Warning! Spoilers ahead for Dragon Ball Super chapter 76!
Vegeta‘s character has undergone extensive changes ever since mangaka Akira Toriyama introduced him early on in Dragon Ball Z, but Dragon Ball Super just revealed that he might view Goku not as a friendly rival, but as an actual enemy.
Vegeta began receiving critical acclaim when he shifted from being just another Dragon Ball villain who espoused the same static, two-dimensional views as all the rest into into a compellingly rich antihero, rife with faults and haunted by his inability to surpass a low-level Saiyan like Goku even though he was a prince destined to be the most powerful warrior. Despite his desire to get stronger than Goku, Vegeta has still fought alongside him, however begrudgingly, and even eventually accepts Earth as his home, even forming his own family there. Vegeta’s growth has continued even in Dragon Ball Super when he experiences a reckoning for his crimes against the Namekians during his battle with Moro the Planet-Eater on New Namek, whose inhabitants hadn’t seen him since his reformation.
But mangaka Toriyama throws readers a curveball during Vegeta’s latest battle against Granolah the Cerealian when Vegeta begins reverting to his villainous ways since the fight takes place on a foreign planet where he has no family to protect. Now, this unsettling behavior has just culminated in the most shocking way in chapter 76 when Vegeta kicks and then punches Goku down to the ground for daring to interfere with his battle against Granolah. When Goku objects, Vegeta reveals his true feelings: “There’s no one I’d rather beat to hell and back than you, Kakarrot. You seem confused. But know that I’ve only agreed to fight side-by-side when we had something to protect.” When Goku retorts by saying that this would result in him getting killed, Vegeta responds with, “Better that than teaming up with you.“
This moment is reminiscent of Vegeta’s struggle when he and Goku fused into Vegito during their fight against Buu. The difference, however, is that Buu had invaded Earth and absorbed Vegeta’s entire family. The Saiyan Prince originally vehemently refused Goku’s request to fuse, but that changed when Goku began to name all of the members of his family whom Buu had absorbed. This caused Vegeta to demand Goku give him the Potara earring that would allow them to fuse, not once, but multiple times. It was a shocking moment but now makes sense when put into context of this particular scene. Vegeta would rather die than fight alongside or fuse with Goku. But he is willing to make exceptions for his family. Now that his family isn’t with them on planet Cereal, there’s nothing forcing Vegeta to fight alongside Goku, let alone fuse with him.
Before now in Dragon Ball Super, fans have always regarded Goku and Vegeta as so-called frenemies. The Saiyan Prince may have always wanted to surpass Goku, but they were still allies. This is the first time that their relationship is called into question. While unfortunate, it proves just how much Vegeta cares about his family. The love he shares for them is strong enough to force Vegeta to team up with Goku, even though he would rather die than fight alongside him.
