Recap / Dragon Ball Super Golden Frieza Arc

aka: Dragon Ball Super Resurrection F Arc

Story Arcs: 1: God of Destruction Beerus Arc | 2: Golden Frieza Arc | 3: Universe 6 Arc | 4: Copy-Vegeta Arc | 5: Future Trunks Arc | 6: Hit Arc | 7: Great Saiyaman Arc | 8: Krillin Arc | 9: Universal Survival Arc

The Greatest Evil, Resurrected

The Golden Frieza Arc (ゴールデンフリーザ編, Gōruden Furīza Hen), also called the Resurrection ‘F’ Arc or Frieza Reborn Arc (復活の「F」編, Fukkatsu no 'F'-Hen), is the second story arc of the of the Dragon Ball Super series. It re-tells the event of the movie, Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' (for the tropes for that movie, go to its trope page; this page will focus on the TV adaptation of the story).

Short Summary

Not long after the battle with Beerus, both Vegeta and Goku request training under Whis's tutelage in order to access (or gain in the former's case) their Super Saiyan God forms more easily. Meanwhile, Frieza's remaining army find themselves losing command of their conquered planets without their leader at the helm. The head of the army, Sorbet, decides they need to bring back Frieza in order to regain control. Using Earth's Dragon Balls, he succeeds in bringing the evil galactic warlord back from the dead. But Frieza wants revenge against Goku for his defeat and decides to train, something he thought he would never have to do, to get stronger. Eventually a few months after his revival, Frieza returns to Earth ready to settle old scores.

Main Summary

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At Goku's house, Goku begs Chi-Chi to go back to King Kai's planet to train, but Chi-Chi forbids it, saying they are already out of money again. She also informs Goku that they’ve got a grandchild on the way, and Goku needs to be a good grandfather, and not just fight all the time. At Gohan’s house, Videl is about to make dinner, but Gohan insists on making it instead, since he does not want Videl to be overworked. Out in the mountains, Vegeta stands alone, thinking about how he will surpass Super Saiyan God, Beerus, and Goku too. Meanwhile, out in space, a spaceship is quickly approaching Earth.

Mr. Satan heads off to an emergency press conference, taking Bee with him, where he explains the true cause of the mysterious shock wave phenomenon that shook the world to the public. He makes up a deliberate lie to keep Goku and his family's identities secret and claim the victory for himself. In his fake re-telling, Satan says that he had learned that Earth was being targeted by the God of Destruction Beerus, who he calls "Beebus” and hurried to confront him. At first, even the mighty Satan was no match for the god, but all of a sudden a miracle occurred; he became a god himself and triumphed. The crowd falls for the lie and cheers, but are soon sent running as a spaceship lands. Out of the spaceship emerge the lion-like people called Snakians of Planet Snak. Upon the crowd settling down, the ambassador explains that they simply come to extend their greetings to the hero who defeated the God of Destruction. They display their ultimate sign of respect, a very silly looking dance, and ask where this hero is. Satan identifies himself as the one who defeated the God of Destruction, and the Snakian ambassador presents him with the Hero's Medal, but the Snakian hero Galbi is not content. He wants to spar with Earth’s hero to see what he is really made of; otherwise he will not acknowledge Satan as a true hero. Satan protests, saying he is still tired from battling the God of Destruction. He also pretends to have a stomach cramp. After that doesn't work, he tries to get assistance from Gohan and Vegeta but they don't answer.

Just as things are looking bad for Satan, Goku flies by carrying his tractor. It turns out he was trying to get his broken tractor fixed at Bulma’s, but nobody was home, and he wonders if Satan can fix it. Instead, Satan gets Goku to fight Galbi in his place. Galbi and the other Snakians are unimpressed by Goku’s appearance, and to make matters worse, Chi-Chi happens to be walking around town with Piccolo at that moment. She is carrying a huge load of food over to Gohan’s house in order to help ensure Videl and her soon-to-be baby get plenty of nutrition, and having Piccolo help carry the groceries as payment for always eating at their place for free. Goku panics, and in a vain attempt to prevent Chi-Chi from seeing him out fighting, he asks Satan to hit him, then pretends to be sent flying by the blow. With Goku now gone, Satan panics, thinking that he needs more help.

As the match starts, Satan desperately runs around avoiding Galbi’s blows, but the crowd is unimpressed by his performance. Realizing he has to do something, Satan imagines how he tried to protect Videl during the battle with Beerus. He stands firm before Galbi, who seems to punch him square in the face, but in reality he has stopped just short of making contact. Galbi is completely paralyzed with fear, because he has just spotted Satan’s dog, Bee, who had jumped out of Mr. Satan's limbo to see the fight better. It turns out the feline Snakians are mortal enemies with a race of canine aliens, and even though the dogs on Earth are not sentient, they are still enough to strike fear into the heart of Snakians. Galbi makes a run for the ship, and the other Snakians follow behind, but not before doing their dance of respect one last time. Leaving Earth, they sadly think that it will be many thousands of years before they ever manage to conquer their mortal enemies. The crowd cheers at the sight of Satan’s "power", and Bee is shown holding the Hero's Medal in his mouth. That night at Goku's house, Goten remarks that Goku is out late, and Chi-Chi promises to give him lots of “rest” (apparently meaning punishment) once he gets back. Meanwhile, Goku is lurking around outside, starving, but too scared to come home. At the Sacred World of the Kais, the two Kais are wondering about the recent mysterious disappearance of some planets. They wonder if Beerus destroyed them, but it does not seem like it, because the two planets disappeared so suddenly, as if by magic.

