History Characters / DragonBallVegeta

[[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/Kuririn]] | [[Characters/DragonBallPiccolo Piccolo]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSonGohan Son Gohan]] | '''Vegeta''' ([[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesAToD A-D]] | [[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesEToN E-N]] | [[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesOToZ O-Z]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallFutureTrunks Future Trunks]] | [[Characters/DragonBallAllies Allies]] | [[Characters/DragonBallFamiliesAndFriends Families & Friends]] ([[Characters/DragonBallChichi Chi-Chi]] | [[Characters/DragonBallAndroids17And18 Androids 17 and 18]] | [[Characters/DragonBallTrunksAndSonGoten Trunks and Son Goten]] | [[Characters/DragonBallMrSatan Mr. Satan/Hercule]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallFusionCast Fusions]]-]]]]]

* [[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesAToD Tropes A to D]]
* [[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesEToN Tropes E to N]]
* [[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesOToZ Tropes O to Z]]

!!!'''Voiced by (Japanese):''' Creator/RyoHorikawa\\
'''Voiced by (English):''' Creator/ChristopherSabat, Creator/LauraBailey (young; ''Kai''), Creator/JustinBriner (young; ''Super'') (Creator/{{Funimation}} dub); Creator/BrianDrummond, Creator/CathyWeseluck (young; ep. 230 only) (Ocean dub); Roger Rhodes (Blue Water dub); Ed Marcus (''Z'' Movie 7-9), Doug Rand (''The Return of Cooler'', ''Bardock - The Father of Goku''; adult), Sharon Mann (''Bardock - The Father of Goku''; young, ''The History of Trunks'') (AB Groupe/"Big Green" dub); Creator/MiltonJames (''GT - Final Bout''); Raymond Buyco (Creative Products Corp., Philippines); Creator/KaijiTang (Bang Zoom!/Toonami Asia dub in ''Super''); Muhammad Amaito (''The Return of Cooler''), Ahmad Khafe (''Super Android 13!'', some scenes in ''Bojack Unbound'') (Speedy dub)\\
'''Voiced by (Latin American Spanish):''' Creator/ReneGarcia '''(current voice)''', Creator/LuisDanielRamirez (young), Andrés Gutiérrez Coto (''Kai''), Carlos Díaz (young, ''Kai''), Xóchitl Ugarte (young, ''DBS: Broly'')\\
'''Voiced by (Brazilian Portuguese):''' Creator/AlfredoRollo\\
'''Voiced by (French):''' Eric Legrand\\
'''Voiced by (Italian):''' Creator/GianlucaIacono

'''Voiced by (English):''' Creator/ChristopherSabat, Creator/LauraBailey (young; ''Kai''), Creator/JustinBriner (young; ''Super'') (Creator/{{Funimation}} dub); Creator/BrianDrummond, Creator/CathyWeseluck (young; ep. 230 only) (Ocean dub); Roger Rhodes (Blue Water dub); Ed Marcus (''Z'' Movie 7-9), Doug Rand (''The Return of Cooler'', ''Bardock - The Father of Goku''; adult), Sharon Mann (''Bardock - The Father of Goku''; young, ''The History of Trunks'') (AB Groupe/"Big Green" dub); Milton James (''GT - Final Bout''); Raymond Buyco (Creative Products Corp., Philippines); Creator/KaijiTang (Bang Zoom!/Toonami Asia dub in ''Super''); Muhammad Amaito (''The Return of Cooler''), Ahmad Khafe (''Super Android 13!'', some scenes in ''Bojack Unbound'') (Speedy dub)\\

[[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/Kuririn]] | [[Characters/DragonBallPiccolo Piccolo]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSonGohan Son Gohan]] | '''Vegeta''' ([[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesAToD A-D]] | [[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesEToN E-N]] | [[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesOToZ O-Z]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallFutureTrunks Future Trunks]] | [[Characters/DragonBallAllies Allies]] | [[Characters/DragonBallFamiliesAndFriends Families & Friends]] ([[Characters/DragonBallChichi Chichi]] | [[Characters/DragonBallAndroids17And18 Androids 17 and 18]] | [[Characters/DragonBallTrunksAndSonGoten Trunks and Son Goten]] | [[Characters/DragonBallMrSatan Mr. Satan/Hercule]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallFusionCast Fusions]]-]]]]]

[[folder: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/Kuririn]] | [[Characters/DragonBallPiccolo Piccolo]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSonGohan Son Gohan]] | '''Vegeta''' ([[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesAToD A-D]] | [[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesEToN E-N]] | [[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesOToZ 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]]\\
'''Ancillary Characters'''\\
[[Characters/DragonBallSupportingCast Supporting Cast]] | [[Characters/DragonBallZGTSupportingCast DBZ/GT Supporting Cast]] | [[Characters/DragonBallTournamentCharacters Tournament Characters]] | [[Characters/DragonBallFutureTrunksTimeline Future Trunks' Timeline]] | [[Characters/DragonBallGalacticPatrolAndPrisoners Galactic Patrol and Prisoners]] | [[Characters/DragonBallOthers Other Characters]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSaiyans Saiyans]] ([[Characters/DragonBallBardock Bardock/Burdock]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallNamekiansAndDragons Namekians and Dragons]]\\
'''Antagonists'''\\
[[Characters/DragonBallOriginalSeriesVillains Original Series Villains]] | [[Characters/DragonBallRedRibbonArmy Red Ribbon Army]] ([[Characters/DragonBallDrGero Dr. Gero/Android 20]] | [[Characters/DragonBallCell Cell]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallDemonKingPiccolo Demon King Piccolo]] | [[Characters/DragonBallZVillains DBZ Villains]] | [[Characters/DragonBallFriezasEmpire Frieza's Empire]] ([[Characters/DragonBallFrieza Freeza/Frieza]] | [[Characters/DragonBallCooler Cooler/Coola]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallMajinBuu Majin Buu]] | [[Characters/DragonBallZMovieVillains DBZ Movie Villains]] | [[Characters/DragonBallBroly Broly]] | [[Characters/DragonBallGTVillains GT Villains]] | [[Characters/DragonBallMoro Moro]]\\
'''Multiversal Characters'''\\
[[Characters/DragonBallMultiversalCharacters Multiversal Characters]] ([[Characters/DragonBallZeno Zeno]] | [[Characters/DragonBallGokuBlack Goku Black]] | [[Characters/DragonBallZamasu Zamasu/Zamas]]) | [[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]])\\
'''New Media Characters'''\\
Characters/DragonBallHeroes | [[Characters/DragonballHeroesVillains DBH Villains]] | Characters/DragonBallOnline | Characters/DragonBallXenoverse | [[Characters/DragonBallFusions Fusions (Video Game)]] | Characters/{{Dragon Ball FighterZ}} | [[Characters/DragonBallAndroid21 Android 21]] | Characters/DragonBallFighterzBaseRoster | Characters/DragonBallLegends-]]]]]
[[/folder]]

'''Voiced by (English):''' Creator/ChristopherSabat, Creator/LauraBailey (young, ''Kai''), Creator/JustinBriner (young, ''Super'') (Creator/{{Funimation}} dub); Creator/BrianDrummond, Creator/CathyWeseluck (young; ep. 230 only) (Ocean dub); Roger Rhodes (Blue Water dub); Ed Marcus (''Z'' Movie 7-9), Doug Rand (''The Return of Cooler'', ''Bardock - The Father of Goku''; adult), Sharon Mann (''Bardock - The Father of Goku''; young, ''The History of Trunks'') (AB Groupe/"Big Green" dub); Milton James (''GT - Final Bout''); Raymond Buyco (Creative Products Corp., Philippines); Creator/KaijiTang (Bang Zoom!/Toonami Asia dub in ''Super''); Muhammad Amaito (''The Return of Cooler''), Ahmad Khafe (''Super Android 13!'', some scenes in ''Bojack Unbound'') (Speedy dub)\\

'''Voiced by (English):''' Creator/ChristopherSabat, Creator/LauraBailey (young, ''Kai''), Creator/JustinBriner (young, ''Super'') (Creator/{{Funimation}} dub); Creator/BrianDrummond (Ocean dub); Roger Rhodes (Blue Water dub); Ed Marcus (''Z'' Movie 7-9), Doug Rand (''The Return of Cooler'', ''Bardock - The Father of Goku''; adult), Sharon Mann (''Bardock - The Father of Goku''; young, ''The History of Trunks'') (AB Groupe/"Big Green" dub); Milton James (''GT - Final Bout''); Raymond Buyco (Creative Products Corp., Philippines); Creator/KaijiTang (Bang Zoom!/Toonami Asia dub in ''Super''); Muhammad Amaito (''The Return of Cooler''), Ahmad Khafe (''Super Android 13!'', some scenes in ''Bojack Unbound'') (Speedy dub)\\

[[Characters/DragonBallOriginalSeriesVillains Original Series Villains]] | [[Characters/DragonBallRedRibbonArmy Red Ribbon Army]] ([[Characters/DragonBallDrGero Dr. Gero/Android 20]] | [[Characters/DragonBallCell Cell]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallDemonKingPiccolo Demon King Piccolo]] | [[Characters/DragonBallZVillains DBZ Villains]] | [[Characters/DragonBallFriezasEmpire Frieza's Empire]] ([[Characters/DragonBallFrieza Freeza/Frieza]] | [[Characters/DragonBallCooler Cooler/Coola]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallMajinBuu Majin Buu]] | [[Characters/DragonBallZMovieVillains DBZ Movie Villains]] | [[Characters/DragonBallBroly Broly]] | | [[Characters/DragonBallGTVillains GT Villains]] | [[Characters/DragonBallMoro Moro]]\\

'''Voiced by (Italian):''' Gianluca Iacono

->''"Fine, Kakarot, you are the mightiest Saiyan, I've admitted that much. At least for now. But don't you dare think that this is over. I won't let you keep me in second place forever, feeding on the scraps of your glory. I will surpass you, and even then I'll keep pushing, I'll surpass every single warrior in the Universe. I won't stop until I'm the ultimate number one."''

[[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]] | '''Vegeta''' ([[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesAToD A-D]], [[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesEToN E-N]], [[Characters/DragonBallVegetaTropesOToZ 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]]]]-]

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

Character subpage for Vegeta.
----

'''Voiced by (Brazilian Portuguese):''' Alfredo Rollo\\

'''Voiced by (English):''' Creator/ChristopherSabat, Creator/LauraBailey (young, ''Kai''), Creator/JustinBriner (young, ''Super'') (Creator/{{Funimation}} dub); Creator/BrianDrummond (Ocean dub); Roger Rhodes (Blue Water dub); Ed Marcus (''Z'' Movie 7-9), Doug Rand (''The Return of Cooler'', ''Bardock - The Father of Goku''; adult), Sharon Mann (''Bardock - The Father of Goku''; young, ''The History of Trunks'') (AB Groupe/"Big Green" dub); Milton James (''GT - Final Bout''); Raymond Buyco (Creative Products Corp., Philippines); Creator/KaijiTang (Bang Zoom!/Toonami Asia dub in ''Super''), Muhammad Amaito (''The Return of Cooler''), Ahmad Khafe (''Super Android 13!'', some scenes in ''Bojack Unbound'') (Speedy dub)\\

'''Voiced by (English):''' Creator/ChristopherSabat, Creator/LauraBailey (young, ''Kai''), Creator/JustinBriner (young, ''Super'') (Creator/{{Funimation}} dub); Creator/BrianDrummond (Ocean dub); Roger Rhodes (Blue Water dub); Ed Marcus (''Z'' Movie 7-9), Doug Rand (''The Return of Cooler'', ''Bardock - The Father of Goku''; adult) Sharon Mann (''Bardock - The Father of Goku''; young, ''The History of Trunks'') (AB Groupe/"Big Green" dub); Milton James (''GT - Final Bout''); Raymond Buyco (Creative Products Corp., Philippines); Creator/KaijiTang (Bang Zoom!/Toonami Asia dub in ''Super''), Muhammad Amaito (''The Return of Cooler''), Ahmad Khafe (''Super Android 13!'', some scenes in ''Bojack Unbound'') (Speedy dub)\\

'''Voiced by (English):''' Creator/ChristopherSabat, Creator/LauraBailey (young, ''Kai''), Creator/JustinBriner (young, ''Super'') (Creator/{{Funimation}}); Creator/BrianDrummond (Ocean); Roger Rhodes (Blue Water); Ed Marcus, Doug Rand, Sharon Mann (AB Groupe/"Big Green"); Milton James (''Final Bout''); Raymond Buyco (Creative Products Corp., Philippines); Creator/KaijiTang (Bang Zoom!/Toonami Asia in ''Super'')\\

Vegeta started out as a villain who came to Earth to use the Dragon Balls for his own ends. But after that battle and his repeated run-ins with the heroes, [[HeelFaceTurn he slowly but surely starts to come over to the heroes' side]]...eventually, [[DefrostingIceQueen it takes him a while]], but just because he sits firmly on the heroic side nowadays, [[ReformedButNotTamed don't think that means he's gotten soft.]] If anything, having people he cares about has made him stronger than ever, and woe betide those who threaten them...

[[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]] | '''Vegeta''' | [[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]]]]-]

