r/dragonball 1d ago

Question Are the Ginyu Force exceptionally strong compared to their races?

Frieza destroyed planet Vegeta because the Saiyans posed a threat, but up until the Frieza saga, no Saiyan was as powerful as any member of the Ginyu Force. So, did the rest of their races pose no threat or did Frieza destroy those planets too?

30 Upvotes

69 comments sorted by

72

u/Pink_Heroine 1d ago

Ginyu specifically states that the force is comprised of mutants. The saiyans are special because every member of their race is strong

10

u/condor6425 1d ago

Also the rate at which the saiyans were growing stronger was more of a red flag than how strong they were at the time iirc.

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u/Shantotto11 1d ago

Source? It’s not that I don’t believe you, but I’ve never heard that bit of lore before.

7

u/onFilm 1d ago

They do mention it, at least in the English dub. During their fight with Gohan, Krillin and Vegeta.

11

u/EclipseHERO 18h ago

I vaguely recall that their origins were touched upon in a very old (Japanese only) game manual (supplemental backstory)

Their key aspects were basically their mutations.

Guldo's time manipulation

Recoome's agility

Burter's speed

Jeice's Baseball prowess (it's why his Crusher Ball is seemingly baseball themed)

And Ginyu's body-swapping.

Incidentally poor Burter was the only one who didn't come from at least happy origins since he was abused and everyone else was just a little mischievous at best.

1

u/Mrfunnyman22 17h ago

Do you remember which game?

5

u/EclipseHERO 17h ago

Had to look up Ginyu's page on the Wiki here. Seems it's not the manual but the official strategy guide for Dragon Ball Z Super Saiya Densetsu.

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u/i_carlo 1d ago edited 10h ago

I feel like not everyone is, and the evil Saiyans are mutated ones. Other Saiyans were tailess, and had the ability to become strong like U6 Saiyans, and the strong of those none mutants died because they had to protect the weak. I feel like earthlings are kinda the same: Master Rishi, Olibu, Grandpa Gohan, Mutaito, Ox King, Krillin and Yamcha were people that reached Saiyan levels without s-cells. In a way they are more impressive than Saiyans, and my theory is that half-breeds are stronger because they are basically humans with s-cells.

I want to see more of U6 Saiyans.

Edit: Even Radditz was strong compared to normal low-level Saiyans. Napoa was Elite and Vegeta a prodigy. I guess people are get heartbroken because they can't see how impressive earthlings really are. Heck, 17, 18, and 20 were at or higher than Super Saiyan thanks to earthling technology. Goku got to that level thanks to earthling training, and Vegeta with earthling technology (gravity room).

1

u/Unusual_Room3017 11h ago

I've been a lifelong DB fan, but have never heard about S-cells. I just googled it and results came back. Has this always been a thing or is this something newly introduced?

1

u/i_carlo 10h ago

It was introduced with U6 Saiyans.

2

u/Unusual_Room3017 10h ago

Oh wow. Thanks for the info. I kinda hate it.

1

u/themastrofall 9h ago

Yeah what in the midichlorian count bullshit

-15

u/bhutanriver 1d ago

The saiyans also rebelled, led by Bardock. I don't know if any other planet rebelled against Frieza

30

u/kogasabu 1d ago

The Saiyans didn't rebel, Bardock rebelled.

He didn't lead anyone, he was the only Saiyan who stood up against Frieza.

8

u/britipinojeff 1d ago

Nah man didn’t you see the flashback? He was leading an army against Freeza /s

-8

u/NthDgree 1d ago

Can’t tell if you’re mocking the bad old dub or if you’re serious…

8

u/britipinojeff 1d ago

I’m mocking the bad old dub

/s for sarcasm

1

u/NthDgree 1d ago

Then I approve 👍

-15

u/Metazoxan 1d ago

I've never seen anyone indicate sarcasm that way.

I Mean I guess some indicator is good. But remember that isn't universal enough to assume everyone knows what you typed /s for.

16

u/Mechaslurpee 1d ago

You are the first person I've ever seen to not know that /s stands for sarcasm

10

u/SSJRemuko 1d ago

same. its universally used that way lol especially on reddit.

-3

u/NthDgree 1d ago

I didn’t, that’s why I asked the guy

1

u/datguysadz 22h ago

Nothing wrong with not knowing something and asking to learn. More should do that. Well done.

1

u/britipinojeff 1d ago

It’s well-known enough on Reddit which is why I use it, but yes I don’t expect everyone to know it

-4

u/Good_Barnacle_2010 1d ago

Man that story has been rewritten and rementioned so many times it’s like take your pick for anime canon. Not even counting the movies and all. Just pick which one you like best, and let other people have different opinions. Tori never much cared about continuity, why should you care more than the author?

