Dragon Ball is not a series that centers itself much around love or romance. While most characters end the series paired with a romantic partner, almost all of these love stories develop exclusively off-screen. Even the relationship between Goku and Chichi, the main character’s marriage, is essentially a footnote that exists to make sure Gohan exists.

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For as sudden and jarring as their get-together initially is, most fans agree that Vegeta and Bulma share one of the strongest and healthiest relationships in the series. For all of Vegeta’s character flaws, he manages to be a great husband and the two have raised quite the family come Dragon Ball Super. Across all iterations of the series, Vegeta and Bulma may very well be Dragon Ball’s best couple.

10 Bulma Patching Up Vegeta In The Anime

Akira Toriyama typically doesn’t flesh out Dragon Ball’s time skips much. Most of the time the story will just skip to the next major beat, but the anime uses the moments as an opportunity to slow things down and allow the manga to plow ahead. The three year gap during the Cell arc has done some particular good in the anime.

After training in the gravity room, Vegeta finds himself worn down and battered. Bulma cares for him and watches over him. It’s a small scene, but it helps contextualize their relationship better than in the manga where they just suddenly get together (albeit with surprisingly great chemistry.)

9 “That’s My Bulma”

Super Saiyan Vegeta kicks Beerus in the gut from Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods

Say what you will about Dragon Ball Super, but Battle of Gods reintroduced Dragon Ball to a modern audience wonderfully while also showcasing both Goku and Vegeta at their best. Vegeta, in particular, gets to spend the first half of Battle of Gods showing off the fruits of his character development, putting his dignity aside for the Earth.

When Beerus slaps Bulma, however, Vegeta goes ballistic and attacks the God of Destruction. Much to everyone’s surprise, protecting “his” Bulma briefly allowed Vegeta to surpass Goku while also drawing blood from Beerus, at the time the series’ strongest antagonist. That’s an impressive feat all stemming from love.

8 A Family Trip At The Amusement Park

Centered in a period of Dragon Ball history rooted in relative peace, Dragon Ball Super opened with a series of slice of life episodes while building up the opening act of Battle of Gods. It’s an interesting approach, one that did not necessarily pay off, but the first few episodes are quite charming. The second in particular focuses on Vegeta’s relationship with his family.

Following up on the promise he made to Trunks very early on in the Buu arc, Vegeta takes his family to an amusement park for some fun. He’s a grouch and allows himself to sulk most of the time, but it’s clear he does enjoy being with his family even if an amusement park setting isn’t for him.

7 Majin Vegeta Recognizing Bulma’s Role In His Life

Vegeta allowing Bobbidi to possess him in order to turn Majin is not an amazing moment for him. No one likes a midlife crisis, but Vegeta takes things to an unreasonable degree, outright killing innocent people at the Tenkaichi Budokai. Despite living with his family, happy, for seven years, seeing proof that Goku is stronger than him sets Vegeta off.

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Their fight has Vegeta coming to terms with their rivalry, however, and Buu’s awakening knocks some sense into both fighters. After knocking out Goku, Vegeta prepares to sacrifice himself against Buu. His suicide attack ultimately contextualizes itself through Vegeta’s relationship with Goku, Bulma is the first person Vegeta thinks about when he’s about to die.

6 Vegeta Doing It Again At The Tournament Of Power

Something that is repeated rather shamelessly, albeit notably, in Dragon Ball Super’s Tournament of Power during the Universe Survival arc. Nearing the end of the tournament, Vegeta finds himself pushed to his limits while fighting Toppo. He’s left with no choice but to channel all his Ki into a final explosion, ala the Buu arc.

Vegeta thinks to Bulma, his children, and lastly Cabba. It’s… not nearly as graceful, as meaningful, or as impactful as Vegeta’s sacrifice in the Buu arc, but it’s a reminder that Bulma is always on Vegeta’s mind and it’s always nice to get a peek at how much he loves her. Even if it’s derivative.

5 Vegeta Putting His Rivalry Aside For Bulma

Vegeta is, understandably, pretty upset with Goku when he comes down to Earth to help fight Super Buu near the end of the arc. Goku had his reasons and they’re justifiable enough in their own way, but Vegeta is right. Goku humiliated him, belittled their rivalry, and refused to meet Vegeta as a true equal. Goku’s intentions may have been good, but he should have known better.

It makes sense then that Vegeta would not want to fuse with Goku, but hearing that Buu himself has absorbed Bulma is enough to make Vegeta trade away his identity for life. Of course, he’s already coming to terms with his rivalry with Goku at this point in the story, but Bulma’s presence here is important.

4 Vegeta Refusing To Leave Bulma’s Side For Bra’s Birth

It’s hard to believe the exact same man who left the mother of his son and their baby for dead during the Cell arc went on to risk the entire fate of the multiverse by refusing to enter the Tournament of Power because he wanted to be present for the birth of his daughter. Whis ultimately delivers Bra himself, but this is still a huge moment for Vegeta.

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Vegeta was never one for intimacy in the original series, and it wasn’t until the very end of the Buu arc where he truly started to feel sentimental. Moments like these showcase the depth of Vegeta’s development, and the fact that the Prince of all Saiyans is at his core a great husband and father.

3 All The Quality Time Vegeta And Bulma Spend In Super

Dragon Ball Super absolutely nails the slice of life aspect of Dragon Ball, something that never had much of a chance to breathe in the original manga’s run. With all the time in the world, Dragon Ball Super often indulges in the day to day doings of the characters inbetween major story arcs, often pairing Vegeta & Bulma together as a unit.

This is, of course, to say nothing of all the time they spend together during arcs. As each arc tends to reset the status quo, Vegeta always goes home to Bulma and is always a present husband & father when it comes time to abandon them for training.

2 Baby Vegeta And Baby Bulma Wreak Havoc Together

Although they’re both fully possessed by Baby during this portion of the arc, it’s still wildly fun to see Baby Vegeta and Baby Bulma all over each other, acting as a genuine couple of supervillains. The main focus is on Baby Vegeta himself as he is the arc villain, but it’s nice of GT to not only highlight Vegeta & Bulma as a couple but in an incredibly unique way.

As evidenced, the main canon doesn’t really feature all too many scenes of Vegeta and Bulma together, with some of the best either coming from the anime. It only makes sense, then, that Dragon Ball GT would follow suit.

1 Bulma And Vegeta Work Together To Reach Super Saiyan 4

For all of Dragon Ball GT’s faults, Vegeta’s characterization is not one of them. If anything, Dragon Ball GT handles Vegeta far better than Dragon Ball Super does. This is a Vegeta who has let go of his ego, put his rivalry with Goku behind him, and is just living his life as he pleases– as a super strong family man.

Come the Evil Dragons arc, Vegeta realizes the gravity of the situation while also recognizing his limitations. He needs to be on Goku’s level, but he can’t reach that level himself. Who can? His wife and his partner, Bulma. Through Bulma’s technology, Vegeta is able to surpass his limits. It’s not through his own strengths, but through hers, which is all the better.

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