Vegeta (ベジータ), or Prince Vegeta, is the prince of the fallen Saiyan race and arch-rival to Goku. He is the husband to Bulma, the father of Trunks and Bulla, the brother of Tarble, and the great-great grandfather of Vegeta Jr. Aside from Goku, Gohan, and Piccolo, he is easily one of the most prominent characters in the series, receiving more character development after being introduced than a number of other characters.
Overview[]
History[]
Vegeta was once a young member of the Saiyan Army under the Planet trade organization, but after his race's demise, he worked alongside Nappa and Raditz, directly under Frieza. He later joins the Z Fighters while battling alongside them on Namek, and returns to Earth with them as well, where he remains for the rest of his life.
Appearance[]
Vegeta is 5'5" tall (in comparison with Goku's 5'9" height). His hair firmly stands upwards, and has a prominent widow's peak. A main characteristic of Vegeta's is the fact that he is the only living Saiyan who has continued to don the traditional Saiyan armor (in reference to his heritage). He has also been seen wearing alternate forms of the armor, customizing the armor to better suit his persona; however, once he integrates into Earthly society, he abandons the Saiyan armor, at first gradually in Dragon Ball Z, then completely in Dragon Ball GT, in favor of clothing more characteristic of a human. This may be because his new levels of power eliminate any practical need for fabricated battle armor. It should be noted that Vegeta's uniform transition is symbolic of his adjustment to a human lifestyle. However, even after Vegeta loses the armor in Dragon Ball Z, he is always seen wearing iconic white gloves and white boots in battle. Vegeta once had a tail, but it was cut off by Yajirobe to remove Vegeta from his Great Ape state during the Vegeta Saga.
Vegeta's hair never grows in length. He states to Bulma, in an episode of the Perfect Cell Saga, that a pure-blooded Saiyan's hair does not change from the day he is born, aside from Super Saiyan transformations.
If observed closely, Vegeta actually changes appearance physically over the course of the series. He was originally intended to appear deceptively small, lean, and less threatening in comparison to his massive partner, Nappa. However, by the end of Dragon Ball Z, he seems to be taller and more muscular, the length of his hair having also been shortened, though he is still comparatively shorter than Goku, who also appears to have grown taller. Vegeta's facial features also look more distinct and sharply defined as the series progresses, making him look older (though this may be attributed to gradual aging).
Personality[]
Vegeta is haughty, arrogant, and bitter as a result of the destruction of his homeworld, Planet Vegeta, and the abuse his race suffered at the hands of Frieza. His royalty seems to have bestowed upon him an inflated sense of superiority, holding himself above nearly everybody he encounters. He is immensely proud of his Saiyan heritage and believes his race to be the most powerful in the universe. Since his childhood, Vegeta has proven himself a ruthless killer, merciless like most Saiyans. During the Namek Saga, he began to exhibit changes; rather than killing Krillin or Gohan as he promised in the previous saga, he instead forges an alliance with them. Having been born into the upper tier of Saiyan society, Vegeta was fixated on achieving the legendary status of Super Saiyan and becoming the most powerful warrior in the universe. After his defeat at the hands of Frieza, Vegeta tearfully explains to Goku that Frieza forced him to be ruthless and that he never had the chance to be anything else (implying that he could have been kinder and more merciful were it not for Frieza). From then on, Vegeta softened up and occasionally showed compassion to his new family, Bulma, Trunks, and Bulla. In addition, during the Kid Buu Saga, he notably became enraged when he learned that Goku's deal with Old Kai involved allowing the latter to take advantage of Bulma, feeling it was very senseless of Goku, pointing out that he should have used Chi-Chi instead. It was not until the Babidi Saga that he gave in to his obsession of overtaking Goku in might, becoming Majin and "evil" once more. This was a desperate, failed ploy to restore his former wickedness, believing it to have been the source of his true power. Goku does not believe Vegeta is bluffing, and correctly so; Vegeta demonstrates his prevailing softness in hugging Trunks for the first time and telling him that he is proud to be his father, before performing a sacrificial Final Explosion against Majin Buu. Arguably, his most defining trait is his rivalry with Goku and obsession to surpass him in power. In Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn, he goes so far as to break down in tears over his inability to surpass Goku. However, this obsession has led him to save Goku's life on several occasions, insisting that only he will defeat Goku.
After the defeat of Kid Buu, he has a change of heart, and his angry grudge against Goku became a friendly rivalry. Vegeta shows to be one of the more intelligent characters of the series. He is also one of the most serious, rarely exhibiting humor. When he does so, his humor is very dry and in some rare occasions, it is black. He does, however, delight in mocking his enemies, as demonstrated when he offers to reconstruct Android 18 into a "toaster" or a "washing machine". He also shows his black sense of humor towards Goku when he was about to battle him in the World Martial Arts Tournament. He overheard Goku mentioning of him being full of food and Vegeta swore to punch him straight to the stomach. Normally, his ego and arrogance overshadow his positive qualities.
At the beginning of the series to near the end, Vegeta is shown to be exceptionally vain and egotistical. A tragic example of this is in his fight with Semi-Perfect Cell. Though he could have easily destroyed this weaker form of Cell, his arrogance bested him, and he purposely let Cell absorb Android 18 just to have a challenge in Cell through which to test his power. While fighting Majin Buu and Janemba, he vehemently opposed fusion with Goku due to his pride, but Goku managed to persuade him, later becoming more willing to fuse, going so far as to propose it himself in the battle against Omega Shenron. On several occasions, Vegeta conceitedly underestimates his opponents; in the cases of Perfect Cell and Kid Buu, Vegeta was fooled by their diminutive appearances, believing that they had only "shrunk", which is somewhat ironic, given his own short stature, yet large power. At the end of the Buu Saga and in Dragon Ball GT, Vegeta is much more relaxed. He is often seen smiling and cracking jokes, such as when he forced Trunks to enter the 28th World Martial Arts Tournament, threatening to "cut his allowance" if he did not enter the competition. Often being more caring and kind to his family, especially his daughter, Bulla, Vegeta admittedly has a kinder side, per his adjustment to Earthly life. The best example of caring for his family is the aforementioned example of hugging Trunks before he fights Majin Buu as Majin Vegeta. However, Vegeta can still be seen sitting on the sidelines, while everyone else is happy, enjoying themselves in the thick of things. Later on, Vegeta developed a strong age-crisis. For example, when driving home with Bulla and seeing two teenagers in an other vehicle flirting with his daughter, he ignores them. After a while, another one of the boys calls Vegeta a "geezer" and he got angry and broke their car.
Vegeta is, iconically, extremely aggressive and angry. Throughout the first half of the Frieza Saga, whomever he defeated, he killed without mercy. His only sign of mercy is when he let Namekian Frog Captain Ginyu live, taking delight at the notion of Ginyu being stuck in the frog's body as punishment enough. Vegeta, in some instances, has been seen afraid of opponents like Broly and Frieza, but visibly comes around. In Broly's case, this could be out of respect for the Legendary Super Saiyan. Vegeta almost always addresses Goku by his Saiyan birth name, Kakarot, but has on rare occasion addressed him as Goku.
As the Prince of a demolished Planet Vegeta, Vegeta is initially introduced as an unrepentant villain. Judging from his evil intentions before joining the Z Fighters, Vegeta has been consistently characterized as extremely arrogant, vengeful, and at times, cold. Many of Vegeta's early heroic acts are because of self-interest or revenge, although he later settles down and grows fond of Earth as his home, raising a family with Bulma (for who he falls in love with). His opinion of Goku always being one step ahead of him, even though Goku is a lower class Saiyan, runs the gamut from contempt to rivalry, and later to respect and friendship. Because of his arrogance, attitude and past wrongdoing, Vegeta gains a lot of disdain from those around him. Naturally, Goku always takes an optimistic opinion about Vegeta. Vegeta is more of a tactical fighter who often rushes in the brawl without hesitation. However, his rage or arrogance usually causes him to underestimate his opponent. His royal blood and intense fighting style has both benefited and harmed him in many battles.