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:#-B]]
* TwentyFourHourArmor: With the exception of the Buu Saga and ''GT'', he's usually clad in some variant of Saiyan battle armor.
* AbusiveParents:
** Frieza was his main parental figure for most of his life. He made Vegeta one of his men, and for years, took every possible opportunity to demean and insult him. During their fight on Namek, Frieza brutally tortured Vegeta to death, both ForTheEvulz and to punish him for his treachery. Needless to say, Vegeta has every reason to hate Frieza and want him dead, and that was ''before'' he found out Frieza destroyed Planet Vegeta.
** Although he loved his father, King Vegeta and one of the reasons why he resents Frieza is that he killed him, King Vegeta did raise him to be cold and ruthless, teaching him anything besides physical strength was for the weak.
** He was a lousy father to Future Trunks. Highlights include hitting him the moment the two start to clash (which is often), constantly being dismissive of his son, and betraying his trust to fuel his own self interest. He realizes the error of his ways when Cell kills Trunks, and come the Buu Saga, he's no longer verbally or emotionally abusive, but he is [[ParentalNeglect heavily implied and later outright stated to be emotionally distant from his son]].
* AccentAdaptation: In English dubs, Vegeta speaks with a mid-Atlantic accent (similar to the accents used by actors in old movies) to convey his pompousness and pride.
* ActionDad: To Future Trunks, Trunks, and Bulla.
* AdaptationalNiceGuy:
** Some versions of the English dub tend to downplay or slightly soften the amorality and ruthlessness that defined Vegeta's character during the Saiyan and Frieza Sagas. While the original Japanese version of Vegeta's death simply has him bemoan Frieza's genocide of the Saiyans and how humiliated he was at having to submit to him, the dubs have him outright tell Goku that Frieza was the one who made him the way he is to begin with.
** Minor example. When he's beating on Android 19 in the original dub, he calls him out [[DirtyCoward for beating and sucking the life out of a sick Goku, then cowering and trying to flee when Vegeta tears his hands off]]. This line doesn't appear in the original Japanese version or the English dub of ''Kai''.
--->'''Vegeta''': What's the matter? You're the one who started this game, and now you don't want to play anymore? You were enjoying yourself ''before'', when you were sucking the life out of Kakarot!
** Vegeta is a minor example in ''Anime/DragonBallSuper''. In ''Anime/DragonBallZResurrectionF'', Vegeta sees Frieza as more of his plaything and, like Goku, didn't take the fight seriously. In the ''Super'' adaptation, he is very concerned about Frieza's return and tells Goku to hurry up when he hears that the Earth is being attacked and gets on Goku for taking too long to take down Frieza, instead of just being mad that Goku is hogging the fight. After Goku is shot down by Sorbet, Vegeta willingly saves him, while in the movie he's perfectly happy to let Frieza kill Goku for being dumb enough to drop his guard. He also never considers or even humors rejoining Frieza's army, telling his old boss that he should disappear.
** In the anime of ''Super'', Vegeta wants to fight and kill Goku Black [[PapaWolf because]] he [[spoiler: murdered his future wife]] and tortured his future son. He's also fighting for the sake of Trunks' world to the point that he states to Black that he isn't fighting for himself even after Black [[CurbstompBattle humiliated]] him. Black lampshades how this doesn't sound like a Saiyan and even deduces that Vegeta got stronger from [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge righteous]] [[TranquilFury fury.]] Against Fusion Zamasu, he willingly fights alongside Goku and even [[spoiler: fuses with him, although he says no at first and only relents when he learned that the Potara Fusion isn't permanent for mortals]]. In the manga, Vegeta wants to fight Black because he looks like Goku and gets stronger to fight him again because Black kicked his butt after going [[spoiler: Super Saiyan Rosé]]. He also does his usual TrashTalk to Black while Vegeta in the anime was dead serious to the point that [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness everyone took note of it]]. Most of all, Vegeta in the manga never fights alongside Goku to the point that they actually take ''turns'' fighting Fusion Zamasu. He also absolutely refuses to [[spoiler: fuse with Goku until he hears the Potara Fusion isn't permanent for mortals]] and Trunks gives a speech about why he can't let Vegeta die. Overall, anime Vegeta was willing to put aside his pride and fight for the sake of others. Manga Vegeta in comparison wasn't, at least until Chapter 24 where Vegeta asked Trunks to heal Goku since he was the only one who could fight Fusion Zamasu as an equal since he mastered Super Saiyan Blue. Trunks even notes how Vegeta swallowed his pride.
* AesopAmnesia: ''Big time''. As the Prince of the Saiyans, Vegeta is utterly convinced that he's the strongest being in the universe and tends to bite off more than he can chew when it comes to enemies, as well as refusing to work with anyone he considers inferior (which is basically everyone). To make matters worse, he's actually ''not'' as strong as Goku, which enrages Vegeta for decades in-universe and results in his being a liability for the good guys quite often. No matter how many times the villains kick his ass, Goku surpasses him, and/or he suffers a BreakTheHaughty, Vegeta just can't get it through his thick head that he's ''not'' the strongest being in the universe; it isn't until the ''very'' end of ''Z'' that it finally sinks in and he accepts that Goku is better than him. Come ''Super'', he's still working his ass off trying to surpass Goku, but his attitude towards it is ''much'' healthier, and his massive sense of Saiyan pride becomes an asset rather than a liability since he goes from blind stupidity to a top-class {{Determinator}}.
** Suffers from this again in ''Super's'' manga adaptation of the Future Trunks arc, letting his pride get in the way of fighting alongside Goku to take down Zamasu and Black, resulting in the two being able to fuse and gain much more power than before, effectively the situation is worse than if he had taken his opponent seriously to begin with.
* AintTooProudToBeg:
** Usually averted, as his {{pride}} would never allow him to stoop so low. However he has been forced to resort to this when faced with [[PhysicalGod Beerus]].
** Getting truly desperate for his plan to defeat Buu to succeed, Vegeta attempts to swallow his pride and actually ''pleads'' for them to help him as possible. Notably, this ''succeeds'' in getting a few people to donate outside of the people on the lookout and Gohan's group, and might have actually worked if not for the unexpected drain donating to the spirit bomb involved.
* AlasPoorVillain: Two big examples.
** His death at Frieza's hands. Vegeta has been despicable for sixty-something episodes, and killed a village full of cute alien children, their big brothers, and their elders. You'd expect a character of this type to die in a spectacular manner, then never be seen again. Instead, he is given one of the ''worst'' [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown beatings]] after he gave everything to beat Frieza, including allowing Krillin to put a hole in his chest. His best attack was kicked like a beach ball and Frieza beats him so brutally that he's left unable to move, crying as he told Goku about all the years of Frieza abusing him and had destroyed his whole planet, turned him into who he is. After seemingly being saved by Goku's arrival, he is shot in the heart and forced to beg Goku to finish the job of beating Frieza. Goku, who had no real love for Vegeta and kept him alive so he could beat him one day, buries him and loses all of his ill feeling towards him. After his revival, no one on Goku's side sees him as an enemy anymore, just a {{Jerkass}}.
** After allowing himself to be turned into a Majin. He sold his soul to bridge the gap between Goku and him, killed a stadium full of people to provoke Goku to fight, and allowed Buu to be revived by his actions. Despite all of that, Vegeta's sacrifice is still tragic because he [[HeelRealization realizes]] what a selfish jackass he's been and how he made a terrible mistake underestimating Buu. After he asks Piccolo if he would see Goku in the afterlife, he is told point-blank that he would most likely be going to Hell for his past actions. He still gives his life to kill Buu, fighting for the sake of others for the first time in his life. This and the last battle with Kid Buu were the final turning points for his character arc that has been building since the Frieza Saga.
* AllForNothing:
** In the Frieza Saga, he spent the majority of the arc avoiding a direct conflict with the tyrant, while using subterfuge and quick action to take the Namekian Dragon Balls for himself and pick off his men, reaching the brink of death more than once, so that he can use the Dragon Balls to wish for immortality, and thus finally be able to challenge Frieza. Unfortunately, the Grand Elder, whose life sustains the usage of the magical orbs, dies, and Frieza confronts him and his erstwhile allies, Krillin and Gohan. Seeing no other choice, they battle him head-on, but it's not enough. [[GondorCallsForAid Piccolo is revived and on Namek]] so that turns the tables against Frieza, but it quickly becomes clear that the battle is still a losing one. Thus, in an attempt to become a Super Saiyan, Vegeta has Krillin [[DeliberateInjuryGambit bring him to the brink of death]] and Dende revive him, [[CameBackStrong giving him a dramatic power boost]]. It works, but Frieza still toys with him, and he loses all hope when he realizes he's not a Super Saiyan, leading to a savage beatdown at Frieza's hands before he executes him. Everything he did was to free himself from the yoke of Frieza, and all it earned him was [[AlasPoorVillain a pitiful death]].
** During the Buu Saga, he becomes so obsessed with topping Goku that he makes a DealWithTheDevil with [[EvilSorcerer Babidi]], allowing Babidi to turn him into a Majin and bring forth his inner evil to do so. As it turns out, Goku had unlocked Super Saiyan 3 and had been holding back against Majin Vegeta the whole time, so Vegeta sold his soul to Babidi, forsook his family, friends, and own convictions, and helped unleash [[EldritchAbomination Majin Buu]] upon the world for ''nothing''. More than that, the very thing he did all of the above actions for, his pride, was utterly and completely destroyed. Not only were his sacrifices meaningless, he once again has to deal with the fact that Goku made a [[CantCatchUp huge leap ahead of him by unlocking Super Saiyan 3]], to say nothing of the [[DontYouDarePityMe insult of being allowed to think he could win]]. As a result, Vegeta is pretty damn pissed with Goku [[ResurrectedForAJob when King Yemma brings him back to fight Buu]] [[SenselessSacrifice after he gave his life in a failed effort to make amends]].
* AloofBigBrother: He acts like this to Tarble, [[CharacterDevelopment which is a step up since he would have most likely killed Tarble several years earlier.]]
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Vegeta's overarching storyline, the driving point of his character is this trope in relation to Goku.
** At the start of ''Z'', he was the someone always better to Goku. He greatly surpassed Goku even after he went through months of training with King Kai and beat Goku during their battle on Earth, he only lost because Krillin, Gohan, and Yajirobe joined the fight. [[WorthyOpponent Goku spares Vegeta because he wanted to beat him in a fair fight someday]]. From the Frieza Saga onward, he becomes AlwaysSecondBest to Goku, which drives him completely crazy. He also doesn't react well when anyone else surpasses him like Future Trunks, the androids, Cell, and Gohan. He only mellows out after his HumiliationConga during the Buu Saga.
** In ''Super'' as a whole, although Vegeta has accepted Goku as the better warrior, he still wants to surpass him someday. He keeps up well in the manga version. After training with Whis, he becomes Goku's statistical equal for a good while, although Goku noticeably jumps ahead upon perfecting Super Saiyan Blue, though this is countered when Vegeta does the same, and then enhances the form even further. But then Goku jumps ahead upon accessing the Ultra Instinct forms. Ultra Instinct keeps Goku ahead throughout the Moro arc but once Vegeta gains Ultra Ego, the two move into more specialist roles based on their personalities.
** The ''Super'' anime has a bit more of of a complicated relationship to this trope. In the Universe 6 tournament, Goku accesses Super Saiyan Blue Kaio-ken, which causes a massive boost in power, and Vegeta is certainly not happy. At the time however, it's a desperation move that risks permanent injury so it can't be readily used in battle. In the Goku Black arc, after Black beats both saiyans, Vegeta uses the time chamber to train for 6 months and is stronger than Goku for the rest of the arc. Between the end of the Black arc and the Universal Survival saga, Goku not only perfects but enhances SSB Kaio-ken, doubling its maximum and eliminating the risks, rocketing him ahead again, even before he gains the powerful but uncontrollable imperfect Ultra Instinct form. Vegeta on the other hand enhances Blue to a unique evolved level form, initially equal to SSB Kaio-ken, yet during his fight with Top it's power skyrockets to put him squarely in God of Destruction territory (although exactly ''where'' he falls on that power scale is wholly unknown. We've also no indication of how a full power Vegeta would do against Jiren, as his fight with Top drained most of his energy). But ''then'' Goku gains the perfected Ultra Instinct form, which surpasses every fighter we've seen thus far, barring Jiren and probably the Angels. In both the case of the manga and anime, Goku cannot willfully access this form after the fight with Jiren, while Vegeta seemingly can still use his own enhanced form. This technically means that the Universe Survival arc ends in both mediums with Vegeta functionally on top. But since ''Dragon Ball Super: Broly'' largely ignores any forms beyond Blue, when the pair next appear they seem largely equal, although promotional material claims Vegeta is desperately trying to catch up. By the time of the Granolah the Survivor arc, Vegeta has begun training more closely with Beerus, achieving a form separate from Ultra Instinct to match up.
* AlwaysSecondBest: Throughout the series, he ''hates'' that Goku is stronger than him.
** Ironically, this wasn't the case when the two first clashed, as Vegeta had decisively won by crushing all of Goku's bones before their fight was interrupted.
* AmazonChaser: Vegeta likes Bulma's strong-willed nature. According to him, weak-willed women are unsuitable to a Saiyan.
* AndThenWhat: Notably, after the whole ordeal with Namek, Vegeta's grander ambitions die down considerably. He goes from wanting to become immortal and rule over planets (not unlike Frieza) to simply wanting to become the strongest fighter around to surpass Goku. After Goku sacrifices himself and Gohan ascends to a previously unknown form, Vegeta goes through this again, temporarily losing his will to fight though he continues to train.
* AngerBornOfWorry: After events of the Frieza Saga, Vegeta shows some degree of concern for Goku's life, [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou all under the sentiment that he is the only one who should defeat Goku]]. When he saves Goku from Android 19, he scolds Goku for being foolish to fight and go Super Saiyan despite knowing that he was ill. In the ''Resurrection ‘F’'' Saga in ''Super'', he calls Goku an idiot for lowering his guard and allowing Sorbet to shoot him in the back, all while protecting him from Frieza.
* AntagonistInMourning:
** After Goku's death in the Cell Games, he [[IWillFightNoMoreForever swears to never fight again.]] When he sees a chance to get that rematch after all in the Buu Saga, he gets a mite... fixated on it.
** His future counterpart from ''Anime/DragonBallZTheHistoryOfTrunks'' has much the same reaction to Goku's death from the heart virus:
--->'''Future Vegeta''': Kakarot... no!
* AntiHero: One of the '''greatest''' examples anime or manga has ever given us. [[TropeCodifier He created the mold]] [[FollowTheLeader for anti-heroic characters in Shonen anime and manga]] and went [[NominalHero through]] [[UnscrupulousHero the]] ''[[PragmaticHero whole]] [[KnightInSourArmor scale]]'' [[Analysis/AntiHero of anti-heroism]] during his character development in the series.
* ArchEnemy:
** His hatred of Frieza for enslaving him and destroying his planet. Killing Frieza by obtaining immortality from the Dragon Balls was his primary motive during the Saiyan and Frieza Saga.
** He had this relationship with Goku for a long time after he was defeated on Earth. Their relationship would go on to develop into [[FriendlyEnemy Friendly Enemies]], and eventually into [[WorthyOpponent worthy]] [[TheRival rivals]]. In ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'', he becomes something of a SitcomArchNemesis.
** Another one is Goku Black. While Black doesn’t really see Vegeta as one, considering him an appetiser to the main course, Vegeta grew to bitterly hate Black for what he did to his future family including killing Future Bulma and wounding Future Trunks.
*** On the subject of Black, Vegeta gets legitimately '''''pissed off''''' at Black when he learns that Black is actually Zamasu, having used the Super Dragon Balls to claim Goku's body for himself and starts screaming in his face about it with more rage than one would expect from Vegeta regarding anything relating to Goku. His ultimate reasoning for why he went off on Black? He's come to respect Goku's tenacity and courage, and seeing Zamasu try to steal Goku's power without putting in even a fraction of the effort that Goku exerted to get where he is turns out to be a BerserkButton for Vegeta. Apparently even ''Vegeta'' didn't realize it till it happened, either.
* ArrogantKungFuGuy: The king of this trope. Often leads to epic BreakTheHaughty moments, even after becoming a ''good guy''. When he first comes to Earth, he sits back and lets Nappa do all the work since the Earth's fighters are beneath him. He only actively fights after Nappa proves unable to beat Goku, and he spends most of his match against Goku demeaning him for being a low class warrior. This gets {{Downplayed}} on Namek since Vegeta knows very well how powerful his enemy is and acts carefully. However, his ego and arrogance return full force during the Android/Cell Saga where he finally becomes a Super Saiyan and has [[LookWhatICanDoNow an overwhelming need to show-off his new power]], which enables Dr. Gero to awaken Androids 16, 17, and 18, and allows Cell to become complete. [[CharacterDevelopment He finally gets over this by the final story arc of ''Z''. He's still quite arrogant, but he knows and accepts where he stands on the power scale.]]
* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: He is the Saiyan Prince not just because his father was the king, but because he ''is'' the most powerful of all the Saiyans, surpassing even his father at a young age. Before Goku powered up, he was over three times stronger than the second strongest Saiyan, Nappa. He kind of loses this honor once Goku surpasses him and no one within Goku's circle of friends really wants to listen to him because of his {{Jerkass}} personality.
* TheAtoner: Vegeta is an interesting example of this trope. He rarely directly references his previous actions from his villain days but most of his actions and motivations as he develops end up running directly counter to who he was. He disregards familial relationships to the point where he doesn't particularly care if Bulma and baby Trunks die, only to become ''the'' family man of the series with a lot of his most epic moments driven by love for his wife and children. His Saiyan pride was once completely centered around his own personal sense of supremacy, not giving a damn about the members of his species and treating the entire rest of the Saiyan Army as expendable and worthy of death whenever they lost. Now he scolds any Saiyan who gives up on a fight by instilling in them the responsibility to get stronger and even surpass him if they can help it, and takes any opportunity he can to brag about the Saiyans' natural tendency to break their limitations, taking true pride in his people as a whole. He disregarded Goku as inferior, even after Goku continued to surpass him and would be the first to tear him down. Now, they're not only more likely to be found in each other's company than anyone else's but he will vocally support Goku in his fights against Buu and Jiren. Their rivalry is now one of equality rather than superiority. He goes from being a callous opportunist through the entire ordeal of Ginyu stealing Goku's body to one of the reasons he took pleasure in beating the piss out of Black being how Zamasu dared to think he could claim Goku's power and all the hard work that it came by for himself just from stealing his body. He wipes out millions of people over the years, then he ensures that when reviving the people of Earth during the fight with Kid Buu, his victims are included. Vegeta wiped out a Namekian village searching for the Dragon Balls and later ''bragged'' about it when those same villagers weren't revived by a wish. When confronting Moro on New Namek, he reacts faster than Goku to save a Namekian child and basically says you'll hurt these people over my dead body.
-->'''Moro''': You would dare interrupt my long-awaited meal?\\
'''Vegeta''': I have a troubled history with these Namekians. I did them untold harm. So no, I can't allow even one more of them to perish. And they are most certainly not your food.
* AwesomenessByAnalysis:
** How he learned the protagonists' signature ability to sense other people's energy.
** Managed to perfect his own version of the Destructo Disc to cut Great Ape Gohan's tail off after seeing Krillin do it twice. Note that Krillin, the inventor of the technique, failed to cut off Vegeta's tail with it himself.
** {{Deconstructed}} by Whis. He tells Vegeta to stop over thinking all the time since it slows his reaction time during battle. [[spoiler: This flaw is exploited by Frieza, who destroys the Earth because it took Vegeta too long to make the finishing blow]].
** {{Reconstruction}} by Vegeta during his fight with Jiren. Despite not having access to the Ultra Instinct like Goku has, he still manages to analyze Jiren's attack patterns, enabling him to dodge every single one of his RapidFireFisticuffs and land the first solid hit on him, shocking everyone. He even outright says that 'Kakarot can have his Ultra Instinct' -- he'll find his own way to get stronger, as he always has.
---> '''Vegeta:''' Bad news for you, Jiren. I've got you ''figured out''!
* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Vegeta and Bulma are full of this. They often yell at each other and Vegeta tries to pretend he doesn't particularly care about her. Despite all that, they are actually quite loving towards each other like Bulma making Vegeta an upgrade for his armor and kissing him on the cheek, much to his horror. Vegeta is also very protective of Bulma. [[UnstoppableRage He completely loses his shit when Beerus slaps her]], causing him to surpass Goku for several seconds. He even rushes into her room when she screamed in fright. And when [[spoiler: Vegeta learns Goku Black killed Future Bulma he becomes so mad he [[TranquilFury does not even show his anger like he normally does]], he immediately starts training in order to murder Goku Black in the most painful way possible]].
* AxCrazy: Borders on this during his first fight with Goku, freaking out and trying to blow up the Earth because Goku made him bleed. In the Frieza Saga, he massacres an entire village of Namekians, [[WouldHurtAChild children included,]] for their Dragon Ball, which he easily could have just taken and left without issue, since the villagers were insignificant to him in terms of strength. He returns as this in the Buu Saga as Majin Vegeta, where he indiscriminately blows up dozens of innocent people to provoke Goku into a fight with a PsychoticSmirk on his face.
* BackupFromOtherworld: Vegeta is semi-revived thanks to King Yemma so he can help in the battle against Majin Buu after Gohan gets absorbed, making Super Buu nearly unstoppable. While Vegeta power-wise is pretty useless, he gives Goku someone to fuse with and it is his plan that ends up killing Kid Buu.
* BadassArmFold: Almost as iconic as his psychotic smirk.
* BadassBoast: Vegeta has to be one of the kings of this trope.
** One of his best was when Babidi was controlling his body:
--->'''Babidi:''' Kill! Kill the Kai!\\
'''Vegeta:''' No! Get out of my head! I already told you! I will not be distracted from this anymore! I won't! It will take more than head games to stop me. You may have invaded my mind and my body... but there's one thing a Saiyan always keeps... '''HIS PRIDE!'''
** He gets a pretty good one in the Cell Saga as well, while charging up his Final Flash. He basically ''dares'' Cell to test his strength by ''not'' dodging the attack; had Cell not dodged at the last second, he wouldn't have survived.
--->'''Vegeta''': '''''CELL!''''' Once again you have taken for granted the power of a ''true'' Saiyan warrior. Now, if you ''really'' want to test your strength, stay ''right where you are''!!
** Similar to the above, he dares Jiren to take a fully charged Final Flash. Jiren has to block at the last minute and is still knocked to the ground. [[spoiler: It's a ''lot'' more damage than Jiren took from Goku's ''Universe 7'' Spirit bomb.]]
--->'''Vegeta''': ''You claim that I'm no threat to you. I assume that means you won't act like a coward and try to avoid this blast''!!
** He has one pretty amazing line in the Japanese dub of Super too, to [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu Beerus]].
--->'''Vegeta''': God of Destruction or not, you will know the boundaries of humiliation!
* BadassDecay: InUniverse, Vegeta feels like he suffers from this after he settles down on Earth and has a family. He wants to be evil again since that is when he feels he's at his strongest. So, he sells himself to Babidi for power and he does becomes stronger, able to fight equally with Goku for the first time in years. Goku calls him out on this, calling him a fool for selling out his own convictions and family just so he can surpass him.
* BadassInDistress:
** He had to be saved by Krillin and Gohan when Recoome was ready to kill him with his Eraser Gun. [[UngratefulBastard He wasn't happy about the rescue]].
** After going through a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against Cell after he murdered Trunks, he is knocked aside and is nearly killed by an energy blast. He only survived because Gohan shielded him with his own body, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero losing the use of his left arm]].
** At the tail end of the Kid Buu fight, he is pinned down by Buu to keep Goku from throwing the Spirit Bomb. It is the combined efforts of Fat Buu and Mr. Satan that save him.
* BadassMustache: He got one in ''GT'', but he shaved it after Bulla ridiculues it. In ''Super'', he briefly gains a mustache and beard, making him look like a smaller version of his father.
* BadBoss:
** After Goku cripples Nappa, Vegeta tosses him skyward and blows him up, declaring that Nappa no longer deserves to live. Previously, he had also killed one of the Saibamen after it lost to Tien in a fight.
** There's also Raditz. When Nappa comes up with the idea of gathering the Dragon Balls to wish him back from the dead, Vegeta immediately vetoes this option, stating that Raditz was unworthy of being revived since he had lost in a fight against Earthlings.
* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork: On Namek, his story purpose quickly becomes "massacre the minor villains so the heroes don't have to". Goku calls him out for killing Recoome, Burter, and Jeice when they were basically helpless.
* BadSamaritan: Before his HeelFaceTurn, he is initially introduced as an unrepentant villain. Judging from his evil intentions before joining the Z Fighters, Vegeta has been consistently characterized as extremely arrogant, vengeful, and at times, cold. In fact, many of Vegeta's early helpful acts are only for his ulterior motives, such as power and revenge. Thankfully, it all changes because of [[IdealHero Goku's]] influence.
* BashBrothers:
** In the NonSerialMovie, ''The Return of Cooler'', he and Goku fight off against a whole army of Meta-Coolers!
** During the Tournament of Power, [[spoiler: he and Goku, after breaking their limits and getting power-ups, finally decide to do this rather than take turns and double-team Jiren; Whis notes that their coordination isn't perfect, but this actually works to their advantage by confusing Jiren and throwing him off.]]
** In the ''Super'' manga, Goku and Vegeta bitterly yet fondly joke to each other while preparing to make a futile last stand side by side against [[spoiler:the Infinite Zamasu army]] in a manner very similar to the above Metal Cooler movie. [[spoiler:Then Goku remembers the Zeno button.]]
* BeamSpam: While other characters have used this, it's one of Vegeta's {{Signature Move}}s. In fact, when Majin Buu uses a BeamSpam during their first fight, Goku accuses him of [[PowerCopying copying it]] from Vegeta.
* BeingGoodSucks:
** He was a firm believer in this prior to the end of the Buu Saga. Having settled down on Earth and formed a family, he saw his newfound [[VirtueIsWeakness virtues as a weakness]], and deliberately allows Babidi to brainwash him so he could be free of it and return to the super-powerful evil prince he was before.
-->'''Vegeta''': I was the perfect warrior, cold and ruthless. I lived by my strength alone, uninhibited by foolish emotion.... but slowly, over the years, I became one of you, my quest for greatness gradually giving way to this life of mediocrity. I awoke one day to find I had settled down, formed a family, I had even grown quite fond of them. Would you believe... I almost started to think the Earth was a nice place to live. You understand now, Kakarot? That's why I needed Babidi, to set me free.
** Subverted in ''Super'', where he's [[CharacterDevelopment learned his lesson]] and became a much more genuinely heroic person who embraces this. [[spoiler:His embracing this ultimately pays off, as his selflessness and desire to save and protect what he cares about gives him a ''much'' stronger SuperMode that, while somewhat weaker than Ultra Instinct, is far more practical, and still powerful enough to defeat God of Destruction Top.]]
** A minor but interesting example in the Granolah arc. [[spoiler: Vegeta gains the Ultra Ego form, a God of Destruction ability that allows seemingly unbounded offensive potential as you delve deeper into your destructive instincts. Using it seems to cause Vegeta to back track somewhat in his development in exchange for a colossal power boost but he considers it incomplete as he's changed too much to truly go back to being a person wrapped up in his Saiyan instincts.]]
* BerserkButton: From the start of ''Z'' to the end of ''Super'', Vegeta has had numerous {{Berserk Button}}s
** [[WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged The Goku Button]]: Goku's strength was a walking BerserkButton for him during ''Z'' and even after he admitted Goku was better than him in his speech at the end of ''Z'', ''Super'' shows it's still a source of annoyance when people rank him below Goku.
** Attacking his {{Pride}} and dismissing it as meaningless will utterly piss him off. This is perhaps his biggest button as he is [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy very proud of his Saiyan heritage]] and absolutely hates it when people mock him and his race.
** And then there's his family's safety. Cell killing Future Trunks presses this button pretty hard (and ultimately leads Vegeta to develop a kinder, more fatherly side overall). Beerus striking Bulma years later makes Vegeta go absolutely ''ballistic''. Beerus, even as a god, is put on the defensive as a result of that, and Goku flat out remarks that Vegeta was stronger than he was when he was defending Bulma.
* BeyondTheImpossible: Vegeta is just as often the person to break the established rules as Goku:
** The Spirit Bomb was being hyped up as the thing to end the Saiyan invasion, a LastStand utilizing the latent power of the entire planet as an attack, with King Kai warning against using it more than once, because the planet wouldn't be able to sustain the energy drain. Vegeta got hit directly InTheBack, taking the full brunt of the attack. The surviving Z-fighters approached what appeared to his corpse afterwards, thinking NoOneCouldSurviveThat. Not only did he, but he got up and began soundly trouncing everyone again.
** After Cell became perfect, ''nothing'' worked on him. Cell even performed his own version of this trope in the anime by {{No Sell}}ing a [[ArmorPiercingAttack Destructo Disc]], which, mind you, is established to cut through anything like a hot knife through butter. Vegeta proved that Perfect Cell ''could'' be hurt by [[ChargedAttack charging up]] a ''[[KameHameHadouken Final Flash]]'' for the better part of ten minutes and ''daring'' Cell to take it head on if he really believed he was invulnerable. Cell obliged and only discovered in the last possible second that ''maaaaybe'' he was being overconfident in his ability, opting to dodge at the last second. He still got a good part of his torso blown off, proving that, indeed, he was not all-powerful, even if his FromASingleCell regeneration made the injury moot in short order.
** He manages to break free of Babidi's mind control through sheer force of will and strength, leaving everyone awestruck; Babidi in particular is shocked, claiming no one has ''ever'' managed to resist his commands, and judging by Shin's comments, it's something that he had ''never'' seen before either.
--->'''Shin''': I can't believe it! What kind of strength allows a person to fight against and overcome their own enslaved body?
** Vegeta has exploded Kami's lookout from ''inside'' the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, the same place that's an ''endless'' expanse of nothing but white void. Twice even, with the second time looking to have been done with much greater ease than the first.
** In the ''Super'' version of the ''Resurrection F'' arc, Goku explicitly states that Vegeta managed to attain Super Saiyan God on his own. Just ''how'' Vegeta pulled that off is never explained.
** Against Top in the Tournament of Power, Vegeta opts to utilize the [[spoiler:[[SuicideAttack Final Explosion]]]]. Top, having recently [[spoiler:ascended to God of Destruction]] is hurling [[spoiler:spheres of Energy of Destruction]] around like most fighters would normal KiManipulation. Vegeta performs [[spoiler:Final Explosion]] only to be consumed by Top's own massive [[spoiler:sphere of Energy of Destruction]]. Not only does he manage to overpower the [[spoiler:all-destroying energy, something which had been shown to be possible before, albeit at a great expenditure in endurance]], but he also [[spoiler:'''survives''' performing his own SuicideAttack ''inside'' said energy]]. The only ones to ever survive their own [[spoiler:{{Suicide Attack}}s]] are villains with FromASingleCell regeneration. Vegeta, at this point, is neither a villain nor does he have regenerative abilities, and yet he ''still'' [[spoiler:survives blowing himself up.]]
* BlindedByRage: One of his {{Fatal Flaw}}s, coupled with his {{Pride}}. When he gets angry enough, he becomes extremely reckless, which leads to humiliating defeats against the Androids and Cell.
* BigBad: Of the Saiyan Saga.
* BigBadEnsemble: With Frieza in the Namek Saga. He defects from the Frieza Force in a bid to claim the Dragon Balls for himself. They spend much of the saga trying to undermine the other and while Vegeta does join forces with Krillin and Gohan later, it's only because he has no other option.
* BigBadWannabe: What he winds up being near the end of the Frieza Saga. While a legitimate threat who kills many of Frieza's men, including his CoDragons Dodoria and Zarbon, and would have killed Krillin and Gohan if given enough reason, he's little more than a flea compared to Frieza. What keeps him ahead is that he's much more clever than his former boss, who relies on brute force and his resources to get his way. However, once Vegeta is brought into the open and is forced to confront Frieza directly, he realizes he's still not strong enough to face him and is left trembling in terror before being mercilessly tortured to death by the tyrant.
* BigBrotherInstinct: Has this dynamic with Cabba, as he looks out for him even during the Tournament of Power. [[spoiler:When Cabba gets erased, Vegeta is '''PISSED'''.]]
* BigEater:
** He shows this side of himself in the Buu Saga as well as in ''Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return'' where he intends to eat ''competitively'' with Goku.
** He shows this side again in ''Super'' when he goes on a vacation with his family, pigging out in each course meal. Bulma even notes that Vegeta becomes less moody when he eats and it's one of the few times we see him smile. Of course, this gets ruined by an octopus full of ink.
* BigShutUp: He does this a lot.
* BirdsOfAFeather: He and Bulma are both intelligent, proud, slightly narcissistic, hot-tempered, ''extremely'' stubborn, and [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold abrasive on the exterior]] [[{{Tsundere}} but caring on the interior]]. No wonder they eventually got married.
* BizarreAlienBiology: Vegeta is the Saiyan Prince, a race of {{Human Alien}}s who are insanely aggressive and love to fight, have monkey tails, can transform into giant apes in the light of the full moon if they still have their tails, and can transform into Super Saiyans that changes their hair and eye colors while also greatly increasing their strength and speed. If they are pushed close to death and recover, they increase their strength. Despite this, they can interbreed with humans, creating even more powerful hybrids.
* BlindedByRage: His overall FatalFlaw, combined with his pride. Whenever Vegeta gets too many blows to his ego, he gets ''very'' angry and reckless. This leads him to suffer humiliating defeats at the hands of Android 18 and Cell.
* BloodKnight: Takes this Saiyan trait to such extremes that he allows Cell to become Perfect Cell in hopes of getting a greater battle from Cell. And boy, did he ever. Of course, being Vegeta, he didn't expect to be handily beaten while Cell was holding back most of his power the entire time. This almost becomes a deconstruction, every time Vegeta fully gives into his BloodKnight qualitites, it bites him in the ass, (Waiting for Goku to appear, letting Cell and Frieza transform, letting Babidi continue with his plan) and it ultimately makes things worse for him and the heroes.
* BloodUpgrade: When he realizes that Goku, a low-class warrior, has drawn his blood in their first fight, he goes absolutely nuts and tries to blow up the entire planet. Which would have ''killed'' him as he couldn't survive the vacuum of space.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: The only character who probably has more of an "alien" view of how the world is perceived than Goku, is Vegeta; considering that his desperation for a great battle has been the driving force in his character. Ironically, his CharacterDevelopment after the Buu Saga and carrying over into ''Super'' has been driving him away from this mindset, to the point that he comes off as relatively "normal" at times to Goku.
* BlueIsHeroic: After he becomes more heroic, his aura changes from [[PurpleIsPowerful purple]] to blue. He also gains Super Saiyan Blue, which that makes his aura, hair, and eyes blue. [[spoiler: Then, during the Tournament Of Power, from his desire to revive Cabba and the U6 Saiyans, he evolves his Super Saiyan Blue form to an entirely new-and-unique form, allowing him to gain power that ultimately overpowers God of Destruction Top]].
* BondVillainStupidity:
** In the Saiyan Saga, he puts the fight with Nappa on hold for three hours for Goku to return to Earth, purely so he and Nappa could crush the Z-Fighters' hopes and [[ForcedToWatch make Goku watch]] as they killed his friends.
** During the Cell Saga, he unlocks the Second Grade Super Saiyan form after training in the [[YearInsideHourOutside Hyperbolic Time Chamber]], and becomes much stronger than Cell. Rather than finish him off, Vegeta gets bored slapping Cell around and allows him to absorb Android 18 and become perfect, purely for the sake of a good fight; Cell proceeds to completely [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomp]] Vegeta while [[LampshadeHanging rubbing in his face how stupid he was to help him]]. Even before then, Piccolo is left irked by the fact that Vegeta just keeps toying with Cell and won't just kill him already:
--->'''Piccolo''': Vegeta could've beaten Cell ten-times over by now! He's toying with him, leaving him an opportunity to fuse with Android 18! He's putting us all at risk to satisfy his own selfish pride!
* BoringButPractical: Compared to [[spoiler:Goku's Ultra Instinct form, his Super Saiyan "[[FanNickname Beyond Blue/Royal Blue]]" form that he gained near the Tournament of Power's end is this, since while it's apparently weaker than Ultra Instinct and doesn't have automatic dodging capabilities, he can access it at will, and it doesn't appear to involve a HeroicRROD that leaves him crippled after it ends.]]
* BornWinner: He is the prince of his race and is considered the greatest Saiyan ever born by his people and Frieza. He is [[SparingTheAces spared specifically for his talent]] and reaches levels unheard of by any Saiyan even before he comes to Earth. For reference, the second strongest Saiyan, Nappa, is almost five times weaker than him. He gives Goku a big challenge the first time they meet, after Goku had trained for a year under King Kai and made Nappa look like a fool. He is also one of the only ones to learn how to read energy without any training and figures out how to suppress his power only by observing the Earthlings for less than a day. He also manages to hurt Beerus, being the first to do so and with one hell of a beatdown to boot, ''then'' become a real PhysicalGod like Goku after mastering Super Saiyan Blue. Despite his amazing talent, however, he views himself as something of a [[SecondPlaceIsForLosers second place loser]] since Goku is always one step ahead of him and is overall the better warrior, [[InexplicablyAwesome even though he's born a lower class fighter]].
* {{Bowdlerize}}: His killing of Guldo. In the anime, he severs his head with an energy beam, while in the manga, he beheads Guldo with a karate chop.
* BreakingTheFourthWall: In the English dub to the audience. "What are you looking at?"
* BreakTheHaughty: His story is jam packed full of this trope. After he makes a very long speech about how there is no way he can lose, he promptly gets his ass handed to him on a platter. Then, he screams in rage about his pride and unleashes everything he's got, but it barely dents the monster. Then, comes the dramatic crying. This happens at least once per season, if not more. He finally got the message after the Buu Saga.
* BreakoutCharacter: He started off as just another villain who gave the heroes a noticeably protracted fight. He would survive and go on to play a major role in every subsequent arc and his CharacterDevelopment spans the entire series. Nowadays, he's easily the second most recognizable character in the franchise just under Goku himself.
* BrilliantButLazy: Much like Goku, if it doesn't relate to becoming stronger, he has no interest in it. This is lampshaded by Bulma when she asked how Saiyans could spend days training, yet refuse to do something simple like cut the grass.
* BrokenAce: He is born the prince of his race and a ChildProdigy so talented that Frieza himself took a liking to him, grooming him into one of his righthand men. To the remaining Saiyans, he is a figure of both admiration and fear, having their complete loyalty. When he is introduced, he is far stronger than anyone in the series, including Goku. He is also a master tactician when level-headed. However, Vegeta hates being under the rule of another or anyone stronger than him and despises never being able to escape his oppressive employer, who has subjected him to FantasticRacism despite his achievements, and oh, as it turns out, '''destroyed his home world'''. To make matters worse, he is surpassed in every way by a warrior he considers a lower class, who also defeats his enslaver, leading to an InferioritySuperiorityComplex that nearly cost him his newfound family. His cold, uncaring nature also makes it hard for anyone to like or even tolerate him. It's not until the end of the series that he finally begins to recover and makes peace with the idea that he will never be the strongest in the universe, and even after that he still has to give it a good try to be sure.
* BrokenPedestal: Having grown up without Vegeta around, and having [[TellMeAboutMyFather been given a whitewashed version of him by Future Gohan and Bulma]], Future Trunks is horrified to discover that the father he never knew and wanted to meet is an arrogant, self-absorbed {{Jerkass}} who not only doesn't give a damn about Bulma or the son he fathered with her, but is perfectly willing to endanger the entire planet for the sake of a good fight. While Trunks still tries to [[WellDoneSonGuy earn his approval]], he eventually snaps when Vegeta decides to help Cell become Perfect and doesn't hesitate to attack his own father in his efforts to stop it from happening. However, the pedestal is eventually rebuilt after he learns that Vegeta went medieval on Cell after he was killed.
* BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu:
** He pulls several successful gambits against Frieza to gather all the Dragon Balls and wish for immortality. In the end, not only does he not get his wish, but he is tortured to death by Frieza, even after being fatally shot by Krillin and healed by Dende to get a Zenkai boost.
** Before then, he throws everything he had against Recoome, destroying the latter's armor. Recoome just smiles and beats Vegeta into the ground. He would have died if Krillin and Gohan hadn't saved him.
** After allowing Cell to become complete so he can have a greater challenge, Cell completely overpowers him and he can't hurt the android. In a final gambit, he pulls all his power into one huge attack and dares Cell not to dodge. When it hits, he blows off Cell's entire right side. [[{{Troll}} After playing hurt for several seconds]], Cell effortlessly heals off the damage.
** He goes into a berserk rage against Cell after he murders Trunks. His attacks not only did nothing, but his efforts almost gets him killed and [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Gohan's arm gets broken saving his life]].
** He tries to make amends and kill Majin Buu since his fight with Goku awoke him. His attacks have no lasting effect against Buu and he's totally outmatched. So, he decides to blow himself up so Buu can't regenerate again. [[SenselessSacrifice It ends in failure and he dies for nothing.]]
** In ''Battle of Gods'', after Beerus slaps Bulma, [[RageBreakingPoint Vegeta loses it]] and attacks the god, landing several powerful blows and pushing Beerus back for the first time. It all amounts to nothing. Beerus takes no noticeable damage and slaps Vegeta out of Super Saiyan.
** In ''Resurrection 'F''', Vegeta beats the crud out of Frieza and is prepared to kill him. [[spoiler: Frieza destroys the Earth, killing him, and getting the last laugh. It is only by Whis' intervention that Frieza was denied his final victory]].
** In ''Dragon Ball Super'', Future Trunks and he combined their Galick Guns to deflect an energy blast from Fusion Zamasu. Not only is Fusion Zamasu unharmed, he takes Vegeta down with one hit. Earlier, both Goku and he destroyed Fusion Zamasu's energy bird and attacked him directly. He caught their fists with ease and broke their arms literally.
* BullyingADragon: He actually mocked Frieza, goading him to transform since he didn't think there would be a major difference in power. He was ''very'' wrong.
* ButtMonkey:
** In ''GT''. He gets put down by his own daughter for his mustache, and even after he shaved it off, neither Goten nor Chi-Chi seem to notice the change.
** In the English dub, all the characters gave him endless grief over that pink shirt.
** The movies made him a ChewToy by having him being defeated rather quickly. The two canon films subvert this however.
** In ''Super'', he is treated like absolute crap around Beerus who regularly demeans him and his race. Unlike the movie where he earns some measure of respect from the God of Destruction when he swallows his pride to do the Bingo dance and is the first to hurt Beerus, he gets no acknowledgment at all and had to bribe Whis to train him since Whis had no interest in him, where Goku just had to ask once.
** Nowhere is this more apparent in the Cell Saga. Goku and Gohan emerge from the Room of Space and Time (not even having the spent whole requisite year there) having once again surpassed Vegeta in power, who had spent the full year there previously. Vegeta goes back inside, spends another full year there training, and is ''still'' vastly inferior to Goku. In fact he gained so little power for all his efforts that later during the battle with the Cell Juniors, even a single Cell Junior is way more powerful than him and treats his Final Flash like it's nothing (though it was fired without any charging, thus making it much weaker than the one he used on Cell).
* ByronicHero: Willing to kill enemies, fighting dirty and always for his own purposes like power and fighting.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:C-D]]
* TheCallPutMeOnHold: While already super-powered, this is how Vegeta felt about not being able to turn Super Saiyan yet (he's a late bloomer), despite being the Prince of All Saiyans. Also, he was upset when Goku and and Future Trunks were all able to turn Super Saiyan before him, and when Gohan did the same with Super Saiyan 2.
* CantCatchUp:
** Initially Vegeta was stronger than Goku by a wide margin, to the point where Goku had to use Kaio-Ken past Two to even fight him equally. Then the Namek saga hit and Vegeta fell behind Goku for the rest of the series. It's also {{Deconstructed}} in the Majin Buu Saga. Realizing Goku was still light years stronger then him despite being dead hit his pride so much he willingly allowed Babidi to control him just to boost his strength... Goku was still massively stronger. Vegeta eventually admits he's behind Goku and ends up being at peace with it.
** His acceptance of Goku surpassing him actually seems to help him somewhat avert this trope [[spoiler: since in the anime GT and the movies, he manages to catch up to Goku's level again. Although he still remains notably weaker, the margin in their power is much smaller]].
** In ''Resurrection F'', Vegeta says that the only reason why he's training with Whis is because he didn't want Goku to leave him in the dust. Given that Vegeta ''never'' trained under anyone before, it really shows his dedication not to fall behind again.
* CantKillYouStillNeedYou:
** When he and Nappa first attack Earth, they make a point ''not'' to kill Piccolo, as they need his help finding the Dragon Balls. Notably, they don't know that [[CantLiveWithoutYou the Dragon Balls are tied to his and Kami's life-force]], and when they learn Goku's coming, they decide to just kill him and go to Namek to use their Dragon Balls.
** In ''Resurrection 'F''', he tells Frieza outright that he can't afford to kill Goku, as [[WorthyOpponent his rivalry motivates him to train and grow stronger]].
* CardCarryingVillain: Before he got much better, he used to talk about how evil, "cold and ruthless he was, unencumbered by foolish emotion". When he is told how he can turn into a true Super Saiyan, he states that his heart is purely evil.
* CatchPhrase:
** In the English dub, he always called himself "the prince of all Saiyans".
** His insult of choice for Goku is "clown".
** In Japanese, he often insults with "Kisama", while in the Latin American Dub him calling anyone "Insecto"[[note]]"Insect" or "bug"[[/note]] ("verme insolente"[[note]]"Insolent maggot"[[/note]] in the Brazilian dub) has become his trademark.
* ChallengeSeeker: Vegeta, like all pure-blooded Saiyans, love to fight and push himself in battle. This has led to making situations more difficult for the heroes, like him allowing Cell to become complete because he was [[NoChallengeEqualsNoSatisfaction bored knocking around Semi-Perfect]], didn't want to fuse with Goku to fight Kid Buu, and didn't want to team up with Goku to take down Frieza when he returns stronger than ever. This last one leads to the Earth being blown up because he took too long to kill Frieza when he had the tyrant at his mercy.
* ChangedMyMindKid: During Gohan's BeamOWar against Cell, Vegeta wouldn't help the protagonists in trying to aid Gohan because he didn't think they could do anything. Then, at the last minute, Vegeta shoots a powerful beam that's strong enough to distract Cell, which allows Gohan to win the battle.
* CharacterDevelopment: Vegeta has the longest character arc out of everyone in the entire series. He starts out as a {{Jerkass}} sociopathic villain who destroys planets at the beginning of ''Z'' and ends up as an honorable warrior and dedicated family man by the time ''Super'' rolls around. Although he [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold can still be a jerk at times]], Vegeta's actions nowadays can make him come off as the most mature and level-headed one in comparison with [[TheHero Goku]]. Highlights of his development include the following:
