DBFZ/Krillin

Overview

One of the few students the legendary Master Roshi ever took on, Krillin is a classic support character who still has plenty to offer himself. Lacking in strength but bursting with creativity and a devious mind, Krillin is known for his wide and varied toolset that he can combine together to become one of the most workable characters in the game. Krillin can do a little bit of everything- he can zone well thanks to his guided ki blasts, he can lay on some solid pressure with several of his special moves, and he can perform some rather powerful mixups with the right setup. He can even heal your team thanks to tossing out Senzu Beans, which can dramatically bolster the vitality of his team members. In the right hands, Krillin can prove to be the deciding factor between death and victory as he was so many times in the original series.

Krillin's greatest weakness lies in his less than stellar size. Being one of the smallest characters in the cast, Krillin is memetic for his short, stubbly limbs, and although his ground normals are lightning fast and move him far forward, he lacks truly reliable ways to close distance. Overall, Krillin is a character who rewards planning and execution with consistency in performance, and his varied toolset means a player who commits to playing this bald bruiser can find their team strengthened by his supportive potential.

Krillin Krillin is a short character with short reaching normals that can make straight forward approaches somewhat difficult. However, he makes up for this in other ways with more tricky options such as his Afterimage Strike and the utility he can add to your team with his Senzu Bean assist.

Pros

Cons

Zoning Tools: Versatile projectiles with controllable ki blasts and chargeable Kamehameha gives Krillin a decent ranged game.
Healer: Can be annoying to deal with due to his infinite Senzu Beans, allowing him to constantly heal his teammates' blue life or even his own.
Pressure Tools: Multiple tools to reset pressure with tools like Stone Throw, Afterimage feints, and 2S.
Mid-screen Solo Damage: By using j5S to solo rejump in mid-screen combos, Krillin can deal heavy damage without the use of any assists
Okizeme: Excellent okizeme tools. Solar Flare and Stone Throw both being immune to reflect push-back allowing him cover all tech options when paired with an assist.
Fast Normals: Has some of the best normals in terms of frame data, 5M in particular having amazing range and low recovery making him very hard to whiff punish on top of his short stature.
Jesus, but with faster respawn time: With his Senzu Bean no longer only healing blue health, he can literally revive himself if he falls on a Senzu after dying.

Stubby normals: Ground normals move him very far forward as compensation, but his air normals have no such blessing and severely lack range.
Anti-Air Reward: Krillin's 2H is small, forcing him to use Solar Flare as his anti-air which gives little reward.
Assist Reliant: Solo-pressure is extremely gimmicky. Assist are a necessity for opening up good turtles.
High commitment projectiles: Most of his projectiles are highly committal with high recovery and don't convert into pressure in most cases making them high risk/low reward.

Krillin

Fastest Attacks

Reversals

Normal Moves

5L

Version	Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	On-Block
5L	400	All		6	3	-3
5LL	700	All		9	5	-5
5LLL	1000	All	U3+	11	4	-5

5L

Good frame advantage.
Deceptive range.

Krillin scoots forwards during his 5L, giving it roughly the same range as SSJ Goku's.

5LL

Counts as grounded. Teen Gohan this ain't.

Moves him forward a decent amount, good for pressure

5LLL

Counts as grounded.

Can be followed up with JL, generally not used in optimal routing.

5M

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
700	All		8	6		-5

Great range thanks to high forward momentum.
Tied with Zamasu for fastest 5M in the game.
Fixed frame advantage. No matter how meaty, it will always be -5.
When you are point blank with the opponent, this can actually be used as an anti reflect after 5L or 2L.

Crazy powerful normal and a staple of Krillin's ground game. It doesn't quite catch backdash, but it's good at just about everything else.

5H

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
850 / 1000	All	U1	13	3		-9

Amazing forward movement, similar to 5M.

Another very far reaching normal despite the pathetic hitbox, this one goes about as far as a lariat would. Very handy for catching backdashes or baiting Sparking.

