Was Vegeta a revolutionary character?

[Kid Buu]

Strictly talking about the US audience here, was Vegeta a one of a kind character for a kid's cartoon when DBZ was on Toonami? I'm trying to think back to that era, and I can't think of anti-hero assholes characters like Vegeta at the time.

[Unicorn_Bazooka]

It was said that the number of female audience increased right after Vegeta was introduced in the manga, but I know nothing about the other audience.
At least Vegeta wasn't an another villain that would just die in the next few chapters. Maybe the popularity increased after he was spared by Goku?

[dario03]

Probably depends on what you would count as being similar. Or what their motivations are, A big thing for Vegeta is just to gain something or prove hes the best but he does become more of the standard protector later on (you know minus the whole letting himself get possessed and killing a bunch of people). Anti-Hero you can probably come up with a decent amount of, and a decent bit of them are probably jerks and/or arrogant.

I think the cartoons based on comics (marvel mostly) probably had some people that are similar in classification but I can't think of any that would be the exact same, but you could say that for a lot of characters.

Another thing would be if they stayed a anti-hero or just went back to being a villain later on (again like Majin Vegeta). Magneto did that in the cartoons, he was sometimes a villain, sometimes a ally, and he would jump between depending on if the Earth was in danger or just to help out his buddy Chuck even though at other times he is completely against Xavier. In DC Lobo did that a few times, he was usually a villain or at least trying to get a bounty on a good guy but at times he was helping the good guys, but he was only trying to have fun or get his name out there. Still that reminds me of Vegeta except hes a lot more laid back and joking.

Wolverine is a anti-hero and not exactly what you would call nice but he is more likely to go out of his way to help people than Vegeta usually is.
Cable and Punisher were in Spider-Man and X-Men and IIRC their cartoon personas were similar to Vegeta's.
I don't recall how he acted in the 90's cartoon but in the current cartoons The Hulk is sort of a anti-hero with a attitude and at times doesn't care about others and just wants to smash things or be left alone (so only cares about himself).

[hleV]

Well, how many others villains are there that seemingly join up the main cast and yet continue being completely evil?

[Marco Polo]

Vegeta is just Piccolo with Bulma as a lover.

[Kakarot88]

Thinking back to when I first saw DBZ on Toonami I have to say Vegeta was one of a kind...the only similar character at that time on TV by my recollection would have been Wolverine on X-men the animated series. Both are loners, with secret back stories, controlled by and haunted by their past, powerful and cruel yet not without sympathy that they never demand, and are shown to betray their partners (although Wolverine's reasons were justified whereas Vegeta no longer had use for Nappa)...also both had leadership like roles and were short...

Vegeta, in my mind, was the first true anti-hero on Kids Networks in the US. I say that because Vegeta at that point in the 90s had virtually no redeeming qualities by the Namek arc where every other anti-hero on kids tv shows was at least nice to animals or helped kids or cleaned up the environment. By contrast we see Vegeta blow up an enslaved bug planet just cuz, kill his partner cuz he was no loner useful, beat up on a 5 year old (repeatedly) OH OH AND crush the body of the hero. Also, Vegeta was not even close to being a hero in the US at that point in the 90s cuz the only reason he aided Kuririn and Gohan was the unique Namek situation: the enemy of enemy is my ally sort of thing.

So in sum yeah Vegeta was ground breaking in my opinion.

[Kakarot88]

Wolverine is a anti-hero and not exactly what you would call nice but he is more likely to go out of his way to help people than Vegeta usually is.
Cable and Punisher were in Spider-Man and X-Men and IIRC their cartoon personas were similar to Vegeta's.
I don't recall how he acted in the 90's cartoon but in the current cartoons The Hulk is sort of a anti-hero with a attitude and at times doesn't care about others and just wants to smash things or be left alone (so only cares about himself).

Damn just saw this after my post! Yeah man totally agree

[DBZAOTA482]

Vegeta is just Piccolo with Bulma as a lover.

