Appearance

Frieza's design is an amalgamation of what Toriyama thought monsters looked like in his childhood. Frieza is one of the supervillains in the series who possesses an entire range of transformations, each one being quite different than the others. It is implied by the character Vegeta in the series that Frieza's fourth, most powerful form is actually his basic form, with the other three being transformations that suppress his power in order to conserve it. Frieza later confirms this while fighting the series' main protagonist, Son Goku.

Character overview

Frieza is an alien, introduced in chapter #247 Dark Clouds Swirl Over Planet Namek ( An'un Uzumaku Namekkusei) first published in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine on November 6, 1989. Here he is portrayed as a powerful galactic overlord on a personal mission for immortality and conquest. He is said to control seventy-nine or more planets. Frieza creates armies from the planets that he conquers, his most utilized race were the Saiyans. Frieza had heard about the legend of the Super Saiyan, a being with unrivaled power, but dismissed it as simple mythology; however, after several Saiyans emerged with rapidly evolving strength, Frieza began to fear that the legend would indeed come true, so as a result, destroyed the entire Saiyan race, along with their home planet, Vegeta. His actions and lust for power eventually bring him into conflict with the heroes of the series when he learns of the wish-granting Dragon Balls on Planet Namek from Vegeta's scouter and tries to take possession of them alongside his henchmen Zarbon and Dodoria. Frieza's fears were realized when he was defeated by Goku, who in turn had become a Super Saiyan. His character would return shortly thereafter, having survived the encounter with Goku but had been left with multiple metal prosthetics as a result of lost limbs/organs. Though accompanied to Earth by his father, King Cold, Frieza is unable to avenge his loss. He is killed with relative ease by a newcomer to the series: the half-Saiyan time traveler, Trunks. A blood sample taken before his ultimate fate would later become a catalyst for the next arc's featured villain, Cell, a warrior genetically engineered to be "perfect". Toei Animation would continue to make use of the character in their anime adaptation, with Frieza making brief cameo appearances during later episodes of the series, animated features and Dragon Ball GT. He is last referenced in the manga as a measure of the strength of the Kaioshin, the supreme lords of the Dragon Ball universe, as "each of whom could have felled Frieza in one blow". In Toriyama's self-parody of his earlier work, Neko Majin Z, Frieza sends Vegeta, serving as his henchman, on errand to retrieve his missing son, Kuriza, on Earth. Aside from Zarbon (Zābon), Frieza has two other high-ranking henchmen: Cui (Kyui) and Dodoria (Dodoria). Cui is a rival of Vegeta and sets out to defeat him, but is killed. He is voiced by Kōji Totani in Japan, Jason Gray-Stanford in the Ocean Group dub and Bill Townsley in the Funimation dub. Dodoria is a large, fat, pink alien with short spikes on his head and forearms who travels with Frieza to Namek in search of the Dragon Balls. There he encounters Vegeta. Hoping to save his life, he tells Vegeta the truth about the destruction of Planet Vegeta, but Vegeta still kills him. He is voiced by Yukitoshi Hori (in all Japanese media save for Dragon Ball Kai, where Takashi Nagasako took over), Ward Perry in the Ocean Group dub, Chris Forbis in the Funimation dub, and John Swasey in Dragon Ball Z Kai.

Abilities

Frieza is first seen moving at superhuman speeds and flying unaided in volume 9. He also appears to have quick reflexes.

Forms and transformations Frieza's power, including his enhanced strength, became so great over time that his body could not comfortably contain it, and a series of physical transformations were developed that limit his actual strength.

While changing shape from his "first-form", each alteration builds on the previous. In all, Frieza demonstrated four transformed states, each with increasing power (some larger than others and each resulting in different physical attributes).

First form

In his weakest form, Frieza is a relatively short humanoid, albeit with a large chestnut-shaped skull with two horns. He also has a tail with a spiked end, as well as having three talon-like toes. Frieza wears the same upper-body armor and shorts that many of his subordinates (including the Saiyans) are shown to wear, and while traveling, often gives the appearance of weakness by exclusively using his hoverchair for transportation, leaving his henchmen to do his "dirty work". Though frail in comparison with his succeeding forms, Frieza still boasts sufficient force to destroy planets, stating during his battle with the Namekian fighter Nail that his power level is 530,000. While shifting to his next stage Frieza breaks his battle-jacket, revealing a natural white armor covering his chest and shoulders.

Second form

His second form is similar to his father King Cold, much larger, both in height and muscle mass, Frieza claiming to have at least doubled his power (of over 1,000,000) in this state. He also grows longer horns, which now instead of protruding sideways from his skull curve sharply upwards into near right angles.

Third form

Frieza's third form is again more brutish, with an extremely elongated skull. His facial features contort and change, with his nose melding into his mouth to form a crude beak. His original horns recede and are now white in color, erupting in pairs along the length of his head. His tail tip, which had been cut off by Krillin's Kienzan, did not regenerate, so it is not known if it would have appeared any differently. He now carries a slight hunch.

Final Form

Drastically differing from his previous transformations, in his final, true form Frieza instead regresses, becoming shorter and less bulky. His previous form shatters, causing his horns and spikes to disappear with his physique becoming entirely streamlined. The lines of color and stripes present on Frieza before completely disappear; his skin is now a pure, solid white with purple sections on his head, shoulders, forearms, chest and shins. All injuries taken in other forms are healed. This is the form that allows him to release his full potential.

100% power

Frieza is also able to attain 100% power, his muscle mass becoming engorged compared to his previously sleek frame. This is literally the peak of Frieza's potential, and the maximum amount of power his body can output; at full power, he is able to fight Super Saiyan Goku on an almost even level. However, due to the strain on his body, Frieza can not fight at maximum strength for long, slowly weakening whether he is dealing or receiving damage.

Gourd Frieza

Physically ruined while caught in Planet Namek's explosion after Goku defeats him, what remained of the still-living Frieza was salvaged and rebuilt with cybernetic enhancements by scientists under the order of King Cold. The whole of the lower half of his body and right side of his face are replaced, as is his left arm from the shoulder down, with scarring and metal accouterments covering what little was left of his organic self. These enhancements allowed him to exceed the limits of power imposed by his fully organic form, and it is stated that he was more powerful than ever.