A recent poll by Oricon asked manga fans to rank their favorite manga supporting characters, with Dragonball’s Krillin and One Piece’s Zoro taking the 1st and 2nd spots, respectively.
The survey questioned men and women in their teens through 30s who expressed a considerable interest in manga, with a total of 900 participants.
The top 10 selected were as follows:
1. Krillin (Dragonball)
2. Roronoa Zoro (One Piece)
3. Takeshi Goda (Doraemon)
4. Kiminobu Kogure (Slam Dunk)
5. Tony Tony Chopper (One Piece)
6. Kouichi Senigata (Lupin the Third)
7. Kaede Rukawa (Slam Dunk)
8. Vegeta (Dragonball)
9. Tomozou Sakura (Chibi Maruko-chan)
10. Kogorou Mouri (Detective Conan)
The nose-less monk Krillin received significant praise, with Oricon reporting many participants echoing comments similar to that of a Tokyo resident in his 20s – “Without him, the story simply couldn’t have continued.”
The list in general is not surprising, consisting of well-known characters from several classic and long-running manga, with perhaps Slam Dunk’s Kiminobu and Maruko-chan’s Tomozou (Maruko’s grandfather) being the most unexpected this high up in the rankings.
Via Oricon.
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Reasonable enough list. Surprised to see Vegeta on the list though if he didn't manage to get higher than Krillin though. I guess the fans grew out of their own rebellious teenager phase.
I bet many of the voters just failed to realize that he was just a supporting character. Seriously, if you were asked on the street what your favorite supporting character of all times was, you wouldn't think of Vegeta even (or especially) if he was your most favorite character of all categories, right?
People who like Vegeta are prone to thinking of him as a main character, that's why he got less votes than Krillin, who had even fewer time in the limelight. That, and many people probably recognize Krillin as a supportive character more easily because he dished out much more comic relief than villain fighting and hero fighting accomplishments.
I bet OVER 9000 voted.
"900 participants"
I lol'd @ self pwn.
dbz ownz
good point.
I've never seem him as a supporting character.
Vegeta always jobbed for Goku. Everyone jobbed for Goku. Except Gohan, who Goku jobbed for. But then, "damnit I died for your fuckups and I still have to save the day."
Interesting theory... but then how can you explain Zoro?? XD (he is a supporting chara as vegeta is... as both of them as even main character in their own way)
no comment
then why the hell did you comment?
heh.
for the attention
Wait, wasn't he one of the less important char's ever? Krillin is like... wait was he even in the latest dragon ball episoded?
Don't they know decent manga, like nana to kaoru?
cannot beat the classics, Krillian is epic win, but wow im shocked he beat Vegeta O_O
But isn't being 'less important' part of the definition of being a mere 'supporting character'?
What about, say, Ed from Cowboy Bebop? If Vegeta is a supporting character...
"Manga"
Krillin...
"Kogorou Mouri"..? That's rape. It's Kogoro Mori, FYI.
No it isn't - I actually checked first since I wasn't certain myself.
You are a fucking idiot.
毛利 小五郎 (もうり こごろう) is his name.
Not you. It was directed towards the idiot who said Kogorou Mouri is wrong.
Awesome glad Conan got in there. Lol he is a hilarious supporting character... But shouldn't Conan be the one there? You know that's like totally blowing off his cover that he's the one solving the crimes. Oh crap just said it also.
Ah, all you Anonymouses look a lot alike, sorry.
@blade - Conan is not eligible here for obvious reasons.
Krilin is just awesome. He's useless during all the story. The only good thing he does is to die.
kill yourself krillin was awesome and he also did plenty during the earlier sagas. Also he helped goku go super sayian.
helped...by dying
and that's exactly what i meant by only good thing he did.
When Slam Dunk was popular, Rukawa was all the rage... surprised that Kogure ranks higher.
Tomozou is Maruko's grandpa, by the way.
My mistake - thanks.
Rukawa was the Vegeta to Hanamichi's Goku. Megane-kun is the Krillin character.
krillin wasn't useless until dragonball z then he became just comedic relief and some people found him their hero when he married 18. he embody the dream of robot love/sex.
1. Krillin (Dragonball)
He was good in Dragonball [Not any of the other Dragonballs, this is the original], source of most lulz apart from Master Roshi.
2. Roronoa Zoro (One Piece)
Not surprised here. Most One Piece fans i know absolutely loved the character specifically because of the peculiar sword style.
