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Saiyan Saga
Vegeta is first made aware of Earth when he receives Raditz's dying report of seven magic objects known as the Dragon Balls which will grant wishes. After hearing this report, and of Raditz's death, Vegeta and his companion, Nappa, decide to head to the planet and use the Dragon Balls to wish for immortality (it is implied in later sagas that he desired immortality so he could defeat Frieza for his many years of suffering). Goku and the Z Fighters are warned that the two will arrive in roughly one years time, and begin to train themselves so that they can be ready for when they show up.
When they landed on Earth, Nappa and Vegeta wreaked havoc with little to stop them. They then found Piccolo, Krillin, and Gohan waiting for them, with Tien Shinhan, Chiaotzu, and Yamcha appearing just after. After losing Yamcha (after one Saibaman self destructed), Krillin destroys most of the Saibamen with Piccolo destroying the last Saibaman.
This causes Vegeta and Nappa to become impressed, but Nappa decides to heat things up by being the first to battle Earth's defenders. Vegeta sits back and watches the beatings. Nappa easily dominates all the Z Fighters, resulting in Chiaotzu sacrificing himself by blowing up on Nappa's back, which was in vain, leaving his best friend Tien sacrificing himself to avenge him, which was also proves to be in vain. While Nappa does manage to get wounded every now and then, he seems to have complete control of the battle. In the middle of the battle, Vegeta demands that Nappa stop his rampage for three hours to give Goku a chance to arrive at the scene. Nappa succumbs to Vegeta's orders and obeys him. In filler, Vegeta allows Nappa to destroy the Earth's Military and Navy with the condition that he doesn't use up enough energy to break a sweat. Throughout both parts of the battle, Vegeta chuckles to himself whenever Nappa stumbles on a technique, or when one of the Z Fighters gain the upper hand on Nappa for a limited amount of time, also constantly belittling Nappa, calling him weak and idiotic. However, despite Vegeta's lack of faith in Nappa, he does assist Nappa in dire situations, such as when he warns Nappa about Krillin's Destructo Disc. As Nappa continues to hold the advantage in the battle, the remaining Z Fighters desperately call for Goku to assist them. When Goku finally comes back on Earth and heads directly towards them using his Flying Nimbus, Vegeta reads Goku's power level and then orders Nappa to kill Goku's friends, noting that their assistance with Goku in the battle could be difficult for he and Nappa to defeat. When Gohan angers Nappa to higher levels, Nappa attempts to annihilate Gohan, but Piccolo quickly stands in the way of his attack, thus sacrificing himself for Gohan's sake.
After Piccolo bids his farewell to Gohan, Gohan furiously attacks Nappa at full force with a Super Masenko, which is still not enough to injure Nappa. Vegeta recognizes that Gohan's power only increases with intense displays of emotion, and orders Nappa to kill the boy. Goku arrives just before Nappa can crush Gohan with his foot. Vegeta detects the high-power level of Goku with his scouter, and after a quick introduction, Goku begins to fight Nappa. Goku and Nappa seem to be evenly matched at first, but the benefits of Goku's training quickly became evident. Eventually, Vegeta calls Nappa back after taking too long, so Nappa decides that he will kill Gohan and Krillin instead. Goku activates the Kaio-ken, and stops Nappa before he can do anything, crippling him in the process. Goku orders Vegeta to take his injured friend back to where they came from for immediate medical attention. Because of Nappa's failure to defeat a low class Saiyan like Goku, when Nappa begs Vegeta to help him, Vegeta fools Nappa into thinking he will assist him, but instead throws Nappa in the air and kills him for his failure. After giving Krillin and Gohan Senzu Beans, which fully recovers their strength, Goku tells Gohan and Krillin to leave Vegeta to him and requests to Vegeta to fight somewhere else.
Vegeta eventually agrees, and they leave the battlefield. At Gizard Wasteland, Vegeta offers Goku a chance to join him, but Goku quickly turns down the offer as he already has everything he wanted, completely disagrees with Vegeta's selfish intentions, and has already seen how Vegeta treats his partners. Vegeta and Goku continue discussing who is truly right, with Vegeta stating that even Goku's multiplying Kaio-ken technique will not reach his elite rank power level, with Goku replying by stating if someone struggles hard enough, a low-class can reach the rank of an elite warrior. Their fight now begins, and it is made clear that Vegeta is much stronger than the much-improved Goku. Even using Kaio-ken, it was not enough to stop Vegeta. Thus, Goku had to push the multiplier of the technique even higher, ignoring King Kai's warnings. With this power, Goku was able to fight Vegeta on equal ground to an extent, and the prince of Saiyans lost his temper and decided he would destroy the planet with his Galick Gun technique and go find the Dragon Balls on Namek instead.
However, Goku countered the Galick Gun with a Kamehameha, and the two struggled for several minutes. When it seemed, Vegeta was gaining the upper hand, Goku finally pushed himself to unforeseen levels and used Kaio-ken times four to boost his power even higher, in turn surprising and overwhelming Vegeta and sending him skywards. Vegeta managed to survive the beam carrying him ever higher. Thus, Vegeta decided to transform himself into a Great Ape, which would multiply his power tenfold, throwing a Power Ball into the air, as Piccolo destroyed the moon a couple of months before.
When Vegeta transformed, Goku was completely outclassed and had to resort to using the Spirit Bomb technique. However, before he could use it, Vegeta disrupted it with a Chou Makouhou. Then Vegeta grabbed Goku and began to slowly crush him, making him suffer instead of killing him quickly. Krillin and Gohan had seen the Power Ball that Vegeta had used to transform and had returned to the battle. Upon finding Goku defeated, they attempted to distract Vegeta and cut off his tail, in order to force him back to his normal form. This attempt failed, but Yajirobe succeeded where the strong Z Fighters had not. When he was back to normal, Vegeta became enraged and fought Gohan briefly. Despite Gohan's efforts, Vegeta proved to be far stronger and faster than the boy. Goku then decides to give Krillin the last of the Spirit Bomb he managed to retain. Krillin accepted this new energy and was instructed by Goku how to unleash it on Vegeta.
Panicking at first, Krillin receives further instructions from North Kai, and he hurls the Spirit Bomb at Vegeta. When Yajirobe shouted at Krillin to throw it, making Vegeta notice him, Krillin throws it, and at first it missed, but Gohan was pure enough that he could bounce the energy back, striking Vegeta. The Spirit Bomb hit him and severely damaged him, reducing his energy and strength greatly; but he survived. Vegeta then draws upon his Ki reserves and unleashes a mighty blast that strikes down everyone nearby. Vegeta notices that Gohan has regrown his tail from the effects of the Power Ball and realizes that he may soon transform. The villain is unable to prevent this thanks to Yajirobe distracting him with an attack from behind. Realizing his mistake, Vegeta quickly returns to Gohan, but was too late. Gohan assumes the Great Ape form, and Vegeta in his severely weakened state could not defeat him. However, Vegeta could out-think the primitive ape form of Gohan, and manages to cut off Gohan's tail, returning the young half-breed to normal size and power. Before Gohan could fully return to normal, however, he fell on Vegeta as a Great Ape, and Vegeta was unable to dodge in his wounded state.
