Vegeta

The last prince of the destroyed Saiyan homeworld, Vegeta arrives as a ruthless conqueror seeking immortality and ends up grudgingly settling on Earth. Pride defines him: he trains to brutal extremes purely to surpass Goku, and his resentment at always finishing second leads him to terrible choices, including accepting dark power during the Buu conflict. A late act of self-sacrifice marks his turn toward fatherhood and heroism.

Short and heavily muscled, with a flame-shaped crown of black hair swept straight up, a sharp widow's peak and a permanently narrowed glare. He first appears in white Saiyan battle armour with shoulder guards, dark bodysuit, white gloves and boots and a scouter over one eye, with a brown tail coiled at his waist. Later armour drops the shoulder plates, and he eventually adopts a plain blue bodysuit with white gloves and boots, sometimes with a jacket. Scars accumulate over the series. As a Super Saiyan his hair blazes gold and his eyes turn hard green.

Proud to the point of self-destruction, he measures everything against his royal bloodline and against Goku, whose existence he treats as a personal insult. He is arrogant, sarcastic, quick to violence and contemptuous of weakness, including his own, and early on he kills allies without a thought. Yet he is also disciplined, analytical and relentlessly hard-working, outpacing everyone in sheer training hours. Over the series his pride slowly reshapes itself: he begins protecting the planet he once came to sell, accepts a family he never asked for, and finally admits that his rival surpassed him. Affection embarrasses him, so he expresses it through grim action rather than words.

Born as the crown prince of the Saiyan race, he was raised to conquer and was already an elite warrior when Frieza destroyed his homeworld and absorbed the survivors into his army. He spent his youth purging planets under the command of the tyrant who had murdered his people and his father, enduring humiliation while nursing a plan to one day kill Frieza himself. Hearing of the Dragon Balls gave that ambition a shape: wishes for immortality. He came to Earth with Nappa seeking those wishes after his low-class countryman Raditz was killed, expecting no resistance from a backwater planet.

1. Saiyan Arc

   He arrives on Earth hunting the Dragon Balls, lets Nappa slaughter the defenders, then kills his own partner for failing. His duel with Goku escalates through Kaio-ken and a Spirit Bomb; forced into Great Ape form and crippled, he escapes in his pod rather than die begging.

2. Namek and Frieza

   Racing both Frieza's forces and Earth's fighters for the Dragon Balls, he slaughters elite soldiers, hides a ball and briefly allies with Krillin and Gohan. Convinced he has become the legendary Super Saiyan, he challenges Frieza, is brutally beaten and dies in tears over his wasted life.

3. Androids and Cell

   Resurrected and living at Capsule Corporation, he attains Super Saiyan through solitary training and intervenes against the Androids. His pride lets Cell reach perfection, after which he trains his son Trunks in the Room of Spirit and Time and is outclassed at the Cell Games.

4. Majin Buu

   He lets the wizard Babidi amplify him through evil influence to settle his rivalry, causing carnage at the tournament. Confronting the consequences, he sacrifices himself in a self-destruction attempt against Buu, later returns, fuses with Goku as Vegetto and finally acknowledges his rival's superiority.

Son Goku

Rival

Everything he does is calibrated against the low-class Saiyan who keeps surpassing him. The rivalry drives his training, his worst decisions and his eventual grudging respect and cooperation.

Bulma

Partner

The scientist takes him in after his resurrection and their relationship produces Trunks. She tolerates his temper and gradually anchors him to Earth, giving him something he will fight to protect.

Trunks

Son

Initially indifferent, he comes to take fierce pride in the boy, training him and ultimately sacrificing himself for him, expressing affection in the only unguarded moment he allows himself.

Frieza

Former master and nemesis

The tyrant who destroyed his world and kept him as a servant. His entire ambition is built on killing Frieza, and failing to do so is the great humiliation of his life.

Nappa

Former subordinate

His partner during the invasion of Earth, discarded the instant he became useless, a killing that establishes how little his old allegiances mean to him.

• He executes his own partner Nappa after the invasion of Earth fails.
• Dying on Namek, he tells Goku the truth about Frieza and the fate of the Saiyans.
• He launches a Final Flash at Cell that reshapes the surrounding landscape.
• He accepts Babidi's corrupting power purely to force a rematch with his rival.
• He self-destructs in a desperate attempt to destroy Majin Buu after saying goodbye to his son.

• He attains Super Saiyan through pure training rather than an emotional trigger.
• His royal title is one he insists on even when he has no kingdom left.
• He loses an eye-mounted scouter early on and never relies on one again.
• He is the only Saiyan shown keeping his mind while transformed into a Great Ape.
• Christopher Sabat, his longtime English voice, also voices Piccolo in the same dub.

• Son Goku
• Piccolo
• Krillin
• Bulma
• Frieza
• Future Trunks

• Son Gohan
• Android 18

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