One of the most surprising Mandela Effects in anime comes from a line often attributed to Frieza, the iconic villain from the Dragon Ball series. Not once does Frieza ever directly say, "this isn't even my final form," on any page nor dub, yet many Dragon Ball fans swear to the fact he does.
This meme is often tied to an intense moment during Dragon Ball Z's "Frieza Arc" where the evil universal emperor prepares to transform for the third time. Frieza is a character with many transformations, and his return from the dead in Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' has continued that tradition as he seeks revenge. Like Goku and the other Saiyans, Frieza continues to break through his limitations throughout Dragon Ball Super. Frieza's newest form may very well not be his final form when all is said and done.
9 Mecha Frieza Was Easily Defeated By Future Trunks
After Frieza's defeat at the hands of the newly-minted Super Saiyan Goku, Frieza was left in pieces. Having already been sliced in half with his own bladed attack, Frieza fell victim to the destruction of planet Namek, which was also his own doing. Frieza was rescued by his father, King Cold, and rehabilitated with a new mechanized body.
This mechanized body was also meant to increase Frieza's powers and abilities. Fans, however, never got a chance to see that in action as Frieza and Cold were quickly killed by Future Trunks. Since then, Frieza has grown far stronger, even in his first form. Frieza's Mecha form was his weakest, isolated in a moment in time with no reason to believe it will return.
8 Frieza's First Form Isn't Actually His Natural-Born Form
Contrary to popular belief, Frieza's first form is not his natural-born state. His true "final" form is. Frieza's ironically named first form is actually the result of Frieza suppressing his power, resulting in this relatively unimposing form. This is a trait that all those among his race possess.
Looks can be deceiving as Frieza in this form has caused a lot of damage, both on Namek and on Earth. On Namek, Frieza still maintained the upper hand against Vegeta. On Earth, after months of training, he was able to effortlessly knock out Super Saiyan Gohan with one shot.
7 Frieza's Second Form Is Larger Than Life
After being goaded by Vegeta, Frieza admitted that he did have a transformation. Unbeknownst to Vegeta at the time, Frieza actually had multiple. The first of these Frieza transformations appeared as a much larger version of his first form.
Frieza grew to a towering height. Couple that with a deeper voice, and Frieza's second form was extremely imposing. In this second form, Frieza was much more powerful and quickly dispatched Vegeta and Krillin. While Frieza hasn't used this form since Namek, it's still more powerful than his first form. This is also the form King Cold utilized in his few appearances.
6 Frieza's Third Form Is A Monstrosity
Apart from an emotional outburst from Gohan, it seemed as though Frieza would attain victory without further transformations. However, the resurrected Piccolo proved to be too strong after his fusion with fellow Namekian, Nail.
Once again, Frieza transformed. Frieza's third form was unlike any other and was much more monstrous. This grotesque look included an elongated head, more horns, sharp fangs, the lack of a nose, and protruding shoulders. While Frieza also hasn't used this form since Namek, his Universe 6 counterpart, Frost, did during the Tournament of Destroyers. Despite this, it can be assumed Frieza's third form is still stronger than his more suppressed forms.
5 Frieza's Final Form Is His Most Iconic Look In Dragon Ball Z
Easily Frieza's most recognizable look, his final form debuted to illustrate Frieza's sadistic nature. Frieza was more than strong enough to finish the fight against Vegeta, Gohan, Krillin, and Piccolo in his third form, but he felt it was more satisfying to show off his true form to prove that the heroes on Namek never stood a chance. This final form is much simpler in design and makes him all the more terrifying.
Frieza eventually did need this form during his fight with Goku. Since then, other than when he was first resurrected from the dead and returned to Earth, Frieza has used this form as his default state. With powerful adversaries throughout the multiverse, there's no longer a need to suppress his powers and revert to his first form.
4 Frieza's Final Form At Full Power Has An Obvious Drawback
When Super Saiyan Goku proved to be too strong for him, Frieza used 100% of his power. In this full-power form, Frieza gained an immense level of muscle mass much akin to Master Roshi bulking up to his max-power form.
Frieza in his full-power form is certainly stronger than his typical final form when looking purely at power level, but there is an obvious drawback in that the form is much bulkier and slower. Frieza demonstrated this to Frost during the Tournament of Power before eliminating him. The Saiyans themselves grew to understand this when evolving their Super Saiyan forms to fight Cell.
3 Frieza's Golden Form Took Patience To Achieve
When Frieza was resurrected by Sorbet and the Dragon Balls, he was tempted to immediately return to Earth. Upon learning that Goku had not only fended off Majin Buu, but went toe-to-toe with the God of Destruction, Beerus, and survived, Frieza decided to train for the first time in his life.
Frieza trained for four months and reached his Golden Frieza form. The Golden Frieza form lives up to its name as Frieza is decked out in a shiny gold and purple palette. While Golden Frieza was able to close the vast power gap that Goku created throughout his further fights, Frieza's lack of patience in mastering his Golden form was his undoing as he wasn't prepared for a long fight with two Super Saiyan gods.
2 Frieza's True Golden Form Is Frieza Learning From His Mistakes
Frieza's second return to Earth ended in death once again. Back in Hell, Frieza confronted why he failed despite becoming far more powerful than ever before. Frieza began mentally training as he couldn't physically train given his cocoon-like confines while trapped in Hell.
Frieza's training paid off as he was able to master his Golden form. In what he dubbed "True Golden Frieza," Frieza's ability to balance out his power gave him complete control while in his Golden form. This allowed him to fight for far longer in his Golden form while also being able to dish out greater punishment.
1 Frieza's Black Form Perhaps Makes Him The Strongest In The Universe
Frieza's most recent return to Earth saw him unleashing Broly on Goku and Vegeta. Frieza was unable to fully control Broly, which led to his eventual retreat. Frieza vowed to finally gain the upper hand and reassert himself as the strongest in the universe.
The title of "strongest in the universe" was the basis of the Granolah the "Survivor Arc" in the Dragon Ball Super manga where Granolah, and later Gas of The Heeters, became the universe's strongest through the powers of planet Cereal's Dragon Balls. Meanwhile, Frieza discovered a Room of Space and Time on a conquered planet and trained inside for ten years. There, he obtained the Black Frieza form. Black Frieza easily killed Gas and dispatched True Ultra Instinct Goku and Ultra Ego Vegeta, all without breaking a sweat. In truth, neither of the Cereal Dragon Ball wishes accounted for Frieza as he was in another dimension.