Most stories are only as good as their villains, and Dragon Ball has a wonderful collection of some of the best villains in anime and manga. Inspired loosely by suspicious 80s real estate investors, the Frieza Force is one of the most iconic villainous groups in Dragon Ball, if not anime in general. The Frieza Force is a tyrannical organization operating on a galactic level that conquers planets, captures entire species of alien life, and then sells them both to the highest bidder. Their massive pool of soldiers, which include some of the strongest fighters in the galaxy, make the Frieza Force so powerful that only a few can hope to stand against it.
Of course, with the Frieza Force being such a large organization and taking up such a big part of Dragon Ball’s story, there are loads of interesting and obscure facts about the tyrannical empire. Also, since this is Dragon Ball, after all, there are also loads of weird facts buried just below the surface of the organization. Yes, they are unquestionably sinister, but the Frieza Force and its members are also goofy and interesting under the right circumstances. If you’re a diehard Dragon Ball fan, you’ll recognize most of these factoids pretty quick and, if you’re a more casual fan, these 25 items will send you right back to the Namek saga and the Force’s many other appearances. With their appearance guaranteed in the upcoming Dragon Ball Super: Broly film, this is a great way to refresh your memory on this group and get hyped up to maybe learn a little more about this dark and weird organization.
25 Cui Exists To Show How Power Levels Have Changed
This purple, bulbous-headed alien is a forgettable, but important member of the Frieza Force. He was introduced as a kind of rival to Vegeta and was said to be as strong as the Saiyan Prince.
However, as he grew terrifically stronger after recovering from his loss to Goku and his friends, Vegeta easily defeated Cui and began his rebellion against the Frieza Force. Cui is an important character as he not only denotes the growth of Vegeta’s power, but also the beginning of his character arc from a villain to one of Earth’s strongest protectors.
24 They Can’t Sense Energy
Despite being a rather basic technique in the world of Dragon Ball, the members of the Frieza Force cannot sense the energy of other living creatures. To search for people or measure the strength of their opponents, they have to use the much less reliable and easily breakable scouters.
This weakness of theirs is critical to their defeat in the Namek saga, as it allows Vegeta, Krillin, and Gohan to sneak around undetected and slowly chip away at the empire’s stronghold on the planet Namek.
23 Zarbon’s Transformation
Zarbon is one of Frieza’s most trusted henchman and is the first real challenge Vegeta faces during his rebellion. While Vegeta can easily go toe-to-toe with the posh fighter, once Zarbon transforms into his monstrous form, he can easily defeat the Saiyan Prince until Vegeta heals and becomes stronger than ever.
Zarbon’s transformation into a spooky, alligator-frog hybrid was a surprise to viewers, and hints at the many different forms Frieza himself had in his arsenal once our heroes challenged him directly.
22 The Ginyu Puns
Like many of the characters in Dragon Ball, the members of the Ginyu Force are all named after food. However, due to localization challenges, the naming puns of this elite Frieza Force squadron are not super obvious at first.
Guldo is named after yogurt, Recoome is named after cream, Burter comes from butter, Jeice is lifted from cheese, and Ginyu himself is named after the Japanese word for milk. This fighting dairy force is one of the best elements of the Frieza Force by far, and their exaggerated personalities are perfect for their pun-based names.
21 How Ginyu Ended Up On Earth
Ginyu made a surprise appearance in Dragon Ball Super when he finally escaped from his frog form into the body of one of Frieza’s soldiers. He ended up in the weak body after a botched attempt at stealing Vegeta’s, but was stuck on Earth after a series of Dragon Ball wishes.
He was brought to Earth when Dende wished for everyone on Namek, besides Goku and Frieza, to go there, and then was trapped there when Dende wished everyone from the original Namek to go to New Namek.
20 How They Got Their Distinctive Armor
The distinctive and versatile armor worn by the Frieza Force is actually from the Saiyan race. When Frieza conquered the Saiyan’s planet, he appropriated their battle armor for his own army after realizing the usefulness of the durable and flexible protective garments.
The Frieza Force would then go on to make the armor their own, by adding even more kinds of variation to the design and fashioning unique looks for specific, high ranking fighters. Frieza himself even wears the armor most of the time when in his base form.
19 The True Leader Of The Frieza Force
While the Frieza Force is named after the iconic villain and takes orders from the space tyrant, the true leader of the organization is Frieza’s father, King Cold. Looking like an even larger version of Frieza’s second form, King Cold is as powerful as his son and even snider.
Appearing briefly during the Force’s second invasion of Earth, King Cold quickly lost to Future Trunks after his dismissive comments earned him the Half-Saiyan’s ire. Now that he’s gone, though, Frieza is now the one true leader of this sinister space army.
18 Everyone Forgets Poor Appule
Appule was a member of the Frieza Force ranking above most grunts, but below the likes of Zarbon, Dodoria, and Cui. As an utterly forgettable character, we only ever hear his name in the anime and know that he’s apparently capable enough to hold the task of watching over Vegeta while he regains consciousness.
However, we do learn in the Xenoverse series of games that he has dreams of working his way up the Frieza Force hierarchy. If you remember Appule, you really know your Dragon Ball characters.
17 Their Spinoff Branch
Although noncanonical, we do learn of an organization that runs parallel to the Frieza Force. This group is known as Cooler’s Armored Squadron, and each of the members shown are at least as strong as the members of the Ginyu Force.
