Dragon Ball has had memorable villains from as early as Pilaf. Even Yamcha and Monster Carrot stand out as memorable antagonists. The Red Ribbon Army brought with it an even more colorful roster of antagonists and Piccolo Daimao set the foundation for future Dragon Ball villains to follow. Come as they would, though, few villainous groups were as interesting as the Frieza Force.
Building off of lore and story elements introduced in the Saiyan arc, the Namek arc widens the scope of the series magnificently. The franchise shoots into outer space in a way that feels surprisingly natural— and it’s all thanks to fantastic villains leading the way.
10 Cui
Cui is the first major Frieza Force antagonist that gets introduced in the Namek arc. He’s brought into the story alongside Vegeta’s return and is immediately established as a rival of sorts for Vegeta. In fact, it’s mentioned in-text that Cui and Vegeta were equals before the latter returned from planet Earth.
Cui is used as a measuring tool, ultimately, as it’s his fight with Vegeta that ends up formally bringing Zenkais into the picture. Cui being man-handled by Vegeta also ends up showing just how dangerous Vegeta will be this arc. The heroes may have beaten him last time, but there’s no way they can fight him head-on anymore.
9 Vegeta
Judging by his actions in the Saiyan arc, it’s perhaps safe to assume that Vegeta had already defected from Frieza’s army by the time he landed on Earth. Clearly not formally as he’s still able to access Frieza Planets comfortably, but independent enough from Frieza where Nappa isn’t revived during the mass wish.
Either way, though, Vegeta was either as strong as Cui or stronger than Cui when he turned on the Frieza Force. Vegeta then spends the rest of the arcs to get Zenkais in order to climb the power ladder. By his death, he’s stronger than Captain Ginyu if nothing else.
8 Dodoria
One of Frieza’s two personal henchmen, Dodoria is introduced as a rather violent character in the anime. He ends up taking a kill from Frieza (on a child, at that) and it paints him as a far more imposing figure. The Bardock TV Special even heavily features Dodoria as an active antagonist for Bardock.
That said, one Zenkai is enough for Vegeta to push himself over Dodoria. For as much fanfare as Dodoria receives in the anime, he’s dealt with quickly and easily by Vegeta. Then again, that doesn’t stop Dodoria from being one of the strongest living beings in the universe.
7 Zarbon
Frieza’s right-hand man and the person responsible for Planet Vegeta’s destruction according to the Bardock TV Special. This has since been retconned out of the main continuity in every fashion, but it’s quite interesting how Toei once interpreted Zarbon’s character. He’s also the first villain to transform.
Which makes him quite important in the grand scheme of things. Zarbon sets the stage for characters like Frieza, Cell, and Majin Buu. Zarbon also shows just how fearsome transformations can be. He nearly kills Vegeta when he transforms and would have again had Vegeta not gotten a Zenkai.
6 Gurd
Gurd, or Guldo for Funimation fans, is the weakest member of the Ginyu Force and probably the character with the lowest Battle Power on this list. So why include him so high? Simple, the Namek arc deliberately goes out of its way to show that in spite of his Battle Power, Gurd is legitimately dangerous.
He’s powerful due to his lethal mix of time stoppage and telekinesis. He was about to skewer Krillin when Vegeta interrupted their battle. Without Vegeta, Gohan and Krillin would have surely died and Goku would have landed to a graveyard. Gurd’s a chump, but a dangerous one.
5 Recoome
Recoome is one of the most ferocious opponents anyone fights in the series. He’s effortlessly defeated by Goku, but he throttles Vegeta, Krillin, and Gohan before Goku even arrives. For all intents and purposes, Recoome had effectively wiped out Freeza’s problem. It’s actually debatable where exactly he falls on the Ginyu Force totem pole.
Everything seems to indicate that Burter and Jeice function as an equal duo with Recoome below them, but this is really all stemming from the fact that Burter survives longer than Recoome does. It’s entirely possible that Recoome was physically stronger than Burter if nothing else.
4 Burter
That said, Burter had one important quality that Recoome lacked: speed. To be honest, Dragon Ball handles the concept of speed poorly, but it’s better to just accept what Toriyama is offering in cases like these. Burter is the fastest being in the universe… other than Frieza, King Cold, Ginyu, or Goku. At the time, at least.
Either way, maybe Burter is just that fast. He’s certainly fast enough where him and Jeice can devise entire strategies around his speed. The fact he’s always paired of with Jeice does seem to suggest that they’re on equal footing power wise, giving him another notch above Recoome.
3 Jeice
Captain Ginyu’s right hand man, it goes without saying that Jeice is quite the strong mercenary. Interestingly, though, he doesn’t get to accomplish much due to the Zenkais that Goku and Vegeta end up receiving during the course of the Namek arc. He’s very quickly killed by Vegeta during the final battle with Ginyu.
That doesn’t mean he’s a pushover, though. Jeice, like Burter, is a victim of circumstance. Had the roles been reversed with Burter and Jeice fighting Gohan, Krillin, and Vegeta first, they’d likely be remembered as the dangerous members of the Ginyu Force instead of just Recoome and Ginyu.
2 Ginyu
Speaking of Captain Ginyu, the gap in Battle Power between him and his men is frankly insane. He’s the closest anyone comes to matching Frieza’s Battle Power until Goku busts out his ten times Kaioken. Ginyu doesn’t actually fight all that much, but his battles do show off a competent martial artist who knows what he’s doing.
He’s a heavy hitter with quick reflexes and his ability to change with his opponents make him one of the largest potential threats in the universe. Had he taken Vegeta’s body, Ginyu-Vegeta would have slaughtered Goku, Krillin, and Gohan. Ginyu’s only real downside is that he doesn’t seem to grasp the abilities he steals.
1 Frieza
A galactic tyrant unlike any other, Frieza is the strongest natural being in the original run of Dragon Ball. All stronger characters either surpass Frieza with transformations, magic, or technology. Frieza is the real deal. He’s someone who could have easily defeated a Kaioken x 20 Goku on Namek, but chose to play with his food.
Frieza also shows enough potential in Dragon Ball Super to rival literal Gods without the need of God Ki. Frieza shouldn’t be as overwhelmingly powerful as he is, but this is something the series acknowledges and uses to its advantage. Any moment with Frieza is one of Dragon Ball’s tensest in the original series.