Frieza in his final form, with a white body and purple head, smirks as he points his finger against a green sky.

Frieza: Dragon Ball's Galactic Tyrant

CharacterVillainsNamek Saga

Frieza is one of the great villains of Dragon Ball. At the head of an army that seizes planets to sell them off, he destroyed the Saiyans' home planet before facing Goku on Namek, where the hero turns Super Saiyan for the first time. Killed by Future Trunks, he returns in Resurrection 'F' in a golden form, joins Universe 7 out of self-interest during the Tournament of Power and reaches a black form in the Dragon Ball Super manga. Here's a look back at his empire, his transformations, his creation and his voices.

He speaks politely, gets around in a little hover chair and wipes entire peoples off the map. Defeated, killed, then brought back to life, Frieza keeps coming back to haunt the saga. Here is the story of the galactic tyrant, from the destruction of Planet Vegeta to his latest transformations.

Contents

The Emperor Who Sells Planets

Frieza (フリーザ, Furīza) is a planet broker: he takes worlds by force to sell them off, often exterminating their population first. He travels from one world to the next aboard his large spaceship, surrounded by his men.

His species remains a mystery: his home planet is never shown. His father, King Cold, comes from the manga, where he accompanies Frieza to Earth after Namek explodes; his older brother, Cooler, comes from the movies, where he is the villain of the film Cooler's Revenge. In the film Dragon Ball Super: Broly, King Cold announces his retirement and hands his empire over to Frieza.

His name is a pun on the English word “freezer,” as in the kitchen appliance. His henchmen, for their part, are named after fruits and dairy products, foods you would usually keep in the fridge. Among them are his two highest-ranking officers, Zarbon and Dodoria, as well as the members of the Ginyu Force.

Frieza in his first form, closely flanked by pink-faced Dodoria and Zarbon with his long green hair.
Frieza surrounded by his two highest-ranking officers, Dodoria on the left and Zarbon on the right.

👔 Frieza runs his empire like a broker; for the business look to match, knot one of our Dragon Ball ties.

The Destruction of Planet Vegeta

The Saiyans served Frieza for a long time. In the manga, their growing strength makes him fear a rebellion and feeds his dread of the Super Saiyan legend. So he destroys their planet, then leads the survivors to believe a meteor wiped it out, all while keeping them in his service.

On Namek, Vegeta hears the truth from Dodoria, before Frieza, about to switch to his second form, boasts that he personally killed his father, King Vegeta, without even needing to transform.

The scene itself has been told in several versions. In the TV special Bardock – The Father of Goku, aired in 1990, Frieza sends an energy ball into the heart of Planet Vegeta, wiping out almost all the Saiyans along with many of his own men. The film Battle of Gods and the Dragon Ball Super manga later add that Beerus, the God of Destruction, had asked Frieza to destroy the planet.

A huge orange energy ball bears down on the pink surface of Planet Vegeta, near a disc-shaped spaceship.
In the TV special Bardock – The Father of Goku, the energy ball launched by Frieza bears down on Planet Vegeta; on the right, his spaceship.

Namek, the Transformations and the Super Saiyan

Frieza first appears in chapter 247 of the manga, published in late 1989. He travels to Namek with his inner circle to gather the planet's Dragon Balls and gain eternal life. Short on scouters and soldiers to collect the balls, he calls in the Ginyu Force.

Frieza can transform three times, and each transformation unleashes a little more of his power. Vegeta and Frieza himself suggest that his fourth form is his true, original form: the other three exist to keep his enormous power in check. Piccolo, who has just fused with Nail, holds his own against him until Frieza shifts into his third form.

In his final form, Frieza kills Dende to stop him from healing his opponents, and fatally wounds Vegeta just as Goku arrives. When he kills Krillin, Goku turns Super Saiyan for the first time, in chapter 317 of the manga and episode 95 of Dragon Ball Z.

Cornered, Frieza fires an energy ball into Namek's core, setting off a reaction that will destroy the planet in five minutes. He ends up sliced in two by his own attack; Goku spares him, but Frieza tries to shoot him in the back. In the anime, this duel stretches over 19 episodes.

Super Saiyan Goku, with pale blond hair, brings both clasped fists down on Frieza in his final form, against a dark red sky.
Now a Super Saiyan after Krillin's death, Goku strikes Frieza, in his final form, in the glowing red sky of Namek.

🛋️ On Namek, Frieza first gets around in his hover chair; for comfort that's more down-to-earth, sink into a cushion dressed in one of our Dragon Ball cushion covers.

From Trunks to Golden Frieza: The Comebacks

Yet Frieza survives the explosion of Namek. Within the following year, he is rebuilt with cybernetic prosthetics that greatly boost his strength; video games would later call this state Mecha Frieza. Setting out for revenge on Earth with King Cold, he is killed there, along with his father, by Future Trunks in chapter 332 of the manga. In the printed version, the whole thing is settled almost instantly; the attacks that Trunks blocks one by one were added by the anime.

It isn't until the film Resurrection 'F', released in Japan on April 18, 2015, that he comes back to life. Sorbet, who wants to restore Frieza's army to its former glory, revives him with the Dragon Balls, helped by his own right-hand man, Tagoma. After four months of intensive training, Frieza reaches a new form with golden skin, which he names “Golden Frieza” himself.

Beaten by Vegeta, he blows up the Earth. Whis then turns back time so that Goku can finish him off before the disaster. These events were later adapted in the Dragon Ball Super series.

