Despite his proclamations about being the Prince of All Saiyans, Dragon Ball Z's Vegeta wasn't an expert on his people at the time that the Saiyan homeworld was destroyed, and thus some secrets were lost forever - among them, the real reason that Frieza was so desperate to eliminate the Saiyans, setting the stage for everything that happens in Dragon Ball Super.

The lore surrounding the Saiyan race has expanded as the Dragon Ball franchise has continued, most recently with the revelations about Goku's father Bardock and the Saiyans' role in the extermination of the Cerealians in Super. While Frieza has always been the one responsible for wiping out the Saiyans, the reasons initially given were that they had attempted to rebel against his rule over their planet, and he obliterated the planet in retaliation, leaving only a handful of survivors, including Vegeta, Nappa, and Goku's brother, Raditz. Frieza, of course, lied to them about what happened to Planet Vegeta, claiming its demise was the result of an unfortunate encounter with an asteroid. Vegeta's discovery of this fact is a big part of what leads him to change sides, setting up his position as one of the most popular characters in manga history.

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As it turns out, there's a little more to the story than Frieza retaliating against a rebellion. In a special chapter known as Dragon Ball Minus, which was first released in 2014 alongside the collected volume of spin-off series Jaco the Galactic Patrolman, it's revealed that Frieza had a very different reason for his brutality towards the Saiyans. While Vegeta was aware of the "Legendary Super Saiyan" myth, it turns out that few on the Saiyan homeworld were familiar with the old tales of the Super Saiyan God, including Vegeta. Once Frieza discovered this story, he summoned all the Saiyan warriors back home and had his men searching for details, despite his advisors assuring him it was a myth. Frieza, feeling that the Saiyans were already too dangerous, declared that even the slightest chance it was true was too much of a risk, and annihilated the entire planet for that reason alone.

Dragon-Ball-Minus-Frieza-Saiyans manga

While at the time, the Minus chapter was viewed by some fans as an unwelcome retcon merely to better mesh with Dragon Ball Super's first arc, the idea that Frieza was aware of the Super Saiyan God legend actually clears a lot of things up. No doubt Frieza, his Frieza Force, and the Ginyu Force were capable of putting down rebellions without sacrificing an entire planet; after all, Frieza's whole business was kicking people off their worlds to claim them as his own. Frieza looked down on the Saiyans, but this myth suggested they might be better than him - close to the divine, even. Frieza's fear was the reason for his act of genocide, rather than his usual cruelty, and in the tradition of the best tales of prophecy, this act of violence is what set the stage for his inevitable defeat.

The change adds an element of the traditional epic to Dragon Ball Z's story, showing how evil sows the seeds of its own demise. It's not surprising that much of this Minus chapter was eventually adapted into flashback parts of the Dragon Ball Super: Broly film, as it so cleanly patches plot holes and ties up loose story threads. Ultimately, Dragon Ball is improved by fans knowing Frieza's true reason for the destruction of the Saiyans.

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