'Dragon Ball Super' Expands Vegeta With Some Serious Character Development

Dragon Ball Super's manga is currently in the middle of an arc beyond the events of both the series and Dragon Ball Super: Broly, and to reflect that, there's evidence of how far the characters have come since then.

Vegeta's an especially strong case as the latest chapter of the series showcases some serious character development as he chooses to defend the Namekians as a way to atone for how he hurt them during the Namek saga.

When the new villain Planet Eater Moro heads to the new Planet Namek in order to find the Namekian Dragon Balls, the first bit of Vegeta's growth is shown when he quickly offers his hand to Goku for the Instant Transmission. He's all business, and past all the embarassment of doing such a thing like he did in the past, so this is a big moment. But that's not all.

When Goku and Vegeta actually make their way to New Planet Namek, Moro grabs a young Namekian and plans to drain his life energy. Seeing the child in trouble, Vegeta quickly jumps into action and frees him from Moro's grasp. When asked why he would interrupt Moro's "meal," Vegeta responds, "I have a troubled history with these Namekians. I did them untold harm. So no, I can't allow even one more of them to perish. And they are certainly not your food."

Vegeta then takes on Moro first, and this is a far cry from the Vegeta seen during the Namek Saga. Vegeta back then killed a ton of Namekians in his pursuit of the Dragon Balls, and only became an unlikely ally when he had no other choice. Vegeta's gradual change has been evident throughout the series as it's seen the formerly vicious warrior soften due to his love for Bulma and his children.

But this latest chapter demonstrates just how much this has had an effect on him internally, as Vegeta doesn't often speak his mind about such thing. He rarely mentions atoning for his past deeds, and shows through his actions how much he's willing to rely on others or defend them. It's why he's such a popular character.

Dragon Ball Super currently airs its English dub on Adult Swim during the Toonami programming block Saturday evenings at 11:00 p.m. It is also available to stream on Funimation and Amazon Video. The Japanese language release of the series is complete, and available to stream on FunimationNOW and Crunchyroll. The manga has chapters that can currently be read for free thanks to Viz Media. Tickets are currently on sale for Dragon Ball Super: Broly, which opened in theaters in the United States on January 16.

If you wanted to catch up with the English dub of the series, there's actually a pretty nifty way to do so. You can currently stream the first 78 episodes of the series on FunimationNOW, which brings the series from the beginning all the way to when the Tournament of Power was initially announced.