Dragon Ballhas had a lot of movies at this point, with some movie villains better than others. Cooler, Frieza’s brother, happens to be one of the better ones, but alas, that still doesn’t make him canon–but that’s not to say he couldn’t be.
Cooler is a movie villain who appears inDragon Ball Z: Cooler’s Revenge, and a version of him known as “Meta-Cooler” also appears inDragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler. Like Frieza, he leads an army, known as the Cooler Force, and he’s just as cruel and vicious. Cooler’s appearance is similar to Frieza’s as well, but with some added armor-like features that seem to be part of his body. He’s less egotistical than Frieza, however, which can actually make him far more dangerous, as he’s less likely to make mistakes out of hubris. Cooler and Frieza had a classic sibling rivalry, with Cooler a bit resentful of Frieza’s status as the favored child.
Cooler is the Closest the Movies Come to Being Canon
Cooler Was Created by Toriyama for the Movie
Like many movie villains, Cooler was originally designed by Akira Toriyama, specifically to be Frieza’s older brother. In an interview with Toriyama’s former editors on the Japanese KosoKoso podcast,as translated by @Venixys on X (Formerly Twitter), Yu Kondo spoke about the villain. He noted that the movies generally had to be set during a period where nothing major was happening in the storyline, filling in gaps and keeping to storylines that wouldn’t have a lasting impact on canon. Originally, Toei wanted to feature Frieza in a movie, but since Frieza was still active in the manga, there was no way to do that.
Thus, Toriyama created a character “reminiscent of Frieza,” who was meant to be his elder brother, Cooler. Thus, Cooler was always intended from Toriyama’s first design to be related to Frieza. While many of the movies are rather detached from the main plot, Cooler’s crusade against Goku and Earth is a direct consequence of Frieza’s defeat by Goku (and subsequent death at the hands of Future Trunks).Cooler was even recognized inDragon Ball GT, which made him dubiously canon at one point.
Could Cooler Make a Dragon Ball Return?
Cooler Hasn’t Been Forgotten in All the Years Since
Cooler may not be considered canon at the moment, but he has had some recent appearances inDragon Ballmedia. In the non-canonicalSuper Dragon Ball Heroesseries, Cooler makes several appearances, sometimes alongside his brother and other times by himself. Cooler actually plays a fairly large role compared to most movie villains, gaining new forms (such asa “Golden Cooler” form to match his brother’s) and even teaming up with Future Trunks at one point.
Cooler could always make an appearance inDragon Ball Superin the future, especially given that its next arc is set to focus on Frieza and his new form. While it may be unlikely, there are plenty ofDragon Ballfans who would love to see the classic movie villain be finally brought into canon–after all, Broly was.
