Summary
Dragon Ballchronicled Goku’s rise as the strongest being on planet Earth, and Toriyama felt it was only natural that the scope of his threats began to expand beyond Earth. Toriyama’s reasoning for how he came up with Frieza and Cell provides some insight into how the two iconic villains came to be, and how they’re both secretly connected by this theory of challenging Goku.
It was only with the advent of theDragon Ball Zera that the series began to see threats emerge from beyond Earth, and the franchise began to transition to being more sci-fi than fantasy (although fantastical elements remain to this day). First there were, of course, the Saiyans, including Vegeta, which ultimately led Goku to finding out about Frieza in the first place. With Goku having conquered every challenge so far, and even emerged as theWorld Martial Arts Tournament Champion, it was clear that he needed to face threats on an entirely new scale.
This led to the creation of the Frieza/Namek arc, where Goku would go up against the most vile force in the cosmos: a land developer.
Frieza and Cell Represent Two Different Aspects of Reality
Dragon Ball’s Most Iconic Villains Share One Thing In Common
In the Daizenshuu 2 databook, Toriyama did an interview (as translated by Kanzenshuu) in which he elaborated on the creation of Frieza: “Having become the strongest on the Earth, Goku and co. had also beat the Saiyans who came from outside of Earth, andthen they went out into the universe. I came up with Frieza around the time of the Bubble, and the land shark was the worst person of all. So I made him the #1 land shark in the universe.”
Frieza’s inspiration from real estate developers is pretty obvious from his M.O.: wiping out all life on planets and then claiming them as his own, selling them to buyers at a high price. By “the bubble,” Toriyama is referring to Japan’s rapid economic growth and subsequent collapse in the 90’s, a time when land prices reached insane levels in Japan. What’s really interesting, however, is that Frieza was designed to represent the broader universe–a challenge that would undeniably put Goku on a new level of power, and one that he ultimately matched by going Super Saiyan.
“Hardly Any He Really Liked”: Dragon Ball Super’s Artist Confirmed Akira Toriyama Saw His Art Much Differently Than Fans
A statement from Dragon Ball Super artist Toyotarou suggests that Toriyama was a very humble man who didn’t think too highly of his art.
In the interview, Toriyama continues, talking about Cell, “Since they had become the strongest in even the universe,they next had to surpass time. So with that I did time-travel stuff, but it was really rough.” Therefore, Cell symbolically represents the future, the greatest challenge imaginable. With Cell’s defeat, Goku and his friends had not only conquered space, but time as well, making them the ultimate champions of the universe.
The idea ofFrieza representing Space and Cell representing Timeis an interesting one, as they make up two of the fundamental aspects of the universe. With this line of thinking, it’s no wonder thatDragon Ball Superwould eventually go on to establish a multiverse for the franchise–it was basically the only way left to escalate. Two ofDragon Ball’s most recognizable villains were created to showcase Goku’s success across space and time, and with his victory over them cementing him as the most powerful mortal ever.
Dragon Ball
From the creative mind of Akira Toriyama, Dragon Ball is a mega multimedia franchise that spans back to the 1980s. Dragon Ball expanded quickly, starting as a serialized manga for Weekly Shonen Jump in Japan. It made its way overseas via manga and an anime adaptation that is enjoyed worldwide. Dragon Ball was the initial starting animated series that followed the adventures of the young Son Goku as he sought after the Dragon Balls. These mystical orbs would grant the wish of any who gathered them together. Then, the series would branch off into the immensely popular Dragon Ball Z, which followed Goku as an adult and featured high-intensity battles and Goku’s never-ending search to be the strongest. The series has also enjoyed several popular video game adaptations and continues to release several new animated series and theatrical films up to the recent popular Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.
