What Makes Freeza So Special?

[DragonBalllKaiHD]

As you know about the upcoming movie about the revival of Freeza, and I know it has been discussed many times before about the characterization of Freeza and why it was well received. But for this topic, I want to dive into even deeper discussion of why he is so much more than just a villain. What set him apart from Piccolo Daimao, Cell, and Pure Boo? What does he mean to you? I'm really curious about the your input on him.

For me, it's about the impact he has had on the universe to a point that even Kaioshin and Hakaishin Beerus knew of his existence. His history and existence changed everything in the universe. His unique personality is what make him so great. His enormous and terrifying power is what enabled him to build an empire big enough to affect the planets in the galaxy with his father laying in the shadow. Even after his death his legacy still lived on. So, Freeza seems to be pretty important figure throughout the universe.

[dbgtFO]

I wouldn't say I preferred him to the other villains. In the Z era, Majin Buu was my favourite, as a matter of fact.
Freeza seems to be popular due to the Freeza Arc in general being considered to be Dragon Ball at its peak and because his actions led to Goku arriving on Earth.
That Freeza's cruelty also triggered Goku's Super Saiyan transformation also seems to be a major reason, why he's considered as Goku's worst enemy kinda like Batman vs the Joker.
Sadly Toriyama seems to have jumped on board that train of thought with this new movie, but it'll probably be about Vegeta finishing business with Freeza this time.

[DBZGTKOSDH]

Of all the main villains, he is the most important one. If it wasn't for him, Goku would have never been on Earth, the Saiyans would still be alive, Pilaf would have been the ruler of Earth, Piccolo would remain sealed, the Artificial Humans wouldn't exist, and Babidi would never find enough energy to revive Majin Boo.

[JamesOwnz]

Super Saiyan

[eledoremassis02]

I think, in the U.S, it seems thats when everyone really jumped on Z (also the same time FUNi started inhouse dub). So I think, for here, a big part of it was the story and how we've really never seen a story like that in an animated cartoon on Television.

Buuut, I thin his links to the Saiyans also makes him more involved??

[FortuneSSJ]

Why Freeza is my favourite villain ever?!

Freeza used the saiyans as slaves and blow up their planet.
Got knowledge about the Dragon Balls thanks to Vegeta and tried to used them for his own good, killing almost all namekians to get them.
He's the boss of Ginyu Force.
He's the first villain to have more than one transformation.
He's evil to the core only because he feels like it.
Vegeta breakdown.
He's the reason why Goku became ssj and things changed forever.
SSJ Goku vs Freeza 100% Full Powa its one of the best fights.
His theme song is awesome: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EM2fRG ... Rg&index=2

[WesMan23]

I think part of it is because, up until Beerus, as far as Z is concerned, Freeza is the strongest naturally born (supposedly) arc villain. Cell was created, as was Buu. Freeza was just unnaturally powerful for a non-augmented/created fighter. He also had serious influence, and is essentially the catalyst of the whole series.

Also, his demeanor. He has a certain eerie threatening calmness to him, when he's not flipping out.

[KentalSSJ6]

I think part of it is because, up until Beerus, as far as Z is concerned, Freeza is the strongest naturally born (supposedly) arc villain. Cell was created, as was Buu. Freeza was just unnaturally powerful for a non-augmented/created fighter. He also had serious influence, and is essentially the catalyst of the whole series.

Also, his demeanor. He has a certain eerie threatening calmness to him, when he's not flipping out.

Recent Q&A's have shown Buu to have always existed. He wasent created, only found.

[RandomGuy96]

I don't like him. He's not, like, Perfect Cell levels of bland, but I don't find him all that entertaining. What little personality has is completely stock, he has no back story or explanation for his strength, his existence is built on contradictions and retcons, he has no interesting abilities beyond being just another strong guy, and his overuse of "I'm actually hiding more power/transformations/abilities, which I will now use to instantly win!" gets really annoying and makes about a third of the arc completely pointless. He's highly overrated.

[EXBadguy]

Even though he isn't my favorite DB villain, I do see why he's so special. He's the last villain that had good villainous motivations from beginning to end and like others said, he's the one who made Goku land on Earth and wiped his race out. Also, I view Frieza as the central and recurring antagonist of Z, while I view Cell as the secondary antagonist and Buu as the tertiary one, because he has no connection and had generic villainous motivations while Frieza and Cell had unique ones.

Buuut...I still think it's effed up that Frieza is back. He can get destroyed in an one hit by everyone now, even the humans, and there is nothing to move forward with the Saiyan backstory, unless if Toriyama will finally reveal his race and backstory.

[Lord Beerus]

What make Freeza so special? A lot of things:
- His cool and unexpected design
- His charismatic, polite, eloquent, ruthless, coldblooded and Machiavellian nature
- His unique moveset
- His significance to the plot. (Seriously, Freeza pretty much singlehandedly kicked started the entire plot of Dragon Ball)
- His backstory and history of race has tons of potential if explored and handled correctly.

[Lord Beerus]

Buuut...I still think it's effed up that Freeza is back. He can get destroyed in an one hit by everyone now, even the humans, and there is nothing to move forward with the Saiyan backstory, unless if Toriyama will finally reveal his race and backstory.

Huh?

What human could possibly stand up to Freeza? I think people have taken this "Freeza is a weakling" thing to ridiculous lengths. I mean granted he's fallen way down the pecking order in terms of strength since the end of his arc, but's he's still very strong in his own right. It'll be interesting to see what kind of transformation Freeza will get to catch up to the rest of the top tier fighters.

