While Goku is easily one of the most powerful beings in the Dragon Ball universe, there is one aspect of his life where he could really use a bit more training: how to be a better friend–and Krillin’s biggest Dragon Ball twist proves it.
Goku and Krillin first met in Dragon Ball chapter 25. In that chapter, Krillin tracked down Master Roshi and asked him if he could be his student. At that time, Roshi had already taken in Goku as his student, but felt that Krillin was also worthy of his teachings. So, Krillin and Goku trained together for months in preparation for their first World Martial Arts Tournament, and within that period of time, they began a friendship that spanned the rest of their lives–though Goku confirms that there is definitely some room for their relationship to improve.
In Dragon Ball chapter 431 by Akira Toriyama, the Z-Fighters are walking into the arena for the World Martial Arts Tournament. Most of the original Dragon Ball heroes haven’t fought in a Tenkaichi Budokai since the original Dragon Ball series long before Z, GT, or Super, so once they heard that the younger generation would be taking part–including Gohan, Goten, and Trunks–the older fighters wanted to jump in on the action as well. As they are walking in, Goku (who had returned from the dead for a day after being deceased for years) turns to Krillin–who was sporting a full head of hair–and asks if he was naturally bald, indicating his confusion by the fact that Krillin seemingly grew hair. Krillin tells Goku that he always just shaved his head, and that he wasn’t naturally bald–which is something Goku should have known, since it is something Krillin already told him years earlier.
Goku Doesn’t Listen to Krillin the Way He Should
When Dragon Ball fans saw Krillin with hair for the first time in the series, their collective reaction was pretty similar to Goku’s as Krillin having hair was a silly twist that actually took many people aback when it was initially revealed. It was always assumed that Krillin was just naturally bald since he was never shown with hair, and he never confirmed either way–or did he? Actually, as it turns out, Krillin already explained that he was capable of growing hair, but he actively shaved it because he believed the best martial artists had bald heads. In fact, Krillin not only made this personal tidbit about himself known to fans, but also to none other than Goku himself.
Krillin already told Goku that he wasn’t bald, so Goku asking Krillin a second time when he saw him with hair–after decades of friendship–was pretty rude and showed that he didn’t pay attention to his best friend enough to know that he wasn’t actually bald. It wasn’t as though Krillin left it ambiguous, either, he made it clear that he could grow hair, Goku just didn’t care to listen. So, when Krillin was revealed with hair for the first time (which was something of an initial twist for Dragon Ball fans), Goku let his true colors show and revealed that he was a bad friend by not listening or caring to remember specific details about Krillin’s life.