3. Takeshi Goda (Doraemon)
LOL'D I remember this character's singing and how he makes Nobita cry most of the time. Without him you can argue that Doraemon wouldn't be as popular as it is.
4. Kiminobu Kogure (Slam Dunk)
Actually surprised at this one though maybe the reason why most people chose this over Rukawa is because he's a well balanced character compared to Rukawa who's a very polar character. Remember him most for the wining shot he dealt at one of the preliminary games [Forgot which school their opponent was].
5. Tony Tony Chopper (One Piece)
Another peculiar character from One Piece because of his Devil Fruit abilities [Revers Furry]. He's quite moe as well.
6. Kouichi Senigata (Lupin the Third)
Takeshi is to Doraemon as Detective Senigata is to Lupin. Source of a lot of lulz and very memorable.
7. Kaede Rukawa (Slam Dunk)
Actually didn't like him [Because of the fangirls] but he's pretty cool as well. I can't forget the part where he was asleep while cycling. LOL'D
8. Vegeta (Dragonball)
IT'S OVER 9000. Do you really have to ask?
9. Tomozou Sakura (Chibi Maruko-chan)
I remember him most for his Haikus. Not much i can say about him.
10. Kogorou Mouri (Detective Conan)
He's nothing but Conan's sockpuppet, and a leech at that. But still, makes for more lulz and Conan won't be the same without him.
Zoro was also the most likable character in One Piece.
Ah yes you can't resist a shiny ballhead guy.That is why he became the favorite one.
the only issue i read of one piece was the early one where zoro was saved from persecution and i liked him then especially when he used his 3 swords. thought that was cool. though getting the second spot is ridiculous, one piece is too well known for its own good. though out of the 3 one piece naruto and bleach ill go with one piece. the others really dont seem that out of place. i liked krillin in the original dragonball though he made me facepalm in dbz. vegeta seems over rated but but he was my favorite dbz character and if i think of all the characters in everything i watched as a child vegeta was the "coolest"
Where the hell is Kakashi?
Word!
I thought it was Zenigata not Senigata.
me too @@"
Too bad Fox replaced Krillin with Teto.. Could be worse if the give Captain Picard that role, though.
And whait whut!? What's so great about Kogure? Other than being Shohoku's Mr Nice(st) guy, i have to say Gorilla and Mido Youhei deserve that place more..
Because Kogure is Kogure
Holyshit, just realized Krillin didn't have a nose!
Nah, just kidding... but can you imagine? :D
How could Farnese & Serpico be ignored in the list ;_;
I'm not surprised they are, but...hell yeah, Farnese & Serpico.
When Miura continues Berserk again, then they'll be considered for inclusion.
Oh my fucking God! No Sagara Sanosuke (Rurouni Kenshin)
Yeah, that is pretty much the first thought to go through my head after reading that list.
I never even saw most of these things T_T
Saying you like Krillin is the same as saying you like seeing small bald men get their ass kicked.
But he ownz !!!
Because he married #18.
I wonder if DB evolution production staff will see this chart.
We must support Krillin because he is the strongest pure earth-man on DB... :)
True that!
no kero from ccs?
krillin FTW
Hey, you're right, he doesn't have a nose. Man it's taken me this long to realize it. Kinda like looking to see if a person has a shadow or not.
The comic even outrightly says that he doesn't have a nose, yo.
I am a Japanese otaku. I guess that this ranking was polled mainly by non-otaku. Many Japanese otakus say in 2 channel that it is wrong that there is neither Pop (Dai no Daiboken) nor Yokoshima (GS Mikami). They are very popular with twenties and thirties. By the way, Yokosihima's voice is same as Vegeta.
Sorry for my poor English.
I thought the same when I found it, but Oricon doesn't give much details on who they ask in these surveys, usually.
http://www.kiss-sui.com/2009/05/oricon-anime-character-poll-possibly.html
Opinion post from a japanese otaku on this. Looks like there were some dirty intentions on this.
Oh wow, then I am in fact not an idiot for being fond of ol' Kogorou? Either that, or some of the japanese share my messed up taste.
Why does Japan seem to love chopper. Is it because he's marketable or meant to be 'KAWAIIII!!!'
Yet they ignore Ussop!Its obvious ussop/sogeking is the best supporting character ever.
I'm surprised Senigata isn't higher.
hiruma youchi(eyeshield 21) anyone?