History Characters / DragonBallVegetaTropesOToZ

* OutOfCharacterMoment: In ''Super''. Vegeta during the Hit arc, quite surprisingly, not only tries to skimp his training with Whis and seems rather uninvested in seeing it to completion, he eventually skips out of it completely by giving Whis some BlatantLies. This is very odd, as it goes against his {{Determinator}} personality as someone who's willing to train until his body can't take it any more, and he has this attitude nowhere else the series.

** If he's ever genuinely terrified of a villain (Frieza, pre-canon Broly, and Beerus most notably) rather than his usual cocky self, you know they're not to be messed with. And his fear of Beerus is taken UpToEleven in ''Super'' to where Vegeta could barely even bring himself to fight until he reaches his RageBreakingPoint. Even after becoming friendlier with Beerus, he's still highly apprehensive of him and humbles himself the moment Beerus has an outburst or when someone says something out of line with Beerus, which is usually Bulma.

* UnstoppableRage: He's normally pretty angry already, but he takes this UpToEleven when [[PapaWolf Cell kills Future Trunks and when Beerus slaps Bulma.]] In the Future Trunks Arc after he finds out that Goku Black killed his wife and is hunting down his future son with the intent to kill him too, he enters his training room and goes absolutely berserk, destroying the bots he trains with in his rage. [[spoiler: When he and Black clash for the final time however he goes into a [[TranquilFury quieter rage]] and savagely pulverizes him (at least until Black's AdaptiveAbility bails him out), intending to not relent until he's nothing more than a broken mangled corpse after what he did to his Future wife and son.]]

* ParentsAsPeople: While Vegeta becomes a much better parent in the Buu Arc and Super, that doesn't mean that he never had any flaws. Due to his Saiyan heritage, he started off as pretty ignorant regarding the idea of parenting his kids. He started off as cold and abusive towards Future Trunks until the near end when their relationship gets better. He was emotionally neglectful towards Kid Trunks, as he never hugged him until the day he sacrificed himself to kill Majin Buu. Vegeta has his flaws asa parent, but most of them was who he was as a person.

** Ignored Trunks' existence when he was a baby, not even bothering to save him when Bulma and he were attacked by Android 20. It wasn't until Future Trunks was killed by Cell that he finally started to show any of his interest in his child. ** By the time of Buu Saga, Vegeta is no longer verbally or physically abusive to his son, unfortunately, he is instead very emotionally distant, not even holding him once in the eight years he was born.

[[center:[-[[Characters/DragonBall Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/DragonBallMainCharacters Main Characters]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSonGoku Son Goku]] ([[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesAToC A-C]], [[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesDToH D-H]], [[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesIToO I-O]], [[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesPToZ P-Z]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallBulma Bulma]] | [[Characters/DragonBallKrillin Krillin]] | [[Characters/DragonBallPiccolo Piccolo]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSonGohan Son Gohan]] | [[Characters/DragonBallVegeta Vegeta]] ([[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesAToD A-D]], [[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesEToN E-N]], '''O-Z''') | [[Characters/DragonBallFutureTrunks Future Trunks]] | [[Characters/DragonBallMajorSupportingCast Major Supporting Cast]] ([[Characters/DragonBallAndroids17And18 Androids 17 and 18]] | [[Characters/DragonBallTrunksAndSonGoten Trunks and Son Goten]] | [[Characters/DragonBallMrSatan Mr. Satan/Hercule]] | [[Characters/DragonBallFusionCast Fusions]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallSupportingCast Supporting Cast]] | [[Characters/DragonBallZGTSupportingCast Z/GT Supporting Cast]] | [[Characters/DragonBallTournamentCharacters Tournament Characters]] | [[Characters/DragonBallFutureTrunksTimeline Future Trunks' Timeline]] | [[Characters/DragonBallOthers Other Characters]] ([[Characters/DragonBallSaiyans Saiyans]] [[[Characters/DragonBallBardock Bardock]]] | [[Characters/DragonBallNamekiansAndDragons Namekians and Dragons]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallOriginalSeriesVillains Original Series Villains]] ([[Characters/DragonBallRedRibbonArmy Red Ribbon Army]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallZVillains DBZ Villains]] ([[Characters/DragonBallFrieza Freeza/Frieza]] [[[Characters/DragonBallFriezasEmpire Frieza's Empire]]] | [[Characters/DragonBallDrGero Dr. Gero (Android 20)]] | [[Characters/DragonBallCell Cell]] | [[Characters/DragonBallMajinBuu Majin Buu]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallZMovieVillains DBZ Movie Villains]] ([[Characters/DragonBallBroly Broly]] | [[Characters/DragonBallCooler Cooler]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallGTVillains GT Villains]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSuper Super]] | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse7 Universe 7]] ([[Characters/DragonBallBeerus Beerus]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse2 Universe 2]] | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse3 Universe 3]] | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse4 Universe 4]] | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse6 Universe 6]] ([[Characters/DragonBallFrost Frost]] | [[Characters/DragonBallHit Hit]] | [[Characters/DragonBallKale Kale]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse9 Universe 9]] | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse10 Universe 10]] | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse11 Universe 11]] ([[Characters/DragonBallJiren Jiren]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallZeno Zeno]] | [[Characters/DragonBallGokuBlack Goku Black]] | [[Characters/DragonBallZamasu Zamasu]] | [[Characters/DragonBallGalacticPatrolAndPrisoners Galactic Patrol and Prisoners]] ([[Characters/DragonBallMoro Moro]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallHeroes Heroes]] | [[Characters/DragonBallHeroesVillains DBH Villains]] | [[Characters/DragonBallXenoverse Xenoverse]] | [[Characters/DragonBallFusions Fusions (Video Game)]] | [[Characters/DragonballFighterZ FighterZ]] ([[Characters/DragonBallAndroid21 Android 21]] | [[Characters/DragonBallFighterzBaseRoster Base Roster]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallLegends Legends]]]]-]

Back to ''Manga/DragonBall'', ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', ''Anime/DragonBallGT'', or ''Anime/DragonBallSuper''.

