What If Cooler Was Canonically Good? is a Dragon Ball What If? fanfic by Lawrence Simpson aka MasakoX of Team Four Star fame as part of his Dragon Ball Discussion series of Youtube videos. This particular topic started on February 3rd, 2023.
The What If? follows Coolor from Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge, exploring not only if he was part of the canon Dragon Ball timeline and survived his battle against Goku, but also had enough Pragmatic Villainy to eventually becoming one of Earth's allies.
You can find the playlist for it: here
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See also Masako X - Dragon Ball What-If which explores other possibilities in the Dragon Ball verse.
What If Cooler Was Canonically Good? has the following tropes:
- Adaptational Badass:
- Cooler becomes a cyborg, and, due to learning from when they made Frieza into Mecha-Frieza, Cooler's mechanical enhancements are better. This allows him to fight at only a slight disadvantage with Super Saiyan Vegeta. After losing to Android 17, Bulma and Dr. Briefs upgrade his mechanical parts further using technology derived from Dr. Gero's work. After training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber for a year with Sauza, he's able to fight evenly with Cell while in his 5th form and later notes he can feel a new transformation coming, but his robotic parts were holding him back and Cell targeted those to damage them during their fight. He gets regenerated due to improved healing tanks, regrowing his lost limbs and other missing parts, as well as a sixth form in part 15. After Elec leaks information to him that Dabura and Babidi were going to bring back Majin Buu, Cooler is eager to try out his new form on them.
- Possibly Androids 17 and 18, as well, since 18 defeated Vegeta significantly quicker than canon and 17 handily defeats Cooler.
- Sauza is going to be going into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber with Cooler.
- Adaptational Early Appearance:
- Berryblue and Kikono appear far earlier than they did in canon, similar to the What If Freeza Turned Good series.
- The Heeters appear in episode 13, which is a little before the Buu saga begins.
- Adaptation Expansion: The first 4 parts are the lead up to and Cooler's attack on Earth which proceed pretty much as what probably happened in "canon", until Cooler (and Sauza) survives mostly intact, rather than just a head floating in space.
- Affably Evil: Cooler is sincerely polite and reasonable, as he's long since realized being a Benevolent Boss does more to garner loyalty and improve morale than being a Bad Boss. While staying with the Z-Fighters, he generally acts in a polite manner and comes to genuinely respect Goku, Piccolo, and Bulma. Notably, unlike his sibling who will kill their troops for the slightest misstep or annoyance, Cooler is on genuinely good terms with Sauza and let's him speak back to him without consequence.
- A Lighter Shade of Black: Cooler is still a galactic tyrant, but he's far more pragmatic, reasonable, and a much better Benevolent Boss than his brother and father, with next to no senseless cruelty or sadism.
- An Arm and a Leg:
- Cooler's left hand and leg are "destroyed" by Goku's beam, though he survives.
- Cooler uses his tail to chop off one of Android 19's arms in Part 6.
- Ape Shall Never Kill Ape: Despite Frieza & Cooler's mutual contempt for one another, they would never kill one another since they are family.
- Assimilation Backfire: While Super Buu never intended to absorb Cooler when the latter knocked Gotenks out of the former's reach, it still blew up in the Majin's face when Cooler uses his Sixth Form's head tentacles to break free of his captivity. From there, not only does Cooler attack Buu from the inside, he's able to find and release Good Buu which reduces Super Buu to the animalistic but still weaker Kid Buu.
- Attack Its Weak Point: Cooler's fight with Perfect Cell proceeds pretty equally, until Cell starts attacking his cybernetics.
- Benevolent Boss: Cooler is this to his team, making a point to praise them on a job well done and minimize casualities. He also makes sure to create scenarios that improve morale amongst his top soldiers like Sauza. Even after Sauza is his last remaining member of the Armored Squad, Cooler allows him to object to his orders and speak out against him without consequence, as he knows it comes from a place of genuine loyalty.
- Blood Knight: Cooler gradually finds the challenge Goku and the stronger Z-Fighters exciting, as he'd never actually faced an actual challenge.
- Bottle Episode: Episode 9 is just Sauza and Cooler training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber and coming to terms with what has changed with them since their meeting Goku.
- Break the Haughty: Cooler's ego takes a huge beating after Goku severely injures him and then spares him after their fight on Earth.
- Cyborg: Cooler gets turned into one after being injured by Goku, one that averts Shapeshifter Mode Lock, allowing him to change into his 5th form, with the cybernetics able to change as well.
- Canon Immigrant: Cooler, once again.
