Dragon Ball Z is one of the most popular anime world-wide. Throughout its almost four-decade run, it has amassed fans of all ages. With every anime comes powerful heroes and opposing villains; Dragon Ball Z excels at providing fans with the best of both worlds. From Raditz, Cell, The Androids, and all the incarnations of Majin Buu, Dragon Ball Z keeps its heroes constantly self-developing to defeat nearly indestructible adversaries. But these villains serve a greater importance than plot devices meant to propel the character growth of Goku, Gohan, and the rest of the Z-Fighters; they offer valuable insights into societal problems and notably, real-life tyrants. Frieza is undoubtedly one of the most notorious villains introduced in Dragon Ball Z: cruel, manipulative, and a relentless ruler. Simultaneously, Frieza also represents tyranny as seen throughout the ages when vulnerable civilizations are involved. Here is Akira Toriyama’s take on tyranny and genocide through Frieza.
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Destroying Planet Vegeta
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Despite being one of the strongest warrior races in the universe, the Saiyans suffer greatly at the hands of Frieza. Frieza not only invades their home planet, Vegeta; he takes advantage of their autonomy, using the Saiyan’s Oozaru form to extinguish other life forms and claim their natural resources. When Frieza feels that the Saiyans are becoming defiant and potentially too powerful, Frieza destroys them and keeps only a select few alive to do his bidding.
Enslavement of Mass Populations
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The Saiyans aren’t the only population Frieza enslaves during his tyrannical reign. When Gohan, Krillin, and Bulma travel across the universe to reach Namek and gather the dragon balls, they are briefly captured by a fleet of space travelers that reveal themselves to be orphaned children. The fleet explains that they are runaways having survived Frieza and his henchmen after they invaded their planet and destroyed their parents. They go on to explain that Frieza is a tyrant that’s been invading countless planets for decades, and that they will likely encounter him upon arriving in Namek.
Vegeta himself references his experiences serving Frieza and how all his formative years were dedicated to one goal: enslaving and exterminating mass populations for Frieza. Dragon Ball Z’s first chapters were written during the peak of the Cold War and The Soviet Union’s leader, Joseph Stalin, is an indirect framing device for Frieza. Stalin was known to have oppressed, tortured, and killed countless Soviet citizens in his attempt to maintain a communist government, and similarly to Frieza, did so for decades without many knowing of the domestic exterminations he was committing. The battle between Frieza and the Z-Fighters is short-lived, but Frieza’s atrocities against several universes go unnoticed for the majority of his tyrannical rule.
Planet Namek and Genocide of its People.
Joseph Stalin isn’t the only historical parallel to Frieza; the most infamous dictator of all-time shares many attributes with the villain: Adolf Hitler. When Frieza arrives on Planet Namek, he does to the Namekians what Adolf Hitler did to so many Europeans: enslaves them. Promising to spare their lives if they cooperate in giving him the dragon balls, Frieza uses psychological blackmail on the Namekians much like Hitler did with his victims.
Similarly to Hitler, Frieza relies on a subordinate organization to do his bidding: The Ginyu Force. The Ginyu Force exhibits all the brutal qualities of the Gestapo towards their intended prey. Goku single-handedly defeats The Ginyu Force, but Frieza ultimately succeeds in the genocide of the Namekians with the exceptions of Piccolo and Nail. While the Namekians are eventually revived with the earth’s dragon balls, Frieza didn’t stop in destroying them simply because they were perceivably inferior beings.
God Complex
A defining characteristic of all dictators is a God Complex, Frieza is no exception. But unlike an actual god, Frieza is mortal, hence his obsession with gathering the dragon balls and wishing for immortality. This doesn’t hinder Frieza’s God-like behavior, though; he is perfect and everyone must bow before him. Like many real-life tyrants, this is Frieza’s undoing. In underestimating the true potential of the seemingly weaker Saiyans, Frieza allows Vegeta to remain by his side as a servant instead of destroying him along with his home planet. When Frieza recuperates from a near-death battle against Goku, he travels to Earth to gather the dragon balls, and most importantly, take his revenge.
This is when Future Trunks is introduced to the series. The young Super Saiyan easily destroys Frieza, and soon reveals he’s Vegeta’s son from an alternate timeline. Frieza’s God complex blinds him to the true potential a Saiyan can reach, especially when given the time to transcend, such as Goku and Trunks. Through Frieza, Akira Toriyama leaves audiences with a powerful message: dictators throughout history have fallen due to their inability to accept that power is never everlasting; someone stronger can topple them at any given moment.
