Freeza, his species, and his transformations.

[RandomGuy96]

I've always been interested in Freeza's species. We learn so little about them. While thinking about them, I got wondering...

Does anyone else think that Frieza's race's transformations (Cooler included, of course) kind of resemble the Super Saiyan ones?

Frieza's first or second forms are evidently his race's "base" form (his third form is a freaky thing that he probably invented himself). Chilled and Cold are seen in these forms, with no indication they can transform. Frieza (and Cooler) is considered a mutant for being as powerful as he is and looking the way he does. I think that this means he's his species equivalent of a Super Saiyan.

Frieza's "true" form seem to parallel the Super Saiyan form in many ways. The gap between Frieza's early and final forms is huge. Second form Frieza is "over a million" while final form Frieza is 60-84 million (depending on whether he's in 50% or 70% mode). This is similar to the difference between a base Saiyan and a Super Saiyan, which is a 50x multiplier. To further increase the similarities, the user of this form, while very powerful, can't sustain it forever- it's not a quick burn-out thing but they still need to be in their base most of the time for convenience. This seems to contradict Frieza saying that it was his real true form, since you'd assume that he would be able to control himself in his true form. Which brings us to the next level...

Cooler. His true form, the one he walked around in all the time, seemed extremely similar to the mastery Goku and Gohan eventually showed over their Super Saiyan forms. It was definitely stronger than Frieza's equivalent form, since he not only went in that from to kill the guy who killed Freeza, but he concluded that Goku would be strong enough to kill Freeza after fighting evenly with Cooler's "base" form. Yet Cooler obviously had more control over this massive power. He never had to suppress himself and felt comfortable in this form all the time. Once again, very similar to "Full-Power Super Saiyan" as the wiki calls it.

Then there's Freeza's 100% power. It let him reach the full peak of his power, nearly doubling it, but also drastically increased his energy consumption to the point where he couldn't properly sustain it. It also made him much more bulky. Just like Trunks' "Ultra Super Saiyan", eh? Just without the speed drawback.

Finally, there's Cooler's fifth transformation. This one is notable as it is not a suppression but a direct power-up upon his "true" form. It's even more powerful than Frieza's 100% mode yet without any of the drawbacks, making Cooler stronger than the early Super Saiyans. It seems very similar to Super Saiyan 2 in this regard.

Furthermore: how strong do guys think that Freeza's clan would've been if they actually trained? I'm under the impression that Cooler did, but not all that much. It's shown later in the series that sparring with someone of equal or greater strength than you can make you much more powerful- Freeza apparently did that with Cold, but I can't imagine he did it a lot. I certainly don't think either he or Cooler did it as religiously as the main characters. They never really needed to, as they were already the most powerful beings in the galaxy, but just think about what would happen if they did.

And finally: has Toriyama, or anyone else said anything about Freeza's species? If so, does anyone have a link to where it's said? It seems like there was never really a lot of thought put into these guys- the writer just wanted Freeza to do X, so he did X, and then his species was just kind of built around that (the transformations, the ability to breathe in space, et cetera). Yet surely we must know something about Freeza's species outside of his own family?

[Legendary Saiya-Jin]

Disregarding movies, I liked to imagine the possibility of Freeza's transformations being his own ability. His final form would be his "true" form whose power would be too radical for him to control. It might even be a technique of some sort, these transformations, I mean, that mask his true power.

[RandomGuy96]

I was always confused by that. His true form basically means that it was the form he was born in, right? Well then why does he spend 99.9% of his life outside of his true form and in a state that looks rather similar to other members of his species? I don't think it can really be considered his true form in that way, if he can't even control himself in it. Though I wonder why Cooler can... I think he just trained more in that state than Freeza, and tried to get himself used to it, while Freeza was just a lazy bastard who was content with being emperor of the galaxy and all.

[Bussani]

I was always confused by that. His true form basically means that it was the form he was born in, right?

I want to say "not necessarily", but with a but. It seems to me that sometimes, in shonen, someone's "true form" can just refer to their true power, rather than their original or birth form. In Freeza's case, however, the dialogue does seem to point towards his final form being his original form and everything else being ways to hide his power. It seems like he can't willingly lower his power beyond a certain point without transforming, which is apparently problematic for him. Maybe he got tired of shattering every wine glass he tried to pick up.

[Kaboom]

I'm a fan of the "final small and slim forms are their true forms" idea, where the other forms exist, whether naturally or by intentional design, to hold their power back in varied increments. I just find it a cool and novel concept compared to other races who transform to increase their power instead. It works pretty well from a design standpoint, too, if the "true" forms are simpler and more natural in appearance. Coola's extra transformation would be the opposite exception - We're told he has better control over his ki, and perhaps he developed a form that would help increase his maximum power instead of restrain it. Not hard to believe if the restrictive transformations are something the user develops themselves.

[RandomGuy96]

Frieza's final form being the true form for his entire species just doesn't work, since Chilled and Cold clearly couldn't transform.

[Kaboom]

Freeza's final form being the true form for his entire species just doesn't work, since Chilled and Cold clearly couldn't transform.

We don't know that for 100% sure.

[RandomGuy96]

It seems kind of reaching to say they could. You'd think they'd do that when it became clear that their enemy outmatched them. Cold certainly had plenty of time.