Vegeta finally retreats, and crawls to his space pod, realizing he cannot keep fighting in his current condition. A weakened Krillin gains consciousness, and just when he is about to stab Vegeta with Yajirobe's katana sword, Goku telepathically pleaded for Krillin to let Vegeta go, wanting to have a rematch one day and also wanting Vegeta to have the same chance to change his ways that Piccolo got; after much persuasion, Krillin agrees. Vegeta then departs Earth, vowing to make Goku regret sparing him, and his space pod takes him to one of the planets controlled by Frieza. With his extreme arrogance he cannot understand how a "Low-Class" Saiyan like Goku could have done so well against him, unwilling to factor the contributions of the other three warriors into the battle.
Frieza Saga
After rehabilitation, Cui tells Vegeta that Frieza is already on Namek alongside his henchmen Zarbon and Dodoria, and that they are searching for the Dragon Balls thanks to Frieza still monitoring Vegeta and Nappa's scouters and learning of the Dragon Balls through the scouters. Without wasting any time, Vegeta makes his way to Planet Namek, now planning to make a wish with the Dragon Balls. During his stay on the planet, he meets up with Krillin and Gohan, who were also in search of the Namekian Dragon Balls. He tries to track them down and torment them, but eventually leaves them alone since he has much bigger problems such as Frieza, his previous master and the warlord who was also in search of the mystical Balls. While on Namek, Vegeta is followed and ambushed by Cui. Frieza had given Cui the order to terminate Vegeta, a command Cui had been hoping to hear for many years. However, unbeknownst to Cui, Vegeta's encounter with the earthlings allowed his strength to grow exponentially higher (as a Saiyan's strength increases every time a battle leaves him at near death). Now witnessing Vegeta's true power, Cui attacks Vegeta, but Vegeta easily evades Cui's attack, telling him that when his power increased, so did his speed. He then easily kills Cui.
Vegeta later takes the opportunity to dispatch Dodoria as well. Once Dodoria is alone, Vegeta learns from him the true circumstances of Planet Vegeta's destruction by Frieza himself. Dodoria offers Vegeta the opportunity to join forces with him to defeat Frieza, however Vegeta declines the offer and as he reveals his true power, Dodoria runs away cowardly calling for Frieza's help. Vegeta then ruthlessly executes Dodoria as well. After killing Dodoria, Vegeta goes and causes mass havoc in a Namekian village in order to obtain one of the Dragon Balls. Frieza and his henchmen had already collected five Dragon Balls, so he planned to hang on to one and steal the rest from Frieza when the opportunity arose, thus preventing Frieza from making his wish. Once Vegeta obtains the Dragon Ball from the Namekian village and hides it, he takes flight and soon comes face to face with Frieza's most powerful henchman: Zarbon.
Vegeta and Zarbon enter into a fierce battle and Vegeta seemed to have the upper hand until Zarbon undergoes a powerful reptilian transformation. Zarbon and Vegeta resume the brutal battle, with Zarbon making sport of the Saiyan prince, pounding him around and completely dominating him. Before finishing the battle, Zarbon reveals to Vegeta that Frieza can also transform, much to his horror. Zarbon easily defeats Vegeta with multiple kicks and combos and performs a powerful piledriver, sending Vegeta headfirst into the ground and completely battered in a crater that soon filled up with sea water, which Zarbon detested going into (as it would make him wet), and simply left him for dead. Zarbon returned to Frieza to relay the message of his victory, but Frieza was not satisfied. Frieza is well aware that Vegeta may know the location of one of the Dragon Balls so he sends Zarbon to go and retrieve Vegeta's battered body and bring him back in order to heal him for interrogation.
Vegeta was later dragged back to Frieza's Spaceship by Zarbon, where he healed him in a Medical Machine. Vegeta waited for the right opportunity to escape. He made a clever distraction (he blasted the wall to the outside off leading Frieza and Zarbon to believe he ran off, although he was actually hiding in the ship) and ran away with Frieza's collected Dragon Balls, dropping them inside the pools of water nearby and then recovering them. He spots Krillin flying nearby with a Dragon Ball and follows him to Bulma's hideout. Vegeta threatens harm to both of them if he doesn't get the Dragon Ball but says he will show mercy if they comply. Frieza is extremely angered, and he sends Zarbon after Vegeta once more, giving him a limit of one hour. Zarbon is able to locate Vegeta, along with Krillin and Bulma. A fierce clash ensues and the now healed and fully rejuvenated Vegeta reveals that he has become far stronger from his near-death experience. Zarbon cannot believe it, but he is unable to defeat Vegeta even in his transformed state. Vegeta ruthlessly slams his fist clean through Zarbon's stomach and blasts him, sending him to a watery grave in the Namekian sea.
Realizing that he cannot keep the Dragon Ball from Vegeta, Krillin begrudgingly hands it over without a fight. Now in a good mood, Vegeta spares his life and Bulma's for the time being. Vegeta now has six of the seven Dragon Balls in his grasp and needs only one more to make his dream of immortality a reality. While en route to where he had hidden his Dragon Ball, he meets up with Gohan and hits the boy in the stomach for fun before continuing onward. After getting back to where he had hidden his Dragon Ball, Vegeta realizes that Gohan has stolen it and berates himself for letting a kid fool him. He heads back to where Bulma had made her hideout and destroys it, but to his frustration, finds that everyone had already left. He then swears to get them for this humiliation.
When Vegeta escaped Frieza's ship with five of the seven Namekian Dragon Balls, Frieza sent word to summon the Ginyu Force, the most powerful warriors in his army. The Ginyu Force were a team of five, consisting of: Recoome, Burter, Jeice, Guldo, and their leader, Captain Ginyu. They were strange, often making amusingly choreographed dances and poses, but were also extremely powerful, said to be the mightiest in the universe. Once they arrived on planet Namek, Frieza ordered them to retrieve the Namekian Dragon Balls, bring Vegeta back to him alive, and kill any others that got in their way. Meanwhile, Vegeta sensed the arrival of the Ginyu Force and forged an alliance with Gohan and Krillin, all three deciding that their only chance for survival was to wish for Vegeta's immortality with the Dragon Balls (Vegeta had six and Gohan and Krillin had the last one).
Vegeta, Gohan, and Krillin race back to where Vegeta was keeping his six Dragon Balls, and are about to wish for Vegeta's immortality, but Krillin hesitates out of fear of an immortal Vegeta, despite Vegeta's (false) promises that he would not harm them. Suddenly, the Ginyu Force arrives on the island where Vegeta, Gohan, and Krillin are, right next to the other six Dragon Balls. Terrified, Vegeta attempts to "hide" one of the Dragon Balls by throwing it far off into the sea, but Burter uses his incredible speed to catch it in mid-air. Vegeta then desperately orders Krillin to destroy the Dragon Ball he is holding so that Frieza cannot make his wish for immortality, but before Krillin can destroy it, Guldo freezes time and snatches the Dragon Ball out of his hands. Heavily outnumbered, Vegeta, Gohan, and Krillin look on in terror as Captain Ginyu takes the seven Dragon Balls and flies off to report to Frieza, leaving the four remaining members of the Ginyu Force to deal with Vegeta, Gohan, and Krillin.
