Personality: Throughout the series from Dragon Ball Z to the end of GT, Vegeta undergoes a massive amount of development. He is the prince of his race, the Saiyans, with an attitude to match his status. He believes his race is the most powerful race in the universe, and has no issues displaying his pride for them. His pride of his race and for himself is one of his defining traits, being both beneficial and detrimental for him. From the start Vegeta is prominently arrogant and hot-headed, ruthless and cold. Being very intelligent, he excels at tatical fighting and will rush head first into a fight. He enjoys mocking his foes in battle. He kills for the thrill of it, eradicating a planet's inhabitants until the planet was finally forced to surrender, coming under the rule of the Planet Trade Organization. This organization is headed by King Cold and his two sons, Frieza and Cooler; whom of which has enslaved Vegeta's entire race to do their bidding. Frieza is in charge of the section of the organization that rules the Saiyans, and treats them as lower class nothings, insulting them and calling them monkeys. Because of such Vegeta developed an extreme bitterness, which only grows after Frieza destroys Planet Vegeta and most of the Saiyans with it, leaving only a handful of them left. This leaves him wanting to kill Frieza for what he's done, but knowing he wasn't strong enough to do so, he continues to serve underneath him until he can become strong enough to finish Frieza once and for all.
Which leads to arriving on Earth after discovering the information about the Dragon Balls from Radditz's communication via scouter. Accompanied by Nappa, they battle the Z Fighters, Vegeta killing Nappa in the process, and then finally being defeated himself. But before Vegeta leaves the planet, he is stopped by Krillin wielding a sword to finish the wounded Prince. But Goku asks Krillin to spare Vegeta and show him mercy, in which Krillin reluctantly agrees, and lets Vegeta escape. This one act of kindness challenges everything Vegeta had ever known and believed in, and from this point on in the series he can't seem to get Goku off his mind, thus the start of his obsession with him. This even manifests more after the battles on Namek, when he sees that Goku has reached the level of a Super Saiyan, becoming infuriated that he, the Prince of all Saiyans, is not one of the Saiyans of legend but yet someone he considers to be low class is.
From this point on he is fixated on becoming stronger, and trains incessantly to reach this goal. He is fueled by his passion to become stronger than Goku, which previously stated is technically a lower class Saiyan. He believed that he was the most powerful Saiyan, but after seeing Goku's transformation and eventually his future son Trunks's transformation, it enraged him, pushing him to his limits in his training, to the point of hurting himself and requiring medical aid from Bulma and her family, who he lives with while he waits for Goku's return to Earth and the arrival of the androids, the new threat to Earth. During that time he has a child with Bulma, but is still emotionally distant from her and their son. However, during a fight with Cell, Trunks is mortally wounded, which sends Vegeta into a frenzy of attacks due to the fact that he has seen Trunks give everything for him and he has done nothing but dismiss Trunks, and lashes out to avenge his fallen son. (This being from the anime; from what I understand the manga is different during this part, but I've never read it.) He fails however, leaving Gohan to finish Cell off (though Vegeta provides an essential moment for Gohan to kill Cell), leaving the battlefield with his pride very hurt, witnessing Goku sacrifice himself without fear to save his loved ones and then Gohan being the one to actually defeat Cell.
Despite this he continues to train for the next seven years, still intent on becoming stronger than Goku. But, as he states himself, he wants his old edge back, and takes advantage of this by allowing himself to be controlled by Babidi, returning him to the evil man he once was when he first arrived on Earth, so he could be on the same playing field as Goku. He states that he cares not for his family or anything else, only caring for his own strength and greatness. But Goku calls him a liar during a heated battle, rightfully so, which leads to Vegeta taking on Buu himself and sacrificing his life so his family could live on, finally fighting for someone/thing other than himself, as Piccolo states during the encounter. (I like to call this "Vegeta's mid-life crisis.") King Yemma allows him to come back to Earth however, where he must put aside his pride, to work with and fuse with Goku to save the lives of their families and essentially their own race, as well as the lives of everyone in the universe from Buu. Before fighting Buu for the last time, Vegeta finds out about Goku offering Bulma to Old Kai for a kiss, making him essentially freak out on Goku for being "senseless", one of the few times Vegeta verbally confirms that he truly does care for her.
But he is forced to the sidelines once again in the final battle, watching Goku in his SSJ3 form, where he delivers his final speech for his respect for Goku, (speech if you want to watch) now someone he sees as a friend instead of an enemy. He even goes as far to call Goku "old friend" as he flies away with Uub to train during the World Martial Arts Tournament.