Relationship With Bulma[]
Vegeta and Bulma initially meet on planet Namek, but neither actually talked to the other; Bulma was too frightened, and Vegeta did not care, especially when his main concern was to find the Dragon Balls. However, their first interaction with each other was prior to his battle with Zarbon, to which Vegeta threatened to kill both Bulma and Krillin. The first time any affection is displayed between them is in "Immortality Denied", in which Vegeta, during a conversation with Gohan, refers to Bulma as a "Gorgeous Girl" in the Ocean dub. Despite their rocky start, Bulma was more than willing to put up with Vegeta, even if he scared her. Upon his resurrection after being killed by Frieza, and then being teleported to Earth, Bulma invites Vegeta to live at Capsule Corp as he has nowhere to go, on the condition that he does not touch her. Vegeta reluctantly accepts her offer, but quickly leaves Earth in search of Goku after he discovers his unwillingness to return to Earth from the Namek Dragon. During his absence on Earth, Bulma begins to slowly but surely show signs of affection towards the Saiyan Prince, after having a dream about him; she also shows a deep concern for him after being informed that his ship is about to run out of fuel soon. Her then boyfriend Yamcha not only begins to get jealous, but also shows resentment towards Vegeta, who has no idea about Bulma's feelings towards him.
At one time, Vegeta is seriously injured after his training capsule explodes while he tries to train under 300 times Earth's gravity. Bulma shows immense concern for Vegeta and tries to convince him to stop training to rest. Vegeta defiantly attempts to return to his training, but collapses, and Bulma then takes him to Capsule Corp to nurse him back to health. Later, Vegeta awakes to find Bulma asleep beside him, and wonders why she's there (having no idea of Bulma's feelings for him). When Bulma sees Vegeta return to training, she firmly tells him to stop because of his injuries, but Vegeta refuses to listen, and shouts at her to leave him alone. This leaves Bulma feeling very bitter about Vegeta and his stubbornness for a while afterwards. After approximately a year since Future Trunks' warning about the Androids, Bulma breaks up with Yamcha and becomes romantically involved with Vegeta, ultimately leading to the conception of Trunks. However, even the birth of their son was not enough to bring the two together, as of that time Vegeta prioritized his rivalry with Goku before anything else, even his relationship with Bulma. Arguments were common between the two, with Bulma often calling Vegeta a "jerk" and Vegeta showing little to no care or emotion for either his son or his future wife; this was demonstrated during an incident in which Bulma's plane is destroyed and their lives are at risk. When Future Trunks saves the two and questions Vegeta as to why he did not try to save them, Vegeta responds that he has "more important things to worry about than that foolish woman and her blasted child." Bulma later humiliates Vegeta in front of everyone when she says that every time he sticks his "Ugly Mug" up to Trunks, it makes Trunks cry, much to Krillin and Gohan's amusement and Vegeta's anger.
Vegeta's and Bulma's indifference to each other during the Androids saga strongly implies that the circumstances surrounding their child's conception was no more than a brief fling - Future Trunks states to Goku that in his timeline, even though Bulma fell in love with Vegeta, they did not stay together very long because their attraction was solely based on passion and loneliness ("Mystery Revealed"). Also, in the alternate future Vegeta was killed by the Androids soon after Trunks was born, so his relationship with Bulma did not have a chance to progress in that timeline. However, the seven years of peace that came after the conclusion of the Cell Games would suggest that the two settled their differences and began to have a much better relationship than previously. Vegeta eventually became fond of his family in the Majin Buu Saga, but is ashamed of himself for doing so, wanting to be the coldhearted prince he once was. Nonetheless, Vegeta eventually realizes what is really important in his life, and sacrifices himself to save his family and Earth when fighting Majin Buu.
Another more comical show of his fondness towards Bulma can be seen in his angry reaction when he finds out that Goku promised Old Kai that he could kiss her (in the original version, Goku promised to show Old Kai some sexy pictures of Bulma), causing Vegeta to throw a fit, yelling to Goku, "Let him kiss your woman!" to which Goku's replies, "Your wife is prettier than mine!" (in the manga, Vegeta yells at Goku to show the Old Kai pictures of Chi-Chi, to which Goku responds, "But Chi-Chi would kill me! *And she's flat-chested...*).
Biography[]
Childhood[]
Vegeta is born around Age 732, and is first seen in his youth in the movie Dragon Ball Z: Bardock - The Father of Goku, effortlessly destroying 6-7 Saibamen. Vegeta's father, King Vegeta, is the King of the Saiyan race. However, King Vegeta and his son are under the rule of the interplanetary warlord Frieza, and the former was also forced by Frieza to surrender him to the latter through undisclosed means. While under Frieza's grip, he was also pressured by Frieza to do his bidding, or else he will murder his father, King Vegeta. Despite this, Frieza kills King Vegeta anyway, after the latter attempted to form a mutiny against him, and later destroys the Saiyan planet, Planet Vegeta. As a result, all the Saiyans (except for Goku, Raditz, Vegeta, Nappa, Turles, Paragus, Broly and Tarble) are killed.
Frieza keeps Vegeta, Nappa, and Raditz as slaves to do his bidding, while Goku escapes the devastation by being sent to cleanse Earth of its inhabitants moments before it was destroyed. In the manga chapter of the Namek Saga, Vegeta is angry over working under for Frieza. Vegeta is especially reluctant to take orders from Frieza's right-hand man, Zarbon, whom Vegeta states is responsible for mocking him for many years and "working him like a slave." Despite being Frieza's underling, Vegeta constantly and proudly calls himself the "Prince of all Saiyans." Vegeta does not refer to himself as the "King of all Saiyans", possibly out of respect for his father, a refusal to admit the extinction of the Saiyans, or because he was never formally declared King.
Dragon Ball Z[]
Battling the Z-Fighters[]
Vegeta is introduced to Dragon Ball Z at 29 years of age as a mercenary for Frieza. Vegeta comes to Earth when he receives Raditz's dying report of seven magic objects known as the Dragon Balls which will grant wishes. After hearing this report, and of Raditz's death, Vegeta and his companion, Nappa, decide to come to Earth and use the Dragon Balls to wish for immortality (it is implied in later sagas that he desired immortality so he could defeat Frieza for his years of suffering). Goku and the Z Fighters are warned of their arrival, and begin to train themselves. While Vegeta and Nappa travel to Earth, they stop by Arlia in an anime filler. They were only there for a short time, and while they were there, they made short work of the planet's strongest warriors, before destroying Arlia altogether. When they landed on Earth, Nappa and Vegeta wreaked havoc with little to stop them. They then found Piccolo, Krillin, and Gohan waiting for them, with Tien Shinhan, Chiaotzu, and Yamcha appearing just after. After losing Yamcha (after one Saibaman self destructed), the rest of the Z Fighters powered up and defeated the remaining Saibamen.