After playing Rock-Paper-Scissors to determine who would fight who, Guldo prepares to engage Gohan and Krillin. As the three begin fighting, it appears as if Gohan and Krillin have Guldo on the ropes, as Guldo is hardly able to freeze time long enough to escape the two's energy blasts. Just when it seems that Gohan and Krillin will win, Guldo reveals his secret ability: the ability to mentally petrify his enemies. He uses this desperate move to trap Gohan and Krillin in place as he uses telekinesis to make a skewer out of a nearby tree. He launches the skewer at the frozen Gohan and Krillin. Just when it seems like Gohan and Krillin are about to become shish kebab, Vegeta fires an energy beam at Guldo and cuts his head off, stopping the skewer just seconds away from impaling Gohan and Krillin. After Guldo's decapitated head insults Vegeta for not playing fair, the Saiyan prince disintegrates it, now fearing his fight against the brute Recoome.
With Guldo gone, Recoome steps up to challenge Vegeta. With his newfound power after recovering from his battle on Earth and his battle with Zarbon, Vegeta launches into a powerful assault on Recoome, landing several powerful hits and firing an intense energy blast, the Final Crash, at Recoome that appears to take care of him. However, as the dust settles and Recoome emerges unharmed from the debris, it looks like the trio is in trouble. When Recoome effortlessly takes down Vegeta, Krillin goes in to help, believing that the only chance they have of surviving is if Vegeta survives. However, Krillin's efforts are in vain as Recoome easily knocks him aside with a single blow. Gohan then goes in to help Krillin, and despite the young warrior's newly unlocked hidden powers (courtesy of Grand Elder Guru), Recoome manages to easily fend him off. Just when all hope seems lost, Goku lands on planet Namek and quickly rushes onto the scene where the three remaining members of the Ginyu Force (excluding Captain Ginyu) and his friends are. Goku heals his friends and Vegeta (against Krillin's protests) with Senzu Beans that he brought from Earth, although out of his desire to allow his rival a chance to settle the score, and partially to repay Vegeta for helping Gohan and Krillin when they were in danger of Guldo's attack.
The remaining members of the Ginyu Force, agitated by the interruption of Goku's arrival, proceed to engage him in battle, but they prove to be no match for Goku, and he soundly defeats them all, knocking out Recoome (with a single hit) and Burter, and letting Jeice flee. Angered that Goku refuses to finish off Recoome and Burter, Vegeta kills them himself by cracking the unconscious Burter's neck and blowing up the fallen Recoome from behind with an Energy Wave. Goku becomes upset that Vegeta would do such a thing and Vegeta explains that by letting them live, he and Gohan's lives would be at risk. After the fighting is over, the others state that all hope is lost as Captain Ginyu has probably already brought Frieza the Dragon Balls and Frieza may already be immortal. Krillin remarks that on Earth, the sky turns black when the Dragon is summoned, and since that has not happened, Frieza probably has not made his wish. That's when Goku fills the others in on a little secret: the Namekian Dragon Balls can only be activated when one says the correct password, and in the Namekian language. Meanwhile, Jeice arrives at Frieza's ship and requests Captain Ginyu's help to deal with Goku. Annoyed at having to get his hands dirty, Captain Ginyu agrees and flies off with Jeice to fight Goku.
Goku tells Gohan and Krillin to fetch the Dragon Radar and locate the Dragon Balls. Captain Ginyu and Jeice arrive on the scene just as Gohan and Krillin leave. Goku asks for Vegeta's help in fighting the remaining Ginyu Force members and Vegeta agrees, but quickly flies off laughing, leaving Goku to deal with Jeice and Captain Ginyu by himself. After some short fighting, Captain Ginyu realizes that Goku is holding back, and asks that he reveal his full power. Using his scouter, Captain Ginyu is shocked to find Goku reaching a power level of 180,000 with just the normal Kaio-ken. Coming to the conclusion that he cannot hope to defeat Goku, he instead to use the Body Change (his special ability) to swap bodies with Goku, but not before fatally injuring his own body (causing Goku to suffer from pain when he enters Captain Ginyu's body). Satisfied with his cunning trick, Captain Ginyu flies off in Goku's body, with Jeice trailing.
The new Captain Ginyu in Goku's body, now wields a great power from Goku. He starts to fool Vegeta, Krillin, and Gohan. Vegeta, however, realized that Goku was not himself. Krillin and Gohan were easily fooled, but immediately came to their senses that Goku is not himself when they saw Goku wearing a scouter and hanging around Jeice. Krillin and Gohan then joined forces to stop Captain Ginyu in Goku's body. Meanwhile, Vegeta handles Jeice on his own. He swiftly kills the meddling Ginyu Force member and heads off to fight Captain Ginyu. Goku, now in Captain Ginyu's body, makes an alliance with Vegeta to stop Ginyu in Goku's body. As Ginyu had figured out how to use Goku's body, he took the upper hand against Krillin and Gohan. Vegeta, however, completely overpowered him and was about to finish him off. Captain Ginyu fired another change beam, which was fortunately intercepted by Goku, and both returned to their original bodies. Captain Ginyu, now in his injured old body, was no match for Goku or Vegeta, and was soon being pummeled by him. Knowing he is finished, Captain Ginyu planned another Body Switch using his change beam, with Vegeta. The beam was about to connect with Vegeta, however, Goku intervenes and tosses a frog in the middle of the attack, switching Ginyu's body with that of the frog. Vegeta merely scoffs at the powerlessness of the once proud Captain Ginyu, and decides to not kill Goku and take his revenge on him, because he needs his help to fight Frieza. Vegeta, Krillin, and Gohan take Goku into a recovery chamber, where he would begin healing.
Eventually, after Cui, Dodoria, Appule, Zarbon, Guldo, Recoome, Burter, Jeice and Captain Ginyu have all failed in their attempts to kill Vegeta, Frieza decided to take matters into his own hands. After realizing his powerful Ginyu Force members were all taken down in battle, Frieza was furious. He fled towards his ship to find any traces of his collected Dragon Balls. Meanwhile, Vegeta stands by a rejuvenating Goku. Vegeta spares Goku only in time on his assistance against Frieza. While Vegeta falls asleep, tired after all the battles, Krillin and Gohan sneakily gather the seven Namekian Dragon Balls, and began telling their wishes. Their first wish was for Piccolo's return. Then they wished to transport him back on Namek. Their third and final wish was interrupted by an enraged Vegeta, waking up and spotting the Namekian Dragon. Frieza also realized this strange feature and was gaining on them at high speeds. Vegeta pries Dende, the wisher of Porunga the Namekian Dragon, to wish him immortality to stop Frieza. The wish almost succeeded, but Guru, the eldest of all Nameks, died just before they could finish. Vegeta goes into a rage, but stops when he spots Frieza, and becomes slightly fearful, as Frieza looks down on them from above. He provided a sneak peek at his amazing power, but Vegeta was just able to match him.
Vegeta ordered Frieza to transform and explained that Zarbon had already mentioned that Frieza also had the ability to transform, seeing it was no longer a secret. As a result, Frieza decided to transform with some provocation from Vegeta, after telling Vegeta the fate of his own father in a flashback. In this new form, Frieza was too powerful for Vegeta, and especially Krillin, Dende, and Gohan. Frieza impales Krillin, and after defeating Gohan, Frieza asks Vegeta if he will help the defenseless child, but Vegeta backs away from helping in fear. Frieza is then confronted by Piccolo, who Vegeta thinks is a worthless waste of a wish and wonders what the Namekian who lost to Nappa can possibly do against Frieza, as he does not know that Piccolo had fused with Nail to become even more powerful. In filler, while Piccolo and Frieza are fighting, Vegeta attempts to run away, but he is spotted by Frieza and kicked into a Namekian mountain. It seems Piccolo can handle Frieza in his Second Transformation. As a result, Frieza decides to transform into his most hideous form. After transforming yet again, Frieza is once again too powerful for anyone, including the fused Piccolo, who is saved by Gohan.
