Is any villain in the franchise irredeemable?

[Cipher]

Broly. His father had to strap him with a fucking mind-control device just to kind of, sort of tame him. In the 2nd and 3rd movies, he's pretty much brain dead, but in the first one, he was conscious enough to purposely destroy the planet of innocent extraterrestrials he never even interacted with for the single pleasure of watching them suffer. He openly regards himself as the devil, and I think at one point tries to kill Gohan to torment Goku.

I actually agree with that. Didn't think of him at all when reading this thread (or any of the movie villains).

Brolli is a genuinely horrifying character, and a huge departure from the previous movies, when you strip him from the position the U.S. fanbase has given him.

His entire personality consists of no-nonsense sadism, without any of the other frills, gimmicks, motivations (Freeza's self-interest, Cell's Goku-esque desire to grow stronger) or charisma the standard Dragon Ball villain possesses. And he's not an unintelligent monster a la Boo or Janemba. It's kind of alarming. He's just a creepy, violent lunatic, and has been from birth. Paragus is no saint as a father figure, but it's shown that his mind-control device is a reaction to Brolli's insatiable violence, rather than the other way around.

[B]

There's never really a point where Cell is given the "maybe we can fight again" moment the way Piccolo does at the end of the 23rd Budokai or Vegeta after the Saiyan battle. He has a good lead over everyone else the majority of the arc; no reason to ever consider a change of heart. That video game GIF is a pretty funny scenario, and probably could've happened. Cell is the true Goku doppelgänger; all he wants is a challenge and a test of his perfection. Freeza, as was shown when he was given mercy and spat on it, is a gigantic baby that needs to be the center of attention and the best in the room, for no other reason than to say that he is; he's Vegeta but with no placement of value on training or effort. We know there's just about nothing that would make Freeza change, but if Cell had somehow survived the Cell Games, a Piccolo-esque role doesn't seem out of the question. Piccolo's connection to God puts him in touch with everyone else when there's a crisis, but Cell would probably show up just for the chance to flex.

[fadeddreams5]

I feel there's a misconception that Cell's goal was to challenge himself by fighting strong opponents, much like Goku. The way I read the character, the notion of anyone ever posing a "challenge" to him was inconceivable. Cell already believed he was perfect, and he merely wanted to play with his newfound abilities. Unlike Goku, who displays joy after he is BEATEN, Cell succumbs to denial, confusion, and rage, much like Vegeta used to, but worse because, by design, Perfect Cell should have no equals; this was the whole point of absorbing the androids. He holds a god complex that I truly doubt can be tamed. I mean, he blew himself up and instead of planning his next move, training, or traveling to another planet, he goes right back to Earth. The kicker? He doesn't return to exact revenge on Gohan, which is something Frieza would do. In fact, if I recall, he barely acknowledges him. After killing Trunks, Cell begins to boast about his regenerative abilities and, again, his perfection. His tenacity and delusion would impede him from ever backing out of a fight until he was killed or blew himself up.

[ShadowBardock89]

Broly. His father had to strap him with a fucking mind-control device just to kind of, sort of tame him. In the 2nd and 3rd movies, he's pretty much brain dead, but in the first one, he was conscious enough to purposely destroy the planet of innocent extraterrestrials he never even interacted with for the single pleasure of watching them suffer. He openly regards himself as the devil, and I think at one point tries to kill Gohan to torment Goku.

I actually agree with that. Didn't think of him at all when reading this thread (or any of the movie villains).

Brolli is a genuinely horrifying character, and a huge departure from the previous movies, when you strip him from the position the U.S. fanbase has given him.

Except in Supersonic Warriors 2, there's a scenario where Broly befriends good Ol' Mark, just like Buu.

[Esfír Dedragón]

Out of all the characters in the manga, I think it's more than likely Cell who is "irredeemable".

You could argue that people like Frieza would never be redeemed, but at least they were given a choice and always chose to be evil.

