone's life with the exception of his fellow students and mentors. This brutality can be plainly seen when he crushes Yamcha's and another fighter's leg during the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament. However, he finds a life-long best friend in Chiaotzu, for who he cares deeply. He highly idolized his mentor Tao, and desired to be a famous assassin like him. Due to Master Roshi's and Goku's consolations, he changed his demeanor and became one of the most respected warriors on the planet. Before he transitioned to the good side, he planned to kill Goku during the World Martial Arts Tournament as he was seen as a threat to himself and his cohorts. However, this mentality soon changes with the realization that he disagrees with the brutal methods employed by his masters, Shen and Mercenary Tao. He goes off on his own to train, and soon becomes a powerful ally to Goku and the others. His personality transitions from one of a brutal killer to that of an honorable warrior, one who cares deeply for those he strives to protect. He occasionally tries to repent for his former brutality but eventually rises above his horrid memories and looks toward the future.

During Dragon Ball Z, he is seen striving to become a powerful warrior, and still hopes to surpass Goku one day. He valiantly fights and defeats a Saibaman when the Saiyans arrive, and does battle with Nappa, during which Chiaotzu sacrifices himself in vain, causing Tien to put all his effort into one final attack, in which unfortunately he fails. Tien dies a hero's death, but is revived later by Porunga. When the conflict with the Androids comes into full place, Tien puts his life on the line numerous times when assisting his friends against the mechanical demons, most notably when using his life-force to hold Cell at bay, sacrificing his own life to allow Androids 16 & 18 to escape, thus saving the Earth from certain destruction. After the defeat of Cell, Tien goes off to continue his training, and when Majin Buu threatens Earth's existence seven years later, he arrives just in time to save Gohan from certain death. However, he is knocked out when Buu's severed legs reanimate and kick him, and later perishes when the Earth is destroyed.

Biography[]

Dragon Ball[]

Early Life[]

During the early years of his life at Master Shen's Crane School, Tien was taught defensive techniques by

TienYoung — Tien when he was younger training with Tao

Master Shen's younger brother, Mercenary Tao, as seen during a flashback in "Tien Shinhan vs. Mercenary Tao".

Working for Master Shen[]

Tien and Chiaotzu both the star pupils of Master Shen's Crane School. They first met Goku when they were pretending to kill InoShikaCho and scamming villages for their fake services. When Goku discovered that they were really con artists, Goku tried to expose them, but Tien turned the people against Goku saying that he was with InoShikaCho instead. He accomplished this through hanging InoShikaCho over a fire and telling Goku to cut the rope and burn the beast alive. When the merciful Goku refused, he was chased away from the village. Appearance at the World Tournament

When Goku decides to swim to Papaya Island for the upcoming tournament, Tien and Chiaotzu can be seen traveling on a boat to compete in the tournament

Appearance at the World Tournament[]

Tien's first major role in the series began at the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament during the Tien Shinhan Saga. He is a student of the Master Shen, who is entering Tien and Chiaotzu to defeat the students of his rival, the Turtle Hermit Master Roshi. Tien faces little in the way of challenge during the preliminaries and easily makes his way into the finals.

Using Chiaotzu's mental powers to fix the ordering of the matches in the quarter-finals, Tien decides to first face off against Turtle student Yamcha, whom he had been exchanging hostile words with since the start of the tournament. Yamcha puts up a better fight than Tien expected, but was still not a significant threat to Tien, who not only defeated him, but went further and ended the match by needlessly breaking Yamcha's leg. Soon after this fight, Tien learns of the death of his role-model Mercenary Tao by the hands of Turtle student Goku and the tournament becomes more about revenge than victory.

