Vegeta

Vegeta (ベジータ) is the prince of the fallen Saiyan race and the arch-rival of Son Goku. He is the eldest son of King Vegeta, and older brother of Tarble. He is the husband of Bulma, including the father of Trunks and Bra. He later on becomes the great-great grandfather of Vegeta Jr. Alongside Goku, Gohan, and Piccolo, he is easily one of the most prominent characters in the series. He remains and live on Earth, fighting alongside the Z Fighters. All the while striving to become the universe's most powerful warrior, specifically with the mission to defeat and surpass Goku in power.

Background

 * "Man! Frieza... the day will soon be here that we won't take any more orders from him, you watch."
 * — A young Vegeta when speaking to Nappa (English Version)

Vegeta is born around Age 732. His father, King Vegeta, is the King of the Saiyan race. In his youth, Vegeta saw his father being stepped over by the God of Destruction Beerus. King Vegeta and his race are also under the rule of the interplanetary warlord Frieza, and the former was also forced by Frieza to surrender him to the latter through undisclosed means. While under Frieza's grip, Vegeta was pressured by Frieza to do his bidding or else Frieza would murder Vegeta's father.

A few time before the genocide of the Saiyans, Vegeta is shown effortlessly destroying 6 to 7 Saibamen during a training, and soon later conquering a planet for Frieza. Despite this, Frieza kills King Vegeta anyway after the latter attempted to form a mutiny against him to free Vegeta. While Vegeta is on another planet, Frieza destroys the Saiyan planet, Planet Vegeta. As a result, all the Saiyans are killed. The only Siyans that survive are Son Goku, Raditz, Vegeta, Nappa, Tullece, Paragus, Broly and Tarble.

Frieza keeps Vegeta, Nappa, and Raditz as slaves to do his bidding, while Goku escapes the devastation by being sent to cleanse Earth of its inhabitants moments before Planet Vegeta was destroyed. In the manga chapter of the Namek Saga, Vegeta is angry over working under Frieza. Vegeta is especially reluctant to take orders from Frieza's right-hand man, Zarbon, whom Vegeta states is responsible for mocking him for many years and "working him like a slave." Despite being Frieza's underling, Vegeta constantly and proudly calls himself the "Prince of all Saiyans."

Vegeta does not refer to himself as the "King of all Saiyans", possibly out of respect for his father, a refusal to admit the extinction of the Saiyans, or because he was never formally declared King. Vegeta planned to assassinate Frieza several times. However, after witnessing Frieza's incredible display of power when he destroyed an entire planet and the rebels who opposed Frieza on it with a single gigantic energy ball fired from his index finger, Vegeta decided that he would need to wait before challenging Frieza.

After an assignment to wipe out the planet Shikk alongside his comrades Raditz and Nappa, Vegeta restrained Nappa when the latter attempted to brashly attack Frieza, Zarbon, and Dodoria for mocking the manner in which they took out the planet as he realized that his group did not stand a chance against Frieza's Elite. Nonetheless, he was still visibly angry and had to restrain himself from attacking when Zarbon mocked him as he was leaving.

At one point during his time serving under Frieza, Vegeta gets into a squabble with the Ginyu Force member Guldo, over how Vegeta is more important in the eyes of Frieza. Guldo mocks Vegeta for being a Saiyan and says he should take orders from them, and Vegeta responds that Guldo takes orders from Frieza the same as he does and mocks Guldo for being a "four-eyed freak". As the angry Guldo prepares to attack Vegeta, Frieza arrives and blasts Guldo away. Frieza then has Vegeta come with him to conquer a planet.

Personality
Vegeta is arrogant throughout the series, and becomes bitter due to the abuse his race suffered at the hands of Frieza. Following the destruction of his home world Planet Vegeta, his hatred toward Frieza grows. His royalty seems to have bestowed upon him an inflated sense of superiority, holding himself above nearly everyone he encounters. He is immensely proud of his Saiyan heritage and believes his race to be the most powerful in the universe.

As the Prince of a demolished Planet Vegeta, Vegeta 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. Many of Vegeta's early heroic acts are because of self-interest or revenge, although he later settles down and grows fond of Earth as his home, raising a family with Bulma. Having been born into the upper tier of Saiyan society, Vegeta was fixated on achieving the legendary status of Super Saiyan and becoming the most powerful warrior in the universe. Vegeta is more of a tactical fighter who often rushes in the brawl without hesitation.

However, his rage or arrogance often causes him to underestimate his opponent. His royal blood and intense fighting style has both benefited and harmed him in many battles. Vegeta has been shown to be one of the more intelligent characters of the series, as well as one of the most serious, rarely exhibiting humor. When he does so, his humor is often very dry and in some rare occasions it is based on black humor. However, he does delight in mocking his enemies, as demonstrated when he offers to reconstruct Android 18 into a "toaster" or a "washing machine" (English Version only). He also shows his bleak sense of humor towards Goku when he was about to battle him in the World Martial Arts Tournament. Normally, his ego and arrogance overshadow his positive qualities.

Vegeta is extremely aggressive and cold-blooded. Since his childhood, Vegeta has proven himself a ruthless killer, merciless like most Saiyans. During the Namek Saga, he began to exhibit changes; rather than killing Krillin or Gohan as he promised in the previous saga, he instead forges an alliance with them. Throughout the first half of the Frieza Saga, whomever he defeated, he killed without mercy. His only sign of mercy is when he let Namekian Frog Captain Ginyu live, taking delight at the notion of Ginyu being stuck in the frog's body as punishment enough. After his defeat at the hands of Frieza, Vegeta tearfully explains to Goku that Frieza forced him to be ruthless and that he never had the chance to be anything else (implying that he could have been kinder and more merciful were it not for Frieza). From then on, Vegeta softened up and occasionally showed compassion to his new family, Bulma, Trunks, and Bulla. In addition, during the Kid Buu Saga, he knownably became enraged when he learned that Goku's deal with Old Kai involved allowing the latter to take advantage of Bulma, feeling it was very senseless of Goku.

It was not until the Babidi Saga that he gave in to his obsession of overtaking Goku in might, becoming a Majin and "evil" once more. This was a desperate, failed ploy to restore his former wickedness, believing it to have been the source of his true power. Goku believes Vegeta is bluffing, and correctly so; Vegeta demonstrates his prevailing softness in hugging Trunks for the first time and telling him that he is proud to be his father, before performing a sacrificial Final Explosion against Majin Buu. Arguably, his most defining trait is his rivalry with Goku and obsession to surpass him in power. In Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn, he goes so far as to break down in tears over his inability to surpass Goku. However, this obsession has led him to save Goku's life on several occasions, insisting that only he will defeat Goku. When Goku sacrifices himself to save the Earth from being destroyed by Cell, Vegeta is devastated to the point that he vows never to fight again.