Character subpage for Vegeta.
----

* OverarchingVillain: For the post-Piccolo portion of the story up until the end of the original manga (or the ''Z'' anime).
** He's the direct ArcVillain of the Saiyan arc. Raditz, Nappa, and the Saibamen are his minions and the entire plot is kicked off by his gang trying to recruit Goku for their next planetary conquest. He's the first villain to be genocidal on an interstellar scale, and the first one who possesses the ability and the willingness to outright blow up the Earth.
** In the Namek arc, he serves as a side villain in the MeleeATrois of the early portions. The heroes are as scared of him as they are of Frieza's goons and constantly have to play a cat and mouse game with him; he also is just as villainous as Frieza's group as shown when he slaughters a Namekian village. Even when he does agree to team up with them against Frieza towards the end, it's purely out of self-interest and they still try to actively screw each other over (e.g. Vegeta abandons Goku to the Ginyus after being healed and hopes they'll weaken each other so he can take out the survivor while he's looking for the dragon balls). You never really doubt that he'll kill them all the moment Frieza is out of the picture.
** In the Cell arc, he's a VillainProtagonist, emphasis on the villain. He shows PragmaticVillainy in not messing with the heroes anymore when Frieza is gone and he has a free bed and training room, but at the same time, his 'purity' to go Super Saiyan involved being 100% evil, at least as he notes himself. When the goals of the heroes involve taking out a challenge he wanted, he flat-out threatens to murder them (as seen when Bulma proposes stopping the release of the androids and when he almost blows up Krillin at Gero's lab). Uninterested in others' fates, at least quite apparently, he ultimately becomes responsible for the final conflict when he outright attacks Trunks and 18 in order to help Cell absorb her and ascend to his perfect form.
** In the Buu arc, he has seemingly mellowed out, building off the end of the Cell Games. This is quickly reversed when Babidi offers Vegeta great power in return for abandoning his morals. He agrees without hesitation and then blows up an entire stadium full of people just to force Goku into fighting him. They then engage in a battle to the death, despite Vegeta fully knowing that doing so will ''release Majin Buu''. Directly because of Vegeta's actions, Buu gets released and the titular arc ensues. He, essentially a hardly-reformed sociopath, doesn't cement his HeelFaceTurn until the end of the arc, whereupon he remains a grouch and loses the role of the OverarchingVillain going into ''Super''.

-->'''Top:''' Our universe will remain, no matter the price! ''Hakai!''\\

** In the same vein as the above, Vegeta implicitly acknowledges that his real source of power comes from his love of his friends and family, especially the former, and that Bulma, Trunks, and Bulla are his absolute pride.

* TooQualifiedToApply: When the Z-Fighters enter the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament, they all give a light tap to the punch machine. Then Vegeta, [[{{Pride}} being Vegeta]], comes along and obliterates it.

* YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe: In the anime, he has that expression when he realized the item that was used to keep him alive while Copy-Vegeta was prowling around, a pacifier, is used by babies to suck on something. He later declares that he would rather die than to have his life saved by a pacifier.

* YouGotToBeKiddingMe: In the anime, he has that expression when he realized the item that was used to keep him alive while Copy-Vegeta was prowling around, a pacifier, is used by babies to suck on something. He later declares that he would rather die than to have his life saved by a pacifier.

* WolverineWannabe: Vegeta can be considered the manga equivalent to Wolverine. He's got a short yet muscular build with distinct hair, his signature outfits are blue and yellow, he has a DarkAndTroubledPast, was in a LoveTriangle (though Wolverine DidntGetTheGirl), possesses a HiddenHeartOfGold and tends to think with his fists.

** Vegeta gets an upgrade when he submits to Babidi, putting him on even terms with Goku at SS2. Subverted in that Vegeta's own will overrides Babidi's and he ends up opening his heart.

[[center:[-[[Characters/DragonBall Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/DragonBallMainCharacters Main Characters]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSonGoku Son Goku]] ([[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesAToC A-C]], [[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesDToH D-H]], [[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesIToO I-O]], [[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesPToZ P-Z]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallBulma Bulma]] | [[Characters/DragonBallKrillin Krillin]] | [[Characters/DragonBallPiccolo Piccolo]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSonGohan Son Gohan]] | [[Characters/DragonBallVegeta Vegeta]] ([[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesAToD A-D]], [[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesEToN E-N]], '''O-Z''')| [[Characters/DragonBallFutureTrunks Future Trunks]] | [[Characters/DragonBallMajorSupportingCast Major Supporting Cast]] ([[Characters/DragonBallAndroids17And18 Androids 17 and 18]] | [[Characters/DragonBallTrunksAndSonGoten Trunks and Son Goten]] | [[Characters/DragonBallMrSatan Mr. Satan/Hercule]] | [[Characters/DragonBallFusionCast Fusions]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallSupportingCast Supporting Cast]] | [[Characters/DragonBallZGTSupportingCast Z/GT Supporting Cast]] | [[Characters/DragonBallTournamentCharacters Tournament Characters]] | [[Characters/DragonBallFutureTrunksTimeline Future Trunks' Timeline]] | [[Characters/DragonBallOthers Other Characters]] ([[Characters/DragonBallSaiyans Saiyans]] [[[Characters/DragonBallBardock Bardock]]] | [[Characters/DragonBallNamekiansAndDragons Namekians and Dragons]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallOriginalSeriesVillains Original Series Villains]] ([[Characters/DragonBallRedRibbonArmy Red Ribbon Army]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallZVillains DBZ Villains]] ([[Characters/DragonBallFrieza Freeza/Frieza]] [[[Characters/DragonBallFriezasEmpire Frieza's Empire]]] | [[Characters/DragonBallDrGero Dr. Gero (Android 20)]] | [[Characters/DragonBallCell Cell]] | [[Characters/DragonBallMajinBuu Majin Buu]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallZMovieVillains DBZ Movie Villains]] ([[Characters/DragonBallBroly Broly]] | [[Characters/DragonBallCooler Cooler]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallGTVillains GT Villains]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSuper Super]] | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse7 Universe 7]] ([[Characters/DragonBallBeerus Beerus]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse2 Universe 2]] | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse3 Universe 3]] | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse4 Universe 4]] | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse6 Universe 6]] ([[Characters/DragonBallFrost Frost]] | [[Characters/DragonBallHit Hit]] | [[Characters/DragonBallKale Kale]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse9 Universe 9]] | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse10 Universe 10]] | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse11 Universe 11]] ([[Characters/DragonBallJiren Jiren]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallZeno Zeno]] | [[Characters/DragonBallGokuBlack Goku Black]] | [[Characters/DragonBallZamasu Zamasu]] | [[Characters/DragonBallGalacticPatrolAndPrisoners Galactic Patrol and Prisoners]] ([[Characters/DragonBallMoro Moro]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallHeroes Heroes]] | [[Characters/DragonBallHeroesVillains DBH Villains]] | [[Characters/DragonBallXenoverse Xenoverse]] | [[Characters/DragonBallFusions Fusions (Video Game)]] | [[Characters/DragonballFighterZ FighterZ]] ([[Characters/DragonBallAndroid21 Android 21]] | [[Characters/DragonBallFighterzBaseRoster Base Roster]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallLegends Legends]]]]-]

