There is an endless amount of popular shonen anime series, but Dragon Ball has stood out as an incredibly popular and foundational program that’s helped inspire the next generation of anime series. Dragon Ball features a formulaic structure where Goku and company repeatedly have to ward off a new enemy that threatens their safety, often only shortly after the previous foe has been vanquished.
Frieza is arguably Dragon Ball’s biggest antagonist, which allows the heroes and audience the opportunity to see many sides of this character over the years. Frieza is without a doubt a murderous tyrant, but there are still some respectable traits that the villain possesses.
10 He Knows When To Task Out The Small Stuff
There are plenty of management styles that can lead people to success, it’s just important to know which ones work the best for whom. Frieza is certainly a tyrant that values the control that he holds over others, but he also doesn’t micromanage those around him and obsess over taking care of everything on his own.
Frieza is preoccupied with his Dragon Ball search on Planet Namek and learns about Vegeta and company’s intentions, but he staffs their elimination out to the infamous Ginyu Force so that he can keep up his own work uninterrupted.
9 His Powerful Family Has His Back
The Dragon Ball franchise features a lot of violence and death, but in a lot of ways it emphasizes the importance of family and how that drives a lot of the heroes’ motivations.
Goku and Vegeta build families throughout the course of the series and it might be easy to assume that a megalomaniacal villain like Frieza would close himself off to such things, but quite the opposite is true. King Cold and Cooler are both ready to get vengeance in Frieza’s honor and it reflects that Frieza was clearly on good terms with his family.
8 He's Always Able To Find Followers
There’s no question that Frieza himself is exceptionally powerful and can blow up an entire planet on a whim, but an important aspect of any successful ruler is a vast army that can intimidate the masses.
Frieza has this in full swing with his Frieza Force that patrols the galaxy with him and forces their influence on other planets. However, after both of Frieza’s resurrections he’s still able to amass a new crew for his Frieza Force and continues to find support despite everything that’s happened.
7 He Has No Shame In Using The Dragon Balls
The Dragon Balls are quite the coveted relic throughout the various Dragon Ball series and Frieza’s introduction is even tied into his interest in Namek’s Dragon Balls. There are plenty of individuals whose pride would get in the way and keep them from using some Dragon Ball wish to improve themselves and take the easy and unearned way out.
Frieza is comfortable in his skin and can embrace the fact that he’s not past using the Dragon Balls for self-improvement. His latest wish even explicitly revolves around the superficial improvement to be a few inches taller.
6 He Can Endure A Lengthy Torture
Characters can learn a lot about themselves when their comforts and freedom are removed from them and they’re forced to truly analyze who they are at their core.
Sometimes a Dragon Ball villain dies and that’s the last viewers ever see of them, but Frieza’s time in the afterlife is depicted with a painful form of torture that he’s forced to endure. A large dose of cuteness is regularly administered to Frieza, but rather than it breaking him, he’s able to mentally endure the circumstances and come out of it even stronger than before.
5 His Many Transformations & Ability To Improve Himself
It’s become a bit of a running joke in the Dragon Ball franchise that any new villain will have a multitude of transformations before they’re finally at their full power. This trend started with Frieza and each of his original transformations are quite thrilling.
This gets pushed even further in Dragon Ball Super, where he unveils his new Golden Frieza form, which he achieves through training. Frieza admits that training used to be a foreign concept to him, but the idea that he’s not past it and can see that there are always improvements that can be made is positive.
4 He Can Look At The Big Picture
It’s one thing to be powerful, but it’s not going to mean very much if that individual doesn’t know how to properly apply their strength or squanders their potential. The earlier Dragon Ball chapters contain villains that are perfectly happy with goals that are specific to world domination or an even smaller scale of power.
Frieza is someone that wants the entire universe scared of his name. He’s able to achieve this through an intricate plan of manipulation where he tricks the Saiyan race, follows Beerus’ orders, and fills an important power vacuum at the time.
3 He's Willing To Work With The Enemy
It’s interesting to look at the moral codes that define heroes and villains and how far they’ll be willing to compromise these values in order to find success. Many villains would rather die than cooperate with their rival and Vegeta even takes an exceptionally long time to work alongside Goku and agree to fuse with him.
Frieza has a lot of enemies, but the Tournament of Power shows how he’s willing to bury the hatchet when it’s necessary. Granted, Frieza does have ulterior motives through his cooperation, but he does open himself up in a vulnerable way to pass targets.
2 He'll Take Care Of Problems On His Own
Some villains are lone wolves, but Frieza is someone who’s found himself with a huge staff of support and a fully crewed spaceship to lend assistance. Frieza obviously has the manpower to do all of his work for him and just retreat to a position of luxury.
Frieza is not at all interested in this and he gets hands-on with his projects and derives a glee from the destruction that he causes. Frieza personally destroys Planet Vegeta and sticks around to watch the explosion. He understands when a personal touch is necessary.
1 He Refuses To Give Up
This may seem redundant on some level, but Frieza has turned into Dragon Ball’s most persistent cockroach that just won’t ever disappear. Frieza’s initial defeat is teased by a brief return in a semi-robotic state, but Frieza continues to reappear throughout Dragon Ball Super until he makes himself a more relevant character than Yamcha.
None of this is unearned and Frieza painstakingly breaks his way out of hell or brokers risky deals to secure his survival at whatever cost. Some audiences may be tired of his appearances, but at this point, he’s definitely earned his right to return.
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