Dragon Ball Proves Why Vegeta is the Best Rival in Anime

Vegeta is one of Goku’s biggest rivals in the Dragon Ball franchise, but the newest episode of Dragon Ball Daima revealed why he’s likely the biggest rival in all of anime. When Vegeta was first introduced to Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball series as a major villain for the Saiyan saga. This saga not only shook the foundation for the Dragon Ball series in some significant ways as it revealed Goku’s ties to the Saiyans, but it also introduced Vegeta as a key character pushing Goku to new heights. Serving as his new rival, Vegeta really took Goku in a whole new kind of direction.

Goku and Vegeta’s desire for strength has pushed the two of them to higher heights through the Dragon Ball franchise, and each of them brings out both the best and worst in one another as a result of all of their time with one another. With Dragon Ball Daima’s newest episode revealed a brand-new form for Vegeta that he had been hiding from Goku, it once again is a great example of why Vegeta is such a great rival in action anime series like this overall as he’s always just on the verge of being stronger than Goku.

Why SSJ3 Vegeta Is Such a Great Rival

Dragon Ball Daima Episode 12 fully unleashes Vegeta’s own Super Saiyan 3 form for the first time in any Dragon Ball incarnation. Vegeta skipping over Super Saiyan 3 in favor of god forms in Dragon Ball Super always seemed like one of the big lingering questions of the Dragon Ball franchise overall, and Dragon Ball Daima instead revealed that Vegeta had access to the form all along. It turns out that after seeing Goku using this power during the Majin Buu arc, Vegeta had been training in secret to reach the new form himself. And through the fight with the Tamagamis, Vegeta revealed just how much control he had with this form even with his child body.

Vegeta was inspired by the brief time he saw Goku using this form, and knew he could achieve it himself. But the biggest reveal is that he had been secretly preparing to use the form, and wasn’t trying to just surpass Goku with it. Bulma stated he’d been training hard all this time, and even Goku was surprised to see that Vegeta had put in that much effort. So even though they spend so much time together training, Vegeta is clearly going a little harder in order to keep up. But that’s only going to inspire Goku further, and it’s why fans love seeing the two in action.

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Goku and Vegeta Only Make Each Other Stronger

Vegeta’s role as Goku’s rival extends to make the two of them better as characters as a result. Vegeta’s such a good rival to Goku that he’s improving himself to be better than Goku, but also to be better than his own limits. Vegeta’s real desire from strength comes from his inferiority complex that comes through by seeing Goku’s success, and he’ll do whatever it takes to make sure that he can keep up with Goku’s power. But the clear difference that makes Vegeta stand out from other rivals is that he’s doing it his own way.

It’s been shown through later Dragon Ball releases as while Vegeta and Goku fight on similar levels, the two of them reach higher powers in their own ways. Vegeta is still very much his own person. Despite his desire to be stronger than his rival, he’s always in search of his own way to power. This has taken him down some darker paths, but has also resulted in unique forms like Ultra Ego and Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan Evolution. Episodes like this one continue to make Vegeta stand out as his own character, and that’s something that’s forgotten with other rivals.

Vegeta is very much his own person with his own desires for the future. He cares for his family and is willing to do whatever it takes to keep them safe, but he also has more balance in his life than seen with Goku’s. He’s not lost in that connection with Goku, and episodes like this showcasing his own journey really highlight why he’s such a great rival. He stands on his own, and that’s not something you can say about many characters like Vegeta.