Most of the biggest problems in the Dragon Ball universe have been caused by Vegeta…
Dragon Ball Z is one of the most iconic anime series out there. It follows the adventures of Son Goku and friends as he saves the earth, the galaxy, and the universe from the clutches of evil. However, poor Goku has his work cut out for him most of the time, as were it not for his best frienemey Vegeta, the universe probably wouldn’t need as much saving.
Here are the top times we slapped our hands to our foreheads and said “Why, Vegeta, why?“
When he killed Nappa for no reason.
Vegeta, along with his buddies Nappa and Radditz discover that they are the last living members of their race: the Saiyans, following a death-ball related genocide. Naturally, they want to bolster their ranks up, you know, rebuild the population. So, they head to Earth to recruit Goku, who is also secretly a Saiyan. Goku and Piccolo promptly kill the scout, Radditz, forcing Vegeta and Nappa to get their hands dirty. However, when Nappa looses a single battle, Vegeta decides that he is no longer worthy of his life, and blasts him to oblivion. Way to ensure the extinction of the race you are so proud of, bro.
PS: As a bonus, when Nappa is brought back to life in Dragon Ball GT, Vegeta kills him again!
When he let Freiza know about the Dragon Balls on Namek.
Vegeta and Nappa find out about the Earth Dragon Balls by listening to a transmission on Raditz’s scouter. They also learn that Goku and his crew have the ability to suppress their power levels, thus making the scouters all but useless, as referenced in the infamous “over 9000!!!” video. Despite this, Vegeta decides to bring two fully functional, transmitting scouters with him on his secret mission to gather the Dragon Balls, wish for immorality, and commit treason against his master Freiza. During the battle, Earth’s Dragon Balls die along with Piccolo, but the existence of a separate set of balls on Planet Namek is revealed. You seriously didn’t think Freiza also had access to scouter transmission logs?!?!
When he doesn’t take advantage of his “near death experience” power ups.
Dragon Ball Z is absolutely full of Deus Ex Machinas: Sensu beans, fusion, the Hyperbolic Time Chamber and of course the freaking Dragon Balls themselves. One of the earliest of these was part-way through the Namek saga, where Vegeta revealed a secret ability of the Saiyans called “Zenkai”. Basically, whenever a Saiyan is beat to the brink of death and recovers, he gets himself a powerup. Vegeta exploits this by having Krillin beat the shit out of him, and then Dende healing him. The boost Vegeta gets from this is so incredibly dramatic (if we’re talking numbers, his “fighting strength” jumped from 30,000 to around 500,000) that it boggles the mind that Vegeta, Nappa and Radditz (or any Saiyan before them, really) wouldn’t just be constantly kicking the shit out of each other and healing until they become Godly-powerful.
When he let Cell achieve his perfect form.
Cell, Dr. Gero’s bio-engineered Android that is built specifically to destroy the Z-fighters (including Vegeta) and take over the planet, is on the ropes. Thanks to the Hyperbolic Dues Ex Machina Chamber, Vegeta has packed a year’s worth of training into a day, has become super buff, and is squashing semi-perfect Cell like the bug he is. But, in a moment of sheer stupidity, despite the warnings from everyone around him, Vegeta, in chase of a “more thrilling battle,” lets cell absorb Android 18, thus achieving his perfect form. Cell then proceeds to wipe the floor with him, and Goku has to step in to save his dumb ass.
When he let Babadi turn him Majin.
Babidi, son of Bibidi, has come to earth to revive his father’s horrific creation: Majin Buu. Goku and Vegeta go out to put an end to this at the behest of the Supreme Kai, who is basically like the Super God of the universe (the regular God being a small green boy). Just like with Cell, despite warnings that Majin Buu will destroy the galaxy if freed, Vegeta lets Babadi take control of his mind, corrupting him into Majin Vegeta and allowing him to fight Goku on even grounds.
The energy caused from Goku and Vegeta’s fight awakens Buu, who, just like Cell, wipes the floor with Vegeta’s dumb ass.
When he destroyed the Potara earrings.
Majin Buu (who was only revived due to Vegeta’s stupidity) is kicking the crap out of everything that’s thrown at him. He’s already defeated Gotenks and Mystic Gohan, and is just getting stronger with each battle. Goku, in a last ditch effort, has been given a powerful artifact by Elder Kai – the Potara earrings. The earrings will fuse any two fighters together, multiplying their fighting strength. He manages to convince Vegeta to fuse with him, but the two are absorbed by Buu following a short battle. Inside Buu, the fusion is nullified, and Vegeta, rather than saving the earring for when they get out of the pink monster, so they can re-fuse and finally put an end to him, destroys it.
When they get out of Buu, he proceeds to wipe the floor with Vegeta’s dumb ass (I’m sensing a pattern here).
When he neglected to tell anyone he had a younger brother.
Vegeta doesn’t really like weaklings, we get it. His brother is one of the weakest of the bunch, but by the time Dragon Ball Z starts, pure-blooded Saiyans are pretty hard to come by, so it seems quite stupid that Vegeta would keep his brother a secret for the entirety of the series. I’m sure between him and Goku they would have been able to find him, and train him, and having another Super Saiyan backing them up for stuff like Cell and Buu would have been a nice help…
When he gathered his entire race on one planet, and challenged a being who can effortlessly destroy planets.
Okay, this one is technically a bit of a cheat, as it concerns King Vegeta – Vegeta’s father – but he is nonetheless still a Vegeta! So the king of Saiyans decides to gather the entirety of his space-faring planet-conquering race on a single planet, with the exception of his son, and a handful of other random other dudes out on assignment. He then decides to pick a fight with Freiza, a being that has been known to destroy entire planets on a whim. You can guess what happens next…
You’d think the Saiyans would have maybe colonized one or two of those planets they conquered?