From the beginning of the series to near the end, Vegeta is shown to be exceptionally vain and egotistical. A tragic example of this is in his fight with Semi-Perfect Cell. Though he could have easily destroyed this weaker form of Cell, his arrogance bested him, and he purposely let Cell absorb Android 18 just to have a challenge in Cell through which to test his power. While fighting Super Buu, as well as while fighting Janemba on a different occasion,[6] Vegeta vehemently opposed fusion with Goku due to his pride, but Goku managed to persuade him. Later, Vegeta becomes more willing to fuse, going so far as to propose it himself in the battle against Omega Shenron in Dragon Ball GT.

On several occasions, Vegeta conceitedly underestimates his opponents; in the cases of Perfect Cell and Kid Buu, Vegeta was fooled by their diminutive appearances, believing that they had only "shrunk", which is somewhat ironic, given his own short stature, yet large power. In some instances, Vegeta has been seen afraid of opponents such as Frieza, Broly, or Beerus (he does everything he possibly can to ensure that the God of Destruction is not angered when the latter arrives at Bulma's birthday party). However, he often visibly has a change of heart, displays his pride, and takes to the fight.

His opinion of Son Goku always being one step ahead of him, even though Goku is a lower class Saiyan, runs the gamut from contempt to rivalry, and later to respect and friendship. Because of his arrogance, attitude and past wrongdoing, Vegeta gains a lot of disdain from those around him. Naturally, Goku always takes an optimistic opinion about Vegeta. Vegeta almost always addresses Goku by his Saiyan birth name, Kakarotto, but has on rare occasion addressed him as Goku. After the defeat of Kid Buu, he has a change of heart and his angry grudge against Goku becomes a friendly rivalry. Though he is still highly annoyed with Goku on the grounds of his immature tendencies.

Though they grew up apart, Vegeta does care about his younger brother Tarble. Though he is highly disappointed with Tarble's extreme lack of fighting power despite the fact he comes from the powerful royal bloodline.

At the end of the Buu Saga and in Dragon Ball GT, Vegeta is much more relaxed. He is often seen smiling and cracking jokes, such as when he forced Trunks to enter the 28th World Martial Arts Tournament, threatening to "cut his allowance" if he did not enter the competition. Often being more caring and kind to his family, especially his daughter, Bra, Vegeta admittedly has a kinder side, per his adjustment to Earthly life. The best example of caring for his family is the aforementioned example of hugging Trunks before he fights Majin Buu as Majin Vegeta. However, Vegeta can still be seen sitting on the sidelines, while everyone else is happy, enjoying themselves in the thick of things. Later on, Vegeta developed a strong age-crisis. For example, when driving home with Bra and seeing two teenagers in another vehicle flirting with his daughter, he ignores them. After a while, one of the boys calls Vegeta a "geezer", causing him to become angry and break their car.

In the anime, Vegeta is shown to have a fear of worms, as when the small roundworms appear behind a larger one when inside Buu, Vegeta bolts behind Goku.

Appearance
Vegeta is 5'5" tall (in comparison with Goku's 5'9" height). His hair firmly stands upwards, and has a prominent widow's peak. Like most Saiyans, he possesses black eyes and jet black hair, though his hair is infrequently black with red highlights in various media (posters, trading cards, and similar merchandise in particular). A main characteristic of Vegeta's is the fact that he is the only living Saiyan who has continued to don the traditional Saiyan armor. He has also been seen wearing alternate forms of the armor, customizing the armor to better suit his persona. However, once he integrates into Earthly society, he abandons the Saiyan armor, at first gradually in Dragon Ball Z, then completely in Dragon Ball GT, in favor of clothing more characteristic of a human (Vegeta's uniform transition is symbolic of his adjustment to a human lifestyle).[citation needed] However, even after Vegeta loses the armor in Dragon Ball Z, he is always seen wearing iconic white gloves and white boots in battle. Vegeta once had a tail, but it was cut off by Yajirobe to remove Vegeta from his Great Ape state during the Saiyans Saga.

Vegeta's hair never grows in length. He states to Bulma, in an episode of the Perfect Cell Saga, that a pure-blooded Saiyan's hair does not change from the day they are born, aside from Super Saiyan transformations.

If observed closely, Vegeta actually changes appearance physically over the course of the series. He was originally intended to appear deceptively small, lean, and less threatening in comparison to his massive partner, Nappa. However, by the end of Dragon Ball Z, he seems to be taller and more muscular, the length of his hair having also been shortened, though he is still comparatively shorter than Goku, who also appears to have grown taller. Vegeta's facial features also look more distinct and sharply defined as the series progresses, making him look older (though this may be attributed to gradual aging). It should be noted however that some of these changes (mainly the more defined facial and anatomical features in most male characters, and the increase in muscularity in all characters) are due to, at least partly, a visible shift in Akira Toriyama's artistic style over the course of the series.

Abilities
Vegeta is one of the most powerful characters in the series, his power often rivaling that of Goku. As a child, Vegeta is shown to be able to easily defeat several Saibamen all alone and he himself states that he had surpassed his father, whose power level was close to 10,000 (According to Dragon Ball Carddass, Young Vegeta's power level in Bardock: The Father of Goku is 2,900). When Vegeta attacks Earth with Nappa, his power level is 18,000 (or 16,000 according to the movie pamphlet for Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might). Upon his arrival on Namek, the Zenkai he gained from the battle on Earth boosted his power to 24,000. After gaining another Zenkai from his battle with Zarbon, his power level grows to 30,000. When he gains another Zenkai from his fight with Recoome, his power grows to 250,000. Just before fighting with Final Form Frieza, Vegeta gains another Zenkai from Kuririn, which results in him being capable of seeing Frieza's attacks, unlike Piccolo, Son Gohan, and Kuririn.

According to the Dragon Ball Z: The Anime Adventure Game Vegeta's power level against Frieza is 3,600,000. His power level in the Android Saga is 8,000,000 in his base form and 22,000,000 in his Super Saiyan form before going to the Hyporbolic Time Chamber,

Vegeta gains more power throughout the series as he progress and gains more transformations. It is stated in the video game Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 that, at the beginning of the Majin Buu Saga, Vegeta was not as strong as Goku in any form, until he gained the Majin boost from Babidi, becoming Goku's equal.

In the movie Battle of Gods, Vegeta is enraged at Bulma being mistreated by Beerus and his anger causes his power to temporarily rise dramatically in his Super Saiyan form, becoming even stronger than Super Saiyan 3 Goku. By the time of the Super 17 Saga of Dragon Ball GT, Vegeta appears to not be as strong as Goku, as he is unable to do any real damage to Super 17 as a Super Saiyan while Super Saiyan Goku is able to hurt the android at one point.

Amazing Impact
A rush attack Vegeta used against Captain Ginyu, and later when battling Android 19.

Bang Beam
A favorite move of Vegeta during the Namek Saga, Vegeta points his index finger like a child pretending to shoot a gun and then fires a small but deadly red bolt of energy out of his finger.

Big Bang Attack
Vegeta discharges a medium-sized ball of ki in his hand. On impact, this technique causes a violent explosion. He uses this attack for the first time onscreen to kill Android 19.

Brave Punisher
A rush attack used by Vegeta as an Ascended Super Saiyan, in his fight against Broly. This attack was named in Raging Blast.