Tien's next opponent was the winner of the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament, Jackie Chun and he faces his first true challenge. Jackie Chun challenged Tien not only in physical combat, but also began to warn him about following an evil path. With the help of the Master Shen, Tien learns that Jackie Chun is actually Master Roshi in a disguise and proceeds to use Master Roshi's signature move, the Kamehameha (which he learned in the fight against Yamcha) against him. After this, despite having shown none of his true power, Master Roshi concedes the match and hops out the ring. He walks away he can now go back into "happy retirement". Tien proceeds to track down Master Roshi shortly afterwards to find out why he forfeited, to which Master Roshi responds by telling Tien that it's time for younger fighters, Tien included, to take his place.

Tien then proceeds to battle in the final round against Goku himself. Goku is a powerful opponent and the fight seems to be relatively even until Goku suddenly becomes unable to throw a punch or dodge an attack without becoming frozen in place. Tien quickly learns that Chiaotzu is rigging the fight under Master Shen's orders and he demands that Chiaotzu stop since he wants a fair match. Master Shen takes this as defiance and orders Tien to kill Goku, but Tien, thinking about his own desires for the first time, humbly refuses. (Thus, Master Roshi's words have proven true and Tien rejects the path of an assassin.) The now infuriated Master Shen orders Chiaotzu to kill both Tien and Goku and when Chiaotzu refuses, Crane then threatens to kill him instead. Master Roshi puts an end to this by blasting Master Shen out of the stadium with a Kamehameha, allowing Tien and Goku to concentrate on their match.

Tien and Goku continue to battle until Tien eventually decides to put an end to it and use his ultimate attack, the Tri-beam. He warns Goku to expect and dodge the blast (as there is no way to survive being hit by it) planning to force him out of bounds instead. Tien proceeds to use the attack and destroys the entire arena; because of his warning Goku dodged by leaping incredibly high in the air. Tien is convinced he'll win at this point, as he can fly and Goku can't, but Goku uses one final Kamehameha to propel himself into Tien like a rocket. Both fighters then fall to the ground, Goku slightly ahead. Goku attempts to use another, smaller Kamehameha to slow himself down, but is hit by a truck and lands first. Tien lands an instant later, thus winning the tournament.

After the match, Tien offers Goku half of the prize money as he recognizes that, while he could have killed Goku in the first place, it was mere luck that he landed second. He also apologizes to Yamcha for using such excessive force during their fight. Master Roshi offers to let Tien stay at the Kame House, but Tien declines, stating that he cannot follow the teachings of another, even if he has betrayed his master.

The Evil King Piccolo[]

The good mood is short-lived however, as Turtle student Krillin is unexpectedly killed while separated momentarily from the group. Along with his body there was a note with the character "demon" on it. Master Roshi tells everyone that it represents an incredibly powerful Demon King, King Piccolo, who was sealed away centuries ago by Master Roshi's old master using the suicidal Evil Containment Wave technique, but is now apparently free again. On hearing this, Goku, still not fully recovered from his battle with Tien, rushes off to seek revenge. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Tien volunteers to help in anyway he can. He is informed of the seven Dragon Balls, which when collected summon a Shenron that can grant any wish, and, along with Chiaotzu and Master Roshi, is soon on a quest to retrieve them in order to have the Dragon eradicate King Piccolo. After finding several of them though,

Tien uses the evil containment wave — Tien uses the Evil Containment Wave

their radar which tells them of the Dragon Balls locations shows them that the remaining ones are actually coming to them, meaning King Piccolo is also seeking the Dragon Balls and is coming for theirs. Before King Piccolo can confront them, Master Roshi unexpectedly knocks Tien out and hides him in a cave. Master Roshi plans on using the Evil Containment Wave against King Piccolo and, since Goku is thought to have already been killed, Master Roshi considers Tien to be the last line of defense for the planet in case he fails. Semi-conscious, Tien can do nothing but witnesses Master Roshi's ultimately unsuccessful stand against the powerful Demon King. King Piccolo wastes no time joining the Dragon Balls together to summon the Dragon and Tien, in desperation, orders Chiaotzu to quickly make a wish to destroy King Piccolo before the Demon King can make one himself. Chiaotzu tries, but is quickly killed mid-sentence from a blast by King Piccolo, an act Tien can only watch. King Piccolo continues to make his wish and then destroys the Dragon, knowing it's the only thing that can stop him. After regaining his mobility, and King Piccolo has long gone, practices the Evil Containment Wave, having

