Well, you're not justifying that "Bad Man" shirt like this...

WIPE THAT SMILE OFF YOUR FACE, ASSHOLE!!!

You had ONE real go at this bad guy thing, and you totally screwed the pooch. I'll get into that trope some other time, but for right now let's talk about how the first major villain of Dragon Ball Z totally drops the ball against a quartet of fighters he could've individually as well as collectively stomped into dust.



Now, let's be clear about something right out of the gate: Vegeta commits one of the cardinal sins that every other villain commits. He kills his subordinate for failing. Under any other circumstance, this wouldn't seem like that big of a deal. However, Vegeta and his cohort Nappa happen to be written and created by a guy that was literally making it all up as he went along. This means that the decision to kill Nappa for losing to the series' protagonist Goku is made twice as dumb in retrospect. How? There's this lovely little tidbit about alien physiology that series creator Akira Toriyama pulled out of the crack of his ass in the VERY NEXT CHAPTER of the narrative. Saiyans (or Saiya-jin, if you have to be a fuggin' weeaboo about it) like Goku, Vegeta, and Nappa have the inborn ability to gain strength from near-death assaults. So, beating these guys to a pulp actually can make them stronger. As audience members, we find out about this from that smirking shit-lord up there. Meaning that he killed his fellow Saiyan after losing a fight KNOWING it would have only led to him being a stronger ally in the future. Bond villains aren't this stupid.

...the Hell, you say?

But it gets worse. In the fight with Goku, Vegeta wildly overestimates the strength of his opponent simply by not paying attention. The only reason Goku matches Vegeta at all in their battle is due to the "Kaiouken" technique. This allows him to amplify his strength and speed by multiples, but his supposed limit was x3 at this point. Vegeta can't and doesn't know that, so I don't blame him for not taking advantage of that fact. I blame him for missing the VERY obvious fact that his opponent was pushing himself to the brink and beyond just to entertain the idea of standing against him. If he had simply observed for just a moment, Vegeta would've realized what audience members already knew at this point: Goku is not on your level, dude. He's just pretending to be. Even before exceeding his limit with Kaiouken, Goku very obviously was pushing himself too far to gain an advantage and the effects were beginning to show.* After the one pass where he legitimately got the upper hand, Goku could barely move. And let's take a look at the build-up to that...

That guy let loose at least 3 consecutive blood sharts before throwing a punch, and you know it!* Aside from that, Goku's body was well on the way to giving out as a result of the choice to go Kaiouken x3. If Vegeta wasn't so wrapped up in the thought of taking a few hits (something he should REALLY be used to), then he would've noticed his opponent wasn't following through on the advantage he just gained. Because he COULDN'T!! Essentially, everything Vegeta does in this battle is an overreaction. It's the reason why, ultimately, he DOES BEAT GOKU. Yeah, I get it. YOU don't seem to think so, Vegeta. But let's look at the end results here:

• You survived one of your opponent's strongest attacks despite losing the initial struggle.
• Even though you didn't HAVE to, you amplified your power to surpass Goku's and take control of the battle...by turning into a giant monkey. But whatever, that's your thing...
• You broke every bone in his body.
• You were still able to fend off the relief team of fighters after losing your "enhanced" form.
• And even after taking the hit from THE strongest attack, you lived to tell the tale AND left under your own power.

Look, the problem here is obviously YOU. You got so wrapped up in your own idea of the fight that you couldn't see the fact that you were actually winning it all along. Maybe it's the anger issues, the lack of leg room in that baseball you call a space ship, or maybe it's that horrific widow's peak that happened to your hairline somewhere between your childhood and now. What you need to remember is that you're the bad-ass, battle-hardened prince of a warrior race who don't afraid of nothing!*


*-Yes, I really re-watched ALL of this fight. Which when compiled, is feature-length...
**-That's the part they don't talk about on the show.
***-This is STILL my favorite character in the franchise. That just means NO ONE IS SAFE!!