On Earth, Goku is driving his tractor out in the field again when Krillin comes by to visit. Krillin had thought Goku might have gone off to King Kai's to train again, so he is glad to find him there. Seeing that Goku is still set on continuing his training, Krillin reminisces about how the two of them used to train together under Master Roshi. But now, Goku has grown strong enough to be a match for even the God of Destruction Beerus. Curious to experience for himself just how strong Goku has become, Krillin asks Goku to hit him. After some persuading, Goku does, sending Krillin flying across the countryside and straight through a house or two. Goku teleports to try and catch him but misses, and Krillin crashes straight into a large boulder. Back at Goku's house, Android 18 treats Krillin's bruise, while Goten and Marron play together. Back on his own out in the field, Goku makes sure that nobody’s around, then becomes a Super Saiyan and starts to train. In a desolate wasteland on top of a mountain, Vegeta is still standing by himself, thinking of how he will surpass Goku and everyone else. After enduring a powerful thunderstorm, he powers up, but seems disappointed that he is still at this level and flies off.

At a tempura restaurant, Whis is trying tempura for the first time with Bulma there beside him. It turns out that Bulma has been taking Whis out to various restaurants for quite a while now, in order to convince him to save her family’s lives if Beerus ever tries to destroy Earth again. As Vegeta returns home to Capsule Corporation, he is surprised to run into Bulma and Whis, who have just returned from the restaurant. Vegeta asks Whis where Beerus is, and when Whis replies that he is still sleeping back on his planet, Vegeta demands that Whis take him there so that he can show Beerus the true power of the Saiyans. Bulma angrily pulls Vegeta aside and explains her plan to bribe Whis with food, which she thinks is the only surefire way to keep their family safe. After all, even Goku could not beat Beerus, so Vegeta definitely would not stand a chance. Vegeta is angered after hearing this, and wants to force Whis to take him to Beerus, but he quickly changes his mood when he senses an unknown power coming from Whis. When Vegeta demands to know who or what he is, Whis explains that he is Beerus’ martial arts master.

In order to get Whis to train him, Vegeta promises to feed Whis the tastiest thing on Earth. He first takes Whis to a tempura restaurant, but it turns out to be the exact same one he and Bulma just ate at. In fact, Whis and Bulma have already been to every restaurant Vegeta can think of, leaving him with no choice but to cook something of his own for Whis. Vegeta’s attempt at cooking is a complete disaster however. Due to his strength, he cannot touch an egg or it will crack no matter how gentle he is with it. After trying to crack all the eggs open so that the yolk goes into the bowl, and failing at it, one of his eggs hatches into a chick as a final insult. Bulma and Vegeta insult each other’s cooking for a bit, before Vegeta asks Whis to list all the things Bulma has had him eat, and realizes that something is missing. Bulma has been hiding the tastiest food of all from Whis, which is revealed to be instant ramen. Vegeta tells Whis that Bulma cannot go for more than a week without eating some, and that it is the tastiest food on Earth, to Whis' growing curiosity. When Whis finally tries some, he is at a loss for words, and agrees to take Vegeta with him through space to Beerus' planet. While they're traveling to Beerus' planet thanks to Whis' warp speed ability, Vegeta is shown in a flashback getting new Battle Armor from Bulma to wear because of his old armor being scuffed up, and Bulma not wanting her husband to be the laughingstock of the universe.

It's been more than 6 months, since Vegeta left to Beerus' planet to train with Whis. Pan has finally been born. Mr. Satan comes over to Gohan's and Videl's house to play with Pan. He makes many silly faces at her, to keep her entertained. Soon after, Gohan returns home from work and sees Mr. Satan playing with Pan. He transforms into the "Great Saiyaman," to put on a show for Pan, and also entertain her. Mr. Satan plays along, trying to "steal Pan's heart," and Mr. Satan and Gohan do a fake spar, tossing Pan around. Chi-Chi then comes in to visit, and sees Mr. Satan and Gohan throwing Pan around. Furious, Chi-Chi grabs Pan, worried she'll get hurt. Chi-Chi then rants on them for "not being careful." Gohan starts to explain how Pan has Saiyan in her blood, and she should be fine with a little roughhousing. However, Chi-Chi thinks Pan should be a gentle girl, instead of a “battle-loving idiot”. Mr. Satan protests, and says he dreams of Pan becoming a great martial artist who can serve as his successor and have over a hundred disciples. Chi-Chi then locks Mr.Satan and Gohan in a room to think about what they are saying. Bulma is invited over to help out Chi-Chi. Bulma accidentally mentions that Vegeta went off to Beerus's planet to train, and Goku overhears and begs Bulma to talk to Whis so he can go too. Bulma gives Goku a cell phone so she can call him when he comes over. A week later, Whis arrives for lunch and Goku begs him to have him go train. Goku then jumps on Whis as he's about to leave, and they travel to Beerus' planet.