TienKameHouse — Tien ready to fight Krillin at Kame House

learned it from watching Master Roshi perform it. Once he has fully mastered it, Tien heads off to King Piccolo's location in the world capital to confront the demon. After he arrives and challenges King Piccolo, he is horrified on discovering that the vessel to be King Piccolo's prison is cracked and useless from his practicing. Knowing that he won't be able to use the Evil Containment Wave, Tien decides to confront King Piccolo regardless. King Piccolo, not seeing Tien as being worth fighting, spawns a new minion, Drum, to take care of him. Drum quickly beats Tien, and is about to finish him when Goku intervenes and saves Tien, killing Drum with a single kick. Tien can only watch as Goku and King Piccolo then battle it out, using the last of his strength part way through their match to quickly fly in and levitate Goku out of the path of a powerful attack by King Piccolo. When the battle seems to be turning against King Piccolo, the Demon King decides to take Tien hostage in order to force Goku to allow himself to be crippled. Tien is then discarded by King Piccolo, but Goku is more resilient than King Piccolo thought and uses one final attack to kill the Demon King. With the battle over, Tien heads back to the Kame House with Goku's friends Launch, Yamcha and Bulma. He vows to train harder in order to bridge the now massive gap between himself and Goku.

King Piccolo's Reincarnation[]

Tien keeps up his training, redoubling his efforts after learning that Goku is being trained by Kami, Guardian of the Earth. With the dragon restored, a wish is made to bring all those killed by King Piccolo back to life. Tien then trains with Yamcha and the newly resurrected Krillin and Chiaotzu until they are informed by Master Roshi that, to be able to compete with Goku, they are going to need to find better ways to train than are available at the Kame House. They all head to Korin Tower and train with Korin before each going their own separate way. Three years after King Piccolo's defeat, Tien, along with Yamcha, Chiaotzu and Krillin, return to compete in the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament. He is somewhat surprised to see the now teenaged Goku and hopeful that he's even more powerful than before. His real shock, however, is seeing Piccolo Jr., and realizing that something of the Demon King has survived. He remains silent about the matter for the time, not wishing to create a panic. When the lots are drawn up to determine the order of the fights, Tien again has Chiaotzu manipulate the cards so that none of the group (Tien, Yamcha, Goku, Chiaotzu and Krillin) or Piccolo Jr. fight each other in the preliminaries. The early matches seem to be going as usual, with the group quickly dispatching their foes. Tien then receives a horrible sense of something happening to Chiaotzu. He races to the scene and finds Chiaotzu heavily wounded and unconscious, his opponent turning out to be the now cybernetic Mercenary Tao. Tao explains that after his seeming death by Goku, he was rebuilt into the half-man half-machine before them, and that he seeks revenge on both Goku and the "traitor" Tien. Tien gladly accepts his challenge, wanting to avenge Chiaotzu. They get their wish as Tien and Mercenary Tao are the first of the eight finalists to fight. Tao lunges at Tien, but

TienTao — Tien fights Mercenary Tao built as a cyborg at the World Martial Arts Tournament

