History YMMV / DragonBallZBudokai

* ContestedSequel: ''Infinite World'' is this to ''Budokai 3''. Strikes against it include ''Infinite World'' actually removing characters and features (including, most jarringly, the [[BeamOWar beam struggles]] that were finally included in ''Budokai 3'') while not adding any new stages, [[MissionPackSequel which makes it feel more like an expansion pack than an actual sequel]]. Defenders, however, will point to how ''Infinite World'' actually added far more new characters compared to those who were left out [[note]]Kid Goku, Supreme Kai, Uub, and Cell Jr. were omitted in favor of the ''[[Anime/DragonBallGT GT]]'' versions of Goku, Vegeta, and Pan, plus Pikkon, Great Saiyaman 2, Super Janemba, Super Baby Vegeta 2, Super 17, and Syn Shenron[[/note]], streamlined the various characters transformations into a single skill for convenience (TRANSFORM!), gave several characters new moves (including Krillin's Solar Flare), and retained all of the costumes found in ''Budokai 3'' and its Greatest Hits version (save for Piccolo's King Piccolo costume) while adding more.

** The PAL version of the first game uses the Japanese voices whilst having an alternate translation for Story Mode... which features weirdness like Vegeta calling people "Aunt Sallies" and Bulma expressing sadness at how Goku "was able to escape from Namek" (seriously) while the cutscene showed him... kinda failing (he escaped but besides that...), and at one point translates Cell's angry growl of "Chikushou!!" ("DAMMIT!") as "Shucks!!" On the other hand, it does subtitle one of Android 18's lines as [[OhCrap "Oh crap..."]] and has a few instances of "Damn" here and there.

* CompleteMonster: [[Characters/DragonBallFrieza Frieza]] is the VillainProtagonist of the first game's WhatIf story "Raging Frieza" & "The True Ruler". He becomes enraged when he's beaten to the Dragon Balls and thus can't become immortal, and fights the heroes. In succession, he defeats and presumably kills Gohan, Piccolo, and--after powering up--Vegeta and Goku. He successfully wishes for eternal life, then [[EarthShatteringKaboom blows up Namek]], after which he flies to Earth, planning to destroy it as well.

* MisBlamed: For the [[UpdatedRerelease HD re-releases]], the developers took the blunt of the blame for the soundtrack being changed. This had nothing to do with them and everything to do with [[Anime/DragonBallKai Kenji Yamamoto's plagiarism controversy]].

** Whether the original soundtrack or the HD collection soundtrack is better (the original having to be replaced after the composer was fired due to plagiarism in both this game series and his work on ''Anime/DragonBallKai''). There is more of a preference for the former (see directly above), but that is not to say that the reused music from the ''[[VideoGame/DragonBallZBudokaiTenkaichi Budokai Tenkaichi]]'' games and ''Raging Blast'' is "bad" ''per se''; it's just that some of the replacements don't quite fit. This is particularly noticeable in ''Budokai 1''[='s=] Story Mode, where the choice of music feels rushed due to the MoodWhiplash-y nature of some of the selections compared to the original score.

** One of the ([[MultipleEndings potential]]) final bouts in both Goku and Vegeta's Dragon Universe stories is a brawl between Super Gogeta and Gotenks at the World Martial Arts Tournament Arena, set to ''Budokai 3'''s main theme [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic "The Ultimate Energy."]] [[RuleOfCool For the sake of the battle]], both fused characters have an infinite timer, making it impossible for either fighter to de-fuse. Because the timer will never be emptied no matter what Gogeta or Gotenks do, this translates to infinite ki, which ultimately helps Gotenks far more than it helps the player. For one, expect Gotenks to immediately ascend to Super Saiyan 3 so that he can spam Victory Cannon as much as he likes, which can and will rip your health bar to shreds in no time flat. Even on lower difficulties does Gotenks have a bad case of PerfectPlayAI, leading him to teleport counter your attacks and [[NoIAmBehindYou repeatedly counter your own attempts to counter]] ''[[NoIAmBehindYou his]]'' [[NoIAmBehindYou teleports]]. If that wasn't bad enough, the moment Gotenks enters Hyper Mode, he will stay in it until he either initiates a Dragon Rush or his Ultimate, the player does the same to him to forcibly knock him out of the state, or Gotenks is KO'd. It is also impossible to win by ring out; you've got to beat Gotenks the old-fashioned way.