* OlderThanHeLooks: By the end of the series Vegeta is about fifty years old. If you take the years he spent in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber in both the manga and ''Super'' into account he is physically between fifty-four and fifty-five years old. He looks to still be in his twenties or early thirties. This is because as a Saiyan he ages slower than a human so they can fight longer.

* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Towards [[InsistentTerminology Kakarot]] of course. He won't let anyone kill him before he has his chance at a rematch.

** If he's ever genuinely terrified of a villain (Frieza, pre-canon Broly, and Beerus most notably) rather than his usual cocky self, you know they're not to be messed with. And his fear of Beerus is taken UpToEleven in ''Super'' to where Vegeta could barely even bring himself to fight until he reaches his RageBreakingPoint. Even after becoming friendlier with Beerus, he's still scared of him and humbles himself the moment Beerus has an outburst or when someone says something out of line with Beerus, which is usually Bulma.

** Should he ever refer to Goku by his Earth name rather than his Saiyan name, it's a sign that Vegeta is NotHimself. In ''GT'', this is how Goku realizes that Vegeta's body has been [[DemonicPossession hijacked by Baby]].

** Despite having the opportunity to do it since the rules were changed, Vegeta doesn't kill Frost, saying that he didn't want to stoop to his level. The same Vegeta who had no problem killing people not even an arc ago, though, in reality, he only spared him because he felt honor bound to do so as the original tournament rules forbade killing. Even though he requested that Frost be able to break the rules in their match, Vegeta determined that his pride as a martial artist was more important than killing someone he hates.

** He is willing to never obtain his lifelong dream if it turns out that Ultra Instinct is the only way to become stronger than Goku. Because Ultra Instinct requires a zen-like state to obtain, as long as Vegeta has pride clouding his mind he will never obtain it. He decides that he will surpass Goku in another way or be stuck as second best because he would rather die than give up his pride, ie that which makes him the man he is. Jiren later commends Vegeta for being able to beat Top without throwing what is important to him away.

* OutsideContextProblem: He was this to Goku since he never expected Vegeta to turn into a giant were-monkey and not even King Kai foresaw him creating a false moon after Piccolo blew up the real moon. He was also the toughest villain that the heroes had to deal with up to that point. Vegeta wouldn't go down even after being beaten up by Goku and sent flying with a massive Kamehameha, hit point-blank with a Spirit Bomb that's supposed to be the ultimate attack and slashed in the back with a sword. It took a Great Ape landing on him to take him down and ''he still didn't die''. Vegeta's ungodly endurance has since become a staple of his character.

** In the Cell arc, he's a VillainProtagonist, emphasis on the villain. He shows PragmaticVillainy in not messing with the heroes anymore when Frieza is gone and he has a free bed and training room, but at the same time, he is still 100% evil as he notes himself. When the goals of the heroes diverge from his, he flat-out threatens to murder them (as seen when Bulma proposes stopping the release of the androids), as shown when he almost blows up Krillin at Gero's lab or when he states he'll kill anyone who tries to stop the androids from being created. He ultimately becomes responsible for the final conflict when he outright attacks Trunks and 18 in order to help Cell absorb her and ascend to his perfect form.
** In the Buu arc, he has seemingly mellowed out, building off the end of the Cell Games. This is quickly reversed when Babidi offers Vegeta great power in return for abandoning his morals. He agrees without hesitation and then blows up an entire stadium full of people just to force Goku into fighting him. They then engage in a battle to the death, despite Vegeta fully knowing that doing so will ''release Majin Buu''. Directly because of Vegeta's actions, Buu gets released and the titular arc ensues. He doesn't cement his HeelFaceTurn until the end of the arc, whereupon he loses the role of the OverarchingVillain going into ''Super''.

* OverprotectiveDad: Acts like one towards Bulla in ''GT''. In ''Super'', he goes Super Saiyan Blue every time someone makes Bulla cry.

