Frieza
Freeza (フリーザ, Furīza) is a fictional villain in Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball/(US only: Dragon Ball Z) manga and the anime Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT. He is voiced by Ryūsei Nakao in the original Japanese and in English by Pauline Newstone (of the Ocean Group) and FUNimation's Linda Chambers-Young in all succeeding movies, video games, and episodes (including a redub of the character's initial appearance).
In the series, Freeza is the leader of an empire which spans at least seventy-nine planets.[1] While titled "King", it is never directly stated what role his father played, if any, in his "empire".[2] Freeza is accompanied by his henchmen Zarbon and Dodoria at all times, the two most powerful warriors in his entire army. The Gi'nyu Special Corps. are mightier still (with one exception), but they act as mercenaries, and are not officially aligned with Freeza's military. In the animated features produced by studio Toei, Freeza has a brother named Coola[3] to go along with his son Kurīza in Toriyama's non-canonical self-parody Neko Majin Z.
Freeza is unable to sense power levels (ki) as the more-potent Earth-based fighters and later Vegeta are, and thus must make use of a scouter to find unseen opponents. However, in all other ways he is shown to be exceptionally powerful; indeed, he is called the most powerful being in the universe by North Kaiō, one of the four lords of the Dragonball galaxy.[4] He masks his sadism with mock cordiality, addressing his victims in polite tones even as he kills and dismembers them. Only through his curt laugh and rage when pushed beyond the breaking point does Freeza drop the facade and reveal his true boorish nature. Although not much is known about his race in general, Freeza can survive excessively brutal injuries and in the vacuum of space for an extended period of time.
For all his immense brawn and clout (his fighting strength in his weakest state is 530,000; more than four times greater than his most powerful subordinate, Captain Ginyu), Freeza is also intensely paranoid. It is this paranoia that inspired him to kill off all possible threats, be they a person or an entire race.
Name pun and debate
Freeza's name is a pun on all things relating to the cold, with family members introduced later following his example. As his name ends in a short "a" vowel (rather than the long "ā" which usually signifies "er" in kana spellings on English words), the character's name is typically spelled with an "a" at the end (as opposed to "Freezer"). However, during FUNimation's dubbing of Dragon Ball Z, the English writers went with the spelling of "Frieza". This has led to some conjecture over the "true" spelling of his name: U.S. released video games and the English dub use "Frieza"; "Freeza" is in use for the Japanese language subtitles and Viz's translation of the original manga.
Appearance
Freeza is generally understated, his design an amalgamation of what Toriyama thought monsters to look like as a child.[5] In his weakest form, Freeza is a relatively short humanoid, albeit with a large chestnut-shaped skull with two horns. He also has a tail with a spiked end, as well as having three talon-like toes. He wears the same upper-body armor that many of his subordinates (including the Saiyans) are shown to wear, and while traveling, often gives the appearance of weakness by exclusively using his hoverchair for transportation, leaving his henchmen to do his "dirty work".
Over time, his power became so great that his body could not comfortably contain it, and a series of physical transformations were developed that limit his actual strength[6] While changing shape from his "first-form", each alteration builds on the previous. In all, Freeza demonstrated four transformed states, each with increasing power (some larger than others and each resulting in different physical attributes).
His second form, which is similar to the first, except much taller and more "brutish", is claimed to have nearly double its power.[7] He also grows longer horns, which now instead of protruding sideways from his skull curve sharply upwards into near right angles. While in this new body Freeza bears a great likeness to his father King Cold, though not as huge in stature.
Freeza's third form is again more brutish, with an extremely elongated skull. His facial features contort and change, with his nose melding into his mouth to form a crude beak. His original horns recede, and more now erupt in pairs along the length of his head. He walks and stands with a slight hunch, as if the strain of supporting his head was too much for even Freeza's own body to bear. Once fully transformed, Freeza shares some visual acuity with xenomorphs from the Alien series, particularly in skull structure.
Instead of increasing further into larger and more grotesque forms, in his final form Freeza instead regresses to the height and build of his original, without the horns and with a more streamlined physique. The orangish lines of color and stripes present on Freeza before completely disappear; his body is now a pure purple and white.
Despite being his predominant form, he is also able to attain 100% power, greatly increasing his muscle mass. At 100% this is literally the peak of Freeza's potential and the maximum amount of power his body can output, his muscle mass becomes engorged compared to his previously sleek frame. However, due to the strain on his body he can not fight at full capacity for long, slowly weakening whether he is dealing or receiving damage.