When Frieza eventually manages to deflect Gohan's Wild Rush Blaster, Vegeta realizes Frieza may be too strong for even him or Goku and concocts a plan to reach the rank of Super Saiyan by having Krillin seriously wound him, leaving him within only an inch of his life, then having Dende heal him (because Saiyans grow increasingly stronger when they recover from near-death experiences). He fails as Frieza decides yet again to transform due to Gohan, when angered, being powerful enough to almost deter his third form.
After Frieza kills Dende, Vegeta watches Gohan, Krillin and Piccolo battle the tyrant all at once with no success and jumps in to save Gohan's life when Frieza fires another Bang Beam at him. Vegeta then declares himself a Super Saiyan and attacks Frieza directly, trying to hit Frieza with a raging flurry of punches, which Frieza manages to dodge quite easily, as his speed and power are still far superior to Vegeta's. Angered by this, Vegeta fires the Final Burst Cannon at Frieza, using all of his power, however, the tyrant still easily deflects the attack, making Vegeta lose all hope, and for the first time in his life, cry.
Frieza goes on the assault and begins pummeling Vegeta, leaving him on the brink of death until the renewed Goku shows up and distracts him. Sensing Goku's increased strength and watching Goku outsmart Frieza and even kick him in the jaw, Vegeta begins laughing and taunting Frieza that Goku is the Super Saiyan who will defeat him. Frieza fires a Death Beam right through Vegeta's heart, ending the Saiyan Prince's tortured life.
Vegeta dies slowly and painfully, telling Goku that he needs to harden his heart against Frieza in order to achieve the Super Saiyan transformation, yet Goku tells him he could never stop so low as to become as heartless as him and Frieza. Then, in order to fill him with rage and to tell him about the race, he begins pouring his heart and his past out to Goku as the only other pure-blooded Saiyan left alive, this with tears rushing down the Saiyan Prince's face. He also becomes somewhat reformed; he no longer cares about immortality or conquering the universe but becomes obsessed with becoming stronger. Vegeta continues on, begging Goku to defeat Frieza for the pride of the Saiyan race. Goku in honor prepares a grave, realizing that although Vegeta did care about his race being destroyed, he was more upset that Frieza had used him as a puppet for all of his life, and no matter what he did to try and stop Frieza, he could do nothing, nearly destroying the Saiyan's pride. Goku vows to take revenge for Vegeta on behalf of their race, burying the fallen prince as a sign of gratitude for Vegeta saving Gohan and helping to revive Piccolo.
Vegeta is later resurrected when a wish is made with the Earth's Dragon Balls to bring back everyone killed on Planet Namek by Frieza and his men. He is revived and brought to Earth, but not before he finds out that Goku has transformed into the legendary Super Saiyan warrior that Saiyan legend says will appear only every one millennia (three millennia in the English dub, this only occurs in the anime, and is ignored by the series itself). He also attempts to launch an attack on a befuddled Frieza after the latter asked if he was a ghost but is transported to Earth by Porunga before he can finish the attack. Meanwhile, Goku defeats Frieza but is apparently killed in Namek's explosion. Only in the anime, Vegeta hides his remorse for Goku by boasting happily about it until Gohan challenges him to a fight. Vegeta subdues Gohan but is stopped from hurting him seriously by Piccolo and flies off. Desiring to learn how to become a Super Saiyan, Vegeta comes up with the idea of wishing Goku to the Check-In Station in the Other World and then wishing him back so that he will be brought to Earth instead of where Namek used to be. When the wish is made, however, Goku is revealed to have survived and refuses to be wished to Earth, promising that he will return himself later.
Frieza-Androids Interlude
One year and eight months after the events on planet Namek, Vegeta had been training during that time and was quite a bit more powerful than before. However, he still did not achieve the Super Saiyan transformation. After calling off his search, he returns to Capsule Corporation, where Bulma forces him to take a shower and gives him a pink shirt to wear as his alternate clothing. Vegeta acts hostile towards Bulma and the others due to the mistrust between them, but he finds himself speechless and submissive towards Bulma's orders, much to everyone's shock. While he is still living at Capsule Corporation, Frieza and his father King Cold are sensed on their way to Earth, Frieza having survived the explosion of Namek. However, a young man named Trunks appears, transforms into a Super Saiyan, and destroys both Frieza and his father. After the fight, the boy tells them that Goku will soon arrive. The Z Fighters (Vegeta, Piccolo, Tien Shinhan, Chiaotzu, Yamcha, Gohan, and Krillin), along with Bulma and Puar, wait for 2 hours for Goku's arrival. Vegeta is curious as to who the stranger really is and is jealous of the young warrior's ability to become a Super Saiyan, seeing him as an obstacle to his goal of becoming the strongest fighter in the universe by obtaining the Super Saiyan form himself as well as being in denial about Future Trunks being a Saiyan. While waiting for Goku, Future Trunks keeps staring at Vegeta, causing Vegeta to demand why he is staring at him. Eventually, Goku shows up and he explains that he ended up on Planet Yardrat and learned Instant Transmission from the natives. Future Trunks speaks with Goku privately (though Piccolo was able to hear them with his sharp hearing), after testing the Saiyan's power briefly. He tells Goku that his father is Vegeta, his mother is Bulma, and he is a Super Saiyan from 20 years in the future. In actuality, the reason why Future Trunks was staring at Vegeta was that this had been the first time he actually met his father, due to Future Vegeta being killed by the Androids while Future Trunks was still an infant. Goku does not talk about this with the others but he does speak about Future Trunks being a Saiyan, which makes Vegeta angry and jealous. Vegeta says it is impossible because there is no way for the boy to have Saiyan blood (he and Goku being the last of the Saiyans, and Gohan being a half-breed).
Future Trunks then gives Goku an antidote for a heart virus that Future Trunks says Goku will develop in a few years time. He also says that in three years, two Androids, created by former Red Ribbon Army scientist Dr. Gero, will appear, kill all of the Z Fighters, and begin a reign of terror over the Earth. During the next three years, the Z Fighters began to train very hard. Vegeta was no exception, as he trained the hardest to become a Super Saiyan. After witnessing the lower class Goku and another stranger he does not even recognize as from his race being Super Saiyans, Vegeta trains with pure determination. This eventually leads to him getting injured in a training-related accident and being hospitalized temporarily and causes Bulma to get closer to him, rendering Yamcha jealous.
Two years later, Vegeta and Bulma develop an intimate relationship and, as a result, Bulma gives birth to a son named Trunks. However, Vegeta shows little to no interest in his son due to his priority to surpass Goku and his inability to act as a father. During this time, Vegeta trains himself intensely, determined to become a Super Saiyan like Goku. Training at 450 times normal gravity, Vegeta pushes his strength to the limit but still finds himself unable to achieve the level of Super Saiyan. Eventually, in the anime only, Vegeta takes the ship with the Gravity Machine on it to a planet so he can train without distraction. While on this planet, Vegeta is forced to defend the ship from a sudden meteor shower, a task which proves to be difficult for him as he is weakened from his training. Just as it seems that both himself and the ship are going to be destroyed by a giant meteor, Vegeta, out of sheer hopelessness and desperation, finally becomes a Super Saiyan and is easily able to destroy the meteor (in the manga, Vegeta instead claimed he achieved the transformation because, like Goku, he did ultimately have purity of heart, albeit one of pure evil).