Cell, on the other hand, was an cybernetic organism that was created to be evil. It was never a choice for him/it. Cell's purpose was to kill Goku and even when he was gone, the was no consideration to even try to be good. Quite a scary example of a deterministic being.

[Doctor.]

Out of all the characters in the manga, I think it's more than likely Cell who is "irredeemable".

You could argue that people like Frieza would never be redeemed, but at least they were given a choice and always chose to be evil.

Cell, on the other hand, was an cybernetic organism that was created to be evil. It was never a choice for him/it. Cell's purpose was to kill Goku and even when he was gone, the was no consideration to even try to be good. Quite a scary example of a deterministic being.

Goku gave Freeza a choice when he gave him his Ki back on Namek.

[Esfír Dedragón]

Out of all the characters in the manga, I think it's more than likely Cell who is "irredeemable".

You could argue that people like Frieza would never be redeemed, but at least they were given a choice and always chose to be evil.

Cell, on the other hand, was an cybernetic organism that was created to be evil. It was never a choice for him/it. Cell's purpose was to kill Goku and even when he was gone, the was no consideration to even try to be good. Quite a scary example of a deterministic being.

Goku gave Freeza a choice when he gave him his Ki back on Namek.

Yeah, I know that. But Cell wasn't given one. The closest thing to that was when Future Trunks tried to talk some sense into him but it didn't phase Cell. It was more like "blah, blah, blah" to him.

[Doctor.]

Out of all the characters in the manga, I think it's more than likely Cell who is "irredeemable".

You could argue that people like Frieza would never be redeemed, but at least they were given a choice and always chose to be evil.

Cell, on the other hand, was an cybernetic organism that was created to be evil. It was never a choice for him/it. Cell's purpose was to kill Goku and even when he was gone, the was no consideration to even try to be good. Quite a scary example of a deterministic being.

Goku gave Freeza a choice when he gave him his Ki back on Namek.

Yeah, I know that. But Cell wasn't given one. The closest thing to that was when Future Trunks tried to talk some sense into him but it didn't phase Cell. It was more like "blah, blah, blah" to him.

Ah, I misread your post somehow, I read it as if you said Freeza was never given a chance. My mistake.

[B]

People need to be face with literally zero options before they dare consider a change. That is what happened to Freeza and he still told Goku to piss off. Cell blew himself up, and then somehow came back stronger. There was a never a moment where he had to stop and take stock of his surroundings; the closest is when there is a threat to 18's life before he absorbs her. A what-if scenario where Kuririn isn't horny, kills 18, and Cell's means of becoming perfect are crushed could possibly move him in a different direction.

Despite being a creation, I don't think Cell is biologically predisposed to being "evil." He has free will. His main operative, killing Goku, coincided with his desire to show off his superiority. Destroying the planet was an afterthought; he "supposes" he'll do that because what else is there to do when you're that powerful? I don't think 1:1 goodness was ever in the cards for him, but if he wasn't killed, but instead beaten into an inch of his life like Piccolo or Vegeta, it's not unreasonable to think he'd graduate to not actively blowing cities up anymore.

[Kanassa]

Despite being a creation, I don't think Cell is biologically predisposed to being "evil." He has free will.

Really, he was indoctranated into the way he is.

Also, after Vegeta is considered redeemable; no one in the Dragonball universe is irredeemable.

[Marco Polo]

Piccolo was created to be evil too and his purpose was to kill Goku too. And yet he redeemed himself. Cell isn't a robot; even if he was created with a purpose he still has a choice. In fact, even robots have a choice in the DB series. See 16.

[Kanassa]

Piccolo was created to be evil too and his purpose was to kill Goku too. And yet he redeemed himself. Cell isn't a robot; even if he was created with a purpose he still has a choice. In fact, even robots have a choice in the DB series. See 16.

I wasn't saying that Cell did not have free will, I was only saying that he was made specifically to be evil via indoctrination.

[fadeddreams5]

Piccolo was created to be evil too and his purpose was to kill Goku too. And yet he redeemed himself. Cell isn't a robot; even if he was created with a purpose he still has a choice. In fact, even robots have a choice in the DB series. See 16.

