Vegeta

Vegeta, more specifically Vegeta IV, recognized as Prince Vegeta (Bejīta Ōji) is the prince of the fallen Saiyan race and one of the main characters of the Dragon Ball series. Regal, egotistical, and full of pride, Vegeta was once a ruthless, cold-blooded warrior and outright killer, but later abandons his role in the Frieza Force, instead opting to remain and live on Earth. His character evolves from villain, to anti-hero, then to hero through the course of the series, repeatedly fighting alongside the universe's most powerful warriors in order to protect his new home and surpass Goku in power. Vegeta is a slim yet very well-built man of a below-average stature, standing at 164 centimeters tall. His hair is black (or dark brown, depending on the media) and spikes upwards. Vegeta has a prominent widow's peak. Like most Saiyans, he possesses defined eyes with a consistently stern look to them. Like other Universe 7 Saiyans, he was born with a prehensile brown-furred tail, until it was permanently cut off by Yajirobe.

Over the course of the series, Vegeta's physical appearance changes. While originally appearing very short and lean, especially compared to his massive partner, Nappa, he later seems to be somewhat taller and noticeably more muscular. His hair and forehead appears to be shorter and his facial features, which are perpetually in a scowl, also look more distinct and sharply defined as the series progresses, making him look much older in later sagas compared to what he looked like in his debut. Vegeta is arrogant throughout the series and becomes bitter due to the abuse his race suffered at the hands of Frieza. Following the destruction of his homeworld Planet Vegeta, his hatred toward Frieza grows. His royalty seems to have bestowed upon him an inflated sense of superiority, holding himself above nearly everyone he encounters. He is immensely proud of his Saiyan heritage and believes his race to be the most powerful in the universe. Despite this, even as an antagonist, he did not act as an ordinary Saiyan, being even crueler and prideful thanks to Frieza's influence. As the Prince of a demolished Planet Vegeta, Vegeta is initially introduced as an unrepentant villain. Judging from his evil intentions before joining the Z Fighters, Vegeta has been consistently characterized as extremely arrogant, vengeful, and at times, cold. Many of Vegeta's early heroic acts are because of self-interest or revenge, although he later settles down and grows fond of Earth as his home, raising a family with Bulma. Having been born into the upper tier of Saiyan society, Vegeta was fixated on achieving the legendary status of Super Saiyan and becoming the most powerful warrior in the universe. Vegeta is more of a tactical fighter who often rushes in the brawl without hesitation. However, his rage or arrogance often causes him to underestimate his opponent and usually leads to his eventual defeat and sometimes death. His royal blood and intense fighting style have both benefited and harmed him in many battles. Vegeta has been shown to be one of the more intelligent characters of the series, as well as one of the most serious, rarely exhibiting humor. When he does so, his humor is often very dry and far darker than his fellow Z Fighters. However, he does delight in mocking his enemies, as demonstrated when he offers to reconstruct Android 18 into a "toaster" or a "washing machine" (Funimation dub only). He also shows his bleak sense of humor towards Goku when he was about to battle him in the World Martial Arts Tournament. Aside from his more bleak sense of humor, he has also at times engaged in more sarcastic humor when gloating. A notable example of this was when fighting Semi-Perfect Cell. When Cell demanded to know how Vegeta was as strong as he was, Vegeta flippantly stated that he got that strong by "doing lots of push-ups and sit-ups, and drinking plenty of juice", as well as calling Kid Buu a "gifted speaker" when the latter barely responded at all just before the latter destroyed the Earth. Normally, his massive ego and arrogance overshadow his positive qualities. Despite his personality flaws, Vegeta is capable of respecting individuals, although he never outright states it often showing his respect non verbally. By The Majin Buu Saga, it is heavily implied that he and Piccolo were on civil terms and seemed to have mutual respect for one another. He also expressed some grief over Gohan's fate at the hands of Buu himself. Outside of these two instances, his relationship with the rest of the Dragon Team seemed cool at best. Vegeta is one of the most powerful mortal warriors in Universe 7 and the multiverse as a whole.

From a young age, Vegeta showed tremendous power even by the standards of First-Class warriors and the royal bloodline of the Saiyan race. King Vegeta pridefully stated that Vegeta greatly broke all previous records in Saiyan history. Vegeta has even noted that his entire combat experience and fighting style is purely self-taught, having grown-up with no teachers, further showcasing his prodigious talents and is noted to have even surpassed his father, King Vegeta. Upon his first arrived on Earth as an adult, his power level reached about 18,000. Once fighting against Goku, it took Goku tripling his power with the Kaio-ken to overpower the prince. This convinced Vegeta to transform into a Great Ape, who states that his power increased tenfold. Even when badly battle-worn from Goku's various attacks and having reverted to his base form, Vegeta showed remarkable resilience, able to continue fighting against the Earth's defenders and even held his own against the Great Ape Gohan. At this time, Vegeta's Galick Gun had enough power to at the very least ravage the entire surface of the Earth. After healing from his defeat, Vegeta's power rose to 24,000 thanks to the Saiyan Power (offset by losing his tail, which is known to reduce a Saiyan's strength). After being defeated by Zarbon and healing again, Vegeta's power increased enough that he could defeat the transformed Zarbon through trickery, and cause some minor damage to Recoome, putting his power level just under 30,000. After healing from his battle against Recoome, Vegeta showed an especially potent increase in power, easily outmatching Jeice and Captain Ginyu and being able to fight on par with the full power of Frieza's first form, putting Vegeta's power at around 530,000. Once healed by Krillin's blast in an attempt to become a Super Saiyan, Vegeta's power level shot up once more, becoming able to perceive Frieza's movements in his true form, but ultimately proved no match for the tyrant. After being revived from death, Vegeta found that his power had increased greatly. In the three years preparing for the Androids, Vegeta trained under 450 times Earth's gravity and by the time the Androids arrived, Vegeta, having finally obtained Super Saiyan, was able to effortlessly outclass Android 19 and 20. Piccolo noted that Vegeta may have surpassed Goku. According to Kami, Vegeta's power surpassed Future Trunks', as he lasted far longer against Android 18 than Trunks himself. After Vegeta trained in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, he was effortlessly able to subdue Cell in his Semi-Perfect state with his Super Saiyan Second Grade form. After being soundly defeated by Perfect Cell, Vegeta chose to train again in the Time Chamber and at the Cell Games he, along with his son Trunks, were the only two able to hold their own against the Cell Jr. Vegeta continues training for the next seven years, eventually reaching 500 times gravity. By then, Vegeta became stronger than Gohan, as the hybrid Saiyan had slacked off on his training since he defeated Cell. After seeing a glimpse of Goku's increased power, Vegeta lets himself get possessed by Babidi because he wanted to receive Babidi's magic and catch up to Goku. In this state, combined with Super Saiyan 2, Vegeta is able to fight on par with Goku's Super Saiyan 2 might. Later, against Majin Buu Piccolo noted that Vegeta's power eclipsed Gohan's against Super Perfect Cell. However he proved to be no match against Kid Buu, only being able to hold him off for about a minute.