Did any of you think Freeza wasn't female at first?

[Piccolo Daimao]

So, many fans I've come across say that, as a newbie to Dragon Ball, they made the assumption that Freeza was female; specifically, his true form, because of his sleek, slender, feminine body and that they thought whatever was (or was not) on his lips was lipstick. And, of course, Linda Young's infamous Freeza voice. It didn't help that a lot of the DBZ fansites I came across on the internet would refer to Freeza as female too.

But did any of you think that Freeza wasn't female at first? Did his true form's body not register with you as feminine? Or was your first experience with him one where you saw one of his earlier forms first and he was clearly stated to be male?

[Great Saiyaman I]

So, many fans I've come across say that, as a newbie to Dragon Ball, they made the assumption that Freeza was female; most specifically, his true form, because of his sleek, slender, feminine body and that they thought whatever was (or was not) on his lips was lipstick. And, of course, Linda Young's infamous Freeza voice. It didn't help that a lot of the DBZ fansites I came across on the internet would refer to Freeza as a female too.

But did any of you think that Freeza wasn't female at first? Did his final form's body not register with you as feminine? Or was your first experience with him one where you saw one of his earlier forms first and he was clearly stated to be male?

I first saw him in Budokai. I only saw his first form. He was totally a girl to me.

[Kendamu]

I knew he was a guy from the beginning when being played by Pauline Newstone, but I did think he voice was strangely feminine.

[Gaffer Tape]

I, too, was introduced through Pauline Newstone, and I don't recall ever thinking he was anything but male. I could be mistaken, but I certainly don't remember thinking that, and I had quite a few number of misconceptions early on.

[Perfect]

I always thought he was a guy, he was referred to as a "he". >.>

[LeprikanGT]

I always thought he was a dude.

Although he is a different species and aside from one small mention of his mother; who knows if there are "male/female" in his species.

[Ahiru77]

Nope, I had my doubts right away. I at the time only knew stereotypical blues and pinks well, so it was weird when the purples showed up on tv.

[Chuquita]

I first saw/heard Freeza in the Ocean dub, and in his first form. I thought he was female. Voice and appearance aside, it was kind of hard to tell with him sitting in that hoverchair with his lower body mostly covered up by the chair and his upper body covered up by the armor.

[NUDEoctopus]

Yeah, when I was little watching Toonami's airings of the FUNi dubs and believing every last rumor made up by kids at my elementary school, I thought he was a girl.

[Herms]

One of the first things I ever saw of DBZ was some snippit of the Funi dub where Freeza is off somewhere else and other characters are talking about him (I think it was part of the "Bulma and the crab" episode). They referred to him as a "he", so before I ever saw Freeza I knew he was male.

aside from one small mention of his mother

Which isn't in Japanese; instead he uses a word that could mean either "parent" or "parents". So there's nothing ruling out the idea that his race reproduces asexually or something.

[xzero]

I knew Freeza was male from the first time I saw him in the original Ocean dub. I understood that the voice casting decision was to make him sound lizard-like, which I felt they succeeded with, and Young improved upon. (And yeah, I know Ayers is better.)

[Codarik]

I knew Frieza was a male from the beginning, but it would of been cool if he was female, I think it would of been awesome to have a very powerful female villain in the series.

[Herms]

I think it would of been awesome to have a very powerful female villain in the series.

We did, and she was called "No.18".

[Codarik]

I think it would of been awesome to have a very powerful female villain in the series.

We did, and she was called "No.18".

but 18 turned good after a while, I was talking about a pure evil villain.

[Suupaa Gohan 2]

Even with the fact that his lips were very exaggerated and my first exposure to him was from the dub, I knew he was male right away because he was referred to as 'he' in the dialogue fucking constantly. You'd have to be pretty stupid to be a regular viewer of the series and assume otherwise. I can see people who catch an episode and aren't paying much attention, or who see pictures, or who have heard clips of the voice and some of the, ehm, lines he was given in season 3, or via video games, anything like that...but a fan, watching the series regularly from the Saiyajin arc, to think on Freeza's introduction that he was anything but male, even with the lips and dub voice? Then you're a stupid child who is fulfilling the stereotype of fan that FUNimation was catering to at the time, who would probably lose interest if there was ever a moment without constantly droning music or offscreen dialog that was never originally there.

I also don't get how his final form is 'feminine'. Just because he's slender in comparison to the big bulky DBZ guys? He doesn't have a feminine curvature, he's just slim and sleek. I mean Hell, it's the only one of the four forms that doesn't involve any pink!! The only thing feminine about Freeza's appearance is the lips; people have just perpetuated the whole gay/female Freeza because of the dub decisions, unfortunately.

[penguintruth]

I honestly wasn't sure. I was immediately confused when I first saw him in an episode of the Ocean dub. It was actually the first episode I ever saw, and I turned to my friend who was already a fan of the show and asked, "Uh... what's the deal with that... thing?"

"I think it's a guy."

"Oh."

Two minutes later:

"You sure?"

[Aeon Amber]

Surprisingly, considering my first experience was with the Ocean dub, I didn't even question it. I just... knew he was a guy. Maybe because he'd been referred to as a 'he' beforehand so I didn't think too much of it.

[Bardo117]

I just thought he was a gay villain.

[Rocketman]

I thought he was a chick at first too, but I never got into the series until the Buu arc was airing/Budokai 1.

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

I thought he was female at first. Full credit goes to Linda Young for that.