Is Freeza The Main Antagonist Of DB?

[theherodjl]

He was built up as the big bad once Vegeta was defeated and the catalyst to the series by being inadvertently responsible for Goku's presence on Earth as well as forcing Vegeta to be the servant he was in a form of blackmail against his father's life. He went to drastic lengths to eradicate the Saiyans from the living world but only sealed his fate by doing so...however even then he refused to give in to death and his own eternal torture, it would only strengthen his malicious black heart and his body. Immediately after being resurrected he summoned a level of power from within that catapulted him to the tier of the gods and even after after dying a second time his hell only made him more powerful, Enma even states that Freeza was such a difficult case of stubborn to resist the process of cleansing his soul. Now it seems he is conspiring to get ahead in the tournament of power to remove his own universe from existence to justify his hate over Saiyans and Beerus humiliating his pride, would you say this makes Freeza the true antagonist to DB lore?

[JulieYBM]

To have a main antagonist you have you plan. Freeza merely continues to return. There is no 'main antagonist' for Dragon Ball.

[DHM211]

He's definitely the most frequently appearing antagonist.

[Gog]

Too be honest before Freeza started reappearing again, and when it was certain that he was gone for good. I always did consider him to be the main antagonist simply because of the repercussions of his actions, remove Freeza, and the whole entire series, Dragon Ball on a whole would quite simply not exist.

[Bullza]

Well if it's not Frieza then who else is even a contender?

I don't know if he counts as the overall main antagonist but if there's anyone who does fit that role it can only be Frieza.

[theherodjl]

To have a main antagonist you have you plan. Freeza merely continues to return. There is no 'main antagonist' for Dragon Ball.

Maybe it's not a coincidence he keeps returning? There may be some sort of yet unspoken rule that the universes require great evils which would certainly explain Majin Boo and Freeza as well, Cell never would've existed without Freeza too.

[Lord Frieza]

Well that depends how you look at it.

Compared to many of his contemporaries, Blackbeard from One Piece for example, Frieza is very different because he is not the over arcing villain of DB. He's not behind the curtain or active in the universe along side Goku. However Frieza is very much like many western comic book villains. While he is Goku's primary villainous counter part, he like Luthor, Joker and Green Goblin, gets brought out every so often then put back in the box until its his turn again.

From a narrative stand point Frieza is the main antagonist because he has by far the farthest reaching influence:

1. He is tied directly to the main character as he both enslaved and destroyed his people and home planet.
   
   Depending on on which you prefer, he destroyed Vegeta on the day Goku left for earth or Goku was sent out of fear of that destruction.
   
   His actions insurde that Goku is allowed to live on earth without outside intervention for far longer then would have likely been allowed if the saiyans were still around.
   
   He is the murderer of Goku's biological parents.
   
   He has, going by Super, at least 448 planets under his control, Advanced and Primitive.
   
   Vegeta along with Nappa and Raditz (the main threats from the saiyan arc) were basically his slaves.
   
   He slaughtered Piccolo's people in cold blood, destroyed their world and forced them to relocate.
   
   His power is so great that his most powerful minions (Ginyu and Oozaru Vegeta) are still 5x weaker then his weakest form and Zenkai and Namekain Fusion were invented just to help the heroes bridge the horrific power gap.
   
   His actions on Namek resulted in every participating hero, save Bulma, forever carrying a deep seated hatred for him to this day.
   
   Its thanks to him that Goku became the first SS of his era.
   
   He is the one who helps raise the curtain for the Android arc with Trunks.
   
   The main threat of the Android arc, Cell, was created using some his DNA and Cell's design is heavily influence by him.
   
   He made 2 cameo appearances in the Buu arc filler.
   
   He has ties to 5 of the movie villains one way or another. He is mentioned as a threat to Turles (Eng dub only), Slug's power is compared to his by Kaio, Cooler is his brother, Broly was on planet Vegeta when he destroyed it (another thing that would have added to the demented saiyan's psychological baggage) and he is freed from hell by Janemba, who's design was also partly influenced by Frieza.
   
   He gets a cameo in GT and it is his actions that led to the wish that birthed Yī Xīng Lóng, GT's penultimate threat.
   
   He is known personally by the GoD of U7, Beerus.
   
   He is the first true villain to be resurrected with the Dragon Balls.
   
   His is the only Main manga/anime villain to get a movie based around him.
   
   In just 4 months of training his potential power has been suggested to have surpassed or at least be comparable to most of the main threats in the story that appeared after him with only Beerus, Fused Zamasu and Jiren being confirmed as definitively more powerful.
   