Yeah, and a brain.

[Kid Buu]

Vegeta is just Piccolo with Bulma as a lover.

"Aren't we supposed to be enemies"
"Nobody saw Dragon Ball"

[Zephyr]

Vegeta is just Piccolo with Bulma as a lover.

Yeah, and a brain.

>Let's fight the Androids that are supposed to be able to murder us instead of preventing them from being made
>Let's allow Cell to become Perfect, so I can prove that my dick is bigger than Kakarrot's!
>Kakarrot, I have to prove my dick is bigger than you RIGHT NOW, and it can't wait the 5 minutes it will take to kill Babidi and Dabura

Granted, the entire cast other than Bulma is guilty of the first one. But saying Vegeta has a brain in comparison to anybody (save Future Trunks and Kaioshin, the two that complete the holy trinity of stupidity) is like, beyond laughable, man.

[Kid Buu]

Vegeta is just Piccolo with Bulma as a lover.

Yeah, and a brain.

>Let's fight the Androids that are supposed to be able to murder us instead of preventing them from being made
>Let's allow Cell to become Perfect, so I can prove that my dick is bigger than Kakarrot's!
>Kakarrot, I have to prove my dick is bigger than you RIGHT NOW, and it can't wait the 5 minutes it will take to kill Babidi and Dabura

Granted, the entire cast other than Bulma is guilty of the first one. But saying Vegeta has a brain in comparison to anybody (save Future Trunks and Kaioshin, the two that complete the holy trinity of stupidity) is like, beyond laughable, man.

Well,' it's not like Piccolo is any better.

-As mentioned, entire cast is guilty of the first one.
-Tries to fight Third Form Freeza by just out-speeding it, which wont do anything except leave Gohan open to be attacked.
-Doesn't just kill Cell straight away [the episode title for this is even called "Piccolo's Grievous Mistake! Cell Turned Loose on the City!"
-Finds the Androids and thus giving Cell the location to their places.

If anything, every Z Fighter after Namek lacks a brain except for Yajirobe and Bulma.

But that's off topic.

[dario03]

Vegeta is just Piccolo with Bulma as a lover.

"Aren't we supposed to be enemies"
"Nobody saw Dragon Ball"

Yep which is why I didn't mention him. He seems to start actually caring about others and being nicer (though with a attitude) a bit quicker than Vegeta though.

[DBZAOTA482]

Vegeta is just Piccolo with Bulma as a lover.

Yeah, and a brain.

>Let's fight the Androids that are supposed to be able to murder us instead of preventing them from being made
>Let's allow Cell to become Perfect, so I can prove that my dick is bigger than Kakarrot's!
>Kakarrot, I have to prove my dick is bigger than you RIGHT NOW, and it can't wait the 5 minutes it will take to kill Babidi and Dabura

Granted, the entire cast other than Bulma is guilty of the first one. But saying Vegeta has a brain in comparison to anybody (save Future Trunks and Kaioshin, the two that complete the holy trinity of stupidity) is like, beyond laughable, man.

So? Many of the smartest people in the world are known to have a lack of common sense. Besides, I was joking when I said that.

Vegeta still stomps Piccolo in the intelligence department, though.

[Insertclevername]

Vegeta is just Piccolo with Bulma as a lover.

I wouldn't say that at all. Their roles may have been similar but their personality and direction are very different. Piccolo never really stayed in the moral "gray" area when switching from bad to good as long as Vegeta did.

[Saiga]

Yeah Piccolo didn't take long to become Goku's BFF. Even in the Saiyan arc he mostly looks like he's just keeping up appearances.

[DarkPrince_92]

I never made that association between Piccolo and Vegeta. Vegeta is in his own weird lane as one of Goku's "friends". piccolo is more rational, Vegeta is straight up selfish. Though when they have a common enemy, both Vegeta and Piccolo don't see it unfit to join Goku and company.