Vegeta and Bulma may not be Dragon Ball’s main couple, but it’s hard to deny the prevalence they have in the series, both independently and as a family unit. Although they only formally get together in the series’ second to last story arc, their relationship has played a major role in movies, spin-offs, and sequels.
There are even times where Bulma and Vegeta seem like Dragon Ball’s most put-together couple— especially when compared to Goku’s rather strange relationship with Chichi. At the same time, Vegeta’s not actually the most loving or attentive partner and has had a bad history of doing things that other women might find dealbreakers.
10 BEST COUPLE: Vegeta Takes His Family To The Amusement Park
Early on in the Boo arc, Vegeta promises Trunks that he’ll take him to the park if he manages to hit him during a sparring match. Trunks succeeds, Vegeta intends to keep his problem, and then the Boo arc begins in proper, pushing this little detail to the background. Super rather humorously decided to follow up on this for its second episode.
While Vegeta does it begrudgingly, he takes the entire family out to the amusement park. Dragon Ball shenanigans ensue, Vegeta gets in a little scuffle, and the family trip is saved. It’s a moment Super acknowledges rather frequently, actually.
9 BREAK UP: Vegeta’s Consistent Mistreatment Of Future Trunks
It’s genuinely shocking that Bulma just lets Vegeta’s mistreatment of Trunks slide. She certainly doesn’t approve of it, but she also does not react to Vegeta’s behavior accordingly. He abuses Trunks so readily in the Cell arc, seemingly out of the sheer spite of having a son potentially stronger than himself.
Vegeta does warm up to Trunks by the arc’s ending, even irrationally attacking Cell after Trunks dies, but that still doesn’t excuse Vegeta’s distance and neglect of Trunks up to that point. To his credit, Vegeta is a much better father to present day Trunks, but poor Future Trunks deserved so much better.
8 BEST COUPLE: Vegeta Attacks Beerus For Bulma
Some fans weren’t too excited about Vegeta’s role in Battle of Gods, but it’s probably the closest the series will ever come to making Vegeta the main character. The entire second act is dedicating to Vegeta trying to appease Beerus while the tension very slowly builds. When Bulma slaps Beerus, everyone knows it’s over.
Shockingly, though, Vegeta bursts into an ascended version of Super Saiyan 2 that’s implied to be even stronger than Goku’s Super Saiyan 3. Vegeta even manages to draw Beerus’ blood before being knocked out, and all because Beerus hurt his Bulma.
7 BREAK UP: Vegeta Let A Warlock Possess Him Out Of Spite
While fans like to harp on Goku for being an inconsiderate husband and father, he’s nowhere near as thoughtlessly selfish as Vegeta. In the Boo arc, Vegeta lets Bobidi possess him just because Goku very briefly triggered Super Saiyan 2 while killing Yakon. This is enough to send Vegeta down a midlife spiral.
He doesn’t even consider how Bulma might feel seeing him let Bobidi possess him. Vegeta lets his rivalry with Goku eclipse seven years of history with his family. Even in Goku’s most intense moments, he thinks of his family. Vegeta just disregards everything and everyone around him.
6 BEST COUPLE: Vegeta Puts His Rivalry Aside For Bulma’s Sake
That said, Vegeta does develop as the Boo arc goes on. After his stint as Majin Vegeta, he’s clearly a more put-together person. Death really changes a man, especially the second time around. As Boo rushes to absorb Goku and Vegeta, the latter refuses to fuse, shaming Goku for pitying Vegeta earlier in the arc.
When Goku tells Vegeta that the only way to save his family is to fuse, though, Vegeta reluctantly agrees. Goku invoking Bulma is enough to end the conversation and put some sense into Vegeta. It’s a big moment for Vegeta’s character arc all things considered.
5 BREAK UP: Vegeta Letting Cell Transform
Although Bulma may not have been present for this event, she’s inherently tied to it. Future Bulma is the whole reason that Trunks even goes back to the past in the first place. She’s the one who lost all her friends, her entire family. For Trunks to go back in time to stop the Artificial Humans only for Vegeta to create a bigger threat is a problem.
Worse yet, Vegeta’s actions involve helping Cell keep 18 in place so nobody can rescue her. Vegeta even hits his own son to prevent 18 from being saved. That in itself is horrifying paired with how Bulma’s future self ties into the whole scenario.
4 BEST COUPLE: Vegeta Only Wears Clothes His Wife Makes Him
For as cartoonishly evil as Vegeta can be, he does have some sweet characteristics other characters in Dragon Ball may lack. It’s not a detail that goes particularly noticed, but— after the Cell arc— Vegeta only wears clothes that Bulma seemingly makes him.
The Boo arc spandex is debatable, but his Cell arc armor, his Super armor, and Resurrection F armor aren’t. Those are all made by Bulma— the first two are even the same model! It’s a nice way of contrasting how Goku tends to always wear a variation of his Turtle School gi. Where Goku loves martial arts, Vegeta loves his wife.
3 BREAK UP: Vegeta Killing Half Of The 25th Tenkaichi Budokai Audience
It was bad enough that Vegeta let Bobodi possess him, but he goes one step too far when he literally murders hundreds of innocent people to prove a point to Goku. This is something Bulma watches. While yes, the Dragon Balls have been overused to the point where casual death has little consequence at this point, but the fact Bulma isn’t more horrified is downright insane.
Worse yet, nobody in the main cast bothers holding Vegeta accountable after the fact. There are zero consequences whatsoever to Vegeta lashing out other than hive killing himself to try to stop Majin Boo.
2 BEST COUPLE: Bulma Helps Vegeta Reach Super Saiyan 4
Dragon Ball GT is far from the franchise at its best, but it does do a decent job at showing a more mature version of Vegeta and Bulma’s relationship. More importantly, they’re both more mature themselves. By the end of GT, Vegeta has more or less let go of all his ego directed towards Goku.
Vegeta’s even comfortable with Bulma using artificial means to trigger the Super Saiyan 4 transformation within him. It’s great to see Vegeta and Bulma actively working together towards the same goal. GT has one of the only instances in the franchise of them working together as a team.
1 BREAK UP: Vegeta Is Responsible For Yamcha’s Death
It really shouldn’t matter how things ended between Yamcha and Bulma, the fact that Vegeta was responsible for Yamcha’s death should be a dealbreaker. Yamcha was Bulma’s first boyfriend, one of her oldest and closest friends, and someone who lived with Bulma for years. It is insane that she would just get with Vegeta after the fact.
While a Saibaman technically kills Yamcha (and Vegeta technically kills no one while on Earth), none of the main characters would have died had Vegeta never shown up. Yamcha, Tenshinhan, Chaozu, and Piccolo all lose their lives trying to stop Nappa and Vegeta.