Vegeta = General Zod

[RandomGuy96]

I often hear Goku compared to Superman (IMO by the time that connection is made you can argue he's a dark parody of Superman, but no more) based mostly on a few similarities in their origin story. I'm a bit surprised that I never hear another comparison made: comparing Vegeta to Superman's second most famous nemesis, General Zod. In my opinion that connection is much stronger than the Superman/Goku one. Zod debuted in 1961 and was a widely known supervillain by 1980 owing to the release of the second Superman film; given that Toriyama was at least something of a fan of Superman (enough to parody him in Doctor Slump), it is not out of the question that he may have drawn some inspiration from Zod for Vegeta, who debuted in the same arc where the first Goku/Superman ties started to crop up, in 1989. The large number of similarities between the two supervillains include:

Backstory:
-Both are of the same species and come from the same planet as the hero, which was destroyed in a natural disaster (initially; in both cases their planet's cause of destruction has been changed/retconned over the years and in different versions).
-The only survivors of the destruction of both their planets were them, their two minions, and the hero opposing them.
-Like the film incarnation of Zod and a few of his comics incarnations, Vegeta has only two other minions, both of whom are the same species as him and possess the same power set. Like Zod, he is usually flanked by a much taller and heavier minion who is still ultimately subservient to him.
-Both end up putting Earth in their crosshairs because they know that the hero was sent there as a baby and are looking for them, with the secondary goal of getting the hero to join their cause.
-Both were high-ranking members of the nobility back on their homeworlds.

Personality:
-Both carry a cold, detached arrogance somewhat distinct from other villains' (e.g. Freeza) visceral sadism. They don't worry at all about facing the hero and find the humans' attempts to stop them to be literally laughable.
-Both consider other races inferior to their's, and consider their race to be the one fit to dominant the universe.
-Both look down on the hero for being of a lower social standing than them, considering them their natural inferiors and only fit to kneel.
-Both consider the hero's compassion to be a weakness, and something that makes them a disgrace to their race. Both almost literally cannot understand why the hero would care for inferior beings like humans.
-Both are familiar with their homeworlds while the protagonist is not, and so often exposit on it.
-Both speak in a noticeably more formal tone than the hero, to emphasize that they were brought up in a different environment.

Narrative Role:
-The main narrative purpose of both is to embody everything wrong with the old world and why the hero is a better person for having left it. Both invoke their old titles and cultures (which no longer have much meaning when they're one of four survivors of their whole race) to justify themselves and are fully products of their home world's society, as opposed to the hero, who was brought up by a normal human foster parent as a country boy. Both represent what the hero could have become if they had not had a proper upbringing.
-Both serve as foils to the hero, being polar opposites in personality.
-In both cases, the villain prompts a moral dilemma where the hero unquestionably sides with their adopted home over their birth home.

[Kamiccolo9]

Vegeta can blow up planets. According to Superman: The Return of Zod's Revenge 4: The Sequel, Zod can, at most, bust a continent.

Vegeta>Zod

Jokes aside, this is pretty interesting. Like I said in our PM, I don't know much about the Superman mythos besides what asinine strength-obsessed people have shoved in my face for the last decade, so a character-based comparison is nice.

[ABED]

What makes the comparison difficult is that while Zod is a villain, he's constantly interpreted and reimagined over the years. Vegeta is the creation of one guy. He is who Toriyama created. Man of Steel's Zod is a character who is the product of Krypton's collectivist culture. He has no purpose outside of what he was born and bred to do. In Donner's movies, Zod wanted to rule and there's not much else to him. In Smallville, he wants to rule, but there are layers to his character. At one point, he was a good man who would put his life on the line for his soldiers.

[RandomGuy96]

I am primarily comparing the first cinematic Zod (and to a lesser extent pre-Crisis Zod) to Saiyan arc Vegeta

[Polyphase Avatron]

I heard somewhere that Toriyama got the idea for the Saiyans after watching Superman II.

[Super Sonic]

I often hear Goku compared to Superman (IMO by the time that connection is made you can argue he's a dark parody of Superman, but no more) based mostly on a few similarities in their origin story. I'm a bit surprised that I never hear another comparison made: comparing Vegeta to Superman's second most famous nemesis, General Zod.

Actually Zod is more known due to his movie appearances than his comic ones. Supes' second biggest nemesis is considered to be Braniac by most folks.

[TheGreatness25]

That's an interesting comparison. I would say that Vegeta never came to Earth with the specific mission of looking for Goku nor wanting him to join their cause. Vegeta came to Earth to find the Dragon Balls and really didn't care about Goku nor care about Goku joining them. The only thing that infuriated Vegeta was that Goku bested him before he transformed into a great ape.

Otherwise, yeah, the similarities are there. But I think that it's just a natural progression to be honest. I feel like any story about someone who comes from somewhere else will eventually clash with a character who will embody the other place and be the character's opposite. There's a natural fascination with that, I believe.

There's also a fascination with having the hero fight against someone who is very equal to him or her.

[ABED]

In Superman 2, Zod doesn't put Earth in his crosshairs because of Kal-El. He takes over Earth because it was the closest planet to where he was released from the Phantom Zone. Kal-El was a bonus. In Man of Steel he comes to Earth for Kal-El.

There's also a fascination with having the hero fight against someone who is very equal to him or her.

Yep, physically or mentally. It's one reason why Moriarty was so popular.

[8000 Saiyan]

These comparisons are very interesting.

[RandomGuy96]

I often hear Goku compared to Superman (IMO by the time that connection is made you can argue he's a dark parody of Superman, but no more) based mostly on a few similarities in their origin story. I'm a bit surprised that I never hear another comparison made: comparing Vegeta to Superman's second most famous nemesis, General Zod.

Actually Zod is more known due to his movie appearances than his comic ones. Supes' second biggest nemesis is considered to be Braniac by most folks.

I'm aware of that; Brainiac even outstrips Luthor in prominence sometimes, and Darkseid in threat level. But movies are more influential on pop culture than comics. If you asked any random dude off the street to name some Superman villains, chances are they could only name Lex Luthor and General Zod.

[PelicanDynasty]

The scene with Raditz and the Farmer is VERY similar to the scene with Zod and the police officers in Superman 2. Toriyama totally had him in mind when making the saiyans (and Vegeta)

[Beek King]

It's funny because I would always make this comparison, being a fan of the first two Superman movies. Nicely put OP.

[RandomGuy96]

The scene with Raditz and the Farmer is VERY similar to the scene with Zod and the police officers in Superman 2. Toriyama totally had him in mind when making the saiyans (and Vegeta)

I don't recall that scene.

[PelicanDynasty]

The scene with Raditz and the Farmer is VERY similar to the scene with Zod and the police officers in Superman 2. Toriyama totally had him in mind when making the saiyans (and Vegeta)

I don't recall that scene.

Maybe not quite as similar as I thought, but it definitely reminds me of the Raditz introduction: https://youtu.be/VqBO0Cluv_o

[RandomGuy96]

I can't believe I missed this the first time, but it's bothering me so much I need to bring it up: Vegeta calling Goku "Kakarot" is akin to Zod calling Superman "Kal-El"; both are disregarding Superman/Goku's human identity and implying they know their true selves

[Cipher]

As a fan of both Dragon Ball and Superman (in certain eras), yeah, this all tracks.