Crushing in Hands
A technique Vegeta used as a Great Ape to crush Goku's bones.

Dark Impact
A blast technique used by Majin Vegeta in his fight with Goku. This move was named in Raging Blast and it is a Counter Super.

Demonic Rush
A rush attack used by Vegeta in his Majin state during his fight against Super Saiyan 2 Goku. This rush was named in Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi.

Dirty Fireworks
Vegeta punches the enemy's stomach, stunning them before being punched into the air before exploding at the command of Vegeta pointing his index and middle fingers. Vegeta first used this technique to kill a Saibaman who was holding back in a battle. He uses this move to kill Cui. This technique is used in the Budokai Tenkaichi series and the Raging Blast series as one of his super moves.

Double Galick Cannon
Vegeta uses this technique to kill Pui Pui. It involves him putting both his hands on his opponents chest followed by a huge energy blast at point blank range which completely obliterates them.

Energy Rings
Vegeta shoots out strong rings made of pure ki to bind his opponents by the limbs for further assaults. He used this attack in his Majin form during his battle against Super Saiyan 2 Goku.

Final Burst Cannon
Vegeta uses this technique as his final attack against Frieza after all his other attacks fail. It is done in a slightly familiar way as the Final Flash and the beam itself is purple like the Galick Gun.

Final Flash
Vegeta conducts ki in both of his hands that places next to each other, combining the ki that discharges in the form of a devastating stream of energy. He used this against Perfect Cell, though the Android regenerated.

Final Galick Cannon
Vegeta delivers several rapid attacks before punching the enemy's stomach and discharging a beam of potent purple ki through the enemy. Vegeta uses this technique to kill Zarbon. This technique is used in the Budokai Tenkaichi series.

Final Impact
Vegeta fires a fierce bolt of energy from his index and middle finger in his Majin form. He used this attack during his fight with Majin Buu. This technique is supposedly usable in Vegeta's Majin form only.

Galaxy Breaker
Vegeta charges up and fires a powerful white energy blast from his chest at his opponent. Vegeta uses the attack to kill Nappa in the Vegeta Saga. This technique is used in Dragon Ball Z: The Legend.

Galick Blazer
The energy sphere version of the Galick Gun. Vegeta uses this attack to distract Super Perfect Cell during Cell and Super Saiyan 2 Gohan's Kamehameha battle, allowing Gohan to gain the advantage and destroy Cell. It is Vegeta's ultimate attack in his Super Saiyan 3 form in Dragon Ball Heroes.

Galick Gun
Vegeta bends to the side while holding the back of his hands parallel to each other, conducting purple ki that discharges a concentrated, powerful beam.

Great Ape
This is Vegeta's least used transformation. He was seen within this form twice in the series. The first time Vegeta transformed into this huge ape like monster, he used a Power Ball resembling similar effects of the moon. The second time when he transformed, was in GT when Bulma used the Blutz Wave Generator that she created for him, because he was missing his tail. His size is paramount, his ears are keen enough to hear a pin drop from a mile away. His eyes are big and red. He has sharp teeth, and a large "U" shaped mouth.

Unlike Goku and Gohan, Vegeta retains his rationality when transformed. He is much more powerful than his normal form when transformed, and easily crushed Goku, who exclaimed that not even a Kaio-ken x 5 would work on him. Vegeta claimed that the power of the Great Ape form is ten times that of the Saiyan's base form. If this math can be applied to the power levels reported by scouters, his power level in this form would be around 180,000 (which is the same as Goku's when he fought the Ginyu Force on Namek). 180,000 is also his power level in this form in the video game Dragon Ball Z: Super Saiya Densetsu.

Super Saiyan
This is Vegeta's Super Saiyan form. Though it was only a Saiyan Legend, Vegeta was fascinated with this transformation and obsessed over obtaining it so that he could avenge his race by having the power to defeat Frieza. Goku achieved the state prior to Vegeta however as did Future Trunks, which only fueled his desire to unlock the potential hidden within him (though chronologically, Future Vegeta actually achieved it before Future Trunks). Vegeta first showed off the Super Saiyan state while he was fighting Android 19, ripping off the Android's arms and thereby rendering it unable to keep absorbing his energy, after which he reduced it to a lifeless head with the Big Bang Attack.

In this form, his power increases 50 times over from his regular level.[20] His hair turns blond, the irises of his eyes become green, and he acquires a golden aura just as Goku had done before him. He gains a slight muscle increase as well.

2nd Grade Super Saiyan
This form wields much greater power than his Super Saiyan level. At this level, Vegeta personally calls himself "Super Vegeta." He has the same basic golden features of his Super Saiyan level, only now his muscles are much larger. His hair also is bigger and slightly sharper, and he looks and acts more dominant. Due to Vegeta's muscle mass increase, he is much stronger than in his Super Saiyan form, and his speed and agility are unencumbered, unlike the 3rd Stage 2nd Grade Saiyan, which significantly decreases speed (but greatly increases in strength).

Vegeta went through this transformation when he was training to fight Cell in his Semi-Perfect form and he fought, as well as Cell in his Perfect form (where he is outmatched, and knocked out with his face to the ground after a hard hit to the spine, reverting him to base form). It is suggested by Tien that this form had a power equal to Perfect Cell's, and by Piccolo that Vegeta only lost against Cell because he fought sloppily as when Vegeta used the Final Flash attack, he destroyed a large portion of his body, but he had to redirect the majority of the power of his blast upwards to avoid destroying the planet, and it assumed that Cell escaped the brunt of the attack. Had Cell taken the brunt, he might have actually been destroyed. However it was soon realized that Cell was really holding back. #16 also notes that although Cell had grown much stronger after absorbing Android 18, he was still ahead in every way, though Vegeta is able to tell that Cell was holding back his power, and this is proven when Cell does not use anything close to his full power to defeat Vegeta with ease.

3rd Grade Super Saiyan
In the manga/anime, Future Trunks speculates that Vegeta achieved this form during his training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber but did not use it because he knew of its disadvantages. The anime comic for Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks lists Vegeta as a user of the form.

Super Saiyan 2
This is Vegeta's strongest form in the Dragon Ball Z anime and manga, becoming as strong as Majin Vegeta upon his return to Earth to fight against Super Buu. It is sometimes debated when he first achieved this form; there are quite a few hints he achieved it before he became Majin Vegeta, with practically none to the contrary, as Vegeta only states Goku to be stronger than Gohan once he, too transforms into Super Saiyan 2, holding complete confidence in his superiority over Gohan prior to becoming Majin Vegeta. He transforms into this state on his own free will from the normal Super Saiyan long after he became Majin Vegeta.

Vegeta first uses this form when he fights against Goku while as Majin Vegeta. He also uses this form when fighting Super Buu before the Vegito fusion, albeit only in the anime. He also fights Kid Buu so Goku can gather enough energy in his Super Saiyan 3 form to defeat Kid Buu, during which he is easily beaten and reverted to base as Goku fails to charge up to his full power due to energy depletion. It was also used in the movies Fusion Reborn and Wrath of the Dragon, reverted to base form in both instances; in particular against Hirudegarn, knocked down after defending a group of people inside a building that he was thrown into.