This caused Vegeta and Nappa to become impressed, but Nappa decided to heat things up by being the first to battle Earth's defenders. Vegeta sat back and watched the beatings. Nappa easily dominated all the Z Fighters, resulting in Chiaotzu going desperate by sacrificing himself by blowing up on Nappa's back, which was in vain, with his best friend Tien sacrificing himself to avenge his friend, which was also in vain. He did manage to get wounded every now and then, but for the most part, Nappa seemed to have complete control of the battle. Vegeta laughed when Nappa was insulted by Piccolo, but warned Nappa about Krillin's Destructo Disk. The Z Fighters desperately needed Goku's help, but Goku was still trying to reach the site of the battle. After training with King Kai, Goku was now much more powerful than when he fought Raditz. He flew down the long Snake Way, eventually made it off, and landed on Earth. He quickly makes it to the battlefield using his Flying Nimbus. After reading Goku's power level arriving, Vegeta ordered Nappa to kill Goku's friends, stating their assistance with Goku in the battle could be difficult for Nappa and Vegeta to defeat. Nappa was about to kill Gohan when Piccolo stood between his attack, thus sacrificing himself for Gohan's sake. Goku arrived just before Nappa could land his second blow. Vegeta detects the high power level of Goku with his scouter, and after a quick introduction, Goku begins to fight Nappa. Goku and Nappa seemed to be evenly matched at first, but the benefits of Goku's training quickly became evident. Eventually, Vegeta calls Nappa back after taking too long, then the brutish Saiyan decides that he will kill Gohan and Krillin instead. Goku invokes the Kaio-ken technique, and stops Nappa before he can do anything, crippling him in the process. Because of Nappa's failure to defeat a low class Saiyan like Goku, when Nappa begs Vegeta to help him, Vegeta throws him in the air and kills him for his failure. After giving everyone Senzu Beans, which fully recovers the user's strength, Goku tells Gohan and Krillin to leave Vegeta to him, and requests to Vegeta to fight somewhere else. They eventually agree, and leave the battle field. At Gizard Wasteland, Vegeta offers Goku a chance to join him, but Goku quickly turns down the offer as he already had everything he wanted, and had already seen how Vegeta treats his "Partners". The fight begins, and it is made clear that Vegeta is much stronger than the much-improved Goku. Even using Kaio-ken at the second level (Kaio-ken times two) was not enough to stop Vegeta. Thus, Goku had to push the multiplier of the technique even higher, ignoring King Kai's warnings. With this power, Goku was able to fight Vegeta on equal ground to an extent, and the Prince of Saiyans lost his temper and decided he would destroy the planet with his Galick Gun technique, and go find the Dragon Balls on Namek instead. However, Goku countered the Galick Gun with a Kamehameha, and the two struggled for several minutes. When it seemed Vegeta was gaining the upper hand, Goku finally pushed himself to unforeseen levels and used Kaio-ken x4 to boost his power even higher, in turn surprising and overwhelming Vegeta and sending him skywards. Vegeta managed to survive the beam carrying him ever higher. Thus, Vegeta decided to transform himself into a Great Ape, which would multiply his power tenfold, throwing a Power Ball into the air, as Piccolo destroyed the moon a couple of months before. When Vegeta transformed, Goku was completely outclassed and had to resort to using the Spirit Bomb technique. However, before he could use it, Vegeta disrupted it with a Chou Makouhou. Then Vegeta grabbed Goku and began to slowly crush him, making him suffer instead of killing him quickly. Krillin and Gohan had seen the Power Ball that Vegeta had used to transform, and had returned to the battle.
Upon finding Goku defeated, they attempted to distract Vegeta and cut off his tail, in order to force him back to his normal form. This attempt failed, but Yajirobe succeeded where the strong Z Fighters had not. When he was back to normal, Vegeta became enraged and fought Gohan briefly. Despite Gohan's efforts, Vegeta is far stronger and faster than he is. Goku then decides to give Krillin the last of the Spirit Bomb he managed to retain. Krillin accepted this new energy, and was instructed by Goku how to unleash it on Vegeta.
Panicking at first, Krillin receives further instructions from North Kai, and he hurls the Spirit Bomb at Vegeta. When Yajirobe shouted at Krillin to throw it, making Vegeta notice him, Krillin throws it, and at first it missed, but Gohan was pure enough that he could bounce the energy back, striking Vegeta. The Spirit Bomb hit him and severely damaged him, reducing his energy and strength greatly; but he survived. Vegeta then draws upon his Ki reserves and unleashes a mighty blast that strikes down everyone nearby. Vegeta notices that Gohan has regrown his tail from the effects of the Power Ball, and realizes that he may soon transform. The villain is unable to prevent this thanks to Yajirobe distracting him with an attack from behind. Realizing his mistake, Vegeta quickly returns to Gohan, but was too late. Gohan assumes the Great Ape form, and Vegeta in his severely weakened state could not defeat him. However, Vegeta could out-think the primitive ape form of Gohan, and manages to cut off Gohan's tail, returning the young half-breed to normal size and power. Before Gohan could fully return to normal, however, he fell on Vegeta as a Great Ape, and Vegeta was unable to dodge in his wounded state.
Vegeta finally retreats, and crawls to his space pod, realizing he cannot keep fighting in his current condition. A weakened Krillin gains consciousness, and just when he is about to stab Vegeta with Yajirobe's katana sword, Goku telepathically pleaded for Krillin to let Vegeta go, wanting to have a rematch one day and also wanting Vegeta to have the same chance to change his ways that Piccolo got; after much persuasion, Krillin agrees. Vegeta then departs Earth, vowing to make Goku regret sparing him, and his space pod takes him to one of the planets controlled by Frieza. With his extreme arrogance he cannot understand how a "Low-Class" Saiyan like Goku could have done so well against him, unwilling to factor the contributions of the other three warriors into the battle.
War on Namek[]
After rehabilitation, Cui tells Vegeta that Frieza is already on Namek alongside his henchmen Zarbon and Dodoria and they are searching for the Dragon Balls. Without wasting any time, Vegeta makes his way to Planet Namek, now planning to make a wish with the Dragon Balls. During his stay on the planet he meets up with Krillin and Gohan, who were also in search of the Namekian Dragon Balls. He tries to track them down and torment them, but eventually leaves them alone since he has much bigger problems such as Frieza, his previous master and the warlord who was also in search of the mystical Balls. While on Namek, Vegeta is followed and ambushed by Cui. Frieza had given Cui the order to terminate Vegeta, something he had been hoping to hear for many years. However, Vegeta's encounter with the earthlings allowed his strength to grow exponentially higher (as a Saiyan's strength increases every time a battle leaves him at near death). Cui attacks Vegeta, but Vegeta easily evades Cui's attacks, telling Cui that when his power increased, so did his speed. He then easily kills Cui.
Vegeta later takes the opportunity to dispatch Dodoria as well. Once Dodoria is alone, Vegeta learns from him the true circumstances of Planet Vegeta's destruction by Frieza himself. Vegeta is not in a forgiving mood so he ruthlessly executes Dodoria as well. After killing Dodoria, Vegeta goes and causes mass havoc in a Namekian village in order to obtain one of the Dragon Balls. Frieza and his henchmen had already collected five Dragon Balls so he hopes to hang on to one and steal the rest from Frieza when the opportunity would show itself. Once Vegeta obtains one Dragon Ball and hides it, he takes flight and he soon comes face to face with Frieza's most powerful henchman, Zarbon.
Vegeta and Zarbon enter a fierce battle and Vegeta seems to have the upper hand until Zarbon undergoes a powerful reptilian transformation. Zarbon and Vegeta resume the brutal battle, with Zarbon making sport of the Saiyan prince, pounding him around and completely dominating him. Before finishing the battle, Zarbon reveals to Vegeta that Frieza can also transform, much to his horror. Zarbon easily defeats Vegeta with multiple kicks and combos and performs a powerful piledriver, sending Vegeta headfirst into the ground and completely battered in a crater that soon filled up with sea water, which Zarbon detested going into (as it would make him wet), and simply left him for the dead. Zarbon returned to Frieza to relay the message of his victory, but Frieza was not satisfied. Frieza is well aware that Vegeta may know the location of one of the Dragon Balls so he sends Zarbon to go and retrieve Vegeta's battered body and bring him back in order to heal him for interrogation.
Vegeta was later dragged back to Frieza's spaceship by Zarbon, where he healed him in a Medical Machine. Vegeta waited for the right opportunity to escape. He made a clever distraction (he blasted the wall to the outside off leading Frieza and Zarbon to believe he ran off, although he was actually hiding in the ship) and ran away with Frieza's collected Dragon Balls, dropping them inside the pools of water nearby and then recovering them. Frieza is extremely angered and he sends Zarbon after Vegeta once more, giving him a limit of one hour. Zarbon is able to locate Vegeta, along with Krillin and Bulma. A fierce clash ensues and the now healed and fully rejuvenated Vegeta reveals that he has become far stronger from his near death experience. Zarbon cannot believe it, but he is unable to defeat Vegeta even in his transformed state. Vegeta ruthlessly slams his fist clean through Zarbon's stomach and blasts him, sending him to a watery grave in the Namekian sea.
Krillin, realizing that he can not keep the Dragon Ball from Vegeta, begrudgingly hands it over without a fight, and now in a fine mood, Vegeta spares his life and Bulma's for the time being. Vegeta now had six of the seven Dragon Balls in his grasp, and needed only one more to make his dream of immortality a reality. While en route to where he had hidden his Dragon Ball, he meets up with Gohan, and injures the boy for fun before leaving him. After getting back to where he had hidden his Dragon Ball, Vegeta realizes that Gohan had stolen it and berates himself for letting a kid fool him. He heads back to where Bulma had made her hideout and destroys it, but to his frustration finds that everyone had already left. He swears to get them for this humiliation.