** Realizing that he cared about Trunks and admitting to himself that both Goku and Gohan had utterly surpassed him, at the end of the Cell Arc was the first step down that road that would accumulate into accepting Goku was better than him at the end of ''Z''.
** His character in ''Battle of Gods'', ''Resurrection [='F'=]'', and ''Super'' is a stark contrast to the self-absorbed douche who was willing to risk the safety of the Earth in exchange for a good fight just a decade prior, let alone the planet-busting marauder he was even before that.
** It even extends to a personal level. In the Android Saga, he cared about neither Bulma nor Trunks. Future Trunks' death changed all of that. From that point onwards, he went out of his way to be a father to Trunks, but in a more aloof way. From the canonical movies and ''Super'', he's willing to put his pride aside for the safety of his family.
** He shows even more development in ''Super'' where he [[TricksterMentor teaches]] Cabba how to become a Super Saiyan and transform at will by pushing him past his RageBreakingPoint. He then goes Super Saiyan Blue to show Cabba the levels he can reach if he trains hard enough, before knocking him out. He then revives Cabba and tells him to ''surpass'' him, not just become his equal. The Vegeta of the past despises anyone stronger than him, including his own son, and would have never have taught anyone how to become stronger than him. This is lampshaded by Goku who notes that Vegeta treats Cabba better than him, despite them both being true Saiyans.
** When Future Trunks returns to Earth because of Goku Black, Vegeta goes out of his way to reassure Trunks not to give up and that they'll find a way to fix the situation. Later, when the two spar and Trunks becomes convinced that he doesn't need to worry because Goku and Vegeta have it taken care of, Vegeta harshly reminds Trunks that Black is not the only strong enemy out there, giving Trunks a pep talk which successfully motivates him to strive to become the absolute best in the universe. Combine this with Cabba's example, and it becomes clear how much healthier his attitude towards surpassing Goku and being the strongest has become in that he's willing and able to impart the same attitude in other, younger, more earnest and clearly good Saiyans — towards becoming even stronger than himself.
** He shows concern and ''urges'' Bulma to have kid Trunks raise his power to get to Earth and have Goku go to Karin's to grab Senzu beans. The PapaWolf in him wakes up even more. He even challenges Goku Black not for his sake, but for Trunks' and help him restore peace in his world. Black actually [[VillainRespect commends him]] for it.
** While having another retreat, Future Trunks stalls Black and [[spoiler: Future Zamasu]] so Goku, Vegeta, and Bulma can go back to the past to revive Goku and find a way to stop the two villains. Vegeta refuses to leave Trunks behind, but did so in his urging.
** When Bulma was revealed to be pregnant, Vegeta dropped his training entirely so he could witness his daughter being born, that and Bulma would never forgive him if he missed the birth. Even at his most heroic, Vegeta would never stop training as long as Goku was, so he's really going out of his way on this one.
** After being rather hypocritical about it in ''Z'', Vegeta in ''Super'' is completely against using any kind of method that he cannot do with his own effort to gain strength. Things like the Dragon Balls, magic, or cheating in a tournament are completely disgusting to him and he never considers such methods as an option.
** In ''Z'', he wanted the Dragon Balls so he could become immortal. In ''Super'', he states that he wants to [[spoiler: win the Tournament of Power so he can use the Dragon Balls to revive Universe 6 if it's erased from existence.]]
** In ''Super'' he shows respect (in his own Tsundere ways) to martial artists that he believes have truly improved themselves by their own power and effort, whereas in ''Z'' he would continue to belittle them or throw a tantrum. [[TheRival He's always displayed a mixture of both reactions with Goku, so that doesn't count.]]
** In the Dragon Ball Super Manga Chapter 55, Vegeta was willing to spare Yuzun and his mooks if they turned themselves in to the Galatic Patrol, but at the same time, was about to shot them down when they tried to escape in their ship.
** In the next arc, he finally admits that the Saiyans were responsible for their own evil, not Freeza, and that at the end of the day, they ''deserved'' their demise.
** Chapter 74 of ''Super''. During his battle with Granolah, [[spoiler: He is CLEARLY outmatched in strength. The Vegeta of old would have been pissed off that he couldn't coast by on superior strength. Current Vegeta is calm, stating that while Granolah has a power advantage, Vegeta has more experience.]] He also states that rankings only matter at a specific point in time and are meaningless in the future.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn:
** When he was introduced, Vegeta was a borderline unstable psychopath who was willing to nuke the planet after Goku made him bleed, which would have killed him since he couldn't survive in space. He was also more FauxAffablyEvil, willing to hang back and let Nappa do all the grunt work while he enjoyed the show. From the Frieza Saga onward, he's far more willing to get his hands dirty, doesn't even bother to pretend to be polite, and doesn't lose his shit over someone making him bleed.
** In both the Saiyan and Namek arcs, Vegeta is a full on GeniusBruiser and a brutal pragmatist. [[note]]He has no problem ganging up on Frieza with Gohan and Krilin to increase his own adds of victory or beheading Guldo while he's distracted freezing them, and his only objection when Krillin and Gohan intervene in his fight with Recoome is that they didn't attack aggressively enough. He concocts effective plans on the fly, such as his impressive gambit to steal Frieza's dragon balls or ambushing Dodoria and Zarbon while they're split up (knowing he can't beat both at the same time). Finally, he is shown to be a more skilled fighter than even Goku on top of being, until Goku arrives on Namek, more powerful. His Galick Gun overpowers Goku's Kaio-Ken x3 Kamehameha despite his inferior base PowerLevels, he instantly recognizes Krillin's advanced Kienzan technique (telling Nappa to dodge it) and later uses his own version, he instantly picks up ki sensing while Goku needed years of training under Popo to master it, he can control his Oozaru state while no one else can, he develops a technique to be able to turn Oozaru even without a full moon (even giving a TechnoBabble explanation for it).[[/note]] He beats guys stronger than him ''three'' different times[[note]]His second bout with Zarbon, by throwing sand into his eyes and sucker punching him while his guard was down. His first fight with Goku, who temporarily exceeded him with Kaio-Ken x3 but was forced into a BeamOWar with Kaio-Ken x4 that exhausted most of his energy (he admitted he was done for regardless of whether or not Vegeta used Oozaru). And his brief clash with Oozaru Gohan, which he won by cutting off Gohan's tail with an energy disk.[[/note]] while putting up a damn good fight even when he's too outclassed to win [[note]]In his first fight with Zarbon, the power difference between them was about the same as that between himself and Cui, yet Vegeta got in a couple good hits and [[CurbStompCushion at least made Zarbon bleed]]. In his fight with Recoome, the power gap is similarly massive, yet he lands a lot of good hits on Recoome through a combination of determination and sheer strategy, noticeably destroying his armor, putting several gashes on his body, drawing BloodFromTheMouth, and leaving him covered in scratches and developing bruises. [[MadeOfIron Not that Recoome cares]].[[/note]], and so on. From the Android arc to the end of the Cell arc, Vegeta is LethallyStupid DumbMuscle who gets incredibly mad whenever someone suggests teaming up against an opponent, and is constantly schooled in matters of both power and skill by Goku (for example, Goku lecturing Vegeta about how his Ascended Super Saiyan form was the 'wrong' way to train). After quite a few BreakTheHaughty moments, he gets some of this back during the Buu Saga, though he still helps the enemy get stronger, he's still pragmatic, gets a few CurbStompCushions and still refuses to stay down, he even manages to get closer to closing the gap between him and Goku, but by that point, it's no longer a point of contention. Furthermore, in ''Super'', Vegeta leans back toward the former a lot more, particularly in later arcs, but this time with more unique traits and DivergentCharacterEvolution for himself.
** His relationship with Goku also changes. In the Saiyan and Namek Saga, he sees Goku as an upstart that he will eventually get around to killing once he gains immortality. [[note]]This is justified by the fact that Goku only truly exceeds his power at the end of the Namek arc; in the Saiyan arc and first half of the Namek arc Vegeta is much stronger, while in the latter half of the Namek arc Goku is put ahead by his healing boosts and gravity training for all of a few minutes of shared screen time before Vegeta gains even more massive boosts. This includes when Goku gave him a senzu right after he beats Recoome, which rockets up Vegeta's power to the point that he can match 1st form Frieza. Later, he gets one final boost that puts him beyond Frieza's 3rd form.[[/note]] He later views Goku as a pawn in the Frieza Saga and someone worthy of being his ally to the point of being ''proud'' when sees Goku as Super Saiyan. After that, Vegeta becomes Goku's lifelong rival, obsessed with surpassing him to the point of forgetting that he wanted to rule the universe and live forever. Most of this changed happened because Goku became a Super Saiyan while he, the Saiyan Prince, got a dog's death by Frieza.
* CharacterTics: Tends to always fold his arms.
* ChildProdigy: His talent was so well known that Frieza immediately takes a liking to him and [[SparingTheAces spares him specifically]] when he destroys Planet Vegeta. After that, Frieza more or less raises him as one of his elite soldiers. In the Bardock Special, little Vegeta is able to take on ''six'' Saibamen by himself with little trouble. Keep in mind, each one of those Saibamen are as strong as Raditz. It's been stated that even as a child he was one of the strongest Saiyans at the time.
* ChildSoldier: Raised as one by Frieza and as a standard practice of Saiyan society. He has been conquering planets since he was at least eight.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Vegeta was practically defined by his tendency to betray his own comrades throughout ''Z''. He killed Nappa in cold blood for losing to Goku while Nappa was begging him for help, betrayed the Frieza Force to take the Dragon Balls for himself, made it clear on Namek that he would kill Gohan and Krillin once Frieza was out of the picture, abandoned Goku to fight Captain Ginyu alone while hoping the two would kill each other, actively attacked Future Trunks in order to help Cell absorb Android 18 and ascend to his perfect form purely [[BloodKnight so he could get a better fight out of him]], [[DealWithTheDevil sold out the Z-Fighters and the entire world to Babidi]] solely so he could finally get the power to surpass Goku, and then [[NotBrainwashed turned on Babidi and refused to follow any order that doesn't involve fighting Goku]].
* TheChosenOne: He firmly believes himself to be one since he is the Saiyan Prince. He believes that it is his destiny to ascend to Super Saiyan, kill Frieza, and take his place as ruler of the universe. After being overwhelmed, humiliated, and tortured by Frieza, he comes to the conclusion that Goku is the true Chosen One destined to defeat Frieza and avenge their people. Initially, at least in the anime, he's happy to the [[TearsofJoy point of tears]] to see that Goku has ascended and is beating the crap out of Frieza. He then becomes bitter and resentful that a lower class warrior like Goku did the very thing he believed was his birthright. So, he devotes his life in trying to surpass Goku, making himself TheUnchosenOne.
* ColdBloodedTorture:
** Horrifically subjected to this by Frieza after trying to take him on, thinking he was a Super Saiyan. It's not pretty, and is very comparable to Videl's own torture for one of the most painful scenes in the series.
** He subjects Goku to this after he shots his eye out. He slowly crushes Goku as a Great Ape, nearly killing him. Earlier, he waited for Goku's return so he can kill his son and remaining friends in front of him and then take his time slowly torturing Goku since he was a traitor to the Saiyans.
* CombatPragmatist:
** Vegeta through the Saiyan and Frieza Sagas. When Goku outmatched him using the Kaio-Ken, he creates a false moon to turn into a Great Ape and literally crushes Goku. He also ordered Nappa to kill the remaining Earth's fighters so they can't team up with Goku once he reads Goku's power level. On Namek, he kills Zarbon by throwing dirt into his eyes during their battle before impaling him with his hand from behind. Knowing that the Ginyu Force [[BewareTheSillyOnes were as dangerous as they were silly]], Vegeta kills Guldo, Burter, and Recoome after the former had his back turned, and the latter two were defeated and knocked unconscious by Goku. However, once he confronts Frieza, he eggs him to transform, [[WrongGenreSavvy thinking that Frieza won't become much stronger]], instead of fighting Frieza in his weaker first form.
** He loses almost all his pragmatistic thinking from the Cell Saga, willing to let his enemies transform or power-up so he can have a better fight, even if that means letting his enemy eat another person.
** He regains it somewhat in the Buu Saga. He decides to kill Pui Pui immediately, and would have done the same to Dabura had they not decided to let Gohan have his chance.
** However, he regains a lot of it in ''Dragon Ball Super'', after quite a few BreakTheHaughty moments. True, he still likes to have better fights and won't always immediately aim to end a battle, but when the chips are down, he goes in guns blazing from the start and fights to win.
* TheComicallySerious: Vegeta's uptight and hard-headed deamanor is sometimes PlayedForLaughs, especially when having disagreements with Goku. This is also shown when the other characters tease him for his attitude, much to his annoyance.
* CoveredWithScars: His ShowerScene at the beginning of the Cell Saga [[https://66.media.tumblr.com/680559e6ecee65050347d43be37c3180/tumblr_inline_pmk8v38Ouz1ucoewy_500.jpg reveals]] he has scars all over his chest and back.
* CrazyJealousGuy: Vegeta has a strong possessiveness over Bulma. He most notably gets ''pissed'' whenever Goku offers Bulma to someone else, albeit jokingly, and his jealous moments come out more in ''Super'', i.e., getting pissed at Whis for having dinner with her, warning Jaco not to try anything funny with Bulma, etc. In Episode 70 of ''Super'', when Vegeta hears Bulma cheering on both him and Yamcha, he takes every opportunity he can to hit Yamcha, using either a baseball or his elbow. Likewise, in the Funimation dub of ''Super'', he singled out Yamcha (in a sarcastic tone) as part of why he doesn't want to be a part of Bulma's birthday (since the dub team thought it weird that he would want Bulma to be near her ex, especially since said ex ended up dead because of his initial invasion of Earth during the Saiyan Saga).
* CrazyPrepared: Vegeta has his moment during the Saiyan Saga. After Goku proves to be his match after using Kaio-ken, Vegeta reveals that Nappa and him purposely came to Earth during a full moon cycle, although they mostly did it so they can begin wiping out the population quickly. When Vegeta realizes that the moon is destroyed, he uses a technique to create an artificial one.
* CruelMercy: The only reason why he didn't kill Ginyu after he gets trapped in a frog's body. He finds the thought of Ginyu living as a frog amusing.
* CrutchCharacter: In ''Super'', he's become one alongside Goku. In the Resurrection 'F' Saga, the Z-Fighters have no choice but to call him and Goku to Earth to handle the newly empowered Frieza, and in the Future Trunks Saga, after seeing how powerful Super Saiyan Blue is, Future Trunks fully intended to just kick back and let Goku and Vegeta deal with Goku Black. In both cases, they end up learning a lesson: Gohan realizes that he can't depend on them forever and starts retraining himself alongside Piccolo, and Vegeta calls Trunks out on his complacency and tells him he should ''always'' strive to surpass his limits, advice that Trunks takes to heart.
* CryCute:
** A rare ''male'' example of this trope, tearfully begging Son Goku to avenge the cold-blooded murder of their people as he dies of a punctured heart.
** Also during movie 12, ''Fusion Reborn''. He's frustrated with Goku [[CantCatchUp always]] [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter being stronger]] and with the fact that he's dead and in Hell, therefore he doesn't have his body except for the duration of the movie.
* CurbStompBattle: Vegeta has been involved in many of them over his long career.
** On the receiving end:
*** He gets wrecked by Zarbon after he assumes his true form.
*** Recoome dominates Vegeta after the Ginyu Force arrive on Namek.
*** He is hopelessly outclassed and slaughtered by Frieza's true form on Namek.
*** He severely underestimates Android 18, and pays for it with a broken arm and a massive blow to his ego.
*** After Cell goads him into allowing him to reach his Perfect form, Cell uses him as a punching bag.
*** Beerus being a God of Destruction, he has no trouble creaming Vegeta. Even after he rallies due to Bulma getting slapped and actually manages to catch Beerus off guard, he still takes no apparent damage and slaps Vegeta stupid.
*** Hit uses his time skip ability to completely and utterly wipe the floor with him.
*** His first fight with Super Saiyan Rose Goku Black ends with him getting shish-kebabed.
** On the delivering end:
*** He effortlessly mows down Cui and Dodoria with the power he gained from his battle on Earth.
*** After getting a Zenkai power-up from Recoome's beatdown, he takes Jeice down with little effort.
*** After unveiling his Super Saiyan form, he goes to town on Android 19.
*** After a year in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, he beats the ever-loving shit out of Semi-Perfect Cell and completely humiliates him.
*** He so horribly outclasses Pui Pui, it isn't even worth toying around with him. Seriously, it's a firm candidate for the most one-sided fight in all of ''Dragon Ball Z''.
*** His rematch with Golden Frieza ends with him taking him out effortlessly, though the number of hits inflicted on Frieza varies on the adaptation.
*** After Frost is revealed [[spoiler:to be a no-good cheater and all-around scumbag]], Vegeta wrecks him with a single punch.
*** He is so much more powerful than Cabba, he is able to teach him the Super Saiyan form and ''then'' one-shot him.
*** After training for six months inside and destroying the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, he proceeds to [[TranquilFury calmly]] beat Goku Black within an inch of his life in their final confrontation.
*** After [[spoiler: Top's talk of abandoning his ideals for power and the thoughts of failing his loved ones enrages him, Vegeta bulldozes him before blowing him off the arena with a blast so strong it destroys half the stage. He uses all his energy in the process though.]]
* CurbStompCushion: He may suffer a lot of beatdowns throughout the series, but he gets plenty of cushions to soften some of the blows and still make him seem impressive. While he doesn't win the fights, he manages to get some damage in on Zarbon, same with Recoome, nearly outright ''kills'' Perfect Cell, manages to defeat Gohan ''and'' Goku and manages to last pretty long (and intimidate) Kid Buu.
* DeadGuyJunior: His father was named King Vegeta.
* DeadpanSnarker: Sometimes. Especially when he outsmarts his enemies.
* DealWithTheDevil: To bridge the gap between Goku and him, he purposely allows himself to be possessed by Babidi. Despite this, Babidi has no real control of him and Vegeta can ignore any order that isn't fighting Goku.
* DeathEqualsRedemption: Discussed and defied before his HeroicSacrifice against Buu. When Vegeta asks Piccolo if he'll see Goku in the Other World, Piccolo tells him point-blank that he's most likely going to Hell and one selfless act isn't enough to make up for a lifetime of evil and overall {{Jerkass}}ery.
* DeathGlare: His default if not constant look.
* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype:
** Vegeta deconstructs TheRival, OvershadowedByAwesome, and TheProudElite tropes. Because he was born and raised to believe that he was always the best and is the Prince of all Saiyans, he loses it when Goku surpasses him, especially since Goku is a lower class soldier and should be a nobody. It causes him to develop a severe InferioritySuperiorityComplex where he's always trying to prove himself by fighting strong opponents, which allows Androids 16, 17, and 18 to be awakened and for Cell to reach his perfect state. It reaches a head in the Buu Saga where his obsession in surpassing Goku becomes so great that he sells his soul to Babidi for power and unleashes Majin Buu onto the world, who kills everyone on Earth except for Vegeta himself, Goku, Mr. Satan, Dende, and Bee, and destroys several other planets before his rampage is stopped. It is only by accepting that Goku is simply better than him that he finally begins to recover and becomes a happier person in the process. As the [[TropeCodifier definitive]] shonen rival, Vegeta is also an {{Unbuilt|Trope}} version of these archetypes.
** He also deconstructs TrainingFromHell. Vegeta trains harder and more frantically than Goku. He often hurts himself and actually comes close to killing himself on several occasions. And yet, he still remains weaker than Goku and the power gap between them grows despite his best efforts. He only begins to catch up again after training with Whis, who tells Vegeta that his biggest shortcoming is that he trains too hard and doesn't give his body time to relax like Goku and his training is learning when to take a break.
* DependingOnTheArtist: Vegeta's design as a child is not consistent [[https://imgur.com/gallery/r1OPNo2 as shown here]]. In ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', ''Anime/DragonBallZBardockTheFatherOfGoku'' and ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'', the animators follow Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru design with Vegeta having bangs over his forehead, while Akira Toriyama's design in ''Anime/DragonBallZBattleOfGods'', ''Dragon Ball Minus'' and ''Anime/DragonBallSuperBroly'' have him with his iconic widow's peak even as a child which is more internally consistent with the lore of Saiyans hair never changing from the moment they are born.
* DefeatMeansRespect: After his defeat on Earth, Vegeta is more respectful towards Goku, actually seeing him as a real challenger, despite still seeing him as low level trash.
* DefiantToTheEnd: Against Frieza, who is enraged by this and kills Vegeta as a result.
* DeityOfHumanOrigin: Or more specifically Saiyan origin. [[spoiler: Like Goku, Vegeta mastered Super Saiyan God and can merge it with his regular Super Saiyan form, becoming a Super Saiyan Blue. Interestingly, despite achieving godhood and Vegeta's legendary ego, he felt no need to brag about this. He's actually very nonchalant when he transforms in front of Frieza. [[CharacterDevelopment It goes to shows how far Vegeta has come since the Buu Saga]]]].
* DeliberateInjuryGambit: On Namek, he takes a near-fatal wound from Krillin and has Dende [[HealingHands heal]] him to get a [[CameBackStrong Zenkai]] boost to fight Frieza. It backfires; while he ''does'' get much stronger, it's not nearly enough to make a difference against Frieza.
* DemotedToExtra: Mostly in ''GT'', although he does get a sizable role in the final arc. He also gets this treatment during the Great Saiyaman arc in ''Z'' and the story mode for ''Dragon Ball Fighterz''.
* DependingOnTheWriter: Vegeta's views on Goku and whether or not he wants to be stronger than Goku largely depends on the series. In ''Z'', Vegeta finally accepts he's not gonna surprass Goku, and admits it with pride. In ''GT'', while Vegeta no longer makes mention of aiming to be stronger than Goku, he clearly does want to fight with him and test their strength, destroying a wall in a rage when Goku accidentally gets himself eliminated from a tournament. ''Super'' however reverts this to wanting to be equals, if not stronger than Goku yet again, stating he won't allow himself to be second best.
* DespairEventHorizon:
** After Frieza proves to be too powerful for Vegeta even after he had Krillin blast a hole through his chest to power him up, he completely losses the will to fight.
** After the Cell Games, Vegeta's despair about Goku and Gohan completely surpassing him along with Goku's death makes him swear off fighting forever. During the seven year timeskip, he managed to snap out of his funk.
* {{Determinator}}:
** One of his most consistent character traits, from the Saiyan Saga to his fight with Kid Buu. No matter how much punishment he takes, he just keeps getting up. His refusal to stay down unnerves Buu more than [=SSJ3=] Goku.
** And when he's turned into Majin Vegeta by Babidi, his desire to fight Goku enables him to resist Babidi's control.
* DeusExitMachina: Nowhere near as much as as Goku, he's hit with this trope a few times.
** The anime put in a side arc, that got him no results, of leaving Earth to find Goku after the Namek Arc. Because in Garlic Jr's FillerArc he would have been to powerful to brainwash or help.
** His second death in the Buu saga made sure he wasn't a fusion candidate for Goku. Allowing Goten and Trunks a chance to learn fusion.
** His quick exit in ''Wrath of the Dragon'' was also a way to take Gogeta out.
** Broly Second Coming would also be a lot shorter if Broly was fighting 2 fighters at Gohan's level instead of one.
** ''Resurrection 'F''' and the likewise arc in ''Super'' would also be much simpler if he was around to take care of Frieza's army.
* {{Deuteragonist}}: He is promoted to this in ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'', sharing almost equal spotlight with Goku.
* DiabolusExMachina: See his LethallyStupid and NiceJobBreakingItHero entries. His overwhelming pride and arrogance always manages to cause trouble for the universe, resulting in the planet blowing up and Goku's death, thus making him an living embodiment of this trope.
* TheDiaperChange: Hilariously {{defied|Trope}} by Vegeta when his daughter Bulla is born. When Trunks struggles with changing her diaper, Vegeta walks over and very quickly and efficiently does the task, with a self-satisfied smirk on his face afterward.
* DidntSeeThatComing:
** Vegeta thinks he has Goku and will take his time killing him. Then Goku uses the Kaio-ken X3 and beats the crud out of him. When he tries to destroy the Earth, Goku pushes him back with a Kaio-ken X4 and Kamehameha combination.
** He had Goku dead to rights as he crushed him in front of Gohan and he successfully dodged Krillin's Destructo Disc since he correctly guessed that Gohan wouldn't return alone. [[SpannerInTheWorks He didn't see Yajirobe coming at all]] and it cost him his tail.
** Then he's horrified to discover that Gohan's tail had regrown ''and'' his artificial moon is still burning. So he tries to kill Gohan. And Yajirobe stops him again.
** Vegeta pulls a perfect gambit that allowed him to steal all of Frieza's Dragon Balls and he's able to track down Krillin to steal his Dragon Ball and kill [[{{Dragon}} Zarbon]]. All seven Dragon Balls are within his gasp, except Gohan finds the Dragon Ball he hid underwater and steals it right from under him. Vegeta doesn't take this well.
** Vegeta is stunned that Frieza summoned the Ginyu Force to Namek.
** He's finally about to get his wish to be immortal since Krillin [[GodzillaThreshold sees him as their only hope against Frieza]]. The Grand Elder dies before his wish can be granted, therefore rendering the Dragon Balls inert.
** When he decides to help Cell become Perfect to get a better fight, he scoffs at Future Trunks' threat, convinced that he wouldn't have the guts to attack his own father. He's InstantlyProvenWrong and caught flat-footed when Trunks, without hesitation, blasts him out of the sky.
** He removes Fat Buu from Super Buu's body, thinking it will weaken him (his general assumption was that Super Buu would return to being either Fat Buu or Evil Buu). He's right in that Buu is indeed weakened, but he also gets the bat shit crazy Kid Buu who destroys the Earth upon his awakening.
** Vegeta's plan to use the Spirit Bomb to kill Buu nearly falls into ruin because he didn't take into account that the Earthlings wouldn't listen to him.
** In ''Resurrection 'F''', he never considers that Frieza [[spoiler: will [[RageQuit destroy the whole Earth]]]], once he is cornered.
** One of the primary reasons why Goku, Vegeta, and Future Trunks [[spoiler: lose their rematch with Goku Black. They were only expecting him to be as strong as Super Saiyan 3 Goku, not to power up to the point where he can challenge a Super Saiyan Blue, and that is ''before'' he transforms into a Super Saiyan Rose. Vegeta then gets taken out fast because he didn't expect Goku Black to pull out an energy sword and stab him. Things go further downhill once Future Zamasu arrives, which shocks everyone since they thought Goku Black and Zamasu were the same person, and [[TookALevelInBadass he powered up and is able to challenge Goku at full power]]. To add their trouble, Future Zamasu is an immortal]].
* DidntThinkThisThrough: A recurring habit, typically because he underestimates his opponents.
** During the Saiyan Saga, after Gohan turned into a Oozaru. After escaping being crushed multiple times, he did seem proud of himself for a moment after cutting off the boy's tail, thus shrinking him to normal size. Given that, while Vegeta has taken a considerable beating fighting the various heroes, Gohan was the last one strong enough to present any kind of threat to him, it seems that [[TheBadGuyWins he's won]]. [[OhCrap Then comes the brief realization]] that Gohan is still semi-gigantic, not maintaining his place in the air and now falling towards him while semi-gigantic. All of this happens in about a second, leaving Vegeta no time to dodge. Not long after, a crushed Vegeta is sitting in a crater, struggling to crawl to his ship.
** During the Frieza Saga, he takes a grievous wound from Krillin and then has Dende heal him to get a Zenkai boost against Frieza, only to discover that Frieza is still leagues stronger than him.
** He actually is about equal to a little bit stronger than Frieza in his first from, and arrogantly, goads the tyrant to transform so he can humiliate Frieza. Apparently, he never thought Frieza's transformation would make him ''that'' much stronger, or that it was possible for him to have more than one.
** After training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, he lets Cell attain his Perfect form for the sake of a challenge, and gets his ass kicked; he obviously never considered the possibility that he would ''lose''.
** He takes advantage of Babidi's brainwashing to become stronger, only for the released energy to refuel and revive Majin Buu.
** Finally, he tries to sacrifice himself to destroy Buu, but dies for nothing because he underestimated just ''how'' powerful Buu's HealingFactor really was.
** Neither he nor Goku assumed that defeating and killing Goku Black before he got stronger again and overtook them once more was the best course of action to take, [[spoiler: especially considering it's how Black gained his Super Saiyan Rosé state to begin with, instead choosing to pause between beatdowns to boast about their newfound strength instead of using it to put Black down already. Their hesitance and SmugSuper tendencies nearly costs them both their lives when they're cornered by Black's cloning technique and are only saved when Future Zamasu decides it's time to fuse after nearly getting sealed away by Future Trunks.]]
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu:
** When Beerus slaps his wife Bulma, Vegeta goes into an UnstoppableRage and punches the living personification of entropy hard enough to ''draw blood''.
** [[spoiler: In the Tournament of Power, Vegeta goes from hurting a God of Destruction to beating one, as he uses his Final Explosion attack that he used on Buu to defeat the newly-awoken God of Destruction Top and lives.]]
* DiscOneFinalBoss: When he was introduced, he was the most powerful character in the series. Not even Goku with all his training could take him down and it took a heroic effort to defeat him. Even then, Vegeta along with his fellow Saiyans all but killed off all of the Earth's strongest fighters. It is not until Namek/Frieza Saga that we find out that he is only one of Frieza's [[EliteMook elite solders]] and he is nothing but a pest to his boss.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' goes out of its way to differentiate Goku and Vegeta's fighting style: Vegeta is a brilliant fighting tactician which enables him to perform feats through AwesomenessByAnalysis, but this also leads him to being somewhat slower than Goku, who, in turn, is better at DontThinkFeel. Vegeta eventually comes to the realization that he and Goku are just too different in terms of fighting mindset for him to become stronger the same way Goku has, and from that point on he starts finding his own way, [[spoiler: which culminates in him gaining a new Super Saiyan Blue form during the Tournament of Power. Reaches it's logical extreme when Vegeta learns the Ultra Ego technique, the God of Destruction equivalent and functional opposite of Ultra Instinct.]]
--> '''Vegeta:''' I won't surrender control - That's not the man I am! ''Let Kakarot use his thoughtless Ultra Instinct all he wants'', but I'm the one who's going to crush you, Jiren, and I'll do it ''my way!!''
* TheDogBitesBack: His killings of Zarbon and Dodoria in the Frieza Saga. As he points out to Zarbon, the two of them have done ''nothing'' but insult him and push him around for ''years''.
* DotingParent: Subverted towards Trunks and eventually Bulla, as he is usually aloof in his attitude and sinks into training quite often but otherwise tries his best to be a good father to his son, and even moreso to his daughter (especially in ''GT'').
* TheDragon: The reason why Frieza specifically spared him out of all the Saiyans was because he wanted to raise Vegeta to be one of his top men. This didn't work out because of Frieza's [[FantasticRacism treatment]] and Vegeta's own pride since he wanted to be the emperor of the universe.
* TheDreaded:
** He shared the dreaded role with his fellow Saiyans Raditz and Nappa, though he was the dreaded even between the three of them. The Earth's fighters trained for an entire year just to prepare for the Saiyans.
** He was very much this in the Namek arc before forming an EnemyMine with Krillin and Gohan. None of the heroes were in his league until Goku arrived, he was actively searching for the same thing they were, and he was the kind of guy who would kill an entire village to achieve his goal. He was also this to Frieza's army. Outside Frieza himself and a transformed Zarbon, no one stood a chance against him.
* DreadfulMusician: As shown by his bingo song in ''Battle of Gods'' and ''Super''. According to Beerus, Vegeta's singing is even more horrible than Whis', and Whis is stated to be such a horrible singer that Beerus would rather leave the comfort of his bed than be forced to listen to it.
* DrillSergeantNasty: [[spoiler: When Vegeta trains Trunks to get stronger in the wake of potentially facing Goku Black again, he goes a tad overboard in it due to his rage over the recent events and gets reprimanded for it by Bulma.]]
* DrivenByEnvy: What drives him through the last half of the Frieza Saga all the way to the end of the Buu Saga. He despises that Goku is stronger than him and will do anything to surpass him and reclaim his place as the 'strongest of all Saiyans'. He finally gets over this when he admits that Goku will always be better than him. While he's still trying to surpass Goku come ''Super'', he takes a much more ethical and healthier approach to it.
* DudeWheresMyRespect: Despite being Goku's statistical equal and some times better in ''Super'', no one puts any faith in Vegeta to solve the current problem of the story, not even his own wife. The reason why Bulma started to feed Whis Earth food was to get on his good side to protect them from Beerus, saying how not even Goku could beat Beerus, in front of Vegeta's face. During the Universal Tournament, she tells Vegeta not to overexert himself because they still had Goku and she only names Goku as being able to deal with [[spoiler: Goku Black and Future Zamasu]]. This last one really ticks Vegeta, and gets him to shout 'Shut up' before being interrupted. Even ''Beerus'' gets into this. He names Goku captain and the lead fighter of the U7 team for the upcoming tournament and he wants Goku to get stronger specifically. He did this right in front of Vegeta's face without acknowledging his existence.
* DumbMuscle: In the Cell Saga, he becomes this, displaying next to none of the [[GeniusBruiser intelligence]] or [[CombatPragmatist pragmatism]] that got him as far as he got in the Frieza Saga. He goes so far as to ''help'' Cell reach his Perfect form out of BloodKnight tendencies and a desire for a good challenge, and gets his ass kicked as a result; even ''Cell himself'' rubs in Vegeta's face what a stupid move that was.
* DullSurprise: In ''Super's'' Champa Saga, he's not too surprised upon TheReveal that Frost, Frieza's [[spoiler: seemingly]] benevolent [[AlternateSelf Sixth Universe counterpart]], [[spoiler: was EvilAllAlong and a VillainWithGoodPublicity. In his own words, even if it was in an AlternateUniverse, there's no way Frieza could ''ever'' be good]].
* DyingMomentOfAwesome: Implied to have had one offscreen. According to Dragon Ball Online, Goku and Vegeta, intent on settling their rivalry and knowing they would die soon of natural causes, left Earth for one final battle. Years later, a supernova was detected that is assumed to be from Goku and Vegeta's final battle. Vegeta's final battle was so awesome it was the equivalent to an exploding star.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:E-I]]
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** The manga that ''Dragon Ball Z'' is based on was mostly done in black and white. When Vegeta was first introduced in the anime, he had [[http://i.imgur.com/DebJ3Zx.png yet to appear]] in a color chapter, so Toei [[http://i.imgur.com/v2BopYh.png made up a color scheme]] and changed it later. This was corrected in ''Anime/DragonBallZKai''.
** During his first appearances in the first tv anime, Vegeta is shown to know {{Telepathy}} and communicates with Nappa through it. This detail was completely scrapped in further appearances since it contradicts quite a lot of Vegeta's background.
* EasilyForgiven: Goku and Bulma forgive him a lot easier than the other fighters for the murderous things he did in the past. {{Subverted|Trope}} with Tien and Piccolo, both of which who takes until the Buu Saga before they really forgive Vegeta, and even then they are the less trusting of Vegeta.
* EliteMook: Vegeta's rank when he worked for Frieza. Since he fought on the front lines all the time, he didn't have time (and didn't want) to be one of Frieza's [[TheDragon Dragons]].
* EmbarrassingRescue: He ''hates'' being rescued due to his {{pride}}. During the Buu Saga, Vegeta outright states that one of the main reasons he hates Goku so much is because Goku saved his life in the past.
* EnemyMine: His role in the second half of the Frieza Saga. He's still evil, but forced to team up with the good guys out of necessity once the Ginyu Force shows up. Arguably in the Cell Saga as well, since he doesn't ''really'' consider the Z-Fighters his allies, but nonetheless helps against bigger threats because he doesn't want anybody destroying the planet he's living on (or [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou killing Goku before they have their rematch]]).
* EnragedByIdiocy: Especially when involving Goku. When Goku says or does something stupid, Vegeta typically blows his stack and calls him an idiot or clown. He's also quick to snark and blow up at anything idiotic the other Z Fighters do, sometimes even functioning as the OnlySaneMan of the group. Ironically, it's his pride that allows the Android/Cell situation to escalate to a point where Cell manages to kill Goku and Trunks. He is also responsible for Majin Buu being revived, which leads to the deaths of everyone on Earth, including himself, except for Goku, Mr. Satan, Dende, and Bee.
* EntitledBastard: Zigzagged:
** During the fight against Frieza, Vegeta gets himself critically injured by Krillin as part of a plan to get a Zenkai boost by having Dende [[HealingHands heal]] him, and is genuinely shocked when Dende refuses to do so, since Vegeta was just as villainous as Frieza and had killed numerous Namekians himself. Dende ends up doing so anyway after Piccolo, Gohan, and Krillin point out that they need Vegeta to stand a chance, and for bonus points, the ''very'' first thing Vegeta does after being healed is punch Dende in the gut for taking so long. At the same time, he gets confused when someone wants to help him, or even cares for his well-being.
** This is Vegeta's major flaw, along with his pride, before the final fight with Majin Buu. He feels he should be the strongest because he's the Saiyan Prince and was born the most gifted among his race, whereas Goku was born at the absolute bottom of the Saiyan pecking order. His entire rivalry with Goku is built on entitlement.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: In his first appearance he's shown sitting among a pile of aliens he'd slaughtered, feasting on one of them, deducing the information from Earth he'd just received and using it as an excuse to commit further genocide, showing authority over a larger, more intimidating Saiyan and displaying no remorse over the loss of a comrade. Right away we're shown that [[EvilCounterpart Vegeta is exactly what Goku]] [[ShadowArchetype could have turned into had he not sustained a head injury,]] being intelligent, cruel and driven to conquer.
* EveryoneHasStandards:
** Although he tries to hide it, he is disturbed when Frieza slowly crushes Gohan's head under his foot.
** He mocks Cell for nearly killing Krillin who was no threat to him even before he became perfect.
** In the dub, Vegeta is quite disgusted with Android 19 for beating on a sick Goku and sucking his energy. He goes as far as to call the android out on it as he was beating him. Also in ''Kai'', Vegeta makes it a point to say that he will kill Goku, as soon as he's well, instead of humoring killing him when he's sick.
** While Vegeta is no stranger to toying with his opponents and gloating about his strength, even he has his limits. When Piccolo keeps toying with Dr. Gero during their fight despite his drastic power advantage, Vegeta is the one who gets sick of it and tells Piccolo to just finish Gero off before he pulls out another trick or gets away again.
** Vegeta is disgusted with Goku when he fails to save their children from the exploding Earth in the Buu saga. He is also upset with himself after letting Trunks get killed by Cell.
** Just like all, the other Z fighters, he was also shown to be very shocked when Goku was willing to put Gohan in a fight with Cell, and let him get brutally beaten.
** He also oddly appears to have had standards with Gohan from the start, possibly due to the honor of being one of the last saiyans alive. In the Frieza saga, he was shown to save Gohan from getting blasted, and although he brutally beat him up multiple times throughout the saga, he never went as far as killing him. Much later, he also ends up apologizing to Gohan for doing him harm, much to his surprise. And some time after ''that'', he mentally berates himself for Gohan's apparent death at the hands of a monster he enabled, and it is undoubtedly a factor in his HeelRealization.
** As much as he loves battle and the chance to prove himself, he also, after some CharacterDevelopment, has a sense of honor as far as matches go. When he learns Frost cheated by using a hidden poison needle to knock out Goku and Piccolo, he is livid that Frost would cheat during a fair fight, and requests Piccolo forfeit so he can beat Frost. He ended up beating Frost by waiving the disqualification clause for hidden weapons and even murder so Frost is free to deploy his tactics uninhibited... and proceeding to knock him out fair and square with one punch anyway rather than resorting to murder.
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Showed two examples of this during the Android Saga: Following the near-fatal capsule explosion, Vegeta couldn't fathom why Bulma had chosen to stay by his side while he was recovering. Later, just before his battle with #18, he scoffed at the thought of the other Z Fighters coming to his aid, even asking why they'd ''want'' to help him.
* EvilCounterpart:
** To Goku, initially. They are both Saiyans who love to fight and challenge themselves. The difference is that Goku values life and fights to protect those he loves, while Vegeta couldn't have cared less about anyone but himself. In fact he is supposed to represent what Goku would have become if he was raised as a Saiyan, minus the power differential. [[MirrorCharacter The contrast lessens over time]] [[CharacterDevelopment as the two slowly influence each other through the course of the series: Goku comes to take pride in his Saiyan heritage and embrace it as part of him along with his Earth upbringing, while Vegeta eventually learns to value others and to accept and return love, things that were once near-completely alien to him.]]
** Also to Gohan. Both were kidnapped by men who murdered their fathers to be used as minions for conquest. The difference being, Gohan's kindly nature made Piccolo a better person, while Vegeta was only ever seen as a useful brute. When both had the opportunity to kill Cell, they got cocky and let him live long enough to become stronger and kill a family member. Both also have violent tempers, except while Gohan's rage amplifies his power, Vegeta's seems to waste his energy, at least until ''Battle of Gods''.
* EvilIsEasy: Part of his arc in the Buu Saga. Having gotten nowhere [[HardWorkHardlyWorks training his ass off]] to surpass Goku, and viewing his newfound love for his family and the Earth as a weakness holding him back from doing so, Vegeta voluntarily [[DealWithTheDevil sells his soul]] to Babidi, both to [[EvilFeelsGood recapture the feeling of glee he felt when he was evil]] and to finally bridge the gap between them. Ultimately, however, the strong ties he formed on Earth prove to be stronger than any joy he felt being evil again, and he gives his life to stop Buu and make amends for all the evil he has done; on top of it all, it turns out Goku had unlocked Super Saiyan 3 and was holding back against Majin Vegeta the whole time, meaning he sold the world out to Babidi and Majin Buu [[AllForNothing for nothing]]. Ultimately subverted, as by the end of the Buu Saga, he's embraced such virtues as love and friendship, and by doing so, he's gotten much closer to Goku's level.
* EvilerThanThou:
** When Vegeta was first introduced with the Saiyan survivors, he was much eviler than Piccolo and his father, who only wanted to rule the Earth rather than destroy all its inhabitants. King Piccolo was also a FatherToHisMen despite being pure evil, while Vegeta mercilessly murdered his injured comrades, something that [[EvenEvilHasStandards shocks]] Piccolo.
** He gets this himself once Frieza shows up, with Krillin even contemplating giving Vegeta immortality since he was the LesserOfTwoEvils compared to the tyrant. Vegeta himself invokes this, basically telling the Earthlings that him being an immortal can't possibly be worst than being murdered by Frieza.
* EvilFeelsGood: He fully believes this during his Evil Prince days. He laughs gleefully as he slaughters a Namekian village and enjoys putting his opponents in pain before killing them. Part of the reason why he sells his soul to Babidi is to recapture that feeling of glee he felt when he was evil. However, the strong ties he formed on Earth proves to be stronger than any joy he felt being evil again, which is why he [[HeroicSacrifice gives his life to stop Buu]] and [[MustMakeAmends make amends for all the evil he has done]].
* EvilIsPetty: During his Evil Prince days. Case in point: his response to Goku giving him a bloody lip during their fight was to absolutely FreakOut and try to blow up the Earth out of spite.
* EvilLaugh: Does this constantly during the Saiyan Saga, and sometimes afterward.
* EvilTastesGood: When Vegeta kills Nappa, he can be seen licking his lips.
* EvilVersusEvil:
** The Namek Saga almost has him in the role of a VillainProtagonist. He was the BigBad of the previous arc (barely a month before) and his methods of obtaining the Dragon Balls (massacring the village they're kept in) are exactly the same ones that Frieza's men employ. But, with Goku in [[DeusExitMachina space/healing]] and Piccolo dead, he is the best chance of holding off or defeating Frieza for most of the saga.
** Then during the Cell Saga, Vegeta, now an AntiHero, fights Semi-Perfect Cell. When Tien notices Piccolo doesn't look pleased he asks if they were winning, and gets this response.
--->'''Piccolo''': It's [[AntiHero Vegeta]] who's winning Tien, not us.
* ExBigBad: In ''Dragon Ball Z'', Vegeta was the BigBad of Saiyan Arc, bent on seeking Immortality via the Dragon Balls. After he is defeated, he begrudgingly and gradually joins the Z fighters against other forces more evil and becomes an invaluable ally despite being TheFriendNobodyLikes. Though he eventually legitimately reforms and settles down with Bulma.
* ExtremeDoormat: To his daughter, [[DaddysGirl Bulla]] in ''GT'' to a lesser extent.
* ExtremityExtremist: While he does use punches occasionally, Vegeta tends to use kicks and knee strikes far more often than other characters in the manga and anime, and usually reserves his hands for energy attacks.
* ExplainingYourPowerToTheEnemy: Vegeta goes into lengthy detail about how Saiyans can become Great Apes at the sight of a full moon and how certain elite Saiyans like himself have been trained to create artificial moons if the natural one is missing. In Vegeta's case, he assumes Goku knows most of this information since he's a Saiyan himself.
* EyeScream: Goku blinds him in one eye as a Great Ape, causing him to lose its function for the rest of the fight.
* FaceDeathWithDignity: Twice:
** After Piccolo tells him he'll go to Hell if he dies, Vegeta goes through with it anyway for the sake of Bulma, Trunks, and Goku, and self-destructs to try to kill Majin Buu.
** In ''Super'' and ''Battle of Gods'', after his attempts to appease and face Beerus fails, Vegeta calmly accepts his fate, remarking that he'll take pride in the fact that it took a God of Destruction to kill him. That goes out the window after Beerus [[RageBreakingPoint slaps Bulma.]]
* FaceOfAThug: Naturally, as he started out as a villain whose default expressions are either a smug smirk or an angry snarl. Oddly, it get's {{Lampshaded}} only once, in Super, where some humans who didn't know him mentioned that he had a more evil face than the villain. Justified in a sense, as his developing sense of compassion tends to manifest as AngerBornOfWorry.
* FaceRealization: He was a murderous, egotistical, power hungry bastard, but after settling down on Earth, getting married, and raising a family, he found it hard to go back to his more villainous (and in his opinion more powerful) self. He had to cut a deal with an evil wizard to make himself evil again, and even then, he was still too good. It finally sinks in that he is no longer the villain he used to be when, after asking the Namek Dragon to restore every person on Earth who was killed by Majin Buu except for the evil ones, he is brought back to life along with them. Goku hangs a major lampshade on this, declaring that Vegeta is now a good guy. Vegeta is equally shocked by this.
* FantasticRacism: Much like most Saiyans, Vegeta had an extremely low opinion of anyone that wasn't a Saiyan. Unlike Raditz and Nappa, this sentiment also extended to a form of an elitism and SocialDarwinist to his fellow Saiyans. He dismissed Raditz as a weakling for getting killed and refused to even consider wishing him back. He also coldly murdered Nappa for being a disgrace for losing. He hated Goku for not only betraying the Saiyans, but for being a low class scumbag who dared to challenge the Saiyan Prince. He does get better as the series progresses, but he still holds his race at a much higher regard than any other, often calling humans weak for being [[VirtueIsWeakness sentimental]].
* FasterThanTheyLook: As a Great Ape. He's as big as a skyscraper, but his speed is unaffected; Goku himself is shocked at how fast Great Ape Vegeta can move despite his size.
* FatalFlaw:
** His {{pride}}, which directly results in most of the conflicts throughout the series, and which Cell is able to [[FlawExploitation use to his advantage]].
** His [[UnstoppableRage wrath]]. When he gets angry enough, he becomes extremely reckless and makes stupid mistakes. This leads to him losing pathetically against Android 18 and Cell.
** Whis also says he has another one: taking too long to react to sudden changes in fights. [[spoiler:It means he doesn't have time to react in ''Resurrection ‘F’'' when Frieza goes to blow up the Earth.]] Whis also says he and Goku share the flaw of being unwilling to work together even when they should.
* FauxAffablyEvil: As long as he feels he's got the advantage, Vegeta acts in a condescendingly polite manner as a way of psyching his opponents out. Once he realises he's been outclassed, he openly expresses his hatred and rage.
* FearlessFool: Vegeta's the type to charge into battles with opponents who are much stronger than him. This may be due to his arrogance because he doesn't believe they are stronger than him.
* FeelingOppressedByTheirExistence: His attitude towards Goku for most of the series; the fact that he, the Saiyan Prince, is constantly AlwaysSecondBest to a low-class Saiyan drives him crazy, which eventually leads him to make a DealWithTheDevil by selling his soul to Babidi in exchange for power. During their subsequent fight, Majin Vegeta goes on a rant while beating Goku up, declaring that that Goku's very ''existence'' is an insult to him and a stain on his honor.
-->'''Vegeta''': Every breath you take is an assault to my honor! But no more, Kakarot! By my hands, you will be cut down inch by inch, the way you have cut down my pride!
* TheFightingNarcissist: Despite his love of fighting, he's so furious that Goku managed to draw blood from him that he tries to blow up the Earth. Afterwards, when Goku [[EyeScream shoots him in the eye with a Ki Blast]], Vegeta was so furious that he tortured Goku by slowly breaking every bone in his body.
* FinalFirstHug: When he hugged his son Trunks for the first time expecting it to also be the last time, as he was about to sacrifice himself in an attempt to kill Buu.
* {{Foil}}:
** To his eternal rival, Goku. Both are thrill-seeking Saiyan warriors always looking to test, expand, and overcome their limits. While Goku is a cheerful man who cherishes others, greatly values his Earthly upbringing, and was born weak among commoner parents, Vegeta is a rough, arrogant prince who initially cares only for himself, and was born very powerful and heir to the throne of his planet. [[CharacterDevelopment Through a series of trials and hardships, they gradually influence each other as their rivalry matures from resentment to respect. Goku comes to understand Saiyan pride and Vegeta learns compassion for loved ones.]] This is also reflected in their divine abilities. Goku's Ultra Instinct works by the body reacting without the mind, allowing you to avoid any attack and strike back with great power. Vegeta's Ultra Ego focuses on the person's indulgence and sense of self, requiring them to take damage head on to greatly raise their power.
** After character development, he becomes this to Frieza. Unlike his former boss, Vegeta learns to care about others and being able to set his pride aside for the benefit of others and his own sanity. By letting go of the past, Vegeta becomes a happier person. Frieza, on the other hand, never learns from his experiences and remains an uncaring fiend even after he is given a second chance at life. He allows his hatred and anger towards Goku to drive him insane, and it's his inability to let go of his pride and the past that drives him to his death, ''twice''.
* ForcedToWatch: After learning that Goku has been revived and will join the fight, Vegeta orders a three hour cease-fire. When Nappa asks why, Vegeta explains that as a traitor to the Saiyans Goku has to be made to suffer and the first part of his punishment is to watch his friends and family be killed before his eyes. Then, [[ColdBloodedTorture they will take their time with him]]. However, the moment he realizes that Goku is much stronger than he thought, he orders Nappa to kill the surviving Z-Fighters since they couldn't afford to have them join Goku.
* ForWantOfANail: Vegeta's seemingly harmless decision of napping after Krillin, Gohan and himself ended up shaping just how the last bit of the Frieza saga would play out.
* ForeheadOfDoom: Could be said to be a general trait of Toriyama's art style, but Vegeta's is especially egregious, to the point of being a meme in Japan.
* FourIsDeath: The number of Saiyans still alive, according to Raditz.
* FlawExploitation: He pulls this off at the climax of his fight with Perfect Cell. After being beaten around, Vegeta exploits Cell's [[SmugSuper ego]] and BloodKnight tendencies while charging up the [[KamehameHadoken Final Flash]], outright daring Cell to test his Perfect form by ''not'' dodging the blast. Cell only survives the blast by dodging at the last second, and he still loses his right arm and a sizable chunk of his torso to it.
-->'''Vegeta''': CELL! Once again you have taken for granted the powers of a true Saiyan warrior! Now, if you really want to test your strength, stay right where you are!
* FreudianExcuse:
** The dub adds in that one of the reasons he served Frieza was essentially by blackmail, as Frieza demanded that he submit to Frieza or else daddy will die by his hand. Of course, Frieza ended up killing daddy anyways, along with most of his race. This is implied somewhat in the original, but with nowhere near the level of importance the dub suggests to Vegeta's motives.
** His fear of Beerus comes from meeting him as a child... while Beerus was utterly ''humiliating'' his father, terrifying Vegeta. ''Super'' takes it up a notch by having Vegeta try to help his father and get stopped by the god.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes:
** In the late Frieza Saga and the Cell Saga, to everyone but Goku and Bulma -- even Trunks spends about as much time berating him as he did seeking his approval. It's so bad that whenever Vegeta gets hurt no one is in any hurry to heal him, even when he's demanding it, and it would be in their best interest to help him. When he first went Super Saiyan, the entire main cast all but groaned. After Vegeta was beaten unconscious by Cell, Krillin says point-blank that he didn't really care if he dies and is only helping him because Trunks believes in him.
** Even in ''Dragon Ball Minus'', his own fellow Saiyans didn't seem to like him too much. Bardock calls him a pain in the neck partner when he learns Raditz is paired up with him.
** [[TokenEvilTeammate He's so bad]] [[NoSocialSkills about pissing everyone off]] that it wasn't until ''Super'' (almost twenty years after he first came to Earth in-universe) that all of the Z Fighters began to form anything resembling friendship with him, and even then only [[MagneticHero Goku]], [[NiceGuy Gohan]], their family, and [[ThePowerOfLove Vegeta's family]] are completely open with liking having Vegeta around. Everyone else has a mutual {{Tsundere}} act going with him.
* FriendlyRivalry: It took a long time, but by the end of the Buu Saga, Goku and Vegeta's rivalry evolves into this. They even have petty rivalries like who can eat the most or cut grass the fastest, but now when the chips fall down it's clear they have each other's backs.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: A rare inversion when it comes to his allies even though he’s become infinitely more powerful, but when it comes to Frieza’s Empire this is played fully straight! He started out as part of an army that looked down on him and his entire race in terms of class and power. He wasn’t considered a threat or even worth killing when he betrayed them and everyone scoffed at him when he came to Namek thinking the weakest of their ranks could still deal with him with extreme ease. Come the Frieza saga, Cui, Dodoria, Zarbon, Guldo, Recoome, Burter, Jiece, and just about every other warrior who came with Frieza to Namek find themselves eating those words with most of them cowering and begging him for mercy before dying by his hands. By the ‘Resurection of F’ arc in ‘Super’ even Frieza gets a taste of this when Vegeta wipes the floor with him.
* FuryFueledFoolishness: Vegeta's FatalFlaw, alongside his {{pride}}, is his wrath. When he gets angry enough, he gets extremely reckless, leading to humiliating defeats and exacerbating the problem.