Androids Saga
It is not long after that the prophesied Android 19 and Android 20 appear and wreak havoc a year later. Vegeta is at age 35 at the time. When the heart disease begins to attack Goku while fighting Android 19, Vegeta appears out of nowhere and kicks the Android in the face, saving Goku. Vegeta tells them to give Goku his medicine. Goku is then flown home by Yamcha, where the heart medicine is given to him. Vegeta then greatly surprises everyone by transforming into a Super Saiyan. Vegeta then begins to effortlessly demolish Android 19 with his increased power and after ripping the Android's hands off, he finishes it off with his Big Bang Attack.
Vegeta seems to be far more powerful than both of the Androids, and Android 20 decides to flee. During this time, Future Trunks arrives and informs everyone that Android 19 and 20 are not the androids of his future world. After Vegeta takes a Senzu Bean to recover his power, Piccolo calls Future Trunks by name, causing Vegeta to realize who he really is; Vegeta is initially shocked by this realization, although he is also apparently resolved as this explains how the boy could become a Super Saiyan (Vegeta is also implied to be proud to be Trunks' father, as he reacts with surprise at Trunks' Super Saiyan transformation at his age, and then thinks "But then again, he is my son"). Android 20 tries to kill Bulma, baby Trunks, and Yajirobe (all who had been wanting to see the battle) to escape but are saved by Future Trunks, who questions why Vegeta didn't try to save Bulma and their child. Vegeta replies they are no concern to him and continues his pursuit of the android. After pursuing Android 20 (who is really Dr. Gero, with his brain in a cyborg body) Vegeta and the rest of the team discover Android 17 and Android 18, who were activated by Android 20 in a desperate attempt to save himself. These Androids were far more powerful than either Dr. Gero or Android 19. However, Android 17 decapitates Dr. Gero and crushes his head, not being loyal to his creator at all. Android 18 then activates Android 16.
The three new Androids fly away from Dr. Gero's secret laboratory, but the Z Fighters follow them, and Vegeta challenges them to battle. He fights with Android 18 and seems to be doing fairly well at first and surprises the Androids with his newfound power, but is eventually defeated due to the fact that Android 18 has infinite power while Vegeta has to use all his power to fight her. When Piccolo, Tien, and Future Trunks step in, they too are beaten into submission. The Androids then head off to look for Goku in order to destroy him - the mission they were made for. Krillin, the only Z Fighter not to have gotten involved in the skirmish with the Androids, gives everyone Senzu Beans, which revived all of his fallen comrades. Vegeta then spends three days standing on a cliff, thinking about his defeat. His anger erupts, causing him to transform into a Super Saiyan. He decides that there must be a level beyond Super Saiyan and resolves to reach it.
Cell Saga
Vegeta later senses Piccolo's power, he is shocked to hear from Trunks he fused with Kami. Piccolo then informs Vegeta and the others about Dr. Gero's creation Cell, Vegeta is especially stunned to hear that Cell has some of his cells and Goku's as well as others. He is outraged by the androids making mockery of him with their strength, resolving to ascend higher than Super Saiyan and flies off to find a way. He is approached by Trunks and stays in the same spot for three days pondering. Soon Goku has recovered and tells him of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber at The Lookout. Hearing this, Vegeta theorizes to attain higher power quicker if he trains for nearly a year (a day outside) in the room. Vegeta goes in the room with Future Trunks. While training, he achieved greater power, including Super Saiyan Third Grade but discovered the form's weakness and decided not to use it.
After Imperfect Cell manages to absorb Android 17 and becomes even stronger than Piccolo, Vegeta and Future Trunks emerge from the Hyperbolic Time Chamber and confront Semi-Perfect Cell. After powering up into a Super Saiyan Second Grade, Vegeta completely dominated Semi-Perfect Cell and even made the evil android beg him to allow him to absorb Android 18, in order to become complete and make the fight more interesting. This strategy was obvious to everyone, including Vegeta, and he initially refuses. However, eager to show off his new power, Vegeta eventually permits Semi-Perfect Cell to do as he wishes, even going so far as to fight Future Trunks and stop him from preventing Semi-Perfect Cell's attainment of his perfect form. Vegeta doubted Future Trunks would fight back, though he is proven wrong when Trunks actually blasts him away from the battle into the sea, in the process drawing Vegeta's blood.
While laying in the ocean, Vegeta became proud that his own son dared to attack him, declaring he's really strong willed but he becomes angry at his wound, he quickly returns to the battlefield, just as Cell has obtained his Perfect form. Cell fights Vegeta again, but this time, Vegeta is the weaker one, with Vegeta angry that Cell was not taking their battle seriously. Vegeta had to resort to using his Final Flash technique, which, to his credit, was too strong for Cell to block. He dares Perfect Cell to take the attack head-on, and Perfect Cell, confident that it will not harm him, stays put as the beam hits him. Though it failed to destroy Perfect Cell, the attack's power was obvious, as Perfect Cell was missing a third of his body from the blast. When Vegeta thought he had won, Perfect Cell regenerated, though, thanks to Piccolo's Cells, and then badly beat the weakened Vegeta. Perfect Cell then fought Future Trunks, who managed to put up a fight against the perfect Android, but he was defeated as well when he gave up after realizing the 3rd Grade Super Saiyan form was too slow to fight Cell. Instead of killing the defeated Z Warriors, Perfect Cell proposes a tournament so that he can have some fun before destroying Earth. Cell then broadcasts a message to tell Earth that the tournament would commence in ten days.
During this time, Goku and Gohan got their turn in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber and began training, mostly for the purpose of Gohan becoming a Super Saiyan, his hidden power would be very useful then if he could at least keep up with Perfect Cell normally. Goku and Gohan then appear from the Hyperbolic Time Chamber with Vegeta being shocked they exit so early. He is surprised at them achieving the Full-Powered Super Saiyan state and how they are normal in demeanor. After talking with Goku, Vegeta then decides to once again enter the Hyperbolic Time Chamber hopeful to gain an increase in power as he had before, but this time decided to do things differently, first by entering alone instead of with Future Trunks deciding that he would just slow him down and to instead gain control over the original Super Saiyan transformation as Goku and Gohan had done before rather than increasing his power as much as possible. Vegeta then reappeared from the chamber disappointed at how little increase in power he had achieved. All the Z Warriors then gathered at the tournament after nine days had passed. On the day of the tournament, the martial arts champion Mr. Satan (Hercule) and his trainees attack Perfect Cell first, but they are easily defeated. Then the tournament truly begins, as Goku is the first of our heroes to fight Perfect Cell, even though he already knows that he will probably not be able to beat him. He matches Perfect Cell blow for blow and puts up a good fight; but as Goku expected, Perfect Cell is quite a bit stronger than him.
