Vegeta

Vegeta is a male extraterrestrial character that features in Dragon Ball Z.

Biography

Vegeta (732- May 7, 774; May 8, 774 - ?) was the prince of the Saiyan race, the son of King Vegeta and one of the only Saiyans to survive the destruction of Planet Vegeta. He has peculiar hair that grows almost straight up and a large widow’s peak. Vegeta’s attitude is generally one of great confidence. He is somewhat cocky, very proud and self-righteous. Another peculiar thing about Vegeta is that he never once calls Goku by his Earth-given name, but only his Saiyan name - Kakarot. At first Goku dislikes this, but he grows used to it as time passes and he learns more about Vegeta’s reasoning. For most of the series, Vegeta is bent on becoming stronger than Goku. He becomes obsessed with the idea of one day defeating Kakarot in battle, and this remains his one desire for a very long while.

From the start, all knew Vegeta was destined for greatness. As a child, his power level exceeded that of even his father’s. After Planet Vegeta was destroyed, Vegeta worked under Frieza wiping planets of life and competing against his bitter rival Cui. Vegeta started out as a major villain, as he came to Earth with his "partner" Nappa seeking possession of the Dragon Balls.

He killed Nappa for his failure to defeat Goku, and battled Goku himself, but despite the close calls, the fight ended in a tie and the two Saiyans separated to recover. Vegeta headed for Planet Namek to collect the Namek Dragon Balls, only to find that Frieza had already obtained most of them. Vegeta gleefully murdered Cui when his old enemy followed him there in an attempt to stop him, and also brought about the deaths of Frieza’s top men Dodoria and Zarbon - although not without a sound beating from the latter.

Vegeta temporarily allied himself with Krillin and Gohan when the group battled the Ginyu Force. He rescued them both from the time tricks and mental binds of Guldo, and they returned the favor by saving him from the brutal Recoome. Goku surprised everyone upon his arrival to Namek by giving the Saiyan prince a Senzu Beans. After Goku finally defeated all of the Ginyu Force, he was badly hurt after the ordeal. Knowing he’d need the more powerful Saiyan as his ally when the final battle against Frieza came, Vegeta helped Goku by giving him access to the rejuvenation tank in Frieza’s ship. Vegeta nearly achieved Super Saiyan while fighting Frieza, but never quite reached it.

Frieza beat him to a bloody pulp until Goku arrived, but Frieza fired one last fatal shot at Vegeta, killing him. As he lay dying, Vegeta revealed the secrets of his past and what Frieza had done to his family, the royal line and the Saiyan race. Because of this speech, Goku changes and becomes extremely angry with Frieza.

A short time later, Vegeta appeared to Goku in a vision and retold the tragic tale of the Saiyan race and their great loss all because of Frieza. This speech inspired Goku to take revenge on Frieza for all the pain and suffering he caused. Vegeta was revived with the Earth Dragon Balls, and just before he was transported to Earth with a wish from the Namek Dragon Balls, he managed to find Goku and Frieza. He commended Goku on his transformation as a Super Saiyan and caused Frieza to totally freak out when he saw Vegeta, as Frieza knew full well that he had killed the Saiyan prince several hours before.

Vegeta came to accept his situation on Earth and lived at Capsule Corporation for a time, while waiting for Goku to come back. It is at this point he became more acquainted with Bulma and her family. About this time, it had also become clear to most that Vegeta was more a neutral ally to the general cause. When Goku did not return, Vegeta angrily took a Capsule Corp. ship and left Earth to search for him. He returned in time for the first appearance of Trunks, and a few years later left again to train out in space alone, where he eventually turned Super Saiyan in a rage during a heavy meteor shower on a small planet, which could have killed him at any time. His total frustration that two Super Saiyans could exist (where it was previously thought that there was only one legendary Super Saiyan) and that he was not one of them threw Vegeta into a rage, and he trained furiously at the thought that he was a failure to his father and the Saiyan race because of his weakness.