Now fully accustomed to Earth life, Vegeta no longer dons his Saiyan attire, but instead is seen wearing western style clothing, oddly enough usually in khaki pants until later in GT where is he portrayed with a sort of 90's style biker outfit. He has also fully settled down, and had a second child; a daughter named Bulla. He is still the arrogant man he once was, but in his old age he has matured significantly. Where he once would have flown off the handle at something that irritated him, he now will generally meet it with an eye roll or shrug it off, his temper having a longer fuse than previously. That doesn't mean he won't get angry, because he still does, but it takes something a bit more extreme to send him over the edge. Also, he has become very touchy about how old he has become, when a few teenage boys are hitting on Bulla as they are driving home from a shopping trip, they call Vegeta a geezer, to which he rips the steering wheel off of their car and runs them off the road in a silent anger. He also now displays caring for the Earth as a whole, coming up with a plan to move Earth's entire population to the Planet Tuffle before it explodes, helping the Z Fighters move the population to spacecraft and is seen knocking out anyone who refused to leave the planet so that they could be transported as well. He is, however, still too prideful to wear the badges given out to the people associated with Mr. Satan to help with the move. He also declares to Super Android 17 that he is the sole protector of the planet and that he came to do this job, insulting the absent Goku while displaying his strong sense of pride, yet concern for the world he lives on.
During the fight with Omega Shenron, he is still having inner turmoil with being a second to Goku; until Bulma helps him find a way to reach SSJ4, in which he joins the battle to help Goku defeat the dragon. Goku tells Omega that if you want good things to happen to you, you have to be good, as Vegeta throws a rock at Omega's head and states, "I would listen to him if I were you, more of than not things that Kakarot says come to pass. But I know that it’s going to take more than talk to change your mind, I had to learn the hard way myself." This reveals that Vegeta also has changed some of his beliefs over time; mostly showing he believes in karma, which is a complete 180 from the Vegeta we see in the beginning of DBZ. Vegeta also again shows his care for his family and friends at the end of the battle, telling them to get off the planet so they could train to finish the fight they'd started while Vegeta went back to hold off Omega and buy them time to escape.
Outside of battle he is a man of few words, and speaks only when he feels he needs to. Early on he is looked down upon because of his rash and ruthless nature, but eventually as time progresses, he becomes more accepted into his newfound family and friends. There is a scene at the end of Z where he is wallflowering at a party held at Bulma's, and Goku sees him there and beckons him over, echoed by the rest of the cast. He is often very serious, but in his later years he can be found making a joke here and there with his family and friends. His sense of humor is very dry and sometimes dark, as per when his wife complains that reporters may be all over her lawn if the Saiyans transform at the World Martial Arts Tournament, and Vegeta responds, "I don't see the problem, when the journalists come I'll just destroy them." He also is seen chuckling quietly while Chi-Chi reams Goku out for leaving her on Planet Tuffle following the Baby Saga. There is also a filler episode where Goku and Vegeta find themselves in the innards of Buu, and discover a family of giant worms, in which Vegeta becomes very ill at the sight and hides behind Goku in fear, creating the gag that Vegeta is afraid of worms, or is at least grossed out by them. He also shares the same Saiyan hunger as Goku; he will eat and eat and eat until he explodes, though he does not show his hunger quite in the same way Goku will; in fact he chides Goku for thinking with his stomach too often.
2/4 Personality
Which leads to arriving on Earth after discovering the information about the Dragon Balls from Radditz's communication via scouter. Accompanied by Nappa, they battle the Z Fighters, Vegeta killing Nappa in the process, and then finally being defeated himself. But before Vegeta leaves the planet, he is stopped by Krillin wielding a sword to finish the wounded Prince. But Goku asks Krillin to spare Vegeta and show him mercy, in which Krillin reluctantly agrees, and lets Vegeta escape. This one act of kindness challenges everything Vegeta had ever known and believed in, and from this point on in the series he can't seem to get Goku off his mind, thus the start of his obsession with him. This even manifests more after the battles on Namek, when he sees that Goku has reached the level of a Super Saiyan, becoming infuriated that he, the Prince of all Saiyans, is not one of the Saiyans of legend but yet someone he considers to be low class is.
From this point on he is fixated on becoming stronger, and trains incessantly to reach this goal. He is fueled by his passion to become stronger than Goku, which previously stated is technically a lower class Saiyan. He believed that he was the most powerful Saiyan, but after seeing Goku's transformation and eventually his future son Trunks's transformation, it enraged him, pushing him to his limits in his training, to the point of hurting himself and requiring medical aid from Bulma and her family, who he lives with while he waits for Goku's return to Earth and the arrival of the androids, the new threat to Earth. During that time he has a child with Bulma, but is still emotionally distant from her and their son. However, during a fight with Cell, Trunks is mortally wounded, which sends Vegeta into a frenzy of attacks due to the fact that he has seen Trunks give everything for him and he has done nothing but dismiss Trunks, and lashes out to avenge his fallen son. (This being from the anime; from what I understand the manga is different during this part, but I've never read it.) He fails however, leaving Gohan to finish Cell off (though Vegeta provides an essential moment for Gohan to kill Cell), leaving the battlefield with his pride very hurt, witnessing Goku sacrifice himself without fear to save his loved ones and then Gohan being the one to actually defeat Cell.
