Every time Vegeta surpasses Goku

Key points

• Vegeta's Great Ape form almost killed Goku in the Saiyan Saga.
• Super Vegeta surpassed Goku in the Android saga with a new form.
• Vegeta's Ultra Ego form matched Granolah after unlocking the Divine Technique.

Whenever the topic of anime's greatest rivalries comes up, the one shared between Goku and Vegeta Dragon Ball often turns out to be the most iconic of all. That's because these characters have gone from being the worst enemies to the closest allies as two of the few surviving members of the extinct Saiyan race, often clashing to push their limits even further.

However, the nature of the rivalry was rather one-sided for the most part Dragon Ball Z and sometimes even inside Supersince Goku would always manage to be stronger than Vegeta in one way or another. Despite this, Vegeta shined for a few moments within the series as the superior fighter, surpassing Goku and briefly holding the title of strongest Saiyan. So, let's look at each of these important occasions.

Great Ape Vegeta almost killed Goku

Vegeta's trump card almost put an end to his future rival

The first real clash between the two fated rivals occurred at the end of the Saiyan Saga, where most of the battle was fought between the Saiyans on a fairly equal footing. Through their many clashes and beam battles, however, Goku managed to push his limits further than Vegeta could, unlocking Kaioken x3 and dominating his opponent. However, just when victory seemed assured, Vegeta revealed his trump card.

Witness the supreme power of the Saiyans, Kakarot; the giant ape! Planet destroyer!

This trump card was his transformation into the Great Ape, which is a unique trait of the Saiyan race that they gain from looking at the full moon. This form greatly increases their physical strength and overall power, which was evident when Vegeta easily overpowered Goku and would have crushed him to death if not for the help of Krillin and Yajirobe, with the latter secretly cutting the the monkey's tail to restore Vegeta to his original state. original shape.

Super Vegeta was the strongest Super Saiyan

The result of Vegeta's training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber

Vegeta's sudden ability to transform into a Super Saiyan came as a shock to everyone when it was first revealed at the beginning of the Android saga, because it was previously thought that this form could only be achieved by a Saiyan from pure heart. However, following his defeat at the hands of Android 18 and Cell's subsequent arrival, Vegeta chose to complete his training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, where he unlocked a new form.

Now I'll show you what real power really is!

This form was Super Vegeta, which was essentially a much more powerful version of the original Super Saiyan transformation. Super Vegeta was more evil than any other character in the series up to that point, as he was able to significantly damage Imperfect Cell and even made him fear for his life. Even though Vegeta had surpassed Goku at this point, Goku knew that the secret to increasing his strength was to optimize his Super Saiyan form, which he and Gohan were capable of doing.

Vegeta's anger harms Beerus

For a moment Vegeta's SS2 was stronger than Goku's SS3

The canonical story of Dragon Ball came back into prominence after many years with the release of Battle of the Gods film, which he also kicked off Dragon Ball Super. In this move, Beerus the Destroyer God awakens and makes his way to destroy the Earth, and unlike any villain before, he is far more powerful than anything the heroes can throw at him. Even Goku Super Saiyan 3 is nothing more than a toy for the God of Destruction.

Eventually, Beerus travels to Earth to enjoy their delicious food by intruding on Bulma's party. After being a rowdy guest and making Bulma so angry that she started yelling at him, Beerus hits her. This unleashes a rage within Vegeta unlike anything he has ever shown before, where he goes berserk in his Super Saiyan 2 form and attacks Beerus in a way that slightly damages the destroyer. This is incredibly impressive considering it was when Vegeta surpassed Goku's Super Saiyan 3 into his Super Saiyan 2 form.

Vegeta unlocks a new blue phase

Vegeta's battle against Jiren unlocks the blue evolution

The Tournament of Power saw the Z Fighters face off against the toughest warriors in the entire multiverse, which included the mighty of Universe 11, most notably Jiren. Jiren proved to be the heroes' biggest thorn in the side thanks to his overwhelming presence and unmatched strength that Goku could only face in his strongest form. So to fight such a massive foe, Vegeta knew he would have to do the same.

I will push my limits, in my way, on my terms!

Gathering all of his power, Vegeta brought his Super Saiyan Blue transformation to its peak, unlocking a unique form called Super Saiyan Blue Evolution. Vegeta used it alongside Goku, who stacked his Super Saiyan Blue with Kaioken x20 and while he too reached a relative level of strength, Vegeta's new form managed to surpass him in terms of raw power.

Ultra Ego was Vegeta's divine technique

An incomplete form that was more offensive than Ultra Instinct

After the end of the Tournament of Power, fans waited patiently when Vegeta would unlock his Divine Technique which could bring him back to Goku's level after the latter unlocked Ultra Instinct. Ultimately, this time came during the events of the Granolah story arc, where the Saiyan Prince invoked the nature of the Destroyer Gods in his brand new form which he called Ultra Ego. Even though his fight against Granolah ended in a stalemate, he was able to fight on equal terms against a character who defeated Ultra Instinct with minimal effort.

Kakarot's body may have a mind of its own, but I'm all ego. In fact, go ahead and call it Ultra Ego!

However, Ultra Ego remains an incomplete form that takes too much damage to be properly viable, so Ultra Instinct is the better choice overall. Despite this, Ultra Ego's sheer firepower and offensive strength were immense and inflicted great damage on Granolah, to the point that the Cerealian knew that the only way to defeat Vegeta was to use all of his power in a blast to kill them both.

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