** When Cell kills Future Trunks, Vegeta goes PapaWolf on him and attacks him with everything he has... only for Cell to NoSell it and beat him into the ground. The only reason Vegeta lives to tell the tale is because Gohan [[TakingTheBullet took the bullet]], which disabled his arm and severely bottlenecked his power, thus giving Cell the advantage.
** This leads to a significant chunk of the Buu Saga happening; Vegeta was so furious that he was still second-best to Goku even after the latter had been ''dead'' for seven years that he doesn't hesitate to [[DealWithTheDevil sell his soul]] to Babidi for a power boost, not caring that in doing so, he'd unleash [[EldritchAbomination Majin Buu]].
* GeniusBruiser: When he completely swallows his pride and uses his head, he becomes this. He outsmarts Frieza's entire army on Namek and steals their Dragon Balls right from under their nose. It is also his plan that finally kills Majin Buu by using the Spirit Bomb and gathering energy from everyone on Earth. In ''Super'', he finds a way around Magetta's seemly invincible defense by destroying a large chuck of the ring after dazing him with a Final Flash.
* GenocideSurvivor: He's only of the few Saiyans left in the universe after Frieza destroyed their home planet.
* GenreBlindness: Despite his moments of intelligence, he has a few of these:
** Because of his arrogance, he let Cell become complete and then muses about how Cell's final form isn't impressive and is smaller than before. Given that he is one of the smallest characters in the series and also a powerhouse, he should know better.
** He does it again with Kid Buu, saying that he's puny. Although Kid Buu isn't as powerful as Super Buu at his strongest in terms of raw power, he should know not to trust appearances.
** Especially considering that he's experienced first-hand the power of Frieza in his final form, which was also smaller and slimmer than his second and third forms. He ''really'' should have known better, but it's likely just a product of his immense ego.
* GenreSavvy: PlayedForLaughs. In ''Super'', when he and Goku face off against Arale from Dr. Slump, he says that {{Shonen}} characters like himself are no match for gag characters like her.
* TheGlassesComeOff: Though it was not really glasses but a monocle-like scouter. Doing this, however, showed the audience exactly how dangerous he really was. And he only became even more dangerous when he stopped needing it at all.
* GoldenSuperMode: His Super Saiyans transformation that were introduced in the original manga / Z anime.
* GodhoodSeeker: [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed.]] He spends much of the Frieza saga believing he's the destined "Legendary Super Saiyan." When that doesn't pan out, he starts thinking it's Goku. When he meets (pre-canon) Broly, the ''actual'' Legendary Super Saiyan, Vegeta temporarily loses the will to fight as he initially fears the power he coveted too much to try and stand against it.
* GodzillaThreshold:
** After Vegeta is overpowered by Goku's Kaio-Ken X4 and Kamehameha combination, he decides to becomes a Great Ape to beat Goku. He doesn't like it since he sees the Great Ape transformation as a planet destroyer and he shouldn't need it to crush a lower class warrior.
** When Vegeta hears that the Ginyu Force was heading for Namek, he immediately [[EnemyMine teams up with Krillin and Gohan to fight them]]. He even asks Krillin when Goku was coming since they needed the manpower.
** As Frieza is transforming into his final form, Vegeta orders Krillin to mortally wound him so he can have Dende to heal him, which would greatly power him up and allow him to become a Super Saiyan.
** Vegeta listening to Goku's pleas and fusing with him using the Potara Earrings, which is permanent, so they can beat Super Buu who absorbed his son and killed the rest of his family.
** He put his pride aside to keep Beerus happy, going as far as to dance and sing.
** In ''Super's'' Future Trunks Saga, he agrees to use the Potaras to fuse with Goku again to fight the Fusion Zamasu; he states he isn't happy with it, but he acknowledges they're out of options.
** In the final saga of ''GT'', upon ascending to Super Saiyan 4, he, not Goku, is the one to suggest performing the Fusion Dance to defeat Omega Shenron. Vegeta himself lampshades this, acknowledging that he wouldn't suggest doing so unless it was their very last hope.
* GoodColorsEvilColors: When he was first introduced, Vegeta' BattleAura was [[PurpleIsPowerful purple]], which is the color usually used for evil characters in the series. After he becomes an ally to the Z-Fighters, his aura is changed to blue, which is the color of most of the heroes.
* GoodIsNotNice: Even after his HeelFaceTurn, he's still an asshole who is very rude to everyone.
* GoneHorriblyRight: He deliberately let Cell reach his perfect form for the sake of having a challenging fight. Cell proceeds to beat him senseless.
* GoodCostumeSwitch: Vegeta starts off wearing a full suit of Saiyan armor. As the series continues, and Vegeta gradually undergoes a HeelFaceTurn, he stops wearing some pieces of it, and by the time of the Buu arc he's just wearing the gloves and boots over the blue bodysuit. And at the very end of the series, once Vegeta has fully become a good guy and accepted the Earth as his home, he starts wearing Earthling clothes instead. Although he still wears his Saiyan armor as formal wear.
* GoodCounterpart:
** Frieza is an [[EvilerThanThou eviler version of]] Vegeta. Both of them are princes of their respective empires, born extremely powerful, commands the respect and fear of those around them, have lofty ambitions of ruling the universe for all eternity, are ruled by their pride of being the strongest, and are selfish, spoiled brats who will RageQuit if things don't go their way. Vegeta gets better through character development and living on Earth. Through a series of trials, Vegeta eventually learns to put aside his pride for the sake of others and be thoughtful of those besides himself. Frieza, meanwhile, remained an unrepentant asshole who allowed his pride to utterly destroy him, ''three'' times. Frieza also serves as Vegeta's ShadowArchetype.
** Cell, much like Frieza, is an eviler counterpart to Vegeta. Both love to fight and challenge themselves in battle. They are also both extremely arrogant and believe that there's nothing stronger than them and will throw a fit if that belief is proven incorrect. Their pride and arrogance becomes their undoing, first with Vegeta for letting Cell reach his perfect form for the sake of the challenge and Cell pushing Gohan over the edge so he could become powerful enough to challenge him. The difference, Vegeta eventually learns the value of life, family, and does becomes a good person. Cell remained a {{Jerkass}} to the bitter end.
** Goku Black is another evil counterpart of Vegeta. Black's actions parallel the Saiyan prince's in his younger days, such as committing genocide and reveling in his ability to get stronger with each recovery. He also claims to take great pride in his race, but in practice disregards his kin. While Vegeta never got a chance to use the Dragon Balls, Black succeeded and became a greater threat than Majin Buu. The fact that his first victim happened to be [[spoiler:Future Bulma]] really hammers the point across.
* GoodParents: For all of his faults, Vegeta attempts to be this to Trunks. Although he showed some signs of ParentalNeglect early on -- he admits he didn't hold Trunks once in his whole life -- Vegeta gradually grows out of it and becomes a caring yet gruff father to Trunks and Bulla, and they grow up to be well-adjusted young adults (if a tad spoiled, which comes more from their mother's family fortune than anything else).
* GratuitousEnglish: In the Japanese version, he is the only major character to have English signature moves, namely the Big Bang Attack and Final Flash. Everyone else has Japanese-named techniques. According to Toriyama, this was done to make the alien Vegeta more exotic, or as he said in an interview, "to portray his foreign personality".
* GreenEyedMonster: Towards Goku regarding his strength. This even got him to sell his soul to Babidi due to getting tired of being second best to Goku.
* GrowingMusclesSequence: Got a couple. The first time he ate a senzu and the first time he attempted to go beyond Super Saiyan against Cell. He didn't go USS so it wasn't as dramatic as Future Trunks'.
* GrumpyBear: When not in a fight, he's very grumpy indeed.
* GutturalGrowler: Vegeta has a very raspy and rough tone to his voice.
* HairstyleInertia: Much like Goku, Vegeta has the same hairstyle since he was a child. It remains in place even when wet. This is a racial trait of pure-blooded Saiyans. Their hair never changes. In ''GT'', he's [[https://64.media.tumblr.com/b00486ae520245af3d46ed12caeb6fde/tumblr_inline_p76pjn4DbH1ucoewy_1280.png cropped his hair]], but eventually goes back to [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/vsbattles/images/1/10/Vegeta_by_akumadesign500-d6k7rgh.png a shorter version of his familiar hairstyle]].
* HairTriggerTemper: He was always temperamental, but being bested or knowing Goku's better is usually what gets him the most mad. He almost blew up the planet over his blood being drawn by Goku. He is so bad tempered that whenever he he gets frustrated or upset at something or someone he becomes extremely irrational and will become very ruthless and more aggressive when he fights back.
* HappilyMarried: At first, he didn't care about Bulma or their son after he was born. But seeing Future Trunks die at the hands of Cell deeply disturbs him, and he tries to show more concern for his family afterwards. After the battle against Buu, he finally settles down with Bulma for real, and they have a daughter. When Goku talks about the deal he made with the Old Kai, Vegeta tells him 'let him kiss your wife, not mine!', indicating that they married after the Cell Games.
* HardWorkHardlyWorks: A {{Deconstruction}}.
** Vegeta trains more frantically and harder than Goku, and he still can't catch up to him, something that drives him crazy for most of his life. [[note]]In the Cell Saga, Goku and Gohan emerge from the Room of Space and Time (not even having the spent whole requisite year there) having once again surpassed Vegeta in power, who had spent the full year there previously. Vegeta goes back inside, spends another full year there training, and is ''still'' inferior to Goku, Gohan and Perfect Cell. In fact he gained so little power for all his efforts that later during the battle with the Cell Juniors, even a single Cell Junior is more powerful than him, and treats his (uncharged, and therefore much-weakened) ultimate attack like it's nothing.[[/note]] In ''Resurrection ‘F’'', it's suggested by Whis that he trains too hard and doesn't allow himself to relax, keeping himself from reaching his full power. This is TruthInTelevision: overtraining, and stress, can hurt athletic performance. The other issue is whereas Goku gets good sparring partners and seeks out trainers, Vegeta largely trained by himself until this was pointed out, as he was just too proud to train with anybody (even his own future son, who he only trained with to get better results for himself).
** Ironically, when Vegeta is first introduced, he fully believes in this trope, believing that one's birth determine one's power. Since he is the Saiyan Prince he is, naturally, meant to be the strongest. He scoffs at Goku when he claims that a lower class soldier like him can surpass an elite through hard work.
* HaughtyHmph: His arrogance and supreme confidence in his own skills are expressed through these, especially at the beginning of battles.
* HateSink: (At least InUniverse),Vegeta was a despicable and sadistic scumbag who lacked empathy, had no morals, took glee in destroying entire planets full of innocents (including children) and was not above killing and backstabbing his own comrades when they outlived their usefulness to him. As the series progresses, he grows out of it and changes for the better.
* HatedByAll: For most of the franchise, nobody liked Vegeta, and given his [[SmugSuper arrogant]], [[ItsAllAboutMe selfish personality]], it's not hard to understand why. He was ostracized and insulted by Frieza's empire [[FantasticRacism for being a Saiyan]], and the Z-Fighters could barely tolerate him and spent most of their time insulting him to his face, with Krillin coming right out and staying he wouldn't care one bit if Vegeta died; even Future Trunks, his own son, spent as much time [[CallingTheOldManOut berating Vegeta]] as he did [[WellDoneSonGuy seeking his approval]]. As revealed in ''Minus'', not even his fellow Saiyans really liked him, with Bardock outright describing him as a pain in the neck. This has leveled off come ''Super'' after Vegeta got a healthy dose of CharacterDevelopment, but even then, Goku, Gohan, and Vegeta's family are the only ones who are completely open with liking having him around.
* {{Heavyworlder}}: Vegeta was born on Planet Vegeta, a world that had ten times the gravity of Earth, which partly explains why the Saiyans were so powerful. Both Nappa and he note how weak the gravity of Earth is and how they can move more freely. During the Buu Saga, Babidi tries to give his minion Pui Pui an advantage over Vegeta by sending them to Pui Pui's homeworld of Zoon, which also had ten times Earth's gravity... but it [[EpicFail backfired]] because not only was Vegeta from a planet with similar gravity, he's also trained under ''450 times'' Earth's gravity.
-->'''Vegeta:''' Maybe... if your planet had five hundred times Earth's gravity, you'd have an advantage, but ten? I don't even ''feel'' it!
* {{Heel}}: During his fight with Cabba, he sets himself up as one. In order to push Cabba to his RageBreakingPoint, Vegeta draws upon his old SpacePirate self and threatens to destroy Cabba's entire planet and kill his family once he kills him. This pushes Cabba over the edges and he ascends to Super Saiyan.
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: To sum up his alignment changes in ''DBZ'': he's bad, he's good ([[NominalHero sort of]]), he's bad again (for a cup of coffee), he's good (for real).
* HeelFaceTurn: It took almost entire Dragon Ball Z to gradually become a pure good guy.
* HeelRealization:
** He has a minor one after Future Trunks is killed. He realizes what an utter {{Jerkass}} he's been to his son.
** During the Buu Saga. The realization that his selfish desire to beat Goku allowed Buu to be revived and led to the apparent death of Gohan is ''quite'' the wake-up call.
* HereditaryHairstyle: Same hair as his father, King Vegeta.
* HeroesFrontierStep: Vegeta starts the series as a villain, becomes a Kratos-like antihero on Namek, reluctantly helps Gohan finish Cell to avenge his son, then becomes evil again during the Buu saga. In the end, he opts to pay for his mistakes and firmly becomes a heroic character after he sacrificed himself to kill Majin Buu, knowing full well that he was going to Hell for his past deeds; Piccolo himself notes that it's the first genuinely selfless thing Vegeta has ''ever'' done. He took it a step further when he swallowed his pride to fuse with Goku to stop Super Buu and admit that Goku was his better after so many years of denial. By the time all the good people are revived from Buu's massacre, [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre Vegeta is shocked to find]] [[FaceRealization that he's among them]].
* HeroicSacrifice: He willingly kills himself trying to take Majin Buu down with him, all for the purpose of saving his son's life, ''knowing he would go to Hell afterwards'' for all of the terrible things he had done in his life.
* HeroicWillpower: If Vegeta sets his mind on something, he's not going to let a little thing like someone else having control of every fiber in his body stop him. In the words of Babidi:
--> '''Babidi:''' B-but this has never happened to me before! Since when can the possessed say "no" to the possesser?!
* HiddenDepths:
** Despite looking like all he does is train all day and nothing else, Toriyama has said that his "bargain sale" line possibly came from something he saw on television. Likewise, Toyotaro drew him dancing his bingo dance from a workout video on television. So yeah, the prince of all Saiyans has some curiosity for Earthling's television, folks.
** As the ''Battle of Gods'' arc of ''Super'' shows, he's skilled at making Takoyaki.
* HiddenHeartOfGold: He eventually develops one over the course of the series, despite his attempts to deny it. He takes Trunks to the park after he manages to hit him and is upset when Gohan is seemingly killed by Majin Buu. He also completely loses it when Beerus hits Bulma, going into a blind rage that boosted his power past Goku's. He's willing to utterly humiliate himself in order to protect Trunks and even grows to care for Goku as a friend, but hides it behind their rivalry. An episode of ''Super'' has him musing to himself whether it's alright for Bulma to be moving so much at that stage of her pregnancy. Another example is when Roshi is so exhausted that he's about to collapse, during the Tournament of Power. Vegeta tells him to leave the ring and get a Senzu Bean, but not in a condescending way, rather with actual concern. He then tells Roshi to leave the rest to him.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: During his fight with Goku on Earth, Vegeta created an artificial full moon necessary to transform himself into a Great Ape after the original was destroyed by Piccolo earlier in the year. That very same moon ends up being used by Gohan to transform into his own ape form needed to provide the [[JustForPun crushing blow]] necessary to finish Vegeta off.
* HoldingYourShoulderMeansInjury: While numerous fighters tend to do this in ''Dragon Ball'' after a brutal battle, Vegeta in particular tends to do this ''a lot'', to the point of at least once per saga, as part of the trend of having Vegeta display more realistic injuries and usually to show that he has received ''one hell'' of an ass-kicking.
* HonorBeforeReason: Much like Goku, though with a distinctly Saiyan-centric cultural influence to it. While Goku will allow his opponents to power-up or transform to their maximum power before fighting them, Vegeta will take it a step further and let his opponents ''eat'' another person to reach their full power, as he has done with Cell and Android 18. With that said, he is also more willing than Goku to be pragmatic, usually when his ego isn't out of control.
* HopeBringer: To a lesser extent, he become this after becoming completely good, especially after training with Whis and becoming a Super Saiyan Blue. The heroes become quite distressed when he goes down in battle.
* HopeSpot: Vegeta ''loves'' providing these moments for his opponents by holding back ever so slightly and then when it looks like they're starting to turn the fight around, he crushes their hopes and then crushes ''them''.
* HorrifyingTheHorror:
** On both ends of this. On the one hand, Nappa, who had tanked everything the Z-Fighters had thrown at him before and caused the deaths of both Tien and Chiaotzu, is easily cowed by Vegeta merely raising his voice at him for questioning his orders. On the other hand, Vegeta himself made it a point to avoid direct confrontation with Frieza as much as possible, and was visibly horrified and shaking when Frieza finally caught up to him.
** He manages it again during the Android Saga. Android 19 starts out completely confident since he and Dr. Gero had spent all their time analyzing the Z-Fighters' power and techniques, Vegeta included, and they can take anything they can dish out. By the end of his fight with Vegeta, during which he loses both arms, 19 is left trembling in fear before outright trying to flee from him in absolute terror, which Vegeta lampshades.
--->'''Vegeta''': I guess it's true after all. Androids ''do'' experience fear.
** At least for a time, he inflicted this on [[AxCrazy Kid Buu]]. Buu had just beat the living crap out of Vegeta and blasted him into a crater, leaving him to gloat with laughter... until the badly-wounded Vegeta climbs out of the crater anyway, stating it'll take a lot more than ''that'' to kill him; Buu is shaking a little as he stares at Vegeta with horror.
* HotBlooded: Even if it does lead to a lot of trouble for the protagonists, he still looks cool talking about the hurt he's going to deliver. He is almost nothing but pure anger, pride and bloodlust, at least until the end of ''Z''. This trait seems to be the main attribute of the Saiyan race in general.
* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: Vegeta's death to Frieza has elements of this. He's the Saiyan Prince and the strongest his race has to offer, reduced to tears before Frieza's power. After surviving a brutal beating, he is given an anticlimactic end by being shot in the heart and is reduced to begging a lower class warrior to beat Frieza.
* HowMuchMoreCanHeTake: Vegeta's endurance is absolutely ''unreal''. Even (or rather, ''[[{{Determinator}} especially]]'') when he's severely outmatched, Vegeta often takes some of the worst beatings out of anyone in the entire series, but it never slows him down until he's literally on death's door.
* HumanAlien: Like most Saiyans. They look perfectly human other than their tails and can produce offspring with humans, though they do have extraordinary abilities (most notably, they can turn into a giant ape). Saiyans also age slower than humans. They have long childhoods, staying small and cute looking so they will be underestimated before quickly growing to their full adult height, and they stay in their prime until at least eighty.
* HumansThroughAlienEyes: When Android 17 kills Dr. Gero by stepping on his detached head, everyone, save Vegeta, is shocked. Krillin talks about how unbelievable it is that the android killed their own creator. Vegeta scoffs at them, saying that humans are the strange ones since most species kill anyone who gets in their way, regardless if they're their parents.
* HumanityIsInfectious: His love for Bulma and Trunks really helped mellow him out, which caused him great angst in the Buu Saga, since he saw this trope as part of his in-universe BadassDecay.
* HumblePie: After suffering heavy AesopAmnesia most of the series, and a BreakTheHaughty at least OnceASeason, Vegeta receives one of these during the final battle with Kid Buu, acknowledging that Goku is better than him and always will be and making peace with that decision. Come ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'', he's still trying to surpass Goku, but his attitude towards it is ''much'' healthier and he manages to get much closer.
* HumiliationConga: Happens at least OnceASeason in Z.
** He gets the crap beat out of him by Goku after he activates his Kaio-ken and deflects Vegeta's Galick Gun. Then when he regains his advantage by turning into a Great Ape, he gets his tail cut off and nearly killed by a Spirit Bomb. Just when he's sure he can kill everyone, Gohan turns into a Great Ape and lands on him just as he cuts off Gohan's tail. He's then left at Krillin's mercy and is only spared because Goku begs for his life.
** When he reaches Namek, he easily kills Cui and Dodoria and steals one of the Dragon Balls. He then gets his butt handed to him by Zarbon. Although he eventually defeats Zarbon and steals Frieza and Krillin's Dragon Balls, Gohan steals the Dragon Ball he hid right from under his nose. Once the Ginyu Force arrives, he gets manhandled by Recoome. After all of that, he finally gains access to all seven Dragon Balls, but can't use them because he doesn't know the password and has his chance at immortality denied because the Namekian dragon dies before the wish can be granted. Frieza then arrives and beats and humiliates Vegeta before killing him in cold-blood. When he comes back to life, he learns that Goku became a Super Saiyan. He's ''really'' not happy about that last part.
** In the Android/Cell Saga, Vegeta finally becomes a Super Saiyan and beats one of the androids without any problems. He then gets curb stomped by Android 18 and learns that there is an even more powerful android running around. After training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber for a year, he becomes so strong that Semi-Perfect Cell can't even harm him, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero which goes to his head and he lets Cell absorb 18 to have a better challenge]]. Once Cell becomes perfect, he beats Vegeta effortlessly. Vegeta even trains for another whole year in the Hyberbolic Time Chamber and he is still inferior to Cell, Goku and Gohan, and is humiliated by one of Cell's inferior children during the Z-Fighters' battle with them. Vegeta never harms Cell again, even after he murders Trunks.
** After seven years of training, Vegeta is stronger than Gohan, who has been slacking off. He then learns that Goku is still stronger, so he gives his soul to Babidi to bridge the gap and fight Goku one last time. Their battle awakens Buu, who seemingly murders Gohan, [[JerkassRealization causing Vegeta to realize that he's made a terrible mistake]]. To make amends, he fights Buu, but can't do any lasting damage and is almost killed. He chooses to [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifice]] himself to stop Buu, knowing that he will go to Hell because of his past deeds. [[SenselessSacrifice His efforts utterly fail and he dies for nothing]]. He is semi-revived to fight Buu and has to fuse with Goku to even have a chance, something he ''hates''. His actions also lead to Buu's pure evil form returning and Buu destroying the Earth along with his son. And to add salt to the wound, he performs even worse against Kid Buu then he did against Fat Buu, nearly being beaten to death, even when he's still dead. This final HumiliationConga finally makes Vegeta a much more humble person.
* {{Hunk}}: Despite his short stature, he is ruggedly handsome and is ripped to the core.
* {{Hypocrite}}:
** He's also EnragedByIdiocy and always badmouths Goku for saying or doing something stupid, and yet Vegeta's pride and arrogance, which borders on LethallyStupid at its worst, constantly results in him making incredibly rash and idiotic decisions that ''always'' put the Earth in danger.
** He berates Goku for fighting and going Super Saiyan when he's clearly ill. He makes a very good point and Goku was indeed foolish, but Vegeta is the last person who should be giving this lecture since he is known for going into battle when he's far from prime condition, like trying to fight Android 18 with a shattered arm.
** He's left utterly stunned by how Mr. Satan doesn't realize his limits after being flung from the ring by Cell. He calls Mr. Satan's stupidity beyond belief. He is right about Mr. Satan overestimating himself and should realize how outmatched he is, but it's funny that this commentary is coming from a character who is infamously known for overestimating himself.
** Vegeta is a SocialDarwinist who firmly believes in the survival of the fittest, the strong rules over the weak, and anyone who is killed deserves it for being weak. Part of the reason why he is the Saiyan Prince is because he is the strongest their race has to offer. This mindset is never applied to himself when he isn't the strongest. When Frieza proves to be his superior, instead of accepting the outcome as natural selection, Vegeta has a [[DespairEventHorizon mental breakdown]] before [[TearsOfFear breaking down in tears]]. He also demeans and badmouths Goku, despite the fact that by his own standards Goku is ''his'' superior since he is the strongest Saiyan. He does get better and eventually drops the SocialDarwinist mindset.
* IAmXSonOfY: A variation: "I am Vegeta, Prince of the Saiyan warrior race!"
* IconicOutfit: His typical ensemble is Saiyan armor over blue spandex, with white gloves and shoes, which he wears in the Android, Cell, and the majority of the ''Super'' sagas. When he's not wearing it, it's just some variation; In the Saiyan saga he was wearing Blue Spandex, but wore the traditional Frieza Force armor (with elaborate shoulderpads), and in the Frieza saga he wore a smaller, torso-only version of said armour, but over a black spandex. He only went with a blue muscle shirt and pants with the gloves and shoes but without his armor in the Buu Saga and the [=EOZ=], likely due to the rules of the tournament restricting protective wear. In ''Resurrection ‘F’'', both the movie and ''Super'' retelling, and the Champa Saga, he wears grey undergarments instead of blue.
* IconicSequelCharacter: He isn't introduced until the very first saga of ''Z'', but he ends up becoming the second most recognizable character in the series aside from Goku.
* IcyBlueEyes: Vegeta once he becomes a Super Saiyan. It isn't a real big change for him, unlike Goku and Gohan, outside of the change of eye color since Vegeta just becomes more of a cocky jerk when he transforms.
* IdiotBall:
** He drops a fairly big one during the Frieza Saga; when Krillin goes to Guru's to gain the password needed to activate the Namekian Dragon Balls, Vegeta decides to take a nap, not only disregarding the fact that Frieza could return at any moment, but also trusting Gohan to come and wake him up when Krillin returns. Although, it is somewhat justifiable since he was close to passing out because he's been awake for several days guarding his Dragon Balls from Frieza and the Earthlings.
** In Chapter 13 of the ''Super'' manga, Vegeta lost 90% of his power when fighting Hit since he transformed too many times into Super Saiyan Blue, which severely sap his stamina. What makes Vegeta an idiot is that the transformation only saps stamina when transforming, meaning that Vegeta would've kept his power if just stayed transformed after showing off to Cabba. Since Vegeta trained Super Saiyan Blue for over four years, he should have known better. To be fair to him though, Frost was introduced as the emperor of the universe and the best hand-to-hand fighter in U6, despite being a comparative weakling who Vegeta [[CurbStompBattle wrecked easily]] when Frost was at full power and Vegeta was stuck to Super Saiyan 1. Frost's lower forms, Cabba, and Botamo were substantially weaker than even that. So he probably just thought that 10% of SSB would be more than enough to handle Hit, not knowing that Hit is the ''real'' WorldsStrongestMan of his universe. He had no way of knowing how ridiculously stronger Hit was compared to everyone else in his universe.
* IGaveMyWord: Vegeta only gives his word to those he holds dear to his heart, hence giving his word is the ''closest'' he will ever get to ''openly'' admitting love for another being, as his immeasurable pride makes his word his ''absolute'' bond. '''Heaven help you''' if you hurt someone he ''promised'' to protect.
* IJustWantToBeSpecial: While already one of the most powerful fighters in the series, he has repeatedly fallen on this, from wanting to become a Super Saiyan to accepting a DealWithTheDevil to surpass Goku. And in true DramaticIrony, he gives up and accepts that Goku is better than him.
* ImmortalitySeeker: He was this until Frieza was defeated on Namek, then he lost all desire to live forever.
* ImmuneToMindControl: It's {{Implied|Trope}} that Vegeta's {{pride}} and HeroicWillpower renders him impossible to mind control; the implication comes from the only canon example of mind control being used against him in the Buu Saga, where he ''willingly'' let himself be subjected to Babidi's MindControl sorcery to gain the power-up benefit that came with it as a sideeffect. His mind, however, was never under Babidi's control, and the moment he was given a command contrary to his own desires he successfully fought off the MindControl part of the spell, keeping the power boost despite it.
* ImpossiblyGracefulGiant: In his Great Ape form, he is far more agile than his size would suggest (and not just because he retains his ability to fly). When Goku dodges one of his punches, Great Ape Vegeta spins his entire body around in the blink of an eye, nailing Goku with a kick. Goku even lampshades this in the Kai dub:
--->'''Goku:''' Big as he is, he moves like a rabbit!
* ImplacableMan: From the very beginning, Vegeta was an absolutely relentless foe. Goku had to multiply his [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique Kaio-ken]] up to ''x4'' just to be able to fight Vegeta evenly, and even after being hit point-blank by a Spirit Bomb, Vegeta's able to get back up and keep fighting. It's only through the sheer dumb luck of being crushed by Great Ape Gohan that he's finally forced to retreat, and even then, he [[WeWillMeetAgain vows to return]].
* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: [[https://youtube.com/watch?v=wem1SQHvhuI To an absurd degree]], he simply cannot accept people being more powerful than him. It all starts with him growing up under the crushing heel of [[TheEmperor Frieza]]. Then he goes to Earth and finds out there's a Saiyan stronger than him, even though he, being the Saiyan Prince, should be stronger. Then he goes to Namek and that same Saiyan comes in and shows he's even more powerful, then he dies at Frieza's hands. Vegeta wishes to become stronger, but because of his insecurities he doesn't seek out training partners that could help him advance the way Goku does. The result is that Goku remains one step ahead and this further fuels Vegeta's insecurities. He gets better by the time of Super.
* InnerMonologue: Despite not being the main protagonist of the series, it is Vegeta whose thoughts we are most often made privy to via his internal monologues. His monologues usually highlight the insecurities and chronic self-doubt that his pride would never allow to be spoken aloud.
* InsistentTerminology: Vegeta makes a point of always calling Goku by his Saiyan name Kakarot, because he believes that Goku should take pride in his Saiyan heritage. In fact, in ''GT'', when Vegeta is [[DemonicPossession possessed by Baby]], Goku is [[OutOfCharacterAlert able to tell right away]] that Vegeta is NotHimself because Baby-Vegeta calls him "Goku" rather than "Kakarot".
* InsufferableGenius: He is a brilliant fighter and tactician when he is calm. He also knows very well that he is very good and will remind everyone so they do not forget. [[TheFriendNobodyLikes Almost everyone, save for Goku and Bulma, finds him unbearable]], but tolerates him since he really is as good as he claims most of the time.
* InterspeciesRomance: With Bulma. She is a human while he is a full-blooded Saiyan.
* {{Irony}}: A pretty good source of it.
** At the end of the Kid Buu Saga, it is Vegeta who comes up with the way to defeat Kid Buu by using the Spirit Bomb, the technique Goku originally learned to try and kill ''him''.
** Nappa suggested to have Human-Saiyan children to repopulate the Saiyan race. Vegeta disagreed on the grounds that they would beget children stronger than them. Later, Vegeta is the one to have children with a human.
*** Adding to the irony, Vegeta's offspring actually ''saved'' humanity when Vegeta himself only came to Earth to kill everyone.
** When first introduced, Vegeta is a firm believer in HardWorkHardlyWorks, openly scoffing at Goku's claim that even a lower class soldier could surpass an "elite" like him through hard work. When proven wrong, he spends the entire series working his ass off trying to surpass Goku.
** The Saiyan arc and much of the Namek arc was spent making sure he couldn't get the Dragon Balls. The next wish the Earth's Dragon Balls did, inadvertently, revived him.
** After his initial loss on Earth, he swears to return and exact his revenge by exterminating the planet. In little more than a few weeks, he's transported to Earth by the Namekian Dragon Balls -- but by this point he has no interest in revenge or genocide. He even ''leaves'' Earth for extended periods between the Frieza and Android Arcs (in the anime, in the manga, he was pretty much chilling on Earth... for a certain definition of chilling), because his new goal was to become a Super Saiyan, and he sought to seek out Goku in space to learn how to do it/achieve it independently.
** Despite being weaker than any form of Majin Buu, his interference screwed both Super and Kid Buu. First, his semi-revival allowed Goku to fuse with him to create Vegetto, who beat the everloving crap out of Super Buu, and he ripped Fat Buu from Super Buu's body, erasing him from existence. It was also his plan to form the Spirit Bomb that killed Kid Buu.
** After finally accepting that Goku was AlwaysSomeoneBetter, Beerus comes and becomes Goku's AlwaysSomeoneBetter. Twisting the irony knife Vegeta did better fighting Beerus then Goku did.
** In the post ''Z'' stories, Vegeta finally gets within striking distance of Goku. He does this in both the movies and ''GT'' by swallowing his pride and accepting help from others. Things Goku himself had to do to gain those powers.
** In spite of being AlwaysSecondBest to Goku, Vegeta has never actually lost a fight with him. Whether it be a straight battle (their first, which ended with Vegeta crushing all his bones and Gohan and Krillin pulling a save), a dirty trick (Vegeta and Goku fighting to a draw in the Buu arc until Vegeta knocks him out when he tries to make peace), a villain body-jacking Vegeta (Baby-Vegeta vs Goku in ''GT''), or a villain body-jacking Goku (Vegeta vs Ginyu-Goku, Vegeta vs Goku Black in ''Super''), Vegeta always comes out on top.[[note]]Though Black somewhat depends on the version; while he won and lost bouts against Black in both continuities, Manga Vegeta ended their fights by giving Black a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown and forcing him into a VillainousBreakdown and fusion, while Anime Vegeta just lost again when Black summoned clones.[[/note]] Partly because Goku would never bother to beat someone weaker than himself and extenuating circumstances stopping the fights they have had. Even their training spars in ''Super'' are interrupted.
** Vegeta, the proud Saiyan who in the Buu saga boasted that his pride was the essence of his being and before that kept going on and on that concepts like mercy and love made you soft. He overcomes his limits (twice) and becomes a nightmarish force of nature in the Tournament of Power through ThePowerOfLove.
* ItCanThink: In his Great Ape form; unlike Goku and Gohan, who become rampaging, mindless berserkers, he retains his intelligence and higher reasoning as a Great Ape, and can even speak.
* ItsAllAboutMe:
** He's easily one of the most self-centered beings in the universe; specifically around the Androids/Cell events, where he's so confident that he's invincible and could ''easily'' beat Cell no matter how strong he gets that he ''lets'' Cell absorb Android 18 and become perfect purely to stroke his own ego... only to lose pathetically against Perfect Cell, who even mocks him for his arrogance and self-centeredness. He returns to it again in the Buu Saga, where he forsakes his wife and son and allows Babidi to turn him into a Majin just so he could have the power to beat Goku; in this case, Vegeta was fully aware that doing so would unleash [[EldritchAbomination Majin Buu]] upon the world, but he was so fixated on being better than Goku that he didn't ''care''. Needless to say, in both cases, he learns to regret it when Trunks is killed by Cell and when Buu is assumed to have killed Gohan.
** Greatly subverted by the time ''Battle of Gods'' rolls around. He may still be fairly self-centered, but Vegeta will do almost anything to guarantee Bulma and Trunks' safety. Just don't tell him to dance again.
* ItsPersonal:
** Vegeta's deep hatred for Frieza is almost unparalleled in a series full of personal conflicts. And that's BEFORE he finds out Frieza was the one who blew up Planet Vegeta and wiped out most of the Saiyan race.
** He ''really'' hates [[spoiler: Goku Black]] for [[spoiler: Future Bulma]]'s murder and targeting his future son. He has every right to be pissed.
* IWasBeatenByAGirl: Implied by Piccolo in the original Japanese text and the ''Kai'' dub. After losing to Android 18, Vegeta leaves in a fit of rage. Trunks wants to follow him, but Piccolo said not to bother since his pride has been crushed. Not only did he badly lose after achieving the fabled Super Saiyan form, he lost to a woman, adding extra salt to the wound.
* IWorkAlone:
** Vegeta absolutely despises getting help and will always insist on doing everything himself, fighting or otherwise. Vegeta will also ''always'' be the last character to offer assistance to anyone. He's the only character in the series that takes this beyond just having a fair fight, and will readily accept suicidal odds like fighting more than one person that is strong enough to be a threat to him, or trying to attack a fused opponent on his own. It's only when things get "the world will end" bad that he gives in, but he'll still complain about it non-stop. His stubbornness nearly wastes all the effort everyone put in to get him and Goku back to the world of the living to stop Buu.
** It's actually so ingrained in his psyche that even when he decides to work together, he subconsciously cannot grasp synchonized motions in combat, especially with Goku. It's even to the point where [[spoiler: '''Frieza''', who wants to betray and murder them all when the [=ToP=] is all over, and Android 17, ''who had just met everyone sans 18 and Krillin the day before the tournament'' have FAR better teamwork with each other, even though he's been training and fighting alongside the Z Fighters for the last 10 years. The result was that Goku, Frieza and 17 pull off a nearly perfect strategy on the fly to beat a weakened Jiren in the anime's final episode, something Vegeta finds utterly shocking and wouldn't have been able to do]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:J-N]]
* {{Jerkass}}: In the Saiyan -- Cell Saga, Vegeta is definitely this. He's a {{sadist}}ic asshole who took great joy in killing people weaker than him, bullying others to get his way, and he was a BadBoss. Slowly, he begins to mellow out, starting a family and putting behind his {{Space Pirate|s}} days. He then regresses back into this in the middle of the Buu Arc when he allows himself to turn Majin and provokes Goku into fighting him by killing hundreds of people. By the end of the saga, he finally got over [[ReformedButNotTamed most]] of his {{Jerkass}} tendencies.
* JerkassHasAPoint: There's no doubt about it, Vegeta is an asshole. But more often than not, he provides more than a few good points or reasons:
** His killing Burter and Recoome in cold blood after Goku defeated them. Goku states that Vegeta was being cruel, but Vegeta then retorts that their deaths were deserved, especially since Gohan and Krillin were on the verge of death, and that they had killed countless people under Frieza's orders. While Goku states that having a little compassion isn't a disadvantage, sparing the Ginyu Force would have caused far more harm than good. This is further emphasized later on when Goku spares their even more sadistic leader Frieza's life at least twice -- which only prompts Frieza to try to stab Goku in the back both times.
** After saving the heart virus-stricken Goku from being killed by Android 19, Vegeta proceeds to chew him out for it, reminding Goku that he was ''warned'' about the heart virus and should have known that fighting in his condition, let alone going [[SuperMode Super Saiyan]], would have only made it worse.
** Vegeta gets another one after beating Android 19 so thoroughly that 19 flips out and tries to make a break for it, to which Dr. Gero/Android 20 shouts at him that it's enough. As Vegeta rightfully points out in response, Gero and 19 had come all this way to destroy him and the other Z Fighters, and [[MoralMyopia it's only "enough" because they're losing]].
** When Cell announces the Cell Games, Piccolo wants to train first in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber after Goku and Gohan leaves. Vegeta calls this a waste since the fight with Cell will be beyond any level outside the Saiyans, but mockingly allows Piccolo to go first. Although Vegeta was an ass about it, he is right that only a Saiyan could beat Cell in the amount of time they had, and Piccolo's year-long training didn't amount to nearly as much as the gain received by Goku/Gohan/Vegeta. For a long time, no non-Saiyan Z-Fighter approached Cell's level of power, let alone surpassed it -- and even then, the Saiyans still have the overall highest potential to get stronger, compared to everyone else.
** Although Vegeta was too harsh with Gohan about him getting weaker in the Buu saga and how his fight with Dabura was a "disgrace," he made a good point: Gohan was struggling against a foe that, seven years ago, he wouldn't have had such a problem with, and it was in their interest to beat these foes as quickly and efficiently as possible. In fact, Vegeta's arrogance notwithstanding, it's highly probable that he could have defeated Dabura with relative ease had he been the one to fight instead.
** Vegeta gets another one in the climax of the Buu Arc when he [[WhatTheHellHero calls out Goku for leaving his children to die while Kid Buu blows up the Earth]], and choosing to rescue Mr. Satan and Dende instead. During the entire exchange, Goku has ''nothing'' to say in his own defense. Of course, Dende, Mr. Satan, and the dog proved instrumental to Buu's defeat but no one could have known that at the time.
** Vegeta once again has a point that finishing off the unconscious Fat Buu ''was'' the safest bet despite Hercule insisting he was good. Seeing what happened merely because Bee and Hercule were shot, there's no telling what could happen in the future when they run the risk of repeating the same incident again should something else befall them.
** During the Resurrection F arc of Super, Goku tells Vegeta how killing Ginyu was too extreme. Vegeta tells him he simply killed somebody who was too dangerous to leave alone. Considering Ginyu likely would have tried to take either of their bodies, it's definitely the right call to take him out as early as possible.
** Vegeta becomes angry when Goku, as usual, played around with Goku Black instead of instantly killing him when he had the chance. This gave Black the opportunity to study Goku's fighting style and destroy the time machine, giving him the chance to become more powerful to the point where he could challenge Goku and Vegeta in their blue forms. Also, if Cell's time machine hadn't been in Bulma's junk stash there would have been no way to go to the future to save it in the first place. His reasoning was mostly because he wanted to kill him for hurting Trunks and killing Future Bulma, but he gets even angrier about it after these events vindicate his point.
** When Future Trunks, having seen the strength of Super Saiyan Blue, is prepared to just kick back and let Goku and Vegeta handle Goku Black, Vegeta lifts him up by the collar and furiously chews him out on his [[WeHaveBecomeComplacent complacency]], remarking that Black most likely won't be the only threat to his time that comes his way and he should ''always'' train to surpass his limits no matter the situation; considering how often threats to Earth have come (Majin Buu, Beerus, Frieza, etc.) and all of the Z-Fighters barring Goku and Vegeta himself have been helpless against them due to lack of training, he's clearly speaking from experience. While Bulma calls Vegeta out on his harshness considering Trunks' recent TraumaCongaLine, Goku insists it's "[[BlueAndOrangeMorality how Saiyans work]]"; Trunks himself quickly takes Vegeta's words to heart, resolving to constantly train and grow stronger.
** He also ''strongly'' objects to reviving Frieza to participate in the Tournament of Power on the grounds that he's uncontrollable and can't be trusted. [[spoiler: He's proven right by Frieza's internal monologue to become a being to replace Zeno, though ironically enough, Frieza ends up being key to the victory of their team and doesn't ever betray them[[note]]Though not for lack of trying - his attempts at betrayal are just constantly shut down by those whom would stand to benefit[[/note]], so he ended up being wrong.]]
** Come ''Super: Broly'', Goku naively believes that since [[spoiler:Frieza helped them during the Tournament of Power, this means that he'll no longer be evil and is now their friend. Vegeta calls him out on that and openly calls him an idiot, telling Goku point-blank that Frieza will ''never'' change and will still try to kill them; he's proven right when Frieza comes to Earth and sics Broly on them.]]
* JerkassRealization:
** When Future Trunks gets killed by Cell, Vegeta realizes how harsh he was towards him and wanted to avenge his death.
** He has another one when he realizes just how powerful Buu was after he seemingly murdered Gohan. He even says outright he would never forgive himself and fought Buu partly to avenge him.
* JerkassToOne: Pre-CharacterDevelopment, he was a Crueler to One example. While Vegeta was a bitter, cynical asshole who looked down on everyone in general, he was much ruder and nastier to Goku than he was to everyone else, unable to tolerate being AlwaysSecondBest to him since he's the Saiyan Prince while Goku is a low-class Saiyan born at the bottom of the pecking order. By the end of ''Z'', he's gotten over it, and in ''Super'', they're {{friendly rival|ry}}s and VitriolicBestBuds.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Ends up becoming this by the end of ''Z''. Definitely this in ''Dragon Ball Super'', especially in the Future Trunks arc.
* JokerImmunity: Originally just intended as an ArcVillain, Vegeta's popularity caused him to survive his intended death and return to act as a supporting villain for the next major saga, surviving multiple brushes with death before he's killed by Frieza. And then he's brought back to life when a wish is made to revive all of Freeza's victims, and joins the main cast as the TokenEvilTeammate for the series, with all the Plot Armor to be expected if he were one of the good guys. After a FaceRealization in the final arc, Vegeta makes a HeroicSacrifice that was once again intended to have him KilledOffForReal, but once again his popularity has him brought BackFromTheDead again, but by this point he's made a full HeelFaceTurn so the trope no longer applies.
* JustToyingWithThem:
** During his fight with Goku in the Saiyan Saga, he enjoys toying with him at first, thinking Goku's just good enough to give him a decent challenge. But once Goku breaks out the x3 Kaio-ken and beats him around, Vegeta's [[VillainousBreakdown done playing around]].
** In the Cell Saga, he toys with Semi-Perfect Cell at first, to the point he soon gets bored and stupidly allows him to become Perfect so he can get a better challenge. Once Cell reaches his Perfect form, he wastes no time [[ATasteOfTheirOwnMedicine returning the favor]].
* KamehameHadoken: His Galick Gun and Final Flash.
* KarmaHoudini: Zigzagged. In terms of the overall story narrative, he comes off as a massive one, getting a spot on the team and marrying Bulma despite having spent most of his life as a genocidal, remorseless maniac and even committing plenty of outright murderous and {{Jerkass}} deeds even after he became a nominal ally to Goku and the Z Fighters. On the other hand, when he gets ready to blow himself up to kill Buu, he asks Piccolo if he'll see Goku in the afterlife, to which Piccolo replies that he's certainly going to hell for his past actions. He would have, if they hadn't decided to revive him because he was too useful to waste. Also, he doesn't entirely fit this category in the purest sense because he usually does tend to pay very dearly not long after he's done something either murderous, stupid, or douchey, getting beaten to an inch of his life (or occasionally getting outright killed) by characters like Zarbon, Recoome, Frieza, Android 18, Cell, and Majin Buu usually after he's done something like massacring innocent people or just something outright stupid like allowing the enemy to reach his full potential.
* KickTheDog: He does this so often throughout ''Z'' that he might as well have had puppies tied to his shoes.
** His speech to Gohan in the Frieza Saga about Goku's supposed death on Namek.
** He literally kicked him much earlier in Namek, as a "message" to Goku to get revenge on him.
** He has one much earlier with him kneeing Goku while he was down, right in front of Gohan when they were having a tender moment.
** After Yamcha was killed by a Saibamen, Vegeta tells Krillin to clear the trash from the battle. Cues Krillin's berserk reaction.
** After Shenron revives all of the Namekians who were killed by Frieza and his men, the ones Vegeta killed are ''not'' revived thanks to Shenron's LiteralGenie tendencies, as Vegeta was no longer one of Frieza's men; Vegeta viciously lampshades this and outright ''laughs'' in the other Namekians' faces over it.
** Him killing [[TheBrute Nappa]] moves it to this from KickTheSonOfABitch, considering Nappa's loyalty and staying with him all those years. Note that at this juncture, Vegeta could have just stuffed him back in his own ship and have Nappa put back into a medical tank when they got back. Vegeta ''was'' just that much of a bastard.
** Likewise, when Dr. Gero/Android #20 escaped making an energy wave attacking Bulma and main!Trunks, Vegeta didn't even bother trying to rescue them. When Future Trunks [[CallingTheOldManOut called him out on it]], he responded he doesn't care the slightest about them.
** Earlier, after saving Goku from Android 19, he finishes chewing Goku out for fighting with the heart virus and making it worse by literally kicking Goku over to Piccolo. Keep in mind that this is after Goku was suffering from said heart virus ''and'' had just gotten the life sucked out of him by 19.
** Also in the episode "Vegeta's Pride" when he killed numerous spectators in the World Martial Arts Tournament's stands to provoke Goku into fighting him, and makes it perfectly clear he's going to just keep killing more, including Goku's family and ''his own'', unless Goku does so.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: He's been on both the giving and receiving end of these:
** His killing of Nappa is a mix of both this and KickTheDog. While Nappa ''was'' his long-time partner and loyal to him, Nappa had slaughtered countless innocents, killed most of the Z-Fighters, and nearly killed Gohan while laughing about it.
** Vegeta makes quick work of Dodoria after he made him squeal about Frieza personally destroying Planet Vegeta because he feared the Saiyans would overpower him one day. Given that Dodoria ruthlessly murdered several Namekians, personally killed Dende's brother, Cargo, and is just as sadistic as Frieza, not a single tear was shred over his demise.
** The first Zarbon fight is a perfect example, since not long before said fight, Vegeta had slaughtered an entire village of innocent Namekians, [[WouldHurtAChild children included]], for their Dragon Balls, all while laughing and acting smug. When Zarbon transformed and handed Vegeta his ass, most felt he more than deserved it, especially since Zarbon is the most [[PunchClockVillain humane]] of Frieza's elites.
** Subverted with his beatdown at the hands of Frieza. Despite Vegeta being just as villainous as Frieza himself, him being beaten to death is horrifying, [[DespairEventHorizon especially since Vegeta completely lost the will to fight and broke down into tears]]. Even Krillin, Gohan, and Piccolo, who have no love for Vegeta at that point, are horrified at the sight.
** His brutal beatdown of Android 19, during which he rips 19's arms of and sends him running for his life. Given that 19 had previously participated in the destruction of an entire city full of innocents, as well as the fact that before Vegeta showed up, 19 ruthlessly beat on a sick Goku and sucked the life out of him, it's ''really'' hard not to cheer Vegeta on.
** In the Android Saga, Vegeta versus 18, which climaxes with her wearing him down before brutally shattering his arm. While 18 is supposedly a murderous android who will bring about a BadFuture if she isn't stopped, she has yet to actually do anything evil or remotely bad, whereas Vegeta has spent most of his screentime being an arrogant, selfish {{Jerkass}}, as well as a horrible father to Trunks, going so far as to physically attack him just for suggesting they wait for Goku to recover from the heart virus before pursuing the Androids. Thus, it's more than a little satisfying to watch 18 hand Vegeta his ass.
** Perfect Cell's first fight. Vegeta sold out his allies and son by not only allowing Cell to absorb 18, but actually helped him, all to stroke his own ego. No one felt sympathetic when Cell proceeded to own him; in fact, Krillin stated outright that as far as he was concerned, Vegeta deserved to die.
* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: Vegeta loved doing this, especially during his days as a villain:
** Vegeta brutally murders Nappa after he gets his back broken by Goku and is asking Vegeta for his help.
** While Goku and Gohan are having a tender moment with Goku trying to encourage Gohan to fight Vegeta, he flies down and knees Goku in the stomach before rapidly kicking his head. Keep in mind, Goku is crippled since he had all his bones broken and is defenseless. In the dub, Vegeta even brags that the [[CardCarryingVillain key of being a good villain]] is to find the right moment to do this.
** Goku defeats two members of the [[QuirkyMiniBossSquad Ginyu Force]] very easily, leaving them lying on the ground unconscious or in serious pain but still alive, not killing them even though they came very close to murdering his son and best friend ([[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and also]] [[TokenEvilTeammate Vegeta]]). As he and his friends discuss the events on Namek, Vegeta suddenly murders both weakened fighters. Goku chews him out for this, saying they were no threat and couldn't even defend themselves but Vegeta (unsurprisingly) doesn't care.
* KnightOfCerebus: While King Piccolo's arc was dark, his defeat was a fairly simple matter of a 1v1 kung-fu fight and the damage he did was all undone by the end of the arc. He also had LaughablyEvil and PetTheDog moments in regards to his children. The arrival of Vegeta and his minions altered the tone significantly from the 23rd Budokai arc, a trend that stayed for a long time. The Saiyan arc remains to date the most serious arc in the franchise, with a brutal and hopeless tone and next to no comedic elements at all (even the Cell arc had Mr. Satan).