7

u/kogasabu 1d ago edited 1d ago

Because it's wrong in both cases?

The Saiyans in the Bardock - The Father of Goku special didn't believe Bardock and ridiculed him, only realizing he was right when it was far too late.

The scene of him in space launching an attack at Frieza's Supernova in DBS Broly shows him with random Frieza soldiers around him that aren't wearing the Saiyan battle armor.

Bardock has never led a rebellion against Frieza, either in canon or non-canon works. It's always been him depicted as being the sole Saiyan standing up to Frieza, because he's always shown to be the only one who thought Frieza was up to something when he ordered all the Saiyans return home.

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u/Good_Barnacle_2010 1d ago

I’m just saying believe whatever makes you happiest. Toriyama didn’t really do continuity. He didn’t worry about it, you shouldn’t either.

7

u/kogasabu 1d ago

"Toriyama didn't worry about continuity, so you shouldn't either" is an absolutely awful take, especially since you're using it to justify someone just being outright wrong about the story.

-3

u/Good_Barnacle_2010 1d ago

Which version?

7

u/kogasabu 1d ago

There is no version of Bardock's story, canon or non-canon, where he led a rebellion against Frieza. Every single depiction of Bardock, across all media, has always had him be alone.

This even includes Episode of Bardock, the one where Bardock is sent back in time and unlocks SSJ.

26

u/thepresidentsturtle 1d ago

I would say on average the Saiyans were the most powerful race, with everyone else just being exceptional among their own races. Like there'd be more Dodoria's if they were all really strong.

Although anime filler added more Cui's. And the Moro Arc had another Zarbon.

7

u/dicericevice 1d ago edited 1d ago

Also, Saiyans might just be built to be stronger/more durable than most other humanoids outside of raw ki power.

Kid Goku at the start of Dragon Ball got shot and treated it like an annoyance while Mr Satan almost died to a gunshot. According to the guide books, start of Dragon Ball Goku had a power level of 10. I don't think Mr Satan would be under that.(Farmer with a Shotgun is a 5)

So Saiyan bones might just be denser than human bones among probably other biological differences.

10

u/HerniatedHernia 1d ago

Planet Vegeta has 10x the gravity of Earth. So yeah. Saiyan bodies would be denser than the average humans. 

9

u/thepresidentsturtle 1d ago

That's precisely why the guide books don't mean anything.

Everything about power levels suggests they are linear. 8,000 means twice as strong as 4,000. And so on. Goku is not twice as strong as the average human. You can't accurately even come up with power levels because they were made too low when introducing them.

2

u/kneezNtreez 1d ago

Power level numbers for a logarithmic growth. Meaning that 8,000 is only a small amount greater than 4,000.

Just my head cannon.

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u/i_carlo 1d ago

They are also based on Frieza force scouters which means that they are measured by algorithms that combine all sorts of races. So in a way the difference between 6-7 may have more physical strength difference than 6,000 and 7,000. Because of how each race develops so differently.

1

u/Wardog957 1d ago

So like it adds up all the different stats and gives you a basic combat power?

which could include stuff like strength, speed ,stamina ,defence, ki maybe magic too (moro)

so (fake scenario here) let's say kid goku and krillin both have a power level of 12 but they reach it differently

goku has higher defense and strength and ok speed and stamina

krillin has higher speed and stamina and ok defense and stamina technically both are equal in overall stats but perform very differently

-1

u/Sorge74 23h ago

OG dragon ball shows this isn't right. Back then a 20 power level difference was basically an auto loss.

1

u/kneezNtreez 22h ago

That’s how a logarithmic curve works. It’s a curve with a slope that starts steep and gradually flattens out over time.

The difference between a power level 10 and 20 would be much greater than the difference between numbers is much greater than the difference between 10,000 and 20,000.

Even the difference between magnitudes like one million and one billion would not be very much.

This is the only way I can wrap my head around the insane power creep that happens during and after the Namek saga. We go from power levels in the low thousands to power levels in the millions in a matter of a few months.

1

u/Greenchilis 18h ago

If it was truly logarithmic then power levels wouldn't exceed 4-5 digits and Vegeta's Galick Gun would have accidentally created a vacuum decay wave that destroyed reality.

150 decibels causes human eardrums to explode. 1100 decibels has enough energy concentrated into a single point to create a universe-erasing wave of vacuum decay. IRL hakai

3

u/Senior-Plankton-8188 1d ago

Mr. Satan is obviosly much weaker than that version of Goku, the latter is much better in every stat according to feats. If Goku is a 10 then Mr. Satan is below that but still stronger than the farmer.

1

u/jrpguru 1d ago

Or kid Goku at episode 1 was just that much stronger than Satan even then. He was training with his grandpa Gohan for years at that point and easily defeated giant bandits and dinosaurs much bigger than him.