Strangely enough, in all three of those instances, including when fighting Kid Buu, lightning is removed from his transformation despite the bolts constantly surrounding his body in the original manga, causing some confusion over whether he actually used this form in the anime or not, as the bolts only appear for about a few seconds when he fires a barrage of ki blasts to stall for time, possibly due to budget issues (even Super Saiyan 3 Goku has no lightning for this particular scene). He used this form to battle Baby Gohan and Baby Goten. He also used this form to battle Super 17 and Omega Shenron, but is badly beaten both times and seriously injured by Omega Shenron's Dragon Thunder.

Both the Daizenshuu and Dragon Ball: Super Exciting Guide character profiles state that Vegeta was awakened to his Super Saiyan 2 form by means of extensive training in between the Cell and Buu arcs, which assures that Vegeta did indeed achieve this transformation through training. When Vegeta transforms to a Super Saiyan 2, he receives some noticeable changes, such as his hair growing a little bit longer, spikier and becoming more defined than his other previous Super Saiyan forms. He also gains electricity in the aura surrounding his body in this form.

Super Saiyan 3
Vegeta has never reached this transformation in the original manga or anime; this form of Vegeta is a game exclusive form for Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Battlers, the Raging Blast games, and Dragon Ball Heroes. Raging Blast 2 states that Vegeta attained this from at some point after the defeat of Kid Buu through training.

Vegeta is seen fighting as a Super Saiyan 3 in a trailer for Dragon Battlers: Goku is seen being beaten by Super Saiyan 3 Broly. Just as Broly is about to deliver the final blow, he is seen struck by an energy blast. The blast is then revealed to have come from Vegeta who is in his newly attained Super Saiyan 3 form. Goku then gets up and transforms into his Super Saiyan 3 form and joins Vegeta, as the two of them power up in preparation to face Broly.

In Dragon Ball: Raging Blast, Vegeta fights in this form as part of a What-if scenario called "The Strongest Super Saiyan 3": Vegeta is shown to have finally attained Super Saiyan 3 and, upon reaching the form, challenges every other Saiyan who has managed to reach the form as well. He then faces and defeats all other Super Saiyan 3s (Gotenks, Broly, and Goku), proving that he is indeed "The Strongest Super Saiyan 3". While in his Super Saiyan 3 transformation, Vegeta reveals a more powerful version of the Galick Gun technique, which, instead of being purple like the original, is somewhat reddish in color. In the spin-off manga Dragon Ball Heroes: Victory Mission, the form is used by the regular Vegeta, GT Vegeta, and Majin Vegeta.

Golden Great Ape
After Goku tries to destroy Omega Shenron by self-destruction, Vegeta comes to his aid and tells him that he has a plan to reach Super Saiyan 4. Bulma shoots at Vegeta the same Blutz Waves that she used against Baby, which allows Vegeta to grow his tail back and become a Great Ape and then a Golden Great Ape. After Vegeta becomes fully conscious of himself, he transforms into a Super Saiyan 4.

Super Saiyan 4
Bulma used the Blutz Wave amplifier as a substitute for the moon and used it on Vegeta. These waves ran through Vegeta's veins, forcing his tail to grow back, which is necessary for a Saiyan to transform into a Great Ape. With his tail back, like Goku, he was able to transform into a Great Ape. His enormous power allowed him to then transform into a Golden Great Ape, and then, upon gaining control of himself, he transformed into a Super Saiyan 4 (skipping Super Saiyan 3). Vegeta's features are quite different from his previous forms: his hair style changes, becoming longer, more "wild", a dark brown in color, and extending past his shoulders. His eyes are aqua-colored with a red outline, and he has red fur on the upper part of his body, except for the chest. In the Dragon Ball Z Collectible Card Game, Super Saiyan 4 Vegeta card is called King of Saiyans.

Vegito
The Potara fusion between Vegeta and Goku. He was created as a desperate plan by Old Kai to stop the powerful Super Buu. Goku's relaxation, and Vegeta's strategic mind enabled Vegito to be quite an intelligent fighter without being overcome by arrogance as Vegeta alone would be but possessing the ruthlessness to kill Super Buu that Goku would lack. In addition, Vegito also possesses the enormous power and speed of both Goku and Vegeta, as well as the tactics and skill of both. He is very similar to Gogeta, who is another fusion of Goku and Vegeta.

Gogeta
The Fusion Dance of Goku and Vegeta, Gogeta is considered to be one of the most formidable characters introduced in the series. Like Vegito, Gogeta was an act of desperation, though this one was to stop the powerful demon, Janemba, rather than Majin Buu. Gogeta easily outclassed Janemba, and Gogeta quickly disposed of him in a heart beat by using his Stardust Breaker.

Vegeta contributed his Saiyan smarts, and his power. It is Metamorans who taught Goku the technique. As a Super Saiyan 4, Gogeta is the strongest known being in the Dragon Ball universe. However, due to his extraordinary power, the fusion will only last for ten minutes, (as opposed to the typical half hour), though this has been proven ample time to defeat any foe many times over. He is very similar to Vegito, who is another fusion of Goku and Vegeta.

Vegecell
Vegecell is a hypothetical fusion of Vegeta and Semi-Perfect Cell. It is a "Fusion Frenzy" card in the Dragon Ball Z Collectible Card Game, however, the card itself does not depict the fused character, instead showing the two fusing characters beside each other.

Majin Vegeta

 * "I will crush you, and throw you into the wind."
 * — Majin Vegeta talking to Majin Buu, in the episode "Final Atonement" (English Version)

Majin Vegeta (魔人ベジータ) is the form Vegeta takes when Babidi harnesses the evil in Vegeta's heart to take control of him, giving him a significant boost in power. While having the Majin seal on his forehead, dark black lines around the eyes, and increased muscle mass puff up to the level that veins appear all over Vegeta's body and face.

Vegeta's true dark nature is reawakened (hence, the Dragon Ball GT Perfect Files refer to this state as "Demon Prince Vegeta") and in turn, he becomes more powerful than he was before. Majin Vegeta usually fights at the level of Super Saiyan 2 and his power equals that of Goku at his Super Saiyan 2 level. After Vegeta is killed by his devastating Final Explosion as a last resort to destroy Majin Buu, he loses his Majin form.

The form is called Evil Prince (Maoji) and Vegeta (Destruction) in Dragon Ball Z: Legendary Super Warriors, and Prince of Destruction in Daizenshuu 2, the Budokai games, and Dragon Ball Heroes. In the story of the PSP game Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai - Another Road, set during the Majin Buu conflict in Future Trunks' timeline, Future Babidi uses his magic to again turn Vegeta into Majin Vegeta; he is brought back to his senses after a battle against Goku. In Dragon Ball Heroes and the spin-off manga Dragon Ball Heroes: Victory Mission, Majin Vegeta as Super Saiyan 3 appears as a playable character.

