I don't know... on any normal day, I would say Tien, but Krillin has that crazy streak. I mean, he'll be all cowardly and unsure of himself for a while, but then something happens to one of his friends or he needs to protect someone he loves, and he just loses it. I think THAT Krillin could kick Tien's ass, hands down.

I mean, don't get me wrong. When Tien first showed up on the scene, he was pretty kick ass too, and I have a lot of respect for him. But he kind of stayed at that same level. Krillin definitely grew more, I think.

Tien is definitely stronger. All throughout the series he's been this sort of mysterious warrior, constantly on some kind of quest to better his skills and improve his fighting technique. Krillin was always more of a sidekick to Goku. It's unfortunate that the later episodes really pushed out Tien, they could have greatly expanded on him, and it would have been nice to see an Earthling going toe to toe with some of the stronger enemies. Of course I haven't watched the sagas for awhile, I don't recall Tien being a key player since when he fought one of Cell's forms, but I do recall by the Cell games that the human warriors couldn't really compete...

Tien but not by much I think it seems to me Krillin would be just as strong if he was not so afraid or so willing to dought himself all the time

Yamcha