Physically ruined while caught in Planet Namek's explosion after his defeat, what remained of the still-living Freeza was salvaged and rebuilt with cybernetic enhancements by scientists under the order of King Cold. The whole of the lower half of his body and right side of his face are replaced, with scarring and metal accoutrements covering what little was left of his organic self. These enhancements allowed Freeza to not only retain his final form indefinitely but also allowed him to exceed the limits of power imposed by his fully organic form.
Storyline
Genocide of the Saiyans
Freeza had many races under his thumb in his planetary trade, but none were as prevalent as the Saiyans. Similar to humans except for their increased strength and monkey-like tails, the Saiyans were a warrior race who naturally enjoyed the thrills of battle, making them an effective tool for the subjugation of planets. Their abilities to recover with renewed strength after injury and change into giant apes (Ōzaru) under the light of the full moon made them seemingly ideal slaves. But the very assets that made them perfect grunts nagged at Freeza. If left unchecked, it was possible one might rise with power to rival his own.
Hearing the accomplishments of the low-level Saiyan Bardock and acting on his own fears of the Super Saiyan legend, Freeza resolves to eliminate all possible threats. He sends his henchman Dodoria to assassinate Bardock and his team, while Freeza himself prepares to set a course to the Saiyans' home-world of Vegeta. On his arrival, King Vegeta and his men are murdered in their vain attempt at an uprising. But the king's son had proven to be a valuable asset, and instead of sharing his father's fate was sent on assignment prior to Freeza's plans being set in motion.
Bardock, having survived the ambush, rushed back to Planet Vegeta to warn them of Freeza's deception, having previously been granted the "gift" of clairvoyance. Finding disbelief and scorn instead of aid, the Saiyan instead faces the enemy alone. Breaking through the opposing ranks, Bardock fires a defiant blast of ki at Freeza, which the tyrant answers by laughing with insane glee as he prepares a Death Ball to annihilate the planet. Bardock and scores of Freeza's own soldiers were caught in its path, with the ball detonating deep beneath Planet Vegeta's surface, practically wiping out the Saiyan race in its entirety. As Freeza celebrates over his "beautiful fireworks", a single Saiyan baby escapes his detection as its pod makes its way to Earth - Bardock's son Kakarot, known to his friends as Son Goku.
After the planet's explosion, a story was dissimulated saying it had been destroyed by an on-coming meteor. Vegeta and fellow Saiyans Nappa and Raditz were kept alive; Freeza believed they were convenient and disposable pawns as to not serve any immediate threat. They and Goku were the Saiyan race's last known survivors.[8]
Planet Namek
Some twenty-four years later, Freeza spies on Vegeta's scouter during his trials on Earth, and in doing so learns of the existence of the Dragon Balls on Planet Namek. Planning to obtain them and make a wish for immortality, he uses his various mercenary forces to terrorize the remaining Namekian population, though he is unable to acquire all the balls in this fashion. After Cui, Dodoria, and Zarbon fail to complete their mission and defeat Vegeta, who had betrayed Freeza to collect the fabled items for his own ends, the Ginyu Special Corps. is called upon for the retrieval of the Dragon Balls and to neutralize the Saiyan mercenary.
Freeza is then confronted by (and easily defeats) Nail, one of the guardians of Namek. When the tyrant discovers the Dragon Balls have already been gathered by Kuririn, Dende, and Son Gohan and that the fight had been a mere diversionary tactic, he leaves in a rage only to be challenged by Vegeta, who was able to match him without feint at that point.
After Vegeta calls Freeza's bluff and claims he knows of his ability to change form, Freeza does so willingly, going into his second stage which allows him to humble Vegeta with ease. He then mortally wounds Kuririn by goring him on his horns and tortures his sole resistance Gohan. Before he can finish them off, Piccolo joins the battle - roughly even in abilities to Freeza, thanks to a fusion with the dying Nail. The heroes are able to regroup, Dende healing them one after another. Freeza himself is seriously wounded for the first time: Kuririn is able to chop off a portion of his tail using a Kienzan.