** Previous villains usually had world conquest on their minds. Vegeta is ''introduced'' having already killed countless planets worth of people. Unlike the people killed on Earth by the Red Ribbon Army and Piccolo, the vast majority of Vegeta's victims remain dead. Vegeta also brutally kills his own minions and due to his SocialDarwinist philosophy, which visibly shocks the heroes, even Goku, who is no stranger to brutal villains at that point. He doesn't even share the other Saiyans' perverse sense of camaraderie.
** Vegeta's the first villain that the latest plot power-up ''doesn't work on.'' When they do come up, Vegeta (or sometimes his minion) just beats the shit out of them and keeps going, with a single-minded desire to murder his opposition. The main hero admits defeat and is utterly unable to beat him. He spends most of the fight crumpled on the ground with Vegeta occasionally walking over to kick him in the ribs. Every hero who isn't already dead ends up beaten to shit by the time Vegeta is forced to leave. It's only by the pure luck of Oozaru Gohan falling on him that they finally manage to repel him, and even then, it's a PyrrhicVictory that ends with most of the cast and an entire continent's worth of Earthlings dead.
* KnightInSourArmor: He was more willing to fight with the good guys once the Android and Cell Arc began but was still ''very'' bitter, angry and hostile towards the protagonists, especially [[TheRival Goku]]. And his elitist view on how a Saiyan should be never changed even if it went against his own son's wishes and even if it created more problems than solutions as far as the plot went.
* LackOfEmpathy: Prior to his HeelFaceTurn. Up to that point, the sheer extent of his cruelty [[EvenEvilHasStandards disturbed even brutal Saiyan warriors like Nappa and Raditz]]. He coldly murdered his partner Nappa who asked him for help and refused to consider bringing Raditz back because he was a weakling for getting himself killed. He also laughed when the Namekians he killed weren't wished back because of how the wish was worded. Even when he wasn't technically evil anymore, [[ItsAllAboutMe he still doesn't give a damn about anyone but himself, including his own son]]. It wasn't until the Buu Saga that he begun to show any empathy towards people and it's mostly because he became begrudgingly fond of them, which he saw as a weakness and was why he gave himself to Babidi. [[CharacterDevelopment By the end of the series, he ''finally'' learned to truly care about someone other than himself.]]
* LameComeback: In Funimation's dub, to Android 18. [[MemeticMutation "Sad for you!"]]
* TheLancer: After the Frieza arc, acting as a foil to the other protagonists.
* LargeHam: His ham level is '''[[UpToEleven OVER 9000!!!]]'''
* LaserGuidedKarma: Happens at least once per season of ''Z'':
** He creates a fake moon to turn into a Great Ape and nearly crush the life out of Goku. He is done in by Gohan turning into a Great Ape and nearly crushing him to death.
** Vegeta loves to terrorize the people he fights by overwhelming them with his power and bring them to despair before they die. This is exactly what Frieza does to him before coldly murdering him.
** He ignores Trunks' warnings about 17 and 18's strength, as well insulting and dismissing all the Z fighters during the appearance of the androids and being drunk on his newfound Super Saiyan power. He's immediately curb-stomped by Android 18.
** He helps Cell to become perfect so he can have a better fight. He is promptly and mercilessly beaten up. Cell even toys with him, the exact same way Vegeta did to him earlier. In fact, the Funimation dub of the episode where he gets his ass kicked by Perfect Cell is actually ''titled'' "Vegeta Must Pay", which works as a double meaning: Vegeta pays for betraying his allies and Cell gets his revenge.
** And probably the most vicious dose of karma of all, Vegeta sold his soul and killed thousands of people to get Goku to fight him. Not only is he absolutely no match for Buu, who he helped awaken, but Goku is ''still'' much stronger than him. [[ShootTheShaggyDogStory Meaning he literally sold out his family, friends, and his own convictions for nothing]]. Even worse, when he is semi-revived, he is of no use to Goku power-wise outside of being fusion fodder and a distraction since he stands no chance against ''any'' form of Majin Buu. It's little wonder why Vegeta became more humble.
* LastOfHisKind: After Goku's death during the Cell Saga, Vegeta became the last pure-blooded Saiyan in the universe (if you don't count Tarble).
* LeeroyJenkins: When not using his head, he rushes into everything. Best displayed during the climax of the Cell Saga; after Cell regenerates FromASingleCell, returns to Earth, and kills Trunks, Vegeta goes full PapaWolf on him, unleashing a vicious attack on him without warning. Cell promptly retaliates, beating Vegeta senseless, and Gohan has to save him from being killed, [[DramaPreservingHandicap suffering a broken arm in the process]].
* LegacyCharacter: Both his father ''and'' his planet share his name. In fact, according to ''Anime/DragonBallSuperBroly'', his full name is actually "Vegeta the Fourth."
* {{Leitmotif}}: Appropriately named "Hell's Bells".
* LethallyStupid: His overwhelming pride always manages to cause trouble for the universe. In this order, he goaded Frieza into transforming, let Cell absorb 18 and reach his Perfect form for the sake of a better challenge, and deliberately became one of Babidi's Majins to fight Goku despite full knowledge that it would resurrect Majin Buu. In all three cases, a planet ends up exploding[[note]]first Namek, then King Kai's world, then the Earth itself[[/note]], and in the case of Frieza and Buu, Vegeta got himself killed.
* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Serves as this to Frieza during the Namek Saga. Both are truly evil with plans on conquering the galaxy, with Dende even remarking Vegeta is hardly any better Frieza, but Vegeta nonetheless has [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy a warrior's sense of pride]], VillainousValor, and is willing to work with the Z-Fighters against a common threat, while Frieza at his best is far more sadistic and cutthroat than Vegeta at his worst, and a DirtyCoward to boot. In fact, this is the entire reason Krillin [[GodzillaThreshold agrees to make Vegeta immortal using the Dragon Balls]], because while Vegeta is undoubtedly a monster, Frieza is just that much worse.
* LightningBruiser: Vegeta in his Great Ape form. He's as tall as a skyscraper and his power increases ten times over, yet he maintains his speed, making him both big and [[FasterThanTheyLook fast]]. He's also insanely fast when he decides to pull out ''any'' Super Saiyan form against an opponent.
* LittleBitBeastly: Like all Saiyans, Vegeta had a monkey tail when he was introduced, which he wrapped around his waist like a belt. He lost it after Yajirobe cuts it off.
* TheLoad:
** Zigzagged. While he does do some useful things and is a highly competent fighter, his arrogance and insecurity causes a LOT more problems than he fixes. He's actually responsible for every major story arc in the series. He was the BigBad of the Saiyan saga, indirectly tipped Frieza off about the Dragon Balls, let Cell absorb Android #18 so he could fight his perfect form, and agreed to Babidi's mind control to fight evenly with Goku, resulting in Buu being released. He usually makes up for it afterward by helping out against the BigBad but oftentimes, it's his mistakes that made the confrontation necessary in the first place. He finally gets out of this habit in Super, only for his disaster-causing trait to get passed on to [[IdiotHero Goku]].
** The movies manage to avert this: While he does act unhelpful and uncooperative at times, he still contributes to every fight and manages to actually do good in some cases.
* LoveIsAWeakness: Part of the reason he let Babidi turn him into a Majin during the Buu Saga: he believed his love for his wife and son was hindering his goal of surpassing Goku. He later realizes he had it backward; [[RussianReversal it was his goal of surpassing Goku that hindered his love for his wife and son]]. Ironically, this realization and subsequent lifestyle change ends up getting him closer to Goku's strength than ever before in ''Super''.
* {{Lunacy}}: The Oozaru transformation. He's at his strongest under a full moon. In the absence of one Vegeta can transform by creating a "false moon" but doing so drains his might so he really does not get the full power boost.(ideally, another elite warrior would make a false moon and let his fellow soldiers do the fighting, but as Zarbon emphasized, [[FinalSolution that strategy is no longer valid thanks to Frieza]])
* MadeOfIron: While he may not ''win'' all of his fights, Vegeta is notably the biggest tank in the series. It takes nothing less than ''a punctured heart'' or him ''[[HeroicSacrifice blowing himself up]]'' to kill him.
** The Spirit Bomb was getting hyped as the only thing that could stop Vegeta in the Saiyan saga. Vegeta took a direct hit to the back from it, got blown sky high, fell back down, and got back up and fought pretty well afterward. The only other person to do that is ''Frieza.'', and he was at least able to struggle against it with his hands.
** Perhaps the greatest example is his YouShallNotPass moment against Kid Buu. When Goku needs time to recover, Vegeta steps in and gets the living ''shit'' kicked out of him. He gets blasted into a crater, and Kid Buu turns away and [[EvilLaugh starts laughing]]. Then...
---> '''Vegeta''': What are you gawking at? What did you think? That I would just roll over and die from an attack like that?\\
''[all this shot from Vegeta's POV, so you see [[AxCrazy Kid Buu]]'s stunned expression, who proceeds to '''[[HorrifyingTheHorror take a step back in shock]]''']''
** He's back at it again in ''Dragon Ball Super'': He manages to use the ''Final Explosion'' -- the attack which, in its only previous canon appearance, ''carbonized him into a stone statue''; an attack that was explicitly invented to perform a TakingYouWithMe -- and he survives. Repeat: Vegeta '''self-destructed''' and is still standing afterward.[[note]]Admittedly, 'standing' is just about all he is capable of, but he's not on death's door.[[/note]]
** In the anime, after using most his energy to defeat Top, Vegeta is eventually left to the point that during his fight against Jiren, ''he can't even transform''... and Jiren pummels him with dozens of punches, holding back less than during the previous battles. Vegeta just keeps getting back up, even after a ki-enhanced punch from Jiren, which knocked him unconscious and literally him left hanging by his boot. Even when he's finally too sore to move, he still manages to send the last of his energy to Goku. {{Averted}} in the manga; Jiren [[CurbStompBattle knocks him out of SSBE and back to base in two hits]], leaves him in a crumpled heap despite [[WillfullyWeak holding back heavily]], and is only stopped from eliminating him on the third blow by Goku's intervention. He finishes the job later, as the next hit Jiren lands eliminates the heavily weakened Vegeta.
* MagicPants: Unlike Goku and Gohan, his clothing remains intact when he transforms into an Oozaru. Presumable, Saiyan clothing is made to grow with its wearer when they transform.
* ManaDrain: [[spoiler:During the Galactic Patrol arc in the ''Super'' manga, Vegeta trains with the people of Yardrat to learn an ability that he can use to defeat [[PowerParasite Moro]]. This ability is called Forced Spirit Fission, and allows him to forcibly remove the stolen energy Moro took from people by essentially punching it out of him. Being able to disrupt Moro's power is instrumental to defeating Moro, as otherwise Goku wouldn't have had the chance to destroy his weakness. It turns out it works in ''reverse'', allowing him to channel Ki into Goku so he can get a second wind to land the killing blow]].
* ManipulativeBastard:
** He's quite cunning when he's not letting his arrogance or rage get out of control. Particularly in the Namek Saga; he bordered on [[MagnificentBastard magnificence]] there. When he returns late in the Buu saga, he acts more intelligent and useful despite being much weaker than Buu, Goku, or Gohan.
** Note that he went into that conflict knowing beforehand that he was hopelessly outclassed on several levels in terms of battle strength (in other words he came in with a humble perspective from the get-go), and his second most cunning moment (at the end of the Buu Saga) came just after he finally admitted to himself that Goku was the better warrior. In short, the cunning gets turned on when the arrogance gets turned off. The Cell Saga and early parts of the Buu saga, on the other hand, is a case study of Vegeta letting his arrogance get the best of him. It gets so bad it verges on TooDumbToLive territory.
** He has another rather clever moment in the ''Super'' manga, during the fight against Fused Zamasu. He intentionally hits every single BerserkButton Zamasu has (talking about how he's a false god who no one will bow to) in order to provoke the mentally-unstable powerhouse to come after him. Then he ''begs'' Zamasu to kill him after he predictably gets curb-stomped. As it turns out, this was part of his plan to buy time. Exactly as he predicted, Zamasu denies the request and instead in his rage says he's going to torture Vegeta to death slowly, which he proceeds to get started on, giving Trunks more than enough time to grab Goku and apply his HealingHands.
* ManlyTears: When he's telling Goku how Frieza used the Saiyans and killed them off despite their blind servitude. In the first dub this included [[FreudianExcuse enslaving Vegeta via threatening to murder his father if he didn't work for him... and doing it anyway]].
* MasterApprenticeChain: Amazingly, he has one since he trained Future Trunks after training under Whis for almost two years: Whis > Vegeta > Future Trunks
* MasterRace: He feels that the Saiyans are the greatest, most powerful race in the universe and that they have the right to take Frieza's place as rulers of the universe. [[SuperiorSpecies He isn't too far off]] since Saiyans have powers and abilities that gives them the edge over many species, which includes their transformations and their inborn fighting potential. By the end of the Kid Buu fight, he gains a better opinion of other species, though he still sees the Saiyans as the strongest race.
* MeaninglessVillainVictory: During the Namek Saga, he successfully forces Dende to make a wish to Porunga to make Vegeta himself immortal, but right before Dende finishes making the wish, Guru, the creator of Porunga, [[DeathByDespair dies of grief at the death of his people]], taking Porunga and the Namekian Dragon Balls with him; thus, Vegeta doesn't get his wish.
* MediumAwareness: In episode 69 of ''Dragon Ball Super'', Vegeta quickly realizes to his horror that [[Manga/DrSlump Arale]] is from a Gag Manga series, and therefore the standard combat tactics of a Shounen Battle Manga series is useless against her.
* MeteorMove: A frequent user (Ginyu, 19, Cell, Fat Buu, Hop) and victim (Zarbon, Cell).
* AMillionIsAStatistic: While the rest of the Z-Fighters might dislike him for how he tried to kill them all, and other actions like letting Cell absorb 18 or joining up with Babidi, it's remarkable how seldom anyone ever brings up the literally ''billions'' of people he murdered while he was working for Frieza. This is mostly because it's OffscreenVillainy that they may or may not even be directly aware of. They're rather more serious about the mass murders that they ''do'' know about - namely, his massacre of a Namekian village and the time he blew a large hole in the Budokai Tenkaichi stands. The latter victims were revived, and the former weren't.
* TheMillstone:
** His desire for a good fight often makes things harder on the others. Cell wouldn't have been a threat at all if Vegeta had simply stepped in and helped Goku kill Androids 19 and 20 before the heart virus became an issue. Failing that, he ''still'' had the chance to rush Gero before he could release 17 and 18. Then he ''helps'' Cell absorb 18 in order to become Perfect Cell purely for the sake of a good challenge.
** In the Buu Saga, it is his fault that Buu was revived since he ''had'' to fight Goku no matter what. They were close to putting Babidi away and needed only to beat Dabura who even a rusty Gohan could have eventually beaten.
* TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody: {{Subverted}}. He is the only Saiyan shown to have complete control over his Great Ape form, while Goku and Gohan lose themselves to it. In supplemental material, it's stated that elite Saiyans train to control their transformations. As a Super Saiyan, Vegeta's personality is left mostly intact, although he is noticeably more of an arrogant {{Jerkass}}.
* MinorInjuryOverreaction: During the Saiyan Saga, when he discovers that Goku gave him a bloody lip, he absolutely flips out and tries to ''blow up the Earth''.
* MirrorCharacter:
** Vegeta and Goku, eternal rivals. Both are thrill-seeking Saiyan warriors always looking to test, expand, and overcome their limits. While Goku is a cheerful man who cherishes others, greatly values his Earthly upbringing, and was born weak among commoner parents, Vegeta is a rough, arrogant prince who initially cares only for himself, and was born very powerful and heir to the throne of his planet. However, under Goku's influence, even Vegeta comes to proudly defend Earth and their friends.
** To Frieza during the Saiyan and Namek Sagas. As much as he hates Frieza, Vegeta is quite similar to him in many ways, particularly in his sadism; he refused to even consider reviving Raditz for being a weakling, killed Nappa in cold blood for [[YouHaveFailedMe losing to Goku]] even as Nappa begged him for help, did the same to a Saibamen for losing to Tien, and slaughtered an entire Namekian village, children included, with a PsychoticSmirk on his face. Dende even initially refuses to heal him for this reason, [[NotSoDifferentRemark openly stating]] that Vegeta is no better than Frieza.
* MissingMom: Like most other Saiyans, his mother is never shown nor mentioned.
* MoralMyopia: He despises Frieza for destroying his planet and driving the Saiyan race to the brink of extinction. This is despite Vegeta being a {{Space Pirate|s}} who destroyed a number of species, as well as the fact that Vegeta not only killed his longtime partner Nappa for losing to Goku, but blatantly refused to even consider using the Dragon Balls to resurrect Raditz because Raditz was a weakling. Dende even states outright that Vegeta is [[NotSoDifferentRemark much like Frieza]].
* MotivationalLie: He tells Cabba that he will destroy Sadal after hunting down his family and killing them one-by-one to motivate him into becoming a Super Saiyan. Naturally he was lying, but Cabba was so sure Vegeta was going to do it that he went Super Saiyan out of sheer anger.
* MotiveDecay: When Vegeta was first introduced he wanted to use the Dragon Balls to wish for immortality and rule the universe after he killed Frieza for years of enslavement. Although he was upset with Goku for 'beating' him on Earth, fighting him wasn't his primary goal, seeing Goku as more as an annoyance or a pawn to his end goals. After Namek, Vegeta lost all desire to rule the universe and live forever. Instead, he becomes completely obsessed with surpassing Goku. Some of this could be motivated by the fact that it was Goku who beat and humiliated Frieza and became the super saiyan Vegeta had been so desperately trying to be, while he, the Saiyan Prince, was given a dog's death and reduced to begging a lower class warrior to avenge him.
* MrFanservice: The reason female readership went up after his appearance. He was the first manga/anime crush of many a fangirl.
* MuggingTheMonster: On the receiving end of this. When Vegeta is at the tournament waiting for his match, a guy walks up to him and constantly berates him. Vegeta then knocks the guy out with an OffhandBackhand.
* MustMakeAmends:
** This is his primary reason for choosing to fight Majin Buu alone, partly because he was responsible for Majin Buu being revived in the first place and Gohan apparently being killed by the monster, and partly because he wants to make amends for Goku dying during the Cell Games since, in letting Cell absorb 18 and become Perfect because of his own {{Pride}}, it ''was'' his fault the entire mess with Cell got so bad.
** His reason for being so active in stopping Moro in the Galatic Patrol arc of the ''Super'' manga is because he wants to atone for all the Namekians he killed years ago when he first went to the planet. Vegeta almost name drops this trope when Moro questions why he would do so.
* MyDadCanBeatUpYourDad: {{Inverted|Trope}}. After Trunks wins a match to Goten, Vegeta rubs this in Goku's face.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone:
** After letting Cell absorb #18, he has this reaction when he realizes just how powerful Perfect Cell really is.
** Similarly when he realizes that Buu (who was only released through Vegeta's actions) has killed Gohan (or so Vegeta thought) and that Vegeta is no match for Buu either.
* {{Narcissist}}: Big time. He has a hard time believing that anyone could be stronger than him, despite all the times he gets his butt handed to him. It's literally not until the end of the series that he admits that Goku is his better. He still keeps this trait afterward, but he's much less of an ass about it and can readily acknowledge when someone has him legitimately outclassed. But even then it only serves as motivation for him to become even more powerful and believes that with more work he will become the best.
* TheNapoleon: Short and perpetually filled with rage is Vegeta in a nutshell. The only adult male in the main cast of Dragonball who is shorter than Vegeta is ''Krillin'' who is notably small and stands at just above half the height of most of the other adults. If one doesn't count Vegeta's ridiculously spiked hair, he's less than half a head shorter than his wife Bulma when she's wearing heels.
* NecessaryDrawback: The [[KamehameHadoken Final Flash]] is powerful enough to present a serious threat to [[BigBad Perfect Cell]], despite Cell being so much stronger than Vegeta at that point it was borderline ridiculous. Given the size of the beam and the amount of damage a glancing blow did, it likely would've vaporized Cell and ended the arc prematurely had it hit cleanly. But it also took most of an episode to charge up, time Vegeta was able to get by appealing to Cell's BloodKnight tendencies and ''daring'' him to try and NoSell the attack. Cell realized at the last second that it was an actual threat and tried to dodge, but still lost an arm and a good chunk of his chest. Later against a [[EliteMooks Cell Jr.]], Vegeta tries skipping the long charge-up sequence but this makes the attack much weaker and thus ineffective.
* NeverGetsFat: Like Goku, Vegeta is a BigEater, but he still keeps his muscular physique every time he's on screen or page.
* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: The innate ability to sense energy is meant to be quite rare in the series, hence why Frieza's entire army (and even Frieza himself) utilize scouter devices. Vegeta relied on a scouter when we first meet him -- although he knew not to trust them entirely -- yet by the Namek Saga he randomly gains the ability to sense energy all on his own. However, he isn't as good at it compare to the Earthlings. In ''Battle Of Gods'' he gains a power boost through anger, something no saiyan other than Gohan had done before besides their initial super saiyan transformations. In ''Super'', he learns Super Saiyan Blue off-screen by training with Whis and, unlike Goku, he gained god energy without the ritual.
* NighInvulnerability: The only heroic character that rivals or even surpasses Goku in durability without a healing factor. The difference between them is how their damage is usually portrayed. Most of the time, [[ComicallyInvincibleHero Goku takes a lot of punishment with no visible effect on him outside of minor annoyances or pain]]. Vegeta's battle damage is shown more realistically with him bleeding, limping, coughing up blood, and limbs broken. [[{{Determinator}} None of that stops him from getting back up and fighting]]. His endurance frightened Kid Buu, who showed no fear of anything outside of the Super Spirit Bomb, and he also takes several hits from ''Beerus'' when even Goku went down in two hits. Just how invulnerable Vegeta really is was demonstrated in episode 128 as [[spoiler: Jiren literally beat the ki out of him, and he kept getting back up. No matter how injured, or close to death, not ''once'' did Vegeta stay down.]]
* NinetiesAntiHero: A classic example. Started off as just another psychotic villain, but evolves into this trope during the Frieza and Cell sagas. Even after becoming a full-on good guy in the fight against Buu, he still retains a shred of his former badassery, such as punching out his opponent for mouthing off to him at the World Martial Art Tournament.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero:
** A significant chunk of the problems in ''Z'' can be traced back to Vegeta:
*** The entire reason Frieza transformed in the first place during the battle on Namek is because Vegeta was stupid enough to goad him into doing so, thinking he wouldn't get that much stronger. He's proven wrong [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown in the worst possible way]].
*** During the Cell Saga, he deliberately ''let'' Cell absorb 18 and become perfect for the sake of a good and challenging fight. Not only does he lose the subsequent fight pathetically, but his actions lead directly to the Cell Games, and ultimately Goku's second death. While beating him up, Cell even [[LampshadeHanging rubs in Vegeta's face how stupid he was to help him]].
*** After Trunks was murdered by Cell, Vegeta goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge. His efforts not only did nothing to Cell, but nearly got him killed. He only survived because Gohan shielded him from a fatal blast that disabled his left arm and reduced his power by half, giving Cell the advantage since Gohan was still stronger. [[WhatTheHellHero Krillin outright calls Vegeta an idiot for doing so, since Trunks could still be revived by the Dragon Balls]].
*** The entire reason Majin Buu was awakened in the first place is because Vegeta deliberately let Babidi turn him into a Majin so he could have the power to fight Goku, and the subsequent fight provided the energy Buu needed to revive. Vegeta ''knew'' this would happen, but was so fixated on topping Goku that he didn't care. From here, the Buu Saga consists of the entire universe paying the price for Vegeta's selfishness.
*** Him pulling down the pod that held Fat Buu forced Buu to transform back into his original, pure evil form. Granted, if he hadn't, they would have been killed by Super Buu, but reverting Buu back to his most dangerous form caused the destruction of Earth, the deaths of Gohan, Goten, Trunks, Piccolo, Tien, and Chiaotzu, several planets, and nearly got the dead fighters in Otherworld destroyed.
** A smaller example happens in ''Super'', where before the Tournament of Destroyers, Vegeta insists upon a written test so it can prove all the fighters aren't just idiots. However, this test got Majin Buu disqualified (who not only fell asleep, but misspelled his own name) before he could do anything, and [[BookDumb Goku]] just barely passed the requirement. Combined with the fact that [[spoiler:Monaka is a weakling who's only there to motivate Goku and Vegeta]], their team's already-limited number suffered from that test.
* NoBadassToHisValet: Vegeta is a hardcore warrior who [[ReformedButNotTamed even when tamed]] often has a bad, jerkish attitude. He is also a PhysicalGod second only to Goku. To Bulma, Vegeta is her pigheaded husband and will yell at him to get him to do what she wants (which is the exact reason why she gets away with it; [[HasAtype Saiyans like strong-willed women]]).
* NoChallengeEqualsNoSatisfaction: As an unrepentant BloodKnight, he loves a good fight and fighting people that can push his limits. Unlike Goku, however, who enjoys fighting people who can beat him, Vegeta only wants his opponents to be strong enough to give him a reasonable challenge before he decides to stomp them into the ground (before his CharacterDevelopment, at any rate). This can be seen when he fights Goku on Earth. At first, he enjoys toying with Goku since he assumes that he's only strong enough to give him a decent battle, but as soon as Goku begins to overpower him, he completely loses it. Also, when he fights Semi-Perfect Cell, he quickly becomes bored after knocking Cell around for a few minutes and complains about how Cell is so weak that he can't fully test his new power. Cell takes advantage of this and tells Vegeta that if he becomes complete that he will easily beat him. Vegeta allows Cell to absorb Android 18, assuming Cell will only become strong enough to give him a good fight, not that he can actually beat him.
* NobodyCallsMeChicken: Calling him a coward is a major BerserkButton. In ''Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan'', Piccolo doing so is enough to snap him out of his shock and attack Broly.
* NobleDemon: Became this by the end of the Frieza arc. Whilst he still wasn't a remotely nice person, he wasn't anywhere near as evil as he used to be.
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: He experiences this at least once per season.
* NoHuggingNoKissing: Implied to be ''subverted'' in ''Super''. When Future Trunks bites a Senzu and gives them to Future Mai via kiss, Goku was surprised that Senzu could be shared that way. Vegeta's responds, "But you're ''married''!".
* NoMoreHoldingBackSpeech: During the final battle with Kid Buu, Vegeta has a long internal monologue in which he comes to terms with Goku being better than him. After spending most of the series resenting Goku for this and trying to surpass him by any means, Vegeta finally lets go of his grudge. The best part, [[Anime/DragonBallZResurrectionF by him letting go he gains the ability to almost bridge the gap between them]]:
--> '''Vegeta:''' Amazing. How do you do it, Kakarot? [[{{Determinator}} You've always been like this, ever since the day I first met you; always ready to meet the next challenge, even if it's bigger than you are.]] It was the same on Namek, [[MyKungFuIsStrongerThanYours you had improved so much that it made Recoome like he was standing still. Your power had increased so dramatically since our battle on Earth that I thought you had done it, I thought that you had become a Super Saiyan!]] It tore me apart! How could a low-class soldier accomplish so easily what I... I had to struggle my whole life to achieve!? [[TheProphecy After three millennia, it has finally happened; a new Super Saiyan has emerged]], and, somehow, I have become this pauper's witness. Then at last, it happened. I too transformed. After living every moment of every day for the singular purpose of surpassing you, I finally became a Super Saiyan myself, the Prince had reclaimed his throne and fulfilled his destiny. [[CantCatchUp But no matter how strong I became, your power still exceeded mine.]] [[HeroicResolve At first, I though it was your loved ones; that it was your instinct to protect them that spurred you on and pushed you beyond your limits.]] But then I found myself with a family of my own, and my power... didn't increase at all. [[BloodKnight I used to fight for the sheer of pleasure of it; for the thrill of the hunt, oh I had the strength unmeasurable... I spared no one.]] [[EasilyForgiven And yet, you showed mercy to everyone, even your fiercest enemies, even me!]] [[TechnicalPacifist Yet, you never fought to kill, or for revenge.]] [[SpiritedCompetitor Only to test your limits and to push yourself beyond them, to become the strongest you could possibly be.]] [[BlueAndOrangeMorality How can a Saiyan fight like that and at the same time be so gentle that he wouldn't hurt a fly? It makes me angry just thinking about it!]] [[CharacterDevelopment But, perhaps it is my anger that has made me blind to the truth for so long. I see it now, this day has made it all too clear.]] [[WorthyOpponent You're better than me Kakarot. You are the best.]]
* NoNonsenseNemesis: When he's not letting his pride get the best of him, he becomes this. He unhesitatingly and successfully kills the Ginyu Force members after Goku disabled them, and in ''Resurrection ‘F’'', right before laying the smackdown on Frieza, he flat-out states that he's nowhere near as merciful as Goku and ''won't'' give Frieza the chance to walk away alive. When fighting against [[spoiler: Goku Black]], he pulls out all the stops and immediately hits him with his full power, [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge driven by his desire for vengeance]] after all the things Black has done to his future family.
* NoSocialSkills: Vegeta doesn't seem to know how to not be extremely rude, threatening, or how to stop hurling insults at people. By the time Dragon Ball Super happens the Z Fighters know not to take his constant rage personally and that he's either just being honest or doesn't want to admit he enjoys the company. Other than Goku, who has even less social skills and bothers Vegeta constantly, everyone else knows to give him some space and let him interact with others at his own pace.
* NoSympathy:
** One of Vegeta's main character traits. When Yamcha dies from a suicide attack from a Saibamen, he orders Krillin to pick the trash from the battlefield. Even after he become somewhat good, he laughs at the Namekians he killed not being wished back because he wasn't one of Frieza's men and regularly demeans the cast for being weak and useless. It is not until near the end of the Cell Games that begins to show any empathy towards others.
** Goes hand-and-hand with being TheFriendNobodyLikes, especially during the Android/Cell Saga. Outside of Trunks, Gohan, and a lesser extent Bulma, none of the Z-Fighters cared when he's injured or in danger. Even when he's asking for Senzu, they are in no hurry to give it to him and Krillin admits that he doesn't care if Vegeta's dies. After the seven year timeskip, they do become more fond of Vegeta and mourn him when he dies to defeat Buu.
* NominalHero: Goes through this phase as part of his slow but eventual HeelFaceTurn, starting in the Namek arc as a VillainProtagonist seeking to overthrow his former master, and in the Cell and Buu arcs, defending Earth, but only for his own selfish reasons. After his death and subsequent pseudo-revival in terms of coming back to Earth for one day, he fights for the Earth for the sake of defending it for the first time and officially moved to GoodIsNotNice by the end of ''Z''.
* NotBrainwashed: He ''let'' Babidi turn him into Majin Vegeta for the power-up that comes with being turned into a Majin. He hoped that it would allow him to recapture [[EvilFeelsGood the feeling of his days as the Evil Prince]] and finally have a chance to defeat Son Goku.
* NoBrows: [[spoiler:Finally achieves a form with this look during his fight with Granolah, achieving a counterpart to Ultra Instinct he refers to as Ultra Ego.]]
* NotQuiteDead: He got hit point-blank by Goku's Spirit Bomb and was sent flying into the air before landed back to earth. Everyone thought he was dead. He wasn't.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:O-S]]
* 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.
* OnceDoneNeverForgotten: Dragon Ball [=FighterZ=] implies Goku constantly brings up the fact that, not only was Vegeta evil once, but that he also almost blew up Earth on several occasions. Much to Vegeta's dismay.
* OneManArmy: Took on and defeated most of Frieza's army by himself.
* OneWingedAngel: Vegeta's Great Ape form, which he used to literally crush Goku.
* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Towards [[InsistentTerminology Kakarot]] of course. He won't let anyone kill him before he has his chance at a rematch.
--> "[[FoeYay Kakarot is]] '''''[[FoeYay MINE!!!]]'''''"
* OnlyOneName: Like all known Saiyans, he doesn't appear to have a last name.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness:
** 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.
** When the normally [[{{Determinator}} prideful and determined]] Vegeta flat out gives up during his battle with Final Form Frieza, you know he's screwed.
** 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]].
** After Gohan sacrifices the use of his limb to save him from Cell, Vegeta ''apologizes'' to Gohan for being such a burden. Gohan notes how out-of-character this is, [[DespairEventHorizon saying that Vegeta must know how truly hopeless everything is]].
** He's noticeably respectful towards Whis, greeting and bowing when he returns home. He even lowers his head and begs Whis to train him when he learns that he's Beerus' mentor. In general amount of times Vegeta is completely polite and respectful to anyone in the entire series can be counted on two hands and most of those moments are in Super after his character development from Z. Only those who are the strongest and most honorable fighters (that aren't Kakarot) have ever gained this privilege.
** When he kills Captain Ginyu in ''Super'', instead of having his usual glee when he murders someone, he seemed more angry and disgusted.
** 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.
** When he hears that [[spoiler: Goku Black attempted to murder his future son and killed his future wife, the usually temperamental Vegeta is so pissed off that he goes right past his usual UnstoppableRage and into a determined TranquilFury that would only abate when Fusion Zamasu is dead.]]
** 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.
* OrcusOnHisThrone: During his and Nappa's attack on Earth, he merely stood back and watched the show while Nappa wiped the floor with the Z-Fighters, only stepping in after Goku broke Nappa's back. Averted from the Namek Saga onwards, where Vegeta readily gets his own hands dirty.
* OurWerebeastsAreDifferent: He, like all Saiyans with tails, turns into a giant were-monkey under the light of a full moon. Unique to Vegeta, he can control his transform state, unlike Goku and Gohan who turn into rampaging beasts and can create his own false moon, allowing him to transform at any time.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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, 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''.
* OvershadowedByAwesome:
** Although almost every character gets hits by this, especially compared to Goku, Vegeta especially stands out. When he was first introduced, he was the most powerful character in the series, easily outpacing Goku even after his year of training. Then we find out his boss, Frieza, makes him look like an insect and he's completely overshadowed by Goku once he goes Super Saiyan. When Vegeta becomes a Super Saiyan, he becomes equal if not a little stronger than Goku, only to be utterly outclassed by Android 18. After training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, he becomes far stronger than the androids and surpasses Goku, but then falls completely short against Perfect Cell. Goku then surpasses him again, leaving him completely in the dust, and then Gohan blows them both out of the water by going Super Saiyan 2. This all reached a head in the Buu Saga where after finding out that Goku was still stronger than him, he sells his soul to Babidi. As a Majin, he's finally Goku's equal again, only to find out that Goku has another level of Super Sayian ''and'' he can't compete with any form of Buu.
** This is {{Downplayed}} in the canon movies and ''Super''. He's still weaker than Goku, but they're about equal by ''Resurrection ‘F’''... only to come up once again during the [[AdaptationalBadass anime version of]] the tournament against Universe 6 where Hit wipes the floor with him, and Goku reveals he can [[spoiler: combine Kaio-Ken with the Super Saiyan Blue]], far surpassing Vegeta's power for short periods of time (in the manga, Goku can't do this, and they stay equal). Vegeta steps out of the shadow in Episode 63, after spending six months training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber and he wipes the floor with [[spoiler: Goku Black]], at least until he gets stronger again. Then in the Tournament of Power, while Goku attains Ultra Instinct and uses it to fight Jiren, Vegeta isn't too far yet again as [[spoiler:he broke his innermost shell too and evolved his Super Saiyan Blue form to a unique higher level, giving him the power to battle and ring-out God of Destruction Top. In the anime, it proves outclassed against a holding-back Jiren -- with the caveat that Vegeta expended most of his form's energy/stamina against Top -- whereas in the manga is ''woefully'' outclassed by that same foe, even without said caveat]].
** The manga version of ''Super'' mostly averts this, with Goku and Vegeta simply being equals after training with Whis. One exception being [[spoiler:the battle with Fused Zamasu, where Goku is the only one who can fight him alone with his CSSB form. Note that Goku and Vegeta explicitly have the same ''power'' at that time, but Goku's mastery and skill means only he can maintain that level of power for longer than a few seconds.]] Another being that, [[spoiler:while Vegeta gains an evolved CSSB in the Tournament of Power -- the manga equivalent of his anime-exclusive Beyond Blue -- he's still below Ultra Instinct Goku. His Ultra Ego form, while seemingly incomplete, appears to surpass Ultra Instinct in terms of raw power due to a focus on taking damage in order to power up, allowing him to completely dominate Granolah in the first half of their fight.]]
* OverprotectiveDad: Acts like one towards Bulla in ''GT''. In ''Super'', he goes Super Saiyan Blue every time someone makes Bulla cry.
* PapaWolf:
** 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.
** After Bulla is born, the mere sound of her crying is enough to enrage Vegeta into going SSJB.
** The desire to protect his family (along with his promise to Cabba and his pride) is what finally gives him the push to [[spoiler:flatten Top with ''Final Explosion'', destroying more than half of the stage.]]
* ParentalNeglect:
** 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.
** In Super, as soon as Bulma is pregnant again with Bulla, Vegeta wants to subvert this just so he can be there for them when she is born, to the point of instantly refusing a good fight during the Zen Exhibition Match when Goku suggests that staying with Bulma will let him get even more powerful than Vegeta.
* ParentalSubstitute: Whenever Goku and Piccolo aren't around, he begrudgingly fills this role for Gohan, especially after Trunks is born. It's first seen when he acts in the boy's defense against Frieza on Namek, and grows from there.
* 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.
* PerpetualFrowner: When not being a SmugSmiler, he's this.
* PetTheDog:
** [[BlueAndOrangeMorality A very Saiyan type of pet the dog]], but he waited until Goku lost consciousness before rescuing him from Android 19. Given how Saiyans value their pride over their own lives, he most likely did this to preserve Goku's dignity instead of showing him up, much like how Trunks waited until Vegeta was unconscious before confronting Cell.
** When the other Z-fighters are getting beaten by the Androids, Vegeta notably tries to disregard Android 18 (who just ''broke his arm'', mind you) and instead tries to go after Android 17 when he notices the latter has Tien Shinhan in a stranglehold. 18 doesn't let him, though.
** After Vegeta spends several minutes beating the crap out of Cell, he reveals with some pride that his son Trunks is almost as powerful as him and even if Cell did somehow beat him, Trunks would destroy him in an instant. Given what a jerk Vegeta has been to Trunks up to that point, it is a high compliment.
** He takes Trunks to the park after he manages to hit him during their sparring match.
** In another weird way, Vegeta knocking Goku out so he can confront Buu by himself. He primarily did it because he saw Buu's resurrection as his fault, but also he didn't want Goku to sacrifice himself again. He also did it as a form of apology to Goku for getting him killed by Cell since he was the reason why things got so bad by helping Cell to become perfect.
** Vegeta also fights Buu because he [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge believes that he murdered Gohan.]]
** Before he sacrifices himself to Buu, he gives a heart-to-heart speech to Trunks and then hugs him. He's also had many of these moments throughout the series.
** Despite being miserable for most of it, he tolerates an entire day at an amusement park for Trunks because he promised to go.
** He frequently plays the role of Goten's babysitter due to how much time he and Trunks spend at Bulma's house in combination with Bulma being busy with work to do it [[ToughLove and keeps them out of trouble in his own way]]. He also sometimes gives his (very blunt and angry) advice to both of them, which is usually out of legitimate concern.
** He helps his fellow Saiyan Cabba become a Super Saiyan by beating the shit out of him and threatening to murder his family and blow up his planet. That being said, considering how he and Goku went Super Saiyan, it might have seemed like the most efficient approach to him.
** He takes Piccolo being denied a glorious victory against an opponent far stronger than the Namekian through dishonorable means personally and tells Piccolo to forfeit the competition so he will have the opportunity to humiliate the guilty party with his own hands.
** During the Tournament of Power, he states his intent is to win the wish on the Super Dragonballs and use it to resurrect Universe 6 (which will have been erased in the event of Vegeta's victory) so that Cabba can fulfill his promise of showing him the home world of the Saiyans of that universe.
** 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: One of his beefs with Goku, and primary motivations to surpass him, is that Goku is a lower-class Saiyan, born at the absolute bottom of the pecking order, and thus should be a nobody while he's the Saiyan prince and should be the strongest by default.
* PornStache: In ''GT''. Thankfully, Bulla [[CallingTheOldManOut makes him shave it off]].
* ThePowerOfLove: When motivated by love, Vegeta can be outright ''terrifying.''
** Even when faced with the imminent obliteration of all sentient life at the hands of Buu, Vegeta refused to unite with Kakarot because he felt the latter warrior besmirched his pride and honor by refusing to fight him as a Super Saiyan 3. The motivating force that ''finally'' shattered his all-important pride was the ''possibility'' of saving his wife and son from Buu's gullet. ''Love'' is what allowed Vegito, the ultimate Saiyan Warrior, to finally come into existence.
** Vegeta punched [[DestroyerDeity Beerus]] in the face and drew blood because Beerus assaulted his wife.
** How he ends up achieving a level beyond Super Saiyan Blue and utterly demolishing a Destruction-powered Top, both in the Tournament of Power. The first happens when he remembers his promise to bring Cabba back to life, should universe 6 be eliminated. The second happens when he literally has his back against the wall and realizes that if he loses, his family will end up erased because of it.
** In the anime, the only reason he lasted so long against Jiren's beating and attempts to crush his values were the visions of Bulma telling him to keep going. Approaching the verge of unconsciousness multiple times, his thoughts of his loved ones push him through the incredible pain. When Jiren questions why he continues when it is literally impossible for him to do anything, Vegeta tells Jiren that explaining where his strength comes from to an emotionless monster like him would be a complete waste of time. [[spoiler: Even when he inevitably fails, his desire to protect her no matter what leads to a massive choice for his character, coming to the decision to donate his last energy to Goku as he falls from the stage and telepathically telling Kakarot he trusts him to win.]]
* PragmaticVillainy:
** Both he and Nappa are surprised that [[HybridPower human-Saiyan hybrids are more powerful than either race alone]]. Nappa suggests that they conquer the Earth, then [[MarsNeedsWomen use their women to breed a race of powerful warriors]]. Vegeta promptly shoots him down -- not because he's against the plan itself, but because it would be stupid to breed a race of warriors that would one day be more powerful than they are.
** When they first arrive on Earth, Nappa's very first act is to blow up an entire city ForTheEvulz; Vegeta scolds him for it... because one of the Dragon Balls might have been in the city and Nappa may have destroyed it.
** He was also going to let Goku reunite with his friends, but upon realizing Goku's stronger than expected, he orders Nappa to execute everyone so they won't have an issue later.
** 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.
* PretenderDiss: The first time Goku Black fights Vegeta, he wins decisively. The second time, Vegeta just ''whales'' on him while dishing out a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, declaring that [[spoiler:Black is just a fake Saiyan who stole Goku's body and thus the power Goku worked so hard to achieve, and he could ''never'' use Goku's body as well as the real deal.]]
-->'''Black''': How? How can there be a such a power gap between us!?\\
'''Vegeta:''' You really want to know? That's simple: you're just an interloper, a [[spoiler:Saiyan imposter]], while I'm the real thing! THE ALMIGHTY PRINCE VEGETA!
* {{Pride}}: Vegeta is the god of this trope.
** In the Cell Arc. Vegeta's inflated ego and [[BloodKnight Saiyan instincts of wanting a challenging opponent]] led him to allowing Cell to absorb 18 and become complete. Cell knowing about Saiyan pride fed Vegeta exactly what he wanted to hear. Of course, Vegeta's ego was sorely wounded once Perfect Cell thoroughly outclasses Vegeta at his strongest and beats him unconscious.
** Also in the Cell Arc, Vegeta admitted that he ''hates'' it whenever he has to eat a Senzu Bean to heal his wounds and regain his strength.
** In the Buu Arc. Vegeta allowed himself to be possessed by Babidi in order to gain the boost in power that comes with it. However, when Babidi tries to order Vegeta around, to his surprise Vegeta is able to defy his commands and stubbornly wishes to fight Goku and no one else. Vegeta's pride is so huge it allowed him to override [[MindManipulation mind control]], declaring that a proud Saiyan prince like him would never be a slave to anyone.
--->"[[https://youtube.com/watch?v=TzLUgXNeCk8 There's one thing a Saiyan always keeps...]]"
** In ''Battle of Gods'', it's been toned down to the point that he doesn't mind swallowing it if he absolutely ''has'' to. His song and dance routine for Beerus proves that much.
** It resurfaces again in ''Super'', when the Commeson sucks out Vegeta's powers to create Copy-Vegeta, the purple Vegeta doppelganger is alike Vegeta in every way, including personality. When Copy-Gryll (the leader of the Commeson) tries to give him orders, Copy-Vegeta disobeys and only wishes to fight Goku. When forced to comply by shocking him, Copy-Vegeta proceeds to kill Copy-Gryll, declaring Vegeta took orders from no one. During the fight between Goku and Copy-Vegeta, the real Vegeta even scolds Copy-Vegeta for fighting so lousily and states [[HonorBeforeReason he would rather die than lose in such a manner]].
** In ''Super'', his pride has changed from being solely about his strength to being about his accomplishments and that of the Saiyan race. His family, and the mentor-student relationship with Cabba in particular are sources of great pride to him, as is the thought of seeing the Saiyan race, even if from another universe, improving in battle, because he is still the Saiyan Prince. This pride is so central to Vegeta's character that if the only way to be Goku's better is to give it up, he would rather ''[[OOCIsSeriousBusiness remain second best]]''.
---> '''Jiren:''' Your fighting style reeks of arrogance, ego infects your techniques and makes them impure -- you think you're entitled to greatness.\\
'''Vegeta:''' Is that supposed to be insulting? You say I'm arrogant, I say ''[[InsultBackfire damn right!]]'' That's ''pride''! Pride in the Saiyan I am! The mighty prince of the ultimate warrior race!
* PrideBeforeAFall: Happens ''every'' time Vegeta gets a huge power boost, at least in Z.
** In the Namek/Frieza Saga, he goes to Namek, stronger than ever after his near-death battle on Earth, and gets nearly killed by a transformed Zarbon after taking down two of Frieza's best men. After he gets a boost from that battle and takes care of Zarbon, the Ginyu Force comes and wipe the floor with him. Then once again, he gets a major power-up to fight Frieza and he gets easily murdered.
** In the Android/Cell Saga, he easily destroys Android 19 before getting the ever loving crap beating out of him by Android 18. After going into Hyperbolic Time Chamber and becoming 'Super Vegeta', he picks apart Semi-Perfect Cell only for his pride to get the best of him and allow Cell to become complete. After that, he can never touch Cell again and his actions lead to Trunks being murdered, and Goku sacrificing himself.
** Reaches in climax in the Buu Saga. After selling his soul to Babidi and allowing himself to be [[DemonicPossession possessed]] to gain more power, he tries to fight Buu only to be completely outmatched. Even giving his life did nothing, and Goku still remained more powerful than him. Only THEN does the lesson of humility finally stick.
* PrinciplesZealot:
** He will not -- repeat, '''WILL NOT''' abandon his Saiyan pride or his love of his family for ''anything'' after his CharacterDevelopment in ''Z''. ''Even if it results in him never becoming stronger than Kakarot.'' He'd rather die than throw away who he is. He contrasts himself to Top in this regard, who casts aside his belief in justice when the going gets rough.
-->'''Top:''' Our universe will remain, no matter the price! ''Hakai!''\\
''(Vegeta yells and [[BeyondTheImpossible punches his way through the Hakai sphere]], slugging Top afterward)''\\
'''Vegeta:''' Only a failure abandons his principles and pride! Do you actually think I'd let you stop me!?
** It should be noted that while he ''does'' have his pride in being a Saiyan, CharacterDevelopment eventually leads to him admitting the Saiyans ultimately [[KarmicDeath got what they deserved.]]
* TheProudElite: He fits the trope perfectly, especially considering how he's always going on about how (A) the Saiyans are a race of elite fighters who value their pride, and (B) as the Prince who would be King he is "the culmination of everything superior in the Saiyan race."
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: A TropeCodifier for manga and anime. He is extremely proud of his race and calls them the greatest warrior race in the universe. He is also very quick to tell or remind people that he is the Prince of All Saiyans.
** This pride even extends to other universes, where he gets on Cabba, a Saiyan from Universe 6, for not honoring his Saiyans pride during their match.
** When Frost reveals that he's a backstabbing, cheating, lying, honourless deceiver, and ''revels'' in not having to keep up his BitchInSheepsClothing, Vegeta ''screams'' four words which are rooted firmly in this trope before delivering a CurbStompBattle by way of MegatonPunch.
---> '''Vegeta:''' ''YOU MAKE ME '''SICK!!'''''
* PsychopathicManchild: Has shades of Type C. His determination to surpass Goku and constant bragging about how he's the Prince of all Saiyans sounds like a petulant spoiled brat throwing a tantrum because no one's kissing his ass. Especially in the Buu Saga: while fighting Goku as Majin Vegeta, he rants about how Goku's very existence is an insult to him because even Goku's ''son'' had surpassed him at some point. Thankfully for everyone he gets over this by the end of the Buu Saga.
* PsychoticSmirk: One of the most iconic users of this trope in anime. If he's not scowling, he's doing this. He keeps this habit even after becoming a good guy in late ''Z'' and ''Super''.
* 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.
* PutTheLaughterInSlaughter: During his Evil Prince days. He slaughtered an entire village of innocent Namekians all while laughing and acting smug, and during his battle with Goku, he ruthlessly crushed every bone in Goku's body with his bare hands, gleefully laughing his head off as Goku screamed bloody murder.
* RageQuit: During his fight with Goku, after Goku gains the upper hand and counters all his attacks Vegeta flips and tries to destroy the Earth with his Galick Gun. This leads to the iconic BeamOWar.
* ReadingsAreOffTheScale: On his first visit to Earth when his scouter read Goku's power level is at, well, [[MemeticMutation you know what it is]].
* RealMenWearPink: In the ''Super'' adaptation of ''Battle of Gods'', he takes on the role of chef to appease Beerus rather than dance for him. And when doing housework under Whis, he wears a pink apron when cutting grass and changing Beerus' sheets. ''[[DontWakeTheSleeper While he's sleeping]]''. There is also the infamous pink 'Bad Man' shirt he wore at the beginning of the Android Saga.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech:
** He gives one to [[spoiler:Goku Black]] of all people as he beats him up. [[spoiler:According to Vegeta, Goku Black is just a fake who's borrowing Goku's body, but can never use it as well as the original]].
** 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.
* RedemptionDemotion:
** He eventually caught onto this, which is why he allows Babidi to make him a Majin. He ''does'' manage to avoid the worst of this trope however, unlike most of the others who get hit with it in this series. Vegeta manages to remain in the top three among the heroes in terms of power and ability fairly consistently. He's even the number two behind Goku during the latter parts of the Frieza Saga and the beginning of the Buu Saga. He also co-stars with Goku in ''Resurrection ‘F’'' and gets one of the bigger roles in ''Battle of Gods''.
** 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.
* RedemptionEarnsLife: When Vegeta asked everyone except for the evil people to be revived after the Earth was restored, he was one of the people brought back, showing that at least in the eyes of the Namekian Dragon, Vegeta wasn't evil anymore. [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre He didn't see it coming at all.]]
