Was Freeza brought in too early?

[FoolsGil]

I also want to say that if it seems that I'm bashing on Cell or Buu for coming after Freeza, that is unintended. Multiple times I have stated Freeza in other anime would have been the last villain or second to last villain. As a second to last villain, that would leave Cell or Buu as the last villain. All I'm saying is that by having brought Freeza in as a mid series villain, all the heroes had to compensate such a tall order in a short period of time, and things moved forward from there.

For fans of Naruto, it's like after the Zabuza arc, the Pein arc begins, and because Naruto is the main character, Kishimoto gave Naruto his Jiraya training, and sage mode training in a period of weeks. And then after the Pein arc. the 4th Ninja War started shortly after, instead of what really happened, which was the Chunin exams, Sasuke retrieval, and the Gaara rescue arcs following the Zabuza arc.

All I'm saying is that there should have been 2 or 3 arcs between Vegeta's defeat and Freeza's role. Then whoever comes next, comes next. I'm not saying that I'm dissatisfied because they exist, I'm saying I'm dissatisfied because Freeza was brought in early, bringing them in too early because action series' have to continually top themselves.

[Cipher]

Good point, haven't thought about it that way as much as I should. Makes the son surpassing the father element more poignant in a sense of viewed through that lens.

Yeah, Cell and Goku totally get each other's motivations -- Gohan's caught in the middle.

[TheUltimateVegito]

I do like the shake-up Cell represents from the standard supervillain motivations the series has seen up to that point, though. From the time he absorbs #18 on, he's basically nega-Goku, looking to fight strong opponents and test his strength with no sense of morality. The way he describes his motivations to Trunks after defeating him is a reminder that, in addition to all the reminder's we've gotten that he has Freeza's cells, Piccolo's, Vegeta's, Goku's in there too. If anything, I'd have liked to have seen that played up more.

Good point, haven't thought about it that way as much as I should. Makes the son surpassing the father element more poignant in a sense if viewed through that lens.

And that's why Perfect Cell would've been the perfect final villain. No pun intended.

[EXBadguy]

Oh, yes he has. But I think Cell and/or Omega Shenron are a better fit for the final villain of the series than Frieza.

[precita]

Even more ridiculous is how weak the first Super Saiyan form seems like now, especially when that was the huge legend and would make you the strongest in the universe. Especially when Goku first turned Super Saiyan on Namek, it almost seems trivial now.

[Cipher]

Even more ridiculous is how weak the first Super Saiyan form seems like now, especially when that was the huge legend and would make you the strongest in the universe. Especially when Goku first turned Super Saiyan on Namek, it almost seems trivial now.

That's because the scope of the series continues to expand. When Goku first turns Super Saiyan, he's one of, if not the, strongest mortal beings in the universe. Even after that, part of the Boo arc involves Vegeta realizing that they're likely the most powerful beings in existence, to the extent that the highest gods are surprised by their strength.

Even into the Boo arc, Super and/or GT, Super Saiyan strength is still a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Like 95th percentile of the universe. If you include things like the anime-only Anoyoichi Budokai, where Goku's able to breeze through to the finals, it's apparently one of the strongest powers to ever exist.