[hleV]

It seems kind of reaching to say they could. You'd think they'd do that when it became clear that their enemy outmatched them. Cold certainly had plenty of time.

Cold didn't have time at all. He got killed instantly once it became apparent that Trunks' strength had nothing to do with his sword.

[Legendary Saiya-Jin]

If you noticed, Cold's skin wasn't anything like first form Freeza's earthworm skin. It looked a lot like Cooler's and Freeza's in that it was uncovered and exposed, so maybe his form was already like Freeza's final form except he had horns with his age. And Chilled and Coola are not canon.

[DBZGTKOSDH]

Toriyama said this about Freeza's race:

There aren't many of them, but perhaps they are a new hybrid species that came into existence from an accidental spontaneous mutation in our grandfathers' time.

In the manga, it is stated that Freeza's 4th form is actually his true form, and his previous 3 forms' purpose is to suppress Freeza's power. I guess Freeza's Full Power state is achieved through training.

The Daizenshuu state that Coola's normal form we see is actually his 4th form, meaning that it's also his true form, like in Freeza's case. IIRC, he said in Movie 5 that he doesn't have to transform into lower forms like Freeza did because he can control his ki, unlike Freeza. The Daizenshuu also state that he can transform one more time just because.

Kuriza, Freeza's son, looks similar to Freeza's 1st Form, and when he transforms, he looks similar to Freeza's 4th Form. So, I guess his Final Form is his his true form, like with Freeza & Coola.

Finally, King Cold & Chilled are not shown to be able to transform. Maybe they can, but I doubt it. Chilled didn't try to transform against Bardock, neither did Cold against Trunks. Cold is implied to be weaker than Freeza in the manga, but not much weaker. Which means that if he could transform, he would surpass Freeza, which is impossible. So, I guess the forms we see Chilled & Cold in are their true forms.

That's all the information I could gather. I hope I didn't miss anything.

[RandomGuy96]

And Chilled and Coola are not canon.

There is no canon.

There aren't many of them, but perhaps they are a new hybrid species that came into existence from an accidental spontaneous mutation in our grandfathers' time.

"Perhaps"? Huh, typical of him to not even know what he's writing...

That would explain Freeza being called a mutant and all, but I always figured he was called that because of what his and his brother's true forms looked like compared to, say Cold and Chilled.

That's all the information I could gather. I hope I didn't miss anything.

Are those the only known members of this species?

[Bussani]

Are those the only known members of this species?

Apart from video games (e.g. Heroes), I believe so.

Maybe it's normal for members of Freeza's race to look different in their natural forms. If they're all mutants, maybe that shouldn't even be surprising. Another possibility might be that Chilled and Cold can transform, but the forms we see them in aren't used to suppress their power. Maybe they serve some other function. Of course, there's no evidence to lend any credit to that idea.

[Kamiccolo9]

I like to think that Chilled lived before his race "mutated" and gained their immense power. I think Cold could possibly have transformed, but was killed too quickly to do it. Trunks wouldn't stand around watching an enemy get stronger like Vegeta, Krillin, and Gohan did.

[supacomboy]

Chilled and Coola are not canon.

I guess if you are going to make a distinction between what you consider canon and what you don't, both of these characters where drawn by Toriyama, ergo they should exist in "canon-land", even if they aren't seen, if you was to consider what isn't canon about these it would surely be the story surrounding these characters. But there is no canon in Dragon Ball!!

[RandomGuy96]

Apart from video games (e.g. Heroes), I believe so.

Hmmm... do we actually learn anything about them in Heroes?

Maybe it's normal for members of Freeza's race to look different in their natural forms. If they're all mutants, maybe that shouldn't even be surprising.

I'm kind of confused. Freeza was called a mutant. Does that he mean he's a mutant to his own species of mutants, or a member of a species of mutants?

Another possibility might be that Chilled and Cold can transform, but the forms we see them in aren't used to suppress their power. Maybe they serve some other function. Of course, there's no evidence to lend any credit to that idea.

Maybe, but I assume not.

[Saiga]

In Heroes, there are 3 player avatar's from Freeza's "race". They don't transform either.

[TheDevilsCorpse]

In Heroes, there are 3 player avatar's from Freeza's "race". They don't transform either.

Though they do have different "armor" between their debut and the start of the Galaxy Missions though, so...yeah. xD

[Saiga]

In Heroes, there are 3 player avatar's from Freeza's "race". They don't transform either.

Though they do have different "armor" between their debut and the start of the Galaxy Missions though, so...yeah. xD

I was going to mention that, but I still have no idea how to interpret that. It's not drastic enough to seem like a transformation, so is it just a design retcon?

[TheDevilsCorpse]

I was going to mention that, but I still have no idea how to interpret that. It's not drastic enough to seem like a transformation, so is it just a design retcon?

I want to say no...but I don't know if I should. lol

I mean, none of the other characters have this problem; The Saiyans just change clothes, the Namekians did too (maybe with a clothes beam), and if the Majins are just like Buu, then they can alter their clothes at will because they're part of their body. The Freeza race though...I can't even begin to say. Some theories though I guess:

• Retcon?
• Their armor naturally changes over the course of their life, and is most drastic while young?
• The race has the ability to transform and the transformations have different uses (power restriction, change of appearance, etc), but not all of them use it?
• The armor may not be natural, even though it appears to be, and they changed it like clothing?