Animator recreates Frieza vs Trunks from DBZ in Smash Ultimate and fans love it

Michael Gwilliam
Frieza cut in half in DBZ and Smash Ultimate

Super Smash Bros Ultimate has become one of the craziest fighting games in history and one animator decided to celebrate his love for Nintendo’s mascot-filled fighter by combining it with Dragon Ball Z.

When it comes to Dragon Ball Z, the series is chock-full of epic moments, but one that fans have come to love throughout the years is Trunks debut where he literally cuts Frieza in half.

At this point in the series, Frieza is believed to be the toughest opponent in the universe and with Goku not around, the fact Trunks is able to just obliterate him still stuns audiences to this day.

The scene is iconic. So much so that animator Armenaut recreated it within Super Smash Bros Ultimate with Dragon Quest’s Hero serving as Trunks while a metal version of Mewtwo is Frieza.

Trunks vs Frieza in Smash Ultimate

As a fighter, Hero has many moves to choose from so incorporating some of them to match Trunk’s movements in the anime was a no-brainer.

Aside from some background changes in Smash to better match the anime, the animation is brilliant, lining up with the DBZ scene that Armenaut placed in the top left corner.

Even the screen being “sliced in two” when it switches to Frieza’s point of view is incorporated, which is a great touch.

Amusingly, Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama has a bit of a connection to Dragon Quest, having designed the characters dating back to 1986. It’s a nice little touch that make Hero such a worthy choice for Trunks.

The animation was adored by both Smash and DBZ fans. “You’re legitimately the GOAT for this,” one impressed user replied.

“This gave me goosebumps! Great work man,” another beamed.

Dragon Ball isn’t the first anime that Armenaut has recreated in Smash, but it’s definitely one that has a lot of people talking.

We can’t wait to see what other scenes they can cook up in the future, especially if the next DLC fighter has a kit that would translate well to an anime.

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About The Author

Michael Gwilliam is a senior writer at Dexerto based in Ontario, Canada. He specializes in Overwatch, Smash, influencers, and Twitch culture. Gwilliam has written for sites across Canada including the Toronto Sun. You can contact him at michael.gwilliam@dexerto.com or on Twitter @TheGwilliam