As the fight progresses, Freeza reaches his third stage — where he makes sport of Piccolo — before at last changing into his final form. (However, he stressed that he did this only to give his victims the pleasure of seeing it before they died, though it can be seen that he fears Son Gohan's ever-increasing power.) As his first act Freeza kills Dende, cutting off their ability to heal. He then turns to Vegeta, taking time to toy with him and laughing at the thought of there being a mythical "Super Saiyan". Before death, Vegeta is able to tell Goku (gone at length healing his wounds from an earlier fight with Captain Gi'nyu) of all that Freeza had done against the Saiyans, and implores him to get revenge on behalf of their lost race. Freeza, proud of his past accomplishments, smirks before sending a ki beam through the Saiyan Prince's heart. Goku and Freeza then spar, with Freeza realizing that his opponent is the son of the Saiyan that gave him such trouble years before. Goku is eventually able to heavily wound Freeza using a Genki Dama, calling on the energies of the Namek's solar system. While they think him dead Freeza emerges from the blast's crater, retaliating by mortally wounding Piccolo and murdering Kuririn. When he says he'll be going after Gohan next, Goku is pushed over the edge, his rage transcending and allowing him to become a Super Saiyan.
In the continuing battle, Freeza is outmatched and, in a last act of desperation, sends a spike of ki into the core of the planet, starting a chain reaction that would destroy Namek in "five minutes".[9] As the scuffle culminates and Freeza reaches 100%, Goku calls off the fight, claiming it would be pointless to continue: Freeza is losing strength rapidly, and Goku has already proved himself the better. Humiliated, Freeza refuses to give up, sending a Tsuibi Kienzan (and later, two) to finish what he's started. Using so many attacks at one time costs Freeza grievously; his own technique cuts him in half, leaving him in pieces on the dying planet. He begs for mercy, pleading for help which Goku astonishingly provides. But Freeza's pride is too great: the thought of being saved by a "Saiyan monkey" galls him, and he uses what little he has left to attack Goku yet again. This time, Goku has no pity and fires a final ki blast, apparently finishing the job before scrambling to leave the planet.
Death
Unbeknownst to Goku, Freeza survived the blast and the destruction of Namek around him. Able to do little more than breathe, Freeza floated in the planet's wreckage, kept company only by his thoughts of how the universe's conqueror had been thoroughly beaten by a Saiyan. His father, King Cold had crews search the area, not believing his son to have been killed by something as insignificant as the explosion of a planet. What could be found of Freeza was salvaged, his missing limbs and face reconstructed with cybernetic enhancements. Scarred and bitter - though feeling stronger than he had before - Freeza's first thought upon rehabilitation is revenge on those who sullied him. The two of them then travel to Earth to defeat Goku and the threat to their clan's place in power in the universe.
Freeza beats Goku to Earth, and while first impressed by the quaint planet,[10] orders his henchmen to find and slaughter its inhabitants, with Freeza keen on killing his enemy's friends himself. They are not, however, met without resistance - his army is torn apart by a sword-wielding warrior known as Trunks. Freeza dismisses his challenger as an insolent child, and pays him almost no heed until the boy reveals himself as another Super Saiyan.
Dumbstruck, Freeza is frantic; his father uncomprehending of the power that lies before them. He makes several different efforts to kill the boy, each of which is parried easily.[11] He then plays his trump card in the form of a Death Ball, the same used to eradicate the Saiyan planet. Even this is nonchalantly brushed away, until a mortified Freeza causes it to detonate with another shot of ki. Thinking him dead, both father and son are stunned when Trunks fires a Burning Attack out of nowhere. Fuming, Freeza becomes oblivious to his opponent's position, and is shocked and sliced in half by the Saiyan youth before being cut to pieces and blown away.[12]
Freeza spends his afterlife in Hell. From there he makes a few brief cameo appearances during the Buu Saga, animated features and Dragon Ball GT (where he is constantly resurrected but always easily defeated). He is also one of the deceased villains who, along with Cell, Dr. Gero, and Babidi, watch the battle between Goku and Majin Buu through a crystal ball.[13]
Movies and specials
Freeza appears in the following Dragon Ball Z movies and television specials:
A Lonesome, Final Battle: The Father of Z-Warrior Son Goku, who Challenged Freeza (Bardock: The Father of Goku) - DBZ TV Special #1; released October 17, 1990
- During the TV Special, Freeza mulls over the Saiyans' increasing power until Zarbon advises his master to eliminate Bardock and his whole team. In the end, Freeza is challenged by Bardock himself, who survived the onslaught and wants revenge for the death of his crew. Bardock fires a ki attack at Freeza, who makes a huge energy ball and cancels out Bardock's attack. Freeza then sends the ball straight into the core of the Planet Vegeta, wiping out almost the entire Saiyan race and many of his own henchmen.
