Personally, I think Frieza is probably the greatest villain in the entire Dragon Ball Z anime. He’s that classic villain you LOVE to hate. It’s honestly hard to imagine Dragon Ball Z without him in some shape or form. So, it’s no surprise they shamelessly brought him back for Dragon Ball Super.
Frieza is apparently the emperor of the universe—or galaxy, or whatever the Akira Toriyama settled on. I was always surprised by how short he is, and since he was voiced by a woman in the original English dub, I was REALLY confused about his gender as a kid. But it’s been confirmed that Frieza is male, and he isn’t voiced by a woman in the newer dubs.
For some reason, he’s always hated the Saiyan race, constantly referring to them as “monkeys.” But honestly, their power levels were ridiculously low compared to his. I don’t think even if King Vegeta and Nappa fused together, they would’ve produced a warrior capable of defeating Frieza.
Like most major anime villains, Frieza tends to outsource a lot of the work to weaker henchmen, even though he desperately wanted those Dragon Balls. I always found it hilarious how furious he was when he discovered Vegeta, Gohan, and Krillin had already summoned Porunga. And honestly, in his first form, Frieza doesn’t look all that intimidating.
That is—until he transforms. I still remember the first time I saw that transformation, my jaw hit the floor. This guy was absolutely terrifying.
Though I have to say, his third form felt a little overkill. I think Akira Toriyama probably created that form just to drag out the story a bit longer for the sake of Toei animation profits.
Frieza’s final form, though, was terrifying in an entirely different way. But I always felt like him surviving the Spirit Bomb was kind of cheap, especially considering how easily he outclassed all the remaining warriors.
That is… until Goku turns Super Saiyan. LOL. Even though that final battle seemed to drag on forever—that “five minutes” took, what, eight episodes? LOL. Still, it’s one of the best matchups in anime history.
Too bad Frieza wasn’t very good at dodging his own Death Frisbees.
And yet—even after all that—the guy still didn’t die! That absolutely infuriated me as a kid. Then he runs off to his daddy, who’s also no longer around to rule the universe, and together they head to Earth to blow it up.
But once again, Frieza wastes a bunch of time, giving Goku the perfect opportunity to show up and stop them.
I was completely shocked when an unknown Super Saiyan (Trunks) showed up and sliced Frieza in half with a sword in under 30 seconds flat. Technically, Frieza shows up later when they depict him in Hell, but as far as I know, that’s only in the anime, not the manga. Honestly, I kind of wish they hadn’t brought him back for Dragon Ball Super. It makes his original defeat seem way less epic.