Why Was Vegeta Such A Big Hit In The West?

[thatdbzguy]

Toriyama doesn't like him, fans of the Japanese version don't like him, and yet the west just eats him up. Why do you think this is? Do people see Vegeta as some kind of symbol for 'murica or something?

[Wibbs]

I guess the west just has a thing for anti-heroes , like Batman I guess. I'm not speaking on behalf of everybody mind you, it's just an assumption.

[WittyUsername]

I don't consider Batman to be an anti-hero but anyway, I guess the reason Vegeta is so popular is because many people view him as a "badass."

[superfunk]

Who said the japanese dont like him? I have seen two official dbz character popularity polls in shonen jump where the japanese fans have voted vegeta to the number 1 spot ahead of goku, and in the other one's I have seen hes number 2.

[Wibbs]

I don't consider Batman to be an anti-hero but anyway, I guess the reason Vegeta is so popular is because many people view him as a "badass."

Oh, sorry. I don't read or watch a lot of Batman material, I just figured he was by the little snippets I have seen.

[baneofdemon22]

The character development he got throughout the series made me a big fan of him. Although, there's a lot of people who love him because of the Cell Arc and wanted it to end there, which, if that was the case, I would have not liked him. He bored me, and I would not have been a big fan if it wasn't for the Boo Arc, and because of it, he's my second favorite character, and Final Atonement is my favorite Dragonball moment. Seeing the guy go from such evil to naturally progressed to become a hero, is inspiring to me, and gives me hope that a lot of the evil in the world will change. People also reference of his quotes like his speech to Android 19 or attacks like Big Bang Attack. People said him achieving SSJ, was the high point of the series. I don't get any of that. I enjoy those things fine, but they don't make me interested in his character. People also have a "meat head" attitude and like Dragonball because people have big muscles and fight, and therefore a character that's all about viewing the weak is pathetic appeals to them. You have people who hate Dragonball Z, just because Tien and Yamcha isn't as strong as the Super Saiyans. "Broly is the best character, because he's the strongest." That's the mentality that made me disinterested in the series, but thankfully I finally decided to check it out last year, because I love it!

[Blade]

Toriyama doesn't like him, fans of the Japanese version don't like him, and yet the west just eats him up. Why do you think this is? Do people see Vegeta as some kind of symbol for 'murica or something?

I don't think he's any more liked or disliked in America, or indeed the Western world, than he is in Japan.

Also, I think any official note of Toriyama disliking the character tends to relate back to when he was writing the Freeza arc, and he received numerous fan letters asking him not to kill Vegeta - so he intentionally did the opposite. Even then I think he was just being playful, the only other thing he had to say about Vegeta was that he couldn't understand his popularity - as he's not a nice character and is weird looking.

[Mystic Buu]

I don't know.He is good character with nice development but Goku will always be my first character .

[baneofdemon22]

I don't know.He is good character with nice development but Goku will always be my first character .

Same here. I love Vegeta so much and now I might be in my top 5 favorite fictional characters of all time. However, we saw Goku grow since he was a kid, and he's so inspirational to me. Well, so is Vegeta, but his change from evil to good, is a testament to Goku's influence on everyone to better themselves. The first time I went through the entire series, was starting with KAI, so I didn't have that background. Because of his role in the Boo arc, he was my favorite character, until I saw the episode "He's Always Late", where Goku helps the baby hatch, and it put him slightly over. Then I watched Dragonball and it was no competition. It made his role in Dragonball Z even more powerful. I've been a super hero fan since I was a toddler and a Batman fan from the womb. I've read thousands of Batman stories and have hundred's of Batman collectibles. The reason why my user name is "baneofdemon", is because it's a reference to a Batman villain, Bane, and both characters have been my biggest inspiration since I was a child. "Bane of the Demon" was the last great story he was written in, since 1998, so that's why I went with it. After watching the Dragonball series last year, Goku became my favorite fictional character. It's tough for Vegeta to beat that, but I love him!

