Few characters in Dragon Ball can make a situation worse as effortlessly as Vegeta. The Prince of All Saiyans isn’t the most agreeable person and it takes him an entire series worth of character development to outgrow his ego in any meaningful capacity. From Frieza, to Cell, to Majin Buu and beyond, Vegeta knows all the wrong buttons to push.
Vegeta’s reign of tyranny began in the Saiyan arc, serving as Dragon Ball Z’s first major villain. While he’s gone on to play a key role in Dragon Ball Super – even rivaling Goku in terms of importance at times – Vegeta still lets pride get the better of him every now and again.
10 Turning Into An Oozaru
Vegeta’s first big mistake in Dragon Ball Z is letting Goku get the better of him – not in terms of strength, but psychologically. Although Goku won their beam struggle, he had to push Kaioken to its absolute limits, crippling his body in the process. If Vegeta took a moment to analyze the situation, he’d realize that the fight was won in his favor.
Instead, Vegeta is so shaken by Goku’s raw power that he expends a significant amount of Ki to create a fake moon and turn into an Oozaru. While Vegeta gets to break every bone in Goku’s body, this only gives Gohan, Krillin, & Yajirobe an opportunity to cut off his tail.
9 Leaving Goku To Fight Ginyu Alone
For as much fuss Vegeta makes about needing to team up with Gohan and Krillin to fight the Ginyu Force, he’s awfully quick to abandon Goku in a fight against both Captain Ginyu & Jeice. Empowered by the boost in strength he got from eating a Senzu, Vegeta flees the scene as Goku is forced to fight Ginyu & Jeice alone.
Fortunately, this doesn’t prove to be much trouble for Goku, but it does ultimately spiral into him losing his body to Captain Ginyu. When Ginyu realizes he can’t use any of Goku’s abilities, he then tries to steal Vegeta’s body. It’s only through luck that Goku manages to get his body back and prevent Vegeta from getting “Ginyunapped.”
8 Goading Frieza Into Transforming
Vegeta pressuring Frieza into transforming right away is a genuinely good idea. When it comes down to it, why should the main characters waste their energy fighting an opponent they know can (and will) only get stronger? Tragically, there was no way of knowing that Frieza had multiple transformations up his sleeve.
Frieza falls for Vegeta’s “trap,” but it all backfires immediately. Frieza is so overwhelmingly powerful, Vegeta doesn’t even want to bother fighting back – actually breaking into tears for the very first time in his life.
7 Underestimating Android 18
Vegeta’s a broken record when it comes to power ups. Any time he pushes past one of his limits, he immediately assumes he’s the strongest being in the universe; especially in Dragon Ball Z. It’s a frequent occurrence with all his near-death boosts on Namek and happens again when he’s reintroduced as a Super Saiyan to fight Android 19.
It doesn’t take long for Vegeta to get his comeuppance, however. After allowing Dr. Gero to activate Androids 17 and 18 (who then activate Android 16,) Vegeta promptly gets handed one of his worst beatings in Dragon Ball. Despite being a Super Saiyan, 18 manhandles the Prince, breaking his arm and leaving him utterly defeated.
6 Letting Cell Absorb Android 18
Letting Cell absorb Android 18 is one of the single worst things Vegeta does in Dragon Ball Z. After decisively defeating Semi-Perfect Cell, Vegeta squanders his opportunity to finish off a threat that could realistically wipe out the entire planet (and potentially universe.) Craving a better fight, he lets Cell absorb Android 18.
Trunks tries to intervene as soon as he realizes what his father is doing, but Vegeta puts his son down. Cell successfully absorbs Android 18, reaches his Perfect form, and immediately lays waste to Vegeta – humiliating the once proud Saiyan.
5 Continually Neglecting Trunks
Vegeta is not a good father, especially in the Cell arc which sees him at his most emotionally repressed. Vegeta’s treatment of Future Trunks is downright abhorrent and it’s a wonder the time traveler manages to maintain love for his father.
For what it’s worth, Trunks’ demeanor after leaving the Room of Spirit and Time does suggest he and Vegeta bonded, but not enough to cut the tension. Vegeta is still outwardly cruel to Trunks leading up to his death. Only in losing his son does Vegeta realize just how much Trunks meant to him.
4 Rushing Towards Super Perfect Cell
In what is actually an emotionally poignant moment for Vegeta, the sight of watching Trunks die makes him lose all reason and rush Super Perfect Cell. Gohan’s forced to take the brunt of the blast in order to save Vegeta’s life, greatly damaging him right before the final battle. Krillin (rightfully) chastises Vegeta for this by reminding him that the Dragon Balls would have brought Trunks back, but it’s nonetheless an important beat for Vegeta’s development.
More importantly, Vegeta actually gets to make up for his mistake here by helping Gohan defeat Cell. Vegeta distracts Cell with a Ki attack long enough for Gohan to find an opening and push the full force of his Kamehameha through.
3 Giving Into Bobbidi’s Possession
Goku’s death at the Cell Games has a profound impact on Vegeta, to the point where he vows never to fight again. Come the 25th Tenkaichi Budokai, Vegeta’s quick to go back on his word when Goku announces that he’ll be coming back to life for a day in order to participate in the tournament.
Unfortunately, the tournament doesn’t go as planned, Vegeta’s deprived of his rematch with Goku, and the realization that his rival is far stronger than him triggers a midlife crisis that has Vegeta giving into Bobbidi’s possession. While Vegeta is able to maintain full control over his mind, he still uses this as an opportunity go kill innocent people and goad Goku into a fight that awakens Majin Buu.
2 Knocking Out Goku
While Vegeta is one of the main instigators in awakening Majin Buu, responsibility doesn’t fall on his shoulders alone. Goku was more than willing to help Vegeta fight off Majin Buu, but Vegeta didn’t want to share the burden. The Prince of All Saiyans knocks out Goku and then flies off to kill himself in an effort to stop Buu. Vegeta hugs his son, makes his peace with the fact he won’t be seeing Goku in the afterlife, and blows himself up in a blast intended to take Buu with him. Unfortunately, the Djinn survives and the Majin Buu arc only descends into further chaos from there.
1 Toying With Frieza
Vegeta’s considerably humbled by the end of Dragon Ball Z, accepting Goku as the better martial artist and generally mellowing out. Only for Dragon Ball Super to take a step back on Vegeta’s development. Resurrection F in particular shines a spotlight on one of Vegeta’s “fatal flaws:” he thinks too much during combat.
This ends up biting him near the end of the movie where, instead of killing Frieza while he has the chance, Vegeta beats the tyrant into submission, giving Frieza an opportunity to destroy the Earth. It’s only through Whis’ ability to turn back time that Goku is able to kill Frieza before Vegeta can mess things up all over again.