Baby Vegeta
Like Majin Vegeta, this is a form outside the normal Saiyan transformations. This was achieved when Vegeta was cut and then infected by the alien Baby. Vegeta was able to resist the takeover longer than anyone else but eventually Baby took control. Baby seems to have fused with Vegeta more completely than any of his other hosts, none of which were transformed. In the early stage, Vegeta's hair turns gray in favor of the golden color of Super Saiyan, and red marks appear on his face. There is also a massive power augmentation. In this form, Baby is completely unfazed by a full force punch to the face from a Super Saiyan 3 Goku, even before being altered to augment his strength.

This form is transformed when Baby absorbs the negative energy from the infected people of Earth, briefly taking the form of Super Baby Vegeta, before finally becoming the more familiar Super Baby Vegeta 2. Later, when being completely overwhelmed by the power of Super Saiyan 4 Goku, Baby transforms yet again, this time becoming a Golden Great Ape, a transformation which has previously allowed Goku to surpass Super Baby's power. Due to Baby-possessed Bulma's application of wave surges called "Blutz Waves Generator" ("Bruits Waves" in the original version), Baby was transformed into a Golden Great Ape in order to compete with Super Saiyan 4 Goku. In this state, Baby Vegeta is able to compete with the powerful Saiyan foe. After his tail is severed, Baby Vegeta reverts to Vegeta's normal state and Baby leaves Vegeta's body.

Saiyans arc

 * "Now I'll show you the wall that you can never scale with "hard work" alone..."
 * — Vegeta taunting Goku prior to their battle (English Version)

Vegeta is introduced to Dragon Ball Z at 29 years of age as a mercenary for Frieza. Vegeta comes to 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 come to Earth 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 years of suffering). Goku and the Z Fighters are warned of their arrival, and begin to train themselves. While Vegeta and Nappa travel to Earth, they stop by Arlia in an anime filler. They were only there for a short time, and while they were there, they made short work of the planet's strongest warriors, before destroying Planet Arlia.

When they landed on Earth, Nappa and Vegeta wreaked havoc with little to stop them. They then found Piccolo, Kuririn, and Son Gohan waiting for them, with Tien, Chaozu, and Yamcha appearing just after. After losing Yamcha (after one Saibaman self destructed), Kuririn 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 Chaozu going desperate by sacrificing himself by blowing up on Nappa's back, which was in vain, with his best friend Tien sacrificing himself to avenge his friend, which was also in vain. He does manage to get wounded every now and then, but for the most part, Nappa seems to have complete control of the battle. In the middle of the battle, Vegeta demands for Nappa to 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.

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 Kuririn's Destructo Disk. 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 between 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. But Son 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 Kuririn instead. Goku activates the Kaio-ken technique, 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 Kuririn and Gohan Senzu Beans, which fully recovers their strength, Goku tells Gohan and Kuririn to leave Vegeta to him and requests to Vegeta to fight somewhere else.

Vegeta eventually agrees, and they leave the battle field. 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 at the second level (Kaio-ken times two) 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 x4 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. Kuririn 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 is far stronger and faster than he is. Goku then decides to give Kuririn the last of the Spirit Bomb he managed to retain. Kuririn accepted this new energy, and was instructed by Goku how to unleash it on Vegeta.

Panicking at first, Kuririn receives further instructions from North Kai, and he hurls the Spirit Bomb at Vegeta. When Yajirobe shouted at Kuririn to throw it, making Vegeta notice him, Kuririn 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 Kuririn gains consciousness, and just when he is about to stab Vegeta with Yajirobe's katana sword, Goku telepathically pleaded for Kuririn 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, Kuririn 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.

Namek & Frieza arc

 * "You're not going...anywhere. You will pay for your part in this, just as Frieza soon will. But I want you to know... I do this not for my planet, not for my race, but because you thought you could make the prince of Saiyans a slave to your whims!"
 * — Vegeta talking to Dodoria (English Version)

After rehabilitation, Cui tells Vegeta that Frieza is already on Namek alongside his henchmen Zarbon and Dodoria and they are searching for the Dragon Balls. 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 Kuririn and Son 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, something he had been hoping to hear for many years. However, 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). Cui attacks Vegeta, but Vegeta easily evades Cui's attacks, telling Cui 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. Vegeta is not in a forgiving mood so he 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 hopes to hang on to one and steal the rest from Frieza when the opportunity would show itself. Once Vegeta obtains one Dragon Ball and hides it, he takes flight and he soon comes face to face with Frieza's most powerful henchman, Zarbon.

Vegeta and Zarbon enter a fierce battle and Vegeta seems 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. 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 Kuririn 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 can not keep the Dragon Ball from Vegeta, Kuririn begrudgingly hands it over without a fight. Now in a fine 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 leaving him. 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 forges an alliance with Gohan and Kuririn, all three deciding that their only chance of survival is to wish for Vegeta's immortality with the Dragon Balls (Vegeta had six and Gohan and Kuririn had the last one).

After playing Rock-Paper-Scissors to determine who would fight who, Guldo prepares to engage Gohan and Kuririn. As the three begin fighting, it appears as if Gohan and Kuririn have Guldo on the ropes, as Guldo is barely able to freeze time long enough to escape the two's energy blasts. Just when it seems that Gohan and Kuririn will win, Guldo reveals his trump card: the ability to mentally petrify his enemies. He uses this desperate move to trap Gohan and Kuririn in place as he uses telekinesis to make a skewer out of a nearby tree. He launches the skewer at the frozen Gohan and Kuririn. Just when it seems like Gohan and Kuririn 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 Kuririn. After Guldo's decapitated head insults Vegeta, Vegeta 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, Kuririn goes in to help, believing that the only chance they have of surviving is if Vegeta survives. However, Kuririn's efforts are in vain as Recoome easily knocks him aside with a single blow. Gohan then goes in to help Kuririn, 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. After a quick scan of the power levels on the planet, Goku concludes that the strongest power level is Frieza's, the second strongest is Captain Ginyu's, and his friends' power levels are quickly fading. Goku 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 Kuririn'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 Kuririn 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. Kuririn 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. 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 Kuririn to fetch the Dragon Radar and locate the Dragon Balls. Captain Ginyu and Jeice arrive on the scene just as Gohan and Kuririn 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 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 can not 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, Kuririn, and Gohan. Vegeta, however, realized that Goku was not himself. Kuririn 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. Kuririn 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 Kuririn 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, but Goku threw a frog in between them. The body switch was now with a frog. Captain Ginyu was now a frog, and the frog was Captain Ginyu. 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 stop Frieza. Vegeta, Kuririn, 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 for his assistance against Frieza. While Vegeta falls asleep, tired after all the battles, Kuririn 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 Kuririn, Dende, and Gohan. Frieza impales Kuririn, and after doing away with 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 Full Power Masenko, 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 hurt him badly, leaving 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 far superior to Vegeta's still. 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, 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. 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.

After Goku is being beat by Frieza, Vegeta, King Vegeta and Bardock appear to Goku in a vision and convince him that he can defeat Frieza by becoming a Super Saiyan.

