

In the Ocean Productions English dub, Vegeta was voiced by Brian Drummond. In the original Japanese version of the anime and all other media, Vegeta is voiced by Ryō Horikawa. Ryō Horikawa has been Vegeta's Japanese voice actor in every single piece of Dragon Ball media įollowing the trend that names of members of the Saiyan race are puns on vegetables, Vegeta's name is a pun of the word vegetable itself. After the release of Battle of Gods, Toriyama expressed interest in having Vegeta be the lead in the event of another animated feature, though he insisted this was only his intent and no decision had been made. He also stated that when he received a lot of fan mail telling him not to kill Vegeta, he purposely did just that. He also found the character "Extremely helpful to have around". Toriyama initially harbored a dislike for Vegeta since he was created as a despicable character, but grew to like him as he considered the character's personality to be straightforward, therefore easier to write. I couldn’t imagine that a guy with this kind of hairstyle would become popular, and yet he’d get more votes than Goku in favorite-character polls." He explained his surprise at the character's popularity in an interview during the release of Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, "I had thought about bringing an end to as just a villain, but as I was writing, I felt that his villainous warped straightforwardness was unexpectedly interesting. Thus Toriyama decided to keep Vegeta in the story for longer. When creating Vegeta, Toriyama originally intended for him to be a short-lived antagonist and second-tier character, with little influence to Dragon Ball's story, portraying him as such during his initial appearances, but the character became more popular than he had expected. He is often cited as one of the most popular examples of rival characters in the industry, due to his character arc and narrative throughout Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super. Vegeta has been hailed as one of the most iconic characters not only in the Dragon Ball franchise, but also in manga and anime history as a whole. Throughout the series, Vegeta's role changes from villain to antihero and later as one of the heroes, while remaining a key rival to Goku. After Frieza's death, Vegeta later unites with the heroes to thwart greater threats to the universe, most notably Cell, Majin Buu, Beerus, Zamasu and Broly. He believed that he should be regarded as the strongest fighter in the Universe and becomes obsessed with surpassing Goku after losing his first battle with him. He is extremely arrogant, proud and hardworking constantly referring to his heritage and royal status throughout the series.

Vegeta is the prince of an extraterrestrial warrior race known as the Saiyans. Vegeta first appears in chapter #204 Sayonara, Son Goku ( さようなら孫悟空, Sayōnara Son Gokū), published in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on November 7, 1988, seeking the wish-granting Dragon Balls to gain immortality. Vegeta ( Japanese: ベジータ, Hepburn: Bejīta) ( / v ə ˈ dʒ iː t ə/ və-JEE-tə), also known as Prince Vegeta ( ベジータ王子, Bejīta-ōji) or alternatively styled as Vegeta IV ( ベジータ四世, Bejīta Yon-sei) is a fictional character in the Dragon Ball franchise created by Akira Toriyama. Dragon Ball chapter #204 Sayonara, Son Goku: 29 November 1988 (1988)
