Is Freeza The Only Major DB Villain To Obtain Massive Strength Through Training?

[theherodjl]

I'm talking strictly about villains btw, not any fighter who might have served merely as an opponent.

When you think about it, isn't he??? Guys like Cell, Boo, Black, and Moro stole their power from somebody else and/or received additional benefits from said-stolen power/abilities to get a significant power boost; they didn't earn the power for themselves. Certain characters such as Cooler & Broly were born with their strength. The Androids(not the main timeline's 17, & 18), Bio-Broly, Janemba, and Hirudegarn were bio-mechanical/magical creations that possessed a set-strength yield. And so on.
Was Freeza the only important villain to obtain great power through simple hard work?

[Krillin1994]

Piccolo likely gained his strength that surpassed Piccolo Daimao, through some form of training. Whilst not explicitly shown that he trained and didn't simply grow up to be naturally strong, we do know from Toriyama that he is always training. We also know he was training after the 23rd TB before Raditz arrived.

[SupremeKai25]

No.

Zamasu arguably worked and struggled more than him because it wasn't even his own body (so he had to go through a whole additional layer of difficulty: adapting to the body of an entirely different species). Anyway, it is stated that Zamasu could unlock the true potential of the body only gradually, after fighting and getting beat up repeatedly. And it was a constant process of adapting and learning through battle.

Sure, Zamasu "stole" Goku's body. But the body he got was pretty weak initially. Zamasu learned how to use it efficiently and turn it into the strongest fighter on the battlefield. His battles with the various ningens were his training sessions.

In Heroes, Zamasu takes this to the next level as the Crimson-Masked Warrior. He literally fought and killed like 99 (?) different versions of Goku just so that he could fully tap into the power of that body. His dedication was exceptional.

If we count the time before he became a villain, Zamasu was also training a lot to become a strong Supreme Kai. One of his greatest qualities was his exceptional strength for a Kai and we do know that he was training a lot to hone his skills and strength.

[Jack Bz]

Unless you mean over the course of an arc, Jiren got as strong as he did via training, possibly making his biggest gains after his master was killed.

[Peach]

Tao Pai Pai, Shen, Commander Blue, Tien & Chiaotzu, and Fortune Teller Baba's monsters were martial artists that trained.

In Z, there was Pikkon

Then there was Jiren and Zamasu in Super.

[fleahop]

I agree with pretty much everything said before, but I'd like to argue for a few other characters.

Beerus needs to be pointed out and yes it seems obvious but I'm willing to bet someone out there doesn't think he has trained. He has trained with Whis as it has been stated before.

17 and 18 probably trained at some point. You don't go from being a normal human to getting cybernetic parts to being able to fight. This is highlighted in characters like Gohan that lose their "edge". There's no proof, but considering how much 17 improved just on his island I really don't think it's a stretch.

The Ginyu Sentai. My argument may seem silly, but I think if they spend time rehearsing poses that it's only natural they also actually train. Kinda flimsy I know.

Last one I'll give half an argument for is the Saiyans. Now I'm not claiming they trained a ton or anything, but you don't develop moves like the Galick Gun without some training unless you're some freak of nature like Frieza. If Vegeta copied it, maybe it's nbd, but if he developed it then they definitely put in time training.

[coola]

Not sure if you can count it as training, but in filler, Perfect Cell went to space to punch asteroids/rocks, while waiting for Cell Games

[GreatSaiyaman123]

I'm pretty sure Piccolo trained for the 23rd Budokai.

Not sure if you can count it as training, but in filler, Perfect Cell went to space to punch asteroids/rocks, while waiting for Cell Games

I mean, that would explain why he says Trunks is stronger than him but shows even more power in the Cell Games

[Galan007]

This is somewhat of a loaded question.

If we're talking strictly villains(not anti-heroes), then Freeza is really the only true villain who was given second(and third) chances after his death(s) to attain greater power. Every other villain in the series was either killed during their arc, or was reformed into a good guy.

But if you want to talk reformed villains, then #17 would be the obvious go-to for me. In just a few years time, he goes from being weaker than Imperfect Cell, to being in the same ballpark as ToP-era Goku/Vegeta, just by working as a game warden on some random island -- defending it from human poachers and whatnot. Granted, #17 may have also been sparring with the Cell Juniors in his downtime, but even then, his astronomical power-creep is still absurd.

[Cipher]

As pointed out, Piccolo 2.0 almost certainly trained for the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai. He was a dedicated martial artist in comparison to the original. Leading into the Saiyan arc, he'd been training on his own for years to develop techniques to kill Goku.

Tao Pai Pai as well. He's a run-of-the-mill martial-arts supervillain, whose skill and strength all came form his standard martial-arts rigor.

Vegeta, Nappa and Raditz trained as well. For as much as Vegeta touted his genetic and status-based superiority to Goku, he was still out there putting his life on the line in combat, and reaping the benefits of it. They were naturally strong, but also strong because they constantly fought.

Zamasu (non-Black) trained his way up to martial-arts superiority as a Kaio, which was part of why he was selected as a Kaioshin candidate. While I'm not sure if this would count, manga Black also systematically abuses Saiyan recovery power-ups to acclimate to Goku's power. He notes he couldn't even become Super Saiyan at first.

And this is discounting the not-quite-villain tournament antagonists like Ten, Hit and Jiren (who are all the same character).