Toei Still Hasn't Animated Dragon Ball's Most Powerful Villain Transformation: Here's Why
Toriyama may have just rewritten Dragon Ball’s power scale. Black Frieza storms into the Dragon Ball Super manga with a jaw-dropping upgrade that leaves past villains in the dust—and threatens to upend the entire balance of power.
Dragon Ball has never been shy about power creep, but even by this series' standards, Black Frieza is a wild swing. If you missed his manga debut, here is why this version of Frieza instantly jumped to the top of the food chain and what it could mean when the anime finally catches up.
Black Frieza shows up, steals the arc, and leaves
Black Frieza first appears in Dragon Ball Super manga chapter 87. Goku and Vegeta are in the middle of a brutal fight with Gas on Planet Cereal when Frieza walks in, saying he was summoned by Elec, the Heeter Force's boss. In one hit, Frieza wipes Gas off the map. Vegeta is stunned. Then Frieza turns to our two leads, unveils a new form he calls Black Frieza, and drops both of them with a single punch each.
Frieza explains he has been training for 10 years in another dimension, and he is now beyond where Goku and Vegeta are. In that moment, Toriyama essentially crowned Black Frieza as the strongest player in the universe. Yes, stronger than the guys who were hanging with Gas. Yes, by a lot.
What this sets up next
If and when the manga gears back up, Toyotaru has a layup: a focused rematch where Black Frieza forces Goku and Vegeta past True Ultra Instinct and Ultra Ego. On the anime side, once Toei animates these pages, that entrance could be one of the nastiest villain reveals in Super. The design helps too: the palette leans black and silver with those Frieza-typical purple accents, which does a lot of heavy lifting for his presence on the page.
Every Frieza form that counts so far
Even setting aside the non-canon and purely promotional one-offs, Frieza has more looks than almost any villain in the franchise. Here are the nine mainline stages we have seen across the anime and manga:
- First Form — Namek Saga — Smaller build with horns and that chest/shoulder armor shell.
- Second Form — Namek Saga — Much larger frame, longer horns, deeper voice.
- Third Form — Namek Saga — Elongated head, sleeker body; the silhouette gives off a xenomorph vibe.
- True Form — Namek Saga — Streamlined, hornless, compact final shape.
- 100% Full Power Final Form — Namek Saga — Bulked-up version of the True Form with heavy muscle and visible veins.
- Mecha Frieza — Trunks Saga — Rebuilt with cybernetic limbs and enhancements after reconstruction.
- Golden Frieza — Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' — Gold and purple with a metallic sheen earned through hard training.
- True Golden Frieza — Dragon Ball Super: Tournament of Power Saga — Same look as Golden, but refined power output.
- Black Frieza — Dragon Ball Super manga: Granolah the Survivor Saga — Black and silver coloration after 10 years training in a time-dilated, Hyperbolic Time Chamber-style dimension.
Where things stand
With the passing of Akira Toriyama, this is the full set of Frieza forms we have in play right now. There is no official word on the next Dragon Ball Super movie at the time this was written, so it is anyone's guess when Toei will animate Black Frieza. Hopefully sooner rather than later.
If you want to revisit the lead-up, Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Super are streaming on Crunchyroll.
So, did Toriyama push Frieza too far with Black Frieza, or is this exactly the kind of escalation the series thrives on? Drop your take.