Goku eventually quits the fight after a huge Kamehameha that decreases his own power and remembers the training inside the Hyperbolic Time Chamber that he and Gohan went through. Goku is confident in his son's abilities and sends the 11-year-old Gohan out to fight Perfect Cell, assuring Perfect Cell that if Gohan could not beat him, no one would be able to. Gohan reluctantly fights Perfect Cell, but Gohan does not show the same love for fighting and confidence that Goku does, and it is that lack of interest in fighting and lack of confidence that gets him into trouble. Gohan does not use his full strength and Perfect Cell makes seven miniature versions of himself to fight the Z Fighters and eventually kill them. Vegeta held his own against one of the creatures but gradually overwhelmed. This charade continues until Android 16 (who is now allied with Goku) is killed - when this happens, Gohan's dormant power erupts in his rage, and he transforms to a level that surpasses the known limits of any Super Saiyan. This new level of power is "Super Saiyan 2". It was just as Goku had predicted; Vegeta was shocked to watch Gohan with his awakened power, as the latter dominates the perfect android until a well-placed kick to the stomach makes Perfect Cell regurgitate Android 18, forcing him to become semi-perfect again. No longer at his ultimate power, he begins to self destruct as a last resort. Vegeta is further shocked when Goku sacrifices himself by teleporting Cell to King Kai's Planet and is killed in the explosion. Semi-Perfect Cell survives and comes back in his perfect form, but due to his Saiyan genetics, Super Perfect Cell comes back stronger after his near-fatal injury. He returns to Earth, where he kills Future Trunks with a Full Power Death Beam.
Vegeta, distraught to see his son get killed and guilt-ridden for rejecting his efforts to help him, attacks Super Perfect Cell in a fit of rage, blasting the android straight on with an incredible volley of Ki Blasts. When it is all over, Super Perfect Cell emerges, completely unharmed. He knocks Vegeta aside and then attempts to finish him off once and for all with a ki blast, but Gohan throws himself in the way of the blast, losing the use of his left arm in the process. What follows is a turning point in the life of the Warrior Prince: seeing that his pride and rage has taken the victory from a brother Saiyan and warrior, Vegeta, for the first time in his life, apologizes to Gohan for his actions.
During the Kamehameha struggle of the anime, Vegeta observes the battle and briefly expresses some doubts about the other Z-fighters (namely Tien Shinhan, Yamcha, and Krillin) going to aid Piccolo in trying to distract Cell long enough to have Gohan overpower Cell, thinking their actions won't make a difference either way. However, after witnessing them distract Cell long enough to yell at them for interfering, Vegeta starts wondering whether it would actually work. He then has some remaining doubts, before eventually becoming a Super Saiyan again. In the manga, while the intense Kamehameha duel continues, as Super Perfect Cell is about to finish Gohan but is finally defeated by Gohan's Kamehameha after Vegeta distracts him with a Galick Blazer to the back, allowing Gohan's beam to finally overcome Super Perfect Cell's. Realizing that both Goku and Gohan are superior to him not only in power but in character and honor as well, Vegeta understands that he was beaten by Goku in more ways than one. His last words on the battlefield are "Kakarot, you died without fear. What does that make of me?" With the battle over, Vegeta begins to finally accept his rapidly changing morality (as he, like Piccolo before him, has now grown to care for others), and begins to settle down on Earth, becoming quite fond of it, he marries Bulma and begins to truly care about his family. With Goku dead and gone, and perhaps due to guilt from allowing Perfect Cell to come to be and wreak havoc on the world, Vegeta vows to never fight again and resolves to be a better husband and father.
Great Saiyaman Saga
Seven years after the Cell Games, despite lacking a worthy opponent, and having abandoned his role as a fighter, Vegeta continues his vigorous training at Bulma's house, coming much closer to Gohan's Super Saiyan 2 power due to Gohan focusing on his studies. Now that Goku is gone, Vegeta's goal is no longer to become stronger than him, but to make Trunks stronger than both Gohan and Goku's second son, Goten, as he strongly believes Gohan's Super Saiyan 2 was Goku's doing. He is first seen emerging from a gravity room after training with Trunks, when Gohan comes to have fun with Trunks. While Gohan greets Vegeta kindly, Vegeta gives Gohan a cold look and tells him that he should've continued training, in his opinion, "living in times of peace is no excuse to be lazy".
At Capsule Corporation, Gohan tells Bulma about how he's being blackmailed into entering the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament by Videl, who saw through his Great Saiyaman disguise. Bulma decides to give him a turban to put over his head along with some sunglasses in place of the helmet as helmets or armor are not allowed in the tournament, which unfortunately does little to reduce just how ridiculous the costume is. When Bulma points out that Gohan would have no challenge when he enters the Tournament, Vegeta enters, deciding to compete as well, wanting to see if he's surpassed Gohan by continuing to train while the young half Saiyan has grown complacent. Goku, listening in from the Other World, contacts them through King Kai and tells them he'll compete too, using his one-day pass to the living world. Vegeta is happy that they can finally have a rematch and boasts that he will beat Goku and his sons in the tournament. With the Tournament now getting even more interesting, Gohan flies off to tell the others about the Tournament and Goku's return.
World Tournament Saga
During training for the tournament, Vegeta is shown to be a rather harsh and stern teacher towards Trunks, commenting rudely on Trunks's inability to adapt to the intense gravity in the training room, but at the same time worrying about his well-being by asking him to rest. He then becomes shocked and proud when Trunks effortlessly goes Super Saiyan and adapts well (thus reducing the "transformation into the legendary warrior" to a "child's play thing"). Vegeta orders Trunks to attack him, promising to take him to the amusement park if he manages to hit him in the face. Trunks manages to land a blow on Vegeta, who strikes him to the floor. Impressed with his son's fighting abilities, Vegeta decides to take him to the park as promised. However, Vegeta becomes slightly irritated when he hears that Goten is also a Super Saiyan (especially after hearing it was Chi-Chi who triggered the transformation in the first place) and only slightly weaker than Trunks, and vows to make the gap between Trunks and Goten's power as big as possible.
Vegeta then arrives at the tournament with his family and in turn joins up with the Z Fighters in order to greet Goku on his return. When Goku appears, Vegeta, with his son, look on as the others greet Goku in happiness. They then all take turns hitting the punch reader machine. While the Z Fighters lower their strength to hit the machine, Vegeta hits it without holding back, completely destroying the machine, to the disgrace of the others. Vegeta is eager to fight Goku in the tournament to prove that he was the stronger one and to his delight, his first match is with Goku. Goku meets his son Goten and the tournament starts. When Trunks won the Junior Division final match against Goten, Vegeta is very proud of his son's victory. Soon, Shin and Kibito appear and tell Goku that a wizard named Babidi is about to unleash an evil monster named Majin Buu on the world, and they must help stop him. Majin Buu needs energy from fighters so he can be freed from the shell he is trapped inside. Goku prepares to go with Shin, but Vegeta is enraged - he was scheduled to fight Goku and thinks Goku is trying to wiggle out of it. He joins Goku, Gohan, Videl, Piccolo and Krillin. They follow Shin to Babidi's Spaceship. However, the gang is ambushed. Piccolo and Krillin are turned to stone statues by Dabura, one of Babidi's henchmen. Videl returns to the tournament, advised that the fight against Babidi might be too dangerous for her as she is inexperienced. Goku, Gohan, Vegeta and Shin enter Babidi's ship.
