Dragon Ball is no stranger to taking villains and eventually redeeming a few of them by becoming part of the good guys. It's shown with Tienshinhan, Piccolo, and especially with Vegeta. However, Vegeta's case took not just an arc, but an entire series for his redemption to happen in the eyes of the earth. His beginnings were explicitly almost genocidal, as he threatened the planet Earth much more directly than any other villain shown at the time. Dragon Ball didn't hesitate to make the slow-burn to redemption almost difficult for Vegeta.

An important detail to remember is that even in the latest incarnation of Vegeta, the prince of all Saiyans doesn't believe that he has truly made up for all the sins that he has committed in the universe. Even if he didn't destroy every world, he still contributed to the pain of other alien races. However, just how long is this road to redemption, knowing all this?

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Rough Beginnings And Karmic Actions

Why Vegeta's Actions Matter?

Being born into a warrior race that already had some notoriety for being violent, cut-throat, and ruled by a class system, Prince Vegeta was born and raised in bloodshed, and with enough power to push around a lot of innocents with no worries of retribution. In fact, even after he lost Planet Vegeta and became one of the last pure-blooded Saiyans alive, his violent and elitist views made him a villain for the majority of his life among the stars well into his adulthood. Note, that this means he has decades of constantly attacking, destroying, and casually threatening civilizations; Vegeta wasn't raised well, and he certainly has committed atrocities many would be rightfully appalled by.

While Vegeta was defeated during the Saiyan Saga, and his actions in the Namek Saga remained rather selfish, it was during the Cell Saga that an inkling of his character began changing. Vegeta began simply wanting to prove his superiority and challenging himself, becoming a Super Saiyan and even defeating a minor antagonist in the Android Saga. The only issue is that his behavior made him rather a precarious ally, and even then, everybody didn't know what to think of the Saiyan Prince due to his antagonistic nature. Of course, the time skip to the beginning of the Buu Saga showed Vegeta's change in character, and even the relapse he made as Majin Vegeta isn't a result of him becoming another genocidal maniac, but simply forcing Goku to give him a proper fight. Vegeta's actions after having unintentionally awakened Majin Buu made it clear that it made things worse, but it's what he chose to do next that helped him redeem himself in the eyes of the Z-Fighters and especially on earth. His sacrifice, while in vain, is a gesture of his willingness to take responsibility for his actions, as well as understanding that he wasn't going to be let off the hook for his prior evils.

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Hope For The Prince

A Long Road Is Still Achievable

Dragon Ball gave Vegeta more character changes as soon as Beerus entered the picture. While Vegeta's pride remained, the source of it changed to not just his strength but also his family, Bulma and Trunks. When Bulma was hurt by Beerus, it alone sent Vegeta into a Super Saiyan rage against the God of Destruction, even the Saiyan Prince knew he had no chance. Eventually, he also felt some form of anger and justified vengeance in wanting to defeat Goku Black for having killed Future Bulma in cold-blood. Most recently in the manga, Vegeta came face-to-face with a character that represented all the wrongs that the Saiyans have left behind. Instead of deflecting the blame, Vegeta attempted to reach out and help them see the way he now sees things, on top of fully accepting that he had been responsible for much suffering.

The road to redemption is paved with good intentions, but littered with many obstacles that one must accept. Vegeta knew this very well as soon as he sacrificed himself back in the Buu Saga, and even with his Ultra Ego form, he still remains wanting to make up for his actions across the universe, and not just on earth. Thankfully, it can be said that Vegeta's full redemption may not be impossible if he keeps at the progress he has been making, and remembers to keep his allies, family, and close to his pride. In a sense, Dragon Ball manages to give Vegeta a stable baseline to begin his redemption, and now it's up to Vegeta to make up for it through his own actions.

Dragon Ball

Dragon Ball is a franchise by Akira Toriyama which follows the adventures of Goku, a powerful warrior who protects the earth with his group of friends. A recent title from the series is Dragon Ball: The Breakers, an action style game where 7 players have to survive being hunted by the Raider.