Vegeta

Vegeta (ベジータ), or Prince Vegeta, is the prince of the fallen Saiyan race and arch-rival to Goku. He is the eldest son of King Vegeta, the husband of Bulma, the father of Trunks and Bulla, and the great-great grandfather of Vegeta Jr. Aside from Goku, Gohan, and Piccolo, he is easily one of the most prominent characters in the series, receiving more character development after being introduced than a number of other characters.

History

Vegeta was once a young member of the Saiyan Army under the Planet Trade Organization, but after his race's demise, he worked alongside Nappa and Raditz, directly under Frieza. He later joins the Z Fighters while battling alongside them on Namek, and returns to Earth with them as well, where he remains for the rest of his life.
Vegeta is 5'5" tall (in comparison with Goku's 5'9" height). His hair firmly stands upwards, and has a prominent widow's peak. A main characteristic of Vegeta's is the fact that he is the only living Saiyan who has continued to don the traditional Saiyan armor (in reference to his heritage). He has also been seen wearing alternate forms of the armor, customizing the armor to better suit his persona. However, once he integrates into Earthly society, he abandons the Saiyan armor, at first gradually in Dragon Ball Z, then completely in Dragon Ball GT, in favor of clothing more characteristic of a human (Vegeta's uniform transition is symbolic of his adjustment to a human lifestyle).[citation needed] However, even after Vegeta loses the armor in Dragon Ball Z, he is always seen wearing iconic white gloves and white boots in battle. Vegeta once had a tail, but it was cut off by Yajirobe to remove Vegeta from his Great Ape state during the Vegeta Saga.
Vegeta's hair never grows in length. He states to Bulma, in an episode of the Perfect Cell Saga, that a pure-blooded Saiyan's hair does not change from the day he is born, aside from Super Saiyan transformations.

If observed closely, Vegeta actually changes appearance physically over the course of the series. He was originally intended to appear deceptively small, lean, and less threatening in comparison to his massive partner, Nappa. However, by the end of Dragon Ball Z, he seems to be taller and more muscular, the length of his hair having also been shortened, though he is still comparatively shorter than Goku, who also appears to have grown taller. Vegeta's facial features also look more distinct and sharply defined as the series progresses, making him look older (though this may be attributed to gradual aging).

Personality
Vegeta is haughty, arrogant, and bitter as a result of the destruction of his homeworld, Planet Vegeta, and the abuse his race suffered at the hands of Frieza. His royalty seems to have bestowed upon him an inflated sense of superiority, holding himself above nearly everybody he encounters. He is immensely proud of his Saiyan heritage and believes his race to be the most powerful in the universe.

Vegeta in his first appearances on Earth as he prepares to do battle with Goku
Added by Jjgp1112
As the Prince of a demolished Planet Vegeta, Vegeta is initially introduced as an unrepentant villain. Judging from his evil intentions before joining the Z Fighters, Vegeta has been consistently characterized as extremely arrogant, vengeful, and at times, cold. Many of Vegeta's early heroic acts are because of self-interest or revenge, although he later settles down and grows fond of Earth as his home, raising a family with Bulma. Having been born into the upper tier of Saiyan society, Vegeta was fixated on achieving the legendary status of Super Saiyan and becoming the most powerful warrior in the universe. Vegeta is more of a tactical fighter who often rushes in the brawl without hesitation. However, his rage or arrogance usually causes him to underestimate his opponent. His royal blood and intense fighting style has both benefited and harmed him in many battles. Vegeta has been shown to be one of the more intelligent characters of the series, as well as one of the most serious, rarely exhibiting humor. When he does so, his humor is often very dry and in some rare occasions it is based on black humor.[citation needed] However, he does delight in mocking his enemies, as demonstrated when he offers to reconstruct Android 18 into a "toaster" or a "washing machine" (Funimation Dub only). He also shows his bleak sense of humor towards Goku when he was about to battle him in the World Martial Arts Tournament. He overheard Goku mentioning of him being full of food and Vegeta swore to punch him straight to the stomach. Normally, his ego and arrogance overshadow his positive qualities.

