Frieza is Dragon Ball’s most legendary villain, but he wasn’t created to be the way he was. In fact, Toriyama had no desire to create him. Yu Kondo, the editor of the Dragon Ball Z series, forced Toriyama to create a character like Frieza.
All throughout, Toriyama did not want to continue writing Frieza, but fate had other plans as the cold, sinister, and polite reptilian alien stole the hearts of the viewers and ascended to be one of the top villains, not just in Dragon Ball, but of all time.
Toriyama might not have wanted to draw Frieza and reluctantly drew him, but here we are, decades later, still talking about the emperor of evil. This shows how unique the design of Frieza was, which is why Dragon Ball tried to reuse Frieza by reviving him and giving him much stronger transformations.
The villain that never should have been
Frieza’s sheer presence and impact shaped the series in ways no other antagonist could, not Cell, not Majin Buu. Frieza not only contributed to multiple parts of the narrative. connecting Earth, the Saiyan lore, and the Namekians, but also showed a chilling, non-threatening-looking imp who was a galactic destroyer.
Just like saying man cannot dictate fate, even though Toriyama did not think much of Frieza, he went on to become the face of Dragon Ball villains and is well-known even today.
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Toriyama had originally planned for Dragon Ball to end much earlier, but the series’ popularity forced him to continue. There were many visible changes as could be seen from Dragon Ball to Dragon Ball Z and the time-skips and the advent of new and powerful antagonists each time.
After the Saiyan Saga, Toriyama wanted a villain that could surpass the terror of Vegeta and Nappa. This was because, from the very onset, Dragon Ball was a series that scaled based on power. An antagonist cannot be scary or threatening if he doesn’t absolutely trump those who came before him.
The most influential villain in Dragon Ball
This is how the idea of Frieza, a cosmic tyrant, came into play. He was not just strong; his dominance was absolute. Even his weakest form could wreck the Z fighters, much less his advanced forms, which raised his power levels to an unimaginable extent.
With his calm and composed demeanor and polite manner of speech (Japanese), Frieza was not your usual archetype. But his reputation of destruction precedes him as his chilling manner takes over the audience and gives them a sense of dread and powerlessness.
With an empire spanning multiple galaxies and commanding many civilizations, Frieza was a massive threat to the Z fighters. His story did not end with his death, as that could not tarnish his legacy.
Even in a series filled with gods and threats on the multiversal level, the fact a villain like Frieza still shines is impressive. That he was created out of reluctance makes it all the more ironic. Dragon Ball wouldn’t be the same without Frieza.
Dragon Ball manga is available to read on Viz Media, and the anime is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