Combatting the Ginyu Force[]
When Vegeta escaped Frieza's ship with five of the seven Namekian Dragon Balls, Frieza sent word to summon the Ginyu Force, the most powerful warriors in his army. The Ginyu Force were a team of five, consisting of: Recoome, Burter, Jeice, Guldo, and their leader, Captain Ginyu. They were strange, often making amusingly choreographed dances and poses, but were also extremely powerful, said to be the mightiest in the universe. Once they arrived on planet Namek, Frieza ordered them to retrieve the Namekian Dragon Balls, bring Vegeta back to him alive, and kill any others that got in their way. Meanwhile, Vegeta sensed the arrival of the Ginyu Force and forges an alliance with Gohan and Krillin, all three deciding that their only chance of survival is to wish for Vegeta's immortality with the Dragon Balls (Vegeta had six and Gohan and Krillin had the last one). Out in space, Goku continues on his journey to planet Namek in a spaceship that Dr. Brief made for him. While en route, Goku uses a machine installed on the ship to increase the gravity within the ship to help him train under large amounts of gravity, starting at 20 times Earth's normal gravity and eventually working his way up to 100 times Earth's normal gravity.
Meanwhile, back on planet Namek, Vegeta, Gohan, and Krillin race back to where Vegeta was keeping his six Dragon Balls, and are about to wish for Vegeta's immortality, but Krillin hesitates out of fear of an immortal Vegeta, despite Vegeta's (false) promises that he would not harm them. Suddenly, the Ginyu Force arrives on the island where Vegeta, Gohan, and Krillin are, right next to the other six Dragon Dalls. Terrified, Vegeta attempts to "hide" one of the Dragon Balls by throwing it far off into the sea, but Burter uses his incredible speed to catch it in mid-air. Vegeta then desperately orders Krillin to destroy the Dragon Ball he is holding so that Frieza cannot make his wish for immortality, but before Krillin can destroy it, Guldo freezes time and snatches the Dragon Ball out of his hands. Outmaneuvered, Vegeta, Gohan, and Krillin look on in terror as Captain Ginyu takes the seven Dragon Balls and flies off to report to Frieza, leaving the four remaining members of the Ginyu Force to deal with Vegeta, Gohan, and Krillin.
After playing Rock-Paper-Scissors to determine who would fight who, Guldo prepares to engage Gohan and Krillin. As the three begin fighting, it appears as if Gohan and Krillin have Guldo on the ropes, as Guldo is barely able to freeze time long enough to escape the two's energy blasts. Just when it seems that Gohan and Krillin will win, Guldo reveals his trump card: the ability to mentally petrify his enemies. He uses this desperate move to trap Gohan and Krillin in place as he uses telekinesis to make a skewer out of a nearby tree. He launches the skewer at the frozen Gohan and Krillin. Just when it seems like Gohan and Krillin are about to become shish kebab, Vegeta fires an energy beam at Guldo and cuts his head off, stopping the skewer just seconds away from impaling Gohan and Krillin. After Guldo's decapitated head insults Vegeta, Vegeta disintegrates it, now fearing his fight against the brute Recoome.
With Guldo gone, Recoome steps up to challenge Vegeta. With his newfound power after recovering from his battle on Earth and his battle with Zarbon, Vegeta launches into a powerful assault on Recoome, landing several powerful hits and firing an intense energy blast, the Final Crash, at Recoome that appears to take care of him. However, as the dust settles and Recoome emerges unharmed from the debris, it looks like the trio is in trouble. When Recoome effortlessly takes down Vegeta, Krillin goes in to help, believing that the only chance they have of surviving is if Vegeta survives. However, Krillin's efforts are in vain as Recoome easily knocks him aside with a single blow. Gohan then goes in to help Krillin, and despite the young warrior's newly unlocked hidden powers (courtesy of Grand Elder Guru), Recoome manages to easily fend him off. Just when all hope seems lost, Goku lands on planet Namek. After a quick scan of the power levels on the planet, Goku concludes that the strongest power level is Frieza's, the second strongest is Captain Ginyu's, and his friends' power levels are quickly fading. Goku quickly rushes onto the scene where the three remaining members of the Ginyu Force (excluding Captain Ginyu) and his friends are. Goku heals his friends and Vegeta (against Krillin's protests) with Senzu Beans that he brought from Earth, although out of his desire to allow his rival a chance to settle the score, and partially to repay Vegeta for helping Gohan and Krillin when they were in danger of Guldo's attack.
The remaining members of the Ginyu Force, agitated by the interruption of Goku's arrival, proceed to engage him in battle, but they prove to be no match for Goku, and he soundly defeats them all, knocking out Recoome (with a single hit) and Burter, and letting Jeice flee. Angered that Goku refuses to finish off Recoome and Burter, Vegeta kills them himself by cracking the unconscious Burter's neck and blowing up the fallen Recoome from behind, using the Super Big Bang Cannon. Goku becomes upset that Vegeta would do such a thing and Vegeta explains that by letting them live, he and Gohan's lives would be at risk. After the fighting is over, the others state that all hope is lost as Captain Ginyu has probably already brought Frieza the Dragon Balls and Frieza may already be immortal. Krillin remarks that on Earth, the sky turns black when the Dragon is summoned, and since that has not happened, Frieza probably has not made his wish. That's when Goku fills the others in on a little secret, the Namekian Dragon Balls can only be activated when one says the correct password. Meanwhile, Jeice arrives at Frieza's ship and requests Captain Ginyu's help to deal with Goku. Annoyed at having to get his hands dirty, Captain Ginyu agrees and flies off with Jeice to fight Goku.
Goku tells Gohan and Krillin to fetch the Dragon Radar and locate the Dragon Balls. Captain Ginyu and Jeice arrive on the scene just as Gohan and Krillin leave. Goku asks for Vegeta's help in fighting the remaining Ginyu Force members and Vegeta agrees, but quickly flies off laughing, leaving Goku to deal with Jeice and Captain Ginyu himself. After some short fighting, Captain Ginyu realizes that Goku is holding back, and asks that he reveal his full power. Using his scouter, Captain Ginyu is shocked to find Goku reaching a power level of 180,000 with just the normal Kaio-ken. Coming to the conclusion that he can not hope to defeat Goku, he instead to use the Body Change (his special ability) to swap bodies with Goku, but not before fatally injuring his own body (causing Goku to suffer from pain when he enters Captain Ginyu's body). Satisfied with his cunning trick, Captain Ginyu flies off in Goku's body, with Jeice trailing.
The new Captain Ginyu in Goku's body, now wields a great power from Goku. He starts to fool Vegeta, Krillin, and Gohan. Vegeta, however, realized that Goku was not himself. Krillin and Gohan were easily fooled, but immediately came to their senses that Goku is not himself when they saw Goku wearing a scouter, and hanging around Jeice. Krillin and Gohan then joined forces to stop Captain Ginyu in Goku's body. Meanwhile, Vegeta handles Jeice on his own. He swiftly kills the meddling Ginyu Force member, and heads off to fight Captain Ginyu. Goku, now in Captain Ginyu's body, makes an alliance with Vegeta to stop Ginyu in Goku's body. As Ginyu had figured out how to use Goku's body, he took the upper hand against Krillin and Gohan. Vegeta, however, completely overpowered him and was about to finish him off. Captain Ginyu fired another change beam, which was fortunately intercepted by Goku, and both returned to their original bodies. Captain Ginyu, now in his injured old body, was no match for Goku or Vegeta, and was soon being pummeled by him. Knowing he is finished, Captain Ginyu planned another Body Switch using his change beam, with Vegeta. The beam was about to connect with Vegeta, but Goku threw a frog in between them. The body switch was now with a frog. Captain Ginyu was now a frog, and the frog was Captain Ginyu. Vegeta merely scoffs at the powerlessness of the once-proud Captain Ginyu, and decides to not kill Goku and take his revenge on him, because he needs his help to stop Frieza. Vegeta, Krillin, and Gohan take Goku into a recovery chamber, where he would begin healing.