Tien sidesteps and counters, knocking Tao to the ground. Tien then states that he forgives Mercenary Tao for what he did to Chiaotzu and tells him to forfeit. Tao refuses this and presses on his assault, though he is clearly outclassed by Tien. After Tien grabs one of Tao's wrists, the cyborg pulls a surprise maneuver and detaches his mechanical hand, revealing a knife that he quickly uses to slash Tien, scarring him forever. Though disqualified for use of a weapon, Tao does not care (Tao only participated in the tournament so he could kill Tien) and quickly drops his other hand to reveal a cannon and fires a Super Dodon Wave at Tien. Tien nullifies the large blast with his Kiai and then proceeds to defeat Tao with a single punch to the gut. He takes Tao's unconscious body out of bounds and presents it to the watching Master Shen, telling him to take his brother and leave, never bothering him again. Tien's next fight is the one he has been waiting for, a rematch against Goku. The battle starts with numerous quick sparrings and shows to be fairly even, but with Tien having an edge in raw speed. This changes after Goku removes his weighted clothing though, making Goku fast enough to steal Tien's belt without Tien even noticing; resulting in Tien's boxers to be exposed to the audience. Realizing that he won't be able to defeat Goku physically, Tien uses a new technique he has created, the Multi-Form, and splits into four identical copies of himself. The Tiens disperse to the four corners of the ring, each one then firing a Ki Blast Cannon at the center, where Goku is, resulting in a large explosion which Goku has to leap to avoid. The Tiens quickly fire again, this time from their third eyes, at Goku, sending him crashing back to the ring. The Tiens warn Goku to give up before he gets hurt, but he appears unfazed by their attacks, and states they won't be able to pull off that trick again, which they then promptly attempt. Goku dodges the beams this time though, and uses the Solar Flare against them, blinding the Tien's. He then quickly dispatches each of them, causing them to revert back to the single being. Goku states that the new technique Tien has a critical weakness, as Tien's power is divided amongst the duplicates. With the fight over, Tien looks forward to their next rematch, suspecting that Goku was still holding quite a bit back. Tien plays little role in following battles, he can only watch as Goku fights the seemingly all-powerful Piccolo Jr. He offers his assistance at several points, but is denied by Goku who wants to fight the demon alone, though he does open the Sealed Flask, which Piccolo Jr. used to trap Kami, after Goku tosses it to him. Tien also helps to evacuate their friends, creating a pit in the earth for them to take shelter from the Hyper Explosive Demon Wave, one of Piccolo Jr.'s more devastating attacks. When it looks like Goku has been beaten, with Piccolo Jr. close to finishing him off, Tien reluctantly accepts the order from Kami to kill the elderly guardian, thus also killing Piccolo Jr. He is stopped by Goku though, who evades the demon's onslaught and ends up defeating him with a surprise attack.

Dragon Ball Z[]

Saiyan Attack[]

Five years after the tournament, Tien learns that Goku has died in battle against an amazingly powerful warrior called Raditz, a Saiyan and Goku's brother. Even more disturbing is that two more Saiyans, both more powerful than Raditz, are on their way to Earth and will be there in about a year. In the early days, the wild Launch developed a bit of an infatuation with Tien, and she continues to chase him wherever he goes. This could be one reason he chooses to move from place to place so frequently. Tien wastes no time, and is invited, along with Yamcha, Chiaotzu, Yajirobe and Krillin, to train at Kami's Lookout so they can aid Goku when he is wished back to life in a year, after he completes his training with King Kai. ‎

When the Saiyans finally do arrive, the Z Fighters hold them off until Goku can arrive. Vegeta, deciding to toy with his opponents, has Nappa grow several Saibamen in the soil so that he can hold a small challenge. Knowing that they have to buy time, the Z Fighters agree to this, and Tien volunteers to go first. He manages to quickly defeat the vicious creature, causing Vegeta to destroy it for incompetence. After all the Saibamen are killed, Nappa decides to enter the fray himself, taking on Tien as his first opponent. Tien is no match for the giant warrior, and has his left arm vaperized in a single hit. Immediately, Tien tries to use levitation to escape, but is quickly smashed to the floor in the second hit. Seeing this, Chiaotzu sacrifices himself with a a self destruction attack against Nappa, who remains unharmed and starts to fight with the now ally Piccolo and Goku's son, Gohan. Tien, enraged by the death of Chiaotzu, puts all his remaining strength into one final Tri-beam through his remaining right hand, killing himself from exhaustion in the process. The attack manages to do serious damage to Nappa's armor, but does not seriously damage the Saiyan warrior. In the anime however, Nappa goes as far as to praise Tien's efforts, claiming that had his aim been better, it would have seriously injured him.

