I don't think it was the money, given how much he makes. I like the idea that he was offended at the tailor's refusal of an assassination. Tao Pai Pai takes pride in his work.
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
That and I get the feeling he never really planned on paying.
He was probably all like the great Tao Pai Pai gave you his business. Just having that on your resume should be all the payment you need.
Or he's cheap.
How is he greedy?
When he's hired to assassinate Goku, he mentions his fee is exhorbitant (100 million zenni) but also brings up the fact that he's having a half-off sale to celebrate 20 years of assassination, so he'll kill Goku for only 50 million. He also insists on getting paid for proving his skills against General Blue, which is to be expected; an assassin doesn't kill for free.
When he kills the tailor, he only does so after offering him a compensated hit - the equivalent of paying 50 million for his clothes.
Tao Pai Pai is a professional whose services come at a high cost. That's not the same as being greedy. He expects to be paid because this is literally his job.
edited 11th Mar '16 10:03:43 AM by TobiasDrake
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.I still put Bora under unnecessary kill since Tao proved beyond a doubt that Bora was no threat and couldn't stop him from killing Goku. He killed him rather needlessly. But I can see why it can be excused.
But the trailor definitely has no excuse. I wouldn't call it greedy as so much as being a Jerkass because the trailor just wanted to be paid for his work, not have someone murdered even if it is worth 50,000 zenny.
edited 11th Mar '16 10:35:45 AM by Ramona122003
For me, it really depends on if he intended to kill the tailor from the get-go. From their exchange, the conversation basically went this way:
- TAO: Good work, I'll be leaving now.
- TAILOR: But you haven't paid me yet. I did a lot of hard work.
- TAO: Fair enough. Tell you what, I'll give you the equivalent of fifty million zenni in services rendered to compensate you for your exquisite tailoring. That's probably more than you make in a year.
- TAILOR: I don't care for the services you pride yourself on.
- TAO: What, my services aren't good enough for you?! Well f*ck you then! Have a finger in your brain.
He offered a free hit, the tailor turned him down, and he got offended and killed him.
edited 11th Mar '16 11:04:42 AM by TobiasDrake
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.@ RJ-19-CLOVIS-93, you do realize that when you only spoiler the name it's obvious who you're talking about right? And we've been talking about it unspoilered anyway. Seriously, I feel sort of like a dick for bringing it up, but using spoiler tags that way just makes it stand out even more, to me at least.
When does the story ever paint him as greedy? He's giving a discount to Commander Red and he offers to comp a hit for the tailor - something he wouldn't even give Red, as he charged him a discounted rate for proving his skills against Blue.
At what point does he do any money grubbing? Your interpretation that he killed the tailor just to save a buck is based entirely on the premise that he's super-greedy and will do anything for money which, itself, seems to be based entirely on the premise that he killed the tailor just to save a buck. It's circular evidence.
edited 11th Mar '16 11:38:50 AM by TobiasDrake
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.So he's greedy because the greatest assassin in the world, a man capable of the impossible feat of killing Son Goku, expects to be paid the equivalent of $1 million USD for the task - before applying his discount, which rounds him down to $500,000?
Assassins aren't just hired thugs. They're very expensive for a reason.
edited 11th Mar '16 11:44:40 AM by TobiasDrake
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.I mean, if he's really the best at what he does, him being really expensive shouldn't be surprising.
Still, I think assuming he killed the guy either because he didn't feel like paying or had no money on him, makes more sense than assuming he did so out of some sense of feeling insulted by the tailor not taking up his offer, or something like that.
edited 11th Mar '16 12:00:13 PM by LSBK
Also of note: he never charges Red for killing Bora.
The agreed-upon amount was 50 million zenni per kill. Red asked him to prove his skills against Blue, to which Tao Pai Pai replies that he will be expected to pay for this kill as well.
While he's on the job, Bora tries to stop him and the assassin kills him to get to Goku, but he never even brings it up when he calls in to report his success to Red. A greedy, money-grubbing person would have at least brought up the fact that he had to make two kills to retrieve the Dragon Balls and that he expects to be paid for both of them.
But on top of the discount he's already offering Red, he never even suggests the idea that Red should pay him for Bora. He's doing the equivalent of 200 million zenni's worth of work for 50 million.
edited 11th Mar '16 11:55:28 AM by TobiasDrake
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.^^^ The fact that we're shown Red reacting to the high price is an indication that the money is an extraordinary amount. He's just so desperate to get rid of Goku that he pays anyway.
And what evidence do you have that Tao Pai Pai was insulted at his craft being demeaned or whatever? Maybe that would be better writing than just 'greedy assassin' but greedy assassin is what we got. He didn't want to pay the bill, so he killed the man and left without a second though.
Also, I'm not sure why you're taking that 'discount' thing so seriously.
edited 11th Mar '16 11:55:48 AM by Arha
The fact that he offered a free hit in the first place. As Tao Pai Pai demonstrates when he demands to be paid for Blue, he doesn't take his trade lightly. If Red wants to see a show of his skill, he's going to pay the fare for it. No freebies.
But when the tailor wants to be paid, Tao Pai Pai doesn't just outright kill him and walk away. Instead, he offers to provide his expensive service free of charge. What greedy, money-grubbing asshole could even conceive of offering a free service?
And I'm taking the discount seriously because you're accusing the character of money-grubbing in the middle of offering half-price for his services. Greed does not offer discounted rates for sentimental value.
edited 11th Mar '16 11:59:45 AM by TobiasDrake
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.Because killing someone takes five seconds and doesn't require him to give up any of his precious shinies? He was just walking off before the tailor called out to him as well, indicating that he had no indication of paying at all before coming up with an alternative form of payment.
Also, he was hired to kill Goku and Blue. Anyone else that got in the way was not someone that he was hired to kill.
Seriously, evidence points to dick + greedy. He's just not that complex of a character.
I don't view the discount like that. I view it like 'I'm going to say my fees are super ridiculous, then cut the price down like I'm doing them a favor so they're only ridiculous.' Either way, the price is noted to be exceptionally high.
edited 11th Mar '16 12:03:01 PM by Arha
That, right there, is the logic of a man who respects his craft and honors his standing agreements, not a man who is greedy to milk every penny he can out of others.
Of course the price is exceptionally high. Why wouldn't it be? Tao Pai Pai is exceptionally skilled.
He also corroborates his 100 million zenni standard fare when talking to the tailor, and we actually see a flier on a wall for his 20 years of assassination sale
so it's not like he's just making things up to inflate his rates.
Tao Pai Pai's exceptional services are expensive. That's not the same as greedy.
edited 11th Mar '16 12:10:49 PM by TobiasDrake
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.Just watched the most recent episode. I'm a little disappointed: I really liked Frost as a good guy, and In the Blood is boring.
Other than that, though, I loved it, beyond the fact that Universe 6's is now shooting themselves in the foot just to make a point to one asshole. Piccolo's fight with Frost is full of abilities we keep forgetting he has.
edited 11th Mar '16 12:16:28 PM by KnownUnknown
Actually, I want to talk about Taopaipai some more, because I just realized something: he's only been assassinating for 20 years. Considering that he's Tsurusennin's younger brother, and the Crane Hermit has been Roshi's rival since they were kids, and Roshi is in his mid 300s. It's very likely that Taopaipai, comparatively, just started professionally assassinating people. Tenshinhan idolizes him as the best in the business when he only started a couple years before Tenshinhan was born!

I do agree with Rob though. He probably didn't have money on him.
edited 11th Mar '16 8:52:07 AM by Ikedatakeshi