5S

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
500×2	All		8			-7

Fires two Ki Blasts, one right after another.
Pressing S again causes them to angle upwards, coming back down to hit the ground after 60~ frames.
Pressing 4S redirects the second Ki Blast only.
- A linear hit will keep the opponent standing.
- Falling Ki blasts will pop opponent up in the air.
Every version has the same hitstun.

Krillin's best neutral tool outside his beam. Firing the Ki Blasts and angling them up is often enough to make opponents freeze up out of fear of getting hit, letting Krillin run in freely and be plus when they impact.

2L

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
400	Low		7	3		-4

Very short range.

Pressure and mixup extrordinare. Not good for pressure resetting into thanks to its poor reach.

2M

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
700	Low		10	5		-4

Krillin's main low normal.

Very safe on block and can be spaced out to gain much better advantage, making it excellent for pressure. Use 5M or 5H instead for neutral since they have more range.

2H

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
850 / 1000	All	U1+	11	3	17	-5	4- Head

The range speaks for itself.

Standard anti-air option with Krillin. Has short range so you need to let the opponent get deep before throwing it out. Has low recovery making it hard to whiff punish.

Due to its poor range, this means that the majority of the cast is allowed to crossup Krillin, with him being unable to actually 2h the crossup.

Landing this correctly means you could probably land 2H with every character.

2S

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
900	All		17	5		-1

Causes an explosion on the ground that launches Krillin to the same height of a normal neutral jump.
If it hits the opponent on the ground, they too are launched to the same height as Krillin.
Krillin can hold forward or back during his launch to move in that direction near the apex of the jump with better lateral speed than a normal jump.
Allowing him to jump during a blockstring, Krillin can always attempt an escape and a variety of mixups.
On hit, Krillin can follow up immediately with buttons if he moves forward towards the launched opponent.

6M

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
850	High		24	6		0

Universal overhead.

j.L

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
400	High		6	3

Has short range.

Mostly used during an aerial blockstring.

j.M

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
500×2	High		9	3(6)3

Good air to air normal.

Hits twice, but getting both hits to connect in combos can be finnicky depending on the juggle height.

j.H

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
850 / 1000	High	D1+ [D3+]	13	6

Sends the opponent downwards.

j.S

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
500×2	All		8

Stops Krillin's air momentum
Pressing S again or 2S after the Ki blasts have been fired will make them curve downward towards the ground.
Pressing 8S will curve the Ki blasts up, then they will fall back to the ground slightly further forward.
These can be combined with left or right inputs to also give Krillin air momentum: 4S/1S moves left and curves down, 3S/6S moves right and curves down, 7S moves left and curves up, 9S moves right and curves up.
Has very high hitstun, granting Krillin rare privilege of comboing into super dash, both from the corner and midscreen, giving him extra damage for post-vanish or midscreen rejump combos.
Great tool in neutral, as if Krillin is low to the ground it allows him to get a 2h if an opponent attempts to disrespect with a fullscreen super dash.
Due to the move having low recovery, it can be cancelled into beam when at a mid range away from the opponent to act as a frame trap not allowing them to jump if they blocked the downward ki blasts.

j.2H

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
850	All	U1+	13	6

Sends the opponent upwards.

j.2S

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
300, 900	All		15

Fires a Ki blast directly down below Krillin.

Good for beating anti-air attempts directly below Krillin, and is especially useful in the corner. Can also be used for gimmicky, although very ambiguous cross-up mix, as it will combo directly into super-dash. This however, does not grant very high reward on hit without resources.

Special Moves

Afterimage

236L/M/H (Air OK)

Version	Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	On-Block	Invuln
236L	1200	High	D1	30	4	+1
236M	1200	High	D1	32	4	+1
236H	1400	High	D1	32	4	+3	4-26 All
j.236L	1000	High	D1	23	4
j.236M	1000	High	D1	27	4
j.236H	1200	High	D1	21	4		4-19 All

Krillin creates an afterimage of himself, one above that goes for an overhead, and one below that stays the regular Krillin. This move always gives sliding knockdown anywhere on screen and is one of his main combo enders after a 5H rejump combo or after a vanish combo. Holding the button keeps Krillin below and allows him to go for a lot of conditioning.
236H passes the grounded Krillin through the opponent.

