Those that have spent any amount of time with Ghost of Tsushima will know that Jin is a skilled fighter. Like all Samurai, he is extremely well trained, but his willingness to break his code to do what must be done and his natural talent for combat makes him exceed the likes of Shimura and the other Samurai at Komoda Beach. Astute fans may have noticed another detail about Jin which surprisingly links him to Goku from Dragon Ball Z, as both show an incredible aptitude for learning new techniques incredibly easily.
In Dragon Ball Z, Goku is known for being able to perform a technique after only seeing it once. In the early episodes of the franchise, he astonished Master Roshi by performing the Kamehameha in seconds, a technique which took Master Roshi 50 years to create and perfect. Similar things happen with Jin in Ghost of Tsushima, particularly in the Mythic Tales given to the player by the musician Yamato. Though small, this knack for learning new skills unites the two fighters from two wholly different worlds in an interesting yet unlikely way.
Heavenly Strike VS Kamehameha
The Heavenly Strike is a move which Jin can learn as early as Act 1 of Ghost of Tsushima, and is a lightning fast, unblockable attack that deals extra damage to staggered enemies. Unlocking the Heavenly Strike technique requires the player to learn of Shigenori, the fastest Samurai in all of Tsushima. The legend goes that beasts made of lighting were terrorizing the countryside, and only Shigenori and his Heavenly Strike were fast enough to combat the foes. The technique took Shigenori years to develop and perfect, and by the end of the quest Jin must face an opponent that has mastered it for himself.
Throughout the course of the battle with Yasuhira Koga, which lasts only a few minutes, Jin is able to learn the technique and eventually use it against his adversary to end the fight. Koga even calls Jin out, asking what he's waiting for, only for Jin to reply that he is not waiting, he is studying and learning. In minutes, Jin masters the technique and uses it to defeat Koga, reminiscent of the way that Goku was able to learn the Kamehameha in just seconds even though it took years for Master Roshi to master it.
Jin and Goku
Of course, Jin and Goku are on completely different levels. Jin can't fly, fire energy beams, or move at the speeds that Goku can, but his knack for battle is impressive nonetheless. For context, it is described that Shigenori's battle with the lightning beasts turned the sand to glass and bleached the leaves of the nearby trees white. While this is likely something of an exaggeration given that Ghost of Tsushima shies away from supernatural elements, it still places it on the same scale of power as Goku's early attempts at the Kamehameha. Even if the two exist in worlds that are drastically different from each other in terms of power, both are capable of doing things that normal people in their worlds wouldn't dream of.
This begs the question of how powerful Jin would be if he did exist within the Dragon Ball universe, as it is likely that he would be able to learn techniques like the Kamehameha and Destructo Disc easily if he could observe them. Perhaps the only thing limiting Jin's strength is the strength of those around him, as he seems to consistently surpass his colleagues and enemies while excelling at everything he does. This is made clear not only by his ability to learn mythic techniques like this and the Dance of Wrath, but also by how quickly he masters stealth as a method to fight the Mongols.
Ghost of Tsushima is available now exclusively on PS4.