Piccolo wasn't created to be evil. He was a naturally born namekian who possessed the memories of his "father." Naturally, King Piccolo believed he would use that to exact revenge.

Cell wasn't created to be evil either. He was merely a fail-proof weapon created to fulfill Gero's ambitions should the androids fail or rebel against him. Yeah, he had free will, but instinctively, he had to assimilate with his brother and sister. After doing so, he develops a horrific god complex, possibly exacerbated through Frieza and Cold's DNA, that makes him an irredeemable and uncontrollable villain, imo.

[Lord Frieza]

There are some. Both Nappa and Raditz might have changed if given the same experiences as Vegeta (as in reality he was the most evil of the three) or maybe if they had all lived none of them would have grown accustomed to earth life. Part of me has always felt that part of the reason Vegeta fell for Bulma was due to loneliness.

Since Piccolo did its possible King Piccolo could but it seems unlikely without a lot of work, much like Vegeta. If he was somehow brought back maybe Piccolo could help his father.

Ginyu dose have some good qualities but once again he's a mass murderer and its hard to tell if his honour is genuine or just something he dose to look cool.

Buu with the influence of the Kaioshin was redeemed and in a way so was Kid Buu all be it after being reborn.

Freeza, Cooler and Cold have everything they could want, its clear they are to far gone and nothing could change them. Cell seems to have been programmed from birth to be the worst parts of Piccolo, Vegeta and Freeza, that combined with his ego make it seem almost impossible for him to change. Kid Buu was pure evil incarnate with limited intelligence, he could never have been helped by conventional means.

Movie villians?

Garlic Jr. - Nope

Wheelo - Nope

Turles - Maybe but he seems to have found companionship with evil pirate so I don't think there would be much chance for him.

Slug - for the same reasons as Freeza, Nope.

Android 13 - Not without tampering with his mind and thus it not being his own choice to change, Nope.

Broly - Nope and its the loony bin section of hell for you as well.

Bojack - not unless he gets reincarnated as a horseman.

Janemba - Same reasons as Kid Buu, Nope.

Hirudegarn - a giant evil spirit created from all the evil of a planet, yeah that ain't happening ever.

[precita]

I get the impression that if Freeza could keep coming back from the dead over and over, he would continue to do the same exact thing and try to kill Goku and conquer the universe every single time he was revived. We've already seen that three times.

Freeza is evil. Probably the most evil character in the series.

[Zillamon51]

Of the Z-era "big three," Frieza is absolutely irredeemable. He sees everything that exists as his to do with as he pleases.

I could see Cell coming around and not destroying things just because he can, but using his power in constructive ways.

I see Kid Buu as being like an animal or a force of nature. He has no moral consideration, therefore morality doesn't really apply to him.

[DBZAOTA482]

Piccolo Daimao and Kid Boo can't become good even if they tried since they were born to be evil incarnated.

Freeza and Cell were genuinely irredeemable as they live solely for themselves. Broly was irredeemable because he's a raging psychopath.

All the other villains (so far) are redeemable. Vegeta took pride in his people... even if it's more for their strength than the people themselves and Piccolo wasn't truly evil. Mean, cunning, and anti-social but he was just doing what he was told.

[floofychan333]

In DB, Tao is irredeemable.
In Z, Cell is irredemable.
Of the movie villains, Garlic Jr., Turles, Lord Slug, Cooler, Android 13, Android 14, Android 15, Bido, Bojack, Hoi, and Hirudegarn are pretty irredeemable.
In GT, Eis Shenron/Sān Xīng Lóng was an irredeemable scumbag.

Pretty sure Broly is irredeemable too.

[Kanassa]

Of the Z-era "big three," Frieza is absolutely irredeemable. He sees everything that exists as his to do with as he pleases.

Like Vegeta used to be, and yet now Vegeta is supposed to be a good guy.

[fadeddreams5]

Hirudegarn is redeemable. I think he was just misunderstood and confused.

How would you feel if you were just a pair of legs and humanity tried to bomb you?