Vegeta

Vegeta or Prince Vegeta is one of the main characters from the Dragon Ball Z series.

Vegeta is the Prince of the fallen Saiyan race and arch rival to Goku. He is the husband of Bulma, and the son of King Vegeta, the father of Trunks and Bulla, the estranged brother of Tarble, the brother-in-law of Gure, and the great-great grandfather of Vegeta Jr. Aside from Goku, Gohan, and Piccolo, he is easily one of the most prominent characters in the series, receiving more character development after being introduced than a number of other characters. He was once a young member of the Saiyan Army under the Planet Trade Organization, but after his race's demise he used to work alongside Nappa, and Raditz, directly under Frieza.

He later joins the Z-Fighters while battling along side them on Namek, and returns to Earth with them as well, where he remains for the rest of his life.

In the Heroes Coalition fics, Vegeta is a Veteran member of the Heroes Coalition and currently works as a trainer.

Appearance
Vegeta is 5'5 tall. His hair firmly stands upwards, and has a prominent widow's peak. A main characteristic of Vegeta is the fact that he is the only living Saiyan who has continued to don the traditional Saiyan armor (in reference to his heritage). He also is the the only saiyan left that actually knows life on Planet Vegeta. He has also been seen wearing alternate forms of the armor, customizing the armor to better suit his persona; however, once he integrates into Earthly society, he abandons the Saiyan armor, at first gradually in Dragon Ball Z, then completely in Dragon Ball GT, in favor of clothing more characteristic of a human. This may be because his new levels of power eliminate any practical need for fabricated battle armor. (It should be noted that Vegeta's uniform transition is symbolic of his adjustment to a human lifestyle) However, even after Vegeta loses the armor in Dragon Ball Z, he is always seen wearing iconic white gloves and white boots in battle. Vegeta once had a tail, but it was cut off by Yajirobe to remove Vegeta from his Great Ape state during the Vegeta Saga.

Vegeta's hair never grows in length. He states to Bulma, in an episode of the Perfect Cell Saga, that a pure-blood Saiyan's hair does not change from the day he is born, aside from Super Saiyan transformations.

If observed closely, Vegeta actually changes appearance physically over the course of Dragon Ball Z. He was originally intended to appear deceptively small, lean, and less threatening in comparison to his massive partner Nappa. However, by the end of Dragon Ball Z, he seems to be taller and more muscular, the length of his hair having also been shortened, though he is still comparatively shorter than Goku, who also appears to have grown taller. Vegeta's facial features also look more distinct and sharply defined as the series progresses, making him look older (though this may be attributed to gradual aging).

Personality
Vegeta is haughty, arrogant, and bitter as a result of the destruction of his home planet, Vegeta, and the abuse his race suffered at the hands of Frieza. His royalty seems to have bestowed upon him an inflated sense of superiority, holding himself above nearly everybody he encounters. He is immensely proud of his Saiyan heritage and believes his race to be the most powerful in the universe.

Since childhood, Vegeta has proven himself a ruthless killer, merciless like most Saiyans. During the Namek Saga, he began to exhibit changes; rather than killing Krillin or Gohan as he promised in the previous saga, he instead forges an alliance with them. 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. After his defeat at the hands of Frieza, Vegeta tearfully explains to Goku that Frieza forced him to be ruthless and that he never had the chance to be anything else (implying that he could have been kinder and more merciful were it not for Frieza). From then on, Vegeta softened up and occasionally showed compassion to his new family, Bulma, Bulla, and Trunks. It wasn't until the Babidi Saga that he gave in to his obsession of overtaking Goku in might, becoming Majin and "evil" once more. (This was a desperate, failed plot to restore his former wickedness, believing it to have been the source of his true power. Goku doesn't believe Vegeta is bluffing, and correctly so; Vegeta demonstrates his prevailing softness in hugging Trunks for the first time and telling him that he is proud to be his father, before performing a sacrificial Final Explosion against Majin Buu.) Arguably his most defining trait is his rivalry with Goku and obsession to surpass him in power. In Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn, he goes so far as to break down in tears over his inability to surpass Goku. However, this obsession has led him to save Goku's life on several occasions, insisting that only he will defeat Goku.

After the defeat of Kid Buu, he has a change of heart, and his angry grudge against Goku became a friendly rivalry. Vegeta shows to be one of the more intelligent characters of the series. He is also one of the most serious, rarely exhibiting humor. When he does so, his humor is very dry and in some rare occasions black. He does, however, delight in mocking his enemies, as demonstrated when he offers to reconstruct Android 18 into a "toaster" or a "washing machine". He also shows his black sence of humor towards Goku when he was about to battle him in the World Tournament. He overheard Goku mentioning of him being full of food and Vegeta swore to punch him straight to the stomach. Normally, his ego and arrogance overshadow his positive qualities.

As series to near the end, Vegeta is shown to be exceptionally vain and egotistical. A tragic example of this is in his fight with Semi-Perfect Cell. Though he could have easily destroyed this weaker form of Cell, his arrogance bested him, and he purposely let Cell absorb Android 18 just to have a challenge in Cell through which to test his power. While fighting Majin Buu and Janemba, he vehemently opposed fusion with Goku due to his pride, but Goku managed to persuade him, later becoming more willing to fuse, going so far as to propose it himself in the battle against Omega Shenron. On several occasions, Vegeta conceitedly underestimates his opponents; in the cases of Perfect Cell and Kid Buu, Vegeta was fooled by their diminutive appearances, believing that they had only "shrunk".

At the end of the Buu Saga and in Dragon Ball GT, Vegeta is much more relaxed. He is often seen smiling and cracking jokes, such as when he forced Trunks to enter the 28th World Martial Arts Tournament, threatening to "cut his allowance" if he didn't enter the competition. Often being more caring and kind to his family, especially his daughter, Bulla, Vegeta admittedly has a kinder side, per his adjustment to Earthly life. The best example of caring for his family is the aforementioned example of hugging Trunks before he fights Majin Buu as Majin Vegeta. However, Vegeta can still be seen sitting on the sidelines, while everyone else is happy, enjoying themselves in the thick of things. Later on, Vegeta developed a strong age-crisis. For example when driving home with Bulla and seeing two teenagers in an other vehicle flirting with his daughter, he ignores them. After a while other one of the boys calls Vegeta a "geezer" and he got angry and broke their car.

Vegeta is, iconically, extremely aggressive and angry. Throughout the first half of the Frieza Saga, whomever he defeated, he killed without mercy. Indeed, his only sign of mercy is when he let Namekian Frog Captain Ginyu live, claiming to "not want frog guts on his clean boots."

Vegeta, in some instances, has been seen afraid of opponents like Broly and Frieza, but visibly comes around. In Broly's case, this could be out of respect for the Legendary Super Saiyan.