After a series of political rants, I have decided to focus on something else dear to my heart: Dragon Ball Z. The show is about warriors who protect it from all sorts of dangers like androgynous evil tyrants, evil androids, evil pink monsters, and evil cat gods of destruction. The show is infamous for the absurd power of the characters who can fly and shoot energy blasts from their hands. They can even move faster than the speed of light in some cases (which would mean they travel back in time). They also have magic gods and objects called Dragon Balls, which wish people back to life. At the heart of it is Goku, a survivor of the ancient Saiyan race and a goofy, lazy, yet determined protector of good.
The best part of the show is its character development. While the core of the show is fast-paced, intense fights where people beat the living shit out of each other, there is a good amount of character development. The best case of this is Vegeta, who goes from being an evil badass to an antihero badass to a noble, yet cocky badass. His transition is especially interesting because it is a natural consequence of being friends with Goku and fighting for good. His marriage to Bulma also softens him up, and he gets a son of his own to care about.
Vegeta starts out as an arrogant warrior who becomes known for his badass and ruthlessness. He kills his partner Nappa, and he wants to take the Dragon Balls to become...Immortal and all-powerful. He represents the first major antagonist of the saga and he established his crazy reputation. He is spared by Goku after his loss, and his demeanor begins to change slightly.
During the Namek arc, Vegeta becomes an anti-villain. He’s still somewhat evil, but he’s not the main antagonist. He eventually allies with the heroes against Frieza (evil galactic tyrant), who sends his elite henchmen to fuck them up. After some episodes of violence, they manage to work together to deny Frieza the Dragon Balls, but Vegeta died. Eventually he came back, but the scene was pretty emotional. Vegeta admitted he could have been a better person and urges Goku to defeat and kill Frieza, who also blew up the Saiyan homeworld. Vegeta eventually winds up on Earth and focuses on training to surpass Goku, who achieved the Super Saiyan state while fighting Frieza.
With the arrival of the Androids, Vegeta shows off his Super Saiyan skills. He then trains and becomes even stronger. While he is able to trash Cell at first, he allows Cell to absorb an android to reach his perfect form. This selfishness leads to Cell becoming ridiculously strong and only Gohan is able to stop him by becoming pissed off. Vegeta decides to avenge his son Trunks and lands a blow on Cell, showing that he actually has sympathy for his son. While the move was foolhardy, it represented an important chapter in Vegeta’s development.
This development continues 7 years later. Trunks is born and grows up, and Vegeta begins to show warmth for his son. This feeling makes him conflicted, and he temporarily becomes evil again to try and surpass Goku. This works for a time, but he gradually changes his mind and decides to blow himself up to stop Majin Buu. While this doesn’t work, it's probably the most selfless thing he ever did. He fought for those he cared about and planet Earth. He eventually continues his fight and decides to fuse with his rival Goku regardless of his pride. He then admits Goku is better than him, finally sucking it up and becoming somewhat humble. The cool thing is that he is still a cocky, tough badass at the end of the show, but he has finally gained his respect and prestige as a hero. And that’s some deep shit right there.
