Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball franchise is the home for some of the most exciting and memorable modern battles to come out of the shonen genre. There are a lot of diverse aspects to appreciate about Dragon Ball, but one factor that routinely keeps audiences invested is the series’ strong work with character development.
Dragon Ball allows its cast to grow older and experience life and it results in some enlightening changes in some individuals. One of Dragon Ball’s most fascinating characters is Vegeta, who initially enters the series as a regal antagonist with destructive ideations. Vegeta becomes an important pillar of Dragon Ball, but he also grows and becomes quite different from the Saiyan he was during his childhood.
10 KEPT: His Staunch Saiyan Pride
Dragon Ball does a decent job at shining a light on different backgrounds that its characters come from and how much an individual’s environment and upbringing can play a factor in their development. Vegeta is propped up as the Prince of the Saiyan race, even when he’s just a young child. That’s a ton of responsibility to carry, but Vegeta still takes incredible pride, even as an adult, to represent his race of people. Details like how Vegeta retains Saiyan armor for so long also speak to his fondness for his roots and how he’s proud to show them off.
9 OUTGREW: His Genocidal Conqueror Mentality
Dragon Ball Z begins with only a few surviving members of the Saiyan race left. Vegeta represents the norm, which is that they’ve become a mercenary-like group of individuals who travel through space to conquer and loot planets. Vegeta maintains this philosophy when he sets out for Planet Namek’s Dragon Balls, but he then begins to put down roots on Earth and change his ways. Vegeta becomes comfortable with a much more terrestrial lifestyle, but the biggest shift in his actions is that he officially becomes a hero and someone who prefers to defend a planet than take it over.
8 KEPT: His Desire To Become A Super Saiyan
Murmurs of a Legendary Super Saiyan used to largely exist as urban legends that Saiyans told one another, but there was no certainty that the coveted transformation actually exists. Vegeta’s background and his determined nature put the image of Super Saiyan on his radar from a very young age and it remains a distant goal for him to achieve.
Vegeta isn’t the first one to become a Super Saiyan, but he doesn’t let this deter him and he still accomplishes this goal, and then some.
7 OUTGREW: His Desire To Focus Only On Combat
The entire Saiyan race is described as people who value combat over everything else, and it’s why they possess such primal transformations that are designed for destruction. For a long time, it’s difficult for Vegeta to comprehend that there’s anything more important than training and self-improvement, which makes it so moving when he does soften in this regard. Vegeta is able to reprioritize what’s important in his life to the point that he builds a family and actually finds time to go on vacations with them, which is a healthy balance that Goku struggles to achieve with his own family.
6 KEPT: His Animosity Toward Frieza
Anime is a medium that’s full of powerful revenge stories and grudges can fester and fuel entire series. One of Vegeta’s biggest rivalries exists with Frieza, who is responsible for the destruction of Planet Vegeta and most of the Saiyan population. Frieza is a manipulative and vile figure during Vegeta’s youth and he’s even more dangerous when Vegeta faces him as an adult. Vegeta has been forced to temporarily fight by Frieza’s size, but his rage for the character continues to burn strong and will likely come to a head at some point.
5 OUTGREW: His Belief That He’s The Best
Manifesting success is a valid way for some individuals to grow stronger. Vegeta is someone who understands the importance of training, but it’s also reinforced from a young age that he’s the very best and the future of the Saiyan race. It’s difficult for Vegeta to admit humility, but he slowly gets better in this department, which culminates in how he concedes that Goku is the superior warrior.
This is behavior that he never would have admitted back on Planet Vegeta and even his willingness to train under others and learn new techniques from outsiders shows how much Vegeta’s grown.
4 KEPT: A Reliance On The Great Ape Transformation
It’s quite interesting how Dragon Ball has carefully revised Saiyan lore and introduced powerful transformations like the many tiers of Super Saiyan, or even techniques like fusion, that turn former principles irrelevant. The Great Ape transformation used to practically be synonymous with Saiyans, but it slowly gets phased out and even Saiyan tails leave the picture. Vegeta continues to utilize the Great Ape transformation even after it’s done out of favor. Granted, he does eventually ditch it too, but he brings it back in Dragon Ball GT in a significant way.
3 OUTGREW: His Lone Wolf Mentality
Some people seriously struggle to work as a team, especially when they’ve become reliant on depending on their own strength. Vegeta grows up in a pampered environment where he’s taught to be the next ruler of the Saiyan race and it puts quite the chip on his shoulder. A young Vegeta is very resistant to have partners and work with others, but it’s an area that he eventually understands is essential. Vegeta doesn’t just learn how to work as a team, but he gains actual friends, family, and is even willing to fuse with others to become a stronger warrior.
2 KEPT: He Continues To Fulfill A Saiyan Legacy
It’s likely that many Saiyans viewed themselves as heroes and the ones who will surpass the rest of their race and become something greater. However, this perspective becomes entrenched in Vegeta because of his royal lineage and it’s not an exaggeration that he’s considered the future of the Saiyan race. Vegeta’s life becomes quite different on Earth, but in a way he continues to respect this legacy once he starts a family and brings more Saiyan into the world. He helps perpetuate the species and makes sure that his royal blood doesn’t die out.
1 OUTGREW: His Undying Devotion To The Saiyan Race
There’s a fine line between patriotism and fanaticism and a lot of the Saiyans exist in a bubble on Planet Vegeta where they’re only exposed to their own combative doctrine. Vegeta grows up in an environment where he’s consistently told that Saiyan are the dominant tribe of aliens and that their survival is paramount. Over the course of the series, Vegeta encounters certain villainous Saiyans, like Broly or Goku Black, where he’s able to properly consider events and not blindly defend these enemies just because they’re Saiyans. He accepts that his race is flawed and can make serious mistakes.