   Almost beat the heroes again if not for outside help from Whis.
   
   As of RoF, he has destroyed 3 iconic planets in the series.
   
   Is resurrected again to take part in a tournament to save U7 from destruction.

His resamay completely eclipses every other villains in the franchise, that combined with his continued relevance and use in the series easily makes him the most iconic villain and the primary villain of DB.

[TheZFighter]

Most prominent, maybe, but the "main antagonist" of the Dragon Ball series is simply evil itself, not anybody specific. The Red Ribbon Army, King Piccolo, the Saiyans, Frieza, the Androids, Cell, Buu, etc, just badness in general.

[Zephyr]

A character who doesn't appear until 247 chapters in isn't really a Main Antagonist. He's certainly the closest to one that the series has (due to him being the most re-occuring one, and the one who has the largest role in the main character's background history), but he's not actually it.

I guess the closest thing to a real Main Antagonist is Goku's ever-escalating need to excite himself, which is finally quelled via a healthy outlet with Uub at the very end. More an antagonistic force than a character, but whatever.

[precita]

Now that he keeps coming back, he most certainly is. He was already the most iconic villain of Dragonball before Super existed though.

[Jinzoningen MULE]

By no possible definition or or context is he the main antagonist. He's certainly the most important to understanding the history of the Saiyans, but a big bad that's only relevant for 3 out of 16 big arcs cannot be considered primary.

[Snakeway Skywalker]

No way, man. My boy Cell is the biggest baddie of DB. He's perfect.

[sintzu]

Yes, his role in Z and Super have pretty much made him the face of DB villains. He may not be in every arc but his stamp on the franchise and story can always be felt.

[precita]

By no possible definition or or context is he the main antagonist. He's certainly the most important to understanding the history of the Saiyans, but a big bad that's only relevant for 3 out of 16 big arcs cannot be considered primary.

Him only being around one arc (back in DBZ), doesn't matter when you realize the entire Saiyan saga led into him and he's the context behind the Saiyans backstory and continue to re-appear in every arc after he left.

Now obviously Freeza wasn't created by Toriyama when Dragonball was going on so you can't blame him for not being there when he didn't exist yet, but since DBZ started his impact was on every saga. As said, the Cell arc starts off with him and then Cell is cloned from his genes. The Buu arc has his cameos in the anime and once again stemmed from the fact of Supreme Kai being surprised there were stronger beings than Freeza in the universe besides Buu.

[Jinzoningen MULE]

By no possible definition or or context is he the main antagonist. He's certainly the most important to understanding the history of the Saiyans, but a big bad that's only relevant for 3 out of 16 big arcs cannot be considered primary.

Him only being around one arc (back in DBZ), doesn't matter when you realize the entire Saiyan saga led into him and he's the context behind the Saiyans backstory and continue to re-appear in every arc after he left.

If you really want, I can bump it to 4/16 major arcs, but that's a huge stretch, and still doesn't begin to qualify him as a main villain.

[ChiefWamsutta]

By no possible definition or or context is he the main antagonist. He's certainly the most important to understanding the history of the Saiyans, but a big bad that's only relevant for 3 out of 16 big arcs cannot be considered primary.

Him only being around one arc (back in DBZ), doesn't matter when you realize the entire Saiyan saga led into him and he's the context behind the Saiyans backstory and continue to re-appear in every arc after he left.

If you really want, I can bump it to 4/16 major arcs, but that's a huge stretch, and still doesn't begin to qualify him as a main villain.

What were the 16 arcs you were thinking of and what were the four Frieza is relevant in?

[Jinzoningen MULE]

What were the 16 arcs you were thinking of and what were the four Frieza is relevant in?

First Arc
21st Budokai
Red Ribbon
Baba's Tournament
22nd Budokai
Piccolo
23rd Budokai
Saiyan* (The stretch)
Namek
Artificial Humans
Boo
BoG
RoF
Champa's Tournament
Future Trunks
ToP

[GreatSaiyaman123]

The main antagonist is Goku for always be looking for bad guys to fight with him.

[Jinzoningen MULE]

The main antagonist is Goku for always be looking for bad guys to fight with him.

That's only resulted in two negative consequences over the entirety of the series. Both times were in new material, and once was in this very arc. I don't think you can call him an antagonist for something that's not actually a problem.

[Snakeway Skywalker]

Guys, obviously Pilaf-sama is the main antagonist of Dragon Ball. He's pure evil.