Goku meets up with Vegeta, who has gotten much stronger, and Goku notices. Goku and Vegeta do the house cleaning as little training, and Whis gives Goku new clothes that look like Vegeta's, because he liked them so much. Meanwhile, further out in space the remains of Lord Frieza's army hasn't been doing so well since Frieza and King Cold were killed by Future Trunks. The leader, Sorbet, has decided that they should resurrect Frieza with the Dragon Balls on Earth. Before they are about to head for Earth, two mysterious figures fly by. These two stop at what seems like a giant meteror. One of the figures looked like a fat version of Beerus, and the other looked like a female version of Whis. These two are named Champa & Vados. Champa orders Vados to destroy the meteror for reasons we will find out in the next arc. Once they find out it is not what they are looking for, they fly off to find it. Soon, Sorbet and his servants Tagoma and Shisami arrive on Earth and find Emperor Pilaf and his prossiss carrying the Dragon Balls. Tagoma frightens them and the gang give the aliens the dragon balls. They summon Shenron and wish to revive Frieza. The only problem is that when Frieza was cut up by Future Trunks, only the pieces of him remained so that's all the dragon could wish back. They wish for it anyway and Frieza is somewhat revived. They still have two wishes left and they think of reviving King cold, but Mai & Shu, Pilaf's prossiss butt in and wish for the best ice cream in the world, and one million zeni. Sorbet spares their lives and leaves with Frieza's remains. They put Frieza remains into a regeneration chamber, and Frieza is truly revived.

Frieza decides that if he wants to defeat Goku & Future Trunks, he needs to train for the first time in his life. This training lasts about four months. Between these four months, Frieza trains with Tagoma, and Goku and Vegeta get a glimpse of a new power of the super Saiyan God. After these four months, Frieza has finished his training and is bringing him and 1,000 soliders to Earth to get their revenge. Jaco, a galactic patrolman, witnessess Frieza coming to Earth and arrives to warn the people he knows on Earth, Bulma. He knows Bulma because years ago he arrived on Earth to stop Goku from coming to Earth from Planet Vegeta, but met Tights, Bulma's sister and became friends with her family. Bulma helped gather the remaining z-fighters on Earth to warn them. Soon after, Frieza arrives on Earth with only Gohan, Piccolo, Tien, Krillin, Jaco and Master Roshi to stand in his way. Bulma decided not to tell Goten & Trunks because they might get themselves killed. The Z-fighters fight Frieza's soldiers, and Krillin is scared to fight because he remembers when he was killed by Frieza long ago. He eventually has enough courage to fight back. Meanwhile, on Beerus' planet, Goku & Vegeta continue their training and Whis sends them into a another dimension, similar to the hyperbolic time chamber, to train. Back on Earth, Goten & Trunks sense the battle between Frieza happening, so they fly off to go fight. Once most of Frieza's soldiers are defeated, Shisami, one of the army's best men, steps in to fight. Him and Gohan begin fighting, but are interrupted by Tagoma who fires a ki blast through them both, killing Shisami, and mortally wounding Gohan.

The Z-warriors attack Tagoma, but it does no harm to him, and he flicks them away. Tagoma states that the reason why they cannot hurt him is because he was Frieza's training partner, so now he has a body of steel. Before he's about to kill them, Super Gotenks charges in, and head butts Tagoma in his "dragon balls." Gotenks trash talks Frieza and is about to rush him, but defuses back into Goten & Trunks. Frieza notices that they look like Goku and Future Trunks and states "They've multiplied since my last visit." With that, Goten and Trunks run off and go hide with Jaco & Bulma. While Tagoma is trying to get up, a weird familiar looking frog hops over to Tagoma and scribbles the word 'change' Into the dirt in front of him. Tagoma says change, and a yellow beam flies out of the frogs mouth into Tagoma's mouth. Tagoma has changed bodies with frog Captain Ginyu. Ginyuma stands up and flies toward Frieza and states that he is Captain Ginyu and he has returned. To prove it, he does his signature pose. Frieza doesn't know anybody else in the universe to do a stupid pose like this, so he believes him and orders him to kill the rest of the Z-fighters. Ginyu flies down, ready for battle. Gohan decides as a last resort to transform into a Super Saiyan and beats Ginyu down. Instead of killing him, he spares him in a very familiar way that Goku spared Frieza back then. Frieza notices this and decides he will kill Gohan himself. Frieza fires his death beam all over Gohan's body, reverting him back to his normal form, and mortally wounding him. Right when Frieza is about to finish him off with a huge death beam, Piccolo steps in front of Gohan, taking the blast himself, and is killed.

Meanwhile, back on Beerus' planet, Whis notives that Bulma is trying to contact him with a huge strawberry parfait, and that Frieza has returned. He brings Goku and Vegeta back from that other dimension and say that Frieza has returned. Goku & Vegeta are shocked, and ask how long it will take for them to get back to Earth to help everyone. Whis calculates that it will take half of an hour. Goku says that by the time they get there, everyone might already be dead, but Whis cannot help.

Gohan and all the Z-fighters are shocked, and Frieza starts laughing. Gohan starts crying and saying that if he never stopped training, and was stronger he could've saved Piccolo. Gohan then struggles to get up and powers up into a Super Saiyan. His aura rising. Goku, senses his power level and grabs Vegeta, and they instant transmission to Earth. Gohan loses his ki and transforms back to normal. Frieza fires a death beam to finally finish Gohan off, but Goku teleports in front of Gohan and slaps away the death beam. Frieza gasps and grins. Goku is finally there. Goku asks why Frieza wants to get revenge on him because Future Trunks is the one who killed him. Frieza laughs and says that Goku is the one who started it all. Ginyu gets up and goes to attack Goku and Vegeta, but Vegeta rushes up to him and blasts him into a million pieces. Frieza then flies out of his space pod and transforms right into his final form, killing all his soldiers, (except Sorbet) to show off his new power. Goku then convinces Vegeta that Frieza wants him and that he should stay out of it. Vegeta accepts and the fight begins. Frieza and Goku fight for awhile, but Frieza is no match for Goku, who doesn't even need to transform into a Super Saiyan. Vegeta then gets angry and goes to fight Goku telling him to hurry up and finish him or he will do it himself. Goku accepts and Vegeta flies back down to Earth. Goku decides to use a new transformation he learned while training on Beerus' planet to finish off Frieza. Goku powers up and transforms. His aura is blue and he now has blue hair and eyes. He dubs this new form, the Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan. Frieza Is slightly impressed and reveals that he also has a new transformation. Frieza powers up and turns a shade of Gold. His power is greatly increased, and his power is close to that of Goku's new form. He dubs this form, "Golden Frieza." SSGSS Goku and Golden Frieza begin to battle.

