Confidence goes a long way in a franchise like Dragon Ball. Goku is only as strong as he is because of his genuine belief in his own abilities. Dragon Ball is a story about martial arts, one where Goku and his peers realize how they can better themselves through the art. Goku’s antithesis in more ways than one, Vegeta trades confidence for pure arrogance.
The Prince of all Saiyans was introduced with an ego, has died with an ego, and will always be defined best by his ego. There’s no denying that Vegeta is his own worst enemy, but his success in Dragon Ball would double if he could just put his ego aside for good.
10 Vs Goku
No character in Dragon Ball has a debut fight as top to bottom solid as Vegeta’s. His introductory battle against Goku not only does an excellent job at setting the foundation for a rivalry that is still playing out in modern Dragon Ball, but highlights who exactly Vegeta is: an arrogant elite Saiyan who takes any shade of defeat deathly personal.
Vegeta actually would have won his fight against Goku had he taken a second to compose himself after their beam struggle. Goku exhausted all of his Ki triggering Kaioken x4, while Vegeta still had more than enough energy to turn into an Oozaru and fight the rest of the supporting cast. Instead, he transforms and wastes a huge chunk of his energy playing around with Goku – ultimately leading to his defeat.
9 Vs Gohan, Krillin, & Yajirobe
As Vegeta’s torturing Goku within an inch of his life, Gohan notices the discrepancies in Ki between both fighters and forces Krillin to go back to the battlefield with him. Even though Oozaru Vegeta is strong enough to kill every surviving character in the main cast, his ego prevents him from taking Gohan, Krillin, & Yajirobe as seriously as he should.
Vegeta ends up suffering a humiliating beatdown that has him leaving Earth in disgrace. Yajirobe slices off his tail, Gohan locks him into a fight he can’t seem to hold the upperhand in, and Krillin throws a Genki Dama at Vegeta which Gohan forces into the Saiyan. Had it not been for Goku’s interference, Krillin would have actually killed Vegeta with Yajirobe’s sword.
8 Vs Zarbon
Saiyan biology allows Saiyans to trigger substantial boosts in their base Battle Power after recovering from near-death. Retroactively, this is why Goku gets so much stronger through combat during Dragon Ball. It’s also used as an important narrative tool on Namek, building up to Goku eventually turning into a Super Saiyan.
Before that point, however, Vegeta abuses these near death powers up as much as possible. After returning from Earth stronger than ever, Vegeta successfully kills both Cui and Dodoria before turning his eyes on Zarbon. Unfortunately, Vegeta suffers a painful defeat the moment Zarbon transforms – being left to drown before Frieza forces Zarbon to rescue Vegeta.
7 Vs Recoome
After recovering from his fight against Zarbon, Vegeta gains another near death power up that gives him the strength to wipe out the rest of Frieza’s army. Frieza has no choice but to call in the Ginyu Force to deal with Vegeta and gather the Dragon Balls, a fact that leaves Vegeta trembling in fear.
Teaming up with Gohan and Krillin as a last resort, Vegeta goes into the battle with the Ginyu Force anxious, but ready. He even builds up some confidence during his fight against Recoome, putting everything he has into a rush attack that takes Recoome all over Namek. Recoome is left unscathed, however, and Vegeta gets beaten into submission.
6 Vs Frieza
Frieza is so powerful when transformed that Vegeta actually breaks into tears for the first time in his life. In spite of how overwhelming the situation is, he musters the courage to force Krillin into shooting him through the chest so Dende can heal him and power up Vegeta.
It’s a fine enough plan, but there’s no way a single near death boost could have brought Vegeta to Frieza’s level. While the anime drags out their fight, the manga has Vegeta immediately losing control and winding up Frieza’s punching bag. By the time Goku arrives, the damage has already been done.
5 Vs Android 18
Becoming a Super Saiyan only serves to expand Vegeta’s ego, doubly so when he arrives to confront the Artificial Humans and he’s actually stronger than Goku (whether or not it’s because of the Heart Virus is another matter entirely, though.) Super Saiyan Vegeta genuinely believes he’s strong enough to defeat Android 18 alone – one of the two monsters ransacking Trunks’ future.
It doesn’t take long for Vegeta to start losing stamina as Android 18’s infinite energy reserves keep her fighting at full power from start to finish. 18 tanks all of Vegeta’s strongest attacks head-on, eventually breaking his arm with a single kick and knocking the Prince right out of Super Saiyan.
4 Vs Cell
After his defeat at the hands of Android 18, Vegeta trains inside of the Room of Spirit and Time with Trunks to prepare for the even greater threat that is Cell. Vegeta actually makes tremendous progress training with his son, developing his style of Super Saiyan into Grade 2 – a form that augments his strength considerably.
Vegeta doesn’t struggle whatsoever putting Cell into his place, but it’s exactly this fact which leaves his ego unfulfilled. Vegeta wanted a battle that pushed him to his limits, and when Cell doesn’t give him that, he allows the Android to absorb 18. As thanks, Vegeta suffers one of his worst beatdowns in Dragon Ball.
3 Vs Fat Buu
Although he was trying to do right by Goku and atone for his mistakes, there was no real reason Vegeta had to fight Fat Buu alone. Both he and Goku were responsible for waking the Djinn. Vegeta’s sacrifice comes from a place of vulnerability where he’s trying to put his ego aside, but it’s still an ego driven decision that ties into personal responsibility he doesn’t want to share with Goku. Had Vegeta stuck to the plan and gone to Majin Buu with Goku, he likely wouldn’t have needed to die. Then again, that doesn’t exactly make for compelling storytelling, does it?
2 Vs Golden Frieza
Resurrection F’s story centers itself around the flaws of its lead characters: Goku lets his guard down, Gohan doesn’t keep up with his training, Frieza is impatient, and Vegeta thinks too much during combat. Whether or not these flaws hold up under scrutiny aside, this ultimately results in Vegeta throwing away his chance to defeat Frieza.
After delivering a supremely cathartic beatdown of Frieza, Vegeta has the tyrant on his knees. Rather than finishing off Frieza while he has the chance, Vegeta is caught in an explosion and dies. Frieza blows up the Earth and the main cast only survive & right this wrong thanks to Whis’ intervention.
1 Vs Hit
For what it’s worth, Vegeta does show a surprising amount of humility (in his own way) when he helps Cabba reach Super Saiyan. It’s one of Vegeta’s best moments in Dragon Ball Super, and one of the earliest instances of the modern series taking Vegeta’s character in a new direction. While Hit simply blindsides Vegeta in the anime, Vegeta seals his own fate in the manga.
Super Saiyan Blue in the manga originally drained an enormous deal of energy when triggered. Hit also isn’t as strong in the manga as he is in the anime, with Goku able to overpower him with just SSB. Had Vegeta not shown off Blue to Cabba, he would have been able to defeat Hit. Instead, he wastes so much energy that Hit bodies him.