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Why Vegeta beats Goku as the protagonist

Summary

Goku's journey shaped the modern shonen protagonist, but Vegeta's growth and redemption arc was equally compelling and worthy of mention.
Dragon Ball Super
missed the opportunity to shift the focus to Vegeta as the protagonist, allowing Goku to maintain his growth and character development.
Vegeta's evolution from villain to family man was a seismic shift in
Dragon Ball Z
making him an ideal choice for the lead role in
Dragon Ball Super
.

Being a protagonist is a bit of a thankless title. Shōnen anime protagonists go through a lot of trauma to achieve that level of world-ending power that their series’ climaxes are designed to showcase. The slow and steady build of character development is not an easy path for many of them, and sacrifices are often made. Of course, most of this is true of the modern shōnen protagonist—those who came about as a result of the Naruto generation changing the game as it evolved from its predecessors. While there have been many changes, most of the script has come dragon ball and the always influential Son Goku.

Goku has been through a lot as a protagonist. From his young and wild years, finding Dragon Balls in dragon ball with Bulma to fight literal gods for the sake of fun in Dragon Ball Super, Goku has been on an incredible journey. He is the man who shaped the modern shōnen protagonist, and the anime community owes a lot to Akira Toriyama for that. However, Goku has been around for a long time, and he is not always the best narrative choice to be in the spotlight. In fact, Dragon Ball Super It should have been Vegeta's time to shine.

Dragon Ball Super took the shonen series to bold places, but there's a strong case to be made for why it should also be the end of the franchise.

Dragon Ball Super really could have easily switched to Vegeta, he deserved it

Vegeta is a special case for anime rivals. Just as Goku is the cloth from which the anime protagonists are cut, Vegeta is the character from which the rivals are sewn. He first appears on the scene in Dragon Ball Z, as a major antagonist who arrives on Earth to collect the Dragon Balls for his own nefarious purposes. It's the moment that changes the entire course of the series and Vegeta is only spared by Goku's desire for a stronger opponent. This is a move he made with Piccolo previously and, just like with Piccolo, this moment sets Vegeta on the path of character growth.

Very similar to how dragon ball it was about Goku growing as a person, Dragon Ball Z devoted a lot of time to developing Vegeta. Vegeta's next major appearance on Namek doesn't show him to be a better person. He effectively becomes the villainous protagonist of the arc alongside the heroic protagonists Krillin and Gohan. He's definitely not a hero - more of a necessary ally than anything else. He would die and be resurrected, showing that the Super Saiyan of legend was indeed achievable. The Cell Saga would see Vegeta become a father, but even that did little to change his attitude. Watching Trunks die was one of the first times the audience saw Vegeta regret his actions; these experiences would be what would allow him to become a true hero during the Buu Saga.

Vegeta is an incredibly interesting example of how dragon ball as a franchise, it maintains the idea that people can grow and become better if they work at it. He and Goku act as the physical embodiment of what determination can do, which is part of what makes him such a necessary character for the franchise. Goku has had a few rivals, but there have been very few literary foils that could work so perfectly with him to establish a throughline that would be easily reflected in so many characters.

Vegeta's arc throughout Dragon Ball Z It was an intense change, going from a planet destroyer to a family man with something to protect. This wasn't just a huge growth for Vegeta; this was a seismic shift in his entire internal world. Dragon Ball Z is as much about Vegeta as it is about Goku and Gohan. Unlike Piccolo, though, Vegeta's Saiyan pride keeps things a little more volatile. Piccolo is, frankly, more mature than any of the Saiyans, and that little spark of savagery in Vegeta doesn't completely disappear by the end of the Buu Saga. Vegeta had really just entered his hero arc by the end of the series, which opened up a lot of opportunities for Dragon Ball Super to play with it. It almost felt natural to pass the torch to Vegeta to carry the next series, and it probably would have avoided a lot of conflict in the future.

Futuros Trunks em Dragon Ball Super e DBZ super saiyan

With the current state of Dragon Ball Super at stake, it may be time for Future Trunks to hop back in his time machine once again.

Super would have been better for this

One of the biggest complaints about Dragon Ball Super is the treatment he gives to Goku. As a main character, he seems to regress greatly in the series. While dragon ball and Dragon Ball Z I spent a lot of time showing Goku growing up, Super almost goes backwards as Goku makes a lot of incredibly selfish and downright idiotic decisions. Goku ends up putting a lot more people in danger over the course of the show, causes a lot more trouble, and seems almost unconcerned about the consequences. Goku becomes a grandfather at this point in the series, but he starts acting like a much younger version of himself, which is frustrating for a lot of fans. No one wants Goku all buttoned up in a suit and tie, but that doesn't mean he should act like a child anymore.

This failure could have been avoided by changing the focus of the show. Some of the pressure that would come naturally Dragon Ball Super would be to create something better received than dragon ball gt and try to recreate the highs of dragon ball and Dragon Ball Z. With Goku practically at the end of this inner arc, it was natural to basically reverse him in an attempt to hit that lightning bolt twice. Vegeta was practically primed to become a protagonist of sorts, as his journey as a true hero was just beginning and many of his moments were destroyed. Dragon Ball Super.Resurrection F is a particularly glaring example of Vegeta being forced into the role of deuteragonist, even when it feels more natural to have him front and center.

With Vegeta as the protagonist, this would have allowed Goku to retain the best things he learned about himself and save his character from a certain level of Flanderization. Instead, Dragon Ball Super could have been an opportunity for Vegeta to navigate this new sense of the world a bit more. Vegeta gets a lot of great moments showing how much he truly loves his family, but none of them get the attention that Goku's own conflicting interests bring to his family. Vegeta's need to be the best never seems to have the same influence over him again, and it holds him and the narrative back.

Dragon Ball Z It was originally supposed to be Gohan's story and a chance to pass the torch. That was pretty much scrapped because Gohan wasn't as popular as Goku. But Vegeta didn't have that problem. Rival characters are historically extremely popular, often saved from imminent death because of that popularity, and shifting the focus to Vegeta would never have been something that would upset people. Goku is one of the most iconic characters in anime, but it felt like there was nowhere to go with him after a certain point. There are times when Super This feels so poorly planned because of who Goku has become, and it left Vegeta with very little chance to show who he has become. There were a lot of great moments in the series, but letting Goku be front and center again made it feel like everything was held back by his weight. Dragon Ball Super It would have been a totally different show with Vegeta at the wheel.