Dragon Ball Animated Films Codexery

Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler

Cooler returns with a metallic body and a sentient ship.

Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler is the sixth film in the Dragon Ball Z series, a 1992 Japanese anime science fiction martial arts movie. Its Japanese title translates to "Dragon Ball Z: Fight! 10 Billion Power Warriors." It debuted in Japan on March 7 at the Toei Anime Fair, screening alongside the second *Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibōken* film and the third *Magical Taruruto-kun* film. This movie comes after *Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge* and before *Dragon Ball Z: Super Android 13!*.

Years after Frieza destroyed their original home world, the Namekian people have settled on New Namek. A mysterious, sentient spaceship attaches itself to the planet and begins attacking. Dende, now Earth's guardian, senses his people's distress and telepathically calls Goku for help. Goku, Gohan, Krillin, Piccolo, Oolong, Yajirobe, and Master Roshi travel to New Namek. There, they find an army of large robots abusing the Namekians. They learn that Cooler, Frieza's older brother whom Goku thought he had killed, is behind the attack. Now possessing a metallic body, Cooler plans to absorb the planet and its lifeforms to power his ship. Goku fights Cooler while the others battle the robots, whose durable armor is hard to penetrate. All except Piccolo are captured, along with a village of Namekians. Piccolo destroys every robot with a single large ki attack and then goes to rescue the captives. Goku struggles against Cooler's new "Meta-Cooler" form, which can regenerate. Cooler also demonstrates the instantaneous movement technique, an ability Goku shares. Cooler explains that his ship constantly monitors his body, repairs damage, and improves his design for greater durability. Even as a Super Saiyan, Goku cannot defeat Meta-Cooler. Vegeta arrives and saves Goku from being strangled. The two Super Saiyans attack together and destroy Meta-Cooler, but the ship creates 1,000 copies of him, overwhelming them. Goku and Vegeta are captured and taken to be converted into fuel. As the ship drains their energy, Cooler reveals that after his defeat, his brain was absorbed by and fused with a spacecraft's computer system, which he eventually took over. Goku and Vegeta release all their ki, overloading the system. They encounter the true biological Cooler, and Goku kills him with a ki blast. Piccolo arrives and faces a Meta-Cooler, which explodes. All the Meta-Coolers and robot soldiers

Japanese title
Dragon Ball Z: Gekitotsu!! Hyaku-Oku Power no Senshi-tachi
Release date
March 7, 1992 (Japan)
Genre
Science fiction martial arts
Film series
Sixth Dragon Ball Z film
Preceded by
Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge
Followed by
Dragon Ball Z: Super Android 13!

Lore & Background

The Namekian people, now living on a new planet after their home world was destroyed by Frieza years prior, find New Namek under siege by a mysterious, sentient spaceship that has latched onto and begun attacking their home. Dende, now the Earth's guardian, senses the plight of his people and telepathically calls on Goku for help. Goku, Gohan, Krillin, Piccolo, Oolong, Yajirobe and Master Roshi travel to the New Namek and upon arrival encounter an army of large robots abusing the Namekians. They learn that Frieza's older brother Cooler, who Goku was thought to have killed, is responsible. Now with a metallic body, Cooler reveals that he will absorb the planet and its lifeforms to power his ship.

Reader's Guide

The film is significant as the direct sequel to Cooler's Revenge, expanding the antagonist's story by fusing him with a spacecraft's computer system. It introduces the Meta-Cooler form, which allows regeneration and adaptation, and features the first team-up of Goku and Vegeta as Super Saiyans against a common foe. The film's release in Japan was part of a triple feature, and it later received multiple English dubs, including a Malaysian version with an unknown cast and a Philippine dub that combined it with its predecessor. Its legacy includes a Double Feature DVD and Blu-ray release with Cooler's Revenge, and a remastered thinpak collection in 2011.

Did You Know?

More in Dragon Ball animated films 1-23

Spotted an error? Know more?

This is a living reference — every entry is fact-audited, and reader corrections feed straight into our audit queue. Suggest an edit · See this site's audit record

Comments

Loading…
Open in the interactive codex →