In Dragon Ball GT, a 1996 anime series that continues Dragon Ball Z without adapting the manga, Frieza only appears, outside of flashbacks, in Hell, alongside Cell, facing Goku, who freezes them both.

Golden-skinned Frieza, fists clenched and arms spread wide, stands at the heart of a blazing yellow aura between rock walls.
Golden Frieza: the golden-skinned form Frieza reaches after four months of intensive training, and which he named himself.

The Tournament of Power, Broly and Black Frieza

In the Dragon Ball Super series, Frieza joins the Universe 7 team for the Tournament of Power, replacing Buu, who has fallen asleep. He agrees on one condition only: to be fully resurrected after the tournament. In the end, he teams up with Goku to knock Jiren out of the arena; all three are eliminated together, and Android 17 is declared the winner. Whis then brings him back to life at the request of Beerus, as thanks for his efforts.

In the film Dragon Ball Super: Broly, released in Japan on December 14, 2018, he has the Dragon Balls stolen so he can grow 5 cm taller, but Cheelai, a soldier in his army, uses them before he can to send Broly back to Vampa. He also kills Paragus to trigger Broly's transformation into a Super Saiyan, and ends up on the receiving end of the Saiyan's fury himself.

The Dragon Ball Super manga goes even further. In chapter 87, Frieza unveils Black Frieza, a form he obtained off-panel after ten years of training in a Hyperbolic Time Chamber. In this form, he floors Goku and Vegeta with a single blow, then spares them: he had only come to kill Elec and Gas.

Goku, shirtless in orange pants, and Frieza, a white and purple figure, attack Jiren together amid floating rocks.
At the Tournament of Power, Frieza teams up with Goku to knock Jiren out of the arena; all three would end up eliminated together.

Creation and English Voices

Akira Toriyama created Frieza during the Japanese economic bubble, drawing inspiration from real estate speculators, whom he described as “the worst kind of people.” He gave him polite speech, an unsettling contrast with his cruelty, when villains usually talk rough.

Toriyama also explained that the third form, the most detailed one, only appears briefly because it was too tedious to draw, and joked that three transformations might have been one too many. The idea of bringing Frieza back came to him at a concert by the metal band Maximum the Hormone.

In Japanese, Frieza is voiced by Ryūsei Nakao in every Dragon Ball production. In the early English dubs, he was voiced by women: Pauline Newstone in the Ocean dub, then Linda Young at Funimation, in Dragon Ball Z, GT and films like Cooler's Revenge and Fusion Reborn. Christopher Ayres took over from Dragon Ball Z Kai onward and voiced him in Resurrection 'F', Dragon Ball Super and Dragon Ball Super: Broly; Daman Mills, who filled in for him in part of Dragon Ball Super's TV broadcast, now holds the role.

Frieza's four forms together on a beige background, from the first, horned and armored, to the last, small and smooth.
Frieza's four forms in an illustration from the anime; the third, with its elongated skull, is the one Toriyama found too tedious to draw.
Figure of Frieza in his final form, white and purple, arms open, standing on a base of blue rocks, against a black background.

For fans of Frieza

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The tyrant dreamed up by Akira Toriyama, shown here in his final form, can now keep watch over your shelf.

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Frieza at a Glance

Key fact Frieza
Japanese name フリーザ Furīza
First appearance Chapter 247 of the manga, late 1989
Family King Cold (father), Cooler (older brother, in the movies)
Henchmen Zarbon, Dodoria, the Ginyu Force
Forms Three transformations up to his final form, then Golden Frieza (2015 film) and Black Frieza (Dragon Ball Super manga)
Defeated by Goku on Namek, Future Trunks on Earth, then Goku and Vegeta in Resurrection 'F'
Voices Ryūsei Nakao (Japanese); Linda Young, then Christopher Ayres (English)

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Why did Frieza destroy Planet Vegeta?
    In the manga, the Saiyans' growing strength makes him fear a rebellion and feeds his dread of the Super Saiyan legend. The film Battle of Gods and the Dragon Ball Super manga add that Beerus, the God of Destruction, had asked him to destroy the planet.
  • How many transformations does Frieza have?
    On Namek, he transforms three times, up to his final form, which he suggests is his original form. He later gains Golden Frieza in the film Resurrection 'F', then Black Frieza in the Dragon Ball Super manga.
  • Who killed Frieza?
    Goku defeats him on Namek, but Frieza survives. It's Future Trunks who kills him, along with his father, King Cold, when the two of them land on Earth for revenge. Brought back in Resurrection 'F', he is taken out by Goku once again.
  • Did Frieza become a good guy?
    Not really. In the Tournament of Power, he only joins Universe 7 on the condition that he be resurrected afterward. In the film Dragon Ball Super: Broly, he goes after the Saiyans again.
  • Why is he called Frieza?
    His name is a pun on the English word “freezer,” as in the kitchen appliance. His family follows the same logic, with King Cold and Cooler, and his henchmen are named after fruits and dairy products.
  • Who voices Frieza in English?
    In Funimation's dub, Linda Young voices him in Dragon Ball Z and GT, then Christopher Ayres takes over from Dragon Ball Z Kai onward, including Resurrection 'F' and Dragon Ball Super; Daman Mills now holds the role. In the earlier Ocean dub, it's Pauline Newstone. In Japanese, Frieza is voiced by Ryūsei Nakao.

🧳 Frieza roams space aboard his big ship; for your own getaways, slip your suitcase into one of our Dragon Ball luggage covers.

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