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 also becomes somewhat reformed; he no longer cares about immortality or conquering the universe, but becomes obsessed with becoming stronger. He is revived and brought to Earth, but not before he sees 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 version, this only occurs in the anime, and is ignored by the series itself).

He also attempts to launch an attack on a bewildered 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. Only in the anime, as he is unwilling to wait, Vegeta steals a Capsule Corporation spaceship and ventures out to search for Goku and bring him back.

Garlic Jr. arc
Only in the anime, Vegeta travels through space with the Capsule Corporation spaceship in an attempt to locate Goku and find out how to become a Super Saiyan. He eventually attacks and kills a number of Frieza's remaining minions to prove to them that their leader is dead. As some warriors are still refusing to believe him, Vegeta ruthlessly executes any remaining combatants. However, his search for Goku is in vain.

Trunks arc

 * "What? Haven't you seen a pink shirt before? If you like it so much, you can have it!"
 * — Vegeta responding to Future Trunks' fake reason for staring at him. (English Version)

One year and eight months after the events on planet Namek, Vegeta returned to Earth, not having found Goku. 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. 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 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, Son 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 because 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.

The Androids & Cell arc

 * "Let me ask you, does a machine like yourself ever experience fear!?"
 * — Vegeta talking to Android 19 as he prepares to unveil his Super Saiyan form. (English Version)

Three years pass, and Vegeta and Bulma become parents to a baby called Trunks. 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, 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.

It is not long after that the prophesied Android 19 and Android 20 (Dr. Gero) appear and wreak havoc. Vegeta is 35 years old. When the heart disease begins to attack Son 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 flew 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"). 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 16, 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 crushes Dr. Gero's head, not being loyal to his creator at all.

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. Kuririn, 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. Vegeta enters the Hyperbolic Time Chamber at Kami's Lookout and trains for nearly a year (a day outside) with Future Trunks. Meanwhile, Dr. Gero's ultimate Android creation is discovered.

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 2nd Grade Super Saiyan, 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 perfection. Future Trunks fights back and blasts Vegeta away from the battle into the sea, in the process drawing Vegeta's blood.

Angered, Vegeta 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. The tournament would commence in ten days.

Cell Games arc

 * "It is painfully clear at this point that no one among this group is stronger than Kakarot is. Not even...myself. So, he deserves to have the fight of a true warrior, and that means...to the death."
 * — Vegeta when commenting on Goku's fight with Cell (English Version)

During this time, Son 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 praising their tactics of achieving the Full-Powered Super Saiyan state. 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 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 then 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 Son 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. 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; Gohan with his awakened power, dominates the perfect android until a well placed punch 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. Goku teleports him 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 attacks Super Perfect Cell in a fit of rage when he sees his son killed, 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, apologized for his arrogance (though Gohan thought that this might also have partially to do with the fact that the Earth was dying).

After an intense Kamehameha duel, Super Perfect Cell is finally defeated by Gohan's Kamehameha after Vegeta distracts him with a Ki Blast to the back, allowing Gohan's beam to finally overcome Super Perfect Cell's. Realizing that both Goku and Gohan were 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 began to finally accept his rapidly changing morality (as he, like Piccolo before him, had now grown to care for others), and began to settle down on Earth, becoming quite fond of it, and begins to truly care about his family. With Goku gone, Vegeta is left without a reason to fight, and vows never to fight again.

Great Saiyaman arc

 * "Well, well... Aren't you looking dumb? A true warrior should be ready, even at times of peace."
 * — Vegeta after meeting with Son Gohan again for the first time in 7 years. (English Version)

Seven years after the Cell Games, despite lacking a worthy opponent, 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 it is now 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 Son Gohan comes to have fun with Trunks. While Gohan greets Vegeta kindly, Vegeta gives Gohan a cold look and tells him that he should continue training, even in peacetime, quoting "You look out of shape. Never get soft in peace time."

Later, upon hearing from Gohan that Goku will be coming to Earth for 24 hours to fight in the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament, Vegeta boasts and claims that he will beat Gohan, Goten, and Goku in the tournament, believing that he has surpassed Gohan in strength. 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 he becomes shocked 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. Trunks fails to touch Vegeta, who strikes him to the floor, but is impressed enough to take Trunks to the park. However, Vegeta becomes slightly irritated when he hears that Gohan's younger brother, Son Goten, can also turn into a Super Saiyan and only slightly weaker than Trunks. He then vows to make the gap between Trunks and Goten's power as big as possible.

The World Tournament arc

 * "I don't see what the problem is! When the journalists come, I'll just destroy them!"
 * — Vegeta on Bulma's comment about journalists flooding her yard (English Version)

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. Goku meets his child, Son Goten, and the tournament starts. 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.

Soon, Supreme Kai 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 Supreme Kai, 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 Kuririn. They follow Supreme Kai to Babidi's spaceship. However, the gang is ambushed. Piccolo and Kuririn 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 Supreme Kai 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, Goku did not. However, Goku manages to defeat the creature from him absorbing too much of his energy and blowing 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 Supreme Kai says that Dabura is the most powerful Majin. Suddenly, Vegeta begins acting strangely, screaming that something invisible is attacking him. Supreme Kai 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 Supreme Kai, but he refuses. He says 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 Supreme Kai back to the World Martial Arts Tournament. Majin Vegeta, eager to fight Goku, blows up part of the spectator bleachers, killing dozens of people, trying to convince Goku to fight him. After taunting Goku for a while, Goku eventually agrees. Supreme Kai 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, and 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!" 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 their glorious moment after one another.

Majin Buu arc

 * Trunks... Bulma... I do this for you... and yes, even for you, Kakarot!"
 * — Vegeta when preparing to sacrifice himself to kill Majin Buu (English Version)

Vegeta was able to fight evenly with Goku, (which caught 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 as nonsense.

Eventually, Goku calls a halt to the fight because he senses Majin Buu's extraordinary power, meaning he has been released due to the energy spent by Goku and Majin Vegeta which Babidi used to revive the sleeping Majin Buu. 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 attacks Goku and knocks him out.

Majin Vegeta 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 Cell Games, as it was his fault Semi-Perfect Cell absorbed Android 18. Majin Vegeta wants to repay his debt by saving the Earth, as he also believed that Gohan was dead at the time. 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 Son Goten out. He leaves them in Piccolo's care, and then uses the Final Explosion (a Self Destruction technique) in an attempt to kill Majin Buu in a nuke-like explosion. At the end, all that is left of him is his body turned to stone which falls to the ground and leaves a few broken bits of his stone body, which 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. When Bulma and Yamcha wished back everyone who died after the World Tournament, Vegeta did not come back due to the fact that he had already been wished back once before (during the Frieza Saga).

Fusion Dance arc

 * You may think he's the most powerful being in the universe, and maybe he is. But just like you, he does not have true pride! I don't expect you to understand, not you, Kakarot. I set myself into a cold oblivion and I did it on a lie! The Saiyan prince will not fall again!!!"
 * — Vegeta as he prepares to attack Super Buu (English Version)

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 Son Goku (now brought back to life, thanks to one of Supreme Kai's ancestors sacrificing themselves) 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.

