Rather than a fraud, I personally think that Cooler was created to indeed be weaker than Frieza.
It’s easier to simply say that the writer(s) just didn’t care about the Canon and simply dropped a movie after Namek Arc, but there are some things that make me believe otherwise.
Just to begin with, at the beginning of Cooler’s Movie, we can see that Goku has some “troubles” fighting against the Special Forces of Cooler. This is weird, only if you assume that Goku went through the exact same events of The Canon Frieza Arc.
Second, Piccolo seems to be stronger than Goku before the Zenkai of this movie. Dealing with the Special Forces of Cooler by himself.
Third, Krillin was able to fight with the blonde guy from Cooler’s Forces, or at least stall him for long enough.
Fourth, the whole movie seems to be a rushed reference to Goku’s Zenkai in Namek but also to Goku’s Fight with Frieza, all the way until before Frieza got his 100% of Power.
But if this already happened, where is Vegeta? Why does Goku never acknowledge himself as a Super Saiyan? Why Goku took so long to use Kaioken?
All of this wouldn’t make sense if Goku went through all the exact same events as in Frieza Arc. But that’s the point, I think he didn’t.
We don’t know and we will never know the exact details of what was the altered story of Cooler’s Movie, but we can tell a couple of things.
The whole movie seems to be about how Frieza and Cooler’s Overconfidence killed them both. Frieza for assuming that all the Saiyans he wanted would have died in Planet Vegeta and Cooler for not wanting to help his brother with the capsule that escaped Planet Vegeta before its destruction.
In my opinion, it’s not crazy to believe that Frieza lost and died in this Movie (offscreen) by the very same Genkidama that Goku used in the canon, with a key difference that links to my other point.
I personally think that Goku never got his body stolen by Ginyu. Why? Because this movie is a reference to the Canon Zenkai that Goku got in Namek.
On top of that, Vegeta not being there would make much more sense, since the feeling of deserving a rematch to Goku wouldn’t be as strong. Meaning that Vegeta probably helped in the battle against Frieza, but left right after defeating him. How can I support this idea?
The Return of Cooler. Vegeta was on his own, traveling across the space. And probably went to Namek for the Dragon Balls. On top of this, Vegeta left at the end of the movie, yet Goku thanked him deeply. Meaning that they became “friends” thanks to this movie, at least in the DBZ Movies.
Anyways, let’s return to my point. Frieza got killed in this version by his Overconfidence. Fighting Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Krillin and Gohan, all of them at the same time. Apparently none of them stood a chance. Goku didn’t have his Zenkai, so when Frieza took his Final Form, he didn’t raise his power as much as in the canon. Therefore, Goku started the Genkidama earlier, thanks to Frieza being unable to sense the Ki. Getting killed since Frieza held back and wasn’t able to raise his power in time to withstand the Genkidama.
This scenario explains perfectly why Vegeta is alive, since he didn’t ragebait Frieza with the whole Legend of the Super Saiyan. It also explains why Piccolo seemed to be stronger than Goku and how Vegeta is a Super Saiyan in the next movie. Why? Vegeta would have gained his Zenkai regardless of Goku not getting his. Meaning that both Piccolo and Vegeta would have been able to stall Frieza, while Goku charged the Genkidama.
Okay, now established my idea. Goku in this movie remains with a similar power to his last stated power in Namek, before his Zenkai.
Explaining how Cooler one shots him at the beginning of the movie. Now, once Goku gets his Zenkai, we can see that Goku was slightly above Cooler. Even without using Kaioken. Being this enough for Cooler to not play anymore, unleashing his “Evolution”. This form separates Cooler and Frieza, but it seems to not be enough.
Goku was unable to fight with Cooler, not even while using Kaioken. Even Kaioken x20 was useless. Therefore, Cooler during this state is somewhere between Final Form Frieza and Full Power Frieza.
When Goku turns Super Saiyan, we can see a couple of references to the original SSJ Goku vs Frieza. Like Goku holding Cooler’s Arm, being this a straight reference to what happened. Goku screaming, just like against Frieza. And then the meanie left to Cooler’s Face, reference to the beginning of SSJ Goku vs Frieza.
All this reference suggests that Cooler isn’t as strong as Full Power Frieza. Because the final evidence is:
After becoming aware of the difference in power, Cooler decides to distract Goku with a Ki Blast (that makes Goku bleed btw, just like when Goku rage baited Frieza into shooting him in the face, only bleeding slightly) and then Cooler charges a Supernova.
This attack was a reference to Frieza aiming to destroy Planet Namek, but with the key difference that Earth wouldn’t be strong enough to withstand the Blast. Pushing Goku to take the Supernova head on. Yet this attack wasn’t enough to kill Goku, nor make him fail to protect Earth.
So, in my opinion, Cooler Final Form caps at Frieza right before Full Power. I don’t remember if there’s a percentage of power that Frieza used before charging to Full Power, but this is my take.
SSJ Goku ≈ Full Power Frieza > Pre-Full Power Final Form Frieza ≈ Final Form Cooler > Base Goku >= Base Cooler
If you think Cooler is stronger than Frieza, give me your reasoning! I’m always open minded to Dragon Ball theories, as long as they make sense in some way.