Afterimage (Hold)

236[L/M/H] (Air OK)

Version	Recovery	Invuln
236[L]	Total 33
236[M]	Total 35
236[H]	Total 26 [Total 35]	4-26 All [4-26 All]
j.236[L]	Total 34+3L
j.236[M]	Total 38+3L
j.236[H]	Total 23	4-19 All

Hold the button to make the Krillin that jumps forward into an afterimage instead.

The M version goes further and is more suited for neutral than pressure. Used from up close this move will likely whiff over your opponent's head.

Feinting the ground version makes Krillin run in below the afterimage.
Feinting the air version makes Krillin fall to the ground.

A tricky tool, but the ground feint is risky since it moves you close. The air version is very fast and done immediately from a jump attacks very low to the ground.

With assists however, this lets you set up a very tricky 50/50 as the ex afterimage recovers very quickly. While there is not very much reward off the overhead, with some asissts that are active for a longer time such as Cell A, Gotenks B, Ui B, etc., this lets you combo after his overhead or low mixup and still be true string.

Senzu Bean

214L/M/H (Air OK)

Version	Startup	Recovery
214L	25	Total 37
214M	25	Total 37
214H	25	Total 32+3L
j.214L	27	Total 51
j.214M	27	Total 51
j.214H	27	Total 41

Krillin auto jumps if used on the ground, has enough height to airdash before he lands.
Beans will heal all blue health for Krillin and his teammates, but will only heal 1000 blue health for the opponent.
Heals around 1000 normal health if you don't have blue health thanks to the new patch.

Sets up an assist mixup in the corner that can be completely gapless with assists that have 40 frames of blockstun or more.

L

Turns around and throws a bean offscreen, heals Assist 1 if they're still alive, even if they're on screen.

M

Turns around and throws a bean offscreen, heals Assist 2 if they're still alive, even if they're on screen.

H

Turns around and bounces a bean off the wall back to him.
Bean can only be picked up once it's on the ground.
If you miss, it will stay on the ground for about 5 seconds. During this time your assists, the opponent, and their assists can also pick it up.
If you fall on one during your death animation, you revive yourself and get switched out.

Stone Throw

22L/M/H (Air OK)

Version	Damage	Guard	Startup	Recovery	On-Block
22L	100	All	33	Total 53	-5
22M	100	All	33	Total 53	-5
22H	100×2	All	26	Total 47	-5
j.22L	100	All	29	Total 51
j.22M	100	All	29	Total 51
j.22H	100×2	All	27	Total 50

Krillin auto jumps if used on the ground, but doesn't gain enough height to do anything afterward.
Stones can bounce off the corner. Hitbox will be disabled if Krillin gets hit.
One of Krillins' best oki tools.

L throws a stone right in front of him.
If L stone is thrown after a j.H or 236H knockdown, the stone will beat Vanish, Uptech, mashing, normal tech, and will allow krillin to keep his pressure. Very scary move to have to hold in the corner.

M throws a stone full screen.

H throws both L and M stones at the same time.
If this is used after a 236L or 236M knockdown, will set up the same oki as the L stone after a normal j.H knockdown from a 2h or j.2h smash combo.

Kamehameha

236S (Air & Hold OK)

Version	Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
236S	250×5	All		18-47	24	33	-16
j.236S	250×5	All		10 after landing	24	33	-10

[] is holding down S.
Wall bounces.
Cancels into SD.
Holding the button will allow Krillin to jump around while charging. Can't superjump nor airdash.
Can only charge for a limited amount of time if he stays on the ground.
While in air, can be hold indefinitely and released on demand. However, the instant Krillin touches the ground he will shoots it out.

