Dragon Ball Z: When Does Vegeta Turn Good?
Vegeta is known as one of the strongest characters in the Dragon Ball franchise. He’s one of the most powerful and talented fighters in the whole series. Initially introduced as a villain in the series, he would soon become one of Son Goku’s most trusted and loyal allies, even getting married to Bulma. His arc is a truly intriguing one, and his character development has been the topic of numerous discussions; this article is going to contribute to these discussions. Namely, in it, we are going to discuss the moment when Vegeta became a good guy in Dragon Ball Z.
The exact moment when Vegeta turned from being a villain to being a hero happened during the heroes’ fight against Majin Buu, one of the strongest villains in the series to date. During the fight, Vegeta collected enough energy to use his Genki Dama technique, and he then activated it in order to defeat Buu with the explosion. Still, he also sacrificed his own life in the process and thus became a hero.
In the remainder of this article, we are going to tell you about Vegeta’s sacrifice from the series, which happened during the battle against Majin Buu. Some spoilers are going to be present, so if you’re not fully up-to-date with the latest developments in the Dragon Ball series, be careful how you approach our text. For those that are, we are going to answer all the questions you might have about this topic.
When does Vegeta become a good guy?
The events we are about to recount happened during the Majin Buu arc. Namely, Vegeta had been a part of the story for some time when Buu became an actual threat, which is quite interesting in relation to his character development. Vegeta had been perceived as a villain until the Buu arc, and although he wasn’t a classical Dragon Ball villain, he was still a feared presence in the series. No one really wanted to cross paths with him unless it was unavoidable. And this is how he redeemed himself in the story.
Seven years have passed, and the Earth lives in peace. A new Tenkaichi Budokai will begin, Son Goku will return from heaven for only 24 hours to participate in it, and he is excited to be able to face it. However, the tournament does not go as planned: the god Kaio Shin and his apprentice Kibito warn them that a demon named Buu will soon wake up.
He is furious that he cannot fight Son Goku but accompanies him anyway to fight the demons of the wizard Babidi. Seeing Son Goku transform into Super Saiyan 2 while fighting the monster Yakon, he realizes that he is no match for it and begins to internally develop a strategy that will allow him to reach the same level as his rival. During the fight between Son Gohan and Dabra, he intentionally lets his anger explode, showing the enemies that, unlike the other people in the ship (Gohan, Goku, and Kaio Shin), he is the only one who is not pure-hearted and, therefore a potential prey to Babidi’s magic.
He thus wishes to let his darkest side express itself, all this hatred which, according to him, gives their strength to the Super Saiyans in order to be able to reach, or even exceed, the level of power of Son Goku. Babidi used his magic on him so that he would benefit from great power, displaying a Majin mark on his forehead, signifying that he was supposed to be under Babidi’s control. His immense pride makes him disobey the orders of the magician because, for him, only the confrontation against Goku counts.
Nevertheless, Babidi is satisfied because he managed to put the prince of the Saiyans on his side, even if he doesn’t completely control it. Having waited 7 years to take his revenge on his rival, the fight between Son Goku and him, in the form of Super Saiyan 2, becomes extremely violent. During the fight, he explains to his rival the reasons why he voluntarily allowed himself to be manipulated by the magician, confiding in him. It is also thanks to their respective energies that Buu ends up waking up.
Later, after Buu destroys almost everything, he is the one who finally comes up with a tactic to defeat the monster. He then reveals that he has changed. For the first time, he puts the interests of others before his own and decides to challenge the powerful monster. After a bitter fight in which he succeeds in wounding Buu but sees him recover each time, he sacrifices himself to kill him in order to save his family. He blasts himself, sweeping a wide area around and hoping to take his opponent with him, to no avail. Indeed, it wasn’t enough to completely eliminate Buu.
Once Vegeta dies, King Enma keeps his soul “just in case.” Vegeta is then brought back to Earth by Seer Baba to help Son Goku fight Buu. He ends up merging with him, thanks to the Potalas earrings, to form a new warrior, Vegetto, despite his stubbornness. Once merged, they manage to take the upper hand over Buu, who has absorbed Gotenks, Son Gohan (who has become very powerful), and Piccolo.
Unfortunately for Vegetto, the fusion ends when Buu absorbs him, but allowing himself to be absorbed was a tactic the two Saiyans were keen on in order to free their children and Piccolo trapped inside Buu. Their release makes him lose some of his power, and that of the Buu they first knew, a prisoner inside the evil Buu who had separated from him, makes Buu return to his initial, most evil form. Afterward, the Earth is destroyed by Buu and Son Gohan, and Piccolo and Gotenks succumb to the explosion.
In order to escape the Earth’s destruction, Vegeta and Son Goku are teleported to the planet of Kibitoshin by the latter, along with Mr. Satan and Dendé, the last survivors of the planet, in order to fight Buu fairly. Vegeta and Son Goku keep arguing while together, trying to defeat Buu to save the universe. During these fights, Vegeta recognizes the true value of his eternal rival’s power for the first time. Finally, Vegeta has the idea to use a Genki Dama made up of the energy of all the inhabitants of the Earth, resurrected by the Dragon Balls and of all the people on Namek, to defeat Buu.
Vegeta then serves as bait to attract Buu, while Son Goku concentrates to accumulate the maximum energy for the Genki Dama; it is also thanks to the unexpected help of Mr. Satan encouraging the Earthlings to give their energy that the sphere is more imposing than ever. After defeating Buu, he loses his halo of the deceased and regains life. Fat Buu lives on Earth, the crimes committed before he repented and was absorbed by his evil version, having been erased from everyone’s memory. Vegeta seems to be having a good time with his friends, especially with Buu at a party thrown at his house by Bulma six months later.