In the anime, fighting at Super Saiyan, Goku and Vegeta were absolutely no match for him. They were both being completely dominated. As Buu was coming down with a finisher (which never took place in the manga, as the following dialogue is spoken prior to Buu catching up to them), Goku mentions the fact that Bulma has been killed, and Trunks and the remaining Z Fighters have been absorbed. Vegeta decides to go along with the plan. Then 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. Vegeta then agrees with Goku, and they fuse to become Vegito.

Vegito fights Super Buu w/Gohan absorbed. The fused Saiyan, in the normal Super Saiyan form, is far stronger than even the mass-absorbed Super Buu, easily able to beat him even after being turned to a coffee-flavored jawbreaker. 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 (however, in the manga, they appear directly in the brain just as the other absorbees were), where they find not only Son Gohan, Son 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 really scared and frightened at what Vegeta is about to do, and begs the Saiyan prince to stop, saying "If you tear those attachments, I won't be me anymore," which only seemed to increase Vegeta's interest in ripping them. Vegeta then pulls the pod, causing the Super Buu thought-form to 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. He morphs back into Kid Buu, his original form before he absorbed Southern Supreme Kai and, the benevolent leader of the Supreme Kais, the Grand Supreme Kai. The new Buu, Kid Buu, was the original, said-to-be pure evil form of Majin Buu. A form that is nothing but pure evil.

Black Star Dragon Balls arc
Five years later (ten years in the English Version) Vegeta is now sporting a mustache, and his hair has also become noticeably shorter. However, he shaves the mustache off shortly after his daughter, Bra, tells him how much she hates it. It was Vegeta's suggestion that Trunks and Son Goten go with Son Goku on the search for the Black Star Dragon Balls but Pan ultimately snuck aboard, and Goten was left behind.

Vegeta has turned 57 years old. He has become fully accustomed to life on Earth, he got rid of his armor and now wears a jacket. He still has a sour disposition, but appears to have a longer fuse, shaking off most annoyances by rolling his eyes rather than throwing his fists. Another distinguishing trait of Vegeta's that differentiates him from his previous incarnations is that he has greatly matured. It becomes evident that he no longer retains the self-assured, cocky attitude which he possessed before, and has learned to take his opponents more seriously instead of charging in stubbornly.

Baby arc

 * "I shaved my mustache you idiot!"
 * — Vegeta talking to Goten in the episode "Baby's Arrival" (English Version)

In this saga, an artificially-created Tuffle came to Earth. These people were the race that used to live on the Saiyan's homeworld before being wiped out by the stronger race. He possessed people, including Gohan and Goten, to find Vegeta. Vegeta fought both Goten and Gohan, and beat them, but Baby entered Vegeta's body through a cut and proceeded to control him. Although Vegeta resisted him much longer than anyone else, he was eventually taken over.

Baby Vegeta spread his control, taking over the minds of everyone on Earth using special seeds, save those with special protection (i.e. Majin Buu's ability to control his body in any way he wishes protected him from the seeds). After creating a new Tuffle home world with the Black Star Dragon Balls, he began moving the people of Earth there bit by bit, proclaiming himself ruler. After a battle with Goku, who managed to reach Super Saiyan 4, Baby Vegeta transformed to a Golden Great Ape form. The two battled and Goku eventually won by blasting off Baby Vegeta's tail. Baby fled Vegeta's body and was blasted into the Sun by Goku.

In the aftermath of Baby's destruction, they discovered that, because Baby used the Black Star Dragon Balls again, the Earth was still in danger of exploding. With only two weeks left, Vegeta devised a plan to migrate the entire population of Earth to the Tuffle Planet with the help of Goku, Kibito Kai, and Mr. Satan, while he himself took on the job of physically forcing any non-believers to cooperate by knocking them unconscious and throwing them in the spaceships with the luggage. After the explosion, the Earth is wished back by the Namekian Dragon Balls.

Super 17 arc

 * "Saiyan blood still courses through my veins... AND I CALL THE EARTH MY HOME!!!"
 * — Towards Dr. Myuu's comment of the lost pride of the Saiyan race (English Version)

During the 31st World Martial Arts Tournament, Vegeta tries to compete, even though the tournament has already started. After the closing of the tournament, Vegeta challenges Goku to another fight, but it never happens due to Goku becoming hungry.

Soon after a rip between Hell and Earth is formed and many dead villains return, after Nappa ignored his warning to run away, the 58-year old Vegeta easily kills Nappa again. Vegeta then battles against a newer version of Android 17, easily dominating him in base form. After Goku gets trapped in Hell and is forced to fight Frieza and Super Perfect Cell, Vegeta claims that he is the Earth's protector in the case of Goku's absence and is determined to win the battle against Super 17 (the fusion of Android 17 and his clone from Hell). He uses his new technique, the Final Shine Attack in an attempt to vanquish the artificial being.

Unfortunately, this proves futile, as Super 17 simply absorbs the attack, noting how sad it seemed. After all the other Z Fighters have been knocked down, Vegeta stands back up for one final attempt to destroy the android. He prepares to take on a beam from Super 17, until Goku saves him by pushing him out of the way. Afterwards, due to injuries, Vegeta falls unconscious. With Goku's arrival, Vegeta decides to take care of Trunks, and tells him to rest, as he senses that Goku and Android 18 have finally delivered the final blow to Super 17.

Shadow Dragons arc

 * "I'd listen to him if I were you. More often than not, the things Kakarot says come to pass. But I know it's going to take more than words to change your mind. I had to learn the hard way myself."
 * — Vegeta helps Goku in imploring Omega Shenron to change his evil ways before it is too late. (English Version)

As Goku continues to have trouble against the One Star Dragon, Omega Shenron, Vegeta comes to his aid. Bulma proceeds to grow Vegeta's tail back with her device, the Blutz Wave Generator. The waves cause Vegeta to turn into a Great Ape where he pretends to go insane. He proceeds by destroying the whole area and grabs Super Saiyan 4 Goku and starts to squeeze him like when Vegeta first turned Great Ape in the Saiyan Saga. He then reveals that he was only pretending and says that he could never let this form take control due to his Saiyan heritage and training to control this form. He turns into a Golden Great Ape and then due to his exceptional control, remains in that form for a few seconds and transforms into a Super Saiyan 4. When even this form fails to stop the Shadow Dragon, Goku and Vegeta fuse to become Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta, Vegeta being the one who suggested fusion this time.

Gogeta overwhelms Omega Shenron in power. He almost brings the heroes to victory, but the fusion time runs out before they can deliver the final blow. Vegeta suggests that all his family and friends take Bulma's spaceship and leave the planet while he tries to stop Omega. However, Trunks, Gohan, and Goten return to help Vegeta, but all four of them are incapable of defeating Omega until Goku surprises everyone by powering up the Universal Spirit Bomb.