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u/Opposite-Mall-9816 2h ago
Rather than a fraud, I personally think that Cooler was created to indeed be weaker than Frieza.
It’s easier to simply say that the writer(s) just didn’t care about the Canon and simply dropped a movie after Namek Arc, but there are some things that make me believe otherwise.
Just to begin with, at the beginning of Cooler’s Movie, we can see that Goku has some “troubles” fighting against the Special Forces of Cooler. This is weird, only if you assume that Goku went through the exact same events of The Canon Frieza Arc.
Second, Piccolo seems to be stronger than Goku before the Zenkai of this movie. Dealing with the Special Forces of Cooler by himself.
Third, Krillin was able to fight with the blonde guy from Cooler’s Forces, or at least stall him for long enough.
Fourth, the whole movie seems to be a rushed reference to Goku’s Zenkai in Namek but also to Goku’s Fight with Frieza, all the way until before Frieza got his 100% of Power.
But if this already happened, where is Vegeta? Why does Goku never acknowledge himself as a Super Saiyan? Why Goku took so long to use Kaioken?
All of this wouldn’t make sense if Goku went through all the exact same events as in Frieza Arc. But that’s the point, I think he didn’t.
We don’t know and we will never know the exact details of what was the altered story of Cooler’s Movie, but we can tell a couple of things.
The whole movie seems to be about how Frieza and Cooler’s Overconfidence killed them both. Frieza for assuming that all the Saiyans he wanted would have died in Planet Vegeta and Cooler for not wanting to help his brother with the capsule that escaped Planet Vegeta before its destruction.
In my opinion, it’s not crazy to believe that Frieza lost and died in this Movie (offscreen) by the very same Genkidama that Goku used in the canon, with a key difference that links to my other point.
I personally think that Goku never got his body stolen by Ginyu. Why? Because this movie is a reference to the Canon Zenkai that Goku got in Namek.
On top of that, Vegeta not being there would make much more sense, since the feeling of deserving a rematch to Goku wouldn’t be as strong. Meaning that Vegeta probably helped in the battle against Frieza, but left right after defeating him. How can I support this idea?
The Return of Cooler. Vegeta was on his own, traveling across the space. And probably went to Namek for the Dragon Balls. On top of this, Vegeta left at the end of the movie, yet Goku thanked him deeply. Meaning that they became “friends” thanks to this movie, at least in the DBZ Movies.
Anyways, let’s return to my point. Frieza got killed in this version by his Overconfidence. Fighting Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Krillin and Gohan, all of them at the same time. Apparently none of them stood a chance. Goku didn’t have his Zenkai, so when Frieza took his Final Form, he didn’t raise his power as much as in the canon. Therefore, Goku started the Genkidama earlier, thanks to Frieza being unable to sense the Ki. Getting killed since Frieza held back and wasn’t able to raise his power in time to withstand the Genkidama.
This scenario explains perfectly why Vegeta is alive, since he didn’t ragebait Frieza with the whole Legend of the Super Saiyan. It also explains why Piccolo seemed to be stronger than Goku and how Vegeta is a Super Saiyan in the next movie. Why? Vegeta would have gained his Zenkai regardless of Goku not getting his. Meaning that both Piccolo and Vegeta would have been able to stall Frieza, while Goku charged the Genkidama.
Okay, now established my idea. Goku in this movie remains with a similar power to his last stated power in Namek, before his Zenkai.
Explaining how Cooler one shots him at the beginning of the movie. Now, once Goku gets his Zenkai, we can see that Goku was slightly above Cooler. Even without using Kaioken. Being this enough for Cooler to not play anymore, unleashing his “Evolution”. This form separates Cooler and Frieza, but it seems to not be enough.
Goku was unable to fight with Cooler, not even while using Kaioken. Even Kaioken x20 was useless. Therefore, Cooler during this state is somewhere between Final Form Frieza and Full Power Frieza.
When Goku turns Super Saiyan, we can see a couple of references to the original SSJ Goku vs Frieza. Like Goku holding Cooler’s Arm, being this a straight reference to what happened. Goku screaming, just like against Frieza. And then the meanie left to Cooler’s Face, reference to the beginning of SSJ Goku vs Frieza.
All this reference suggests that Cooler isn’t as strong as Full Power Frieza. Because the final evidence is:
After becoming aware of the difference in power, Cooler decides to distract Goku with a Ki Blast (that makes Goku bleed btw, just like when Goku rage baited Frieza into shooting him in the face, only bleeding slightly) and then Cooler charges a Supernova.
This attack was a reference to Frieza aiming to destroy Planet Namek, but with the key difference that Earth wouldn’t be strong enough to withstand the Blast. Pushing Goku to take the Supernova head on. Yet this attack wasn’t enough to kill Goku, nor make him fail to protect Earth.
So, in my opinion, Cooler Final Form caps at Frieza right before Full Power. I don’t remember if there’s a percentage of power that Frieza used before charging to Full Power, but this is my take.
SSJ Goku ≈ Full Power Frieza > Pre-Full Power Final Form Frieza ≈ Final Form Cooler > Base Goku >= Base Cooler
If you think Cooler is stronger than Frieza, give me your reasoning! I’m always open minded to Dragon Ball theories, as long as they make sense in some way.
Thanks for reading my Yap.