The Saiyan race: Willingly employed or enslaved by Freeza?

[Future Warrior]

This is something that I feel isn't entirely consistent within the series itself, at least in supplementary material. I'm pretty sure the manga is a bit ambiguous on the matter, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

I always saw the Saiyan's alliance with Freeza as always being akin to that to a business contract, and this seems to be supported in the Bardock special. The Saiyans in that special don't seem to harbor any negative views with the emperor, even enjoying the missions they were assigned by him. When you consider their surprised reactions at being betrayed by him, it seems in line with what we know about Freeza's polite demeanour being his primary image.

The other side of the coin is mostly hinged on modern material as far as I'm aware. In the Broli movie, it was mentioned by Bardock that they were taken in and enslaved by Freeza's army. Also, I think Vegeta mentions this as well when meeting Cabba for the first time.

 

[Boo Brand Milk]

In my headcanon, King Vegeta sold out his race. His subjects felt free; they loved what they did. But King Vegeta knew who his master was.

 

[withheldforprivacy]

The whole DBZ began because of a statement of Zarbon's, which worried Freeza.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Modern material definitely leans more towards Freeza enslaving them, whereas the Z anime pointed more towards it being a partnership through filler. The Bardock Special is ambiguous about it as Freeza is clearly the ones giving orders to the Saiyans and having authority over them, though it isn't to the extent of open enslavement as many of them still treat Freeza in a positive light.

As for the manga, we have this statement from Vegeta just prior to his death:

Spoiler

Makes it sound as though Freeza was employing the Saiyans as a group of mercenaries rather than the same as his regular soldiers.

 

[Future Warrior]

The whole DBZ began because of a statement of Zarbon's, which worried Freeza.

This doesn't answer the question.

Modern material definitely leans more towards Freeza enslaving them, whereas the Z anime pointed more towards it being a partnership through filler.

The filler segment of King Vegeta rebelling against Freeza does show their treatment being shown in a negative light, but that probably doesn't say anything about their alliance not being the result of mutual agreement from both parties.

 

[Papasmurf]

I go with the Broly movie explanation as it's the one Toriyama rolls with, which is that King Cold had them servile to him until handing over the throne to :rape

 

[ahill1]

Dunno if enslavement is quite the word, but I don't think the Saiyajin race would willingly obey Freeza if there wasn't a high authority hanging in this "contract". I think they knew about Freeza's immeasurable strength and were kinda forced into working for him as they knew what rebelling would lead to.

 

[Future Warrior]

Dunno if enslavement is quite the word, but I don't think the Saiyajin race would willingly obey Freeza if there wasn't a high authority hanging in this "contract". I think they knew about Freeza's immeasurable strength and were kinda forced into working for him as they knew what rebelling would lead to.

Well, I don't doubt that fear was a factor in them joining forces with Freeza, but I wouldn't say King Vegeta didn't see the positive benefits in having to work for the emperor. They get to be assigned missions to take over planets (which they've been doing for centuries before Freeza ever came into the picture), and get rewarded through gains of advanced technology and other valuables.

So I think what happened was that Freeza (Or Cold I guess) came into contact with the Saiyans, made a proposition to them, and the Saiyans saw it as a good opportunity. They can make a fortune while doing the things they enjoy.

Of course, I'm basing this mostly on the manga and anime rather than modern material.

 

[ahill1]

Dunno if enslavement is quite the word, but I don't think the Saiyajin race would willingly obey Freeza if there wasn't a high authority hanging in this "contract". I think they knew about Freeza's immeasurable strength and were kinda forced into working for him as they knew what rebelling would lead to.

Well, I don't doubt that fear was a factor in them joining forces with Freeza, but I wouldn't say King Vegeta didn't see the positive benefits in having to work for the emperor. They get to be assigned missions to take over planets (which they've been doing for centuries before Freeza ever came into the picture), and get rewarded through gains of advanced technology and other valuables.

So I think what happened was that Freeza (Or Cold I guess) came into contact with the Saiyans, made a proposition to them, and the Saiyans saw it as a good opportunity. They can make a fortune while doing the things they enjoy.

Of course, I'm basing this mostly on the manga and anime rather than modern material.

Wasn't there a scene of king Vegeta showing anguish and frustration to one of Freeza's orderings, in an anime filler flashback, I guess? I think it had to do with Freeza demonstrating interest on King Vegeta's son.

 

[Let's Go Fearless!]

I doubt the Saiyans like to be enslaved by someone but they knew that it's a bad idea to opposed the Cold regime so they came into business and work together that they see fit.

 

[Fantastische Hure]

Chapter: 257 (DBZ 63), P11.5, P12.2-3
Context: Dodoria explains how stronger and stronger Saiyans like Vegeta were appearing.
Dodoria: “Th…the power of individual Saiyans is absolutely no match for L-Lord Freeza, but…If many Saiyans joined together, they would be-become quite troublesome…F-furthermore, among a small portion of Saiyans, outstanding warriors such as yourself were born, and had begun to increase…Since you weren’t a race who would obediently listen to orders if you started gaining power, at that point Lord Freeza thought that he needed to take steps…So he personally wiped out Planet Vegeta and the Saiyans along with it! But Vegeta! You should thank Lord Freeza! Since you, the prince, looked to have genius talent, he purposefully targeted the planet when you weren’t there!”

From chapter 114 (Viz translation I think):
Vegeta: "We Saiyans...did just as he commanded...We were his hands...his muscles...”

 

[Pocket-Gog~]

SLM, Saiyan lives matter

 

[GreatSaiyaman123]

Technically it was a mutual agreement, but the Saiyan King probably knew he had no other choice. Other than Bardock the Saiyans didn’t really seem to dislike or suspect Freeza. As prideful as they are, Saiyans would never let themselves be enslaved.

 

[Fantastische Hure]

When Vegeta cried to Goku about what Freeza did, it did sound more like "he betrayed us, even-though we did everything he told us to do."

 

[The_Authority]

I kind of feel like it extends far beyond the Bardock special, so we wouldn't see the inception of their relationship.

Evidently, King Cold struck a relationship with a King Vegeta amd Freeza took over later. The furthest back that we see, is what happens in the Broli movie.

 

[Hector]

Freeza let them believe they were willingly employed while they were actually enslaved.

 

[Yoshi]

I feel like they were willingly employed and later betrayed by Freeza. Vegeta, Nappa, and Raditz were all enslaved, however.