King Cold

"I've always so enjoyed the last few quiet moments before laying a planet to waste..."

- King Cold

King Cold is a villain in the Dragon Ball Z series, and the father of both Frieza and Cooler.

Appearance
King Cold ranks among the tallest villains in the Dragon Ball universe, and his physical appearance is very similar to his sons, looking nearly identical to Frieza's second form. He is well muscled and his skin is darker than Frieza's, but lighter than Cooler's. He wears the standard Battle Armor over his chest, along with an indigo cape. The "dome" on his head is colored dark blue (though it sometimes appears dark teal in the anime), along with his horns that have lines on it. Despite the fact that both of his sons have demonstrated the ability to transform, it is unknown if King Cold has the ability to change shape as well.

Personality
King Cold has a calm, high-class attitude with elegant mannerisms. Like his son Frieza, he displays a great deal of arrogance and impatience. He seems to display a high level of concern for his family, though he quickly becomes annoyed with how long it takes Frieza to finish off an opponent. Despite his alleged high concern for his family, he seems to have no qualms for attempting to replace family members if they are killed with the person who killed them. This was evidenced by his attempting to get Future Trunks to join him after the latter killed Frieza, although this could have been a lie as he believed that fighting Trunks was not to his advantage (at least as long as he was in possession of his sword).

History
In the anime Dragonball Z and Dragonball Z Kai, King Cold is the father of Freeza and Cooler. He stands much taller than Freeza, and is also believed to be more powerful.

Freeza Saga
While King Cold does not appear in the saga personally, he receives his first mention after Son Goku knocks Freeza into a plateau, when Freeza says that Goku is the first person to hurt him besides his "loving parents".

Arriving on Earth
Sometime after Freeza's defeat at the Super Saiyan's hands, King Cold and his crew search through the debris of Planet Namek's remains. Though in disbelief that his son could be destroyed by a mere planet's explosion, the angered King Cold telekinetically shatters his spaceship's cockpit window, making Fisshi, one of his soldiers, fall in space. He then vows that if Freeza has truly been defeated then he himself will avenge his son. Eventually, Cold's scientists discover Freeza's battered remains and manage to rebuild him with mechanical limbs. When Freeza awakens, he explains to his father about the Super Saiyan that nearly destroyed him. The two discover that the Super Saiyan is on his way to Earth. Though Cold recommends destroying the planet from space, Freeza devises a plan to arrive on Earth before the Super Saiyan does and kill the earthlings in an attempt to make the Super Saiyan suffer. Then, Freeza (with Cold's help) would have a rematch with the Super Saiyan and victory would be assured.

When King Cold and Mecha Freeza arrive on Earth, at Northern Wastelands, Cold gives permission for his son to kill the Super Saiyan's friends, and orders his soldiers to kill anything they come in contact with. Suddenly, Trunks shows up from the future and easily dispatches all of Cold's minions. Much to Freeza's horror and Cold's curiosity, the youth transforms into a Super Saiyan and survives all of Freeza's attacks (much to Cold's annoyance). Trunks then slays Freeza with his sword and disintegrates the remains. King Cold then offers the youth the opportunity to take his son's place (even offering planets as well). Trunks unabashedly declines, which does not worry Cold as he believes the boy's power stems solely from his weapon.

In an attempt to acquire the boy's sword, Cold asks if he may examine the blade. With the sword in his hand, Cold strikes at the mysterious youth, but to his great horror, the blade is effortlessly caught. Trunks begins to overpower King Cold and, with his other hand, shoots a God Breaker blast which goes right through King Cold's chest, sending him flying. Cold begins begging for his life, saying that he will give the youth all the planets he conquered. But his pleas for mercy fall on deaf ears, as Trunks quickly finishes him off with yet another God Breaker blast, much to the shock of the Z Warriors. (Cold only begs for his life in the anime, while the first blast kills him immediately in the manga). His cells were then collected by Dr. Gero's remote tracking device to create Cell.

Great Saiyaman Saga
Since his death, King Cold has appeared in several episodes, generally those involving Hell. In the Great Saiyaman Saga, King Cold, Frieza, Cell, and four of the members of the Ginyu Force: Recoome, Burter, Jeice, and Guldo were terrorizing Demons in search of a way out, however Goku and Pikkon came to stop them. After easily defeating Cell, Pikkon elbowed Cold in the stomach, bringing him to his knees. He was then locked up in a cell with Frieza, Cell, and the Ginyu Force.

Kid Buu Saga
In the Pure Buu Saga, King Cold appeared alongside a large number of Demons and dead villains, watching the fight between Goku and Kid Buu.

Dragon Ball GT
King Cold makes a brief cameo when most of the villains from the Dragon Ball series escape from Hell. It is most likely that he was killed again and sent back to Hell.

Powers and Abilities
Likely nearly every villain in the Dragon Ball series, King Cold can fly, generate ki blasts, and has superhuman strength, he also has sword skills - his signature move being the Dirty Slash. Video games have shown King Cold to be able to use the Death Cannon and also the Death Beam.

King Cold has been stated to be stronger than both Frieza and Cooler, though the Daizenshuu states he is "somewhat inferior to Frieza," likely due to him only being in second form.

Overwhelming Attack
More commonly known as the Dirty Slash, it is used when King Cold tricks Future Trunks' sword and he tries to slash him with it.

Super Death Beam
Also known as the Full Power Death Beam, and Cell's version being known as the Perfect Death Beam. The user extends his index finger forward and fires a yellow Death Beam that is slightly bigger and more powerful than the original. King Cold is presumably the inventor of this technique. Cooler can use it in the game Battle of Z and Frieza can also possibly use it. Cell can also use the attack due to having King Cold's DNA.

Cold Family Power
A team attack that's use along side Frieza after his cybernetic enhancements. It consists of King Cold punching his opponent up high into the air, who then falls to the ground. Mecha Frieza joins his father, who says: "Behold my people's power!" After the short speech Mecha Frieza dashes towards the enemy with his head in the stomach, while King Cold flies up high. Cold quickly kicks the opponent away, followed by Frieza who backflip-kicks him to the ground. Frieza kicks the horrified opponent again, who tries to get up. King Cold prevents the enemy from doing so and punches him to the ground in the blink of an eye. The doomed enemy puts up his head for the last time when King Cold, holding Future Trunks' sword and uses the Dirty Slash attack before finally finishing the attack with a blast resembling Frieza's Death Cannon.

Trivia

 * Although King Cold appears to be one of the tallest villains in the Dragon Ball series, his exact size is not always consistent. The manga depicts Cold as being nearly triple the height of Mecha Frieza, while the anime depicts him with varying sizes. In Budokai Tenkaichi 3, King Cold's height is equal to Frieza's second form.