- Challenge Seeker: Cooler admits to Sauza that he was had gotten bored of having no challenges for years, since he would always win when he entered the battlefield and that now having six beings on Earth that are as strong or stronger than him and pose a challenge has "rejuvenated" him.
- Cliffhanger: Episode 20 ends with Cooler trying to figure out why the empire has gone radio silent, only to get a transmission of the Big Geta Star.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Cooler's fight with Android 19 in Part 6 is this, with him pretty easily defeating the android. His fight against Android 17 is also one, but Cooler gets stomped.
- Did Not Think This Through: Buu absorbs Sixth-form Cooler after Cooler knocks Gotenks out of the way... However, possibly not accounting for his size or the fact that Cooler can control his head tentacles while in that form, which also weren't cocooned, he is able to cut himself loose soon after being absorbed, leaving Super Buu confused why his new form went away so fast.
- The Dreaded:
- As in canon, Frieza's entire clan, Cooler included, are feared by everyone. However, in Cooler's case it's downplayed by choice. He does want to be feared to a certain degree, but would rather have others be genuinely loyal to him instead of only serving him because they fear him.
- Likewise, the only two beings King Cold told his sons to never mess with are Lord Beerus and Majin Buu, something Cooler also abides by.
- While not to Beerus and Majin Buu's degree, Cooler and his family are aware and wary of 'Planet Eater' Moro. They avoid open conflict with the Galactic Patrol because they don't want to risk the ancient sorcerer escaping his prison.
- Enemy Mine:
- Cooler joins up with the Z team to fight the Androids, mainly because he wants to be the one to defeat Goku.
- Cooler agrees to help deal with Cell because if Cell gets too strong, he'll become a threat to his empire. That and he's offended that his family's genes were used to create the monster.
- After Super Perfect Cell kills Future Trunks and injures Gohan and Vegeta, Cooler goes to help Gohan fight Cell.
- Cooler goes back to Earth when he learns that Majin Buu is going to be released . He later fights alongside Goku, Gohan and Vegeta against Buu, then helping train Trunks and Goten so they can fuse.
- Establishing Character Moment: Cooler is introduced putting down a rebellion...with only as much force and death as absolutely necessary, offering his enemies a chance to surrender, fighting on the frontlines with his troops, praising them for a job well done, and even remembering their homeplanets' original names. This establishes that while still a villain, Cooler is much less malevolent than his family and much more pragmatic.
- Even Evil Has Standards:
- Cooler is noticably less evil than his brother and father, as he views their rampent cruelty as Fascist, but Inefficient and is of the opinion a Benevolent Boss is less likely to face rebellion from their subjection.
- Cooler objects to Frieza's Saiyan genocide on the grounds that the Saiyans have been extremely useful to the empire and wiping them out over a fairytale is an exceedingly stupid decision on his brother's part.
- Cooler refuses to violate Goku's trust and kill him in ambush, as he comes to respect the Saiyan and want a fair rematch with his Worthy Opponent.
- When Sauza voices his complaints and had undergone Sanity Slippage while in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Cooler changes their training regimen from Sauza being a punching bag to more of a mentor-student dynamic and begin analyzing Goku's fighting style, since Cell knows the same techniques as Goku.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Cooler can't comprehend why the Z-Fighters haven't already taken over the world upon realizing even the humans among them could effortlessly do so without even trying.
- Eye Scream: Cooler headbutts Semi-Perfect Cell and then when Cell smirks when it doesn't do much, Cooler uses his eye beams to blind Cell. While Cell does regenerate, it does temporarily blind him and gives Cooler enough time to grab Piccolo and for Goku to teleport them out.
- Fascist, but Inefficient: Cooler objects to how his father and brother run things, as he views their unneeded cruelty and rampent expansion as detrimental from a pragmatic perspective. Cooler himself avoids this, and is generally a Benevolent Boss to his loyal minions.
- Frontline General: Cooler makes it a point to fight alongside his army when possible, as he feels it's good for motivating them and ensuring loyalty.
- The Gadfly: After the initial awkwardness, Cooler started having "a bit of morbid fun" in the situation of him and Sauza eating at Goku's house. He jokes about having Chi-Chi potentially become a chef in his army and teases Gohan (and Chi-Chi) about their belief that he would never have to fight Cell. Goku was naturally clueless about the whole thing.
- History Repeats: Because of Buu becoming a threat, Cooler is unable to practice much with his newly-acquired Sixth-form. Cooler notes that he feels a little weaker after using his Sixth-form, so it's implied that he has the stamina issue that Freeza has with his 100% power and Golden Freeza forms because of not training in them. However, this proves not to be the case as he's able to fight Super Buu for hours using the form, albeit purely defensively.