** The opening animation for ''Budokai 3'' ends with Gogeta charging up and blasting a Kamehameha at Broly. In the later ''Anime/DragonBallSuperBroly'' movie, Gogeta not only fights a [[CanonImmigrant rebooted]] version of Broly, but also fires a huge Kamehameha at him. [[spoiler:Unlike ''Budokai 3'', where Gogeta's Kamehameha presumably incapacitates or outright kills Broly, Broly: BR is saved from certain death at the last moment by a wish on the Dragon Balls.]]

** The [[CharacterCustomization Capsule system]] in the first two games severely limited a player's options, as moves like basic throws and ki volleys were mapped to capsules in the same manner as transformations and special moves. And this is before you get into supplemental items and effects that also required slots. ''Budokai 3'' relaxed things somewhat by making throws a universal mechanic while incorporating the more generic techniques previously found in blue capsules into the Dragon Rush sequence of attacks.
** The fact that transformations drained the ki gauge, though accurate to the source material, made their use very risky and generally [[AwesomeButImpractical impractical]] in the first two games, especially when higher level transformations requiring 5 bars would burn through your meter in no time flat and [[AchillesHeel being knocked down while below the required amount of ki]] would ''[[PowerupLetdown immediately cancel out the transformation]]''. It's little wonder that, on top of giving each character their own [[RegeneratingMana gradually replenishing]] base ki level [[note]]which affects attack power and defense depending on how far over or under their default number of ki bars the character is[[/note]], ''3'' would remove these drawbacks entirely. Most transformations instead ''raise'' the user's base ki level, and several (like Frieza and Cell's forms) were permanent once activated. And for those who couldn't indefinitely maintain a transformation, they had to be either dangerously low on ki or in [[PowerStrainBlackout post-Hyper Mode fatigue]] for the powered-up state to end.

** The LuckBasedMission that is ''3''[='s=] Dragon Rush, [[PressXToNotDie in which you have to press a button and hope that your opponent fails to press the same button]]. You have a very slim chance that you'll press a different button from them every single time, and though your chances of success rise with each stage of the attack (the last choice is a 50/50 shot), you still rack up damage over time and the only way to deal any damage in return is to prematurely end the sequence by guessing right at the very beginning. For weaker opponents, this isn't so bad, but it could easily cause you to lose the fight against stronger opponents like Cell and Kid Buu.
** For ''Budokai 3'', Hyper Mode was pretty much very unsafe and drained all your ki in one shot if you couldn't properly use it to land big damage or perform your Ultimate Attack. [[note]]A commonly used work-around is to raise your ki high enough, enter Hyper Mode, transform when right next to the opponent, and then use the Guard Break caused by the transformation to either knock away your foe away with a ki attack special and enter Dragon Rush or unleash the Ultimate unimpeded, [[GuideDangIt not that the game ever tells you this]].[[/note]] That, and Dragon Rushes were both abused heavily by the A.I. as well. Some people were glad that they were removed in ''Infinite World''.

** ''Budokai 3'' is considered a vast improvement on the previous games. It added in the ability to fly up or down while dashing, teleport and dodge counters, more individualized physical combos for every character, greater variety in the special moves (most characters have a beam special and a physical combo special with varying properties), as well as the Dragon Rush mechanic and a new quick time event for Ultimate Attacks. Said special moves and Ultimates alike also gained much more simplistic inputs. Furthermore, transformations no longer drained ki once activated, giving players more of an incentive to use them. Oh, and it also added ''[[BeamOWar beam struggles]]'', an icon of ''Dragon Ball Z'' that had somehow been absent in the first two games.

