Vegeta’s Unbeaten Nemesis in Dragon Ball: The Saiyan He Can’t Defeat
Vegeta IV is the Prince of All Saiyans, and for a long time he’s been one of the hardest-hitting fighters in Dragon Ball. Even though Goku and Gohan managed to edge ahead of him by the close of Dragon Ball Z, Vegeta didn’t stay in the shadow for long. In Dragon Ball Super, he’s quickly worked his way back into the conversation as one of the most dangerous people on the planet. The Dragon Ball Super manga also makes a point of framing Vegeta as a “made by effort” prodigy—someone whose ceiling could plausibly rise even higher than Goku’s if he keeps pushing.
As the story moves into the Black Frieza Saga, Vegeta’s track record is already stacking up. He’s landed wins over Goku in situations framed as fair contests, he’s demonstrated he can fight Gohan Beast without leaning on Ultra Ego, and he’s been training at a relentless pace with the goal of ending Frieza for good. In other words, Vegeta is among the strongest Saiyans in Dragon Ball right now. Still, there’s one Saiyan he can’t simply “out-train” his way past—and it’s the only one Vegeta has never actually defeated in a direct fight.
In the wider Dragon Ball multiverse, the most formidable versions of Trunks are essentially top-tier prodigies—fighters in God-level territory with the kind of potential that could even put him ahead of Goku and Vegeta someday.
Vegeta Has Beaten Almost Every Single Saiyan in Dragon Ball
There’s one notable exception: Raditz. Vegeta’s advantage over him is framed as so overwhelming that the fight could be considered “solved” off-screen—his Power Level is described as far higher, and the implication is that with training he would have handled Raditz decisively. Outside of that outlier, Vegeta has fought—and beaten—every Saiyan who appears in Dragon Ball Z. That includes killing Nappa, shattering every bone in Goku’s body during the Saiyan Saga, pushing through a brutal sequence against Gohan, winning when Future Trunks trains alongside him, and knocking out both Goten and Trunks. Then, when Dragon Ball Super begins, Vegeta takes down Cabba and also beats Goku Black. On top of that, his Power Level is said to be higher than Kale, Caulifla, and Kefla, even if he never actually squares up against them directly.
When you reach Dragon Ball Super: Broly, though, Vegeta’s “almost perfect” record starts to crack. He ends up fighting Broly and even gets close to killing him. That closeness is serious enough that Goku has to step in and interrupt the battle so he can take his turn. Unfortunately for Vegeta, he misses the moment where victory could have been secured. During the clash, Broly escalates into his full power, quickly matching and then surpassing the God forms of both Goku and Vegeta. Once Broly unlocks Super Saiyan, the scale of the fight shifts again—Goku and Vegeta have been overtaken outright, and the gap widens further once Broly becomes a Legendary Super Saiyan. Vegeta is undeniably stronger than he was in Dragon Ball Super: Broly, with Ultra Ego playing a major role in that improvement, but Broly is still portrayed as operating on a completely different level as a combatant.
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Vegeta is Never Defeating Broly
At this point, the conclusion is pretty blunt: Vegeta doesn’t have a realistic path to defeating Broly. Saikyo Jump is cited as stating that Broly’s natural aptitude is so extreme that learning True Legendary Super Saiyan in Dragon Ball Super: Broly would have given him enough power to actually take down Super Saiyan Blue Gogeta. As of Dragon Ball Super Chapter 103, Broly is able to properly control True Legendary Super Saiyan, which immediately places Vegeta at a major disadvantage.
There’s also the idea that Vegeta is starting to press up against his personal ceiling. Broly and Vegeta are the same age, but the story emphasizes that Vegeta has been fighting and training since forever, while Broly is only just beginning his martial arts path. The argument is that Broly’s natural potential is simply too high—eventually, Vegeta won’t be able to keep up anymore. If Dragon Ball Super follows Akira Toriyama’s original timeline for Dragon Ball Online, then Goku and Vegeta have only 17 more years before their lives begin to reach their end, and they pass their prime.
Vegeta Still Hasn’t Reached His Full Potential
Even if the idea of Vegeta beating Broly is treated as unrealistic, it’s still clear that the Prince of All Saiyans hasn’t reached his peak. He only recently unlocked Ultra Ego, and he hasn’t refined it the same way Goku has perfected Ultra Instinct. Vegeta still needs story time and character growth to fully lock in his “final form” potential. On top of that, he’s reached a point where he doesn’t even necessarily need Ultra Ego in every situation.
Saiyans are already terrifyingly strong, but give them a blade—and suddenly even the toughest Dragon Ball characters can end up in danger.
In Dragon Ball Super Chapter 103, Vegeta decides to use Super Saiyan Blue Evolved to take on Gohan Beast rather than relying on Ultra Ego. Since Vegeta doesn’t typically underestimate opponents, and because Goku reportedly had to use Perfected Ultra Instinct just to keep up with Gohan, the implication is that Vegeta is currently holding back less than he appears. He may not be able to beat True Legendary Super Saiyan Broly, but he’s still on track to surpass most of the Saiyans around him—possibly even already doing so, depending on how you interpret the gap in these showings.
