There are few fights in the Dragon Ball universe that are more iconic than the first battle between Goku and Frieza, and while most fans know how that fight ended, it was revealed that Frieza could have drastically changed the outcome with the help of one evil artifact–the Dragon Balls’ dark opposite.
Goku and Frieza battled on Planet Namek during Dragon Ball’s ‘Frieza Saga’ by Akira Toriyama. While the fight itself was epic, it became truly iconic as it was the first time Goku unlocked the Super Saiyan form which gave him the energy to surpass the immensely powerful Lord Frieza. While the battle was close, and an entire planet was destroyed as a result, Frieza was defeated and his scheme to collect Namek’s Dragon Balls and wish to be immortal was thwarted.
In Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Dark Demon Realm Mission! Chapter 2 by Yoshitaka Nagayama, Trunks and Goku, who are known as Xeno Trunks and Xeno Goku, are recruited by the Time Patrol to gather seven Dark Dragon Balls from across different points in time before the demonic Dark Empire gets its hands on them and uses them to take over the mortal realm. Dark Dragon Balls are similar to the originals as they are a set of seven Dragon Balls that have the power to summon a wish-granting dragon, but unlike the originals, they are powered by a dark/demonic energy that have the added function of granting corrupt power to anyone who holds one. While traveling through the time stream, Xeno Goku and Xeno Trunks track one of the Dark Dragon Balls to the time of Dragon Ball’s ‘Frieza Saga’ during the first battle between Goku and Frieza. This time, however, Frieza had the Dark Dragon Ball the heroes were tracking embedded in his chest, granting him an incredible power-up–one which made Super Saiyan Goku look absolutely pathetic.
When Xeno Goku saw what was happening to his past self, he stepped in and helped Goku fight the enhanced Frieza in an effort to preserve the proper flow of time and defeat Frieza just as he had been defeated originally. Unfortunately, Xeno Goku underestimated just how powerful Frieza became with the added power of the Dark Dragon Ball, as he and Goku shot Frieza with a Kamehameha blast simultaneously, and Frieza stopped them like it was nothing. If it wasn’t for Trunks being able to sneak up on Frieza while he battled the two Gokus and cut the Dark Dragon Ball out of his chest, Frieza would have easily destroyed the original Goku he was fighting and would have gone on to conquer the universe unencumbered.
Even after Frieza unlocked his new Golden Frieza form in the current continuity of Dragon Ball Super, he still isn’t a match for Goku, and their first fight proves he never was. However, after harnessing the immense power emanated from a Dark Dragon Ball, Frieza could beat Goku with little effort–undoing his greatest Dragon Ball defeat and proving the Dragon Balls’ dark opposite is the only way Frieza can defeat Goku.