Meanwhile in space, Beerus and Whis are traveling to Earth to get Bulma's desert and also see the fight, when they run into Champa and Vados. Beerus gets angry and asks Champa "Why are you in my universe?" Revealing that Champa and Vados are from another universe. Champa and Beerus argue for a while until Whis & Vados stop them. Beerus says he'll spare him because he is his BROTHER. Revealing that Champa is Beerus' brother. Champa and Vados leave continuing their search for the items they are looking for, and Beerus and Whis leave to go to Earth.

While Goku and Frieza are fighting, Goten and Trunks take Piccolo's corpse to Kami's santuary. After a seemingly even conflict, Frieza gains the upper hand and knocks Goku down to the ground with his Double Axe Handle, leaving the Saiyan surprised saying he took years of training to reach his current level but Frieza caught on like it's nothing. Frieza applauds his efforts but promises to tear him to shreds but the sight of Lord Beerus stops him for the moment. They resume their duel once more and once again Frieza gains the upper hand, leaving Goku exhausted and critically injured.

Despite the fact that Goku is losing, he refuses to give up which leads to Frieza strangling him and punching him in the face and gut until Goku bites his tail but once again the fight leads to him being blasted by Frieza and lands flat on his back on the ground but Goku kept going on. Vegeta suggested that he and Goku switch places and that he would kill Frieza himself but Goku insisted to the Saiyan prince that he "almost got him". Goku then tries to warn Frieza to leave before the tables turn and that leaves him to explain that Golden Frieza has a weakness but Goku refuses to tell him so they decided to use every once of power they have left and resume the fight again. After blocking a Full Power Energy Blast Volley, they fight at close combat once again, even with Frieza not allowing Goku to drown, and it would seem that Frieza has finally won until Goku fully resisted Frieza's finishing punch saying that he finally reached his time limit on his power-up and he punches Frieza through a rock and he ends up on the ground. Goku then explains Frieza's weakness: he came to Earth as soon as he unlocked his Golden Frieza form, therefore he is burning more stamina and power than his body can regulate it and should have waited until he got used to it before he can exact his revenge. Frieza tries to punch Goku again but the Saiyan catches it once more and explosion shows up behind him. When Goku reverts back into his base form, however, Sorbet shoots him in the chest with his Bad Ring Laser when he kindly asks Frieza to leave so he can have a rematch with him. Frieza then repeating kicks him and tells him his weakness: his excessive strength makes him careless, and Frieza prepares to kill Goku once and for all until Vegeta blocks the attack away after teleporting to their location.

Vegeta then explains to Frieza that he can't afford to let Goku be killed because it's because of him that he pursues the path to power and tells Goku that he is an idiot despite Whis warning him that this outcome would happen. Vegeta then kicks Goku toward the location of Krillin, Gohan, and others and deflects Frieza's Death Beam towards Sorbet, killing him in the process. Vegeta then proceeds to fight Frieza in Goku's place and, to everyone's (except Goku's) surprise, he too, turns into a Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan, which Goku explains that this power is purely his own. Vegeta then proclaims that he will send Frieza back to Hell and easily dominates over the exhausted Golden Frieza until he reverts back into his Final form. He was about to kill Frieza with a Big Bang Attack until Frieza uses his Earth Breaker technique to blow up the Earth and that in turn, kills Vegeta and everyone else on the planet. Earth is destroyed, but Whis manages to save himself, Beerus, Bulma, Krillin, Gohan, Goku, Master Roshi, Piccolo, Tien Shinhan, and Jaco by creating a small bubble around themselves. While Bulma despairs, Goku expresses his regret that he didn't kill Frieza when he had the chance. Whis tells him that he has the power to redo time but only three minutes into the past. He does so, and they arrive back right before Frieza destroys the Earth. Goku immediately attacks with a God Kamehameha and kills Frieza. Once Frieza is dead, Vegeta shows up behind him afterwards and gives him a harsh scolding but Goku explained he had no choice so Bulma and the others explained everything towards him. After that, Gohan heads back home to see that Videl and Pan are okay then he embraces them and promises to protect them at all costs.

Goku and co. then heads back to The Lookout to pick up Goten and Trunks and gather the Namekian Dragon Balls to revive Piccolo. He then explains to Piccolo what happened after he died and laughed after hearing Trunks saying he'll cut Frieza in half (a reference to what Future Trunks did to Frieza before the present Trunks was born). Goku then enjoys the feast Bulma threw and the food served in it. Gohan then tells Piccolo that he realizes his mistake that he cannot completly shun training out of his life if he wants to protect the people he cares about and asks Piccolo if he will train him once again. Piccolo agrees and accepts. Goku later talks to Vegeta about planning to work together next time but Vegeta disagrees to that, and surprisingly, Goku agrees.

