Freeza, Cell, or Buu?

It's a tough one for me. Cell definitely has higher highs. Especially his finale with Gohan turning SSJ2 and the Father-Son Kamehameha. But I enjoyed Freeza more consistently overall I think. From his first mentions in the Sayian saga through to the destruction of Namek, he just always seemed so threatening. It's close, but I think I gotta give it to Freeze.

Hard to choose. A lot of people like Fat Buu or Kid Buu but my favorite is Super Buu.

He had the perfect balance of the Buu personalities. One of my favorite episodes is him on the lookout with the hourglass.

It also helps that he has Justin Cook doing the voice.

Frieza earns my vote because his voice sends chills down my spine.

(Perfect Cell is cool, and Buu is my favourite saga.)

FREIZA!

FREIZA!

FREIZA!

Imperfect Cell is the best villain design of the serie. It was legit disturbing.

Mugy said:

Cell is the only one who actually trades punches with Goku in a fair, clean fight (that is until SSJ2 Gohan enters the action). Goku .vs Cell is the only fight i actually like to watch because is most about the actual fight instead of anything else. Cell has a awesome personality (Freezer too), and buu has next to no-personality. Really, take a look to Goku .vs Cell fight. Is the only fight in the entire series where its all about the punches and the skill instead of the ki-blast attacks and teletransports (another good fight its Goku .vs Pikkon)

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Come again?

Do you mean out of the three or in the series overall? Because either option would be wrong.

Frieza vs Goku (until the latter turned Super Saiyan)
Fat Buu vs SSJ3 Goku
Goku vs Kid Buu

Goku is probably the only character who trades punches on an even scale with almost every villain

It's Cell; but they're all great villains.

Twig said:

Um, it's Buu? There's literally no contest why is this even a question lmao

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*looks at poll*

Cell is super boring in comparison to Freeza, Buu, the saiyans, the androids, Piccolo, Tao Pai Pai and Beerus.

Cell is my choice mainly because if not for him we would have never got to see one of the greatest moments and fights in DBZ. I'm talking about how he got Gohan to go over the edge and reach his true potential, the whole scene where Gohan goes SSJ 2 is incredible and it still excites me to this day.

"Ah, I see you're a man of culture as well"

Freeza. He's unabashedly evil and also hilarious (particularly in Super). His development from the Namek saga to the Tournament of Power saga was amazing to me. If you told my kid-self — just around the time I was really into to DBZ, that sometime in the future Goku and Freeza would team up to take down an ultimate badass, I would go nuts.

Frieza. Absolutely love his personality.

I'd have to go with Frieza, he was the most memorable. I HATE Cell saga, and I barely remember Buu Saga.

Frieza
Fat Buu
Imperfect Cell

The rest of Cell and Buu's forms are ok.

John Doe said:

Come again?

Do you mean out of the three or in the series overall? Because either option would be wrong.

Frieza vs Goku (until the latter turned Super Saiyan)
Fat Buu vs SSJ3 Goku
Goku vs Kid Buu

Goku is probably the only character who trades punches on an even scale with almost every villain

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Of the three. I meant, yeah he punches all of them, thats for sure, but if you actually look every fight (or full fights at Youtube), you would find that Goku .vs Cell is all about the fight between those two using techniques and actually being about combat techniques, instead of saving a planet, revenge, or the fact that if he loses, he dies (.vs Kid Buu). Goku .vs Cell and Goku .vs Majin Vegeta are for me, the best fights of the series. Because its just about fighting and you can actually see them fight for long periods of time, with not too much dialogue in-between the fight, not so much ki attacks and etc.

Frieze is the better Villain. Pure Evil, and loves the hell out of it.


As someone else said. If we are talking about DBZ Abridged, it's Cell all day every day.

I just live the design of buu. I get why others wouldn't like him: his arc is too long, his motives are too basic, the way it ends is a cop out, the fight scenes aren't that great BUT I just love his design!

Freeza's japanese voice is amazing.

Mugy said:

Of the three. I meant, yeah he punches all of them, thats for sure, but if you actually look every fight (or full fights at Youtube), you would find that Goku .vs Cell is all about the fight between those two using techniques and actually being about combat techniques, instead of saving a planet, revenge, or the fact that if he loses, he dies (.vs Kid Buu). Goku .vs Cell and Goku .vs Majin Vegeta are for me, the best fights of the series. Because its just about fighting and you can actually see them fight for long periods of time, with not too much dialogue in-between the fight, not so much ki attacks and etc.

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Come again, again?

