When it comes to personality, it’s an arguable fact that Vegeta gets the Dragon Ball series’ most improved player award. No matter the ebb or flow of the royal-blooded Saiyan's antics — from fashion statements to petty rants about not being allowed to indulge in homicide — his reasoning seems to be ever-rooted in his pride and his legacy (and sometimes jealousy). For each of his transformations, his desire to get at least one over on Goku was a direct motivation, and one that Vegeta stayed plugged into with every step. To chronicle his journey, here is a list of Vegeta’s forms in order of power and impact.
10 Base Form Vegeta
Without any transformation at all, Vegeta stood head and shoulders over most (in terms of power level of course, since this is not a height check). Having inherited his name, and therefore the kingship over what’s left of the Saiyan race, Vegeta was born with an edge both in power level, and in social status.
In his DBZ debut, Vegeta had a battle strength that totally outclassed Goku and all of the Z Warriors at the time, and it was only thanks to the Kaio-Ken technique that Goku stood a chance against him. He isn’t all muscle either; Vegeta has a very keen battle instinct and is exceptionally intelligent, making him worthy of his lofty title (and attitude).
9 Great Ape Vegeta
There is surely something special about Vegeta, and this fact is particularly evident in his Great Ape form. For the majority of Saiyans, when under the light of a full moon, their bodies react to the Bruitz waves, sending them into a violent rampage.
Rather than totally lose control of any faculties of self, Vegeta was fully capable of speaking, thinking, and reasoning, which is an indication of his royal position in the Saiyan race. The mouth cannon is also a move that Vegeta reserves for his Great Ape form.
8 Super Saiyan Vegeta
Vegeta’s rise through the Super Saiyan levels wasn’t exactly the most glorious. In fact, the frustration of being outclassed by a lower-classed reject despite having been considered a prodigy enraged Vegeta, pushing him to become angry enough to break through and become a Super Saiyan of legend, something he believed only he could be.
Not being able to transform into a Super Saiyan first visibly tore Vegeta’s ego to shreds. He had no choice but to face his jealousy of Goku, and throwing a temper tantrum until something clicked seemed to work for him. Tragic, but true.
7 Super Vegeta
Vegeta was able to assume a premature, and therefore less adapted upgrade called the Ascended Saiyan state, which he and Trunks employed at the Cell Games. Thanks to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, in which one day is equivalent to one year of Earth time, Vegeta and Trunks were able to thoroughly explore their transformative powers. Although the strength increase of the Ascended state was great, Vegeta’s battle genius told him that it was imperfect. He concluded that the muscle mass of the Ascended form would only put a damper on his speed, and thus continued his Super Saiyan training.
6 Super Saiyan 2 Vegeta
After watching Trunks in the second-rate Ascended Saiyan form totally bomb out in his fight against Cell, Vegeta’s suspicions were verified. He had succeeded in pushing the limits of the first transformation, but instinct was telling him that greater heights were still possible.
The more sustainable Super Saiyan 2 transformation is characterized by bolts of electricity surrounding Vegeta’s body, as well as more intensely spiked hair, and a more toned build. This form only became a part of Vegeta’s arsenal because of his submission to the Babidi the Magician’s mind control, and aiding the release of Majin Buu, but that didn’t keep him from contending for the title of Legendary Super Saiyan.
5 Super Saiyan Blue Vegeta
Filling in a gap in story between Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT, Dragon Ball Super took Goku and Vegeta into the realm of gods, where inter-galactic pettiness was the fuel behind many conflicts the Z Warriors faced. When Beerus, the God of Destruction came into the picture, Vegeta was given the opportunity to train with him and his angel attendant, Whis. After watching Goku achieve the Super Saiyan God state pretty much by default, Vegeta decided to practice diplomacy by petitioning to the gods for training. Through straight up hard work, Vegeta tapped into the Super Saiyan God, and then the Super Saiyan Blue transformation.
4 Vegetto
Originally, Vegeta would have taken a “by all means necessary” approach to his acquisition of power, but with a threat like the mostly mindless and excessively destructive Majin Buu on the prowl, the choice was practically made for him. Vegeta’s tastes weren’t very suited to the Supreme Kai’s potara earrings, but he saw their worth somewhere between losing his mind, an explosive kamikaze, and being resurrected to fight the same enemy he died to barely put a scratch on.
It wasn’t at all unreasonable for Vegeta to resist the potara fashion trend; according to the Supreme Kai, the conditions of Goku and Vegeta wearing one each of the potara was that they would be stuck in the Vegetto form forever. During the fight against Buu, The Saiyan O.G.’s were under the impression that it was being swallowed by him that caused them to separate, but later found out the permanence rule only applied to the Kais, and that fusion only lasted an hour for mortals.
3 Baby (Metal) Vegeta
Once upon a time, there was no such thing as a planet Vegeta. One day, the Saiyan population, after losing their planet, decided to steal someone else’s — the Tuffles. After ransacking Planet Plant, the Saiyans took over and renamed it Planet Vegeta.
Baby, Tuffle’s bio-mechanical incarnation, was a bit conflicted about taking over the body of the race responsible for his planet’s destruction, but that didn’t keep him from reveling in the power that Vegeta possessed. Guilty of what has to be the most insidious type of revenge ever executed by an extinct species, Baby lured the Saiyans into battle and oozed into their wounds, forcing the submission of Earth to Baby’s plans: changing Earth into the new Tuffle. Being the most powerful Saiyan around at the time, Baby chose Vegeta’s body as his primary, but even as a Great Ape he wasn’t strong enough to beat Goku at the Super Saiyan 4 level.
2 Super Saiyan 4 Vegeta
Under the mind control of Baby, Vegeta’s loving wife Bulma lost no affection for her husband, even to the point of being a loyal servant to Baby’s plans of recreating the Tuffle planet. Once everyone was restored to their right mind, Bulma was able to draw on the data from the fight with Baby, and use the Bruitz wave emitter to induce Vegeta’s Great Ape state. Vegeta’s ability to control himself in the Great Ape form meant he could concentrate that power and form into a new one, and achieve Super Saiyan 4. In this form, Vegeta has a brand new tail, and is only a bit less furry than he is as a Great Ape.
1 Gogeta
Vegeta is never too happy with the idea of fusing, but when a backlash of the Dragon Balls created new enemies with the power of the giant wish-granting dragon Shenron, Vegeta himself posed the idea. Even without the threat of being permanently joined, the fusion dance is not a permanent gig, Vegeta doesn’t feel comfortable performing the technique. He does, however, swallow his pride in order to give the Earth a fighting chance against the one star shadow dragon Omega Shenron. Gogeta is similar to Gotenks, the fused form of Trunks and Goten, both in their outfit and in their playful disposition.