** Shows this side of him, going completely [[UnstoppableRage berserk]] when Super Perfect Cell kills Future Trunks. Then again when he pulls a HeroicSacrifice against Majin Buu, allowing Piccolo to move his unconscious son away from the battlefield, knowing the whole time that [[YouAreWorthHell he would go to Hell after dying.]] In ''Battle of Gods'', Vegeta also does whatever he can to appease Beerus, both degrading and humiliating himself, in order to protect Trunks from the god's wrath. In ''Super'', he dives in front of the Commeson when it attempted to absorb Trunks, despite phasing out of existence at the time, and his reaction to Future Trunks' returning from the future badly hurt by [[spoiler: Goku Black]] is a mixture of paternal concern and boiling TranquilFury, and when he hears that [[spoiler: Future Bulma's been killed, he makes preparations to go on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge.]] He even forces himself back on his feet from ''[[TheDeterminator the brink of freaking death]]'' temporarily to stop [[spoiler: Black and Future Zamasu]] from killing his son.

** Ignored Trunks' existence when he was a baby, not even bothering to save him when Bulma and he were attacked by Android 20. It wasn't until Future Trunks was killed by Cell that he finally started to show interest in his child. ** By the time of Buu Saga, Vegeta is no longer verbally or physically abusive to his son, unfortunately, he is instead very emotionally distant, not even holding him once in the eight years he was born.

* PayEvilUntoEvil: He was essentially this trope incarnate during the Namek and Frieza sagas. When he wasn’t searching for the Dragon Balls to become immortal, he was assassinating Frieza’s henchmen, who were every bit the asshole he was if not more so, left and right. Jeice and Android 19 stand out as some of his cruelest murders; while both deserved their fates, they spent their last moments begging for their life and running away in terror respectively.

** He's legitimately worried for Master Roshi, and '''implores''' him not to use a move that will likely kill himself. Even after Roshi's attempt to help backfires and nearly gets Vegeta eliminated, Vegeta doesn't get mad at him or blame him for it ([[CharacterDevelopment Z Vegeta would've likely attacked him for this]]). Instead, he respects that Roshi not only fixed his mistake but had made a valiant effort and eliminated several contestants with no fear of death. Vegeta warmly refers to the old-warrior as "Jiisan" (Grampa), and tells him it's time to drop out for a senzu bean before he dies, promising Roshi that he'll handle everything from there.

* PintSizedPowerhouse: He's not ''that'' short, but he was the smallest of the four Saiyans that originally came to Earth, and at that time he was by far the strongest. Out of the adult protagonists, only Krillin and Chiaotzu are shorter than him.

** This is why Vegeta doesn't commit any attrocities throughout the time from Frieza's defeat to the Android Saga, while he's the strongest person on Earth and has no loyalty to anyone there, he knows that there's no point in causing a mess on the planet. So he waits for Goku to return, and later, focuses on defeating a powerful opponent.

* PureIsNotGood: He achieved Super Saiyan by having a pure heart. Heart of pure ''evil''. Though it's hinted immediately afterwards that the purity in his heart was instead his single-minded desire to grow stronger and surpass Goku.

** He gives a particularly scathing one to Top (accompanied by a brutal pummeling) for abandoning what is important in his life for strength, something Vegeta himself did many times in the past but never would again.
* RecurringElement: In a number of ways, he's Piccolo 2.0. Like Piccolo, he's a humanoid alien (well, Piccolo was retconned to be one, but still) who gets introduced as a villain, becomes a TokenEvilTeammate to the protagonists, and, through fatherhood (surrogate fatherhood in Piccolo's case, biological fatherhood in Vegeta's case), pulls a full on HeelFaceTurn & becomes a true hero in his own right.

** Even in ''GT'' (where if your name isn't Goku or [[BrattyHalfPint Pan]], you're automatically doomed to get {{demoted to extra}}), he was close to Goku in his Super Saiyan 4 state.

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: {{Subverted|Trope}} against Majin Buu. Although, he fought for others for the first time in his life, Piccolo makes it clear that one selfless deed didn't make up for his years of being a {{Jerkass}} and a former {{Space Pirate|s}}. He is later semi-revived to fight Majin Buu, and along with his other acts of humility, finally fully earns his redemption.

* RedOniBlueOni: In his earlier episodes, he was the blue to Nappa's red, and currently the blue to Goku's red. But he is red oni to Goku's blue oni when fighting as Vegeta is more aggressive and focuses on beating his opponent to death but Goku is more relaxed and when his back is against the wall he has a more graceful and dodging way of fighting.
* ReformedButRejected: After the Frieza Saga. Aside from Goku and Bulma, none of the other Z-Fighters can stand him and have no qualms against informing him as such to his face, not that he gives a damn what they think of him; after Vegeta is [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomped]] by Cell, Krillin states outright that he's ''only'' helping him for Trunks' sake and wouldn't care if Vegeta ''did'' die. Justified, since even if he was technically on their side at the time, Vegeta was still a [[ItsAllAboutMe self-absorbed]] {{Jerkass}}, and the TokenEvilTeammate; he didn't make an actual HeelFaceTurn until the Buu Saga.
* ReformedButNotTamed: He's still cold and aloof, but he genuinely cares for his family, the few friends he made, and even his [[TheRival rival]].

* RetiredMonster: At the end of the Frieza Saga, he's put his mass-murdering ways behind him to focus on surpassing Goku. He doesn't really pull a HeelFaceTurn until the Buu Saga.

* RoyalBlood: Something he obsesses over. He truly believes that since he is the Saiyan Prince that he is the ChosenOne destined to become a Super Saiyan and rule the universe. He's ''not'' happy when a certain low class scumbag surpasses and he spends most of ''Z'' trying to regain his 'birthright'. Ironically, neither of his children seem to give a hoot about it.

* {{Sadist}}: Especially in the earlier seasons where he could be just as cruel as Frieza, often killing people with a PsychoticSmirk on his face. He massacred an entire Namekian village with a huge grin on his face and laughed when it's revealed that they weren't wished back by Shenron [[LiteralGenie because of the way the wish was worded]]. Before then, in his Great Ape form, he ruthlessly crushed every bone in Goku's body while laughing his head off. [[HeelFaceTurn He does get over it once he settles down on Earth]] and tends to kill people for pragmatic reasons instead of joy.