During the three years of peace after the future Trunks left, Vegeta and Bulma had their son named Trunks. Vegeta trained alone with the future Trunks for a year inside the Hyperbolic Time Chamber (Room of Spirit and Time), where both reached the Ultimate Super Saiyan stage. Vegeta was full of pride and expected a lot of his son, but did not seem to care very much about him. However, when Cell killed Trunks near the end of the Cell Games, Vegeta lost all control and flew at Cell, attacking him with a furious barrage of punches and kicks with such energy as he never had before. While Gohan and Cell were wrestling with the two biggest Kamehamehas ever formed in a final bout of power, Vegeta tactfully positions himself behind Cell and fired a Final Flash at his back. A surprised Cell lost his concentration as a result, so that Gohan’s Kamehameha overwhelmed him and literally destroys Cell down to every last particle.

Vegeta and Bulma do in fact get married (apparently sometime between the Cell Saga and the Buu Saga; although it is never shown nor the exact date revealed, the event is mentioned in the Japanese version later in the series). Vegeta is tough on his son, but he really cares about him and Bulma. By the time of Majin Buu's appearance, Vegeta appeared to have calmed down some, but in reality he only looked that way because Goku has been away training in the Other World for about seven years.

When Goku returned, tempers flare, and Vegeta’s jealous anger rose so high that Dabura, sensing his potential, advised Babidi to possess Vegeta and take over his mind. Babidi did so, causing Vegeta to become Majin Vegeta. His mind turned to evil and his power level increased greatly, Vegeta reached Super Saiyan 2. He resisted most of Babidi’s attempts to control his mind, although he does allow the evil to control his actions. To get Goku to fight him, he blew up an entire section of the stadium (including spectators) at the 25th Tenkaichi Budoukai. The resulting battle between Goku and Vegeta appeared to be another tie, but while Goku was distracted, Vegeta knocked him out and put off their fight to face Buu.

At this point, Vegeta appeared to have returned to his evil ways, he was really not so hardened deep down. Vegeta proved this when he met Fat Buu for the first time, and immediately vowed to avenge Gohan’s apparent “death” at Buu’s hands (although he is actually quite alive, his power level drops so low that he is assumed dead). He fought with Buu for a while, only to find that he was overpowered at every turn.

Knowing full well that Buu was capable of killing his son, his wife, and everyone he cared about, he made the grim but courageous decision to act as a kamikaze force in attempt to destroy Buu once and for all. Piccolo informed Vegeta that despite the manner of his death and any of his recent accomplishments in life, the millions and perhaps billions of deaths he caused in his youth during his planet-clearing days working for Frieza would override everything, and he would almost certainly go to Hell (HFIL). Even with this knowledge, Vegeta made up his mind to do whatever it takes to save his family and those he cares for. Trunks tried to stop him, and Vegeta hugged him one last time before he knocked him out and used Ultimate Final Skill to explode all of his life energy into one great bomb, making the ultimate sacrifice for Earth.

Despite Vegeta's attempts, Buu survived, and Vegeta apparently (according to Piccolo) went to Hell. He returned later with the aid of Baba and special permission granted from King Yemma to help Goku save Earth. Vegeta made the difficult decision to fuse permanently with Goku into Vegetto to defeat Buu (though they defused a bit later anyway due to special circumstances). At this point Vegeta was finally coming to terms with the fact that Goku was indeed more powerful than he, and during the fight between Super Saiyan 3 Goku and Buu, Vegeta admitted that Goku was the strongest Saiyan in the universe. He was resurrected by the Dragon Balls along with everyone else destroyed by Buu, including the entire population of Earth. Vegeta even tried to talk the people of Earth into giving up their energy for Goku’s Genki-Dama (Spirit Bomb), but Satan, Mr. proved to be much better at it, due to his supreme popularity as the World Champion.

Alternate Versions

• In Dragon Ball GT, Vegeta appeared in the setting where after the Buu Saga he and Bulma had another child, this time a daughter named Bulla. He became quite fond of his daughter and was extremely protective of her. After Goku was transformed into a child by the Black Star Dragon Balls, Vegeta was possessed by Baby, and battled Goku on his return to Earth. After being freed from Baby's control, Vegeta later helped battle Super 17 and (as a Super Saiyan 4, alongside Goku) Ii-Shenron. Bitter enemies from their first meeting, Goku and Vegeta proved to be practically best friends in the end.

In other media

Video games

• In Dragon Ball Fighterz, Vegeta appeared as a playable character in the fighting video game where he was voiced by Japanese actor Ryô Horikawa and by English actor Christopher Sabat in the dubbed version.

Appearances

• Dragonball Z:
• Dragon Ball GT:
• Dragon Ball Super:

External Links

• Wikipedia Entry