So is Vegeta the new Piccolo?

[Matches Malone]

I said several years ago that the show just feels its best when Piccolo, Goku, and Vegeta are taking that leadership role such as during the Namek - Cell arcs. For me, they are the Dragon Ball Trinity.

I completely agree. Piccolo should've been front and center with Goku and Vegeta starting with RF. He's by far one of the best characters in the franchise, and so far one of the most wasted. Even the Buu arc that gets a lot of criticisms for being the start of his downfall found ways of keeping him in the spotlight, despite not taking part in the fighting.

[Koitsukai]

Vegeta was one-shot by Cell twice. Fat Buu didn't take long to subdue him either. Mr Satan had to carry Vegeta out of the field soon after he faced Buu.

There is nothing godlike about Vegeta's endurance. If he is stronger, he'll last longer like on Earth, if he is outclassed and against someone who is not toying with him, he is out.

Cell never one-shotted Vegeta. It actually took about three hits from Cell before Vegeta lost consciousness since Vegeta was first knocked into the ocean before the Final Flash, slapped by Cell after he tried to shot rapid-fired ki blasts, kicked into the air, and then have his back broken.

Fat Buu literally tied him up and beat his head in for several minutes and he still regain consciousness fast without any healing. Kid Buu, Vegeta was basically beating into submission for several episodes/chapters and he still didn't lose consciousness. He even had the awareness to ask the Dragon Balls to restore Goku;s energy.

1) Semantics, one-shot, three-shot, the idea stands. He had no godlike endurace against a creature way stronger. And after the I have a hole in my Trunks bit, he got slapped to the ground immediately.

2) Minutes? the anime extends the duration of everything for several and different purposes. The manga has 3 panels of beating before Trunks saves his ass.
It wasn't several chapters with Kid Buu either, aside that he was toying with everybody. Every beating he took happened in the same chapter.

My point is Vegeta getting easily defeated shouldn't be a problem. He is not Broly, he does not have godlike endurance at all.

[TheSaiyanGod]

As a Goku fan, Goku felt force being the primary rival of Moro after he ate 73. It’s a very common problem Toyo has when Goku is the least important main character only to be inserted into the finale. And UI shouldn’t have been the answer to Moro’s magic since dodging shouldn’t beat energy draining to the point Toyo retcon how Moro’s magic work since he clearly had an area effect on Namek and drained Goku and Vegeta twice before they realized something was wrong.

Moro never had a passive absorption of energy. He was absorbing the energy of Goku and Vegeta the entire time in Namek when he used the energy of the planet to attack. This is the twist at the end of that chapter, when they realize they were being drained. The area of effect remains the same, he always needed to focus on the target to drain.

And UI avoiding energy absorption through speed is not the most creative idea, but it stays in line with the fact that in DB, hax is usually always overcome by power. Omen Goku had a higher speed than Moro, so he was unable to absorb his energy. The UI itself can be overcome through raw strength as we saw during ToP (and in the battle between UI Goku and Angel Moro)

[ZeroNeonix]

Well, a few things...

1. I haven't read all of the Moro arc yet, but at least as far as the anime is concerned, Goku can't access Ultra Instinct at will.

2. Vegeta has rarely been on par with Goku. Goku always one-ups him somehow. Vegeta came to accept this as his lot in life at the end of the Buu arc. I mean, he'll always try to surpass Goku. It's in his nature. But he knows Goku will always be a step ahead of him. They drive each other to grow stronger, and that self-improvement is enough for him.

3. I doubt Ultra Instinct is the last stage of evolution for Goku. Hopefully it won't become obsolete too soon, but it will happen eventually, if the series goes on long enough. Maybe they'll learn how to stack Ultra Instinct with their God forms. Imagine the name of that form. Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan Mastered Ultra Instinct. Of course, if that happens, I fully expect Vegeta to find a way to access that power too. He always finds a way.

[precita]

No. Vegeta is the co-star of Super.

Piccolo, Gohan and Krillin have moved into the roles Yamcha, Tien and Chioatzu had in DBZ, and that's the real problem.