The Incredible Mightiest vs. Mightiest (Cooler's Revenge) - DBZ Movie #5; released July 21, 1991
- Freeza only appears in a flashback during the prologue of the movie, destroying Planet Vegeta. Coola watches him from his spaceship and scolds his brother for not seeing the escaping spacepod containing baby Kakarot/Goku.
Fusion Reborn!! Goku and Vegeta (Fusion Reborn) - DBZ Movie #12; released March 4, 1995
- When Janemba appears, the dead are revived and they all escape to Earth, under Freeza's command. Freeza confronts Gohan and Videl, and immediately recognizes Gohan as Goku's son. Deciding the boy should pay for his father's "sins", Freeza sends his army of villains (Bojack, Coola, Paragus, Reacoom, Sauza, etc.) to attack the couple, but Gohan flies through them all and silences him by punching Freeza in the stomach and blowing him away with an energy shot to the gut. His terrified minions quickly disperse.
In addition, Freeza's destruction of Planet Vegeta is shown from another POV in Burn Up!! A Close, Intense, Super-Fierce Battle (DBZ Movie #8) and the mercenaries from Super Deciding Battle for the Entire Planet Earth (DBZ Movie #3) believe they would be strong enough to challenge Freeza after eating the fruit of the Tree of Might.
He also appears in footage from the Famicom game (and later Playdia re-make) Gaiden: Saiya-jin Zetsumetsu Keikaku (Side Story: The Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans) (sometimes mistakenly referred to by fans as an "OVA" or "lost movie"). In it Freeza seems to be somehow resurrected, with he and past villains Coola, Tullece, and Lord Slug attacking Goku and his friends. Once it's revealed these are merely ghost-warriors meant to distract the heroes, however, the false Freeza and his ilk are easily dealt with.
Video games
Freeza is a presence in quite a few Dragon Ball Z video games aside from The Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans. He appeared in Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout as well as Dragonball Z: Hyper Demension for the SNES in his final form, and also turned up in all four games of Dragon Ball Z: Budōkai, as well as the separate title Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi and its sequel. In the first Budōkai, Freeza was given his first, both versions of his fourth, and mecha forms; in the second he appeared in only his two fourth and mecha forms; but ever since Budōkai 3 has been featured in them all. He is selectable as a fighter in the Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors series of portable games and can be seen in the first two entries of the Dragon Ball Z: Legacy of Goku franchise (as a boss). Freeza appears in a number of others as either a playable character or a boss in role-playing or action-adventure titles, and has even be utilized as advertising for games such as Super Gokuden in newly produced animation meant to attract Dragon Ball Z fans.
For Atari's PlayStation 2 release of the arcade game Super Dragonball Z, Akira Toriyama provided an exclusive redesign of the villain after undergoing further cyborg modification (to go along with his standard fourth and mecha forms), now supporting shoulder-launched missile weaponry in his new mechanics.
As an iconic character of Dragon Ball Z, Freeza was chosen as one of the series' representatives in Battle Stadium D.O.N, a fighting game showcasing competitors from DBZ, One Piece, and Naruto (hence its name).
Special abilities
- Like almost all Dragon Ball Z characters, Freeza is able to fly through use of his ki.
- An attack used by Freeza. A spark of ki lights on the index finger, and once enough energy is gathered this spark may grow to the size of a small moon. When ready, this "Death Ball" is thrown towards the target. Typically this attack is used to destroy planets or as a last-ditch effort to kill an opponent.
- Freeza used this technique to destroy Planet Vegeta and planned to detonate Planet Namek the same way, only to be caught in Goku's Genki Dama.
- Freeza employs it one last time on Earth, but this blast was stopped effortlessly by Future Trunks.
- The attack used to destroy Planet Namek was different in size, shape, and color, making it not a "true" Death Ball in the classic sense. The name of this attack is actually not given anywhere in the anime nor manga but originates from the various Dragon Ball Z games.
Daichiretsuzan ("Great Earth Cutting Row")
- A powerful, very long and invisible blade-like energy beam Freeza creates with two of his fingers; it can slice through nearly anything. While it is not named in the English dub of the anime, the name given during the Budokai game series is Death Wave.