YamchaTienChiaotzuKingKaisPlanetNV — Yamcha, Tien, and Chiatzu train with King Kai.

Training with King Kai[]

Because of the influence of Kami, after he perished, Tien was allowed to train on King Kai's planet in the Other

ZFightersKingKai — Tien along with Chiaotzu, Yamcha, and Piccolo arrive at King Kai's Planet

World as Goku did earlier. Joining him were the other warriors who also perished in the battle against the Saiyans, Chiaotzu, Piccolo and Yamcha. On King Kai's planet, King Kai tells Goku that they all crossed Snake Way in a far shorter time than he did, and that they all requested for tougher training than what Goku had received. Tien, along with Chiaotzu and Yamcha, remains on King Kai's planet and learns of everyone's (Goku, Vegeta, Krillin, Gohan, Dende and Piccolo fused with Nail) mighty struggle with the evil tyrant Frieza on the Planet Namek. He is eventually wished back to life along with Chaiotzu by a wish made to Porunga. After returning to Earth, Tien and Chiaotzu go into solitude, training in the mountains.

Garlic Jr. Saga[]

For reasons unexplained, both Tien and Chiaotzu do not make their appearances in this saga. It can be assumed however that they were both also possessed by the Black Water Mist, and also changed back to their normal states by the Sacred Water like almost everybody else on Earth.

The Mysterious Youth[]

A year later, while Tien and Chiaotzu are training in the mountains, they are interrupted when they sense two powerful evil energies heading towards Earth. They then fly to the location of where the power is coming from. Both Tien and Chiaotzu are surprised to find Vegeta (who was somewhat reformed during the crisis on Namek and now resides on Earth with Bulma) and the other Z Fighters who inform them that the power they are detecting is Frieza's, who somehow survived Namek's destruction. When Frieza does land, he is quickly dispatched by an unknown mysterious youth (Future Trunks). Piccolo, overhearing the young Super Saiyan's private conversation with Goku, tells everyone the warning that two incredibly powerful Androids will attack in three years time.

The Androids rise[]

The three years soon pass and the Z Fighters head to the location where the androids soon appear. Tien tells the other Z Fighters that he left Chiaotzu behind as he felt that even though they trained, he wouldn't have been able to keep up in the battle. Tien himself doesn't do any fighting until Android 16, Android 17, and Android 18 appear. He attacks Android 17, but is quickly over powered, and ends up being choked until he is dropped.

The New Threat, Cell[]

When the Androids leave to continue their pursuit of Goku, who is recovering from a heart disease, Tien goes off with Chiaotzu to train and become powerful enough to help against this new threat. He is soon interrupted from this to lend his aid in hunting for the new menace, Cell.

TienTribeam — Tien prepares to use Tri-Beam against Semi-Perfect Cell

Eventually Tien catches up with Imperfect Cell, and witnesses his battle against the combined force of Piccolo and Android 17. Imperfect Cell defeats Piccolo though. When Imperfect Cell gets up, after being shot by Android 16, Tien tries to warn Android 17, but Android 17 ends up absorbed. This allows Imperfect Cell to become Semi-Perfect Cell. Semi-Perfect Cell then makes his move to absorb Android 18 as well, but is held off by Tien, who uses his new Neo Tri-Beam to hold Semi-Perfect Cell in place until Goku arrives and relieves the thoroughly drained Tien.

The Cell Games[]

When Perfect Cell declares his Cell Games, Tien decides to remain on the sidelines out of the fight, he is given the opportunity to go to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, but he declines the invitation stating he has no chance against Cell. He does however get thrown into the mix when Perfect Cell spawns seven Cell Jrs to torment the Z Fighters, in an effort to make Gohan angry. After a severe beating by the small creatures, he is saved by Gohan, who then goes on to destroy Perfect Cell.