The Tyrant, Frieza[]
Eventually, after Cui, Dodoria, Appule, Zarbon, Guldo, Recoome, Burter, Jeice and Captain Ginyu have all failed in their attempts to kill Vegeta, Frieza decided to take matters into his own hands. After realizing his powerful Ginyu Force members were all taken down in battle, Frieza was furious. He fled towards his ship to find any traces of his collected Dragon Balls. Meanwhile, Vegeta stands by a rejuvenating Goku. Vegeta spares Goku only in time on his assistance against Frieza. While Vegeta falls asleep, tired after all the battles, Krillin and Gohan sneakily gather the seven Namekian Dragon Balls, and began telling their wishes. Their first wish was for Piccolo's return. Then they wished to transport him back on Namek. Their third and final wish was interrupted by an enraged Vegeta, waking up and spotting the Namekian Dragon. Frieza also realized this strange feature, and was gaining on them at high speeds. Vegeta pries Dende, the wisher of Porunga the Namekian Dragon, to wish him immortality to stop Frieza. The wish almost succeeded, but Guru, the eldest of all Nameks, died just before they could finish. Vegeta goes into a rage, but stops when he spots Frieza, and becomes slightly fearful, as Frieza looks down on them from above. He provided a sneak peek at his amazing power, but Vegeta was just able to match him. Vegeta ordered Frieza to transform and explained that Zarbon had already mentioned that Frieza also had the ability to transform, seeing it was no longer a secret. As a result, Frieza decided to transform with some provocation from Vegeta, after telling Vegeta the fate of his own father in a flashback. In this new form, Frieza was too powerful for Vegeta, and especially Krillin, Dende, and Gohan. Frieza impales Krillin, and after doing away with Gohan, Frieza asks Vegeta if he will help the defenseless child, but Vegeta backs away from helping in fear. Frieza is then confronted by Piccolo, who Vegeta thinks is a worthless waste of a wish and wonders what the Namekian who lost to Nappa can possibly do against Frieza as he does not know that Piccolo had fused with Nail to become even more powerful. While Piccolo and Frieza are fighting, Vegeta (in filler) attempts to run away, but he is spotted by Frieza and kicked into a Namekian mountain. It seems Piccolo can handle Frieza in his second Transformation. As a result, Frieza decides to transform into his most hideous form. After transforming yet again, Frieza is once again too powerful for anyone, including the fused Piccolo who is saved by Gohan.
When Frieza eventually manages to deflect Gohan's Full Power Masenko, Vegeta realized Frieza may be too strong for even him or Goku, and concocts a plan to reach the rank of Super Saiyan by having Krillin hurt him badly, leaving only an inch of his life, then having Dende heal him (because Saiyans grow increasingly stronger when they recover from near-death experiences). He fails as Frieza decides yet again to transform due to Gohan, when angered, being powerful enough to almost deter his third form. After Frieza killed Dende, Vegeta claims to be a Super Saiyan and attacks Frieza directly, trying to hit Frieza with a raging flurry of punches, which Frieza manages to dodge quite easily, as his speed and power is far superior to Vegeta's still. Angered by this, Vegeta fires the Final Burst Cannon at Frieza, using all of his power, however, the tyrant still easily deflects the attack, making Vegeta lose all hope, and for the first time in his life, cry. Then, Frieza begins brutalizing Vegeta. Vegeta was on the brink of death from Frieza's vicious assault, until the renewed Goku showed up and briefly rescued him. However, Frieza fired a Death Beam right through Vegeta's heart, ending the Saiyan Prince's tortured life. Vegeta dies slowly and painfully, pouring his heart and his past out to Goku as the only other pure-blooded Saiyan left alive, this with tears rushing down the Saiyan Prince's face. Goku vows to take revenge for Vegeta on behalf of their race, burying the fallen prince and then beginning to fight Frieza, with the hope of avenging the Saiyan race, Vegeta's wish to Goku.
Vegeta is later resurrected when a wish is made with the Dragon Balls to bring back everyone killed on Planet Namek by Frieza. He also became somewhat reformed; he no longer cared about immortality or conquering the universe, but became obsessed with becoming stronger. He is revived and brought to Earth, but not before he sees that Goku has transformed into the legendary Super Saiyan warrior that Saiyan legend says will appear only every one millennia (three millennia in the English dub, this only occurs in the anime, and is ignored by the series itself). He also attempts to launch an attack on a bewildered Frieza after the latter asked if he was a ghost, but was transported to Earth by Porunga before he could finish the attack. Meanwhile, Goku defeats Frieza but is apparently killed in Namek's explosion. Vegeta hides his remorse for Goku by boasting happily about it until Gohan challenges him to a fight. Vegeta subdues Gohan but is stopped from hurting him seriously by Piccolo, and flies off (although this only occurs in the anime, as Vegeta inexplicably reappears with the others in the next episode). Also in more anime filler, after Goku refuses to be wished back to Earth so as to return later, Vegeta refuses to wait for him and steals Bulma's spaceship to search for him by himself.
Search for Goku[]
Only in the anime, Vegeta travels through space with the Capsule Corporation spaceship in an attempt to locate Goku and find out how to become a Super Saiyan. He eventually attacks and kills a number of Frieza's remaining minions to prove to them that their leader is dead. As some warriors are still refusing to believe him, Vegeta ruthlessly executes any remaining combatants. However, his search for Goku is in vain.
The Mysterious Youth[]
One year and eight months after the events on planet Namek, Vegeta returned to Earth, not having found Goku. Vegeta had been training during that time, and was quite a bit more powerful than before. However, he still did not achieve the Super Saiyan transformation. After calling off his search, he lives in Capsule Corp. Frieza and his father, King Cold, are sensed on their way to Earth, Frieza having survived the explosion of Namek. However, a young man appeared, named Trunks, transformed into a Super Saiyan, and destroyed both Frieza and his father. After the fight, Trunks tells them that Goku will soon arrive. The Z Fighters (Vegeta, Piccolo, Tien Shinhan, Chiaotzu, Yamcha, Gohan, and Krillin), along with Bulma and Puar, waited for 2 hours for Goku's arrival. Vegeta was curious as to who the stranger really was. He was jealous of the young warrior's ability to become a Super Saiyan, seeing Trunks as an obstacle to his goal of becoming the strongest fighter in the universe, by obtaining the Super Saiyan form. Eventually, Goku shows up - he explained that he ended up on Planet Yardrat and learned Instant Transmission from the natives. Trunks speaks with Goku privately (though Piccolo was able to hear them with his sharp hearing), after testing the Saiyan's power briefly. He tells Goku that his father is Vegeta, his mother is Bulma, and he is a Super Saiyan from 20 years in the future. Goku does not talk about this with the others but he does speak about Future Trunks being a Saiyan, which makes Vegeta angry and jealous. He says it is impossible, because there is no way for the boy to have Saiyan blood (he and Goku being the last of the Saiyans, with Gohan being a half-breed). Future Trunks then gives Goku an antidote for a heart virus that Future Trunks says Goku will develop in a few years time. He also says that in three years, two Androids, created by former Red Ribbon Army scientist Dr. Gero, will appear, kill all of the Z Fighters, and begin a reign of terror over the Earth. During the next three years, the Z Fighters began to train very hard. Vegeta was no exception, as he trained the hardest to become a Super Saiyan. After witnessing Goku, a lower class, and another stranger he does not even recognize as from his race, being Super Saiyans, Vegeta trained with pure determination.
The Androids[]
Three years pass, and Vegeta and Bulma become parents to a baby called Trunks. Vegeta is at age 35 at the time. It is not long after that the prophesied Android 19 and Android 20 (Dr. Gero) appear and wreak havoc. After finding the Androids, Goku fights Android 19, and puts up a great fight as a Super Saiyan, but the heart disease begins to attack and effect him greatly during the battle. The Z Fighters are about to intervene and save Goku, as Android 19 begins to strangle him. Luckily, Vegeta appears out of nowhere and kicks the Android in the face, saving Goku. Vegeta tells them to give Goku his medicine. Goku is then flown home by Yamcha, where the heart medicine is given to him. Vegeta then greatly surprises everyone by transforming into a Super Saiyan. Vegeta then begins to effortlessly demolish Android 19 with his increased power, and finishes the android off with his new technique - the Big Bang Attack - after ripping the Android's hands off.
