The ongoing saga of Dragon Ball Super has not only sent the Z Fighters on all-new missions that push them to the brink of their own power limits, but it has also breathed new life into older characters who fans thought were gone forever, such as the villainous Frieza. Since Frieza has returned to the official Dragon Ball canon, it is time to also bring back his brother, Cooler–and one spin-off Dragon Ball manga proves why.
Cooler is the oldest son of King Cold and the older brother of Frieza who made his debut in the film Dragon Ball Z: Cooler’s Revenge. The film established that, like Frieza, Cooler had his own collection of planets over which he ruled in his father’s name. When Cooler learned that Frieza had been killed by a Saiyan–a species over which Frieza himself ruled for some time–Cooler immediately launched an attack against the Saiyan responsible. While one would assume Cooler wants Goku dead because he is supposedly responsible for murdering his brother, Cooler makes it clear that he actually doesn’t care about his brother very much and even confesses to Goku that he probably would have killed Frieza himself if Goku hadn’t done the job for him. Cooler, like Frieza and King Cold, cares only for the expansion of his own empire, and Frieza was nothing more than his competition.
In Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Universe Mission chapter 4 by Yoshitaka Nagayama, Goku, Vegeta, and a number of other Dragon Ball characters from across the multiverse have been lured into a planetary arena known as Prison Planet by a cosmic scientist named Fu. Fu has created this battle royale as an experiment to see which fighter is truly the strongest, and the winner will be granted a full set of Dragon Balls–and Cooler is one of these multiversal contestants. While searching for the Dragon Balls, Cooler comes across his father who is lying injured on the ground alongside his fallen army after being decimated by another contestant in this sick multiversal game. King Cold has in his possession one of the Dragon Balls, and tells Cooler to help him so they might work together and collect the rest before anyone else can. Cooler responds by coldly shooting his dad through the heart and taking the Dragon Ball for himself.
This chapter of Super Dragon Ball Heroes makes it clear that Cooler’s attitude towards his father is the exact same as it is towards his brother. As he explained in Dragon Ball Z: Cooler’s Revenge, Cooler was basically plotting to murder his brother and take control over his sector of space. The murder of his father in Super Dragon Ball Heroes proves that he was serious and he actually doesn’t care about his family at all–seeing them only as obstacles to overcome. Due to the disdain he holds for his own family, Cooler would make a perfect addition to the current continuity of Dragon Ball Super. In Dragon Ball Super, Frieza is back to ruling the universe (minus Earth) and no one has challenged him for that title since his return. If Cooler is revealed to have been out there all along (since the events of his films aren’t canon) then he could carry out his dark plan of trying to kill his brother and taking his place as a universal tyrant.
Pulling fan-favorite non-canon characters into the established Dragon Ball continuity isn’t a strange occurrence in the series as Dragon Ball Super made Broly canon with the film Dragon Ball Super: Broly. If Cooler received that same treatment, his inclusion in the official universe could set up a story of universal conflict between himself and his brother. That could then set the stage for new and exciting stories that have yet to be explored–proving that Frieza’s return in Dragon Ball Super should also bring back his brother Cooler.