** Many of Kenji Yamamoto's works sound eerily similar to songs by Finnish power metal band Music/{{Stratovarius}}. The most obvious examples are [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3NPlVd09Tc "Challengers"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icQ4ySVZw7E "Warrior from an Unknown Land"]] compared to Stratovarius' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2l8KtdQ7Ek "Hunting High and Low"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5V8niow0EA "Infinity"]] respectively, whereas [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2PxksNIXSM "Move Forward Fearlessly"]] liberally uses the opening guitar riff of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzvY77AmLtw "Glory of the World."]] [[note]]Doesn't make ''Budokai'''s soundtrack any less awesome, though.[[/note]] In fact, years after the ''Budokai'' games were released, Yamamoto was fired because Toei found out about his plagiarism. The HD collection of the ''Budokai'' games uses a completely different soundtrack [[note]]or, to be more accurate, a mish-mash of the soundtracks from ''Budokai Tenkaichi 2'' and ''3'', ''Raging Blast'', ''Tenkaichi Tag Team'' and ''Ultimate Tenkaichi''[[/note]].

*** Super Buu in general is a big pain to fight in the game. His [[UnblockableAttack guard break attacks]] have good range (as they involve the use of [[RubberMan stretchy arms]]) but are deceptively quick to boot, he constantly spams III Ball Attack ([[ThatOneAttack which is, infuriatingly, one of the harest special attacks to avoid]] in addition to shredding through your lifebar ''very'' quickly while [[PunchedAcrossTheRoom flinging you halfway across the stage]]), and, in the case of Goku and Vegeta's stories, the player has to fight him twice under conditions that can really screw you over. [[note]]The first fight you have to play as Super Vegito, which, while having some of his own benefits, robs you of the potential to use Super Saiyan 4 to beef up your Kamehameha and Galick Gun to near Ultimate Attack levels of damage, and the second fight's choice of arena ([[WombLevel Inside Buu]]) automatically drains your health a la Viral Heart Disease.[[/note]]
** One of the (potential) final bouts in both Goku and Vegeta's Dragon Universe stories is a brawl between Super Gogeta and Gotenks at the World Martial Arts Tournament Arena, set to ''Budokai 3'''s main theme [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic "The Ultimate Energy."]] [[RuleOfCool For the sake of the battle]], both fused characters have an infinite timer, making it impossible for either fighter to de-fuse. Because the timer will never be emptied no matter what Gogeta or Gotenks do, this translates to infinite ki, which ultimately helps Gotenks far more than it helps the player. For one, expect Gotenks to immediately ascend to Super Saiyan 3 so that he can spam Victory Cannon as much as he likes, which can and will rip your health bar to shreds in no time flat. Even on lower difficulties does Gotenks have a bad case of PerfectPlayAI, leading him to teleport counter your attacks and repeatedly counter your own attempts to counter ''his'' teleports. If that wasn't bad enough, the moment Gotenks enters Hyper Mode, he will stay in it until he either initiates a Dragon Rush or his Ultimate, the player does the same to him to forcibly knock him out of the state, or Gotenks is KO'd. It is also impossible to win by ring out; you've got to beat Gotenks the old-fashioned way.
* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: Most of the Ultimate Attacks look fairly impressive in the first game, and then its cranked up big time from ''2'' onward, especially when you use certain world-destroying Ultimates that change the arena into one of the two "ruined" stages. Using a sphere-shaped or explosion-based super move gets one of two scenes of the ball exploding on the planet's surface giving the player an epic view from the planet's orbit. Using a beam-type Ultimate, you see the beam shooting outward from the planet, also viewed from orbit. And the beam is ''gigantic'' if said successful Ultimate was Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta's 100x Big Bang Kamehameha.

** The opening animation for ''Budokai 3'' ends with Gogeta charging up and blasting a Kamehameha at Broly. In the later ''Anime/DragonBallSuperBroly'' movie, Gogeta not only fights a [[CanonImmigrant rebooted]] version of Broly, but also fires a huge Kamehameha at him.

** When it comes to the lack of ''Budokai 2'' in the HD collection, do you not mind (between the superior single player content of the first game and the superior gameplay of the third, making ''Budokai 2'''s inclusion something of an unnecessary MasterOfNone), or does the collection feel incomplete without it?

* EnjoyTheStorySkipTheGame: The gameplay of the first ''Budokai'' is really shallow and repetitive when compared to its sequels. That said, its story mode is an admirable, cinematic attempt at retelling everything from the Saiyan Saga to the Cell Saga, while being TruerToTheText than the first anime adaptation, and was basically ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'' long before the latter was a thing.