Frieza’s brother, Cooler, started this army as a means to create his own space empire and not have to deal with his brother’s antics. Even if their numbers aren’t as grand as the Frieza Force’s, Cooler’s Armored Squadron is still a galactic-level threat to most people and planets.
16 Their Robust Benefits Package
Surprisingly, the Frieza Force offers an extremely competitive salary and benefits to its higher ranking members. Even though it’s fiendish, those who work their way up the organization’s ranks receive health insurance with dental coverage, a high paying salary, and paid vacation days.
However, it seems like you at least have to be on par with the Ginyu Force to reap all of these benefits. Of course, even with these employment bonuses, it’s probably not worth dealing with the extremely dangerous working conditions and unethical practices common in the Frieza Force.
15 Abo And Kado
In the television special Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!, new members of the Frieza Force threaten Earth. Abo and Kado were on par with the Ginyu Force in terms of strength, but by the time they appear in the special, they are implied to be as strong as Frieza during the Namek saga.
However, that level of power doesn’t mean much by this point in the story and these two Frieza Force fighters are easily defeated by Goten and Trunks before their invasion even has enough time to disrupt a picnic.
14 The Guard Troops
Also known as Frieza’s Honor Guard, each member of this elite squadron is strong enough to defeat the entire Ginyu Force by themselves. The Guard Troops have yet to appear in any canonical piece of Dragon Ball media, but they did act as some of the primary antagonists in the now-canceled Dragon Ball Online MMO game.
With the Frieza Force coming back in the upcoming film, and likely whatever stories follow the movie, hopefully, we see this super elite squadron sometime soon.
13 Sorbet
The Frieza Force was in shambles while the galactic tyrant was forced to spend time with cute animals and adorable fairies in Other World. It fell on the relatively weak, but administratively talented Sorbet to keep the organization together during this time period.
With there numbers dwindled down to around a thousand and a fraction of their former fighting power, Sorbet launched a stealthy invasion of Earth and successfully revived their leader. Sure, he’s not a major player, but without Sorbet, the Resurrection 'F' storyline couldn't have happened.
12 Tagoma Was One Of The Strongest Fighters
Following his revival, Frieza did something new, he trained to improve his strength and fighting skills. His workout body for this process was Tagoma, who became one of the strongest fighters in the Frieza Force after this enduring six-month process.
However, this didn’t matter much when he stumbled across and accidentally swapped bodies with Captain Ginyu. Ultimately, he was nothing more than a means for the two classic villains to grow even stronger, and you have to be a pretty big Dragon Ball fan to even remember his name.
11 Their Cybernetic Technology
An underappreciated element of the Frieza Force is their oddly advanced technology. Following the turmoil of Namek and Frieza’s defeat at the hands of Goku, the space tyrant is made stronger than ever when his missing limbs are replaced with mechanical prosthetics.
While this technology pales in comparison to that of the Red Ribbon Androids, it’s still incredible that Frieza could be fully revitalized and even made stronger by this technology. Even if it was only briefly, Mecha Frieza was a cool addition to the long running series.
10 Their Spaceships
The Frieza Force has an entire fleet of spaceships at their disposal. The slimmest and coolest of these spaceships is known simply as the Attack Ball and allows a single person to travel quickly across space.
While they transport several notable characters over the course of Dragon Ball, it’s worth noting that the Attack Ball is the kind of spaceship that delivered Goku to Earth prior to the start of the series. With no visible propulsion system, it’s hard to say exactly how these bizarre ships work, but their inexplicable design makes them all the more iconic.
9 The Big Gete Star
This bit of planet eliminating technology became a part of the Frieza Force following Cooler’s defeat at the hands of Goku. While drifting through space, the cybernetic technology collided with Cooler, fused with him, and transformed him into Meta-Cooler.
This robotic body let him easily conquer New Namek and gave him the ability to command an entire robot army telepathically. In the end, the Big Gete Star was defeated and Cooler was defeated once again, but for a stretch, it seemed like the Frieza Force’s best chance at rising to power once again.
8 Fargo
In the Dragon Ball Fusions video game, we learn about a Namekian fighter in the Frieza Force’s ranks. Named Fargo, this warrior was launched into space as a child and picked up by the tyrannical organization.
Diverging from the usually peaceful ways of the Namekians due to his upbringing, Fargo makes the galactic supremacy of the Frieza Force feel even more pervasive. This sinister empire has warriors from every race in the cosmos fighting to expand the power and glory of Frieza, and Fargo embellishes that point.
7 Their Weak Weapons
While some of the technology in the Frieza Force is really cool, other kinds of equipment are severely lacking. The weakest members of the Frieza Force possess Arm Blasters and Ray Guns meant to compensate for their inability to fire a ki blast. Of course, this technology is almost totally ineffective against most fighters in Dragon Ball, unless they are caught by surprise.
Considering they have the means to heal nearly any injury and enhance warriors with cybernetics, it’s really surprising that they put so little time and effort into making their base-level combatants more of a threat.
6 The Saibamen
Since conquering the Saiyan race and making their warriors a part of their army, the Frieza Force has access to the Saibamen. These plant-like lifeforms are shaped like seeds until planted in soil and then grow into alien creatures of varying strength depending on what kind of nutrients are in the soil.
While they aren’t the strongest fighters, they are spooky and their portability allows a single person to create an entire army overnight. If the Force had used them during their invasion of Namek, perhaps they’d still control the planet.