Goku VS Vegeta: Akira Toriyama Confirmed Dragon Ball’s Strongest Saiyan

Goku and Vegeta’s rivalry has been the heart of Dragon Ball for decades now. Despite starting out as the stronger Saiyan, Vegeta has spent most of the series chasing after Goku, constantly pushing himself to reach break his limits and surpass his greatest rival. Even though most fans think Goku almost always comes out on top whenever the two have squared off, Vegeta wins more often than you’d expect.

Vegeta has decisively beaten Goku multiple times throughout Dragon Ball history, whether through sheer power, being the smarter fighter, or simply taking advantage of the circumstances. These moments might not always get the same attention as Goku’s biggest victories, but they prove that the Prince of all Saiyans has gotten the better of Kakarot more often than some fans might remember.

Vegeta Broke Every Bone in Goku’s Body

Saiyan Saga

Since Goku won their beam struggle and proved he could have a higher Power Level without transforming into a Great Ape, Vegeta personally considers their first battle in the Saiyan Saga a loss. By all accounts, however, Vegeta plainly won. Ignoring the Great Ape of it all, Vegeta had more than enough energy to create an artificial moon while Goku was at death’s door.

This alone means that if Vegeta had simply flown back down to Earth, he would have been able to beat Goku fairly. Instead, Vegeta goes for the overkill. He turns into an Oozaru, breaks every bone in Goku’s body, and leaves him for dead. Even when Krillin, Gohan, and Yajirobe arrive, it takes multiple chapters just to wear Vegeta down and make him weak enough to retreat. By that point, though, Goku was long out of the picture and defeated.

Vegeta Beat Ginyu-Goku to a Pulp

Captain Ginyu Saga

Vegeta becomes something of the main character during the Namek Saga. Since Gohan and Krillin are so weak coming off the end of the Saiyan arc, there’s no one powerful enough to actually handle the Frieza Force except Vegeta. Dragon Ball Z ends up following Vegeta as he systematically takes out Frieza’s entire army – until he gets to the Ginyu Force. The Ginyu Force decimates Vegeta until Goku arrives and shows off how powerful he’s become thanks to his Zenkai boosts.

Healed by a Senzu Bean, Vegeta also gets a huge Zenkai boost that puts him on par with the Ginyu Force. When Captain Ginyu ends up swapping bodies with Goku, Vegeta is now strong enough to beat Ginyu-Goku into the dirt. Vegeta even comes close to killing Ginyu inside of Goku’s body. That said, it’s important to note that Ginyu couldn’t make use of Goku’s full Power Level. In a proper fight against the real Goku, Vegeta would have been annihilated by the Kaioken x20.

Majin Vegeta Knocked Out Super Saiyan 2 Goku With a Cheap Shot

Majin Buu Saga

Part of what makes Goku and Vegeta’s Buu Saga rematch so compelling in the Dragon Ball manga is that it’s not compelling. Akira Toriyama knew this was a moment fans were waiting for and has it happen almost entirely off-screen, instead focusing on what the fight represents for Vegeta: regression and a midlife crisis. There is nothing glamorous about this fight or Vegeta trying to prove he’s still evil, it’s just pathetic and sad.

Fittingly, how Vegeta beats Goku is equally as and sad. After the two agree to fight Buu together, Vegeta knocks Goku out, believing that he should give his life to stop Buu. This isn’t a victory for Vegeta in a true sense, it’s him saying goodbye to his rival and accepting that he was never able to truly win. This comes back into play at the end of the Kid Buu Saga when Vegeta admits that Goku is number one. Of all of Vegeta’s wins over Goku, this is easily his most hollow and meaningless.

Vegeta Beat Goku Fair & Square in Their Toughest Fight Ever

Super Hero Saga

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero did the unthinkable by putting Goku and Vegeta on the back burner for the entire movie. The two Saiyans never once engage with the main plot in the film itself (unlike in the Dragon Ball Super manga where Toyotarou ties their B-plot into the A-plot via an exclusive epilogue). Instead, Goku and Vegeta simply spar the entire film. Whis wants them to test their abilities in their base forms in a battle of pure skill, no forms.

Without Ultra Instinct and Ultra Ego, Goku and Vegeta remain relatively evenly matched for most of the fight. Unfortunately for Goku, Vegeta happens to be just a bit smarter and stronger. At the end of the fight, Vegeta feints a strike which allows him to knock out Goku with the rest of his energy. In a life or death battle, Vegeta would have died shortly after, but Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero proved in no uncertain terms that Vegeta was legitimately better than his rival.

Vegeta Kills Goku in Their Final Fight

Dragon Ball Online

Akira Toriyama’s original fate for Goku and Vegeta was quite bleak, and there’s nothing to indicate that he’s changed his mind on how their lives end up – especially with Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 stealthily adapting elements from Dragon Ball Online. DBO was Akira Toriyama’s original sequel to Dragon Ball Z, and included a complete timeline of events that broke down everything between the end of Z to Age 1000, where the Z-Fighters were now long dead.

Dragon Ball Online revealed that Goku and Vegeta actually killed each other during their final battle. Once both Saiyans realize they’re starting to get too old to keep growing stronger, they head to outer space for one last duel. This fight is never seen and no one knows who won, but neither Saiyan ever returned. By all accounts, Vegeta killed Goku and Goku killed Vegeta.

There’s no telling who killed who first, but they died shortly after one another, perhaps not to dissimilar to how Vegeta drops right after beating Goku in Super Hero. In that respect, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero‘s final Goku VS Vegeta fight may have been Toriyama’s way of bringing his original Dragon Ball Online ending back into canon. With this in mind, Vegeta would have killed Goku shortly before dying himself.