- Freeza's favored killing technique. He extends his right arm and fires a small, bullet-like beam of ki from his index finger, which barrels down and pierces through an opponent. Able to be fired exceedingly quickly while maintaining precise aim. Freeza murders both Dende and Vegeta in this fashion, also heavily wounding Piccolo. Called Death Beam in the U.S. releases of recent Dragon Ball Z video games.
Hokaku Kon Dan ("Imprisonment Ball")
- A special attack used on Goku, where he captures his opponent in a ball of energy they can't break out of. Freeza can manipulate this ball as much as he wants, but it explodes as soon as it touches the ground.
- Precise laser-like beam shot from the eyes. Mild potency, but fast and able to nullify lesser attacks and small projectiles, as well as destroy weaker opponents and obstacles. Used by Freeza to enter the hut of the Namek elder Saichourou while seeking the Dragon Balls and in battle with Goku.
- Freeza can lift or move large objects through the air with his mind.
Tsuibi Kienzan ("Following Energy Circle Slicer")
- Similar to the normal Kienzan (most commonly used by Kuririn), Freeza's is faster, a different color (purple), and can be controlled remotely. Freeza creates two of these to hound Goku until he's sliced in half by his own attack. Called the Energy Disc in the English version.
Transformation (Henshin)
- This is Freeza's ability to morph himself from a weaker state to a more powerful one. These transformations were originally a containment of his true power, with his actual form being what's commonly referred to as "final". In all Freeza demonstrated three transformations and four altered states, overlooking his bulk at 100% power and cyborg augmentation.
Notes
- ^ Vegeta visited Planet Freeza #79 briefly after his defeat on Earth (Dragon Ball #246). At the time, Freeza himself was using that planet as a base, but was absent while making his way to Namek. Not all Freeza-dominated worlds, such as Planet Vegeta, were numbered.
- ^ "King" could be just a title of respect or even superior to the title of Emperor. No more is ever specified during the course of the series.
- ^ Though designed by Toriyama and making an appearance in the Daizenshuu timeline, Coola's place in official canon is highly dubious. This is particularly true since, according to movie #5, Freeza dies on Planet Namek and Goku immediately returns home.
- ^ Freeza was the most powerful being active in the Universe during his time, as the Jinzō'ningen, Cell and Majin Buu were dormant or yet to be created. However, his father may be even stronger based on comments on the ki of Freeza "and one greater" in the original manga (Dragon Ball #329). As mentioned, Coola is discounted for his non-presence in Toriyama's story.
- ^ U.S. Shonen Jump (Issue #1 ed.). VIZ Media. 2003.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ While other beings in Dragon Ball Z transform to increase their power, Freeza transforms to control and contain it. His true form is his fourth form (Dragonball #303), with each of his other transformations meant to restrict his power and conceal it from his enemies. Freeza even says upon transforming to his second state that he has a harder time controlling himself and his power due to the immensity of his current strength. (Dragon Ball #296).
- ^ Freeza boasts that his fighting strength is "over a million" and he won't be as gentle as he was before (Dragon Ball #296).
- ^ Broly and his father Paragus escaped, but are outside of manga canon and thus not considered official. Also outside of canon is the Saiyan Tullece, who Goku and friends encounter prior to the events on Namek.
- ^ The manga and especially the anime receive much flak for the amount of time it takes Namek to actually explode. The two fighters stand, stare, and exchange verbal barbs, other characters merely roam around aimlessly, non-superhuman characters do things on Earth or collect the Dragon Balls, North Kaiō offers running commentary and the amount of time to actually summon Shenron and Porunga is great. The fight continues even after that in earnest, with Freeza's death pleas taking time unto themselves. In all ten episodes pass between the initial shot and Namek's ultimate destruction (DBZ episodes #97-106).
- ^ Despite his ill intentions towards Earth and all who lived there, Freeza notes "It's a good planet" on first viewing (Dragon Ball #330).
- ^ Only in the anime. Originally Trunks wasted no time and kills Freeza after a single attack (Dragon Ball #332).
- ^ Before Trunks visited the past and diverged the timeline, Freeza and his father were both killed by Goku, who used Instantaneous Movement to make it there in time (Dragon Ball #334).
- ^ Anything after Freeza's death on Earth is not supported by manga canon, happening only in the storyline of Toei's anime filler and movies.
See also
External links
- Daizenshuu EX - In-depth info of Freeza's appearances in the Dragon Ball universe and a guide to his various transformations and upgrades (see "Transformation Guide" among others).