Why Vegeta is Secretly Dragonball Z's Main Character

Disclaimer: This post is made under the assumption that you have watched DBZ in its entirety. If you've been living under a rock and are just now watching DBZ via it's Kai version, or you are a younger person finally getting your chance to watch DBZ, then there will be plenty of spoilers here. I actually don't know where Kai is at the moment, so I can't be like, "spoilers start here." Just avoid this post all together.

If you are a fan of the series and have seen every episode or know the entire story, or if you are one of those half DBZ fans that might not have watched the entire thing and don't have a desire to do so but still respect DBZ for what it is, then this is a great read.

This is also my opinion. If I present opinion as fact, then oops.

Also, if I present fallacies as fact, then oops as well. And please point them out and show me why it's wrong.

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I was watching a few Dragonball Z videos... mainly Vegeta's epic speeches that he made throughout DBZ... mostly in the Majin Buu Saga.

I do want to say something about the Majin Buu Saga... it's a bit better than I used to think it was. Now, don't get me wrong, I still think the Buu Saga is the worst Saga in all of DBZ, I still think that Buu is nothing more than a pink version of Cell, and I still think that Buu can't fight for shit. Seriously, the only reason he lasted for so long was because he could restore himself. Don't get me wrong, Cell had a number of moments where he was like, "lol look at me, I'm part Namekian," but Buu pretty much abused this concept, and would have died probably before Goku even went Super Saiyan 3. But whatever... this isn't about Buu, this is about Vegeta.

So why is Vegeta secretly Dragonball Z's main character? Simple, the Z Warriors don't eat without Vegeta. Now I understand that Goku allowed Vegeta to live after that battle (or did he? I mean, he was pretty much fucked after that Kaioken x4 Kamehameha), but that was a good decision. Dudes would have died on Planet Namek in the hunt for the Dragonballs if Vegeta wasn't with them. Goku wouldn't have the savior from the future to save him from certain heart failure if it wasn't for Vegeta getting with Bulma. While Goku was recovering, Vegeta pretty much stole the show. Hell, Gohan doesn't go SSJ2 without Vegeta's arrogance. Gohan actually doesn't even destroy Cell without Vegeta's help. Directly or indirectly, Z Warriors don't survive Buu either.

But actually, it's a bit more complex than that. Vegeta is the only character that experience true character development throughout the entire series. Goku was pretty much established from the start; he's a gentle bad-ass that knows fighting and nothing else. Face it, he can be as gentle as he wants, but in order to beat him in a fight, you practically have to be Chuck Norris. That makes him bad-ass. But if you look at the series, that pretty much describes him in each and every saga. Most of the filler characters have a similar lack of growth to them.

There are a few characters that have more of a hint of character development than Goku though. Piccolo goes from being rather selfish to rather caring due to training Gohan, but that's about as far as that goes. Trunks had some interesting character development, maturing throughout the Android-Cell saga both physically and mentally, allowing him to go back to his time and destroy Cell and the Androids. (lol just realized... Androids dominated so hard in Trunk's time that there's not a hint of Buu or a fuckton of DBGT villians...) Gohan had hints of character development, mostly in the Cell saga. For the most part, he was just a kid with a little rage in him, and he didn't really develop into the bad ass that no one saw coming until Perfect Cell. (and then he looses that edge in the Buu saga...) I'm sure at this point I'm probably forgetting a character or two with a hint or two character development, but at this point, I don't care.

I wanna talk about Vegeta.

Vegeta comes to Earth, and he's a killing machine. He wants the Dragonballs and he wants Immortality. He even kills Nappa, believing that he's too weak due to having lost miserably to Goku. Then he actually fights Goku and doesn't exactly fare well. He eventually shows up to Namek, still in the hunt of the Dragonballs and still on the hunt of Immortality, but he shows hints of care for Gohan, Krillin, and Bulma. Or maybe he just wants them alive so that they can help him find the Dragonballs. Not quite sure, actually. Maybe he had a drive... a drive to kill Frieza?

--continued--

This is the part where Vegeta dies and you see that it was Frieza that made him into the ruthless killer that he was. You also get to see there somewhere deep inside, he does have a heart. He's sad for his father, and he wanted revenge against Frieza for what he did, thus his hunt for the Dragonballs. Proud to see that a Super Saiyan would kill him, but still on his death bed.

Vegeta comes back (pretty soon, actually, within the same saga, due to the Dragonballs), gets a glimpse of Super Saiyan Goku, and then he's pretty much transported to Earth.

Fast forward to the Androids, where Super Saiyan Vegeta debuts and crushes Androids 20 and 19. He doesn't necessarily do it to save the world or anything like that. With Frieza dead and the vast majority of a disgruntled past behind him, he only has one goal: to be the best warrior in the universe... better than Kakarot. He has nothing but his Saiyan pride at this point, it's the only thing that drives him. No revenge, no necessary need to kill... just his pride.

It's his pride that influences certain decisions... especially one that almost cost the planet its existence...

This piece right shows that he has no concern for anyone else... he simply wanted to test his own newfound abilities, even at the cost of everyone else's life. You have to give Cell credit; he played it perfectly. (Another reason why he's umpteen times better than Buu... raw intelligence.) We all know what happens at this point... it clearly doesn't fare well, but it does make for some of the most epic scenes in DBZ, with Vegeta vs. Perfect Cell and Trunks vs. Perfect Cell, as well as the creation of the Cell Games.

Fast forward again... to the Buu saga. It's still the worst saga in all of DBZ, and there is nothing that can change my mind about that. However, Vegeta's character makes it a lot less sucky as I once thought it was.

Especially Majin Vegeta. He still has that drive. He still has that goal. He wants to beat Kakarot.

He pretty much allowed Babidi to take over his mind... here's why...

Always the target is Vegeta's pride. Always, however, is the decision of the exploit condoned by Vegeta. Even with seven years between Cell and Buu, even in seven years with peace on Earth, Vegeta has one drive... one goal... to be better than Kakarot... at any cost.

This time, however, something changed... something about that heart that he has deep down inside. He would trick Kakarot, knock him out, and leave him unconscious so that he could fight Buu on his own. He fights Buu, Buu uses "lol I'm not a great fighter at all but I'm Buu" tricks, and eventually Vegeta would come to a realization... that Buu needs to be destroyed. At any cost. Including his life.

(if you have a spare 20 minutes, I'd suggest you watch the entire episode by clicking this)

Vegeta sacrifices his life in order to save the world and his family. Unfortunately... you know... it didn't quite work out that way. Buu survives simply because he's a pink Cell, the plot thickens, we get to see things like SSJ3 Goku, Gotens, Mystic Gohan... whole lotta stuff. Then, like, Goku is alive permanently or something like that, and Vegeta eventually comes back by way of back door save the universe politics (because, you know... he died). Things happen, the Saiyan kick Buu's ass... and then he goes Kid Buu. And Kid Buu destroys Earth. The fight gets taken to the Kai's planet... and that's when Vegeta finally gets it...

This is pretty much where Vegeta's character comes full circle from when he originally showed up. There has been many, many, many physical transformations in all of Dragonball Z, but no single character has made such a complete emotional transformation in DBZ like Vegeta did. He goes from cold blooded killer to a pride driven warrior to a man who finally knows himself, knows his heart, and knows his limits.

Hope you enjoyed this... if you have any thoughts... feel free to forward them to me...

--This is the kind of character development I need to emulate in the Marko Man series.--

Oh yeah... almost forgot... even with this full circle of change that Vegeta has experience... he refuses to let anyone take his spot as 2nd best.