Standard tool for zoning that beats super dash. The ability to hold a charge as well as use it in the air makes it a bit more versatile than some other beams.

Solar Flare

214S

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
0, 1000	All	D1	9	5	22	-2	1-9 Head

Has a large hitbox both vertically and horizontally, and long hitstun.
Has anti-air properties.
Hold the button to prevent the automatic follow-up on hit.

Safe on block and can be plus on air block. Good move to frame trap with at the end of a string, ideally with an assist behind it to continue pressure on block and pick up a combo on hit. Gives a lot of Ki on hit. If you can react to delay tech well, solar flare can actually meaty and be plus +1 to +4 and above.

Z Assists

Assist A

Senzu Bean

Version	Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
Assist A	100×2	All		18			+17
Assist A Bean				33

Stone Throw A1/A2

Stays in front of the point character and throws 2 stones like 22H.
Tied for fastest assist in the game with Adult Gohan's A assist.

Unbelievably good for its extremely fast startup. Point blank blockstun can be an issue, but the stones' insane hitstun, freezing and coverage of the screen render this one of the best assists in the entire game. You can oftentimes just throw this assist out in neutral and watch as an opponent gets hit by it, there's very little it isn't good for.

This assist is seriously strong competition for the beam. Use the beam if you want better and more consistent blockstun, otherwise this is the way to go.

Senzu Bean 4A1/A2

Stay behind the point character and throw a Senzu Bean at them.
Senzu Bean appears at the 34th frame.
Opponent only heals about 1000 health if they pick up the bean.

Senzu Bean is the second part of what makes this assist so good, although its higher startup and weird input can be a detriment if you tried to call the assist while blocking. Still, there's little price to using this as long as you can make sure the opponent doesn't also pick up the bean.

Assist B

Kamehameha

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
200×5	All		34			+30

Krillin performs a basic beam assist.

It's a beam assist for beam things. Compared to A, it's a more standard and practical assist as well as friendlier in blockstrings, but loses out on speed, aerial coverage and healing.

Assist C

Solar Flare

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
0, 1400	All		28 [20]			+24

Teleports to the opponent and does 214S.
On hit, teleports again behind them and knocks them down into a ground bounce SKD.

Has a large hitbox but really isn't worth it compared to Krillin's other options. A is already better for anti-airs given its speed and two angles all the while still beating superdash.

Super Moves

Destructo-Disc

236L+M or 236H+S

Version	Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
236L+M	2000	All	UDV	9+5			-18	9-15 All
236L+M > X	1100×1~4	All	UDV

Destructo-Disc

Invulnerable from frames 9 to 15.
Deals significant chip damage on block.
Minimum damage: 800, 330*3, 550.
Can be curved by holding up just like Android 18's and Base Vegeta's 236S discs.
Immediate solar flare meaties all techs in the corner, though it will lose to downtech -> F4 reversals outside of vanish

Chain Destructo-Disc Barrage Destructo-Disc > L/M/H/S

Each additional button press throws one more disc for one extra meter. Can throw a total of 5 discs.

Mashing additional discs is less efficient damage for meter than using a DHC or level 3, but it can be good to do if one super just barely won't kill and you want to keep Krillin in.

Scattering Energy Wave

214L+M or 214H+S

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
4050	All	UDV	9+3			+35	1-21 All

Invulnerable from frames 1 to 21
Costs 3 bars.
First half of the move is a Lv3 beam, but the second half is only Lv1 projectiles.
The projectile cloud can be used for unreactable mixups with the correct setups. It is very difficult to see like Piccolo's Hellzone Grenade, albeit at thrice the cost.
No matter which part hits first, using this raw will always deal 100% recoverable health and doesn't give Krillin any followup opportunity.
Minimum damage: 1660.

After Krillin sends the beam upward the projectiles will stay on top of his opponent's current location. If this is blocked at close range, the opponent will have a hard time landing a full combo punish.