Goku vs Cell was about saving the planet and it was to the death. Goku just quit and Cell flat out told him he is going to destroy the Earth if Goku really quits. Its only because Goku promised Cell Gohan was stronger that Cell relented.

I'm pretty sure that fight is famous for the Instant Transmission Kamehameha. Also Goku vs Cell is nothing unique. Watch OG Dragonball and you will find plenty of martial arts based fights.

I stand with Buu. He might be the least interesting villain character, but watching DBZ for deep interesting characters is like going to White Castle for fine dining. Buu at least drove the best overall story in the series with all its absurd twists and turns, and that's all I want from dragonball: dumb, ridiculous action sequences and lots of corny but memorable moments.

Freiza was just too damn evil also loved how his story connected with the sayians etc

Cell was scary as fuck in the beginning but then he got less and less and became....a bit flameboyant <.<

Buu is just a kid

Freiza wins

Frieza easily, his JP voice actor has the smugness down to a tee.

Cell then Frieza thennnnnn Buu. There's just something about Cell's deamanor that I like.

Frieza is by far the best. Cell is good and Buu is bad.

Friteza. The dude is just pure evil. The show never really tries to justify why he does what he does, he just enjoys being cruel for fun.
On paper that sounds boring but it's an exception on that show. Everyone seems to have a reason to be dicks, except Friteza. It makes him unique.

I'm going to say Freeza as the threat felt more real IMO

Cell. They managed to ruin a lot of Freeza in Super with the whole "I trained a bit and became golden" stuff and helping in the ToP. Even just in Z, he's not really an interesting character.

Cell is legitimately the only villain who has character beyond killing people.

Buu also sucks. Boring as hell and the Buu saga is easily the worst in the series. They should've never introduced fusion. Honestly ruined it all

Freeza, no contest. He's one of the best villains of all time, in every media. As a kid, I was terrified of him, every time he appeared on screen the tension went up, you just stopped and listened to what he had to say cause he could murder anyone whenever he felt like it. Gohan and Krillin were in constant mortal danger all the time in Namek, the stakes felt very real. His Brazilian voice also helped, cause it's deep and altive, menacingly well mannered.

His arc is also the best, tying into the very beginning of Dragon Ball, explaining who Goku is, why he is an orphan, and why he was sent to earth. He is the ultimate villain of the series, and his defeating closed every knot about Goku's origin and his mission as an avenger of his race but also as a naturalized earthling. Everything that came afterwards felt a bit like fillers (although I still love it). I also like how it was the last time we had a hunt for the Dragon Balls, nodding to the beggining of the series, and how well it was implement into the plot considering that everybody could fly at that point and it could have been so trivial to get them all.

Cell always felt a bit forced cause no way a man made Android could reach that power level. It's an interesting concept bringing the Red Ribbon back, and I like the time traveling stuff, but there should be a better explanation for his power level. I do like his arc overall, though, and he's a competent villain, just nowhere near Freeza.

Buu is... The guy they had to defeat in the last arc. His entire arc while still good (I mean, it's Dragon Ball) was just an excuse to show more fights, more transformations and more power levels. The SSJ3 feature was super lame, and Buy is just there to be fought against. I like fat Buu's development, and I like adult Buu's primal brutality, but that's it.

Did you know that Toriyama once wanted to end the manga with the Namek arc? He was pestered to write the Cell and Buu Arc because of the massive success of the series though. But I think it shows, Cell and Buu are not as well implemented as Frieza.

Stewieboii said:

Semiperfect Cell, on the other hand, is actually annoying to look at. Guy looks like a straight up doofus. Like how is this an improvement

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Yep. Base and perfect forms are great. Semi perfect is awful

The Buu Saga had so much imagination. Space tyrants and gene-warriors ain't got nothing on ravenous incarnations of evil. The whole majin stuff with Babidi, fusion stuff, and new powers were a sight to behold.

Buu forever!

Freeza always felt like the big Villian.

I think part of it is how he's built up as the baddest man in the universe over so many episodes on Namek before he even begins to fight.

It's also why him coming back in all his other appearances are so great. He's THE bad guy of the 7th universe.

Cell.

He never had the goon squad of Freeza or the uncontrollable nonsense of Buu. He himself was the threat. A boiled down amalgam of all the heroes and some of their villains, while having a massive personality trait they all shared. A huge fucking ego from knowing they were stronger than most people. LOVED IT. He did not go around blowing up planets and cities, he just sat there waiting for the real fight, giving the fighters all the time they needed to prep to face him. Smug as hell and thought it was great. You never got the sense he was mad with power even after his perfection, he got what he wanted then proceeded to test drive it is all. It is just as easy to think he would say, never mind I'm off to find the strongest in the universe instead of hanging out on Earth just because he had that style to him. No actual grudges, no one really controlling him.