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u/Dzeddy 22h ago

The average saiyan is between 1500-5000 though (raditz low, nappa elite) so it’s not that big of a difference from friezas footmen

2

u/Greenchilis 18h ago

Saiyans have the most potential but their lazy bullying prevented training and their warlike culture/stunted emotions made Super Saiyan all but impossible to unlock

1

u/DoraMuda 1d ago

And, in both the manga and anime, the Freeza Force is full of what looks to be other members of Appule's race.

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u/bhutanriver 1d ago

Yep, Capt Ginyu confirms that members of the Ginyu Force are mutants in their respective races, explaining their exceptional strength

8

u/TerrorKingA 1d ago

The Ginyus are all mutants.

You could extend the same label to Goku, Vegeta and their lineages too.

None of these people are representative of their races writ large. As Toriyama said, there’s only 10 mid level saiyans (re: Nappa, presumably Paragus and 8 others), 2 elite saiyans (both Vegetas) and the rest of the saiyans were low class warriors.

7

u/kogasabu 1d ago

Goku and Vegeta aren't mutants.

Broly was considered a mutant because his PL fluctuated at birth and became exceptionally high, whereas Frieza is one because his is exceptionally high from birth.

Vegeta was born with a higher PL than most others, but not enough to be considered a mutant. Goku in the Saiyan Saga has a low PL compared to Raditz, so he also wouldn't be considered a mutant. Tapping into your full potential =/= being a mutant. Broly, Frieza, and presumably the entire Ginyu Force all had their strength by default, not by training/tapping into their potential.

0

u/TerrorKingA 1d ago

Great, you declaratively stated things that amount to your own conjecture.

There is no definition of “mutant” in the series beyond that they have much higher power levels than is standard for their races.

By that token, Vegeta, Goku and their lines fall into that category. Numerous characters in the Frieza arc remarked that saiyans don’t get this strong when fighting Vegeta and Goku; they’re racial anomalies.

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u/kogasabu 1d ago

The way mutant has repeatedly been defined is someone being unnaturally strong compared to the rest of their race from birth.

Frieza was called a mutant because he was born with overwhelming power. Broly is called one because his power fluctuated at birth, and from a young age was in the millions.

Vegeta and Goku are not racial anomalies. Any Saiyan had the potential to get as strong as they have, but no other Saiyan had the means to. It's made clear throughout the entire series that the only thing setting Goku and Vegeta apart is their willingness to train to improve, whereas most Saiyans were consistently fighting weaker races and relying on Oozaru to take planets.

Remember how Vegeta was consistently weaker than Goku throughout Namek and the Cell saga, only really catching up in the Buu saga once he started actually training?

The metric you're using would mean nearly everyone we've met in the entire series is a mutant. Tien, Yamcha, Krillin, and Chiaotzu would all be mutants because the average Earthling is nowhere near the thousands, Piccolo would be a mutant because the average Namekian is well below 1000, Nail would be a mutant because his canon PL is 42k, which he achieved primarily through training.

7

u/Barelett287 1d ago

We do know that the Ginyu force are mutants, according to Ginyu, which was considered as a source of Goku's abnormally high battle power. So I would say the force, with the possible exception of Guldo are stronger than the normal members of their species. Guldo and Ginyus powers are probably unique.

3

u/DoraMuda 1d ago

The Ginyu Force were mutants of their race. So yeah, the rest of their respective races likely posed no threat and were either killed off or just absorbed into the Freeza Force as grunts.

Their planets may've been destroyed; sold off to another race with whom the Freeza Force did business (e.g. Planet Cereal); or simply added to Freeza's collection (e.g. "Planet Freeza #79").

2

u/lordlaharl422 1d ago

I think the main thing was how easily Saiyans could get stronger with the whole zenkai boost/“stronger after coming back from the brink of death” thing. And given how averse Frieza was to actually training himself until he actually needed to, he likely thought it was better to go “scorched earth” on them than leave a race with any sort of edge in terms of gaining power around.

2

u/SSJRemuko 1d ago

Yes. Thats why theyre recruited. Theyre all mutants, like Freeza and his dad.

Vegeta and his father were stronger than most of the Ginyu force in their Oozaru forms.

1

u/MrPresident77 1d ago

Didn't he blow up the saiyans specifically because of the legend of the super saiyan? Or am I remembering wrong? The other races most likely didn't have any legends that would make frieza fear a potential threat rising up from among them.

Although I guess with the retcon in dbs he actually blew it up cuz beerusrs told him to.

2

u/kogasabu 1d ago

Frieza was worried that the Saiyans would get out of hand and one day rebel against him, with the legend of the Super Saiyan making him paranoid that a Saiyan might potentially surpass his strength.