Vegeta seems to be far more powerful than both of the Androids, and Android 20 decides to flee. During this time, Future Trunks arrives and informs everyone that Android 19 and 20 are not the androids of his future world. After Vegeta takes a Senzu bean to recover his power, Piccolo calls Future Trunks by name, causing Vegeta to realize who he really is; Vegeta is initially shocked by this realization, although he is also apparently resolved as this explains how the boy could become a Super Saiyan. After pursuing Android 20 (who is really Dr. Gero, with his brain in a cyborg body) Vegeta and the rest of the team discover Android 16, Android 17, and Android 18, who were activated by Android 20 in a desperate attempt to save himself. These Androids were far more powerful than either Dr. Gero, or Android 19. However, Android 17 crushes Dr. Gero's head, not being loyal to his creator at all.
The three new Androids fly away from Dr. Gero's secret laboratory, but the Z Fighters follow them, and Vegeta challenges them to battle. He fights with Android 18, and seems to be doing fairly well at first and surprises the Androids with his newfound power, but is eventually defeated due to the fact that Android 18 has infinite power while Vegeta has to use all his power to fight her. When Piccolo, Tien, and Future Trunks step in, they too are beaten into submission. The Androids then head off to look for Goku in order to destroy him - the mission they were made for. Krillin, the only Z Fighter not to have gotten involved in the skirmish with the Androids, gives everyone Senzu Beans, which revived all of his fallen comrades. Vegeta then spends three days standing on a cliff, thinking about his defeat. He decides that there must be a level beyond Super Saiyan, and resolves to reach it. Vegeta enters the Hyperbolic Time Chamber at Kami's Lookout and trains for nearly a year (a day outside) with Future Trunks. Meanwhile, Dr. Gero's ultimate Android creation is discovered.
Battle With Cell[]
After Imperfect Cell managed to absorb Android 17, and become even stronger than Piccolo, Vegeta and Future Trunks emerge from the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, and confront Semi-Perfect Cell. After powering up into an Ascended Super Saiyan, Vegeta completely dominated Semi-Perfect Cell, and even made the evil android beg him to allow him to absorb Android 18, in order to become complete, and make the fight more interesting. This strategy was obvious to everyone, including Vegeta, and he initially refuses. However, eager to show off his new power, Vegeta eventually permits Semi-Perfect Cell to do as he wishes, even going so far as to fight Future Trunks and stop him from preventing Semi-Perfect Cell's attainment of perfection. After becoming Perfect Cell, the android fights Vegeta a second time. This time, Vegeta is the weaker one, with Vegeta angry that Cell was not taking their battle seriously. Vegeta had to resort to using his Final Flash technique, which, to his credit, was too strong for Cell to block. He dares Perfect Cell to take the attack head on, and Perfect Cell, confident that it will not harm him, stays put as the beam hits him. Though it failed to destroy Perfect Cell, the attack's power was obvious, as Perfect Cell was missing a third of his body from the blast. When Vegeta thought he had won, Perfect Cell regenerated, though, thanks to Piccolo's Cells, and then badly beat the weakened Vegeta. Perfect Cell then fought Future Trunks, who managed to put up a fight against the perfect Android, but he was defeated as well, when he gave up after realizing the Ultra Super Saiyan form was too slow to fight Cell. Instead of killing the defeated Z Warriors, Perfect Cell proposes a tournament so that he can have some fun before destroying Earth. The tournament would commence in ten days.
The Cell Games[]
During this time, Goku and Gohan got their turn in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber and began training, mostly for the purpose of Gohan becoming a Super Saiyan, his hidden power would be very useful then if he could at least keep up with Perfect Cell normally. Goku and Gohan then appear from the Hyperbolic Time Chamber with Vegeta praising there tactics of achieving the Full-Powered Super Saiyan state. Vegeta then decides to once again enter the Hyperboic Time Chamber hopeful to gain an increase in power as he had before but this time decided to do things differently, first by entering alone instead of with Future Trunks deciding that he would just slow him down and to instead gain control over the original Super Saiyan transformation as Goku and Gohan had done before rather than increasing his power as much as possible. Vegeta then reappeared from the chamber disappointed at how little increase in power he had achieved. All the Z Warriors then gathered at the tournament after nine days had passed. On the day of the tournament, the martial arts champion Mr. Satan (Hercule) and his trainees attack Perfect Cell first, but they are easily defeated. Then the tournament truly begins, as Goku is the first of our heroes to fight Perfect Cell, even though he already knows that he will probably not be able to beat him. He matches Perfect Cell blow for blow and puts up a good fight; but as Goku expected, Perfect Cell is quite a bit stronger then him.
Goku eventually quits the fight after a huge Kamehameha that decreases his own power, and remembers the training inside the Hyperbolic Time Chamber that he and Gohan went through. Goku is confident in his son's abilities and sends the 11-year-old Gohan out to fight Perfect Cell, assuring Perfect Cell that if Gohan could not beat him, no one would be able to. Gohan reluctantly fights Perfect Cell, but Gohan does not show the same love for fighting and confidence that Goku does, and it is that lack of interest in fighting and lack of confidence that gets him into trouble. Gohan does not use his full strength and Perfect Cell makes seven miniature versions of himself to fight the Z Fighters and eventually kill them. This charade continues until Android 16 (who is now allied with Goku) is killed - when this happens, Gohan's dormant power erupts in his rage and he transforms to a level that surpasses the known limits of any Super Saiyan. This new level of power is "Super Saiyan 2". It was just as Goku had predicted; Gohan with his awakened power, dominates the perfect android until a well placed punch to the stomach makes Perfect Cell regurgitate Android 18, forcing him to become semi-perfect again. No longer at his ultimate power, he begins to self-destruct as a last resort. Goku teleports him to King Kai's planet, and is killed in the explosion. Semi-Perfect Cell survives, and comes back in his perfect form, but due to his Saiyan genetics, Super Perfect Cell comes back stronger after his near fatal injury. He returns to Earth, where he kills Future Trunks with a Full Power Death Beam.
Vegeta attacks Super Perfect Cell in a fit of rage when he sees his son killed, blasting the android straight on with an incredible volley of Ki Blasts. When it is all over, Super Perfect Cell emerges, completely unharmed, and knocks Vegeta aside. Cell then attempts to finish Vegeta off once and for all with a ki blast, but Gohan throws himself in the way of the blast, losing the use of his left arm in the process. What follows is a turning point in the life of the Warrior Prince: seeing that his pride and rage has taken the victory from a brother Saiyan and warrior, Vegeta, for the first time in his life, apologized for his arrogance (though Gohan thought that this might also have partially to do with the fact that the Earth was dying).
After an intense Kamehameha duel, Super Perfect Cell is finally defeated by Gohan's Kamehameha after Vegeta distracts him with a Ki Blast to the back, allowing Gohan's beam to finally overcome Super Perfect Cell's. Realizing that both Goku and Gohan were superior to him not only in power but in character and honor as well, Vegeta understands that he was beaten by Goku in more ways than one. His last words on the battlefield are "Kakarot, you died without fear. What does that make of me?" With the battle over, Vegeta began to finally accept his rapidly changing morality (as he, like Piccolo before him, had now grown to care for others), and began to settle down on Earth, becoming quite fond of it, and begins to truly care about his family.
Seven Years Later[]
Seven years pass since the Cell Games, and he is reinstated. He is at age 44. Now that Goku is gone, Vegeta's goal is no longer to become stronger than him, but it is now to make Trunks stronger than both Gohan and Goku's second son, Goten, as he strongly believes Gohan's Super Saiyan 2 was Goku's doing. He is first seen emerging from a gravity room after training with Trunks (his son), when Gohan comes to have fun with Trunks. While Gohan greets Vegeta kindly, Vegeta gives Gohan a cold look and tells him that he should continue training, even in peacetime. Upon hearing from Gohan that Goku will be coming to Earth for 24 hours to fight in the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament, Vegeta boasts and claims that he will beat Gohan, Goten and Goku in the Tournament.
