Highlights

The clash between Gohan Beast and Goku's Mastered Ultra Instinct has fans excited, but raises questions about Vegeta's future role.
Fans fear Vegeta may once again be left behind as Gohan's power rises, following a trend of Vegeta getting defeated after power-ups.
Despite concerns, the story may be heading towards a powerful team-up of Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, and Broly against a Galactic Tyrant.

Chapter 102 of the Dragon Ball Super manga had a lot of fans excited as it finally showed Gohan Beast going up against Goku's Mastered Ultra Instinct in an all-out battle that left much of Beerus's planet destroyed. The clash between the father and son has been the topic of much excitement ever since Beast was first shown in the Super Hero movie in June 2022 and the beginning of the battle was teased at the end of Chapter 101.

Though the battle is yet to reach its conclusion, it has definitely been worth the wait as both fighters are showing the full extent of their most powerful forms. As exciting as this is, however, many fans have been left fearing what Gohan's new rise in power would mean for the beloved Prince of all Saiyans, Vegeta and his role in the series. Dragon Ball Super was met with a lot of praise in the Granolah arc when it finally showed Vegeta equaling his rival with his Ultra Ego, so let's see if he is truly left behind in favor of someone else!

Dragon Ball: The Saiyan Saga, Explained

Dragon Ball has plenty of amazing arcs, but none stand out as much as the Saiyan Saga did.

The Case For Vegeta Getting Left Behind

Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 DLC Adds Gohan Beast

One of the biggest complaints and identifying factors of Dragon Ball is the convoluted power scaling. The story structure of the series has been one that is based around various arcs, in which a new villain is introduced that is far more powerful than everyone else at the time, leading to the heroes unlocking an even stronger form than the ones they had before.

In Gohan Beast's case, Cell Max was introduced to be the most dangerous threat, prompting Gohan to reach a level far beyond his capabilities to put the monster down for good. This mirrors what Gohan did in the Perfect Cell Saga. Throughout the promotional material for the film, Gohan was constantly called the strongest fighter of them all, perhaps eclipsing even Goku and Vegeta, as was implied by Gohan toward the end of the film.

Gohan is actually stronger than anyone... or so it's said, but lately, he hasn't really gotten a chance to shine.

The current power scaling of the heroes is also the cause of a large debate in the Dragon Ball fandom about where Gohan truly lies on the list of the strongest characters. Many fans believe that with this newfound power, Gohan will match, if not surpass, Vegeta as the other protagonist in the story going forward.

They believe that there's a trend in Dragon Ball's storytelling, where Vegeta gets a brand-new power-up only to get defeated later so others can shine. Even in the Granolah arc, Vegeta's Ultra Ego was strong enough to initially greatly injure Granolah, an enemy that was easily able to defeat Ultra Instinct Goku, but he was eventually overpowered and served little more than a support role for the rest of the arc.

Dragon Ball: All of Vegeta's Transformations, Explained

Vegeta is the all-mighty Prince of all Saiyans, and over the years, he has undergone many powerful transformations that fans have loved.

How Likely is this to Happen?

According to many fans of the franchise, the likelihood of Vegeta once again turning into a glorified background character is pretty high. This is because they truly believe that the creator of the series, Akira Toriyama, has a general dislike for the character that has persisted for years, and many tend to cite examples of his prejudice, such as his continuous defeats to the Androids, Buu, Granolah, and worst of all, how he failed to kill Frieza at the end of the Resurrection F movie.

Though these may be specific examples, many feel the latest chapter to be quite telling of the trend. As Gohan grows ever stronger and Goku's Ultra Instinct is confirmed to be the strongest technique by Beerus, the fears that Vegeta may not remain as relevant to the story are quite abundant.

The Case Against Vegeta Getting Left Behind

Though many detractors claim against this, Dragon Ball's story has changed over the years, and Super has done wonders for many of the Z-Fighter's character development, chief among whom is Vegeta. Though Vegeta was arguably already the most developed character in the entire series, his arc is loved unanimously, and he is often remembered as the most nuanced character in the franchise.

With the series making such strides to flesh out his character from a planet-destroying maniac to someone who sacrifices his life for his friends and family, it is highly unlikely that the writers would just completely forego all that incredible character development. Though Gohan Beasts's strength is great and formidable, Ultra Ego Vegeta houses the power of the Gods of Destruction, and Vegeta himself recently defeated Goku in a battle.

A God of Destruction taught me power derived solely from instinct is unbounded.

All this development and shining character moments for Vegeta surely weren't for nothing, as the series is closer than ever to him sharing the limelight of being the main character with Goku. Even though Goku's Mastered Ultra Instinct is stated to be the most powerful form of them all, Vegeta has only just unlocked Ultra Ego, which shows that his training and mastery of the form can eventually bring him back to the forefront of strength along with his rival.

Though the fight between Gohan and Goku is fairly even as of Chapter 102, readers of the manga still don't know how it will end. Other than that, it's also not shown how great the difference between Ultra Instinct and Ultra Ego is right now, and neither is it shown how Vegeta would fare against Gohan himself. For all of this, fans just have to wait for Chapter 103 of the manga to see where the level of the heroes stands.

Dragon Ball Super: The Galactic Patrol, Explained

The Galactic Patrol helps keep the peace throughout Universe 7, and while it helps to have Goku and Vegeta around, their jobs aren't easy.

Where the Story is Probably Headed

More than propping up Gohan to replace Vegeta, the likely outcome of the fight serves to lay the foundation for where the heroes will go next. As both Ultra Instinct Goku and Ultra Ego Vegeta were mere playthings for Black Frieza, the challenge that awaits the Z-Fighters is almost insurmountable, so the current path seems to make a powerful team.

With Goku and Vegeta each having the power to house Divine Techniques, Gohan with his incredible Beast power-up, and Broly having the greatest potential of them all, Universe 7 has the greatest line-up to bring down the Galactic Tyrant once and for all, who himself may just be surrounding himself with powerful allies for the final battle against the Z-Fighters!

Dragon Ball can be streamed on Crunchyroll and Funimation.