- Honest Advisor: Berryblue becomes this for Cooler in episode 5, fearlessly telling him what he needs to hear instead of what he wants to hear regarding his defeat at Goku's hands. He grudgingly admits that she is right and it helps Cooler sort himself out. He even leaves her in charge while he does so.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Cooler gets impaled in the stomach by Android 17.
- In Spite of a Nail: Cooler arrives to help deal with Babidi and Dabura and is the one to kill Dabura, and despite, or perhaps because of their mutual enmity, keeps Vegeta from being turned into a Majin. However, Buu still gets released and even Sixth-form Cooler isn't able to do much to him.
- Karmic Jackpot: Cooler being a Benevolent Boss and treating his men well ends up saving his life, as Sauza not only warns him and gives him a chance to avoid being hit by his own Supernova, but risks his life to rescue him and take him back to the Empire out of genuine Undying Loyalty.
- Lawful Evil: How Masako describes Cooler In-Universe.
- Let's You and Him Fight: After Cooler kills Android 19 and turns to Gero, Vegeta shows up and he and Cooler end up fighting, which allows Gero to escape and wake up Androids 16-18.
- Machiavelli Was Wrong: Cooler views his family's focus on ruling by fear of their immense power as shortsighted and stupid. While he does see value in fear, he also goes out of his way to be a Benevolent Boss and abide by Pragmatic Villainy, as he believes it ensures a more efficient army and cuts down on the possibility of rebellion.
- Morality Pet: Cooler comes to genuinely care about the Armored Squadron to the point of being careful not to accidentally kill them while training to obtain his Fifth Form. After being rebuilt as a cyborg, he makes sure to tell Sauza to get some real medical care. When he realizes he needs a sparring partner for the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, his first choice is Sauza.
- The Only One Allowed to Defeat You:
- Cooler's entire reason for joining forces with Goku against the Androids: he wants to be the one to beat him for both practical and personal reasons. It's also why he stops Android 19 from killing Goku because of this.
- This is what prompts Vegeta to attack Cooler (other than hating his entire family): Cooler has a rivalry with Goku and Vegeta already wants to be the one to beat Goku.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: King Cold is normally very calm and polite, but when Cooler calls him after the events of Planet Namek, he's extremely short tempered and verbally abusive towards Cooler. It ends up their last conversation.
- Pragmatic Villainy:
- Even before his run in with Goku, Cooler was always much more pragmatic than his brother and father, treating his followers well, using the original names of their conquered planets, and only using as much force or killing as required to carry out his goals. Cooler finds this not only creates a more effective army, but helps cut down on the possibility of rebellion.
- Cooler is annoyed when Frieza blows up Planet Vegeta, as the Saiyans have been performing well and shown no sign of rebellion against them. He accuses Frieza of destroying an important resource over a fairytale.
- He avoids whole sell destruction, as he sees it as a waste of resources.
- King Cold and his family are aware of 'Planet Eater' Moro and know that, even weakened as he is, Moro is a threat they don't want running loose. So they avoid any direct confrontation with the Galactic Patrol, as they're keeping Moro safely locked away.
- Cooler tries to warn King Cold not to rush blindly to Earth in order to avenge Frieza's defeat, on the grounds they have no idea what they're actually dealing with and could easily end up dead. Cooler, as canon shows, was right.
- Once Cooler is the Emperor, he massively slows down expansion and centralizes the empire, as he viewed his family's reckless expansion as inefficient and overextending their resources.
- Cooler agrees to help deal with Cell because if Cell wins, he might go into space and threaten him and his empire.
- After seeing the technological capabilities of Earth, Cooler agrees to spare it on the grounds their technology could be extremely useful to him.
- Cooler goes to hold off Semi-Perfect Cell and save Piccolo because he recognizes Piccolo as the strongest fighter they have.
- When he gets back to his HQ after helping to defeat Cell, he decides to make the Cooler force volunteer only and changes the planets names back to their original names. After seeing Earth's Hyperbolic Time Chamber, he also has scouts sent out to try and locate one of his own, much like how Frieza did to become Black Frieza.
- Predator Pastiche: Cooler's Sixth Form sounds like this with tentacle-like Alien Hair noting to make it similar to the Third Form, but more close to the Fourth Form. Thumbnail art of later episodes confirm it.
