Highlights
- Vegeta's vast arsenal of attacks and techniques make him an endearing and memorable character in Dragon Ball.
- His most iconic moves, such as Dirty Fireworks and Galick Gun, showcase his power and destructive abilities.
- Moves like Big Bang Attack and Final Explosion highlight Vegeta's character development and willingness to sacrifice for the ones he loves.
In the many decades that Dragon Ball has been a leading name in both anime and manga, few characters within the franchise have had as much of an impact on the series and on fans as the legendary Prince of all Saiyans, Vegeta. Being introduced all the way back in the Saiyan Saga, we saw Vegeta as an absolutely badass character who developed from a villain to everyone's favorite anti-hero, leading to such heights of superstardom that he is widely regarded as the most iconic 'side hero' across the entire art form. The love that fans have for him is so great that he is now considered the second protagonist of Dragon Ball Super.
However, part of what makes Vegeta such an endearing and memorable character is his vast arsenal of attacks and techniques. Ever since his introduction, he has been a character that always seemed to have a new attack for every occasion, whether it was dealing with an extremely powerful enemy or completely obliterating entire planets on a whim. Many of these attacks rank up as some of the strongest in the entire series, so let's take a look at all of Vegeta's most powerful attacks.
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Dirty Fireworks
Vegeta's first move that really showed us how powerful he truly is, was his infamous Dirty Fireworks. This attack was one that Vegeta never really used again after the events of the Namek Saga, but it was still so great to witness when he did. The first time we probably saw it was in the Saiyan Saga after the defeat of Raditz when Vegeta and Nappa were seen planet hopping and Vegeta used a particular move to destroy an entire planet. While it was never mentioned to explicitly be Dirty Fireworks, it is fairly easy to deduce due to the finger positioning.
Later on, we see Vegeta use it on Nappa to kill him after his defeat to Goku. While a simple move that was quickly outclassed later and never really used again, Dirty Fireworks was the perfect move to showcase Vegeta's ruthless Saiyan attitude and his sheer power that defined him in his earlier appearances in the Dragon Ball franchise.
Galick Gun
Galick Gun is arguably Vegeta's most iconic move, but undoubtedly one of his most powerful as well. Not only was this attack a complete game changer in the Saiyan Saga, but was one that was so powerful that Vegeta kept it in his arsenal for years, even using it in Dragon Ball Super in his Super Saiyan Blue form. This was an attack that channeled all of Vegeta's Ki and focused it into a beam attack similar to Kamehameha that realized its full destructive potential.
We first saw this move used in the legendary battle between Goku and Vegeta in the closing moments of the Saiyan Saga, and we saw that it was enough to overwhelm Goku's initial Kamehameha wave. To overpower Vegeta's Galick Gun, Goku had to activate Kaioken times 4 suggesting that at base level, Galick Gun is the far stronger move. This too is a great example of Vegeta's insane destructive output and how he tailors all of his Ki blasts as finishing moves that tend to end his fights.
Big Bang Attack
Big Bang Attack was a move that Vegeta used for the first time ever on Android 19, a character that was vastly more powerful than anyone else in the series at that point. Surprising everyone with newly unlocked Super Saiyan transformation, he sent a chill down the spines of every Z-Fighter as they all believed the form to only be achievable by a noble and kind-hearted Saiyan. After being completely outclassed and devastated by Vegeta, Android 19 tries to run away but gets completely obliterated by Vegeta's first ever Big Bang Attack.
This is a massively powerful, blue ball of Ki that Vegeta releases from one hand at a time and, like most of his other attacks, it is intended to be a killer move. He is a character that is defined by his pride in his race and so, tends to take on the techniques of an aggressive brawler in his fights like Saiyans are supposed to, as is evident in his brand new Ultra Ego technique. Due to this, Big Bang Attack is shown to be an attack that has nuclear-grade destructive abilities as it forms a mushroom cloud upon incinerating Android 19.
Final Flash
Many players of the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi games will likely chalk this move up to being Vegeta's most iconic move, because it was the move that was shared by most of his transformations. The Final Flash is one of the most powerful attacks ever seen in the entire franchise and its destructive output is enough to be seen as a massive beam visible from space and decimates everything in its path. The Final Flash was first used against Perfect Cell after he challenged Vegeta to use his most powerful attack on him, being sure that it would not hurt him. After Vegeta uses it though, we see that much of Cell's body has been completely obliterated and had the attack fully connected, Cell would have been erased at that spot.
This attack was also used by Super Saiyan Blue Vegeta against Jiren in the Tournament of Power, where similar to Cell, Jiren challenges Vegeta. Vegeta charges his attack up immensely, while at the same time, also powering himself up to greater heights and fires it at Jiren, who was seen to have taken some damage to it, albeit he was able to counter the move immediately, acknowledging its power. However, this is where the drawback of the Final Flash kicks in. While it is insanely powerful, it can be considered a glass canon attack because to use it at its full strength requires massive charging up, and it won't really hit anyone if they don't keep standing there. Still, it will always be one of Vegeta's finest moves.
Final Impact
A move shown very briefly in the series and used by one of the coolest transformations of Vegeta, Final Impact is a move that is very similar to Frieza's Death Beam, but is considerably wider and is activated by Vegeta spreading apart 3 fingers instead of just one. This move is one that Vegeta only ever used in his incredible Majin Vegeta form and while this could destroy most other characters, the one on the receiving end was Majin Buu, someone who can regenerate indefinitely. Despite this, Final Impact is a great attack that Vegeta used and one that has made its mark on the anime, manga and video games.
Final Explosion
Regarded by many as not only being the best move in Vegeta's arsenal, but one of the best moves in all of Dragon Ball due to its incredible story impact. After realizing the consequences of his actions and how his mind has been completely taken over by Babidi, Vegeta seeks to make everything right by destroying Buu and Babidi once and for all, but realizes that none of his previous attacks will be effective enough to deal with them. This is when Vegeta makes the most important choice for his character.
Gathering every bit of Ki that he has left within himself, Vegeta powers up to the absolute max and bids his farewell to all those he has come to love as his family; Bulma, Trunks and even Goku himself. Vegeta then lets out all the Ki in a blinding and massive explosion that seeks to completely obliterate Majin Buu off the face of the Earth but in doing so, he sacrifices his life for his friends and planet. The Final Explosion attack is one of the most legendary moments in all of anime where we see one of the art form's most beloved characters die.
This move was so powerful that despite knowing the obvious risks associated with doing it again, Vegeta decided to keep the attack in his arsenal, using it one more time in his fight against Toppo in the Tournament of Power. While not as impactful and iconic, Vegeta using Final Explosion for a second time in order to save his universe from annihilation was an absolutely sensational character moment and a great call back to a scene that lives in the heart of every fan of the series.
So, even though this is a list of Vegeta's most powerful attacks, it goes to show that there are far more attacks that our beloved Prince has used throughout the years. With Dragon Ball Super, we even got to see some new moves such as Gamma Ray Flash, that Vegeta used on Moro as well as the gigantic ball of destruction that he used against Granolah. However, it is best to wait to see these moves properly and officially animated before adding them to the list of Vegeta's most powerful attacks.
Until then, these few moves of his will live on as a testament to how powerful of a character Vegeta is and alongside that, how incredible his character development has been.
Dragon Ball Super is available to stream on Crunchyroll and Funimation.