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Tropes

• Accidental Hero: With Frieza revived (if in pieces), Shenron says two wishes remain. Sorbet muses about reviving King Cold, while Tagoma suggests a more powerful fleet, but then Shu impulsively wishes for lots of money and Mai for the most delicious ice cream in the whole world. The two minor villains unknowingly kept a bad situation from becoming much, much worse.
• Adaptation Expansion: As with the last arc, it expands on the film's story. We see how Sorbet met up with the Pilaf gang and shanghaied them into helping to collect the Dragon Balls to resurrect Frieza. Tagoma is spared from being killed early and actually take Shasami's place as the main elite grunt to fight the heroes. While Trunks and Goten, who in the movie were not told of what happened to keep them out of the fight, eventually join the battle briefly as their fusion, Gotenks. Then Captain Ginyu, who stowed away on Bulma's plane, hijacks Tagoma's body and takes over in his place.
• Adaptational Badass: Frieza and especially Tagoma receive an upgrade compared to the original movie:
  • Tagoma isn't killed in this version and becomes Frieza's sparring partner for four months. As a result, his power far surpasses even the likes of Piccolo, and even for his power level he is exceptionally durable. To give full context, Piccolo is at this point several times more powerful than the Androids, who explicitly outclassed Future Trunks, who in turn easily killed Mecha Frieza originally. Once Captain Ginyu takes over his body and brings out its full power, Gohan actually has to unleash the power he used against Super Buu to stop him.
  • Unlike the movie, where he was completely outclassed, Final Form Frieza manages to hold his own against Base Goku and even occasionally takes the advantage by being a Combat Pragmatist. While Goku is still more powerful, they are a lot closer. Upon drawing out his full power as Golden Frieza, he also beats SSGSS Goku so badly it qualifies as a Curb-Stomp Battle, and actually gives the impression he may win. Also, Frieza mentions having the ability to sense energy and has an extent of control over his power in his Golden Form, two skills he explicitly lacked in the Movie version. When he does finally start losing,which still takes a while longer than in the film, he doesn't immediately have a Villainous Breakdown and instead calmly starts pleading with Goku in order to drop his guard.
• Adaptational Dumbass: In the movie, both Goku and Vegeta figured out Golden Frieza's stamina issues without anyone's help. Here, Goku doesn't notice until Vegeta points out that something is wrong.
• Adaptational Villainy: Well more villainy anyway. Tagoma was more of an Only Sane Man in the film who tried to advise Frieza to focus more on regaining control of his empire before going after Goku. To which Frieza threw him out of a window of their ship into space. Here, he and Shisami don't get along at all. After spending four months training with Frieza, Tagoma is now not afraid to sacrifice his teammates if it gets the job done. Subverted however in that just as he starts fighting the heroes, he's quickly defeated by Gotenks. And then Ginyu switches bodies with him and takes over the fight.
• Adaptational Wimp: Jaco. In Resurrection F, he has a Small Name, Big Ego character, but still was Badass Normal. Here, he has only ego, hasn't done anything important, and even tried to escape the Earth. This is eventually subverted during the next arc, where Jaco proves himself quite badass, but his showing here still makes him seem less impressive.
  • Krillin himself isn't treated particularly well here either. Similarly to Jaco, he was shown fighting and taking down many of Frieza's soldiers without hesitation in the movie, while here, he's reduced to a sniveling coward who's too afraid to fight at first and even considers running away. It isn't until Roshi finally points out to him that he's been on the frontlines of some of the heroes' most hellish fights long since the days of Namek, and as such, is far more powerful than any of the foot soldiers, that Krillin finally works up the nerve to actually fight back.
• Aesop Amnesia: Gohan's failure to learn from the Buu arc and keep up with his training gets deconstructed. He has lost a significant amount of power he had when facing Cell and thus wouldn't stand a chance against the new Frieza. As such, he has to exert himself just to face an Elite Mook, is subjected to torture by Frieza, and watches Piccolo once again die protecting him. The most he can do afterwards is burn through the rest of his energy just to give Goku a signal to lock onto. The arc ends with Gohan asking Piccolo to retrain him so that this never happens again. Later appearances demonstrate the lesson actually sticks this time.
• Alien Invasion: Frieza arrives back on Earth with every available grunt he can gather to start his revenge on Goku.
• Back from the Dead: If the name of the arc didn't give it away, Frieza is revived after being chopped to pieces and blasted to nothing by an older Trunks way back at the start of the Cell Saga.
• Back for the Dead: Ginyu, who manages to take over Tagoma's body. And then he got killed by Vegeta...
• Bad Boss: Unlike the film, where Frieza kills all of his men because they all lost, Frieza callously kills his men in his transformation just because he can.
• Benevolent Genie: Shenron proves to be one when Mai wastes one of his wishes on the best ice cream in the world. Even though she didn't specify, Shenron delivers it packed with ice so it doesn't melt quickly.
• Big Bad: Frieza.
• The Bus Came Back: Ginyu has returned.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday:
  • Averted with Frieza. He immediately recognizes "the little bald one" as someone he killed on Namek, and he so looks forward to killing him again. He also finds Gohan rather familiar before realizing that he was the child on Namek.
  • Also averted with Ginyu. Though he's more concerned with Goku and Vegeta, he states that he remembers how Krillin and Gohan were part of the humiliation he suffered, so he wants to kill them, too.