Felt like he should have done more, but compared to Buu's lack of personality and Freeza's a bit overly long arc imo, I loved Cell. Buu was all over the place and dragged on forever with a million nonsense side stories even during the damn fight.

It's Frieza. He's the only villain that has actual purpose and story other than just being the next big villain that is SOOO powerful, how is Goku gonna power up to beat him this time?

Like after the Saiyan Arc, it made sense that Frieza existed and that he was strong - it was a natural development from that point. He tied into Goku's backstory and that of Vegeta and the Saiyans. After that though, the villains just kind of popped up out of nowhere without a solid connection to anything to be the next step on the ladder of strength for Goku to surpass. The manga should have ended after Frieza, honestly.

Cell, only because Tien whooping his ass with KI KO HOU is probably my favorite moment of the series.

Freeza for sure! Dudes been a major threat and Goku and Vegeta had to push themselves way past their limits to fight someone that barely ever trained. He decides to train for a little bit and surpasses super saiyan like nothing. If it wasn't for the new god form it would have been completely one sided. Then he does mental training in hell and catches up to blue. Like wtf kind of insane potential does he have? I imagine if he trained even half as hard as Goku/Vegeta he would easily destroy Beerus.
Buu and Cell were just dumb in my opinion. Both of them could basically regenerate from being almost completely destroyed and thats the only real advantage they had. They also had to absorb others to make themselves stronger. Freeza was all freeza.

Buu. It's magic, I ain't gotta explain shit.

To this day I have no idea what people see in Cell. He's carried entirely by bullying a child and his English VA.

It used to be Cell for me. But rewatching the series with Kai and hearing Freeza with a competent, appropriate English voice actor finally let me recognize why he's viewed as THE Dragonball villain in Japan.

When I was younger I would have said Cell but now I'd probably say Freeza. Freeza's backstory before and after the Namek arc carries more weight and is better integrated with the protagonists.

Cell is far, FAR, scarier on a physicality level though. Imperfect Cell was the bane of my childhood dreams.

As a young black man, watching Frieza get wrecked was satisfying in ways I didn't even understand yet.

Perfect Cell>>Frieza>>>Imperfect Cell>>>>Semi-Perfect Cell>>>>>>>>>>>Buu

Cell. Don't get me wrong, Freeza is good nasty villain, but Cell is more interesting. He turns the entire premise of Z warriors into a joke.

Cell has to fight for his survival- most of his existence he is an underdog. He has to think his way out of tight spots early on.
Cell is just as much of a monster as 17 and 18 . Only difference is 18 gets a pass cuss she is cute murder machine.
If every Z warrior just listened to Trunks- a whole lot of death would have been avoid. But the Z warriors don't care- they have the Dragonballs to fall back on. So hunting first the androids, then Cell is just a game to them.
Cell drive to be the best fighter comes from his Z Warrior DNA- he is the mirror to Goku and Vegeta pursuit of being the best. He is a mirror reflection of all of their bad traits.
Cell only rises to power because of Vegeta, then Goku's need to face the best fighter. Their single minded focus puts everyone in danger around them. And the don't care- it just a game that can be cleaned up by the Dragonballs.
Cell saga cemented Goku as the worst father ever. Gohan was already was traumatized on Namek fighting Freeza. Instead of protecting Gohan, like a real father would, Goku throws him in the ring with Cell- knowing full well his son doesn't want to be a fighter.

In the end, the Z warriors actions (minus Trunks) put everyone through unnecessary pain a suffer in the pursuit of a good fight. None of them are heroes. They let there own hubris beat the ever living shit out of them and only put a stop to it when it became clear they were on the brink of losing. None of what they did was to protect save people. It was all about the fight.

It is an interesting story in shonen, that shows the "good guys" are actual just selfish pricks. The whole drama was one of their own making.

I don't care for Buu purely because what should have been a Gohan story got retconned halfway through into a Goku/Vegeta love fest.

Cell hands down.

NamelessNamekian said:

Cell is my choice mainly because if not for him we would have never got to see one of the greatest moments and fights in DBZ. I'm talking about how he got Gohan to go over the edge and reach his true potential, the whole scene where Gohan goes SSJ 2 is incredible and it still excites me to this day.

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Came to post this. So I'll add the superior Japanese Versoin

Most competitive poll I've seen here.

I can't decide between Cell and Freeza.

Overall the Freeza arc was better. 1st stage cell was the best, though.

Cell was cool and scary.

Cell
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Frieza
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Buu