Dragon Ball Solar Flare: what is Tien's Taiyoken based on?

The Taiyoken, better known as the Solar Flare, might not be the most powerful technique in Dragon Ball, but it's definitely one of the most useful. When you're stuck in a bind against an enemy who is stronger than you or overpowering you, why not blind them? The Taiyoken does exactly that, and its backstory reaches all the way into Taoist philosophy.

Many characters know the move. Krillin knows it, Goku knows it, and Cell knows it too.

Tien was the first to use the Solar Flare in Dragon Ball

The originator of the move was Tien, or Tenshinhan, during the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai arc in Dragon Ball. He used it in his battle with Jackie Chun, who was Master Roshi in disguise.

The name Solar Flare came from the original dub of Dragon Ball Z. It wasn't the name of the move in the Japanese version. There it's the Taiyoken, which translates to the ultimate sunlight technique or the supreme sun fist, whichever translation you want to go by.

The Solar Flare comes from Taoist ideas of yin and yang

To learn the secrets of this move, you have to go into the Taoist martial arts belief system, the Eastern philosophy where the whole idea came from. It comes from the Taoist belief in yin and yang. Taoists also believed that every human being has a universe inside of themselves.

Yin and yang are something even people in the West know about. The light from that inner universe comes from the yang part, which represents vigor and power. So when Tien does the Taiyoken, he's emitting his own concentrated yang energy as a bright light, turning himself into a small sun, or something that gives off light like a sun or a star.

This isn't thoroughly explained in Dragon Ball. If you're familiar with these principles, though, you can do your own research into what they believe and how Toriyama incorporated it into the series.

How the Taiyoken blinds an opponent

The light that comes out of the body completely overloads the light-sensitive particles in the eye. It's like staring at the sun for a second, then blinking and looking away. It leaves that imprint, and you can't see for a few seconds.

In Dragon Ball, the Taiyoken can leave you blind for more than a few seconds. That gives the user enough time to land a move or possibly even escape the battle, like what Cell did to Piccolo.

Tien's original Solar Flare call in the manga meant new crane hermit school

One thing that gets lost in translation is how Tien does the move in the original manga. We all know the familiar version: you put your hands by your face, spread your fingers out and scream the name of the technique.

When Tien does it for the first time in the manga, though, he shouts a longer name that translates to new crane hermit school supreme sun fist. At that time, Tien was representing the Crane School and the Crane Hermit. The fact that he says the word new implies that the technique was still being developed by Tien and wasn't mastered by the time the tournament took place. Or possibly he had mastered it, but there were previous versions of the Taiyoken. Either way, when other characters did the move later, it was pretty much the same thing.

We don't have a direct answer on who invented the Solar Flare

One thing we don't know is who originally developed the move. Tien is the first person we see do it, but was it taught to him by the Crane Hermit? Was it passed down from generation to generation? If so, how come Tao Pai Pai, the brother of the Crane Hermit and a master of the Dodonpa technique, was never seen doing the Taiyoken?

So is this something Tien may have developed with his third eye? We don't have a direct answer. But if you examine the original texts behind the idea, it makes sense. Taoists and monks believe you have to have your third eye open to emit the kind of light from your body that the Taiyoken signifies. As I see it, "what a coincidence that the guy with literally a third eye is the first person to do this move in Dragonball."

Sunglasses are the Solar Flare's weakness, and Toriyama foreshadowed it

Because this technique is based in sunlight, it isn't a perfect move, and it has flaws. When Tien tries it on Goku, Goku wears a pair of sunglasses, and apparently sunglasses alone will overcome the power of the Taiyoken. Toriyama obviously did this as a gag, a way to make the reader giggle at how silly it is. At the end of the day, though, it does make sense: if it's solar energy, sunglasses would work in the wacky world of Toriyama.

There's also an anomaly the first time Tien uses the move. For some reason, the Crane Hermit and the tournament announcer aren't affected. What do they have in common? They're both wearing sunglasses. Toriyama was foreshadowing the gag very subtly before Goku pulled it off. I love how he gave us that hint, because I didn't pick up on it the first time reading the manga, or even watching the anime.

Krillin holds his hands differently for the Solar Flare

What I find interesting is that Krillin's hand positioning is different from Goku's or Tien's. He has two fingers pointing right at his temple. I'm not entirely sure why that is, but the move works either way.

That tells me it doesn't matter how you position your hands. What matters is that you focus them on your third eye, figurative or, in Tien's case, literal, to perform the move.

The Solar Flare stayed useful in Dragon Ball Z

In the Dragon Ball Z part of the story, the move continues to be useful, and much of the Dragon Team keeps using it. Goku used it against Vegeta. Krillin uses it against Dodoria and against Frieza in his second form. Cell uses it against a whole bunch of people.

Dragon Ball Super upgraded the Taiyoken with Krillin's Solar Flare times 100

In Dragon Ball Super, the Taiyoken wasn't only used but also upgraded. In episode 84, while Krillin was training for the Tournament of Power, we see that he developed a new version of the technique, which translates to Solar Flare times 100. We also see Krillin use it in Dragon Ball Super against, I believe, Universe 4.

What I find interesting about this upgraded version is that it's not only more potent. Apparently, based on statements made in Dragon Ball Super, it doesn't only blind you, it also prevents you from sensing ki for a limited time. That makes the move even more useful. I'm unsure if times 100 means you're harnessing the power of a hundred different suns; I don't know about that kind of lore. But the idea that you can stop someone from sensing ki could mean a quick victory in a dire situation if used properly.

I love that Krillin was able to develop this version of the move on his own, presumably without the help of any new master. To me, that shows Krillin's martial arts prowess even past Dragon Ball Z. He was still working on little tricks to use in the future. No matter how powerful your opponent is, the Solar Flare is effective enough to work, and that's why the move will always have a use.