* 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.
* RedemptionInTheRain: He ''[[ScreamingWarrior screams]]'' the rain clouds away.
* 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]].
* TheResenter: From the end of the Frieza Saga to the near the end of the series, he was very resentful towards Goku for always being stronger than him to the point it became one of his defining characteristics.
* ResurrectedForAJob: After his death during the Buu Saga. With the fight with Buu becoming increasingly dire, King Yemma and Fortuneteller Baba semi-revive Vegeta and send him to Earth to help Goku.
* 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.
* RevengeBeforeReason:
** After Cell kills Future Trunks, Vegeta has a JerkassRealization about his poor treatment of the latter and attacks Cell in a rage, doing no damage and causing Gohan to suffer a GameBreakingInjury by TakingTheBullet for him. At the time, Trunks could still be revived by the Dragon Balls, and Gohan could still have defeated Cell, so Vegeta freaked out like that for nothing; Krillin even flat-out calls him an idiot.
** During the Buu Saga, he lets Babidi turn him into a Majin for the sake of getting enough power to beat Goku. He ''knew'' that the resulting fight would give Babidi enough energy to revive Majin Buu, but was so obsessed with topping Goku that he ''just didn't care''. From that point on, the remainder the Buu Saga consists of the rest of the universe paying the price for Vegeta's selfishness and obsession.
* TheRival:
** While not the first, he's Goku's biggest one, and a good candidate for the TropeCodifier of the archetypical anime/manga rival.
** Before Goku, Cui, who had the same power level as him, as well as Zarbon and Dodoria. Other comparable fighters in the organization were the Ginyu Force and [[Anime/YoSonGokuAndHisFriendsReturn Abo and Kado]] (who Vegeta was stronger than under a full moon but weaker than otherwise).
** Directly {{invoked|Trope}} by Vegeta in ''Resurrection 'F'''. After Frieza tells him that he will make Vegeta supreme commander if he personally kills Goku, Vegeta refuses, saying that although he can't stand Goku it is their rivalry that drives him to become stronger.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: He's had his fair few of these. The first time was when Cell murdered his Future son, prompting him to go into an UnstoppableRage and try to take Cell apart with his bare hands. His rampage against Fat Buu was partially motivated by him believing that he murdered Gohan. [[spoiler: Then when Goku Black kills his Future wife and tries to kill Future Trunks, [[TranquilFury then it's safe to say that Vegeta won't be giving up the ghost on that one until the day he violently murders him.]]]]
* 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.
* RoyalBrat: In his youth and even as an adult he still have signs of this, like him losing it when he was getting beating up by Goku and decides to RageQuit out of spite.
* RoyaltySuperpower: He initially believes that a Super Saiyan is this along with one needing to be the ChosenOne. He is proven very wrong when he couldn't ascend to defeat Frieza and it's [[TheRival Goku]] who becomes the first Super Saiyan in a thousand years.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Say what you will about his character, but he isn't the type to sit around and let people do stuff for him, unless it's beneath his notice, like how he let Nappa wipe the floor with the Earth defenders since him joining in would end the 'fight' in seconds. The moment Nappa proves to be ineffective, he steps in.
* {{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.
* SadisticChoice: After becoming a Majin, he forces Goku into one. Either Goku fights him and risk awakening Majin Buu who has the power to destroy the universe, or he lets Vegeta keep killing people at the World Martial Arts Tournament, which can possibly kill both of their families. Goku chooses to fight Vegeta and beat him before they can awaken Buu. He fails and Vegeta's selfishness costs him his life.
* SanityHasAdvantages: Vegeta is all around a better, smarter fighter and calmer person when he's not letting his ego and HairTriggerTemper run his actions. Best displayed in the Namek Saga, where he's able to play it smart against Frieza's army, defeating many of them and even managing to snag the Dragon Balls right under their nose. Then comes the Cell Saga, where he becomes a Super Saiyan and completely throws all of that away, making things ''much'' worse before they get any better.
* SanitySlippage:
** While possessed by Babidi and releasing all the evil in his heart. He then breaks of Babidi's control and becomes more ruthless and unhinged.
** During his fight with Goku in the Saiyan Saga, Vegeta becomes enraged that Goku made him bleed to the point where he almost blew up the planet.
* ScarsAreForever: Has a scar on his back from where Yajirobe slashed him in the Saiyan Saga.
* SecondPlaceIsForLosers: He can't ''stand'' being AlwaysSecondBest to Goku, which plays a key factor in his DealWithTheDevil during the Buu Saga. Thankfully, by the end of said saga, he's accepted that Goku's better than him and made peace with it.
-->'''Vegeta''': I will not live my life as your second! That time is over!
* SenselessSacrifice: Despite creating a giant blast that can be seen from space, Vegeta's sacrifice fails to kill Buu. He ''isn't'' happy when he learns this from King Yemma.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Zigzagged, although Vegeta acts more macho than Goku, he is actually more emotional, especially when it comes to showing anger. He also gives into his feelings and is seen crying more than Goku.
* 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.
* ShipperOnDeck: Yes, ''[[ProudWarriorRaceGuy even Vegeta]]'' doesn't hesitate to embarrass his son in front of his LoveInterest like any good father should. It didn't help their case that Future Trunks and Mai's attempts to convince him otherwise weren't fooling ''anyone'', including ''[[IdiotHero Goku.]]''
* ShirtlessScene: Particularly when training for the coming androids.
* ShootTheShaggyDogStory:
** When Frieza is going into his final form, Vegeta pulls off a DeliberateInjuryGambit, having Krillin mortally wound him and then having Dende [[HealingHands heal him]] in order to obtain a [[CameBackStrong Zenkai boost]], believing this will allow him to ascend and become a Super Saiyan. Sadly, while it ''does'' make him much stronger, Frieza is still way out of his league, and he doesn't become a Super Saiyan; once this happens, Vegeta completely loses the will to fight before Frieza [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown beats him to]] [[ColdBloodedTorture a bloody pulp]]. When Frieza subsequently finishes him off, Vegeta spends his final moments tearfully begging Goku to defeat Frieza and avenge the Saiyans.
** 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.
--->'''Vegeta''': I sent myself into a cold oblivion, and I did it on a lie!
* ShowerScene: He has a scene at the start of the Cell saga, partly to showcase his many and varied scars, and partly to highlight the UnresolvedSexualTension between Vegeta and Bulma, but mostly to get him to wear the infamous pink "BADMAN" shirt and bright yellow pants.
* ShutUpKirk: When Shin calls Vegeta out on focusing on his "meaningless squabble" with Goku over saving the universe from Majin Buu, Vegeta responds with a MotiveRant about how humiliating he finds being Goku's second and how he wants to reclaim his honor after everything he's been through.
-->'''Vegeta''': "Meaningless", huh? '''''WHAT DO YOU KNOW OF MEANINGLESS?''''' Spend most of ''your'' life ruled by another...watch ''your'' race [[DyingRace dwindle to a handful]]...and then, tell me what has more meaning than your own strength! I have in me the blood of a Saiyan Prince! ''He'' is nothing but a joke! Yet I've had to watch him surpass me in strength, my destiny thrown to the wayside! He's...he's even [[EmbarrassingRescue saved my life as if I were a helpless child]]. He has stolen my honor. And his debts must be paid.
* 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.
* SignatureMove: Galick Gun (the move he used against Goku in their iconic BeamOWar), Big Bang Attack (which he used to finish off Android 19 after showing off his Super Saiyan form for the first time), and Final Flash (by far one of his strongest attacks).
* SimpleYetAwesome: The enhanced Super Saiyan Blue form that he attained in the Tournament of Power. It is less visually impressive than Goku's Ultra Instinct, merely being a different shade of blue, and it is also less powerful than Ultra Instinct. That being said, it still places Vegeta squarely in God of Destruction territory, and he can seemingly activate it at will. Could also be applied to Ultra Ego, which is much simpler in practice than Ultra Instinct (take the hit, hit back) but has the potential for seemingly limitless rapid growth.
* SixthRanger: To the protagonists on Namek.
* SixthRangerTraitor:
** To Frieza after he decides to fully rebel and fight to gain control of the Dragon Balls.
** He is also this to the protagonists when he sold his soul to Babidi in the Buu Saga. Although, this is {{Subverted}} in that Vegeta has no loyalty to Babidi and outright ignores his orders, doing whatever he wants. However, he is still a traitor in the sense that his direct actions leads to Buu being revived.
* SkewedPriorities: In the Buu Saga, he cared less about saving the world and more about getting powerful enough to beat Goku, which led him to allowing Babidi to turn him into Majin Vegeta, and led to [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Majin Buu getting released.]]
* SlasherSmile: When he's neither grumpy nor smug, but on a powertrip, he'll be wearing this. And he wears it ''well''.
* SmallNameBigEgo: Although he actually is among the fighting elite from the moment he's introduced, and by the end of the series legitimately ranks among the strongest fighters in the universe, Vegeta has a tough time seeing himself as anything but ''the'' best, period. By the end of the series, he has finally managed to accept that Goku is the better fighter, but it took multiple BreakTheHaughty moments, as well as him being killed ''[[DeathIsCheap twice]]'', for him to do so.
* TheSmartGuy: Seems to be this in [=GT=] and the post-Z movies. He notices that Baby has possessed Gohan, and that Omega Shenron is too powerful for him and Goku to defeat without fusion. After ''Battle of Gods'', [[spoiler: Whis]] points out that Vegeta thinks too much during a fight, which leads him to hesitate when he should act. And of all the Z-Fighters, Vegeta is the quickest to understand Bulma's inventions and even assists her if the situation calls for it.
* SmileOfApproval: After years of him being unable to stand Goku and wanting nothing more than to best his rival in combat, Vegeta finally has an epiphany in the Majin Buu Saga where he [[WorthyOpponent openly acknowledges Goku as being better than him]] and cracking a smile while he does so.
* SmugSmiler: When in battle, he's this, especially if he's confident enough to win.
* SmugSnake: Though he is actually quite smart, Vegeta typically falls into this due to his ego. While undoubtedly powerful, he has a ''very'' bad tendency to overestimate himself and underestimate his opponent, which often leads to an epic BreakTheHaughty moment. The most notable example of this is during the Cell Saga, when he becomes so confident that he's stronger than Cell no matter what that he deliberately allows Cell to absorb Android 18 and become perfect purely for the sake of a more challenging fight. [[CurbStompBattle He got one]], [[GoneHorriblyRight all right]].
* SmugSuper: When faced with an enemy that's not above him, his ego is backed up with his power. It's to the extent that he helps Cell absorb 18 and become perfect simply for the sake of having a challenge, arrogantly refusing to consider the possibility that he would actually ''lose'' until Cell's beating him to a pulp.
* 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.
** At the end of the Frieza Saga, a newly-revived Vegeta is delighted to see that Goku took his words to heart and achieved the Super Saiyan form.
--->'''Vegeta''': ''(laughs)'' Well, well, well. Kakarot, you dog! You did it! [[BeyondTheImpossible You actually did it!]] You're a Super Saiyan. I can see it.
** 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.
* SpacePirates: He was the prince of an entire race of pirates who stole planets by wiping out the inhabitants and selling them for a high price. Though given they were working for Frieza's company, most examples outside of their home planet Vegeta would more accurately be cases of space extirpation rather than "piracy". Nappa and he went to Earth not only for the Dragon Balls, but to also kill everyone and sell the planet. Although he does enjoy his job since he gets to kill and fight strong opponents, his true desire is to kill Frieza and take his place ruling the universe. By the time he cut ties with Frieza and his former life, he puts his pirate days behind him.
* SpannerInTheWorks:
** During the climactic BeamOWar between Gohan and Cell, the latter easily tanks Krillin, Piccolo, Yamcha and Tien's attempts to help Gohan by attacking him, swatting them away by merely raising his ''Ki''. Then Vegeta enters the fray and attacks him as well; Cell is genuinely surprised and thrown off by Vegeta's interference, which gives Gohan just the chance he needs to overpower Cell and kill him once and for all.
** Him being semi-revived completely screwed Super Buu, who was only seconds away from a complete victory since Goku had no one to fuse with except [[FakeUltimateHero Mr. Satan]].
** He screwed Super Buu again, who was about to kill Goku, by pulling down the pod that held Fat Buu. [[DeaderThanDead This action completely erased Super Buu from existence]].
** He becomes this to Frieza's revenge plan in ''Resurrection 'F'''. [[WorthyOpponent Frieza knows Goku will be powerful]] and [[CrazyPrepared has a backup all ready just in case he is defeated again]]. [[LockedOutOfTheLoop He didn't know Vegeta was on Earth and he sure in hell didn't know Vegeta can become a Super Saiyan, let alone a Super Saiyan Blue like Goku]]. Frieza's plan is entirely undone because he missed this vital piece of information.
* SphereOfDestruction: His FinishingMove the [[GratuitousEnglish Big Bang Attack]].
* SpitTake: He does this in ''GT'' when Bulma tells him that the machine she made can help him turn into Super Saiyan 4.
* TheStarscream: He ''was'' this to Frieza. He planned for years to rebel and overthrow Frieza, even before learning Frieza destroyed his planet. The Dragon Balls gave him his best opportunity since he could wish for immortality and in time, surpass Frieza. In the end, it didn't end well for him since he missed his chance to live forever and is tortured and killed by Frieza with little fanfare.
* StealthMentor: [[spoiler:Helps Cabba become Super Saiyan by acting like a villain.]]
* StealthPun: A particularly cruel one in the Frieza Saga. When Frieza's Death Beam punctures Vegeta's heart, he breaks down crying and tells Goku the sad story of the Saiyans' fate and begs Goku to avenge the Saiyans at any cost right before he dies which means he both literally and figuratively ''dies of a broken heart.''
* StockShonenHero: Despite being one of the {{Trope Codifier}}s for the StockShonenRival, Vegeta does possess some of the typical traits of a shonen hero; he is a HotBlooded {{Determinator}} who seeks to become the most powerful warrior in the universe.
* StockShonenRival: Vegeta is one of the {{Trope Codifier}}s. He started as a ArcVillain, and after he was defeated by Goku and co., he would then make it his life purpose to surpass Goku and later [[HazyFeelTurn gives into evil]] in an attempt to defeat Goku. He would later regret his actions and pull a true HeelFaceTurn.
* TheStoic: Vegeta tries to be this, often wearing a scowl or frowning. But Vegeta is far too passionate and prideful to stay stoic long and start trash talking his opponent.
* StoneWall: He's one of the most durable characters in the franchise, even once [[HorrifyingTheHorror scared Kid Buu]] after stubbornly refusing to stay down.
* StoryBreakerPower: After training with Whis he gains the power of godhood and is able to fuse it with a regular Super Saiyan to become a Super Saiyan Blue. He is also within striking distance of Goku again after falling behind during the events of the Cell Saga and is one of the top fighters in the entire universe. If Goku and he worked together against Golden Frieza, they would have ended the threat without any problem.
* StrongFamilyResemblance: He looks like a shorter version of his father without the beard and mustache -- and indeed, when he shows up with a beard in Super (post-three years in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber), he's a dead ringer for his father. His younger brother also looks like a shorter version of him. In contrast, both of his own children break this tradition by resembling their human mother, only slightly favoring Vegeta in their facial structure and athletic builds.
* SugarAndIcePersonality: Especially after CharacterDevelopment. He is distant and cold but has shown a caring and protective side to his loved ones.
* SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum: During the Saiyan Saga, he pulled this by trying to blow up the Earth, ''without'' showing the ability to travel without a space pod or survive in a vacuum, purely because he was pissed that Goku, a low-class warrior, had managed to land a hit on him and draw blood.
* SuperMode: Every Super Saiyan transromation he has so far in the franchise.
* SuperiorSuccessor: According to Vegeta, he surpassed his father when he was still a kid. Frieza agrees, saying that he didn't need to transform to kill King Vegeta.
* SupernaturallyYoungParent: Thanks to being a Saiyan he hasn't changed a day since the fight with Buu, while his wife aged less gracefully.
* SuperpoweredEvilSide:
** 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.
** 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.
* SuperpowerLottery: Finally hit the jackpot after training with Whis and gaining the power of godhood, making him Goku's true rival again.
* SupportingLeader: During the final fight against Kid Buu, and briefly against Majin Buu.
* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** Before his sacrifice against Majin Buu, Vegeta, being somewhat aware that DeathEqualsRedemption in the ''Dragon Ball'' world, optimistically asks Piccolo whether or not he would see Goku in the Other World. Piccolo tells him point-blank that unlike Goku, Vegeta has spent most of his life being a selfish, evil {{Jerkass}}, and one selfless act will ''not'' make up for it; therefore, Vegeta is most likely going to Hell when he dies. And indeed, he does.
** Working your body past its limits all the time will actually hinder you in the long run, since your body does need proper rest to get stronger. Being over-stressed also slows your reaction time since you're always tense. These weaknesses are noted by Whis.
* SweetAndSourGrapes: Before his HeelFaceTurn, he could never truly surpass Goku. In ''Battle of Gods'', long after he both pulled a Heel–Face Turn and stopped caring about surpassing Goku, he actually surpassed Goku by, in the words of a random [=YouTube=] commentator, punching the primal force of entropy and drawing blood. On top of that, he was a Super Saiyan 2 while doing that even though Goku got curbstomped at Super Saiyan 3.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:T-Y]]
* TameHisAnger: He took the longest to do this out of the main characters, but by the end of the Buu Saga he had made his peace with [[TheHero Goku's superiority]].
* TearsOfFear: When he realized he had no chance against Frieza. Pointed out by the narrator in the manga and King Kai in the anime.
* TearsOfJoy: In the anime, Vegeta is in tears when he sees Super Saiyan Goku. He is so overwhelmed that he can barely speak.
* TearsOfRemorse: As he self destructed in an attempt to kill Majin Buu.
* TechnicianVersusPerformer: The technician to Goku's performer, at least when his arrogance and temper doesn't get the best of him. He uses much more strategy than Goku, is a skilled tactician, and trains longer and harder than any character in the series barring Tien and maybe Piccolo. His only real shortcomings in this area is that his techniques are limited to being more destructive than the next with very little variation and his over-reliance on beam spams, putting his technical skills below Piccolo and Tien. Whis notes, however, that Vegeta is too thoughtful, which makes him slow to react when the unexpected happens. He also trains too much, not giving his body time to unwind and relax, making him tense, slow, and hinders him from reaching his full potential.
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: With Krillin and Gohan during the Frieza Saga, and with Goku near the end of the Buu Saga.
* ThirdActStupidity: Throughout the Namek Saga, Vegeta approaches the fight with Frieza intelligently, using guerrilla tactics and playing it smart to stay ahead of Frieza, who uses brute force and his resources to get ahead. By the end, Vegeta casts all this aside and stupidly goads Frieza into transforming, arrogantly believing that Frieza wouldn't get much stronger; it costs him his life. Not the he had much choice at that point, since Frieza had cornered them and was going to kill everyone regardless, but goading Frieza into transforming faster instead of trying to delay him until Goku could get there to help was a stupid idea.
* 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.
-->'''Vegeta''': This shouldn't be happening! I don't understand! I'm a super elite!
* ThisIsGonnaSuck
** Vegeta has this reaction after he volunteers himself to fight Kid Buu while Goku charges up to his max power as a Super Saiyan 3. Goku needs one minute.
-->'''Vegeta''': One minute in this fight is an eternity.
** He has another one after Fat Buu is taken down by Kid Buu and he has to act as a distraction ''again'' while Goku charges the Spirit Bomb.
* ThrowTheDogABone:
** [[spoiler:Only for a minute at most, but after Bulma got slapped by Beerus in ''Battle of Gods'' , Vegeta snapped and tried to attack Beerus with a sudden burst of power. Roshi noted that Vegeta may have ''finally'' been stronger than Goku. A claim backed up by the fact that despite only being a Super Saiyan 2 at most, he ''tanked'' a ''punch'' from Beerus and '''''powered through it''''' to continue comboing him -- and lest we forget, Beerus only had to finger-flick Goku to send him hurtling across King Kai's planet as a Super Saiyan 3.]]
** While the original ''Z'' manga ended with him way behind Goku due to him not attaining Super Saiyan 3, [[spoiler: the animes and movies let him catch up again by him attaining Super Saiyan 4 (even if he cheated) and Super Saiyan Blue respectively. He is still behind Goku, but only by a thin margin. This is maintained even better late in ''Super'', as while Goku attains Ultra Instinct, Vegeta achieves a unique God of Destruction-level evolution to his Super Saiyan Blue form. Even better, unlike Goku's Ultra Instinct, Vegeta can consciously use it at will]].
** In the Granolah arc in the ''Super'' manga, [[spoiler:Vegeta gained a new form obtained by training with Beerus. Given that this form was unknown even to Granolah, who managed to beat Goku, Vegeta may have finally one-upped his rival in power at long last]].
* TinyGuyHugeGirl: Formed this dynamic with Bulma until ArtShift happened and by ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' he is taller than Bulma.
* TimeToUnlockMoreTruePotential:
** Vegeta trains frantically for three years to reach the level of Super Saiyan to beat Goku. After losing to Android 18 and finding out about Cell, Vegeta claims he will go beyond Super Saiyan, shocking everyone since they never considered such a level existed.
** Vegeta gives himself to Babidi to invoke this. Once he's possessed, he rivals Goku as a Super Saiyan 2. [[ShootTheShaggyDogStory It still isn't enough to close the power gap between them]].
* 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.
-->'''Vegeta''': Fine, Kakarot, you are the mightiest Saiyan, I've admitted that much. At least for now. But don't you dare think that this is over. I won't let you keep me in second place forever, feeding on the scraps of your glory. I will surpass you, and even then I'll keep pushing, I'll surpass every single warrior in the Universe. I won't stop until I'm the ultimate number one.
** In fact, he even passes this goal down to Cabba...
--->'''Vegeta''': There was a moment in the middle of combat where you actually said you gave up. Surrender is an outcome far worse than defeat. I won't tolerate that kind of weak behavior from a Saiyan!\\
'''Cabba''': Right. I'm so sorry.\\
'''Vegeta''': Never forget what you are, damnit! Where is your Saiyan pride?\\
'''Cabba''': My Saiyan pride? What does that mean?\\
'''Vegeta''': It means strength.\\
'''Cabba''': Oh. Well, then... I'll try to make myself stronger, just like you! ''[Vegeta bangs the water pot he woke Cabba up with]'' Um... not to presume-\\
'''Vegeta''': Set your sights higher!\\
'''Cabba''': ''[teary-eyed]'' You got it!\\
'''Vegeta''': Not that I would ever ''let'' you surpass me.\\
'''Cabba''': Of course!
** ...and Future Trunks.
--->'''Trunks''': This Super Saiyan Blue. If Father and Goku have this in their arsenal, they can stop Black for sure! ''[openly relaxes]'' It's gonna be okay. My own strength doesn't matter now.\\
'''Vegeta''': ''[grabs him by the shirt]'' Look at me, dumbass! Wipe that smile off your face! Stopping Black!? Is that your only goal, you think it ends there!? Think about the next threat. In a year, or five, or ten! Or think about your PRIDE! If Saiyan blood flows through your veins, if you're my son as you claim, then I won't tolerate you losing to anyone! You'll be the best, or you'll be nothing!\\
'''Bulma''': ''[runs toward the scene]'' Stop! He's been through enough!\\
'''Goku''': ''[holds her back]''\\
'''Vegeta''': ''[sees them, depowers]'' What are you doing here?\\
''[Trunks grits his teeth and [[UseYourHead headbutts]] Vegeta, knocking him to the ground]''\\
'''Bulma''': ''[gasp]''\\
'''Goku''': ''[facepalm]'' Oh, boy...\\
'''Vegeta''': Damn you! ''[stops and looks at Trunks, who he sees smiling]''\\
'''Trunks''': So that counts as a blow, right? I guess that means I win. ''[Vegeta grunts in irritation, to which Trunks laughs]'' I hear you. And I will get stronger. Stronger than Black, and stronger than you.
* 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}}.
* TooDumbToLive: Vegeta has a habit of recklessly rushing into battle with opponents that he has little to no chance of defeating. A prime example of his idiocy is Cell's attempt to let him absorb 18 and become perfect; Vegeta realized right away what Cell was trying to do, but ''decided to go with it anyway''.
* TookALevelInBadass: Vegeta's power has gone from super elite to surpassing the gods.
** He took several levels throughout the Frieza Saga, taking full advantage of the Saiyans' ability to grow stronger from near death. He went from being beaten by a transformed Zarbon to being able to stand up for a couple minutes against Frieza's final form.
** Like Goku, every time he reaches a new level of Super Saiyan.
** In ''Resurrection 'F''', [[spoiler:he is able to reach the same level of Super Saiyan God as Goku. That's right, in the span of two movies he went from being unable to reach Super Saiyan 3 to being almost equal with Goku again]]. Even more impressive, in ''Super'' he did it without going through the Super Saiyan God ritual.
** From ''Super'', he gets a major power-up after training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber for six months. He went from being no match for [[spoiler: Goku Black]] to easily pounding him, forcing Black to evolve himself again.
** Later in the anime version of ''Super'', during the Tournament of Power, Vegeta eventually pushes himself to a new transformation, an enhanced version of Super Saiyan Blue that even Goku hasn't achieved, at least matching Goku's Kaio-Ken x20 Super Saiyan Blue combination. In this form he's able to completely overwhelm and defeat God of Destruction Top, who had previously wrecked No. 17 & Golden Frieza.
* TookALevelInDumbass: Compare Vegeta during the Frieza Saga and Vegeta during the Cell Saga. During the Frieza Saga: a CombatPragmatist and GeniusBruiser who manages to stay one step ahead of Frieza and his army for most of the arc through guerrilla tactics. During the Cell Saga: LethallyStupid DumbMuscle who's easily [[BatmanGambit played like a harp]] by Cell, deliberately ''letting'' him absorb Android 18 and power up purely to sate his BloodKnight tendencies and [[SmugSuper ego]].
* TookALevelInJerkass: He gets special mention here, as he manages to do this in every big saga of Z until the very end.
* TookALevelInKindness:
** By the end of the series he finally admits that he will never surpass Goku and pulls a real HeelFaceTurn, which is further showed in the ''Battle of Gods''.
** Also visible in the ''Wrath of the Dragon'' movie, Vegeta actually goes out of his way to protect innocent bystanders from Hildegarn's fire breath, which he even lampshades himself.
** Seen further in ''Super'' where he takes his family on vacation, although he did eventually leave after it becomes too much for him. And, unlike ''Battle of Gods'', he went to Bulma's party on his own without knowing that Beerus is coming. After failing to stop Beerus, Vegeta is ashamed not because his pride is hurt, but because he failed to protect everyone. Vegeta is also more supportive of Goku, showing that he has complete faith that he can defeat Beerus and is the one to catch Goku after he falls to Earth. He does chew Goku for losing despite having even his power, but he's actually quite concerned for Goku's health.
** Also in Universe 7 vs Universe 6, while he was a little angry at Cabba, he helps him to become a Super Saiyan.
* 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.
* TragicVillain: Oh, dear ''Lord'', yes. He was used by Frieza as a hostage and then had his father murdered and his entire race exterminated by the cruel tyrant, who continued to use him as a low-level enforcer afterwards. Goku eventually realizes that Vegeta was largely shaped by Frieza into becoming a remorseless killing machine.
* TrainingFromHell: A {{deconstructed}} example. After the events of the Frieza Saga, Vegeta puts himself though torturous training sessions that sometimes leaves him bedridden. Despite all his hard work, he can't surpass Goku who also works hard, but doesn't destroy himself while training. It is explained by Whis that Vegeta works too hard and doesn't allow his body to properly rest, which slows his reaction time and keeps him from reaching his maximum potential.
* TranquilFury:
** Surprisingly, he does have a moment of this in ''Resurrection ‘F’''. [[spoiler: After he steps into the fight after Goku is temporarily taken out of action, he proceeds to beat Frieza out of his GoldenSuperMode and dish out a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown on the bastard without raising his voice and with the only sign of his fury being his usual DeathGlare.]]
** He also takes this tack in ''Super'', [[spoiler: where after Frost is revealed to be a sociopathic scumbag in the same vein as Frieza, Vegeta asks Champa to spare him and allow him back into the tournament after he's disqualified for cheating. Frost then gloats at him about how he's going to poison him to death after getting the no-kill rule lifted while Vegeta stares at him silently. As soon as the match starts, Vegeta takes Frost out with a single MegatonPunch.]] Then when he hears about [[spoiler: Goku Black and the fact that he killed the future version of his wife, nearly killed Future Trunks, and wiped out 99% of humanity in his timeline, he doesn't change facial expression but is utterly pissed.]]
** [[spoiler: After Cabba is erased along with the rest of Universe 6,]] Vegeta makes his displeasure clear by calmly informing Katopresla that he’s not in the best of moods and plans to let off some steam by using him as a punching bag.
** Vegeta appears to get a [[UnstoppableRage power boost through anger]] whenever something happens to [[MoralityPet Bulma and Trunks]], and when he's in control of this anger, the boost is even bigger. When out of control, he was briefly able to go toe-to-toe with Beerus, but after mastering this anger and [[spoiler: completely destroying the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, he [[CurbStompBattle crushes Goku Black in their rematch]], at least until Black powered up again]].
* TricksterMentor: Cabba begs Vegeta to teach him to how become a Super Saiyan so he can better protect his universe from threats. Vegeta becomes angry that Cabba would ask this during their match and beats the crap out of him while he's a Super Saiyan and refuses to allow Cabba to give up. He then threatens to kill everyone Cabba knows after their match. [[RageBreakingPoint This pushes Cabba over]] and he ascends to Super Saiyan, exactly as Vegeta had planned.
* {{Tritagonist}}: Shares this role with Piccolo in the Frieza and Cell sagas and is promoted to Deuteragonist in the Buu Saga onward.
* 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.
* TroubledButCute: In-universe, this is his appeal to Bulma.
* 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.
* TsurimeEyes: Even in normal state.
* {{Tykebomb}}: Like all Saiyans, he was raised since birth to be a ruthless warrior who happily wiped planets for profit. Vegeta was raised especially cruel even by [[EvenEvilHasStandards Saiyan's standards]] by Frieza, who wanted him to be one of his loyal {{Dragon}}s. This sorta backfired since Vegeta rebelled the moment he got the chance. Frieza was able to easily kill him, but not before he laid the groundwork for Goku to ascend to Super Saiyan and he murdered all of Frieza's top men.
* TheUnchosenOne: He becomes this after Goku surpass him by becoming the first Super Saiyan in a thousand years. He hates that Goku defeated his opposer while he, the Prince of all Saiyans, was given an [[UndignifiedDeath extremely pitiful death]]. Even after accepting that Goku is just overall better than him, he still strives to surpass him, although with far less bitterness.
* UnderestimatingBadassery: He has a terrible habit of doing this with ''every'' major ''Z'' villain and even the heroes:
** When he first meets Goku, he sees him as low class trash despite him overpowering Nappa. Although he does have the edge, he completely loses it after Goku uses his Kaio-ken to knock him around and draw blood.
** Although he knows that Frieza is extremely powerful, he provokes Frieza to transform, thinking that he won't become that much more powerful. He is proven ''very'' wrong. He also became sure that he could win after Krillin blasted him to the point of near death. Frieza easily takes all of Vegeta's attacks without even winding himself.
** He scoffs at Piccolo coming back to life to fight Frieza, citing how easily he was killed on Earth. He is shocked when Piccolo is able to fight evenly with Frieza's second form.
** He wanted to fight Androids 17 and 18 because Androids 19 and 20 were weak and boring, despite Trunks warning him several times that wasn't a good idea. [[CurbStompBattle Trunks is proven correct]].
** In the same saga, Vegeta let Cell become complete to have a better match. After Cell transforms, he dismisses Cell's final form as unimpressive. Cell then proceeds to beat the daylights out of him.
** Vegeta is dismissive about Buu since Shin badly underestimated the power of the Saiyans. It takes Gohan being killed (so he thinks) before he realizes that he was badly mistaken. Again, he sees Kid Buu as something Goku and he could handle, calling him puny. To say that he was wrong again would be an {{Earth shattering|Kaboom}} [[{{Pun}} understatement]].
** {{Subverted}} with the Ginyu Force. The moment he knew that they were coming to Namek, [[EnemyMine he immediately forms an alliance with Krillin and Gohan]].
** Also {{Subverted}} with Beerus. The moment King Kai said Super Saiyan 3 Goku went down in two hits, he does everything in his power to keep Beerus happy.
** In ''Super'', Vegeta thinks Magetta will be a pushover since he fits the [[MightyGlacier definition of big and slow]]. He ends up badly mistaken after Magetta speeds up, becomes more powerful, and is immune to his attacks, including the Garlick Gun and the Final Flash. Magetta also nearly ring outs Vegeta twice. The second time he is only saved by the rules, which ''really'' pisses Vegeta off.
** Goku and Vegeta badly underestimated [[spoiler: Goku Black]] since they were told that he was only as strong as Super Saiyan 3 Goku at his maximum power. [[DidntSeeThatComing They didn't expect]] Black to become strong enough to beat back a Super Saiyan Blue, [[spoiler: have his own Super Saiyan form, or to have an energy sword that could pierce though Vegeta like he's made of cardboard]].
* UndignifiedDeath: During the Frieza Saga; after being beaten to a pulp by Frieza and shot through the heart, Vegeta dies while crying his eyes out and begging Goku to kill Frieza and avenge the Saiyans.
* UnderestimatingBadassery: Vegeta is on the giving and receiving end of this.
** Despite having seen Goku thrash Nappa, Vegeta was completely caught off guard by how powerful Goku was when he fought him one-on-one.
** Cui, Dodoria and Zarbon were caught off guard by how powerful Vegeta could become after recovering from near fatal injuries.
** Unfortunately, Vegeta underestimated how powerful Frieza was and overestimated the power boosts his Zenkai would give him when facing the tyrant. This led to a him suffering a brutal CurbStompBattle at Frieza's hands.
** Androids 19 and 20 are initially unconcerned when Vegeta shows up to save Goku. Then the prince reveals his Super Saiyan form for the first time and proceeds to hand 19 his ass.
** High off his defeat of 19 and gaining his Super Saiyan form, Vegeta was quite confident he could vanquish the Androids with ease all by himself. Android 18 proved him wrong.
** He defeats Semi-Perfect Cell with ease but is surprised at just how much more powerful Cell is when he reaches his perfect form. To add insult to injury, Cell only became perfect because of Vegeta's help.
** When Pui Pui realizes he is outmatched against Vegeta, Babidi uses his magic to transport them to Pui Pui's home planet, which has 10x Earth's normal gravity -- Vegeta doesn't point out that ''his own homeworld'' had that level of gravity, but does point out, to Pui Pui's horror, that he's long been training in conditions which are ''hundreds of times'' Earth's gravity. Vegeta effortlessly blows the clown away without even needing to go Super Saiyan.
* UngratefulBastard:
** Even if he's close to death, he'll still be enraged at someone if they try to help him due to his {{pride}}.
** After Goku saves his life and heals him after he got manhandled by Recoome, Goku asks him to fight Jeice while he handles Ginyu. Instead, Vegeta chooses to ditch Goku so he can steal the Dragon Balls and hopes that Ginyu and Goku kill each other.
** Frieza accuses him of this while beating him senseless, chewing him out on betraying him despite the fact that Frieza showed him "favoritism." Of course, [[WantsAPrizeForBasicDecency Frieza's idea of "favoritism" was making Vegeta one of the three Saiyans he]] ''[[WantsAPrizeForBasicDecency didn't]]'' [[WantsAPrizeForBasicDecency kill]].
* UnknownRival:
** To [[spoiler: Goku Black]]. Vegeta made it his mission to hunt down and kill Black because [[ItsPersonal he tormented Future Trunks]] and [[spoiler: killed Future Bulma]]; Black sees Vegeta as nothing more than a WarmUpBoss, even when Vegeta temporary overpowered him.
** 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.
* UnskilledButStrong: When he was first introduced, Vegeta was by far the strongest person in the series, easily outclassing everyone on Earth besides Goku. However, he had little experience dealing with someone equal in strength to him, best shown when he had a freakout when Goku beat him up using Kaio-ken X3 and chose to become a Great Ape to overpower him. It's not until his defeat on Earth that Vegeta began to acquire skills like sensing energy and suppressing his power. Even then, he relied on the Saiyans' ability to grow stronger from near death to become stronger. It wasn't until Goku became a Super Saiyan and completely surpassed him he started training and developing his fighting skills outside pure brute strength.
* UnsportsmanlikeGloating: Wastes no time in gleefully indulging on this towards Goku, at least to an extent, when Trunks beats Goten in the World Martial Arts Tournament.
* 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.]]
* VillainousBreakdown:
** When Vegeta first fights Goku and finds himself struggling, his pride and vanity are pricked so hard that he completely forgets A) why he's on Earth in the first place and B) that he cannot breathe in space. He then tries to blow up the planet, and is narrowly prevented from doing so.
** 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.
* VillainousValour: Even back during the days when he was an outright villain, his bravery was admirable. One of his most consistent traits is that he's genuinely courageous in a fight, as well as a true {{Determinator}} when it comes to pushing himself harder and further to achieve the standards he sets for himself.
* VillainousWidowsPeak: It's hereditary.
* VillainProtagonist:
** 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.
* VirtueIsWeakness: Firmly believes this. It's part of the reason why he allows himself to fall under Babidi's mind-control. He wants to get rid of the feelings he developed for Earth and his family. By the end of the series, he come to embrace some of Earth's virtues like love and friendship.
* 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.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Has full control of his Great Ape form and has a technique specifically to artificially create full moonlight in order to transform when there is no natural moonlight.
* WantsAPrizeForBasicDecency:
** After Dende heals him as part of his DeliberateInjuryGambit during the fight with Frieza, the first thing Vegeta does afterwards is kick Dende aside and angrily tell him to be grateful he didn't decide to kill him. This is despite the fact that, as Dende himself pointed out beforehand, Vegeta was just as evil and cruel as Frieza and had personally killed numerous innocent Namekians, and Dende had ''no reason whatsoever'' to help him.
** Before his HeroicSacrifice during the Buu Saga, he asks Piccolo if he'll be able to see Goku in the Other World. Piccolo [[BrutalHonesty tells him point-blank]] that Vegeta is most likely going to Hell because, unlike Goku, he's spent most of his life being a [[ItsAllAboutMe selfish, evil bastard]] and one selfless act is ''not'' enough to make up for his sins. Vegeta [[FaceDeathWithDignity accepts that and goes through with it]].
* WarmUpBoss: [[spoiler: Goku Black calls Vegeta a warm-up after he impales him on his energy sword and he's ready for the main course, Son Goku]].
* WarriorPrince: The ultimate anime example. He is the prince of the Saiyan, the strongest warrior race in the universe, and will [[{{Catchphrase}} remind anyone in the vicinity]] of this on a regular basis.
--> '''Vegeta:''' I am the prince of ''all'' Saiyans.
* WeakButSkilled: He of all people gets this on more than one occasion:
** In his second battle with Zarbon, he found out that, even with the recent Zenkai boost, he was still weaker than his opponent. However. he was a battle-hardened fighter and Zarbon [[WeHaveBecomeComplacent had grown rusty due to being around Frieza for years]], so Vegeta managed to get around his defenses and land ''two'' crippling blows. NoHoldsBarredBeatdown ensues.
** During his fight with Recoome, Vegeta showed much more skill than his opponent... and not enough power to actually hurt him, something Recoome mocked him for.
** When dealing with Perfect Cell, Vegeta found himself just as outmatched in terms of power as he had been against Recoome, something Cell mocked him for just like Recoome. Then, [[OhCrap much to Cell's horror]], Vegeta revealed the [[https://youtube.com/watch?v=PeRKdZ49NEo Final Flash]] and nearly ''killed him'' -- Cell had to dodge, and even then he received what would have been crippling damage against anyone without [[FromASingleCell his immense regenerative power]].
** 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.
** In ''Battle of Gods'', he has the best showing against [[PhysicalGod Beerus]] because of his good fighting sense, outperforming the far stronger [=SSJ3=] Goku, Gohan, and Gotenk. Beerus even laments that he's "highly skilled, but lacks the power to match it."
* WeCanRuleTogether: Dub-induced example during the Saiyan Saga; before their fight, Vegeta offers Goku a partnership, declaring that with the two of them, they could rule the universe and have whatever they wanted. Goku declines, stating that he already has everything he ever wanted on Earth, and also states that, since Vegeta just killed Nappa, his longtime partner, in cold blood for losing to Goku, there's "not much job security". Goku's refusal ironically earned both men the throne in a different sort of way, as through years of trial and ascension dealing with common enemies, they became brothers-in-arms (though Vegeta will [[KnightInSourArmor never admit this]]) as well as the two strongest mortals in their universe.
* WelcomeBackTraitor:
** Despite selling his soul, murdering hundreds of people to provoke Goku to fight, and his actions being responsible for Buu's revival, Goku is happy to see him after he's semi-revived, even saying that he thought he was wiped out in Hell. Then again, if Vegeta wasn't there, Goku would have to fuse with Mr. Satan to have even a remote chance against Super Buu. Vegeta is also welcomed back with open arms among the rest of the group, but by that point, all was forgiven since those he killed were wished back and it was his plan that finally killed Majin Buu.
** In ''Resurrection 'F''', [[spoiler: Frieza is more than willing to accept Vegeta back into his army on the condition that he kill Goku for him; of course, ''why'' Frieza would think Vegeta ''ever'' would want to work for him again after Frieza freely admitted to destroying his home planet, took every possible opportunity to demean and insult him, and brutally ''tortured him to death'' [[ForTheEvulz for fun]] back on Namek is anyone's guess. More jarringly, it's a mystery why anyone in the Z-fighters would openly assume that he'd accept the offer despite some of them being there to see the brutal treatment he got in the first place]].
* 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.
* WhatTheHellHero: Although Vegeta is at best a dubious hero after the Frieza Saga:
** Trunks yells at him more than once about underestimating the androids after Vegeta insisted Androids 17 and 18 be allowed to awaken since Android 19 and 20 were boring.
** Trunks, Krillin, and Piccolo called him out for helping Cell absorb 18 just so he could have a better challenge after curbstomping Cell's Imperfect Form.
** Krillin called him an idiot for blindly attacking Cell after he killed Trunks. At the time, Trunks could be revived with the Dragon Balls and Gohan was still capable of beating Cell. Because of Vegeta's blind rage, Gohan was hurt protecting him, which cost him the use of his left arm and losing about half of his power.
** 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.
** Vegeta himself gives one towards Goku after saving Mr. Satan, Bee, and Dende, but not Gohan, Trunks, Goten, and Piccolo. Goku is left speechless and lowers his head in grief. [[spoiler: Of course, Goku's choice to save them instead ended up saving the whole universe, but there's no way he or Vegeta could have known that at the time.]]
** In ''Super'', [[spoiler: Bulma tears into him for getting too into his training of Trunks and reminds him to control himself.]]
** [[spoiler: He gives a truly scathing ones towards Top after the latter decides to cast aside his morals and sense of justice, while Vegeta is fighting for his family's sake and to fulfill his promise to Cabba to bring back Universe 6. This push allows him to not only ''destroy'' Top's Hakais, but lets out a non-lethal Final Explosion to ring him out]].
* WhenHeSmiles: After sacrificing himself to save everybody, he is shown genuinely smiling. It's even in the image for the TearJerker page.
* 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.
* TheWorfEffect:
** Cases in which he is defeated to show off his opponent:
*** In the Frieza Saga, he is always beaten up to show how dangerous a new foe is; best shown with Recoome who utterly toys with him and Frieza's true form who he can't even touch and is brutally murdered.
*** In the Android/Cell Saga, he gets curbstomped by Android 18 after destroying 19. He later gets crushed by Perfect Cell after allowing him to become Perfect. And again, after Cell returns as Super Perfect Cell, Vegeta attacks with everything he has and didn't even lay a scratch on Cell.
*** In the Buu Saga, if Buu easily defeating Shin, Dabura, and Gohan wasn't enough, Vegeta also couldn't harm him even after his major power-up and self-destruction. He performs even worse against Kid Buu, who nearly beat him to death several times (and he was already dead through most of it to boot).
*** In ''Battle of Gods'' and its adaptation in ''Super'', him and everyone who isn't Super Saiyan God Goku got their butts handed to them by Beerus.
*** Gets utterly dominated by Hit in the Champa Saga of ''Super'' to show off how hard of a time Goku will have against him.
*** [[spoiler:Despite fighting as a Super Saiyan Blue and starting out well above his opponent, an already somewhat tired Vegeta gets utterly flattened by Goku Black, and that is before he transformed into his Super Saiyan Rosé form. In the anime, not long after Goku Black transforms, he impales Vegeta with an energy sword]].
*** [[spoiler:He gets dominated by Fused Zamasu. In the anime, this doesn't really count as an example, since Fused Zamasu's fight with Vegito already demonstrates he's in a different dimension than Vegeta. But in the manga, it serves the handy purpose of demonstrating Zamasu's power so Goku's "CSSB" state can look better fighting him.]]
*** [[spoiler:In both the manga and anime, he gains a large power-up that puts him ''far'' above Top and makes him (at the time) the second strongest being in the tournament, and possibly the second strongest mortal in the multiverse. Then however, Jiren pulls a NoSell of Vegeta's attempts to attack him and then beats Vegeta half to death with ease... in the manga. In the anime, it's more a case of WorfHadTheFlu, since Vegeta spent much of his energy/stamina against Top immediately before fighting Jiren alongside Goku/17, making the ease of his beating more justified (though, given how enormously Jiren powers up later, it likely wouldn't have made any difference in the anime either).]]
** Cases in which he shows off defeating a tough opponent:
*** In the Frieza Saga, he killed Cui, Dodoria and Zarbon, the latter two being Frieza's elite CoDragons, to show off how stronger he got since his travel to Earth. He later easily kills Jeice, who was equal to Recoome, to show how strong he gotten after recovering from his fight against Recoome.
*** In the Android/Cell Saga, he easily destroys Android 19 to show off the strength he gained after becoming a Super Saiyan, and completely outclassed Semi-Perfect Cell to show off how strong he has gotten when training in the Time Chamber.
*** In ''Resurrection 'F''' and its adaptation in ''Super'', he managed to beat up ''Frieza''.
*** In the Champa Saga of ''Super'', Frost, Frieza's counterpart in Universe 6, managed to defeat Goku and Piccolo, and even though both defeats were later reversed after it was revealed that Frost was cheating, it established him as equally as bad as Frieza if not worse. Then Vegeta steps in and defeats him in one punch. He would later go on to defeat Magetta and Cabba.
*** In his rematch with Goku Black after the previously-mentioned defeat, he manages to outclass him. In the anime, he appears to have gotten stronger, while in the manga, he simply [[WeakButSkilled learned a way to maintain 100% power in all his strikes while Black cannot do the same and steadily loses stamina.]]
*** ''Double'' subverted come episode 122 of ''Super'', when [[spoiler:Vegeta decides to take down Jiren, the juggernaut of the Tournament of Power. He spends most of the episode managing to keep at the same level with him, even landing solid blows to him that shock everybody. Then, when Vegeta goes for his Final Flash, not only does Jiren tank it, but he beats Vegeta into the ground]].
*** Subverted in his fight with Top. [[spoiler:While Top initially has the advantage, once Vegeta digs into ThePowerOfLove, he completely demolishes Top before eliminating him with a non-lethal Final Explosion]].
* WorfHadTheFlu: Somewhat in the ''Super'' manga. [[spoiler:Vegeta getting owned by Black in their second fight is partly due to the fact that Vegeta accumulates damage and loses stamina (having used his only senzu bean early), while Black is healed twice by Future Zamasu when Vegeta actually manages to inflict some damage (which also makes Black stronger). If his confidence in their next encounter is any indication, Black probably would have won without Future Zamasu's intervention anyway (especially considering some of his techniques like his energy sword and ki whip paralyzer), but Vegeta would have been able to put up a much better fight if he wasn't the only one whose strength was progressively dropping.]]
* WorldsStrongestMan: Around late ''Z'', he and Goku trade this title off between one another for Universe 7 quite often, though admittedly Goku has the edge more often.
** In ''Battle of Gods'', Beerus slapping Bulma presses Vegeta's BerserkButton so hard that he goes positively [[IncrediblyLamePun ape-shit]] and attacks at full force, becoming the first fighter to actually land a solid hit on the God of Destruction. At the end of the movie, Goku freely admits that at that time, Vegeta's strength surpassed his own.
** In the anime version of the Universe Survival arc, he gains a currently-exclusive-to-him upgrade to Super Saiyan Blue that, while still weaker than Jiren, is shown to be at least as strong as Super Saiyan Blue Kaio-ken x20 Goku, and at max output surpassed that of freshly-ascended God of Destruction Top. As of the end of the arc, while Mastered Ultra Instinct is the strongest transformation achieved by a mortal in the entire franchise so far, Goku still needs to be in [[GodzillaThreshold extreme peril]] to even call upon its weakened Omen form, while Vegeta was able to briefly access his new form even in-universe seconds after completely running out of stamina. As of the end of ''Super'', at least, Vegeta is tied for strongest mortal in Universe 7 in terms of consistent output. In the manga continuation, Vegeta can instantly access his Evolved form throughout the Moro arc and gains a massive power boost through spirit training but as Goku learns to control Ultra Instinct, he falls behind again. The Ultra Instinct and Ultra Ego forms are such polar opposites it's very difficult to tell which is ultimately more powerful.
* WorthyOpponent:
** He comes to sees Goku as this by the end of the series. Although he accepts that he may never surpass Goku, he still tries and Vegeta outright admits that his rivalry is the reason why he has become so powerful.
** Deconstructed by Whis again: Whis thinks Vegeta is too much focused on being better than Goku to realize his own potential.
** 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.
* WouldHitAGirl:
** Vegeta didn't hold back in his fight with Android 18. He still got utterly crushed.
** In the Universal Survival saga, Vegeta also does not hold back against [[CatGirl Hop]]. In this case, it is the opposite, as Vegeta beats the crap out of her without breaking a sweat when he decides to get serious.
* WouldHurtAChild:
** 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.
** He also coldly murdered several Namek children when he was searching for the Dragon Balls.
** He slapped Dende after he healed him from his self-inflicted wound because Dende originally left him to die.
** Vegeta has no problem training his own children, although he looks more than a little startled when he actually punched an eight-year-old Trunks in the face. He even takes him to the park afterwards for landing a solid hit on his father's person.
** He knocks out Trunks and Goten to make sure they won't interfere in his sacrifice, while he quickly and efficiently knocks out his son, Goku's son is given a pretty painful punch to the stomach.
* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: After Vegeta is restored to life by the Namekian Dragon Balls, Goku happily tells him that none of the evil people were wished back, meaning that Vegeta is now a good person. Vegeta is completely shocked and partly annoyed by Goku's observation.
* YouAreWorthHell: A literal case with his wife and son. He knows that he will go to Hell when he dies since he has done many horrible things in his life. It still doesn't stop him from laying down his life to stop Buu.
* 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.
* YouHaveFailedMe:
** Vegeta kills Nappa after he fails to kill Goku, and does the same to a Saibaman for losing to Tien.
** He was waiting for the right time to invoke this on Gohan and Krillin in the Frieza arc.
* YouShallNotPass: He delivers an '''epic''' one to Majin Buu. He stops Buu from going after Piccolo who is carrying an unconscious Goten and Trunks.
* 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.
* 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]].
[[/folder]]

