Summary
Famous for Goku’s achievement of the most iconic transformation in fiction, the Frieza Saga is perhaps one of the most significant plots to come out ofAkira Toriyama’sDragon Ballfor its expansion of the world and its presentation of Saiyan history.
The events that take place in the Frieza Saga reconnect Goku to a heritage he spends the early parts ofDragon Ball Zlearning about. What exactly happens in the Frieza Saga, and why is it a point of no return for theDragon Ballfranchise?
Off to Namek!
The Consequences of The Saiyan Saga
With Piccolo’s death, the Earth’s Dragon Balls cease to function, but there’s hope to revive the Dragon Fighters' fallen comrades using the Dragon Balls from Namek. Mr. Popo luckily remembers a conversation he had with Kami in which the Namekian mentioned the ship that he used to escape a cataclysm that took place on Namek several hundred years prior to the events of the franchise. Through the signals transmitted from Vegeta and Nappa’s scouters, Frieza learns of the existence of the Namekian Dragon Balls and jets off to the planet to secure them and wish for immortality.
Vegeta, who recovered on one of Frieza’s planets, learns that the Emperor of Space wishes to make use of the Dragon Balls, and goes off to Namek to get ahold of them before that wish can be granted. On Namek, the Dragon Balls are distributed among the villages, with one per village guarded by the village elder. Since Goku was gravely injured in the fight against the Saiyans, his recovery took far longer than his allies, but with help once again from Yajirobe, Goku is able to recover with a Senzu and visit Capsule Corp, where a new spaceship built with parts from the pod Goku travelled in as an infant is waiting for him. Fitted with a special gravity machine, the spaceship is the perfect vessel in which Goku can follow his friends to Namek, unaware of the looming threat of Frieza’s forces, or Vegeta.
The Military Might of Frieza
Frieza’s Forces Complicate The Situation
Frieza and two of his closest men, Zarbon and Dodoria, go around to the various Namekian villages, leaving destruction in their wake as they search for the Dragon Balls. They quickly recover four of the seven, and eventually arrive at a village where the elder, Moori, tries his best to protect his Dragon Ball; however, Frieza orders Dodoria to kill the elder’s children, with the first succumbing to a horrific blast. Gohan and Krillin watch the evil unfold from a safe distance, but Gohan has never been able to sit still and watch as something cruel befalls another person, so just before Dodoria fixes his aim to kill the other Namekian child, an angryGohan enters, gives Dodoria a powerful smackbefore rescuing the child and escaping. They also make off with the Dragon Ball Frieza and his men were in the process of securing. This child is Dende, who fans later know as Kami’s replacement as Guardian of the Earth in the latter stages ofDragon Ball Z.
Vegeta locates one of the villages with a neat trick he learned on Earth, stealing their Dragon Ball in order to hide it from Frieza, knowing that Frieza and his forces have to rely on their scouters. However, Gohan and Krillin have Bulma’s Dragon Radar. The Ginyu Force arrives, proving to be a big problem for Gohan, Krillin and even Vegeta, particularly due to Recoome’s overwhelming strength and Ginyu’s Body Change ability. Goku arrives on Namek, gets up to speed about the situation, and takes down Burter and Jeice without issue, as well as easily defeat Recoome. While Goku intended to let them go, Vegeta mercilessly killed the weakened Ginyu Force. When Goku battles Ginyu, he does okay until the alien steals Goku’s body, while he is forced to inhabit Ginyu’s heavily injured one. Ginyu accidentally body changes with a frog, and Goku makes use of a recovery pod like Vegeta did after their fight, but doesn’t recover before Frieza takes matters into his own hands.
Frieza, The Tyrant
“This Isn’t Even My Final Form”
Krillin and Gohan are forced to hold off the terrifying alien, who was one of the shining examples of a high power level back when those were relevant. Even after having their potential unlocked by the Grand Elder, Gohan and Krillin were no match forFrieza in his first form. Piccolo’s time on Namek enables him to reconnect with his heritage, and he also absorbs an injured Nail, who looks just like him, boosting Piccolo’s power immensely. Gohan’s potential shows up once more as he’s able to overwhelm Frieza in a fit of rage after he gravely injures Krillin.
While Frieza does a lot to terrorize them in his second form, the combined efforts of Piccolo, Gohan, Vegeta and Krillin end up prompting him to transform again, assuming a horrific third form reminiscent of the Xenomorphs from theAlienfranchise. Frieza grows tired of torturing his weak opponents, and assumes his final form, which is his most famous. Vegeta tries to manipulate the Zenkai Boost that Saiyans get from near-death experiences in order to improve their chances, using Dende’s healing to recover, but doesn’t compare to Frieza’s power. During his recovery from the Ginyu Force battle, Goku senses the variouschanges in Frieza’s power.
Transformed At Last
The Irony of the Super Saiyan Transformation
Vegeta, after convincing himself that he’s the key to victory against Final Form Frieza, finds out he’s horribly wrong. The tyrant turns Vegeta into a punching bag, and the Saiyan is beaten so badly he can no longer fight. Goku’s recovery is complete, and he quickly heads over to fight Frieza, finding Vegeta on his last legs. Frieza fires a death beam at Vegeta, killing him, but he manages to tearfully tell Goku the truth behind the decimation of the Saiyan race, begging him to avenge him and their people. Goku takes the time to bury Vegeta before going toe-to-toe with Frieza. The fight drags out, and Goku sustains many injuries, but he gets a number of good hits in against Frieza, eventually resorting to the Spirit Bomb technique he learned from King Kai. The gang celebrates prematurely before Frieza surprises them by incapacitating Piccolo with a beam and blowing up Krillin with psychokinesis.
Goku’s rage at Krillin’s death becomes the trigger that enables him to achieve what was at some point, nothing more than a myth; however, knowledge of that myth is ultimately what made Frieza decimate Planet Vegeta, eradicating the entire Saiyan race, who had been at his command. Kakarot, Vegeta, Nappa and Raditz, laterjoined by Paragus and Brolyare the only surviving Saiyans, and through some incredible irony, Frieza’s destruction of Planet Vegeta is what made it possible for his greatest fear to materialize. Through his plot to decimate Planet Vegeta, a certain father would ensure his son’s survival, and in his dying moments, that father would catch a glimpse of a future he knew to be certain. Kakarot, come to be known and loved as Son Goku, once one of the very weakest of their race, would grow up a pure soul, overcome trial after trial, and avenge his entire species through becoming the one thing Frieza sought to destroy in what’s a masterclass in irony.