They fight their way down the levels, encountering a different Majin (Babidi's fighters) at each level. Vegeta was the first of the three to fight, after winning a match of Rock-Paper-Scissors. He fights the minion Pui Pui with absolute ease, not even having to transform into a Super Saiyan. Seeing Pui-Pui fall to Vegeta's might, Babidi transports Pui Pui and the others to Pui Pui's home planet Zoon, which has 10x the gravity of earth. Vegeta, having already trained under 500X gravity when preparing for the androids, is not fazed at all by this change (also note that Vegeta grew up on Planet Vegeta, which already had 10X the gravity of earth). Vegeta then proceeds to eliminate Pui-Pui swiftly by killing him instantly with a point-blank energy blast, completely disintegrating the minion. Goku was up next, and he fought a pet creature of Babidi known as Yakon. At first, Yakon was troublesome, seeing as though he has the ability to see in dark, whereas Goku could not. However, Goku manages to defeat the creature by forcing him to absorb too much of his energy and blow up, briefly giving Vegeta a glimpse of Goku's Super Saiyan 2 powers.
At this point, Vegeta realizes that even though he has trained as hard as he could for seven years, there was still a gap between Goku's power and his. Then Gohan begins to fight Dabura. During the fight between Gohan and Dabura, Vegeta and Goku have an argument about how to best handle the Babidi/Majin Buu threat. Dabura notices Vegeta's anger quickly boil and rise, and he retreats saying that there is a different fighter who is more powerful. They are confused, as Shin says that Dabura is the most powerful Majin. Suddenly, Vegeta begins acting strangely, screaming that something invisible is attacking him. Shin informs the others that Babidi is trying to take over Vegeta's mind and they encourage him to fight back, but it is too late. Vegeta is overwhelmed by Babidi, and is transformed into a much more powerful stage, Majin Vegeta. Babidi orders his new apprentice, Majin Vegeta, to destroy Goku, Gohan and Shin, but he refuses, saying that he will only fight Goku.
Babidi is surprised by Majin Vegeta's ability to fight his mind control, but obediently transports the three fighters and Shin back to the World Martial Arts Tournament. Majin Vegeta, eager to fight Goku, blows up part of the spectator bleachers, killing dozens of people and almost killing his wife, trying to convince Goku to fight him. After taunting Goku for a while, Goku eventually agrees. Shin tries to get in the way of the two Saiyans' feud, but backs down when Goku threatens to blast him if he gets in the way (to the surprise of Vegeta). Goku and Majin Vegeta then are teleported to a secluded mountain area, where they proceed to fight. Majin Vegeta reveals to Goku that he deliberately let Babidi control him in order to allow his evilness to resurface, which would allow Vegeta to fight Goku as he once was, saying "I was cold and ruthless, unencumbered by foolish emotion!" He further elaborates that he came to realize that he had become a normal person; he has a wife and son he adores and has started to like living on Earth, but he has become ashamed of the change within him and believes his ties to his family and the planet made him weak. After that, Majin Vegeta and Goku both power-up to Super Saiyan 2, with power levels just surpassing that of Gohan's when he fought Super Perfect Cell. Then Goku and Majin Vegeta fight furiously, with each fighter having one glorious moment after one another.
Vegeta was able to fight evenly with Goku, (catching the latter off-guard on a few occasions). Throughout the battle, Vegeta informs Goku of how he began to enjoy comfortable family life with Bulma and Trunks, but his Saiyan nature began to disagree with this new cozy, non-violent lifestyle, making Vegeta feel weak and useless, thus, Vegeta wanted to retread the path he was on a long time ago, evil and ruthless. Goku tries to persuade Vegeta that his life has changed, and he can still easily enjoy being a competitive fighter with a loving family, but Vegeta brushes this notion aside as nonsense. Eventually, Goku calls the fight to a halt because he senses Majin Buu's extraordinary power, meaning he has been released from to the energy spent by Goku and Majin Vegeta which Babidi used to revive the sleeping Majin Buu. Majin Vegeta refuses to oblige, even when told Majin Buu will kill his family. Goku angrily berates him for lying about this because, even in his current state, Vegeta still has a soul and conscience. Majin Vegeta agrees to postpone the fight. When Goku turns his back to get out the last Senzu Bean and split it between him and Majin Vegeta to stop Majin Buu, Majin Vegeta knocks him out.
Majin Buu Saga
Majin Vegeta then takes the Senzu Bean and goes to fight Majin Buu by himself: as he felt that he owed Goku for the destruction wrecked during the World Martial Arts Tournament and allowing Majin Buu to be freed. He wants to atone his sins by fighting Majin Buu to the death and saving the Earth. He also believed Gohan was killed as he cannot sense his ki and feels genuine remorse, vowing to avenge Gohan. Destroying Babidi's spaceship, Majin Vegeta fights against Majin Buu, but cannot win, even his most powerful attacks only slightly hurt Buu. He inflicts many blows on Majin Buu, but the pink monster seems invincible. Majin Buu then proceeds to constrict Vegeta using his Potbelly Attack and mercilessly beats the Saiyan Prince into submission.
After Trunks saves Vegeta from one of Buu's attacks, Vegeta decides the only way to destroy Buu is to sacrifice himself. For the first time since Trunks was a baby, Vegeta holds his son close and tells him how proud he is of him, before knocking him and Goten out. He leaves them in Piccolo's care, and then uses Final Explosion in an attempt to kill Majin Buu in a spherical explosion and narrating an emotional goodbye to his family and Goku. In the end, all that is left of Vegeta is his body that turns to stone and then falls to the ground, leaving a few broken parts that quickly scatter. This technique does not kill Majin Buu, as Majin Buu regenerates from the pieces of him which were left. Everyone finds out about Vegeta's sacrifice and mourns the Saiyan Prince's demise.
Later on in the saga, Vegeta is given the chance of another shot at Majin Buu by King Yemma, which Vegeta accepts. He returns to Earth but unfortunately, he is still dead. He finds Goku (now brought back to life, thanks to Shin's ancestor sacrificing himself) who tells him that everyone has been killed or absorbed by Majin Buu. Majin Buu was now much more powerful than when Vegeta first fought him. As a result, Goku asks and pleads to Vegeta to put on one of the Potara Earrings so that they can permanently fuse their bodies and minds together and fight as one. Vegeta denies Goku's offer and tells him that he knows about Goku again surpassing him, furious that he had found and reached the new Super Saiyan 3 stage, thinking he was mocking him by not using this form during their last confrontation. Vegeta got angry at Goku for holding back in their fight before because Vegeta would not have had to sacrifice his own life if he had known that Goku's true power rivaled that of Majin Buu, and thus he initially rejects the offer. Goku and Vegeta are then confronted by Super Buu.
hen when Vegeta agrees to fuse with Goku he explains they would be stuck together forever. Seeing he had no other choices, Vegeta agreed to fuse, even if it means being stuck with Goku forever, because he wants to avenge his family's death and to stop Super Buu. They then fuse to become Vegito. However, Vegito realizes that he cannot destroy Super Buu because his friends and family have been absorbed into Super Buu's body and allows himself to be purposely absorbed after putting up a Saiyan Barrier so that he may rescue them. The strange circumstances within Super Buu cause the fusion to separate and Goku and Vegeta find themselves back in their own bodies. Stating that nothing is worse than being fused with Goku forever, Vegeta crushes the Potaras to powder without hesitation. Goku and Vegeta fight their way through Super Buu's body to the brain (in the anime while they appear directly in the brain just as the other absorbees were in the manga), where they find not only Gohan, Goten, Trunks and Piccolo but also the original fat form of Majin Buu.