* 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, threaten 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.

* AmbiguousDisorder: It's heavily hinted at, but not outright said, that Vegeta is actually depressed after the events of the Cell Saga. He completely abandons his role as a warrior, which not only was he passionate about, it actually made up moist of his entire life up until that point. Even during the Bojack movie, he's lazing about doing nothing, which Vegeta has never been shown doing before or afterwards. When talking to Goku as Majin Vegeta, he even lays out his life had lost meaning, and he started a family because he hoped it might fill a void left in him but it did not.
* AMillionIsAStatistic: While the rest of the Z-Fighters might dislike him for how he tried to kill them all, and other actions like letting Cell absorb 18 or joining up with Babidi, it's remarkable how seldom anyone ever brings up the literally ''billions'' of people he murdered while he was working for Frieza. This is mostly because it's OffscreenVillainy that they may or may not even be directly aware of. They're rather more serious about the mass murders that they ''do'' know about - namely, his massacre of a Namekian village and the time he blew a large hole in the Budokai Tenkaichi stands. The latter victims were revived, and the former weren't.

** Ignored Trunks' existence when he was a baby, not even bothering to save him when Bulma and he were attacked by Android 19. 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.

** To Frieza during the Saiyan and Namek Sagas. As much as he hates Frieza, Vegeta is quite similar to him in many ways, particularly in his sadism; he refused to even consider reviving Raditz for being a weakling, killed Nappa in cold blood for [[YouHaveFailedMe losing to Goku]] even as Nappa begged him for help, did the same to a Saibamen for losing to Tien, and slaughtered an entire Namekian village, children included, with a PsychoticSmirk on his face. Dende even initially refuses to heal him for this reason, openly stating that Vegeta is no better than Frieza.