The World Tournament[]
Vegeta then arrives at the tournament with his family and in turn joins up with the Z Fighters in order to greet Goku on his return. When Goku appears, Vegeta, with his son, look on as the others greet Goku in happiness. They then all take turns hitting the punch reader machine. While the Z Fighters lower their strength to hit the machine, Vegeta hits it with no holding back, completely destroying the machine, to the disgrace of the others. Vegeta is eager to fight Goku in the tournament to prove that he was the stronger one and to his delight, his first match is with Goku. Goku meets his son Goten and the tournament starts. Soon, Supreme Kai and Kibito appear and tell Goku that a wizard named Babidi is about to unleash an evil monster named Majin Buu on the world, and they must help stop him. Majin Buu needs energy from fighters so he can be freed from the shell he is trapped inside. Goku prepares to go with Supreme Kai, but Vegeta is enraged - he was scheduled to fight Goku and thinks Goku is trying to wiggle out of it. He joins Goku, Gohan, Videl, Piccolo and Krillin. They follow Supreme Kai to Babidi's spaceship. However, the gang is ambushed. Piccolo and Krillin are turned to stone statues by Dabura, one of Babidi's henchmen. Videl returns to the tournament, advised that the fight against Babidi might be too dangerous for her as she is inexperienced. Goku, Gohan, Vegeta and Supreme Kai enter Babidi's ship.
Return of the Dark Prince[]
They fight their way down the levels, encountering a different Majin (Babidi's fighters) at each level. Vegeta was the first of the three to fight, after winning a match of Rock-Paper-Scissors. He fights the minion Pui Pui with absolute ease, not even having to transform into a Super Saiyan. Seeing Pui-Pui fall to Vegeta's might, Babidi transports Pui Pui and the others to Pui Pui's home planet Zoon, which has 10x the gravity of earth. Vegeta, having already trained under 500X gravity when preparing for the androids, is not fazed at all by this change (also note that Vegeta grew up on Planet Vegeta, which already had 10X the gravity of earth). Vegeta then proceeds to eliminate Pui-Pui swiftfully by killing him instantly with a point-blank energy blast, completely disintergrating Pui-Pui. Goku was up next, and he fought a pet creature of Babidi known as Yakon. At first, Yakon was troublesome, seeing as though he has the ability to see in dark, Goku did not. However, Goku manages to defeat the creature from him absorbing too much of his energy and blowing up, briefly giving Vegeta a glimpse of Goku's Super Saiyan 2 powers.
At this point, Vegeta realizes that even though he has trained as hard as he could for seven years, there was still a gap between Goku's power and his. Then Gohan begins to fight Dabura. During the fight between Gohan and Dabura, Vegeta and Goku had an argument about how to best handle the Babidi/Majin Buu threat. Dabura retreats, saying that there is a different fighter who is more powerful. They are confused, as Supreme Kai says that Dabura is the most powerful Majin. Suddenly, Vegeta begins acting strangely, screaming that something invisible is attacking him. Supreme Kai informs the others that Babidi is trying to take over Vegeta's mind and they encourage him to fight back, but it is too late. Vegeta is overwhelmed by Babidi, and is transformed into a much more powerful stage, Majin Vegeta. Babidi orders his new apprentice, Majin Vegeta, to destroy Goku, Gohan and Supreme Kai, but he refuses. He says he will only fight Goku.
Babidi is surprised by Majin Vegeta's ability to fight his mind control, but obediently transports the three fighters and Supreme Kai back to the World Martial Arts Tournament. Majin Vegeta, eager to fight Goku, blows up part of the spectator bleachers, trying to convince Goku to fight him. Goku eventually agrees. Supreme Kai tries to get in the way of the two Saiyans' feud, but backs down when Goku threatens to blast him if he gets in the way (to the surprise of Vegeta). Goku and Majin Vegeta then are teleported to a secluded mountain area, and fight. Majin Vegeta revealed to Goku that he deliberately let Babidi to control him in order to allow his evilness to resurface, which would allow Vegeta to fight Goku as he once was, saying "I was cold and ruthless, unencumbered by foolish emotion!" After that, Majin Vegeta and Goku both power-up to Super Saiyan 2, with power levels just surpassing that of Gohan's when he fought Super Perfect Cell. Then Goku and Majin Vegeta fight furiously, with each fighter having their glorious moment after one another.
The Monster, Majin Buu[]
Vegeta was able to fight evenly with Goku, (which caught the latter off-guard on a few occasions). Throughout the battle, Babidi is drawing off the energy spent by Goku and Majin Vegeta and using it to try and revive the sleeping Majin Buu. Eventually, Goku calls a halt to the fight, as he senses Majin Buu's extraordinary power, and knows he has been released. When Goku turns his back to get out the last Senzu Bean and split it between him and Majin Vegeta to stop Majin Buu, Majin Vegeta attacks Goku and knocks him out.
Majin Vegeta takes the Senzu Bean and goes to fight Majin Buu by himself: as he felt that he owed Goku for the destruction wrecked during the Cell Games, as it was his fault Semi-Perfect Cell absorbed Android 18. Majin Vegeta wants to repay his debt by saving the Earth, as he also believed that Gohan was dead at the time. Majin Vegeta fights against Majin Buu, but cannot win, even his most powerful attacks only slightly hurt Buu. He attempts many blows on Majin Buu, but the pink monster seems invincible.
After Trunks saves Vegeta from one of Buu's attacks, Vegeta decides the only way to destroy Buu is to sacrifice himself. Majin Vegeta knocks out Trunks and Goten and uses the Final Explosion (a Self Destruction technique) in an attempt to kill Majin Buu in a nuke-like explosion. At the end all that is left of him is his body turned to stone which falls to the ground and leaves a few broken bits of his stone body, which quickly scatter. This technique fails, as Piccolo, who gave Goten and Trunks to Krillin, watches Majin Buu regenerate from the pieces of him which were left. Everyone finds out about Vegeta's sacrifice, and mourns on the Saiyan Prince's demise. When Bulma and Yamcha wished back everyone who died after the World Tournament, Vegeta did not come back due to the fact that he had already been wished back once before (during the Frieza Saga).
Vegeta Returns[]
Later on in the saga, Vegeta is given the chance of another shot at Majin Buu by King Yemma, which Vegeta accepts. He returns to Earth but unfortunately, he is still dead. He finds Goku (now brought back to life, thanks to one of Supreme Kai's ancestors sacrificing themselves) who tells him that everyone has been killed or absorbed by Majin Buu. Majin Buu was now much more powerful than when Vegeta first fought him. As a result, Goku asks and pleads to Vegeta to put on one of the Potara Earrings so that they can permanently fuse their bodies and minds together and fight as one. Vegeta denies Goku's offer, and tells him that he knows about Goku again surpassing him, furious that he had found and reached the new Super Saiyan 3 stage, thinking he was mocking him by not using this form during their last confrontation. Vegeta got angry at Goku for holding back in their fight before because Vegeta would not have had to sacrifice his own life if he had known that Goku's true power rivaled that of Majin Buu, and thus he initially rejects the offer. The new Majin Buu, now called Super Buu w/Gohan, then confronted Goku and Vegeta.