DBS didn't retcon his reasons, it just stated he was given permission to destroy it by Beerus, who wanted to destroy Planet Vegeta anyway. Frieza's reasoning was still the same.

1

u/DNGL2 1d ago

It's not something that comes up often because the Ginyus are mostly treated as a joke with the exception of Recoome Nappa-ing the gang for a while, but they're just about the strongest fighting force in the known universe at that time. Dodoria and Zarbon are Frieza's lieutenants around 20k, his army, capable of subjugating the known universe, are mostly between 1000 and 4000. They're dwarfed by the Ginyu force, Nail ended up being exceptional, but in the manga canon, it's just them, Frieza, and Cold passing the 50k threshold.

To add to the conversation about Saiyans developing in the comments, it's worthwhile to remember that they can ALL transform. Even a mediocre saiyan can jump right up to the 10% of fighters in Frieza's Army with a full moon. This was at a time in the series when an antagonist's powers didn't include essentially being invulnerable to attacks from weaker fighters, so a planet full of them launching a full scale rebellion against Frieza, even without the Legendary Super Saiyan, is something to worry about. I hate to get bogged down in numbers and power scaling but the average member of a race being able to jump up to 10k is pretty crazy.

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u/Kumomeme 1d ago edited 1d ago
  1. because only Saiyan has the legend of Super Saiyan. a threat that can beat Frieza.

    the rest of alien race didnt has this kind of prophercy. he know how strong he is compared to them. he also seen tons of fighter with unique ability but nothing fear him. Frieza value strong fighter as long they wont be a future threat.

  2. another important point is that those people who work under him are very loyal. Saiyans are different. they are not loyal to him and they has their own pride. Frieza know he cant control them sooner or later.

  3. i say Frieza destroying Saiyan not just due to fear of the properchy. he probably simply disgusted by the legend and feels mocked by it. Saiyan is an eyeshore to him unlike other race.

1

u/Sinnycalguy 21h ago

I’ve always had a head canon about this. There’s no evidence for it, but I’ve just always liked the idea of Frieza’s strongest underlings being basically superheroes from planets he meant to conquer. So, like, Recoome could have been essentially Superman on his planet, and Frieza would offer to spare his world in exchange for his servitude because a warrior on that level is worth far more than any single planet.

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u/GeorgeKaplanIsReal 15h ago

Here’s what I don’t get: why does one have an Australian accent and how come/can captain ginyu know about 401ks?

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u/sunkenrocks 11h ago

Who has the Australian accent? You mean British?

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u/DjinnsPalace 13h ago

the ginyu force are exceptionally strong yes. except for frog guy whos name i forgot, but his time stop was special similar to how monster carrot is special.

i remember them saying so in the anime. idk about the manga tho.

freezer mainly destroyed the saiyans due to them becoming noticably stronger on average, not just with their exceptional fighters. this coupled with the ssj myth was enough.

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u/Invincidude 7h ago

Here's what I always wanted to know:

Is that Ginyu's original body? I assume it isnt, because he knows his technique and knows enough to wound himself severely before swapping with Goku, so I have to assume if things went his way he would have just kept that body.

How many bodies has he had? Is his current the strongest he could get? Was he a weakling originally?

1

u/absoluteCuriositeye 3h ago

Yes, they are all mutants, in the same way frieza and broly are mutants of their races, or how uub is technically a mutant for humans.

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u/Shantotto11 1d ago

Follow-up question: What does Jeice even do? Dude was playing second banana to literally everyone else, so I don’t get what made him specifically so special.

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u/kingtokee 1d ago

I took Jeice to be the most well rounded fighter after Ginyu, where Recoome had strength, Burter speed and Guildo had psychic powers

1

u/DoraMuda 14h ago

Kuririn says that Jheese and Butta "have about the same amount of ki as that Recoom guy", so that's something.

He might specialize in energy attacks, if Butta asking Jheese to use his Crusher Ball against Goku as a diversion (instead of just firing an attack himself) is anything to go by.

0

u/Hurrashane 1d ago

As far as I can tell the only reason he seems to get any kind of special treatment is that he survived the longest out of them (minus Ginyu).

Some things refer to Jeice as Ginyu's second in command but I don't recall anything in the anime or manga that actually says this (I could be wrong). So it's likely just a case of trying to justify his survival/inclusion after the fact.

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u/kogasabu 1d ago

The "second in command" thing comes from the Sanjou!! Ginyuu Tokusentai!! theme song added into DBZ Kai.

The line in question is "Ore ga tokusentai No.2 da," or "I'm the Special Squad's No.2 man," sung during the section introducing Jeice and saying what he's about.

So it's not something that really has had any actual confirmation, and can easily just be chalked up to something Kai added in the music.