Frieza runs through three animated series: he owns the second half of the Namek story in Dragon Ball Z, shows up in Hell as a punchline in GT, and in Super even becomes Goku's ally of convenience. The full portrait lives in Frieza's profile; this page follows him arc by arc instead, from the tyrant who sparks the first Super Saiyan to the fighter who helps settle the Tournament of Power.
Dragon Ball Z
Frieza Saga (episodes 44-107)
In the anime Frieza first appears in episode 44, as Gohan and Krillin are finally landing on Namek. He wants the Dragon Balls to become immortal, and his men wipe out one Namekian village after another. Throughout the Frieza Saga he keeps running into Vegeta, Gohan and Krillin, calls in the Ginyu Force and eventually gets hold of all seven balls, only to realise he can't speak the Namekian password. While Nail deliberately keeps him busy, Dende passes the words to the Earthlings, and by the time Frieza catches up, Guru's death has left the balls inert.
That's when the transformations start. Goaded by Vegeta, he reaches his second form in episode 78, skewers Krillin on a horn and admits he destroyed the Saiyans' planet. His third form overwhelms Piccolo, now fused with Nail, and in episode 83 he completes his sleek final form. He kills Dende and blasts a hole through Vegeta's heart just as Goku arrives. Frieza seems to have the upper hand over Goku until the Spirit Bomb leaves him badly hurt, yet he survives, and in episode 95 he strikes down Piccolo and blows Krillin up in front of everyone: the rage that follows turns Goku into a Super Saiyan. Frieza damages Namek's core, knowing he can survive in space, and pushes himself to 100% power, but his body can't sustain it. His own energy discs slice him in half, Goku lends him some energy, and Frieza uses it to attack him from behind: in episode 105 Goku blasts him away with one last shot, shortly before the planet explodes.
Androids Saga (episodes 118-120)
A year later Frieza is alive again. His father King Cold's ship found him drifting through space, and he has been rebuilt with mechanical parts. In the Androids Saga father and son land on Earth, and Frieza orders his troops to slaughter the population until Goku turns up. Instead, a mysterious boy steps in and turns Super Saiyan: in episode 120 Frieza fires a blast stronger than the one that destroyed Namek, but Future Trunks stops it and cuts him in two with his sword.
Other World Tournament Saga (episode 195)
In the anime Frieza stays in Hell, where he causes trouble alongside Cell. In the Other World Tournament Saga Goku and Pikkon go down to sort things out, and in episode 195 Pikkon alone is enough to flatten Frieza and the other villains.
Dragon Ball GT
Super 17 Saga (episodes 42-44)
In GT Frieza is back as an almost comic opponent. Dr. Gero and Dr. Myuu lure Goku into Hell and seal him in, where Frieza and Cell are waiting. In the Super 17 Saga the pair are humiliated by a Goku who is still a child, but since they're already dead they can't be finished off. In episode 43 they trap him with a combined technique and send him into the depths, where he ends up frozen solid. Goku breaks out, freezes both of them in turn and accidentally shatters them.
Dragon Ball Super
Resurrection 'F' Saga (episodes 19-27)
Sorbet and Tagoma use Earth's Dragon Balls to bring him back: Shenron points out that the body is in pieces, so they gather the remains and regenerate him with their medical technology, as shown in episode 19. Frieza has spent the years in Hell tormented by cheerful angels and fairies, and once he learns how much stronger Goku has become, he trains for the first time in his life: four months. In the Resurrection 'F' Saga he invades Earth with a thousand soldiers and kills Piccolo, who shields Gohan. Against Super Saiyan Blue Goku he unveils his golden form in episode 25, but Golden Frieza burns through his stamina. He has Sorbet shoot Goku, then, overwhelmed by Vegeta, destroys the Earth. Whis turns back time by a couple of minutes, and in episode 27 Goku finishes him with a Kamehameha.
Universe Survival Saga (episodes 92-131)
When Majin Buu falls into a deep sleep, Goku suggests the unthinkable: making Frieza the tenth fighter for Universe 7. In episode 93 he visits him in Hell, and Frieza agrees to be revived for a day by Fortuneteller Baba, on condition that he is brought back for good if they win. He reveals he has trained his mind in Hell to fix his stamina problem, and in the tournament he plays every side. In episode 108 he fakes an alliance with Frost, then eliminates him with a double-cross; later he teams up with Gohan to knock out Dyspo, and takes on Toppo alongside Android 17. In the finale he and Goku fight side by side and drag Jiren off the stage, going down with him: in episode 131 only Android 17 is left standing and Universe 7 wins. As a reward Whis, on Beerus' orders, restores his life; Frieza leaves to rebuild his empire, and Goku warns him that he will stop him again.
In the Super manga, during the Granolah arc, Frieza also reveals an even stronger form, Black Frieza.
Movies
In Resurrection 'F' (2015) Frieza is the main villain: it's the same story Super tells in its second arc. In Dragon Ball Super: Broly (2018) he is rebuilding his army and wants the Dragon Balls to make himself five centimetres taller; he recruits Broly and Paragus, kills Paragus to unleash the son's rage, and ends up caught in Broly's rampage himself.
Did you know? According to the Shenlong Times pamphlet bundled with an official guidebook, Toriyama modelled Frieza on Yū Kondō, his editor at the time.
Our take
Followed arc by arc, Frieza is the villain who changes his role the most without ever changing his personality. On Namek he is a perfect tension machine: every form raises the stakes, and his cruelty exists to give birth to the Super Saiyan. His lightning-fast death at Trunks' hands is how the series announces that a new generation of fighters has arrived.
His return in Super could have been pure nostalgia, yet it gives him a fresh job: an enemy who cooperates only when it suits him. The Tournament of Power works precisely because nobody, viewers included, knows until the very end which side he will land on.
For the villain who shares his Hell in GT, see Cell saga by saga; the fighter who actually won the tournament is covered in Android 17 saga by saga, and his eternal rival in Goku's profile.