** [[TokenEvilTeammate He's so bad]] [[NoSocialSkills about pissing everyone off]] that it wasn't until ''Super'' (almost twenty years after he first came to Earth in-universe) that all of the Z Fighters began to form anything resembling friendship with him, and even then only [[MagneticHero Goku]], [[NiceGuy Gohan]], and [[ThePowerOfLove Vegeta's family]] are completely open with liking having Vegeta around. Everyone else has a mutual {{Tsundere}} act going with him.

* HateSink: Before his HeelFaceTurn, Vegeta was a despicable and sadistic scumbag who lacked empathy, had no morals, took glee in destroying entire planets full of innocents (including children) and was not above killing and backstabbing his own comrades when they outlived their usefulness to him. As the series progresses, he grows out of it and changes for the better.

* JokerImmunity: Originally just intended as an ArcVillain, Vegeta's popularity caused him to survive his intended death and return to act as a supporting villain for the next major saga, surviving multiple brushes with death before he's killed by Frieza. And then he's brought back to life when a wish is made to revive all of Freeza's victims, and joins the main cast as the TokenEvilTeammate for the series, with all the Plot Armor to be expected if he were one of the good guys. After a FaceRealization in the final arc, Vegeta makes a HeroiS acrifice that was once again intended to have him KilledOffForReal, but once again his popularity has him brought BackFromTheDead again, but by this point he's made a full HeelFaceTurn so the trope no longer applies.

* TheNapoleon: Short and perpetually filled with rage is Vegeta in a nutshell. The only adult male in the main cast of Dragonball who is shorter than Vegeta is ''Krillin'' who is notably small and stands at just above half the height of most of the other adults. If one doesn't count Vegeta's ridiculously spiked hair, he's less than half a head taller than his wife Bulma.

* 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, to significantly taller than Bulma who is the same height.

* JokerImmunity: Originally just intended as an ArcVillain, Vegeta's popularity caused him to survive his intended death and return to act as a supporting villain for the next major saga, surviving multiple brushes with death before he's killed by Frieza. And then he's brought back to life when a wish is made to revive all of Freeza's victims, and joins the main cast as the Token EvilTeammate for the series, with all the Plot Armor to be expected if he were one of the good guys. After a FaceRealization in the final arc, Vegeta makes a HeroiS acrifice that was once again intended to have him KilledOffForReal, but once again his popularity has him brought BackFromTheDead again, but by this point he's made a full HeelFaceTurn so the trope no longer applies.

* TheNapoleon: Short and perpetually filled with rage is Vegeta in a nutshell. The only adult male in the main cast of Dragonball who is shorter than Vegeta is ''Krillin'' who stands at just above half the height of most of the other adults. If it weren't for his hair, he'd be less than half a head taller than his wife Bulma.

* TheNapoleon: Short and perpetually filled with rage.