Vegeta recalls (having seen these events in the afterlife) that at some time in the past, Majin Buu split into his good and evil sides. The evil side absorbed the good side, Majin Buu. Goku and Vegeta fight a "thought-form" of Super Buu inside the brain and think they have won until Super Buu regenerates and defeats them. Super Buu's power had tremendously been decreased in comparison to when he fought Vegito. However, he was still stronger than both Goku and Vegeta (the former of whom states that Buu would kill them easily if they were to go out unfused), and to make matters worse, (exclusively in the anime) inside Buu's head the monster's very thoughts became reality. Super Buu was about to destroy Goku when Vegeta distracts him by threatening to tear the fat Majin Buu out of the pod he was trapped inside of. Super Buu gets frightened at what Vegeta is about to do, and pleads for the Saiyan prince to stop, saying "If you tear those attachments, I won't be me anymore," only further convincing Vegeta to tear them. Vegeta, with sadistic glee, then pulls the pod, causing Super Buu's mental avatar to gruesomely dissolve, and he and Goku then escape. They take their sons, and Piccolo with them. Once outside, they see that Super Buu's form is changing again and morphs back into his original form, Kid Buu.
Vegeta and Goku have a small conversation afterwards, with Vegeta making fun of Goku because he was so worried that he just shrank. Kid Buu decides to destroy the earth in his wake with his Planet Burst. Goku and Vegeta could not stop Kid Buu's horrible power, and the two Saiyans fly quickly to try and reach the now-free absorption victims, but Goku made a detour and picked up Mr. Satan, the young Namekian healer Dende, and Mr. Satan's pet Labrador puppy, Bee. There was no time to save Gohan, Goten, Trunks, or Piccolo, as Kid Buu's attack was speeding towards them. Suddenly Kibito Kai appears using Kai Kai to transport himself, Goku, Vegeta, and the three others to the Sacred World of the Kai. Vegeta blames Goku for the needless death of their sons. Vegeta also gets further incensed when he learned that, while Vegeta was still dead and, in the afterlife, Goku bribed Old Kai with allowing the latter to grope/gain nude pictures of Bulma (a kiss in the English dub), lashing out at Goku for his senselessness and stated that he should have just used Goku's own wife instead. However, they get happy as Dende tells them that they can revive everyone and Earth with the Namekian Dragon Balls. They soon watch through a Crystal Ball and see that Kid Buu has regenerated and using Kai Kai while destroying planet after planet in search of them. Kid Buu knew they escaped, and as a result decided to hunt them down. Goku and Vegeta decide it cannot go on, and power up to entice him to come to the sacred planet to fight them both.
Kid Buu answers their call, and quickly makes himself visible at the planet. After playing a quick game of Rock-Paper-Scissors to decide who faces Kid Buu first, Goku wins and starts his fight. Exclusively in the anime, Goku powers up to a Super Saiyan 2 and fights well against the child version of Majin Buu. However, Kid Buu powers up and Goku then powers up to a Super Saiyan 3 to try and match his power. Goku evenly fights the psychotic Majin. However, Kid Buu seems to have a slight advantage over Goku as the fight progresses due to Goku's constantly depleting energy supply. Goku fights in his Super Saiyan 3 stage for a while, and as a result, loses a colossal amount of energy. He starts losing so much power he eventually collapses when he tries to fire the powerful Kamehameha attack. Vegeta steps in and fights for a period of time but is dominated and cannot match Kid Buu in power. Goku recovers in the nick of time and begins fighting again at his full strength. Vegeta goes through a long flashback sequence, remembering how he met Goku and everything that's happened since then - he thinks about their different attitudes to their families, about Goku's friends, and most of all about their strength. He finally comes to terms with his rivalry with Goku and acknowledges him as the best as Goku fights for pure reasons and not for his own personal gain.
Goku gradually began losing power despite being in Super Saiyan 3 form, and since Kid Buu maintained his full strength even after multiple powerful attacks from Goku, the Saiyan warrior began to panic. Vegeta fought Kid Buu in his Super Saiyan 2 form as a distraction so Goku could get his energy back, even though he knew that his destruction would be permanent if he were destroyed while he was dead. He was beaten viciously but would not give up (even shocking Kid Buu). Later, the good Majin Buu took Vegeta's place after being spit out. However, Goku was unable to get his energy back, reverting into his base form. Vegeta realized that Goku could not defeat Kid Buu by using his power alone and devised a plan for Goku to create a massive Spirit Bomb with energy given by all the people on Earth in order to destroy Kid Buu, which Goku thinks at first will not succeed. Communicating with King Kai, he coordinated the search for the seven Dragon Balls of New Namek and had the Nameks use them to make three wishes: The first being the restoration of the destroyed Planet Earth.
The second wish affirms the sincerity of Vegeta's newfound humanity, as it entails the revival of everyone who had died since the arrival of Babidi who do not possess an evil heart, so that they can give their energy to the Spirit Bomb. When asked by Goku why the wish was worded so, he reasoned that to wish otherwise would revive Dabura and Babidi, and those whom he murdered at the tournament would stay dead. Surely enough, his own halo disappears, indicating that his heart was no longer an evil one. Vegeta tries to convince the people of Earth to give their energy to defeat Buu, but they do not listen to his pleas. All hope seems lost until Mr. Satan orders the humans to contribute energy, which the humans then do. When Goku completes the Super Spirit Bomb, he cannot throw it because Kid Buu was holding the injured Vegeta down. However, the good Majin Buu tackles Kid Buu away so Mr. Satan could move Vegeta away. Finally, Goku launches it.
This last wish, that of recovering Goku's full strength, was made when Kid Buu was about to overpower the Super Spirit Bomb. Combining Goku's and Vegeta's enormous strength and Vegeta's strategic mind, the last two pure-blood Saiyans were able to defeat Kid Buu and save the universe. Afterwards, Vegeta was eager to dispose of the good Majin Buu, but Goku convinced him that the good Majin Buu had saved his life. Vegeta then changes his mind and accepts the good Majin Buu as one of them. The fighters then return to Earth and Vegeta is welcomed back by his family and friends. He later attends a party at Capsule Corp.
Goku and Vegeta finally become friends after being rivals for many years, though they still keep a friendly rivalry between them.
Peaceful World Saga
In the decade since Majin Buu's defeat, Vegeta goes on to father a second child, his daughter Bulla. He has fully accepted life as an Earthling, and has traded in the Saiyan battle fatigues for more casual Earth clothing. Ten years after Majin Buu's defeat, Goku, Vegeta, and the others enter the 28th World Martial Arts Tournament. Vegeta hopes to fight Goku again and Goku hopes to find the reincarnated version of Majin Buu. He also has Trunks participate in the tournament, and also jokingly threatens to cut Trunks' allowance in half if Trunks does not fight. During the preliminaries, Vegeta also casually backhands his would-be opponent into a billboard when the latter made the mistake of trying to trash-talk him and also suggested to the referees that his opponent "forfeited" before their match started.
At the end of his fight with Uub, Goku reveals to everybody that he will be leaving for a while to train Uub. Vegeta is the last to talk to Goku before he leaves. Goku apologizes in a way, and tells Vegeta that he wants to have a friendly battle with him one day (to which Vegeta simply replies that "when we fight, we would need a whole planet as an arena"). After Goku and Vegeta say their goodbyes both Goku and Uub fly away.
The updated version of the manga ends with Vegeta at the tournament grounds, leaning on a pillar and thinking to himself that one day he will fight Goku and defeat him.
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