** ''Shin Budokai: Another Road'''s storyline is about Majin Buu being released in Future Trunks' timeline and Future Trunks having a hard enough time fighting him that he has to enlist aid from the present day Dragon Team. ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' revealed that yes, Future Trunks having to deal with Majin Buu in his timeline is canon...except in that version of the story, thanks to assistance from the Supreme Kai and Kibito, Future Trunks easily defeated Dabura and Babidi before they could unseal Majin Buu in the first place. Even funnier is that one of the branching storylines in ''Another Road'' does exactly that as well, which can be done in the first chapter, even! The only difference between ''Another Road'' and ''Super'' is that the former has Future Gohan and Pikkon brought back for a day to help out and Supreme Kai isn't killed by Dabura unlike in ''Super.''
** Similarly, in ''Budokai 2'' and ''3'', Future Trunks strangely has access to the Super Saiyan 2 state despite never acheiving it during ''Z''. (In the first game, he correctly has his Super Saiyan First and Second Grade forms, labeled as "Super Trunks" and "Super Trunks 2.") Then in ''Super'', it turns out Trunks really did obtain the real Super Saiyan 2 form.
** The opening animation for ''Budokai 3'' ends with Gogeta charging up and blasting a Kamehameha at Broly. In the later ''Anime/DragonBallSuperBroly'' movie, Gogeta not only fights a rebooted version of Broly, but also fires a huge Kamehameha at him.

** In battle, with the exception of his lines for certain moves (and his transformations in ''3'' and ''Infinite World''), [[Creator/DameonClarke English!Cell]] speaks with his Imperfect Form's nasally voice at all times. The voice itself isn't the problem (and Perfect Cell ''does'' briefly revert to using it in the anime when revealing himself to the world and announcing the Cell Games), but hearing high-pitched kiais and other odd-sounding yells from his later forms for most of the fight creates a lot of unintentional hilarity.

* PolishedPort: Despite the lack of the original soundtracks, the menus and cutscenes not being expanded to widescreen, and no ''Budokai 2'', the [=PS3=] and Xbox 360 ports of the first and third games are really good. The graphics pop with the upgrade to HD and the framerate is increased to 60fps. The first game also has a gameplay improvement in that for the versus mode, the second player can ''finally'' choose the "custom" option for their character's moveset, which was oddly left out of the original [=PS2=] and [=GameCube=] releases. They're also based on the original Japanese [=PS2=] releases, which means the extra costumes in ''3'' are in the game's code that were initially left out for a later rerelease internationally are still unlockable with the same codes as they were originally. It's a shame that ''Budokai 2'' wasn't included, as it would've benefitted greatly from these upgrades, though the jazzy soundtrack would've been very missed as a result.

** The fact that transformations drained the ki gauge, though accurate to the source material, made their use very risky and generally [[AwesomeButImpractical impractical]] in the first two games, especially when higher level transformations requiring 5 bars would burn through your meter in no time flat and [[AchillesHeel being knocked down while below the required amount of ki]] would ''[[PowerupLetdown immediately cancel out the transformation]]''. It's little wonder that, on top of giving each character their own [[RegeneratingMana gradually replenishing]] base ki level [[note]]which affects attack power and defense depending on who far over or under their default number of ki bars the character is[[/note]], ''3'' would remove these drawbacks entirely. Most transformations instead ''raise'' the user's base ki level, and several (like Frieza and Cell's forms) were permanent once activated. And for those who couldn't indefinitely maintain a transformation, they had to be either dangerously low on ki or in [[PowerStrainBlackout post-Hyper Mode fatigue]] for the powered-up state to end.

** ''Shin Budokai: Another Road'''s storyline is about Majin Buu being released in Future Trunks' timeline and Future Trunks having a hard enough time fighting him that he has to enlist aid from the present day Dragon Team. ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' revealed that yes, Future Trunks having to deal with Majin Buu in his timeline is canon... Sort of, because in that version of the story, thanks to assistance from the Supreme Kai and Kibito, Future Trunks easily defeated Dabura and Babidi and flat-out prevented Majin Buu from being released in the first place.

