About Master Roshi

Master Roshi, known in Japanese versions as Kame Sen'nin (亀仙人, Kame Sennin?) and Muten Rōshi (武天老師?), is an ancient and wise martial arts master and the first Earthling to wield the Kamehameha. Though he seems frail, he is a mighty warrior, having trained Grandpa Gohan, Ox King, Son Goku, and others. He is a stock character, as he is both the archetypal wise old man and dirty old man, the latter being typical of shōnen manga. Still, he is depicted to be a very wise and gentle person, who loves life and its simple pleasures, but is willing to die if necessary, such as when performing the Mafuba technique (Evil Containment Wave in the English dub) against Piccolo Daimao.[25] He sometimes gets cranky, which further provides comic relief. He is bald, with a thick van dyke beard and wears sunglasses. Roshi wears beach clothes or martial arts suits and, during the earlier stages of the series, a turtle shell on his back. He usually wields a walking stick. When wishing to act anonymously in the World Martial Arts Tournament, Roshi uses the name Jackie Chun.

Roshi was originally voiced by Kōhei Miyauchi. Miyauchi's final acting session before he died was for episode 260 of Dragon Ball Z, which he recorded only 3 months before his death. The episode aired on March 15, 1995. In his final line, he yells out "Kuririn!", and is turned into a bar of chocolate by Majin Buu shortly afterwards. Since episode 288 of Dragon Ball Z, Roshi is voiced by Hiroshi Masuoka, who voices him throughout Dragon Ball GT and in the recent video games, such as Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi. He is voiced by Kinya Aikawa in the 10th anniversary special and by Masaharu Satō in movie 13. In the Funimation dub, he is voiced by Mike McFarland. He is portrayed by Chow Yun-Fat in the live-action film Dragonball Evolution; his voice was dubbed over by Tsutomu Isobe in the Japanese dub of the film.