* ShadowArchetype: Pre-CharacterDevelopment. It's made clear from his [[EstablishingCharacterMoment first scene]] that Vegeta is everything Goku could have become had he not suffered his childhood head injury and forgotten his Saiyan instincts: an intelligent, bloodthirsty, sociopathic conqueror.

** Vegeta gets hit with this a second time during the Buu Saga, where he becomes so obsessed with finally surpassing Goku that he [[DealWithTheDevil sells his soul]] to Babidi so he can reclaim his place as the strongest of all Saiyans. As it turns out, Goku had unlocked Super Saiyan 3 during the seven-year TimeSkip and had been holding back against Majin Vegeta the whole time, so Vegeta sold out his family and friends, forsook his own convictions, and helped unleash Majin Buu upon the world for ''nothing''. When he tries to atone for his selfishness by taking on Buu himself, he's completely outmatched; even ''blowing himself up'' does nothing more than slow Buu down for a few minutes, making his sacrifice [[SenselessSacrifice utterly pointless]]. When he finds all this out from King Yemma when he's brought back to help fight Super Buu, he's ''not'' pleased in the slightest.

* SiblingYinYang: With his younger brother, Tarble. Vegeta is a hot-headed, jerkass even after he mellows out. Tarble is kindhearted and respectful much like Goku except even more extreme since he does not have the Saiyans' natural love for battle. Because of these traits, he was banished from his home planet.

* TheSocialDarwinist: Vegeta believes the Saiyan race is the most powerful in the universe and that Earthlings are weak and inferior to them. His transition to Majin Vegeta is largely because this belief, saying (in the English dub) "It's brute strength that determines the outcome of a battle, not goodness. The mightiest survive and the weak perish!" Even Goku pointing out that during their battle they may have inadvertently revived Majin Buu is dismissed by Vegeta, saying (though he hardly believes it himself) that the two of them have evolved far beyond even Shin's expectations to the point that Majin Buu was not a concern anymore. He was right that the Saiyans have evolved past any expectations of any god. He's ''very'' [[UnderestimatingBadassery wrong about Majin Buu]].
* TheSociopath: His pre-CharacterDevelopment self. Unlike the other Saiyans shown in the series who have some care towards their kinsmen, Vegeta didn't give a damn about anyone except himself. He dismisses reviving Raditz for being weak and personally murdered Nappa who was asking for his help. He also tries to slowly crush Goku to death as a Great Ape and then tries to kill Goku in front of his son. On Namek, he's confused about why Dende won't heal him, despite the fact that he personally killed an entire village of Namekians for their Dragon Ball (which he actually laughs about later), and doesn't understand why [[EvilCannotComprehendGood anyone would want to help him since he knows that he's an asshole]]. That's not even getting into how he treated Future Trunks, [[AbusiveParents who he physically and mentally abused]]. It takes a lot of {{Humiliation Conga}}s, BreakTheHaughty, and {{Laser Guided Karma}}s before he finally becomes a better person.
* SociopathicHero: Even after becoming one of the good guys, he never lost his penchant for using violence as an answer to his problems... [[LaughingMad and then laughing maniacally]]. This gets greatly tone down by the end of the Buu Saga, where he's more willing to solve problems without fighting; like him trying to please Beerus by ''any'' means necessary since he knows he stands ''no'' chance against him. This includes throwing his pride away by dancing or serving Beerus food.
* SoProudOfYou: ImpliedTrope. Vegeta is never open about his feelings, and has his HiddenHeartOfGold very well hidden, but there are many ocassions in the series where he will show how proud he is of someone. Usually another Saiyan.

** In the ''Super'' anime, at the end of the Universal Survival Saga, an arrogant Belmod boasts about how Goku won't be able to control Ultra Instinct and defeat Jiren. Vegeta shuts him up, stating that during the whole tournament, all the Saiyans in it have broken through their limits. This includes Goku and Gohan all right, but also Caulifla, Kale, and Cabba, the last one sharing an apprentice bond with him. That's right, Vegeta is proud of ''all'' of them.

* SuperMode: Every Super Saiyan transromation he has so far in the franchise.

** Vegeta points out that his Ultra-Ego form is the counterpart to Ultra-Instinct. A major difference being that while Ultra-Instinct requires a clear mind to utilise, Ultra-Ego feeds on the warrior's vanity. The end result is that when Vegeta unlocks Ultra-Ego, he acts increasingly savage and more of a maniacal BloodKnight that gets progressively more absorbed in his primitive instincts the longer the battle goes on. In order to use it to its full potential you must seemingly abandon your morality in favour of ammoral destruction, something Vegeta is ultimately unable to do.

* TearsOfFear: When he realized he had no chance against Frieza. Pointed out by the narrator in the manga and King Kai in the anime.

* ThisCannotBe: He's initially suprised but still level-headed when Goku turns out to be stronger than he and Nappa anticipated. He crosses into this trope completely when Goku, a low-class warrior, can actually deal damage to him and, with the help of his friends, come on the verge of killing him outright.

* ToBeAMaster: His goal once he admits and accepts that Goku is stronger than him. Vegeta is still determined to surpass Goku and become the strongest in the universe, but he goes about it in a much healthier way.

** ...and Future Trunks.

* TokenEvilTeammate: After his HeelFaceTurn. He is anything but good in the Android/Cell Saga. He only helps the heroes so he can kill Goku and later for the sake of his own pride since 18 and Cell utterly humiliated him. He's a little better in the Buu Saga, but he's still not a good person and he willingly gives himself to Babidi so he can finally settle the score with Goku. He doesn't completely become good until the final leg of the Kid Buu fight, where he finally swallows his pride and admits that Goku is better than him. However he still isn't a {{nice guy}} even after his {{character development}}.