** Whether the original soundtrack or the HD collection soundtrack is better (the original having to be replaced after the composer was fired due to plagiarism in both this game series and his work on ''Anime/DragonBallKai''). There is more of a preference for the former (see directly above), but that is not to say that the reused music from the ''[[VideoGame/DragonBallZBudokaiTenkaichi Budokai Tenkaichi]]'' games and ''Raging Blast'' is "bad" ''per se'', it's just that some of the placements aren't great, particularly in ''Budokai 1's'' story mode, where it feels rushed due to the MoodWhiplash-y nature of some of the replacements compared to the original songs and placements.

** In ''Infinite World'', ''Yamcha'' is the highest tier character in the game. Why? Because his basic punch has more priority than anything else in the game. As long as you just keep spamming his normal punch and cancelling into it (via a frame-lock abuse) so the combo doesn't end, the enemy can never even fight back.

** ''Shin Budokai: Another Road'''s storyline is about Majin Buu being released in Future Trunks' timeline and Future Trunks having a hard enough time fighting him that he has to enlist aid from the present day Dragon Team. ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' revealed that yes, Future Trunks having to deal with Majin Buu in his timeline is canon...sort of, because in that version of the story, thanks to assistance from the Supreme Kai and Kibito, Future Trunks easily defeated Dabura and Babidi and flatout prevented Majin Buu from being released in the first place.
*** Similarly, in the first three games, Future Trunks' Super Saiyan Second Grade form is mislabelled "Super Saiyan 2." Then in ''Super'', he really does obtain the real Super Saiyan 2 form.

* PolishedPort: Despite the lack of the original soundtracks, the menus and cutscenes not being expanded to widescreen, and no ''Budokai 2'', the [=PS3=] and Xbox 360 ports of the first and third games are really good. The graphics pop with the upgrade to HD and the framerate is increased to 60fps. The first game also has a gameplay improvement in that for the versus mode, the second player can ''finally'' choose the "custom" option for their character's moveset, which was oddly left out of the original [=PS2=] and [=GameCube=] releases. They're also based on the original Japanese PS2 releases, which means the extra costumes in ''3'' are in the game's code that were initially left out for a later rerelease internationally are still unlockable with the same codes as they were originally. It's a shame that ''Budokai 2'' wasn't included, as it would've benefitted greatly from these upgrades, though the jazzy soundtrack would've been very missed as a result.

** In order to win struggles and properly charge Ki Volley Attacks in ''Budokai 2'', you have to spin '''both''' control sticks at the same time. Good luck trying to defend against an ultimate while your thumbs and palms slip and slide all over the sticks!

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: ''Budokai 3'' is considered a vast improvement on the previous games. It added in the ability to fly up or down while dashing, teleport and dodge counters, more individualized physical combos for every character, greater variety in the special moves (most characters have a beam special and a physical combo special with varying properties), as well as the Dragon Rush mechanic and a new quick time event for Ultimate Attacks. Said special moves and Ultimates alike also gained much more simplistic inputs. Oh, and it also added ''[[BeamOWar beam struggles]]'', an icon of ''Dragon Ball Z'' that had somehow been absent in the first two games.
** ''Budokai 2'' before it is easily one of the biggest steps up when it comes to video game sequels. The graphics are a lot more closer to the anime (something other anime games would mimic as close as possible) with the new engine, art direction, and cell shading, the gameplay is more fluid and smooth, game improvements like less Ki for transformations, added moves, and other things vary up the combat a lot, and the expansion into the Buu Saga allowed for more characters and locations to base things off of. ''Budokai 3'' just refined a lot of these things even more to near perfection, since a lot of things were recycled for it from this game.

*** Super Buu in general is a big pain to fight in the game as his guard break attacks involve the use of stretchy arms, his constant spamming of III Ball Attack (Which is one of the most infuriating super moves to avoid), and in the case of Goku and Vegeta's stories, having to fight him twice under conditions that can really screw you over.[[note]]The first fight you have to play as Super Vegito, which while having some of his own benefits robs you of the potential to use Super Saiyan 4 to beef up your Kamehameha and Galick Gun to near ultimate attack levels of damage, and the second fight having the it automatically drain your health ala Viral Heart Disease.[[/note]]