Although, I can't say never. I loved how he defended Bulma in Battle of Gods. He was my favorite character in that movie, so who knows!

[DonZ]

Toriyama doesn't like him, fans of the Japanese version don't like him, and yet the west just eats him up. Why do you think this is? Do people see Vegeta as some kind of symbol for 'murica or something?

I'm a fan of the Japanese version and Vegeta is my favorite character. his role in the Saiyan/Freeza arc was amazing, as an "anti-hero". his character development in the Majin Boo arc. he's the best character in the series for sure!

but i kind have a special spot for Goku, seeing him as a cute little monkey kid in the original series, than he grows up to be a father in Z. he's my childhood's hero ♥

[tx3]

pride, honer fighting spirit ..badass ...toriyama dont like vegeta ..yeah right

[DonZ]

pride, honer fighting spirit ..badass ...toriyama dont like vegeta ..yeah right

I wouldn't really be surprised it Toriyama dislike Vegeta. i think he prefer more "gag" kind like characters. like Mr. Satan.

[GsTvo]

Because Vegeta gave the viewer something to talk, at the begining he was the evil in person, killing his own partner, so people can say: "Man... that guy is so badass", in Cell's arc he wants his pride back, and Super Vegeta appears, so "Wow, now he's a more realistic bad guy", and in Boo's arc with Majin Vegeta and then his redemption, make you wonder "Vegeta is a good guy now?".

Al those changes make Vegeta a loved and hated character depending on your liking for his personal development. That's the difference with Goku, Gohan or the DBZ Piccolo, you know that they are good guys no matter what happen, with Vegeta we can't guarantee anything.

[Fanboy Thought]And because Vegeta is the best of DBZ[/Fanboy Thought]

[The Monkey King]

We like us a badass anti hero.

[Gyt Kaliba]

The same reason he seems to be a big hit in most places, and has already been said - people just love a badass. Now granted, I'm not so much for the character anymore (something I honestly didn't realize until I started to debate about him), but I think it speaks volumes that even my mom loves Vegeta. Out of all the stuff she would watch with me while I was young and watching DBZ on Toonami, she would always gravitate most to Vegeta (and Piccolo secondly). I think it's because he kind of has the same attitude going on as Wolverine, in some minor ways at least.

[Akumaito Beam]

pride, honer fighting spirit ..badass ...toriyama dont like vegeta ..yeah right

Incidentally, who is your favorite character?


Yeah, I guess I like Piccolo the most after all. Out of all the enemies, Piccolo Daimaō is the one I like most, and even after that I like Piccolo the most. I like Piccolo about the same as I like Goku. With Vegeta, well, I don’t like him all that much, but he was extremely helpful to have around. For the recent stuff, it was fun drawing Satan. When I first brought him out, I didn’t think that I would end up making Satan that important of a character. I thought he’d just be a one-shot character.

Satan is like that, but thinking up worthless gags is more enjoyable than doing the fight scenes. (laughs)

That came from the interview in Daizenshuu number 2, here's the source. http://www.kanzenshuu.com/translations/ ... interview/

Funnily enough this kinda helps answer your other thread too.

[SingleFringe&Sparks]

Most kids like him because he was the wise-cracking cocky bastard of the show which American culture seems to idolize. He was violent and always had humorous one-liners from Brian Drummand. Then there was that infamous scene where he cries telling Goku he was kidnapped and the "he made me evil" speech fangirls seemed to love.

[Mystic Buu]

Well,he is badass and cool and most of the people like that.

[Vijay]

Its not about east or west really.

Vegeta has an universal appeal, similar to Goku.

I've watched a bunch of shounen-genre anime's, but none impressed me as much as Vegeta did.

He isn't stereotypical. Proud, arrogant, makes dumb decisions but also puts his life on the line for his loved one's.

[RocktheDragon]

I would surely pinpoint a lot of his success in the West to him being the anti-Goku/anti-hero. Someone already touched on this earlier in the thread but I feel that the West really responds to the subversion of expectations in our heroes and villains.