• Can't Kill You, Still Need You: Before Sorbet makes any wishes, Pilaf nervously asks if he's going to have him, Mai, and Shu killed. Sorbet says no in case he might need them later.
• Chekhov's Gag: Beerus sneezes and causes an energy blast powerful enough to tak out a moon. Whis remarks he at least won't have to perform a do-over this time, much to Goku and Vegeta's confusion. Much later, after Frieza destroys the Earth, Whis explains that he has the ability to wind back time, which is needed on those occasions when a Beerus sneeze accidentally takes out their planet's star.
• Curb-Stomp Battle:
  • The first half of the fight between Golden Frieza and Super Saiyan Blue Goku qualifies as this, in Frieza's favour. Frieza utterly beats Goku around without really trying, and when Goku reveals he still had some power left, Frieza reveals he was holding some reserves back as well and promptly continues beating Goku. Once he runs out of stamna, however, the tables quickly turn.
  • When Vegeta takes over the fight from Goku, he wastes no time smacking Frieza around. Granted Frieza had already exhausted his stamina fighting Goku and was at his limit that it wasn't even a challenge but still. However, he takes too long to deliver the finishing blow, allowing Frieza to kill him anyway by blowing up the planet.
• Darker and Edgier: Resurrection 'F' was already pretty dark given who the movie's subject matter is about. However, the anime version takes it up a notch, what with Tagoma's sadism and the death of Piccolo, and showing the Z-fighter's loved ones moments before their death.
• Death by Adaptation: Piccolo dies from the aforementioned Taking the Bullet (though he's revived at the end of it). And Ginyu, who wasn't present in the movie version and thus still stuck in a frog's body, is killed by Vegeta.
• Death Glare: The kids want to stay and watch the fight, but Goku orders them go to the Lookout. Goten reluctantly relents, but Trunks prefers to keep protesting, at least until Vegeta yells at him and gives him one of these.
• Death Is Cheap: Of course. Despite making a Heroic Sacrifice, Piccolo is revived and seen again in the end of the arc.
• Declaration of Protection: In a nice bit of Character Development, after seeing his mentor killed (again) and the Earth blown up. Gohan resolves to get stronger so he can protect his family.
• Despair Event Horizon: After Frieza blows up the Earth, the Z-fighters hit it hard, especially since there is no easy Reset Button as the Dragon Balls were destroyed. Bulma, Krillin and Gohan can only cry out to their dead loved ones while Goku starts kicking himself for letting things get out of hand.
• Deus Exit Machina:
  • Goku and Vegeta are training off-world, as Frieza's invasion force approaches. With no way to contact them and Gohan admitting he's not strong enough to take on Frieza, the others hope to just hold out long enough for the Saiyans to return. Frieza even expresses some annoyance that the one he's wanted revenge against for so long isn't even there. Krillin also lampshades how this trope is just so typical for Goku.
  • When 18 points out she's stronger than he is, Krillin tells her to stay behind and protect their daughter in case things get really bad.
  • Upon the others noticing that Buu is not there, Gohan says he fell asleep and that nothing could be done to wake him back up. Roshi admits that really tanks his plan to let Buu take care of everything.
  • The adults didn't want Trunks and Goten to participate, due to their inexperience and recklessness, so they didn't tell them what was happening. Tagoma powering up alerted the kids, and they show up as Gotenks. However, because the kids opted to fuse before flying over, they wasted most of the time that could've been used for fighting and are thus out of the struggle about as quickly as they entered it.
• Didn't See That Coming:
  • Frieza's remaining forces knew of Earth's Dragon Balls, but they didn't know Shenron's powers had been increased since Frieza died. Sorbet is surprised to have either two additional wishes or one extremely powerful wish. Pilar didn't know this, either.
  • Captain Ginyu still being alive and on Earth all this time takes almost everyone by surprise. Frieza admits it's one of the rare times he likes being proven wrong.
• Didn't Think This Through:
  • Sorbet wishes Frieza back to life, but Shenron points out he can't simply restore a body to pristine condition if it was sliced into pieces so many years ago. Tagoma says their new regeneration chambers should be a good workaround.
  • After realizing a battle is going on, Trunks and Goten head off to join in and arrive in the form of Gotenks. As a result of not waiting to fuse until they got there, they wasted most of the 30 minutes during the trip and thus defuse soon after slamming into Tagoma.
• Dramtic Irony: Though Goku is the main target, Frieza also wants revenge against Future Trunks for slicing him in half. However, since the villains don't know about the time travel that was involved, Sorbet says their attempts to track that guy down failed for reasons he can't begin to explain.
• The Dreaded:
  • Goku is this to what's left of the Frieza Force. They preferred to spend years searching for the Namekians and their Dragon Balls rather than risk going anywhere near the Super Saiyan that killed Frieza.
  • Frieza says King Cold warned him to never challenge Beerus or Majin Buu. Hearing that Goku beat Buu gives Frieza pause and the proper motivation to train. Seeing Beerus present for the big battle also unnerves Frieza, though he calms down once Beerus assures him he won't intervene.
• Early-Bird Cameo: The manga version of Super introduces Champa and Vados (Beerus's brother and Whis's sister respectively) a bit early right at the start of this arc (before Sorbet begins his plans to revive Frieza). In the anime we don't meet the two until the middle of the story when Beerus and Whis run into them on their way to Earth.
• Earth-Shattering Kaboom: As in the film, Frieza decides to destroy the planet when Vegeta has him beat. Only this time we see the other family members unaware of the incoming destruction until it's right on top of them.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Sorbet chastises Tagoma for killing Shisami in an effort to get Gohan.
