Krillin is portrayed as the strongest “pure” human in Dragon Ball, with power that reaches and then far surpasses early Dragon Ball Z villain levels, and in Super he’s strong enough to hang (briefly) with heavily suppressed forms of Goku and fight in the Tournament of Power.

How Strong Is Krillin? (Quick Scoop)

Krillin in Simple Terms

Krillin starts as a scrappy monk kid rivaling early Goku, but by the time of late Z and Super he’s a full-on superhuman whose power dwarfs early series villains and normal humans by an absurd margin. He doesn’t match top Saiyans, but in-universe he’s repeatedly described and treated as the strongest Earthling warrior.

Think of him as: “top-tier human, mid‑tier Z‑fighter” — not a god, not fodder, but extremely dangerous to almost any non-Saiyan martial artist.

Canon Power Level Benchmarks

In the parts of Dragon Ball that still used scouter numbers, we actually get a few concrete values and statements.

  • Saiyan Saga:
    • Suppressed: about 1,083–1,100.
* Full power: around **1,770** when he wipes out almost all the Saibamen with a single attack.
  • Namek / Guru Unlock:
    • After Guru unlocks his potential: over 10,000 according to Jeice’s scouter.
* Guidebooks:
  * Around **13,000** post‑unlock (Daizenshuu 7).

  * Up to **75,000** by the late Frieza battle, once his potential finishes “catching up.”

At these levels, Krillin is:

  • Way above basic soldiers and early elites.
  • Strong enough that Vegeta briefly mistakes his power for Zarbon’s when sensing from a distance.
  • Able to keep rising in power after injuries and battles due to Guru’s unlock plus continued training.

Once the story stops using official power levels, the numbers vanish, but the feats keep scaling up.

What He Can Actually Do

Even more than raw numbers, Krillin’s techniques and combat IQ define how strong he is.

Core abilities:

  • Super strength, speed, durability, and flight via ki (Bukū-jutsu).
  • Ki blasts and beam clashes on par with serious combatants in his weight class.
  • Massive growth over time from training under Master Roshi, Kami, and later personal training in Super.

Signature moves:

  • Kamehameha: Versatile high‑power beam he’s used since the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai.
  • Destructo Disc (Kienzan): Razor‑sharp spinning disc that can slice enemies regardless of defense if they’re not careful.
  • Solar Flare: Blinding flash used to bail himself and allies out of hopeless situations.
  • Scattering Bullet: The multishot ki attack he used to kill almost all the Saibamen at once.

Tactics:

  • He uses misdirection : firing a Kamehameha to vault over enemies, laying pre‑placed attacks in the terrain, and abusing blinding or surprise angles.
  • Frequently catches stronger opponents off‑guard even when he can’t overpower them head‑on.

Dragon Ball Super Era Krillin

In Dragon Ball Super, Krillin retires for a period, becomes a cop, then regains and surpasses his old strength once he finds his fighting spirit again.

Key Super points:

  • Forest of Terror training:
    • He confronts his fears and gains a kind of “selflessness state,” where his aura wraps tightly around his body instead of leaking, letting him focus his ki into his fists for explosive blows.
* He gets strong enough to defeat illusions of enemies that previously terrified him and even helps free Goku from an illusion of Super Shenron.
  • Sparring with Goku:
    • Goku goes Super Saiyan, and Krillin nearly ring‑outs him using a pre‑set attack that collapses the ground under Goku.
* He has a beam struggle with a heavily suppressed Super Saiyan Blue Kamehameha and manages to push it back for a moment before Goku powers up and Android 18 has to step in.
  • Tournament of Power:
    • He’s selected as one of Universe 7’s ten warriors, which itself is a statement that he’s still relevant on a multiverse stage.
* Uses teamwork and tricks rather than brute force, but he does get eliminations and contributes before being knocked out.

In the recent Super Hero material, Krillin is still active and capable:

  • He participates in the fight against Cell Max , distracting him long enough for Gamma 2 to charge and fire a decisive attack.

So while he’s nowhere near Goku and Vegeta’s true limits, the story repeatedly frames him as:

  • Strong enough to interact with suppressed god‑tier forms.
  • Useful even in end‑of‑series crises through tactics and utility.

Community / Forum Take: Where Does He Rank?

Fans love arguing over “how strong is Krillin” on forums and videos, and the general vibe as of 2024–2025 looks like this:

  • Common claims:
    • “Strongest human” or “strongest pure human” is basically undisputed among serious fans.
* Most people put him **above** early Z villains (Saibamen, Nappa’s level of grunts, first‑form Frieza soldiers) and at least in the ballpark of some Namek‑era elites due to his late Frieza stats and later scaling.
  • More aggressive takes:
    • Some power‑scalers argue that, because he can clash with suppressed Super Saiyan Blue Goku and perform in the Tournament of Power, Krillin is technically beyond most old villains’ full power, including much of the Ginyu Force and even earlier Frieza forms.
  • Pushback:
    • Others think Super exaggerates his feats for nostalgia or “plot,” and that trying to make all the old numbers line up is a losing game.
* Threads can get heated, with people accusing others of “insane downplay” or “copium scaling.”

A typical forum breakdown in 2024–2025 goes something like:

  • “He’s canonically, textually the strongest Earthling, well past early Z villains, and Super pushes him to absurd, but not Saiyan‑god, levels.”

Quick View: Krillin’s Strength Over Time

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Era Approx. strength / feats What that means in-story
Early Dragon Ball Comparable to kid Goku, massively above normal humans.Tournament‑level martial artist, elite by Earth standards.
Saiyan Saga 1,083–1,770 power level, wipes out almost all Saibamen.Dangerous to Nappa’s fodder, still far below Saiyans.
Namek (Guru unlock) Over 10,000; up to ~75,000 by late Namek per guides.Comparable to mid‑tier Namek foes, massively beyond early Z.
Late Z No clear numbers, but keeps pace enough to stay a Z‑Fighter option.Still the top human, though overshadowed by Saiyan transformations.
Dragon Ball Super Selflessness state, clashes with suppressed SSJ Blue; joins Tournament of Power.Battle‑relevant on a multiversal stage with smart tactics and utility.
Super Hero era Helps distract Cell Max for Gamma 2’s final attack.Still active, still useful in top‑tier crises.

TL;DR

  • Krillin is canonically the strongest pure human in Dragon Ball.
  • At his known peaks, his power level reaches tens of thousands and then scales even higher in Super, far beyond early Z villains.
  • He can’t match Goku and Vegeta at full power, but he can pressure heavily suppressed god‑tier forms and contribute meaningfully in the Tournament of Power and later movies through experience, strategy, and hax techniques like Destructo Disc and Solar Flare.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.