Vegeta is extremely aggressive and cold-blooded. Since his childhood, Vegeta has proven himself a ruthless killer, merciless like most Saiyans. During the Namek Saga, he began to exhibit changes; rather than killing Krillin or Gohan as he promised in the previous saga, he instead forges an alliance with them. Throughout the first half of the Frieza Saga, whomever he defeated, he killed without mercy. His only sign of mercy is when he let Namekian Frog Captain Ginyu live, taking delight at the notion of Ginyu being stuck in the frog's body as punishment enough. After his defeat at the hands of Frieza, Vegeta tearfully explains to Goku that Frieza forced him to be ruthless and that he never had the chance to be anything else (implying that he could have been kinder and more merciful were it not for Frieza). From then on, Vegeta softened up and occasionally showed compassion to his new family, Bulma, Trunks, and Bulla. In addition, during the Kid Buu Saga, he notably became enraged when he learned that Goku's deal with Old Kai involved allowing the latter to take advantage of Bulma, feeling it was very senseless of Goku. It was not until the Babidi Saga that he gave in to his obsession of overtaking Goku in might, becoming a Majin and "evil" once more. This was a desperate, failed ploy to restore his former wickedness, believing it to have been the source of his true power. Goku believes Vegeta is bluffing, and correctly so; Vegeta demonstrates his prevailing softness in hugging Trunks for the first time and telling him that he is proud to be his father, before performing a sacrificial Final Explosion against Majin Buu. Arguably, his most defining trait is his rivalry with Goku and obsession to surpass him in power. In Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn, he goes so far as to break down in tears over his inability to surpass Goku. However, this obsession has led him to save Goku's life on several occasions, insisting that only he will defeat Goku.
From the beginning of the series to near the end, Vegeta is shown to be exceptionally vain and egotistical. A tragic example of this is in his fight with Semi-Perfect Cell. Though he could have easily destroyed this weaker form of Cell, his arrogance bested him, and he purposely let Cell absorb Android 18 just to have a challenge in Cell through which to test his power. While fighting Super Buu, as well as while fighting Janemba on a different occasion,[3] Vegeta vehemently opposed fusion with Goku due to his pride, but Goku managed to persuade him. Later, Vegeta becomes more willing to fuse, going so far as to propose it himself in the battle against Omega Shenron in Dragon Ball GT. On several occasions, Vegeta conceitedly underestimates his opponents; in the cases of Perfect Cell and Kid Buu, Vegeta was fooled by their diminutive appearances, believing that they had only "shrunk", which is somewhat ironic, given his own short stature, yet large power. In some instances, Vegeta has been seen afraid of opponents such as Frieza or Broly.[4] However, he often visibly has a change of heart, displays his pride, and takes to the fight.
His opinion of Goku always being one step ahead of him, even though Goku is a lower class Saiyan, runs the gamut from contempt to rivalry, and later to respect and friendship. Because of his arrogance, attitude and past wrong doing, Vegeta gains a lot of disdain from those around him. Naturally, Goku always takes an optimistic opinion about Vegeta. Vegeta almost always addresses Goku by his Saiyan birth name, Kakarot, but has on rare occasion addressed him as Goku. After the defeat of Kid Buu, he has a change of heart and his angry grudge against Goku becomes a friendly rivalry.
At the end of the Buu Saga and in Dragon Ball GT, Vegeta is much more relaxed. He is often seen smiling and cracking jokes, such as when he forced Trunks to enter the 28th World Martial Arts Tournament, threatening to "cut his allowance" if he did not enter the competition. Often being more caring and kind to his family, especially his daughter, Bulla, Vegeta admittedly has a kinder side, per his adjustment to Earthly life. The best example of caring for his family is the aforementioned example of hugging Trunks before he fights Majin Buu as Majin Vegeta. However, Vegeta can still be seen sitting on the sidelines, while everyone else is happy, enjoying themselves in the thick of things. Later on, Vegeta developed a strong age-crisis. For example, when driving home with Bulla and seeing two teenagers in another vehicle flirting with his daughter, he ignores them. After a while, another one of the boys calls Vegeta a "geezer", causing him to become angry and break their car.