- Pride: Cooler notes that Vegeta is too full of himself and being too full of yourself, as he learned first hand, can lead to your downfall in episode 8. Vegeta then lets Cell become Perfect Cell. Cooler notes that Cell now has Vegeta, Frieza and King Cold's ego, so he could be "grossly overconfident".
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Cooler is still evil, but he's also far more reasonable than his brother and father, including being a good boss to his men, fighting alongside them, and even being willing to peacefully meet Goku and speak with him. He's even willing to form an Enemy Mine with the Z-Fighters if it benefits him or his empire.
- Angry as he was that Sauza attempted to try and kill him during his Sanity Slippage, he forgave the transgression because he understood the anger that Sauza felt.
- Revenge Before Reason:
- As in canon, Frieza and King Cold rush to Earth to take revenge for Frieza's defeat, despite Cooler's warnings it's a bad idea. Predictably, they both die.
- Defied by Cooler himself. After being defeated by Goku in their first fight, Cooler is quite willing to go converse with Goku and put their rematch on hold to deal with greater threats. He even starts to respect Goku and Piccolo. He later admits to Sauza that while he is angry about his loss, he's come to relish the idea of an actual challenge.
- Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies: Cooler contemplates simply blowing up the planet several times in episode 6.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Cooler fights on the front lines with his soldiers in contrast to Frieza, who always waited in the sidelines.
- Sanity Slippage: Sauza starts undergoing one while in the Hyberbolic Time Chamber due to being exhausted mentally and physically by the place and the training they were going through. Being so much weaker than Cooler and for all intents and purposes being Cooler's punching bag also contributed and he even attempts to kill Cooler while he was meditating. This prompts Cooler to change the way they train after that.
- Sibling Rivalry: Cooler and Frieza do not get along, and it's one reason Cooler rarely, if ever, goes back to the capital of the empire in part just to avoid being anywhere near Frieza, knowing he will just brag.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Cooler and Sauza both survive the attack on Earth. Cooler gets his left side severely burned and his left hand and leg "destroyed", but he's far more intact than the end of Cooler's Revenge.
- The Starscream: Elec is planning to usurp Cooler and tries to sabotage his regeneration by hacking it, though Kikono is able to prevent this. Because they didn't have any proof, Cooler goes to the Heeters and threatens Elec's siblings to sew doubt among them when Elec shows no response to Cooler's threats. He tells Kikono and Berryblue that he'll kill Elec, but only when they have proof of him being a traitor, as the new "nicer" empire will look better for doing so.
- Stupid Evil: Cooler views his family's sadism, cruelty, and Bad Boss tendencies as dumb mistakes. Cooler is far more partial to Pragmatic Villainy.
- Super-Toughness: One of the reasons that Cooler volunteers to rescue Piccolo from Semi-Perfect Cell is that he's significantly more durable than Goku.
- Undying Loyalty: Unlike the majority of Frieza's men who only follow him out of fear, Sauza's loyalty to Cooler is entirely genuine to the point he saves his life and shows genuine concern for his superior. This is because unlike his brother, Cooler is a Benevolent Boss. This does come into question in episode 9, when Sauza undergoes Sanity Slippage from the Hyperbolic Time Chamber and the way they were training, with Sauza being, for all intents and purpose, Cooler's punching bag, with Sauza attempting to murder Cooler. Cooler starts to hold back more after that and changes their training regimen to be more like a mentor-student relationship, but does threaten to kill Sauza if he tries something like that again.
- Victory Is Boring: Cooler admits to Sauza that he'd grown bored with his victory always being certain. The fact there are fighters on Earth that match or exceed him has revitalized him.
- Villain Respect:
- Cooler begrudgingly respects Goku because he went from a low class Saiyan to one of the most powerful beings in the universe all through hard work. This is because unlike his brother, he actually had to train and work for his power.
- While still mocking to him, Cooler respects Piccolo's bravery.
- Cooler develops a bit of respect for Bulma, comparing her to Berryblue.
- He also develops some for Gohan, after seeing his intense will while in Super Saiyan 2, telling him to keep up his training and let his more fiery side out more often, because Cooler may want to test Earth's mettle again in the future.
- We Have Become Complacent: Cooler's opinion of his father and brother, which is one reason he trained. Cooler realizes he himself had become complacent and it's one reason he forms an Enemy Mine with the Z-Fighters.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Piccolo and Krillin question Goku when he lets Sauza take the injured Cooler back to his ship and flee.
- Cooler and Krillin both question Goku giving Cell a Senzu bean.
- Worthy Opponent: While he's reluctant to admit it, Cooler acknowledges Goku is stronger than him and his family and has too much respect for him to just ambush and kill him.
