Short list of comparable fighters to replace Frieza

[larzooma]

If Universe 7 hopes to replace Frieza with someone with enough power and/or fighting ability to mitigate the loss, then the list of possible fighters shrinks to a few candidates.

1. Future Trunks -- We saw how powerful he's become at the end of the arc, and if he's able to tap into his SSJ Rage form, he's more powerful and a better teammate than Freeza.
2. Buu -- Although Buu may not be as powerful as Golden Frieza, he offers a wide variety of abilities perfectly suited for a tournament format. He's a better addition in terms of teamwork, and in terms of his genius as a fighter coupled with the list of abilities far longer than any other Z fighter, he makes a welcomed addition.
3. Pikkon -- I know he isn't considered canon, but I've read various arguments on why he either "is", "should be", or "could be" considered canon. Some people argue the filler episodes are canon, while others argue they could introduce him in this story line to legitimize him as part of the canon fighters. In a similar way to 17, he's had a considerable amount of time to train, and he may have taken his experience with Goku as motivation to grow stronger and stronger. At this point, he could fall somewhere in line with Piccolo, Gohan, or 17.
4. Super Perfect Cell -- If his apperance in GT is any indication (I know...non-canon), then Cell is still in his Super Perfect form after dying and going to hell. Goku could seek him out and offer him a deal to return for 24 hours, similar to Frieza. If he hasn't gained any power, then he's fallen behind a good portion of the Z fighters. He still has everyone's ability, and compared to what we've seen from fighters from other universes, he could hold his own.

any other suggestions...?

[MKCSTEALTH]

I think either Yamcha or Buu would be good. We don't really have either the time or the means to get Future Trunks at this point. As for Pikkon and Cell, we haven't seen either of them. And they don't have the time to get up to the levels of the others.

I don't see why Whis doesn't do something about Buu. I mean if he can birth Bulla, surely he must have some way of getting Buu up. As for Yamcha, yeah he might just be a placeholder and might just be the Monaka of this tournament....but it honestly just feels right. I mean if he does wind up joining then we'll have the OG Z-Fighters back together. Add in Roshi, 18, and 17 and I think it'd be solid.

[Asura]

Goten or Trunks

[Jaden]

How about Arale? She was a match for Goku in blue.
Although she is a gag character

[ekrolo2]

Trunks would make sense and he'd be just as if not potentially stronger than Freeza. Arale would work to given her strength but her gag character status might be a double edged sword, resulting in her mucking something up and getting herself and potentially someone else into trouble and losing for it.

[Lord Beerus]

Tao Pai Pai. That tongue is OP as fuck.

[precita]

I still wish Gotenks was given a shot, but oh well.

[Akyon]

Future Trunks; poor kid has suffered enough, let him enjoy himself for a bit. Beerus and Whis are very against time travel, so there's a strong chance the other gods may turn on them for this too.

Gotenks; can't last the entire tournament's length, and when the two split, Universe 7 could be erased on the spot for cheating.

Buu; genuinely would be the best option, if only he could stay awake. Unreliable as he is chaos personafied.

Pikkon; doesn't exist in canon unfortunately. Having a random expy of Pikkon in Universe 7 leaves a bitter taste in my mouth too.

Super Perfect Cell; Actually not a bad choice with his unique regeneration, saiyan cells and unlimited move set, he's a force to be reckoned with. Less evil than Frieza(just) but the biggest downside is he's there's unlikely to be many characters he could team up with effectively due to his ego, and past grievances. The Androids hate him, he most likely despises Gohan and given half a chance he'd probably backstab just as easy as Frieza. Would the gang want to risk it AGAIN. These villains are so unreliable as team mates.

Dabura; Could be a pretty great choice, with his unique stone ability and overall power. It's another revival though, and he is nicknamed the Great King of Evil.

Kibito; well, he doesn't count as a god right? He's just an assistant to Shin. He can heal, much like Buu and teleport around the stage. Presumably he is stronger than the humans at the very least.

Yamcha; well, while no where near the power of the above he should at least have good team work skills with Krillin, Tien, Goku and Roshi. Heck, I could see him even working pretty well with the likes of Piccolo. Spirit Ball seems like it'd be a more effective ring out move than the destructo disc too.

Chiaoutzu; weaker than Yamcha but technically should be stronger than Roshi. Has some unique telekinetic skills to throw weaker opponents around and could possibly stun a few with his powers allowing for a heavy hitter to KO. Strong team work skills with Tien and possibly Krillin as they did train together under Kami.

Jaco; Possibly weaker than even Chiaoutzu, Jaco has been shown to be handy in martial arts when he tries but has stated he doubts he could handle an adult saiyan, putting him at best below Nappa, and at worst below Raditz.

[Makai]

I just realized Jaco's just as strong, or even stronger then the humans, did they even think of calling him? And if not, they could've called anyone else from the Galactic Patrol. I'm sure even just one of them was free, and there must be some members stronger than Jaco.

[buutenks]

I just realized Jaco's just as strong, or even stronger then the humans, did they even think of calling him? And if not, they could've called anyone else from the Galactic Patrol. I'm sure even just one of them was free, and there must be some members stronger than Jaco.

Jaco is actually weaker than adult saiyans. Meaning his Pl is below 1.2 k. The only reason he did so well vs Freeza;s men, was because they were trash, barely in the hundreds PL wise.

[Grimlock]

3. Pikkon -- I know he isn't considered canon, but I've read various arguments on why he either "is", "should be", or "could be" considered canon. Some people argue the filler episodes are canon, while others argue they could introduce him in this story line to legitimize him as part of the canon fighters.

And I bet all the arguments saying that he "could be" canon are all bad ones. Paikuhan beat Cell and Freeza without working up a sweat, yet, in Majin Buu's saga, Goku said that he didn't find anyone in Other World to try the Metamoran fusion with him, which means that there wasn't any fighter as strong as Goku there (see image below). That line alone is enough for Paikuhan to be thrown out through the window.

[Lord Frieza]

There is none, Frieza is the only option with Buu out.

Gotenks it too stupid and childish. Cell is too weak and they have no time to train him. Everyone else is too weak, yes even Pikkon since he's stuck fighting lots of guys weaker then himself with no new masters.

Frieza, by power alone, eclipses every other option by a HUGE amount. For all threat his back stabbing and evil nature put the heroes at risk, it also makes him equally a threat to the other teams.

Working within the animes set up, Frieza is and was always going to be the only reasonable option.

[AloversGaming]

Tao Pai Pai. That tongue is OP as fuck.

Only good people were wished back at the end of the Buu arc. It'd be a plot hole if he showed up alive.

Then again there's constantly a bunch of 40 year old gun crazy gang members shooting at Officer Krillin in his day to day

[larzooma]

Well given the events of 94 and 95, no one is anywhere near comparable to Frieza, since the writers chose to give him a pretty substantial boost. It seems he's at least on par with Goku, at least without KK, and he could have a lot more power hidden. I don't think there's a single character that could offer more in terms of power than Frieza. Buu is the only respectable replacement, simply based on his extremely high level of power coupled with the enormous amount of abilities at his disposal.

[Lionel]

Babidi? If they had time to gather the Dragonballs then maybe they could wish to have him resurrected and then put under the Z fighters' control (an ironic twist of fate). Could you imagine the possibilities with someone capable of warping the minds of anyone with even the slightest bit of darkness in their hearts? Babidi's magical abilities could arguably make him a more worthwhile ally to have than a number of the fighters on the Universe 7 team, Freeza included. Although maybe just keeping him deceased and allowing him to return for one day might be the more sensible option.