In the anime, fighting at Super Saiyan 2, Goku and Vegeta were absolutely no match for him. They were both being completely dominated. As Buu was coming down with a finisher (which never took place in the manga, as the following dialogue is spoken prior to Buu catching up to them), Goku mentions the fact that Bulma has been killed, and Trunks and the remaining Z Fighters have been absorbed. Vegeta decides to go along with the plan. Then when Vegeta agrees to fuse with Goku he explains they would be stuck together forever. Seeing he had no other choices, Vegeta agreed to fuse, even if it means being stuck with Goku forever, because he wants to avenge his family's death and to stop Super Buu. Vegeta then agrees with Goku, and they fuse to become Vegito. Vegito fights Super Buu w/Gohan absorbed. The fused Saiyan, in the normal Super Saiyan form, is far stronger than even the mass-absorbed Super Buu, easily able to beat him even after being turned to a coffee-flavored jawbreaker. However, Vegito realizes that he cannot destroy Super Buu because his friends and family have been absorbed into Super Buu's body and allows himself to be purposely absorbed after putting up a Saiyan Barrier so that he may rescue them. The strange circumstances within Super Buu cause the fusion to separate and Goku and Vegeta find themselves back in their own bodies. Vegeta, stating that nothing is worth than being fused with Goku forever, crushes the Potaras to powder without hesitation. Goku and Vegeta fight their way through Super Buu's body to the brain (however, in the manga, they appear directly in the brain just as the other absorbees were), where they find not only Gohan, Goten, Trunks and Piccolo but also the original fat form of Majin Buu. Vegeta recalls (having seen these events in the afterlife) that at some time in the past, Majin Buu split into his good and evil sides. The evil side absorbed the good side, Majin Buu. Goku and Vegeta fight a "thought-form" of Super Buu inside the brain, and think they have won until Super Buu regenerates and defeats them. Super Buu's power had tremendously been decreased in comparison to when he fought Vegito. However, he was still stronger than both Goku and Vegeta (the former of whom states that Buu would kill them easily if they were to go out unfused), and to make matters worse, (exclusively in the anime) inside Buu's head the monster's very thoughts became reality. Super Buu was about to destroy Goku when Vegeta distracts him by threatening to tear the fat Majin Buu out of the pod he was trapped inside of. Super Buu gets really scared and frightened at what Vegeta is about to do, and begs the Saiyan prince to stop, saying "If you tear those attachments, I won't be me anymore," which only seemed to increase Vegeta's interest in ripping them. Vegeta then pulls the pod, causing the Super Buu thought-form to dissolve, and he and Goku then escape. They take their sons, and Piccolo with them. Once outside, they see that Super Buu's form is changing again. He morphs back into Kid Buu, his original form before he absorbed Southern Supreme Kai and, the benevolent leader of the Supreme Kais, the Grand Supreme Kai. The new Buu, Kid Buu, was the original, said-to-be pure evil form of Majin Buu. A form that is nothing but pure evil.
The Final Battle[]
Kid Buu decides to destroy the earth in his wake with his Planet Burst. Vegeta and Goku have a small conversation afterwards, with Vegeta making fun of Goku because he was so worried but he just shrank. Goku and Vegeta could not stop Kid Buu's horrible power, and the two Saiyans fly quickly to try and reach the now-free absorption victims, but Goku made a detour and picked up Mr. Satan, the young Namekian healer Dende, and Mr. Satan's pet Labrador puppy, Bee. There was no time to save Gohan, Goten, Trunks or Piccolo as Kid Buu's attack was speeding towards them. Suddenly Kibito Kai appears using Instantaneous Movement to transport himself, Goku, Vegeta, and the three others to the Sacred World of the Kais. Vegeta blames Goku for the needless death of their sons. Vegeta also gets further incensed when he learned that, while Vegeta was still dead and in the afterlife, Goku bribed Old Kai with allowing the latter to grope/gain nude pictures of/go on a date with Bulma, lashing out at Goku for his senselessness and stated that he should have just used Goku's own wife instead. They watch through a Crystal Ball and see that Kid Buu is destroying planet after planet in search of them, Kid Buu knew they escaped, and as a result decided to hunt them down. Goku and Vegeta decide it can not go on, and power up to entice him to come to the sacred planet to fight them both.
Kid Buu answered their call, and quickly made himself visible at the planet. After playing a quick game of Rock-Paper-Scissors to decide who faces Kid Buu first, Goku wins and starts his fight. Exclusively in the anime, he powers up to a Super Saiyan 2 and fights well against the child version of Majin Buu. However, Kid Buu powers up and Goku then powers up to a Super Saiyan 3 to try and match his power. Goku evenly fights the psychotic demon. However, Kid Buu seems to have a slight advantage over Goku as the fight progresses due to Goku's constantly depleting energy supply. Goku fights in his Super Saiyan 3 stage for a while, and as a result, loses a colossal amount of energy. He starts losing so much power he eventually collapses when he tries to fire the powerful Kamehameha attack. Vegeta steps in and fights for a period of time, but is dominated and cannot match Kid Buu in power. Goku recovers in the nick of time and begins fighting again at his full strength. Vegeta goes through a long flashback sequence, remembering how he met Goku and everything that's happened since then - he thinks about their different attitudes to their families, about Goku's friends, and most of all about their strength. He finally comes to terms with his rivalry with Goku and acknowledges him as the best as Goku fights for pure reasons and not for his own personal gain.
Goku gradually began losing power despite being in Super Saiyan 3 form, and since Kid Buu maintained his full strength even after multiple powerful attacks from Goku, the Saiyan warrior began to panic. Vegeta fought Kid Buu in his Super Saiyan 2 form as a distraction so Goku could get his energy back, even though he knew that his destruction would be permanent if he were destroyed while he was dead. He was beaten viciously, but would not give up (even shocking Kid Buu). Later, the good Majin Buu took Vegeta's place after being spit out. However, Goku was unable to get his energy back, reverting into his base form. Vegeta realized that Goku could not defeat Kid Buu by using his power alone, and devised a plan for Goku to create a massive Spirit Bomb with energy given by all the people on Earth in order to destroy Kid Buu, which Goku thinks at first will not succeed. Communicating with King Kai, he coordinated the search for the seven Dragon Balls of New Namek and had the Nameks use them to make three wishes: The first being the restoration of the destroyed Planet Earth. The second wish affirms the sincerity of Vegeta's newfound humanity, as it entails the revival of everyone who had died since the arrival of Babidi who do not possess an evil heart, so that they can give their energy to the Spirit Bomb. When asked by Goku why the wish was worded so, he reasoned that to wish otherwise would revive Dabura and Babidi, and those whom he murdered at the tournament would stay dead. Surely enough, his own halo disappears, indicating that his heart was no longer an evil one. Vegeta tries to convince the people of Earth to give their energy to deafeat Buu, but they do not listen to his pleas. All hope seems lost until Mr. Satan orders the humans to contribute energy, which the humans then do. When Goku completes the Super Spirit Bomb, he can not throw it because Kid Buu was holding the injured Vegeta down. However, the good Majin Buu tackles Kid Buu away so Mr. Satan could move Vegeta away. Finally, Goku launches it. This last wish, that of recovering Goku's full strength, was made when Kid Buu was about to overpower the Super Spirit Bomb. Combining Goku's and Vegeta's enormous strength and Vegeta's strategic mind, the last two pure-blood Saiyans were able to defeat Kid Buu and save the universe. Afterwards, Vegeta was eager to dispose of the good Majin Buu, but Goku convinced him that the good Majin Buu had saved his life. Vegeta then changes his mind and accepts the good Majin Buu as one of them. The fighters return to Earth and Vegeta goes on to father a second child, his daughter Bulla (Bra in the manga and original anime). After the defeat of Kid Buu, Goku and Vegeta finally become friends after being rivals for many years. They still keep a friendly rivalry between them, though.
Years later, Goku, Vegeta, and the others enter the next World Martial Arts Tournament. In the decade since Kid Buu's defeat, Vegeta has fully accepted life as an Earthling, and has traded in the Saiyan battle fatigues for more casual Earth clothing. Vegeta hopes to fight Goku (again) and Goku hopes to find the reincarnated version of Kid Buu (Uub). He also has Trunks participate in the tournament, and also jokingly threatens to take away Trunks' allowance if Trunks does not fight. At the end of his fight with Uub, Goku reveals to everybody that he will be leaving for a while to train Uub. Vegeta is the last to talk to Goku before he leaves. Goku apologizes in a way, and tells Vegeta that he wants to have a friendly battle with him one day (to which Vegeta simply replies that "when we fight, we would need a whole planet as an arena"). After Goku and Vegeta say their goodbyes, both Goku and Uub fly away, and Vegeta once again swears to himself that he will fight Goku someday and defeat him. This is where Dragon Ball Z ends.
Commoncs Creative License[]
Attribution: Dragon Ball Wiki