Dragon Ball's Cooler Got His Most Powerful Form in a Surprising Place
While trapped on the nightmarish Prison Planet, Cooler reveals that Frieza isn't the only one who can transform into a powerful Golden Form.
Ever since his debut in the 1991 film, Dragon Ball Z: Cooler’s Revenge, Frieza’s brother Cooler has captivated audiences with his intimidating persona and monstrous final form. Unlike some of his other movie-only associates such as Broly and Gogeta, Cooler never had the chance to appear again in mainstream Dragon Ball media with one crazy exception. The elusive Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Universe Mission manga introduces fans to a Cooler from another dimension, one where he is much more powerful than his original appearance.
Chapter 2 of Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Universe Mission takes place on the Prison Planet, a collection of planets fused together by the demon scientist Fu. Fu has used his abilities to travel through different times and dimensions to gather some of the universe’s strongest warriors in order to play out a cruel experiment: an all-out battle royale for the Dragon Balls, with only the victors being allowed off Prison Planet. One of these competitors brought to Prison Planet is Cooler from an alternate dimension where he presumably defeated Goku on Earth. In addition to his final form, this Cooler is capable of using his brother’s signature transformation as well.
Upon being compared to Frieza by the ever condescending Fu, Cooler states that he is able to do anything his brother can, and immediately powers up to Golden Cooler on top of using his final form. Golden Cooler’s power is awe-inspiring, rivaling that of Goku and Vegeta’s Super Saiyan Blue transformation easily. His raw strength was so great that he could resist the same evil aura which took control of Goku’s mind only moments earlier. Cooler is eventually beaten back by the evil Saiyan, Cumber, but given how Cumber is on the level of fighters like Vegito Blue this defeat is to be expected.
Cooler’s Golden form has drastic implications, not only for the dimension Cooler comes from but for Cooler himself. To begin with, the fact that Cooler compares himself to his brother implies that not only did Frieza live on after the fight with Goku in his dimension, but that both brothers somehow obtained their Golden Form after potentially killing the Z-Warriors decades ago. This version of Cooler also seems much more calculated and less likely to act out of a sense of revenge or honor, as the original movie version Cooler did. This doesn’t mean that the galactic tyrant has turned over a new leaf, however, as he remains as condescending as ever to anyone he considers beneath him. It’s likely that whatever happened in the timeline this Golden Cooler comes from also served to dramatically shift his personality as he is no longer hellbent on killing Saiyans on sight.
Cooler’s new transformation in Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Universe Mission is not one to be reckoned with. His ability to match the strength of warriors around the power of Super Saiyan Blue means that he is more than likely on a universal tier of strength. This coupled with his dangerously fast energy-gathering abilities means that Cooler is more than likely at the top of his universe’s Cold Family hierarchy. Cooler's Golden Form is without a doubt his most powerful incarnation yet.
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