• Evil-Detecting Baby: After Frieza triggers the destruction of the planet, Pan starts crying uncontrollably, much to Videl's confusion.
• Evil Is Petty: Frieza had planned all along to destroy both Earth and Namek's Dragon Balls so that his hated enemies could never be revived and interfere with him again. However, he only makes a point of saying this to spite Goku after overhearing talk of using the Namekian Dragon Balls to revive Piccolo.
• Foreshadowing:
  • On their way to Earth, Beerus and Whis bump into Champa and Vados, who hail from Universe 6. Champa is searching for certain objects, and he doesn't want Beerus to find out until the set is complete. We find out what this is all about at the start of the next arc.
  • When Goku requests to get the same training as Vegeta, Whis agrees on the grounds that he felt the time was just about right for this. In the next arc, Beerus accuses Whis of wanting to train both Saiyans all along and manipulating events to get Goku suitably motivated.
  • Beerus makes a point of chastising Goku for failing to protect Earth, an unusual attitude for an admitted destroyer of worlds. In the next arc shortly before the tournament starts, Whis reflects on this moment and questions Beerus's uncharacteristic interest in Goku.
• Formerly Fit: Gohan has lost his Heroic Build and has become very skinny.
• From Bad to Worse: Ginyu taking over Tagoma's body is seen as this. As big a challenge as Tagoma was, he was still considered Unskilled, but Strong. Ginyu quickly demonstrates how years of experience make a powerful body even more dangerous.
• Godzilla Threshold:
  • Sorbet intending to go to Earth to use their Dragon Balls to revive Frieza. Tagoma points out the risk of going anywhere near the Super Saiyan who took out Frieza, but Sorbet says they have no choice, due to both their operation being in shambles and their inability to locate the Namekians.
  • It would take 35 minutes for Whis to transport Goku and Vegeta back to Earth. Beerus suggests using instant transmission, but with such a vast distance to cover, Goku doesn't think he can lock on to any energy signatures. It's only Gohan powering up that gives him any chance to try, and it's still considered risky.
• Heartbroken Badass:
  • Gohan when Piccolo dies. Later, he drops to his knees when Videl and Pan are killed by Frieza destroying the planet.
  • After Earth is gone, Krillin whispers in disbelief over his wife and daughter being dead.
• Hypocrite: One of the soldiers mocks Krillin for being bald despite having no hair himself.
• Important Haircut: Before leaving to pick up Roshi, Krillin has 18 shave his head. As he says in the Funimation dub, he's going old school for this one.
• Irony: Gohan's lax approach to training is referenced multiple times, but Tagoma observes he's still the strongest of the assembled heroes, which serves to highlight to the viewers how hopeless the situation is without Goku and Vegeta.
• It Amused Me: For all his talk of increased power, Frieza largely plays around with Goku before Vegeta forces the issue. Frieza admits he simply wanted to savor the moment.
• It Only Works Once: Whis reveals he can turn back time for three minutes. However in this version he warns Goku he won't be able to do it again for awhile once he does. So if Goku messes up, it's game over for real. Luckily Goku makes the Reset Button count and quickly blasts Frieza before he does his suicide attack.
• It's All My Fault:
  • Gohan laments how his lax approach to training left Earth vulnerable to this invasion and got Piccolo killed. He resolves to start training again at the end of the arc.
  • After Earth is destroyed, Goku blames himself for not killing Frieza when he had the chance.
• Kick the Dog: Frieza promises a planet to whoever in his army manages to kill Krillin. He does this both to terrorize a former victim and to cause Goku pain.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Quite literally. Sorbet manages to seriously wound Goku from behind with a laser shot in order to give Frieza the advantage. When Vegeta takes over the fight, he re-directs one of Frieza's shots right at Sorbet. Unlike the film Sorbet isn't blown up, the shot goes straight through his body in exactly the same fashion he shot Goku.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Trunks makes an off-hand comment about slicing Frieza in half should he ever come back. The adults who are aware of Future Trunks just stare in surprise before chuckling, much to the kid's confusion.
• Manly Tears: Gohan while getting repeatedly shot by Frieza and again after Piccolo dies.
• Mood Whiplash: Frieza curses in exasperation that he will soon be killed by none other than Vegeta, only to unnervingly switch to a calm voice with a slasher smile as he proceeds to blow up the entire earth; even the normally stoic Vegeta was caught off guard by his sudden change of expression.
• Motive Rant:
  • Frieza goes on at length multiple times about how he wants revenge for what Goku did to him.
  • After getting Tagoma's body, Ginyu rants about his horrible experience as a lowly frog and how he'll make everyone responsible for that suffer.
• Oh, Crap!: Frieza fully expected Goku to have overcome other foes over the years and gotten stronger in the process, but being told he beat Majin Buu gives him pause.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • Vegeta takes no pleasure at all in killing Captain Ginyu-in-Tagoma's body.
  • Beerus, of all people, is the one to chastise Goku for failing to protect Earth, and he tells him he'll have to make things right. At the end of the story, Beerus expresses embarrassment over this, as he's supposed to be a destroyer of worlds, not a savior of one.
• Papa Wolf: Piccolo is pissed after Tagoma nearly kills Gohan with a sneak attack. When Tagoma later asks who wants to fight first, Piccolo gladly obliges. Too bad he's out of his weight-class. He later shields Gohan from Frieza's killing blast.
• Pet the Dog: Seeing Krillin a bundle of nerves over facing someone that previously killed him, 18 offers to go to the fight in his place.