The Fight Against Buu[]

Seven years later, in the Majin Buu Saga, Tien makes an appearance with Chiaotzu as their training in the mountains is interrupted when they both sense Goku transforming into his Super Saiyan 3 form. Tien later reappears alongside Chiaotzu whilst they're training in the mountains. Here, himself and Chiaotzu

TienBuuSaga — Tien saves Gohan, Hercule and Dende fron Majin Buu's blast

manage to evade being hit by Super Buu's Special Human Genocide Attack, which was used to exterminate the population of Earth, with the exception of a few, like Mr.Satan. They then briefly examine the small craters left behind by Super Buu's attack. When Tien finally intervenes into the main battle, he saves Mr. Satan, Gohan, Dende and Bee from being killed by Super Buu (Gotenks Absorbed). Tien then fires a Tri-Beam at Buu, with power enough to shock even Gohan. However, even with his massive power increase, Tien is still no match for Super Buu. After being cut in half by Goku, Buu's legs land next to Tien, who is dispatched after a single kick by Super Buu from behind.

When the Earth got destroyed by Kid Buu, Tien and Chaioztu are also killed in the process. Once everyone is revived by the Namekian Dragon Balls, he and Chiaotzu later give their energy to Goku's Spirit Bomb so that he can kill Kid Buu. He is last seen at a party at Bulma's house.

Dragon Ball GT[]

For unexplained reasons, Tien has kept apart with the rest of the Z Fighters. It is often said that he leaves to go travel the world and train with Chiaotzu. In Dragon Ball GT, Tien only appears twice, once when the Earth is about to explode from the work of the Black Star Dragon Balls, and the other is when Goku passes by him in the final episode "Until We Meet Again".

Baby Saga[]

He is seen in episode 40 "Piccolo's Decision" with Chiaotzu and among others.

Shadow Dragon Saga[]

He is finally seen in the last episode (#64, "Until We Meet Again...") when Goku passes by with Shenron, as he and Chiaotzu are training under a waterfall.

Movie Appearances[]

Dragon Ball: Mystical Adventure[]

Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might

Dragon Ball Z: Bojack Unbound

Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks (in the opening Prologue and credits)

Dragon Ball Z: Bardock - The Father of Goku (in Bardock's visions of the future)

Abilities[]

Flight – The capability to fly by using the ki. At first, this technique was used only by Tien and Chiaotzu, then it was learnt also by all the Z Warriors, except for Yajirobe and Master Roshi.
Ki Blast – The most basic form of energy wave.
Domination Blast – The name of Tien's Renzoku Energy Dan (Continuous Ki Blast) technique he uses in the Butōden series and Budokai series.
Kiai – This is a technique used by Tien against Mercenary Tao at the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament: it consists in a yell that he uses to reject the less powerful attacks.
Dodon Ray – The signature technique of the Crane School. It is an energy beam shot from a finger, which is more powerful than a normal Kamehameha, yet doesn't need as much as charging time as the Kamehameha. Another version of the Dodon Ray technique is the
- Neo Dodon Ray - A larger, more powerful version of the Dodon Ray. The technique appears in Dragon Ball: Burst Limit.
Super Knee Uppercut – The technique he used to break Yamcha's leg in the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament. Named in Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22.
Hammerhead – The flying headbutt technique Tien used during his match against Jackie Choun. Named in the Butōden series.
Machine Gun Punch – Tien swings his arms so fast they appear to be windmills on his shoulder and pummels his opponent too many times to count. Tien uses this in the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament against Goku. It is called Jackhammer Fist in the Budokai series.
Machinegun Fist – The name of Tien's High Speed Rush in the Budokai series.
Jackhammer Fist Flash – Tien kicks the opponent up in the air, and then he kicks and punches them down again. Used in the Budokai series.
Volleyball Attack – Tien uses his opponent as a ball and makes them fly with two hits before giving a final blow to stamp them into the ring.
Four Witches Technique – Tien uses this ability to sprout two extra arms from the back and shoulders so he obtains four arms to fight his opponent. Tien performs this attack at the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament and it allows him to immobilize Goku's arms and legs.
Multi-Form – Tien splits himself into four identical copies. The only weakness of this technique is that the copies split his original energy.
- Ki Blast Cannon – A square blast of energy. Used against Goku after he splitted into four identical copies during the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament. In the Budokai series, the Ki Blast Cannon is fired in the same fashion as the Tri-Beam.
- Mystery Ray – Tien fires a straight white beam from his third eye. He uses it against Goku while split into four identical copies during the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament. Named in Ultimate Battle 22.
Meteo Brute Combo – His meteor attack in Ultimate Battle 22, where he creates a copy of himself, and then both attack the opponent with the Machine Gun Punch at the same time.

