7 Moments When Vegeta Was a Better Hero Than Goku

Goku and Vegeta represent the quintessential anime rivalry, and the two deuteragonists of the series always strive to push one another to greater heights. From the earliest days of Dragon Ball Z, these two have been linked, and their relationship with one another has eventually bloomed into one of anime’s best and most iconic.

Between them, though, it can’t be denied that Goku fills in the role of a traditional hero much better, mostly owing to his amiable personality and desire to protect others. However, Vegeta has grown to be an equal protector, and there have been times in Dragon Ball where he has shown more heroic traits than his rival.

Vegeta Became the Mentor Cabba Needed

Vegeta is defined by his pride in his own power and that of the Saiyan race, of which he is the prince within Universe 7. Because of this, he demands absolute perfection from members of this race, which is what could be seen in his interactions with Cabba during the two tournament arcs of Dragon Ball Super.

Of course, he was far stronger than Cabba in both instances, but against the young Saiyan, Vegeta showed unforeseen mentorship capabilities that allowed Cabba to awaken the Super Saiyan state, and it was Vegeta who taught him about this power and how to control it, pushing him to even greater heights. This, alongside his promise to save Universe 6, showed that Vegeta was no longer the man he once was, and that he became the same kind of mentor that he would have liked to have had himself.

Vegeta Gave Goku the Last of His Energy

The Tournament of Power Arc was instrumental for many characters, and Vegeta was no exception. In fact, it had some of the greatest instances of why his redemption arc is considered to be the best in anime history, as he proved to have completely changed from the ruthless Saiyan warrior he used to be, fully accepting the need to lean on others for help.

Towards the end of the tournament of power, Jiren’s strength proved to be far too much for the Saiyan Prince, which ultimately led to his elimination. However, just before he got knocked out of the ring, Vegeta gathered the last bit of his energy and, upon remembering the promise he made to Cabba, ended up gifting it to Goku, which was instrumental in the end.

Vegeta Has Shown to Value Family Over Pride

If one were to approach Saiyan Saga Vegeta to ask him about the value of strength, he would promptly reply that the pursuit of power is the greatest thing a Saiyan can do. This is starkly in contrast with how the Prince is now, as he realizes that, despite his obsession with getting stronger and shattering his limits, there are things that are even more important.

There is a funny meme that often appears in the Dragon Ball community about Goku being a bad family man, and there are certainly times when this does seem to be the case. While Vegeta is largely the same, he chooses to spend time with his family whenever he feels that he needs to, such as when he rejected an invite to the Tournament of Power because Bulma was about to have a child.

Vegeta Showed True Heroism Against Kid Buu

The fight against Kid Buu was an amazing one, but it definitely drove the heroes to the absolute brink. Here, even Super Saiyan 3 Goku was struggling against the monster, so the heroes decided that a Super Spirit Bomb was the only way to put down the villain, though Goku had to charge it up for a long time to be effective enough.

This is where Vegeta showed his true heroism, as he proceeded to fight against Kid Buu in order to buy Goku all the time he needed despite being drastically weaker than the villain at the time. This struggle, alongside his discarding of his foolish pride in order to admit that Goku was the best, goes down as a perfect redemption arc for the Prince to prove how far he has come.

Vegeta Refused to Abandon His Principles

In the Tournament of Power, Toppo proved to be the ultimate foe for Vegeta to fight, since he didn’t have the requisite strength of Ultra Instinct to take on Jiren. However, Toppo’s power came at the cost of him abandoning what he believed to be true, which was something that Vegeta absolutely despised.

Here, Vegeta fought against the power of someone with Destroyer-level strength, though he did so by awakening his own power-up without abandoning the kind of person he was. This ultimately proved to be the correct decision for him, as he defeated Toppo while staying true to himself and proving to be one of the greatest assets for Universe 7 in the tournament.

Vegeta Took Ownership of the Saiyan’s Past

For feats of unparalleled heroics, one doesn’t always need to be loud and boisterous or defeat some of the greatest threats in the universe. Sometimes, the greatest feats of heroism can come from quiet moments, such as when Vegeta left the final Senzu Bean for Granolah instead of himself so that the Cerealian could get his revenge.

Earlier in the arc, Vegeta showed that the sins of the Saiyans were unforgivable and that he took full responsibility for them, which is why he realized that the defeat of the Heeters was something that Granolah needed to do himself. Because of this, Granolah was able to fulfill his own character arc against Gas, showing the wisdom of the Saiyan Prince in the process.

Vegeta Sacrificed His Life to Save Everyone

Vegeta is often seen as having one of the greatest redemption arcs of any character in the entire anime industry. There is no better example of why this is the case than in the Buu Saga, when he finally saw the error of his ways and sought to atone for his mistakes by giving his life in an attempt to destroy Buu for good.

Vegeta’s ultimate sacrifice in bringing down Majin Buu showed exactly how far the character had come. In his introduction, he was a ruthless villain hell-bent on destroying the world, but he eventually saw that there is much more to life than the pursuit of absolute strength and control. Upon bidding farewells to his family and greatest rival, Vegeta gave his life in a Hail-Mary attempt to defeat the monstrous villain for good.