* TooQualifiedToApply: When the Z-Fighters enter the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament, they all give a light tap to the punch machine. Then Vegeta, [[{{Jerkass}} being Vegeta]], comes along and obliterates it.
* ToughLove: His bread and butter. Even after becoming [[TookALevelInKindness nicer]] to his family and friends, he is still a tough person to please. The way he helps Cabba to achieve Super Saiyan is to beat the crap out of him while threatening to murder his family and blow up his planet. He also beats on Future Trunks as a Super Saiyan Blue and calls it training. Despite the physical abuse, his heart is in the right place, and the people he manhandles are grateful to him in the end. As Goku explains to Bulma when she tries to make him stop, it may seem harsh, but it's [[TheSpartanWay how Saiyans work]].
* ToServeMan: In their first appearance, Vegeta and Nappa are shown successfully invading an alien planet and eating the remains of the planet's HumanAlien inhabitants.

* TroubledAbuser: In the Cell Saga, he was a horrible father to Future Trunks, physically and mentally abusing him. Of course, his own father raised him to be a cold, ruthless SocialDarwinist, and after King Vegeta's death, Vegeta ended up under the care of Frieza, who [[TheCorrupter twisted him]] into a cold-blooded [[TheSociopath sociopath]] even by Saiyan standards by nurturing his darker tendencies and regularly subjecting him to FantasticRacism. By the end of the saga, Vegeta has a JerkassRealization regarding his treatment of his son, and come the Buu Saga, he's a much better parent.

* TrueCompanions: After many trials and betrayals, he become this to the main cast, especially to [[TheRival Goku]].
* {{Tsundere}}: A rare male example. Since his introduction he can go from calm and even playful, like his entire commentary on Nappa's fight with the Earth's fighters, to out of control angry and sadistic, his entire battle with Goku. After the Frieza Saga, he makes it his life's goal to surpass Goku, saying several times that he wants to kill him. Despite that, he does show some concern for Goku's wellbeing like him reprimanding Goku for fighting while sick after he rescues him and making it a point to say that he will fight Goku to the death, as soon as he's well, instead of trying to kill him when he's comatose. The Buu Saga is the most extreme example where his entire hangup about how Goku is always better than him and how he only has this one day to fight Goku reads like some old jealous-ex given a MotiveRant. He then knocks Goku out while his guard is down so he won't sacrifice himself again and to give an indirect apology for him dying in the first place, it was his actions that made Cell complete. After the Buu Saga, Vegeta is more willing to show his HiddenHeartOfGold, but he is still harsh and is unwilling to admit that he cares for anyone, like him trying to deny that he yelled, 'That's My Bulma' when Beerus slaps her. In ''Super'', when Beerus asks about his relationship with Goku, Vegeta is unable to really answer since he doesn't want to call Goku a friend, but only halfheartedly calls him an enemy.
** It's near lampshaded when he comes to Master Roshi's aid against Frost. Vegeta goes out of his way to make it clear he isnt helping Roshi to keep him from being tortured by Frost, only because he hates Frost. Roshi just rolls his eyes and doesn't buy it.

** Downplayed in regards to his relationship with Frieza. Frieza is easily [[ArchEnemy the one person Vegeta hates the most]], and while the feeling is mutual with Frieza, it's clear that he sees Goku as [[WorthyOpponent a greater adversary]]. This is driven home in ''Super: Broly'', where he tells Paragus that Broly is free to kill Vegeta, but wants him to keep Goku alive so he can deal with him personally.

* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: Not heavy on the [[DownplayedTrope comedy aspect]], but even after his HeelFaceTurn, particularly in the Cell Saga, Vegeta was still a prick. Even Piccolo and Tenshinhan treat him like this. Doesn't stop him suffering HumiliationConga one after another.
* UnstoppableRage: He's normally pretty angry already, but he takes this UpToEleven when [[PapaWolf Cell kills Future Trunks and when Beerus slaps Bulma.]] In the Future Trunks Arc after he finds out that Goku Black killed his wife and is hunting down his future son with the intent to kill him too, he enters his training room and goes absolutely berserk, destroying the bots he trains with in his rage. [[spoiler: When he and Black clash for the final time however he goes into a [[TranquilFury quieter rage]] and savagely pulverises him (at least until Black's AdaptiveAbility bails him out), intending to not relent until he's nothing more than a broken mangled corpse after what he did to his Future wife and son.]]

** If you still see him as a villain at this point, when Vegeta is fighting Frieza's true form. By the end, he's willing to destroy the planet he's fighting on to defeat Frieza. However, after Frieza deflects his most powerful blast with just a kick, he goes past VillainousBreakdown and into DespairEventHorizon, breaking down into tears.
* VillainousRescue: On Namek when he saves Krillin and Gohan from Guldo, and then saving Gohan again from Frieza.

** During the Frieza Arc, he mercilessly slaughters Frieza's EliteMooks and killed innocent Namekian men and [[WouldHurtAChild children]]... ''[[ForTheEvulz just for the hell of it]]''. Even when working together with Gohan, Krillin, and Goku against The Ginyu Force and Frieza, it was TeethClenchedTeamwork at best. And had no qualms about leaving Krillin or Gohan behind when things got rough, beating them up out of spite, or threatening to kill them if they got in his way, and believe me, [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness he would have done it]].
** He still fits this role during the Android/Cell Saga, being the Z-Fighters' TokenEvilTeammate. Vegeta [[CardCarryingVillain freely admits he's still evil]] and is only willing to work with the heroes as long as their goals align with his, openly threatening to kill them once they diverge. He ends up being directly responsible for the final conflict when he deliberately lets Cell become perfect for the sake of a better fight and to stroke his ego.
* VillainRespect: Develops this to Goku over the course of the Frieza Saga. He still wants to kill Goku for the hard time he gave him on Earth, but he does genuinely respect Goku's strength and sees him as a necessary ally against Frieza. In the anime, Vegeta sees Goku as a Super Saiyan after he's revived. Instead of being jealous or angry, Vegeta is close to tears of joy.
* VillainousFriendship: He initially appears to have this with Nappa. Despite Vegeta being the prince and Nappa his aide, Nappa constantly addressed Vegeta in a casual manner, calling him by his name without honorifics like "prince" or "sir". The two seemed to get along due to their sadistic senses of humor, and while Nappa did seem somewhat fearful of Vegeta due to their power gap, and Vegeta did scold Nappa a couple of times, overall, their relationship seemed positive, with Nappa being very loyal to Vegeta. Ultimately subverted once Nappa loses to Goku and suffers a broken back; rather than help him out as Nappa expected, Vegeta declares the crippled Nappa to be dead weight and kills him in cold blood.