[RandomGuy96]

What human could possibly stand up to Freeza?

Uub, #17, and #18.

Also, I view Freeza as the central and recurring antagonist of Z,

He's not a recurring antagonist. He's only the main villain of one arc, unless you count his cameo at the beginning of the android arc. On top of that, his arc is actually shorter than either Cell's or Buu's, and he's only an active antagonist for the last half, so yeah. This idea that he's a more important villain than any of the other arc villains mostly comes from stuff outside the manga.

[fadeddreams5]

So much.

- Indirectly responsible for Goku's arrival to Earth.

- Held Vegeta in bondage for the majority of his life, and is a large part of why he is so bitter and craves power beyond anything (at least until he accepted Goku's superiority in combat).

- The cause of the saiyans' extinction.

- Out of all the villains, he had the most presence in the series. He wasn't just born and ready to kill; he was already known throughout the galaxy as the most feared and powerful being in the universe for many years before the series even began. He had already invaded entire worlds, raised a vast intergalactic army, and created a reputation for himself. The minute he encountered any character during the namek saga, you knew they were fucked.

- He isn't out to kill, but to conquer, and has succeeded in doing so. He believes that everything should rightfully belong to him and his clan. This might very well be due to his status as a mutant with many distinctions from other races/species, including a natural, godlike power.

- He's driven by fear. You have villains like Cell and King Piccolo, who already believe they are perfect (i.e. they're just a great big ego trip), but then you have Frieza. He boasts over his power because, presumably, since birth, he's been above every single mortal race/species he's encountered, but then he learns about the legend of the SSJ and begins to tremble over the thought of someone more powerful taking his place and everything he's accomplished. This is most likely what leads him to namek for immortality. I mean, why would "the most powerful being in the universe" require immortality? Scared of aging? Can he even grow old? lol.

- He is genuinely sadistic. When Cell absorbed humans, he did it out of natural selection to accomplish his other goal. Buu doesn't know right from left and just destroys as a game. But Frieza knows damn well what he does, and loves every second of it. He is indifferent over murdering children, he gets off by torturing people, and he is thrilled by the notion of enslaving innocent people and separating them from their families. He doesn't need an army at all, but that doesn't stop him, and he has no problem killing any of his most loyal henchmen...for no reason at all. You know the worst part about it? He keeps a classy disposition while he slaughters people.

- Female-looking lizard alien with a British accent. I dig it.

[InfernalVegito]

Compared to other threats he is not a flash in the pan in the context of the series. No wonder that other beings and deities would know about him and thus consolidate his importance in that regard.

[Lord Beerus]

Uub, #17, and #18.

Crap, I forget about how unbelievably powerful Uub was.

#17 and #18 are technically half human and half machine.

He's not a recurring antagonist. He's only the main villain of one arc, unless you count his cameo at the beginning of the android arc. On top of that, his arc is actually shorter than either Cell's or Buu's, and he's only an active antagonist for the last half, so yeah. This idea that he's a more important villain than any of the other arc villains mostly comes from stuff outside the manga.

You must remember that Freeza owns and runs essentially an intergalactic trading company which are also comprised of small armies, all of which take order directly from him. And as such were ordered by Freeza himslef to go to Namek and get the Namekian Dragon Ball and essentially kick start the most significant arc in Dragon Ball history.

You don''t have to personally be on the battlefield to have a significant role on how the war happens.

[RandomGuy96]

You must remember that Freeza owns and runs essentially an intergalactic trading company which are also comprised of small armies, all of which take order directly from him. And as such were ordered by Freeza himslef to go to Namek and get the Namekian Dragon Ball and essentially kick start the most significant arc in Dragon Ball history.

You don''t have to personally be on the battlefield to have a significant role on how the war happens.

How does that make him a recurring antagonist?

No, he has one group that we know of, consisting of a couple dozen guys, plus maybe a dozen other guys with his father (who actually runs the organization). Aside from that, all we have outside of the anime is Toriyama stating that he doesn't see his band as an army, but just a convenient group of followers.

Crap, I forget about how unbelievably powerful Uub was.

#17 and #18 are technically half human and half machine.

Actually they're, like, 95% human. If you're excluding them from the label, you may as well exclude Krillin and Tenshinhan for their physical... oddities.

[ABED]

Nothing, he's just a kid from Brooklyn.

[dbzfan7]

I really like the polite, but arrogant asshole he is. I love how he amasses an army even though he's so much more powerful than everyone. Believes he so damn above everyone else that he should have people do everything for him. Have someone else waste there time on lesser beings while he reaps all the rewards. Have other people conquer planets for him. I like how he can go from creepily polite, to a sick psychopath.

Other people already mentioned his significance to the Dragon Ball Lore itself.

[Bussani]

Because he's a cutie.

Plus I like how polite and full of himself he is and how he gradually loses that cool as time goes on. He was the epitome of "villain who's so strong he's never been threatened before", and because of that, he falls harder than anyone else. I feel like Tao Pai Pai was the only one who had that kind of feel before him. Piccolo Daimao came close, but even he had his moments of weakness, what with the Mafuba 'n' all, but Freeza was just so insurmountable. At their worst, I suppose Cell and Buu were as well, but their time at the top was just so much shorter than Freeza's that their falls didn't feel as great.

Or maybe I'm just rambling. It's past 1am and I'm wired on energy drinks and M&Ms.