Frieza is the tyrant who rules a galactic empire, the destroyer of Planet Vegeta and, for many fans, the definitive Dragon Ball villain. He debuts in chapter 247 of the manga, in autumn 1989, and has come back again and again, remaining Goku's archenemy right up to the most recent stories.
Who he is
Frieza trades in planets: he conquers them, wipes out their inhabitants and sells them to the highest bidder. He is polite, almost refined in manner, and utterly without scruples. Toriyama created him during Japan's economic bubble, drawing on real estate speculators, whom he described as the worst kind of people.
Before the story begins, he destroys Planet Vegeta because he fears the Saiyans' growing power and the legend of the Super Saiyan. He spares only the few warriors who were away on missions, Prince Vegeta among them, telling them their world was hit by a meteor.
His story across the series
- Dragon Ball Z: he arrives on Namek to wish for immortality and massacres Namekian villages. He takes on Vegeta, Piccolo, Gohan and Krillin, revealing one form after another. When he kills Krillin, Goku becomes a Super Saiyan for the first time and beats him as the planet explodes. Frieza survives, is rebuilt with cybernetic parts and reaches Earth with his father, only for Trunks from the future to cut him to pieces in seconds.
- Dragon Ball Super: in the film Resurrection 'F' (2015) his loyalists bring him back to life, and after four months of training he reaches his golden form. Later Goku recruits him from Hell for the Tournament of Power, where he fights for Universe 7 and earns his return to life. In the manga he unveils an even stronger form, Black Frieza.
- Dragon Ball GT: he turns up in Hell alongside Cell, by now an almost comic opponent.
Powers, techniques and transformations
Toriyama only decided to give Frieza transformations partway through the arc and later joked that three might have been one too many, which is why the third and most elaborate form gets so little screen time.
| Form | Where it appears |
|---|---|
| First, second and third forms | Namek (Z) |
| Final form and full power | Namek (Z), against Super Saiyan Goku |
| Mecha Frieza | His return to Earth (Z) |
| Golden Frieza | Resurrection 'F' and Super |
| Black Frieza | Dragon Ball Super manga |
His arsenal includes the thin finger beam, cutting energy discs, telekinesis and the Death Ball, a sphere of energy powerful enough to destroy a planet. He can even survive in the vacuum of space.
Relationships
- Goku is the Saiyan who humiliates him and whom he never stops wanting to destroy.
- Vegeta served him from childhood and hates him for everything he took away.
- Krillin is the victim whose death gives birth to the Super Saiyan.
- Trunks from the future is the one who kills him on Earth, in his very first appearance.
Why he is iconic: our take
Frieza is Dragon Ball's first truly cosmic villain, and his arrival changes the scale of the whole series. The Namek saga builds tension masterfully: every transformation feels like the last, until another one arrives. And his final form, small and sleek, flips the idea that more power has to mean more muscle.
His return in Super split the fanbase, but it gave him a new dimension: the enemy who cooperates when it suits him and never quite stops being dangerous. Few villains survive thirty years of stories this well.
Did you know? The Japanese title of Fukkatsu no F (Resurrection 'F') came from a song: F by Maximum the Hormone, written about Frieza himself. Toriyama got the idea while listening to it.
Trivia
- His name is a pun on freezer, which is why his men, including the Ginyu Force, are named after fruits and dairy products, the kind of food you keep in a fridge.
- Ryūsei Nakao has voiced him in every Japanese Dragon Ball production.
- In Funimation's English dub he was voiced by Linda Young and later by Christopher Ayres.