Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot fans have long asked the question: who is stronger between Goku and Vegeta? While at certain points in the game, the answer is clear, there are other times when fans can't be so sure. For example, at the beginning, in the Saiyan Saga, Vegeta is definitely Goku's superior, as it takes not only the Kaioken but also the help of all the other Z Warriors in order to take him down. That said, moving into the Frieza Saga, Goku has surpassed Vegeta significantly. With the introduction of Super Saiyan God, where do they stand now?

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot's first DLC introduces Goku and Vegeta to Beerus and Whis, and through training allows them to unlock the Super Saiyan God form. This form is the pinnacle of power in Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot currently, although it is more than likely that Super Saiyan Blue will be introduced in the next expansion. There are a number of things that can be examined in order to determine who is actually the stronger of the two saiyans within Kakarot's universe, but even still the answer isn't so clear.

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Story Fights

Vegeta and Goku beam struggle Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot DBZ: K Kamehameha vs Galick Gun Header

Despite being perhaps the most iconic pair of rivals in anime history, Goku and Vegeta actually only fight each other twice during the entirety of Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot's base game story mode. The first is during the Saiyan Saga, in which Goku and Vegeta battle each other for the fate of the earth. Although Goku technically wins this fight, it is clear that Vegeta is the more powerful of the two. The second time isn't until the Majin Buu Saga when Vegeta allows Babidi control over his mind and becomes Majin Vegeta. Here again, the fight doesn't actually reach a conclusion, as Vegeta ends the fight early to save Trunks and Goten.

Both of these fights are inconclusive, and to make matters worse, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot DLC 1 gives players another fight, this time between Super Saiyan God Goku and Vegeta. Ever careful not to settle the long running debate over who is stronger, this fight ends prematurely as well, as Beerus comes and challenges the Saiyans, forcing them to team up together rather than finish their bout. Because of this, no real conclusion can be drawn regarding who is stronger from the story fights that take place in game, and instead the answer must come from their actual in game statistics.

Stats

Characters in Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot have their abilities quantified in numerous ways. The most accessible method is the power level statistic, which the game refers to as BP. Surprisingly, neither Goku nor Vegeta's BP increased after unlocking Super Saiyan God, which further cements the theory that this is indicative of each character's base power. Still, since both Goku and Vegeta have access to the same transformation, it should theoretically indicate who is stronger. At level 250, Goku's power level is 24,424,504, and Vegeta's is 23,029,568 (these numbers are affected by permanent food boosts and therefore may differ slightly between players).

SSG Goku or SSG Vegeta

dragon ball z kakarot vegeta goku fight bandai namco

Despite their power levels indicating that Goku is stronger, albeit only slightly, there is more to it than this. Particularly in their stats, Vegeta and Goku are actually quite different. In fact, Goku excels in maximum HP, Melee ATK, Melee DEF, and Ki DEF, whereas Vegeta outclasses Goku in Ki, Ki ATK. That said, even here these numbers are very similar, but it is clear that Vegeta is built to deal more damage with Ki attacks and Goku is built to spend more time fighting with fists.

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This is actually a long running theme in Dragon Ball video games, as it is prevalent in Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 as well. In that game, there are actually two forms of Super Saiyan, the basic Super Saiyan ability which Goku uses, and a similar Super Vegeta ability which Vegeta uses. The Super Saiyan ability provides a boost to both physical and ki attack but favors physical, whereas the Super Vegeta form provides a greater boost to ki attack. This doesn't really have any foundation in the show, as both are shown to be essentially equals in terms of physical and ki attack power.

Fighting Style

DBZ: Kakarot S Rank Beerus Vegeta

Each character also has a unique fighting style, which further boils things down to preference of the player. Once fully upgraded, Vegeta's ki attack finisher is able to rack up an insane amount of hits, making getting S Ranks a lot easier. On the other hand, Goku's melee combos are faster and deal more damage. Each of their new Super Attacks function differently as well, with Goku's being able to continue indefinitely until he runs out of Ki whereas Vegeta's hits five times before dissipating. Each of these has their pros and cons, as Goku is able to sweep large numbers of enemies, but Vegeta's is typically more cost effective in terms of ki.

They have access to very different moves beyond their new techniques as well. Vegeta's Big Bang Attack is excellent at clearing out groups of enemies, and while it may not deal as much damage or have as much radius as Goku's Spirit Bomb, it is much faster. On the flip side, Goku can make great use of physical super attacks such as Dragon Fist due to his higher Melee ATK stat. He also is particularly adept at punishing enemies who have been stunned for this same reason.

Ultimately, it comes down to preference, and there is no clear answer as to who is better. On the one hand, Goku is listed as having a higher power level than Vegeta, but there are certain areas where Vegeta outperforms the Saiyan raised on Earth. Because of this, players should simply use whichever character they like more, as both are equally capable of dealing out damage and taking hits. Understanding how to play one of these two will be vital to defeating Beerus, however.

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

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