Luso Saiyan wrote: Thu Feb 27, 2025 6:14 amZephyr wrote: Wed Feb 26, 2025 6:39 pmNext chapter, in the Kaioshin Realm, Kibitoshin throws them a new set of Potara, and says "Here!! Before any more planets get destroyed!!"
Goku says: "......no thanks. We'll do without 'em. ...
Sorry...it's not our style...we like to rely on ourselves. Boo's on his own now, too."
That very sentence (bolded for emphasis) is the basis of my remark that it's their Saiyan pride talking..
Yes, but a convincing case that Saiyan pride influenced Vegeta's words and actions
inside of Boo remains to be made.
Fighting somebody 2v1 isn't "Saiyan pride". Deliberately and happily weakening your opponent isn't "Saiyan pride". Refusing to fuse with Goku could be read as "Saiyan pride", but it is more straightforwardly read as hating Goku's guts, based on what he
actually says in all of the surrounding context. These two things aren't unrelated, but it's important to be clear about what is the more direct and explicit thing motivating Vegeta's words and actions. Vegetto's entire existence is bookended by Vegeta's hatred of Goku.
In Chapter 503 (Viz 309):
Goku says: "Vegeta!! Put this Potara earring on your right ear!! Please!!"
Vegeta says: "...Why...?"
Goku says: "So we can combine!! We'll be unbeatable!!"
Vegeta says: "Combine? You actually think I'd combine with you...? Don't make me laugh!"
Goku says: "Arrgh! I knew you'd say that! But it's the only way to beat Boo!!"
Vegeta says: "In that case...I'd rather die.
Goku says: "Please, Vegeta! You've gotta put it on!!! This is no time for pride!! This is doomsday!!"
Vegeta says: "......I hate you for it... When you fought me--you hid your true strength!! Were you manipulating me--or mocking me?! I saw it all in the afterlife!
"Super Saiyan 3"!!? You turn my stomach!! You think I want to be
one with you?!"
Goku says: "...I-I'm sorry, there was a limit to how long I could transform...I had to save it for later, just in case..."
Vegeta says: "Don't make excuses. The facts don't change. You mocked me..."
Then Goku explains how Boo absorbed everyone, and Vegeta begrudgingly caves and get Vegetto. Then we get all of the stuff inside of Boo, such as Vegeta saying, multiple times, that he does not want to share a body with Goku again.
Vegeta
hates Goku during this section of the story, more than usual. And no, pride isn't pride. You put pride
in something. You are proud
of something. And pride in one thing is not pride in another thing. That's not how language works. Vegeta's "pride" that Goku explicitly refers to here is the pride that he trampled all over in holding back during their earlier fight. It is because Goku did not respect Vegeta's pride as a warrior enough to go all out against him that Vegeta is so angry with Goku. It is because he is so angry with Goku that he refuses to share a body with him. It's not about Vegeta trying to avoid dishonoring himself by relying on the strength of another for a cheap advantage, it's about Vegeta being angry about Goku previously dishonoring him, to the point that he'd rather die than share a body with the guy.
Nothing that Vegeta says here, or inside of Boo, is evocative of what Goku says in the Kaioshin Realm.
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Finally, you aren't acknowledging the point that Goku
also has martial artist/Saiyan pride. This is the guy who gave Piccolo a free hit at the tournament. This is the guy who spared Vegeta to get a rematch. This is the guy who let Freeza power up to 100%. This is the guy who really wanted to fight Dr. Gero's monsters. This is the guy who gave Cell a senzu. This is who Goku is, and he does not need to be reminded by Vegeta to
be himself.
Now, on the flip side, this is also the guy who will 2v1 Raditz to save his son when there's no chance of winning in a fair fight, the guy who will rely on the strength of others to use the Genki Dama when there's no chance of winning in a fair fight, the guy who will rely on his much more powerful son to defeat the enemy when there's no chance of himself winning in a fair fight.
Goku is the kind of guy who will treat life and death battles like tournament matches, until it is clear that the match is lost, at which point he will use every dirty trick he can think of in order to make sure that the bad guy is defeated. He fucks around when he thinks he's got this, and if it becomes clear that he
doesn't got this, he stops fucking around and goes for the kill.
He wants to use fusion when his back is to the wall and there is no winnable tournament match to be had. He breaks the Potara and says "it wouldn't be fair to Boo" when he thinks he's got this and is down to fuck around. That is because he is so much weaker than the fused Boo that there is no winnable tournament match to be had, and the pure unfused Boo is close enough to his level that there is a winnable tournament match to be had. Or so he thought; he didn't and couldn't yet know how short a match that a living Super Saiyan 3 is able to actually enjoy.
I understand this might be a little confusing to follow, because Goku typically fucks around first, and then later has to use his dirtiest tricks. So him giving Boo a fair fight
after trying to use Potara is structurally unconventional by Dragon Ball standards. But, on the other hand, he ends up opting for the Genki Dama later anyway once the tournament match proves unwinnable, so it's not a complete inversion.
Either way, your analysis is neglecting a ton of very important characterization, from the way Goku's pride enters or leaves the driver's seat depending on the circumstances, to Vegeta's explicitly stated hatred for Goku and how that impacts his desire to share a body with the man.