* VitriolicBestBuds: With Goku as of the Buu Saga. He still wants to fight and defeat Goku, but he's much more willing to fight alongside him in order to end a common threat.

** After Vegeta was defeated by Cell, Trunks stepped in with his newly revealed Ultra Super Saiyan form, powerful enough to overcome Cell... but too slow to actually ''hit'' him, in addition to draining his energy and stamina far faster than normal. Cell promptly revealed that Vegeta could have done it too; he just hadn't bothered because, being far more skilled than Trunks, he knew that it was useless because of said very drawbacks.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: After first losing his tail, Vegeta points out that it doesn't matter since it'll grow back again soon. Then it doesn't grow back again and it's never mentioned again.

** Goku outright called Vegeta a fool for selling his soul to Babidi for the sake of having a rematch with him and turning his back on his wife and child. Later, he was mad at Vegeta for recklessly sacrificing himself instead of working together to beat Buu. He yelled at Vegeta [[RuleOfThree again]] after he crushed his Potara Earring, preventing them from ever fusing again.

* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: It doesn't come up very often, but he dislikes "squirmy things". Watch his reaction to meeting a family of giant worms inside Buu's body. "Kakarot, I think I'm going to puke."
* WildCard: Towards the Z-Fighters. For the longest time, he had an EnemyMine alliance with the protagonists to deal with bigger threats.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Started as one. He had to be taken by Frieza, one of the universe's most evil characters from his father, King Vegeta, when he was a little boy in what was heavily implied to be a deal Frieza forced upon him. Then, Vegeta is forced to obey Frieza's commands or else he would murder his dad, and despite this, Frieza killed him anyways, and then committed genocide against his own people, and even afterwards, he was treated by a slave by Frieza and his henchman, especially Frieza and Zarbon. When Goku learns of these details when Vegeta was dying from Frieza puncturing his heart with a death beam, even Goku took pity on him.

** He slapped Dende after he healed him from his self-inflicted wound because Dende originally left him to die.

* YouDontLookLikeYou: Vegeta's child design from ''Battle of Gods'' looks very different from his ''[[Anime/DragonBallZBardockTheFatherOfGoku Bardock: The Father of Goku]]''[=/=]''anime''/''Super'' design. His ''Battle of Gods'' design is his adult self in child form while his anime appearance is based on his ''Bardock'' design. That being said, it is consistent with Toriyama’s style, as child Vegeta’s apppearance remains same as his ''Battle of Gods'' design in ''Anime/DragonBallSuperBroly'', both of which had greater involvement of Creator/AkiraToriyama and actually verifies Vegeta’s claims about Saiyan hair not changing, so this is more of a DependingOnTheArtist case.

* YourSizeMayVary: Vegeta is significantly short compared to the other Z-Fighterz, being only [=5'5''=] including his hair, but his size varies greatly from series to series, and even within ''Z'' itself, he sometimes looks to be a foot shorter than Goku, or just a few inches shorter. In fact, in End of Z, he's actually noticably shorter than his wife. And in ''Super'' he is significantly taller than Bulma who is the same height.
* YouWouldntShootMe: When Vegeta decides to help Cell become Perfect to get a better fight, Trunks intervenes, making it clear he intends to stop Cell even if it means killing Vegeta himself. Vegeta simply scoffs, convinced Trunks wouldn't have the guts to attack his own father, only to be [[DidntSeeThatComing caught flat-footed]] when Trunks, without hesitation, [[GoodIsNotSoft blasts him out of the sky]].

** He didn't mind beating Gohan and kneeing him in the stomach in the Frieza Saga. Not to mention beating and nearly killing him in the story arc before.

--> "[[FoeYay Kakarot is]] '''''[[FoeYay MINE!!!]]'''''"

** Vegeta's respect for Goku and seeing him as this causes him to completely '''''flip out''''' on Goku Black when he learns that the evil Kai has taken over Goku's body. He's come to respect Goku's raw tenacity and all the effort he put into being as strong as he was by the time of the Goku Black arc. Finding out that Zamasu simply tried to steal Goku's body, thinking he would gain all of Goku's power with none of the effort turned out to be a minor BerserkButton that even ''Vegeta'' didn't know he had. Bad enough to kill and torment Vegeta's family. That alone would earn his unending rage. But apparently, his respect for Goku had reached levels even ''he'' was unaware of, and learning that someone was just trying to steal what Goku ''earned'', in part due to battle against Vegeta himself was just a bridge too far for the proud, Saiyan prince.

* PhysicalGod: After some training from Whis, He’s gained the power of a god despite being a mortal, in his battle against Golden Frieza, he easily defeats him in his Super Saiyan Blue form with no difficulty and during the Tournament of Power he managed to unlock a new form of Super Saiyan Blue that was strong enough to match Jiren and overpower Toppo in his God of Destruction form. [[spoiler: During the Galactic Prisoner Saga, it was stated by Goku that he managed to surpass him, and that was during Vegeta’s fight with Moro before he absorbs Seven-Three, and during his fight with Granola he achieves another new form called Ultra Ego, which seems to draw upon a severe level of self-indulgence in battle, in contrast to Ultra Instinct and in this form, he was able to overpower Granola in battle.]]

