King Cold vs. Frieza: Who Is Stronger & Who Would Win in a Fight?

We know that Son Goku, the protagonist of Akira Toriyama’s cult classic manga Dragon Ball, is one of the most iconic characters in the history of fiction and also a very commonly used character in our comparisons. But, while we are going to remain in Akira Toriyama’s world of Dragon Ball in this article, we are not going to use Goku as a character, but rather a villainous father and son duo – King Cold and his son, Frieza. In this article, we are going to pit the two against each other to determine who the stronger of the two is and who would win in a fight.

Although it was initially thought that King Cold was stronger than Frieza, it has since been confirmed that Frieza is stronger. Sure, King Cold is a powerful entity, and he definitely was not much weaker than Frieza, but with Frieza evolving through the years and even reaching his Black Frieza form, it is now obvious that he has surpassed his father in terms of powers and abilities.

The rest of this article will further elaborate on the above-given answer, as we will compare King Cold and his son Frieza, focusing on his most recent Black Frieza form in more detail. Through several categories, you will see who the stronger of the two is and why our answer is like it is, i.e., why Kaguya would ultimately be able to defeat Sasuke in a direct fight.

Power Level

Regarding his combat prowess, he is almost on par with his son, who appeared on Earth as Mecha-Freeza, as Krillin and Son Gohan said that Freeza is accompanied by someone almost as strong as he is—and certainly made him a very dangerous opponent. Despite this, just like his son, he was no real opponent for Future Trunks, transformed into a Super Saiyan, who severely wounded and killed him without difficulty, even without his sword. Various sources have given various information about him, but it is generally thought that he was always slightly behind Frieza.

Due to how absurd the power levels have become, we cannot simply scale them in Dragon Ball using numbers. This was abandoned a long time ago. Due to his ten years of training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Black Frieza’s strength level increased tenfold during the events of the Granolah the Survivor Saga in the Dragon Ball Super manga. He could vastly outperform and outclass every other combatant in Universe 7 because of the ten years he spent in a separate dimension where time flows differently.

He vanquished Gas, who was expected to be the greatest owing to a wish made with the Dragon Balls, making him perhaps the strongest mortal in Universe 7. After ten years of training in another realm, he was so powerful that he easily dispatched Gas, who was reputed to be the strongest mortal in Universe 7. Frieza’s strength level at this stage might be absurdly high, being significantly stronger than the strongest.

King Cold is a powerful character, but he is not as powerful as Frieza, nor is he near the level of power that Black Frieza has. Various sources have given information about his powers, but we don’t think he is near Frieza’s level.

Points: King Cold 0, Frieza 1

Techniques and Abilities

King Cold could not display his potential because he was up against a much stronger opponent. As he breaks the glass of his ship in rage because he can’t find Frieza, King Cold appears to have no trouble being in space, proving that he is just as capable of surviving in space as his son. King Cold’s ability to transform himself into another shape, like his sons Freeza and Cooler, is unknown. Still, it is likely not, given that he doesn’t do so during the brief battle with Trunks despite being in obvious difficulty. Yet, in terms of appearance, Cold resembles Frieza a lot in his second form.

One of the things that Black Frieza is known for is his vast array of offensive techniques and abilities that allow him to kill his opponents instantly. He is well-known for powerful Death Beams that allow him to pierce through his opponents and kill them easily. Frieza is already known for being able to use Death Saucers that could slice through his opponents. And while he can also use psychic abilities to his advantage, his signature move is his Death Ball, which is the attack he uses to destroy planets.

We have to give this point to (Black) Frieza, both because we think that he surpasses his father in this aspect and also because King Cold was never able to show off his full potential, so we cannot really hypothesize much here.

Points: King Cold 0, Frieza 2

Potential

This is a category where we cannot really say much about King Cold, as the sources detailing his potential are varied and contradictory. Some games and guides suggested that King Cold was stronger and has more potential than both of his sons, Cooler and Frieza, while others confirmed that he had always been slightly below Frieza’s abilities. Now, since King Cold never had a proper opponent and a proper fight, we never saw his full potential in that aspect, and we have no idea just how powerful he is and how much potential he has. This is, sadly, one of the biggest mysteries related to King Cold in the series.

In the sense that he was born with a natural ability that he knew how to use to its fullest, Frieza was already a genius before he was born. Because he was already fairly strong when he was born, he had never trained a day in his life before his resurrection. Despite this, it took Black Frieza some time to actually develop into a very strong opponent because he needed to spend ten years in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber to outperform Goku and Vegeta.

Because we actually do not know how much potential King Cold has, whereas Frieza’s potential – especially with the introduction of Black Frieza – has been thoroughly explored, we have to give this point to Frieza as well.

Points: King Cold 0, Frieza 3

Experience

King Cold definitely has substantial experience because he was a ruthless ruler for some time. This experience certainly gives him an advantage over a lot of his potential opponents, but there is a problem with it. Namely, King Cold has never faced a proper opponent in the series. He either picked obviously weaker opponents, or he simply fought those that were not on his level. From that perspective, his experience cannot be denied, but it also has to be noted that his experience has to be interpreted properly.

Because we are certain that he ruled the cosmos as a despot throughout the series, Frieza has existed for a very long period. He actually assumed the role of the universe’s new emperor while Goku and Vegeta were still young. Of However, Frieza does step up when necessary, as he faced Piccolo, Vegeta, and Goku during the Namek arc’s events, even if he frequently delegates smaller tasks to his minions.

As far as this category is concerned, we have – because King Cold does have substantial experience – decided to split the points between them. Sure, Frieza’s experience is more worthwhile than King Cold’s, but we cannot simply ignore the latter’s experience here.

Points: King Cold 1, Frieza 4

Feats

The history of his feats and achievements is not that rich, and he is best known as being a member of Frieza’s force. The best experience he had was in Hell, where he was easily thrown onto the boards by Paikuhan with a well-aimed elbow in the stomach. However, King Cold is not to be underestimated since he belongs to the same species as his two sons. In addition, it was partly his cell material that Dr. Gero’s computer-created Cyborg Cell allowed him to become very strong even in his first form.

Even while Frieza hasn’t performed the most amazing feats in the anime, in the manga, he performed some of the most amazing deeds ever during the Granolah the Survivor Saga. He turned into Black Frieza and instantly defeated Gas, the most powerful mortal in Universe 7. Later, utilizing the same form, he dispatched Goku and Vegeta in a single blow, even though the two had attained their strongest forms.

This is a category where Frieza definitely wins due to being more skilled and powerful than his father. We can only confirm that Frieza wins the final point in that context.

Points: King Cold 1, Frieza 5

King Cold vs. Frieza: Who would win in a fight?

And now for our article’s most important and interesting section – the analysis. Here, we will use what we have learned about these two characters and analyze how all these facts would (or would not) help them in a fight against each other. Let us continue.

The points are quite clear on this one; honestly, we never really had our doubts in this comparison. Frieza, especially now that he has unlocked the Black Frieza transformation is significantly stronger than King Cold. Sure, some sources have claimed otherwise, but it was never in doubt that Frieza was on a higher level of power than his father, even before unlocking Black Frieza. This is what we think and what can be seen if you just look at the numbers.