I think you're forgetting the context when it comes to Vegeta's goading Freeza to transform. Earlier when he fought Zarbon he was informed that both he and Freeza have hidden transformations that boost their powers, which implies that even had Vegeta matched first form Freeza in strength, Freeza would just transform anyway to get the upper hand. So in a way, fighting Freeza in his first form would be pointless, which is what I think Vegeta foresaw. ( Look to his second fight with Zarbon as another example of Vegeta's refusal to fight opponents who are holding back). In a way, it was smart at the time. Why waste energy on someone who is holding back? His chances of winning were not going to change regardless, because if he started to win Freeza would just transform. Of course, he greatly underestimated the power boost that Freeza would obtain. However, every subsequent transformation was not Vegeta's fault. I don't recall him having a true fight with second or third form Freeza once Piccolo arrived, since he was too busy trying to get a zenkai boost on the sidelines. (Which demonstrates some calculating on Vegeta's part; scheming before he gets in the fight with Freeza, which is an early example of the meticulous and strategizing fighter that Whis implies him to be).ekrolo2 wrote:
He let Freeza repeatedly transform on Namek despite knowing he'd be pretty outclassed, he let Cell transform into his Perfect form just to test himself and he was cocky enough to again think he'd be able to defeat Buu without anyone elses help. Vegeta being smart about his engagements ended when the Ginyu force arrived and his IQ has yet to grow back since. He's completely failed to fight smartly since then. If anything, Vegeta should've been the one to want to go up against Freeza and Goku be the one to sense that somethings amiss, as it was during their battle in the Buu Saga.
If anything, Whis' whole lecture to Goku and Vegeta is completely wrong. More often then not, Goku knows when to gauge his opponents strength in a fairly precise and unbiased way, Vegeta's the one who gets too laid back and cocky with his strength and it has been the cause of his repeated ass kickings throughout DBZ. If he suddenly grew a brain cell its not any better, its just rushed "character development".
Vegeta shouldn't be scared of Freeza, if anything he'd be the one to rush in and have at him thinking he's superior, especially given his recent acquisition of God power. As for the whole "letting down your guard thing" please don't remind me, I try not to think about that.... thing....
The only time Vegeta was too overconfident in his abilities was his Android/Cell arc persona, and right before he goes off to fight the fat Majn Boo.
But I wouldn't say that Toriyama "rushed his character development". I think by the end of the Boo arc he was fairly humbled and as a result became more laid back. We saw him give Goku the title of "Number One" and finally succumbed to getting off his proverbial high horse. The seeds for that development were planted at the end of that arc. Whether you believe that he stays true to that is entirely up for you to decide, but if we also look back to the 2008 OVA and Battle of Gods, he isn't quite the rusher you make him out to be. He actually waits and conceded to let others fight, and only stepped in when he absolutely had to. So if anything, ROF isn't out of place or uncharacteristic of Vegeta. It's following through that character development that started way back then.
As for Goku, he's never been the one to really calculate or reserve himself. He's always the first to go and try and experiment with things, in that laid back manner. We can go as far back to his initial reaction to Freeza, and how excited he was to fight him, despite the warnings from Kaio-sama. He jumps in to the fight without really knowing how tough Freeza was, and luckily he powered through and came out on top.
If we look at the Cell games, we see him laid back throughout that arc, and is completely confident that Gohan would save the day. And of course, as we all know that ended up costing him his own life. He was too relaxed and nonchalant and paid dearly for it. This is Goku's typical MO. He gets real excited and rushes into things, and sometimes he wins and other times he gets owned pretty badly. The last example of that characteristic of his is when he fights Beerus in the beginning of Battle of Gods. He wanted to go fight the "God of Destruction" despite not knowing how strong he was, and greatly underestimated the power he held. He didn't quite "gauge" his opponent that time, whic is something you imply he does all the time.
So I don't think any of the actions that Goku and Vegeta make are out of character at all. Sure Toriyama forgets a lot of things here and there, but I don't think he forgets who his characters are, and what drives each of them. He's been pretty consistent with their motivations ever since he retook the helm with these new movies.