Neo tri-beam attack — Tien fires Neo Tri-Beam at Cell

Tri-Beam – Tien's special technique. He unites his hands at the tips of the fingers and aims at his target between his fingers and his thumbs. Then he shoots a powerful energy blast to hit it. This is a very dangerous attack, because it uses up most of user's health so this one has to control how much energy he is putting into the blast in order to not over use it. Later Tien makes this attack more powerful and calls it the "Neo Tri-Beam". It is also called the "Ki Blast Cannon" in Budokai Tenkaichi video games.
- Spirit Tri-Beam – An enhanced Tri-Beam which uses Tien's life energy.
- Neo Tri-Beam – Another variation of the Tri-Beam, which also negatively affects Tien's life force.
Multi-Form Attack – Tien uses the Multi-Form to split himself into four identical copies and then, at the same time, each copy fires a Tri-Beam. Named in Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans, the technique is alternatively Multi-Form Tri-Beam in the Gokuden series.
Spirit Burst – Tien experiences a sharp increase in power and speed.
Solar Flare – This technique is used the first time by Tien during the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament against Jackie Chun. He called it "Solar Flare of Crane School" because at that time he was Master Shen's pupil. The user of this technique puts his hands over the face and generates a powerful flash of light that temporarily blinds anyone whose eyes come in contact with it. Solar Flare is performed by other Z warriors and Cell as well.
Afterimage Technique – This is a technique that consists of disappearing from a place, leaving a shadow of oneself, for a short period of time in the original position and causing the shadow image effect. The enemy is deceived into thinking that his opponent is still there and this one can quickly move to another spot close by and attack him unexpectedly. Tien uses a variation of the afterimage, the Wild Sence, in the Budokai Tenkaichi series.
Mimicry – Both Chiaotzu and Tien Shinhan have shown the ability to copy moves after seeing them only once. Tien states this after using his Kamehameha after copying it from Yamcha. He also uses it to copy Master Roshi's Evil Containment Wave to use on King Piccolo.
- Kamehameha – Attack invented by Master Roshi. At first the user cups both of his hands to concentrate the energy; then, yelling Kamehameha in intervals as Ka - me - ha - me - ha!, he charges up, puts them on the side of his body and finally he unleashes a powerful ki blast.
- Evil Containment Wave – Secret technique invented by Lord Mutaito (Master Roshi and Master Shen's teacher) to defeat King Piccolo. He manages to use a magic wind to propel the demon into an Electric Rice Cooker, trapping him at the cost of the user's life.
Ki Sense – The ability to sense Ki energy. Tien learned the ability while training on Kami's Lookout.
Telepathy – Tien is able to speak with his targets mentally.
Telekinesis – Only in the anime, Tien Shinhan is shown using this to halt the waterfall near his home during the Saiyan saga.
Fusion Dance – Tien is able to use the fusion dance with Yamcha to form Tiencha, only in the video game Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2.