Dragon Ball Z is an awesome show, but what really makes it ten times better is the rivalry between Goku and Vegeta. If you have not been living under a rock till now, then you probably know about this rivalry, it is one which cannot be ignored! Both Vegeta and Goku are saiyans, the first time they met was when Vegeta came to Earth. Vegeta used to be extremely evil and actually came to Earth to destroy it. Goku and Vegeta faced off against each other and Vegeta was bested by Goku. However, Goku had a lot of help from his friends in this fight and I believe that Vegeta would have won this fight easily if Goku didn’t have his friends. After this first encounter, we see how this rivalry grows and both of them (especially Vegeta) are constantly trying to best each other. Today, I will discuss the pros and cons of both of these characters.
More Powerful:
Goku is most definitely stronger than Vegeta. Goku has been the one to defeat some of the most powerful villains which Vegeta on the other hand, failed to defeat. In the start, Vegeta was most definitely stronger but as the story progresses, we always see Goku being one step ahead of Vegeta. Goku has always progressed way faster than Vegeta, he unlocked the Super Saiyan form way before Vegeta and he became a Super Saiyan 3 when Vegeta did not even know that such a thing existed.
Better fighter:
In my opinion, Vegeta is and always will be a better fighter than Goku! Vegeta has the mindset of a real warrior and if both of them fought at the same power level, Vegeta will best Goku. Vegeta thinks up different strategies to defeat his opponents while Goku just starts fighting without any kind of plan or strategy. This definitely gives Vegeta a huge edge if both of them were to fight, even at different power levels. We can clearly tell that Vegeta is a better fighter than Goku when we see him defeat android 19 in Super Saiyan form. Goku in Super Saiyan form was clearly having a hard time with the same enemy.
Training motivation:
Goku and Vegeta both have their own motivations to train. Goku trains to protect his friends and defeat the enemy while Vegeta only trains for personal gain (at least in the start). Vegeta trains like a maniac in most of the series, just so that he can defeat Goku. Ever since he realized that Goku has become a Super Saiyan, he got very jealous and his only motivation to train was to somehow get stronger than Goku. We can clearly see whose motivation to train is more admirable.
Sparing enemies:
One thing I don’t like about Goku is that he always spares his enemies, this might seem like a good trait to some people but in reality, it is not a good trait at all. We see time and time again that Goku is very easy to fool. His enemies beg him for forgiveness and he forgives them in the blink of an eye. Many enemies like Frieza have taken advantage of this bad trait of Goku. Vegeta on the other hand, is not so quick on forgiving his enemies. He rarely ever forgives someone and always defeats his enemies.
Attacks:
Both Vegeta and Goku have very powerful attacks. However, one thing I like about Vegeta is that his attacks are all original, he does not get training from others but instead trains himself and that is the main reason why he progresses slower than Goku. Goku might have gotten training from others and learnt some amazing special moves but not creating any original attacks clearly shows that Vegeta has a sharper mind. Vegeta wants to get stronger than Goku but his pride gets in the way and he almost always fails.
Better character arc:
Goku is loved by all of us but we all can agree on the fact that the character arc of Vegeta is way superior. Goku remains the same throughout the entire story while Vegeta Goes through a lot of changes. We see how Vegeta goes from being a ruthless killer to having his own family. Goku
is not a very dynamic character who is very easy to predict whilst Vegeta is quite unpredictable because of all the character changes he goes through.
Final conclusion:
Both of these characters are amazing with their own pros and cons. Goku is clearly more powerful than Vegeta however personally, I like Vegeta more as he is a more diverse character. One thing that is annoying about Vegeta though, is his sense of pride! He messes up a lot of stuff just because of his sense of pride. Now it is up to you guys to decide who is better.