* PhysicalGod: After some training from Whis, He’s gained the power of a god despite being a mortal, in his battle against Golden Frieza, he easily defeats him in his Super Saiyan Blue form with no difficulty and during the Tournament of Power he managed to unlock a new form of Super Saiyan Blue that was strong enough to match Jiren and overpower Toppo in his God of Destruction form. [[spoiler: And during his fight with Granola he achieves another new form called Ultra Ego, which seems to draw upon a severe level of self-indulgence in battle, in contrast to Ultra Instinct and in this form, he was able to overpower Granola in battle.]]

* PhysicalGod: After some training from Whis, He’s gained the power of a god despite being a mortal, in his battle against Golden Frieza, he easily defeats him in his Super Saiyan Blue form with no difficulty and during the Tournament of Power he managed to unlock a new form of Super Saiyan Blue that was strong enough to match Jiren and overpower Toppo in his God of Destruction form.

[[center:[-[[Characters/DragonBall Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/DragonBallMainCharacters Main Characters]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSonGoku Son Goku]] ([[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesAToC A-C]], [[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesDToH D-H]], [[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesIToO I-O]], [[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesPToZ P-Z]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallBulma Bulma]] | [[Characters/DragonBallKrillin Krillin]] | [[Characters/DragonBallPiccolo Piccolo]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSonGohan Son Gohan]] | [[Characters/DragonBallVegeta Vegeta]] ([[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesAToD A-D]], [[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesEToN E-N]], '''O-Z''')| [[Characters/DragonBallFutureTrunks Future Trunks]] | [[Characters/DragonBallMajorSupportingCast Major Supporting Cast]] ([[Characters/DragonBallAndroids17And18 Androids 17 and 18]] | [[Characters/DragonBallTrunksAndSonGoten Trunks and Son Goten]] | [[Characters/DragonBallMrSatan Mr. Satan/Hercule]] | [[Characters/DragonBallFusionCast Fusions]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallSupportingCast Supporting Cast]] | [[Characters/DragonBallZGTSupportingCast Z/GT Supporting Cast]] | [[Characters/DragonBallTournamentCharacters Tournament Characters]] | [[Characters/DragonBallFutureTrunksTimeline Future Trunks' Timeline]] | [[Characters/DragonBallOthers Other Characters]] ([[Characters/DragonBallSaiyans Saiyans]] [[[Characters/DragonBallBardock Bardock]]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallOriginalSeriesVillains Original Series Villains]] | [[Characters/DragonBallZVillains DBZ Villains]] ([[Characters/DragonBallFrieza Freeza/Frieza]] [[[Characters/DragonBallFriezasEmpire Frieza's Empire]]] | [[Characters/DragonBallDrGero Dr. Gero (Android 20)]] | [[Characters/DragonBallCell Cell]] | [[Characters/DragonBallMajinBuu Majin Buu]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallZMovieVillains DBZ Movie Villains]] ([[Characters/DragonBallBroly Broly]] | [[Characters/DragonBallCooler Cooler]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallGTVillains GT Villains]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSuper Super]] | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse7 Universe 7]] ([[Characters/DragonBallBeerus Beerus]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse2 Universe 2]] | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse3 Universe 3]] | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse4 Universe 4]] | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse6 Universe 6]] ([[Characters/DragonBallUniverse6MajorCharacters Major Characters]] [[[Characters/DragonBallFrost Frost]] | [[Characters/DragonBallHit Hit]] | [[Characters/DragonBallKale Kale]]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse9 Universe 9]] | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse10 Universe 10]] | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse11 Universe 11]] ([[Characters/DragonBallJiren Jiren]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallZeno Zeno]] | [[Characters/DragonBallGokuBlack Goku Black]] | [[Characters/DragonBallZamasu Zamasu]] | [[Characters/DragonBallGalacticPatrolAndPrisoners Galactic Patrol and Prisoners]] ([[Characters/DragonBallMoro Moro]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallHeroes Heroes]] | [[Characters/DragonBallHeroesVillains DBH Villains]] | [[Characters/DragonBallXenoverse Xenoverse]] | [[Characters/DragonBallFusions Fusions (Video Game)]] | [[Characters/DragonballFighterZ FighterZ]] ([[Characters/DragonBallAndroid21 Android 21]] | [[Characters/DragonBallFighterzBaseRoster Base Roster]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallLegends Legends]]]]-]

* ProgressivelyPrettier: He started out as a villain with a mean looking face. Even Creator/AkiraToriyama [[https://m.imgur.com/5sf9Osb?r thought he was odd looking with an even odd hairdo]]. As the [[ArtEvolution art style evolved]] and he kept on developing as a character, he started looking more and more [[{{Hunk}} hunkier]], though in the Future Trunks arc, Goku and some soldiers from the future think [[FaceOfAThug he has a villainous face]], he is still a lot better looking. In the universal survival arc, the Universe 9 warrior Hop outright calls his face “pretty”.

* YourSizeMayVary: Vegeta is significantly short compared to the other Z-Fighterz, being only [=5'5''=] including his hair, but his size varies greatly from series to series, and even within ''Z'' itself, he sometimes looks to be a foot shorter than Goku, or just a few inches shorter. And in ''Super'' he is significantly taller than Bulma who is the same height.

* YouDontLookLikeYou: Vegeta's child design from ''Battle of Gods'' looks very different from his ''[[Anime/DragonBallZBardockTheFatherOfGoku Bardock: The Father of Goku]]''[=/=]''anime''/''Super'' design. His ''Battle of Gods'' design is his adult self in child form while his anime appearance is based on his ''Bardock'' design.