Despite this he continues to train for the next seven years, still intent on becoming stronger than Goku. But, as he states himself, he wants his old edge back, and takes advantage of this by allowing himself to be controlled by Babidi, returning him to the evil man he once was when he first arrived on Earth, so he could be on the same playing field as Goku. He states that he cares not for his family or anything else, only caring for his own strength and greatness. But Goku calls him a liar during a heated battle, rightfully so, which leads to Vegeta taking on Buu himself and sacrificing his life so his family could live on, finally fighting for someone/thing other than himself, as Piccolo states during the encounter. (I like to call this "Vegeta's mid-life crisis.") King Yemma allows him to come back to Earth however, where he must put aside his pride, to work with and fuse with Goku to save the lives of their families and essentially their own race, as well as the lives of everyone in the universe from Buu. Before fighting Buu for the last time, Vegeta finds out about Goku offering Bulma to Old Kai for a kiss, making him essentially freak out on Goku for being "senseless", one of the few times Vegeta verbally confirms that he truly does care for her.
But he is forced to the sidelines once again in the final battle, watching Goku in his SSJ3 form, where he delivers his final speech for his respect for Goku, (speech if you want to watch) now someone he sees as a friend instead of an enemy. He even goes as far to call Goku "old friend" as he flies away with Uub to train during the World Martial Arts Tournament.
Now fully accustomed to Earth life, Vegeta no longer dons his Saiyan attire, but instead is seen wearing western style clothing, oddly enough usually in khaki pants until later in GT where is he portrayed with a sort of 90's style biker outfit. He has also fully settled down, and had a second child; a daughter named Bulla. He is still the arrogant man he once was, but in his old age he has matured significantly. Where he once would have flown off the handle at something that irritated him, he now will generally meet it with an eye roll or shrug it off, his temper having a longer fuse than previously. That doesn't mean he won't get angry, because he still does, but it takes something a bit more extreme to send him over the edge. Also, he has become very touchy about how old he has become, when a few teenage boys are hitting on Bulla as they are driving home from a shopping trip, they call Vegeta a geezer, to which he rips the steering wheel off of their car and runs them off the road in a silent anger. He also now displays caring for the Earth as a whole, coming up with a plan to move Earth's entire population to the Planet Tuffle before it explodes, helping the Z Fighters move the population to spacecraft and is seen knocking out anyone who refused to leave the planet so that they could be transported as well. He is, however, still too prideful to wear the badges given out to the people associated with Mr. Satan to help with the move. He also declares to Super Android 17 that he is the sole protector of the planet and that he came to do this job, insulting the absent Goku while displaying his strong sense of pride, yet concern for the world he lives on.
During the fight with Omega Shenron, he is still having inner turmoil with being a second to Goku; until Bulma helps him find a way to reach SSJ4, in which he joins the battle to help Goku defeat the dragon. Goku tells Omega that if you want good things to happen to you, you have to be good, as Vegeta throws a rock at Omega's head and states, "I would listen to him if I were you, more of than not things that Kakarot says come to pass. But I know that it’s going to take more than talk to change your mind, I had to learn the hard way myself." This reveals that Vegeta also has changed some of his beliefs over time; mostly showing he believes in karma, which is a complete 180 from the Vegeta we see in the beginning of DBZ. Vegeta also again shows his care for his family and friends at the end of the battle, telling them to get off the planet so they could train to finish the fight they'd started while Vegeta went back to hold off Omega and buy them time to escape.
Outside of battle he is a man of few words, and speaks only when he feels he needs to. Early on he is looked down upon because of his rash and ruthless nature, but eventually as time progresses, he becomes more accepted into his newfound family and friends. There is a scene at the end of Z where he is wallflowering at a party held at Bulma's, and Goku sees him there and beckons him over, echoed by the rest of the cast. He is often very serious, but in his later years he can be found making a joke here and there with his family and friends. His sense of humor is very dry and sometimes dark, as per when his wife complains that reporters may be all over her lawn if the Saiyans transform at the World Martial Arts Tournament, and Vegeta responds, "I don't see the problem, when the journalists come I'll just destroy them." He also is seen chuckling quietly while Chi-Chi reams Goku out for leaving her on Planet Tuffle following the Baby Saga. There is also a filler episode where Goku and Vegeta find themselves in the innards of Buu, and discover a family of giant worms, in which Vegeta becomes very ill at the sight and hides behind Goku in fear, creating the gag that Vegeta is afraid of worms, or is at least grossed out by them. He also shares the same Saiyan hunger as Goku; he will eat and eat and eat until he explodes, though he does not show his hunger quite in the same way Goku will; in fact he chides Goku for thinking with his stomach too often.