Eventually, thanks to the people of the Earth and universe, Goku creates a Spirit Bomb powerful enough to completely destroy Omega Shenron. Before leaving for 100 years, Goku tells Vegeta that the lives of everyone are now in his hands, passing the role of protector of the Earth and anyone in need of help, to Vegeta. When Pan finds Goku's gi on the ground, Vegeta is last seen confirming that they are indeed Goku's clothes and tells her to treasure them dearly before he leaves.

Video Games
Vegeta is playable character in all the following video games:
 * Dragon Ball Z Kyoshu! Saiyan
 * Dragon Ball Z II Gekishin Freeza
 * Dragon Ball Z Legend of the Super Saiyan
 * Dragon Ball Z III Ressen Jinzoningen
 * Dragon Ball Z Goku Hishoden
 * Dragon Ball Z Super Gokuden Kakusei Hen
 * Dragon Ball Z The Legend
 * Dragon Ball Z Harukanaru Densetsu
 * Dragon Ball Z Attack of the Saiyans
 * Dragon Ball Z Gekito Tenkaichi Budokai
 * Dragon Ball Z V.R.V.S.
 * Dragon Ball Z Buyu Retsuden
 * Dragon Ball Z Ultimate Battle 22
 * Dragon Ball Z Shin Butoden
 * Dragon Ball Z 2 Super Battle
 * Dragon Ball Z Hyper Dimension
 * Dragon Ball GT Final Bout
 * Dragon Ball Kai Ultimate Butoden
 * Data Carddass Dragon Ball Z
 * Data Carddass Dragon Ball Z 2
 * Dragon Ball Z Bakuretsu Impact
 * Dragon Ball Z W Bakuretsu Impact
 * Dragon Ball Z Dragon Battlers
 * Dragon Ball Heroes
 * Dragon Ball Z Zenkai Battle Royale
 * Dragon Ball Z Super Butoden
 * Dragon Ball Z Super Butoden 2
 * Dragon Ball Z Super Butoden 3
 * Dragon Ball Z The Legacy of Goku
 * Dragon Ball Z The Legacy of Goku 2
 * Dragon Ball Z Legendary Super Warriors
 * Dragon Ball Z Budokai
 * Dragon Ball Z Budokai 2
 * Dragon Ball Z Budoaki 3
 * Dragon Ball Z Supersonic Warriors
 * Dragon Ball Z Super Sonic Warriors 2
 * Dragon Ball Z Sagas
 * Dragon Ball GT Transformation
 * Dragon Ball Z Shin Budokai
 * Dragon Ball Z Shin Budokai - Another Road
 * Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi
 * Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2
 * Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3
 * Super Dragon Ball Z
 * Dragon Ball Z Burst Limit
 * Dragon Ball Z Raging Blast
 * Dragon Ball Z Raging Blast 2
 * Dragon Ball Z Ultimate Tenkaichi
 * Dragon Ball Z For Kinect
 * Dragon Ball Z Battle of Z
 * Dragon Ball Z Xenoverse

Knownable Relatives

 * Son Goku (#1 Rival & Fuser)
 * Dr. Brief (Father in law)
 * Mrs. Brief (Mother in law)
 * King Vegeta (Father/dead)
 * Tarble (Little Brother)
 * Bulma (Wife)
 * Tights (Sister in law)
 * Gure (Sister in law)
 * Future Trunks (Son, Future Timeline)
 * Trunks (Son)
 * Bra (Daughter)
 * Vegeta Jr.'s mother (Great Granddaughter)
 * Vegeta Jr. (Great Great Grandson)
 * Future Vegeta (Future Counterpart/dead)
 * Uchiha Sasuke (True Counterpart)
 * Uryu Ishida (Partnal Counterpart)

Trivia

 * During a flashback in the Frieza Saga, it is shown that, as a child, Vegeta was on Frieza's ship when Planet Vegeta exploded. However, in Bardock - The Father of Goku, he is on another planet. The latter is supported in the manga/anime by Raditz who tells Goku that he, Nappa, and Vegeta were on other planets when Planet Vegeta was destroyed.
 * Despite the fact that Saiyan tails regenerate, as Goku's and Gohan's did, and that Vegeta did comment that it would grow back, after Vegeta's tail got cut off by Yajirobe, it never grows back. Perhaps this is because it was cut during his mature life, unlike Goku and Gohan, who lost their tails when they were children.
 * It seems as if every time after the Frieza Saga when Vegeta receives heavy damage, his left arm takes the brunt of the impact.
 * Vegeta has a role in assisting Goku and Gohan in defeating the major villains after him, and each time he becomes more involved. With his dying breath from his first death, he tells Goku the truth of Frieza being responsible in destroying Planet Vegeta resulting in the near-extinction of Saiyans, even though the Saiyans faithfully served under the tyrant, thus providing Goku more motivation in defeating Frieza. He distracted Cell with his Galick Blazer, giving Gohan the opportunity to destroy Cell. Later, it is also Vegeta's idea to utilize the Namekian Dragon Balls with the wishes that allow Goku to create a Super Spirit Bomb to destroy Kid Buu.
 * Despite Vegeta's obsession with defeating Goku, Goku has never actually beaten him. However, Vegeta's wounded pride over the fact that Goku surpassed him with the three-fold Kaio-Ken and continued to later is likely the main reason for his desire to beat him, which continues to the end of the series (though in a more friendly manner).
 * Ironically, the first time Vegeta openly shows his love of Trunks and Bulma occurs when he is in Majin form, which traditionally brings out the evil in people.
 * Over the course of the series, Vegeta continually wears less body armor. In the Saiyan Saga, he was armored from upper body to crotch guards. In the Frieza Saga, he wore less, losing the crotch guards and eventually the shoulder pads. In the Cell Saga, he had even less armor, with just a chest plate. In the Buu Saga, he had no Saiyan armor, and instead wears white gloves, boots, and a blue jumpsuit (although all of Saiyan origin). In Dragon Ball GT, he fully abandons his Saiyan armor for casual clothing.
 * During the Shadow Dragon Saga, Vegeta admits that the gap between Goku's and his power has become so large that he has no chance of catching up, which set up a chain of flashbacks from the Vegeta Saga, Frieza Saga and the Trunks Saga.
 * In an interview in the March 2014 issue of Saikyō Jump (released on February 2014), Akira Toriyama says that, in the event that there is talk of another animated film after Battle of Gods (2013), he would like Vegeta to play the main role (adding that this is nothing more than intentions, and that he has not decided anything at all).
 * Vegeta tends to refer to himself in the third-person while Super Saiyan. Before starting a battle in Raging Blast and Raging Blast 2 as Super Saiyan 3, he says "Watch out! Because Vegeta is a Super Saiyan 3 now!" In the anime, when he first appeared as a Super Saiyan, he refers to himself as "Super Vegeta." He says the same thing when he Ascends in the aforementioned games.

Voice Actors
all information on Vegeta came from http://dragonball.wikia.com/wiki/Vegeta
 * Japanese : Ryo Horikawa (1989 - Present)
 * English : Christopher Sabat (1996 - Present)