• Properly Paranoid: Beerus knows that Champa wasn't just passing through a different universe for the sake of a stroll. He knows his brother has something big in the works.
• The Remnant: Frieza's army has suffered serious decline after their defeat on Namek due to their governing body and all of their elite warriors dying. They have been infighting and are gradually losing control over their planets. According to Sorbet they have lost over 60 percent of their influence, and this prompts him to revive Frieza, who manages to reunite the empire... and then wastes it on a misguided attempt at revenge rather than restoring it to its former glory.
• Reset Button: As in the movie, Whis turns back time to give Goku a chance to save his loved ones by killing Frieza.
• Revenge:
  • Frieza's main goal in this arc is revenge for his defeat way back in the Namek saga at Goku's hands.
  • After taking over Tagoma's body and explaining what happened since last in action, Ginyu recognizes Gohan and Krillin and says he's gonna enjoy settling up with them. He also wants payback for Goku and Vegeta wiping out the rest of the Ginyu Force.
  • As Frieza goes on and on about wanting revenge, Goku says he intends to avenge Piccolo's death.
• Revenge by Proxy: Though killing Goku is the ultimate goal, Frieza also delights at the opportunity to cause him emotional pain by targeting his friends and family.
• Riches to Rags: Goku is forced back into farming as Chi Chi (rather shortsightedly) decided to sink all the money Mr. Satan gave them to help Gohan and Videl raise Pan. Subverted much later on however, when we learn what she actually did.
• Shoo Out the Clowns: While Buu is still out of the picture, Gotenks isn't, though they're pulled out of the fight quickly and told to leave by Goku and Vegeta. Likewise, Ginyu is also killed quickly by Vegeta, leaving only Frieza to fight.
• Sketchy Successor: Sorbet likens Tagoma to Zarbon and Dodoria. Frieza is less than impressed, even seeming outright insulted by such a comparison.
• Skewed Priorities: This arc basically shows Chi-Chi at her absolute worst. As some time after Pan is born, she becomes even more bossy and controlling than she ever was back in Z, to the point where she even tries to get Goku to give up training and fighting forever (which would've eventually spelled doom for everyone later in this VERY arc). Showing that she learned absolutely NOTHING from Super Buu killing all her family and loved ones last series, including herself. Thankfully, she gets over it quick as soon as Goku forcibly leaves to Goku train with Whis anyway. And even in future arcs after this, she seems to have finally chilled out on the issue entirely.
• Spared by the Adaptation:
  • Tagoma, who in the film was killed by Frieza for suggesting to rebuild their empire first rather then go after Goku. In this version, he simply is forced to train with Frieza which gives him a more brutal mindset. Tagoma ends up stuck in Ginyu's frog body and Vegeta destroys Tagoma's old body.
  • For a non-living example, Frieza's spaceship was seemingly destroyed by Goku's final Kamehameha in the movie. Here, it remains intact and is taken by Jaco, or at least that is what he intended to do.
• Taking the Bullet: Piccolo once again takes a fatal shot meant for Gohan when Frieza's on the verge of killing him.
• Team Killer: Tagoma who shoots through Shisami to get at Gohan just as Gohan was going Super Sayian.
• Tender Tears:
  • Dende cries over Piccolo's dead body.
  • Bulma takes the destruction of Earth and loss of her loved ones the hardest out of all the survivors, dropping to her knees and weeping.
• This Cannot Be!: After relishing the sheer power of Tagoma's body, Ginyu has this reaction to Vegeta demonstrating how much more powerful he's become.
• This Is Gonna Suck: Immediately after Frieza unleashes his planet-destroying attack, Beerus calmly tells Whis to put up a force field.
• Tranquil Fury: Vegeta goes up against Frieza, eager to do so to repay his grisly end back on Namek and beats him to near death without even trying or emoting besides an occasional Psychotic Smirk.
• Trauma Button: As a Super Saiyan, Gohan manages to best Ginyu, but he shows him mercy. Seeing this, Frieza flashes back to when Goku did similarly to him on Namek, and he becomes so enraged that he blasts Gohan. He then tells Ginyu to stand aside so he can slowly kill Gohan himself.
  Frieza: It shames me to admit, but did you know that I was once spared by your father the same way you just spared Captain Colorful? I was a filthy simian's charity case! Do you realize how I've suffered from that?! Reliving the humiliation every day since?! And now you have the gall to remind me of it again?! You'll pay dearly for that!
• Uncanny Family Resemblance: How Frieza immediately deduces that Goten is Goku's son.
• Villain Respect: Frieza is actually impressed by how viciously Vegeta takes out Ginyu.
• Villainous Friendship: Frieza expresses relief that Captain Ginyu is still alive and welcomes him back into the fold.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Goku calls out Vegeta for killing Ginyu, saying that it seemed unneeded. Vegeta just calmly points out he was taking out someone who'd interrupt their fight.
• Written-In Absence: While taking stock of the current odds, Tien remarks he's glad he told Chiaotzu to stay at home.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: Upon seeing Trunks, Frieza notices the resemblance to the Super Saiyan that sliced him in half. He assumes this is just more Uncanny Family Resemblance at work, completely unaware that the guy he remembers is Trunks himself from a Bad Future.
• Yank the Dog's Chain: How Vegeta sees Goku delivering the final blow against Frieza. Even after the others explain the situation and how Whis had to wind back time, Vegeta still sees it as a cosmic joke at his expense.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Between his long-term self-doubt, having retired from fighting, and seeing someone who once killed him, Krillin freezes up while facing Frieza's men. Roshi rallies him by reminding him that he's fought far more powerful foes and survived, meaning he can handle these mooks.