* HilariousInHindsight: ''Shin Budokai: Another Road'''s storyline is about Majin Buu being released in Future Trunks' timeline and Future Trunks having a hard enough time fighting him that he has to enlist aid from the present day Dragon Team. ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' revealed that yes, Future Trunks having to deal with Majin Buu in his timeline is canon...sort of, because in that version of the story, thanks to assistance from the Supreme Kai and Kibito, Future Trunks easily defeated Dabura and Babidi and flatout prevented Majin Buu from being released in the first place.
** Similarly, in the first three games, Future Trunks' Super Saiyan Second Grade form is mislabelled "Super Saiyan 2." Then in ''Super'', he really does obtain the real Super Saiyan 2 form.
** The opening animation for ''Budokai 3'' ends with Gogeta charging up and blasting a Kamehameha at Broly. In the later ''Dragon Ball Super: Broly'' movie, Gogeta not only fights a rebooted version of Broly, but also fires a huge Kamehameha at him.

* FridgeBrilliance: Notice how in ''Infinite World'', GT Goku's Super Kamehameha is the same one he blew Commander Black to bits with in the movie ''[[Anime/DragonBallThePathToPower The Path to Power]]'', which is based on the original ''Manga/DragonBall''. Why's this? Because technically the Goku in that movie ''was'' GT Goku thanks to using the same colour scheme as ''GT'''s depiction and his art style (facial structure and such) more resembling ''GT'' than the original ''Dragon Ball''!

** Whether the original soundtrack or the HD collection soundtrack is better (the original having to be replaced after the composer was fired due to plagiarism in both this game series and his work on ''Anime/DragonBallKai''). There is more of a preference for the former (see directly above), but that is not to say that the reused music from the ''[[VideoGame/DragonBallZBudokaiTenkaichi Budokai Tenkaichi]]'' games and ''Raging Blast'' is "bad" ''per se''.

* PolishedPort: Despite the lack of the original soundtracks, the menus and cutscenes not being expanded to Widescreen, and no ''Budokai 2'', the [=PS3=] and Xbox 360 ports of the first and third games are really good. The graphics pop with the upgrade to HD and the framerate is increased to 60fps. The first game also has a gameplay improvement in that for the versus mode, the second player can ''finally'' choose the "custom" option for their character's moveset, which was oddly left out of the original [=PS2=] and [=GameCube=] releases.

* PolishedPort: Despite the lack of the original soundtracks, the menus and cutscenes not being expanded to Widescreen, and no ''Budokai 2'', the PS3 and Xbox 360 ports of the first and third games are really good. The graphics pop with the upgrade to HD and the framerate is increased to 60fps. The first game also has a gameplay improvement in that for the versus mode, the second player can ''finally'' choose the "custom" option for their character's moveset, which was oddly left out of the original [=PS2=] and [=GameCube=] releases.

** PolishedPort: Despite the lack of the original soundtracks, the menus and cutscenes not being expanded to Widescreen, and no ''Budokai 2'', the PS3 and Xbox 360 ports of the first and third games are really good. The graphics pop with the upgrade to HD and the framerate is increased to 60fps. The first game also has a gameplay improvement in that for the versus mode, the second player can ''finally'' choose the "custom" option for their character's moveset, which was oddly left out of the original [=PS2=] and [=GameCube=] releases.

* PanderingToTheBase: Not just the cast of characters (which includes guys like Broly in ''3'') but what attacks they have, such as Tien having his Dodonpa and Volley Ball Fist, which he never uses in the ''Z'' series, not to mention costumes. It's quite fun being able to transform Vegeta into his Super Saiyan 2 or Majin form in his old Saiyan Saga armour.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The entire ''Budokai'' series is fondly regarded for its music, regardless of its dubious origins. ''Budokai 3'' in particular had some pretty great tunes, including [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HoYSzoQ9qY the menu select theme,]] the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg1XWKQz-L4 Dragon Universe character select theme,]] and the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uptyu1Lxc_M Archipelago theme.]] Guess that's what happens when you steal from the best...

* CompleteMonster: [[Characters/DragonBallFrieza Frieza]] is the VillainProtagonist of the first game's WhatIf story "Raging Frieza" & "The True Ruler". He becomes enraged when he's beaten to the Dragon Balls and thus can't become immortal, and fights the heroes. In succession, he defeats and presumably kills Gohan, Piccolo, and--after powering up--Vegeta and Goku. He successfully wishes for eternal life, then [[EarthShatteringKaboom blows up Namek]], after which he plans to destroy Earth.