Vegeta and Goku’s rivalry goes way back to the Super Saiyan arc. The two characters are compared, viewed by most as two warriors destined to fight– but Goku will always prevail. The Saiyan Prince always attempts to find a way to surpass Goku and sometimes does. However, he is always ultimately outclassed by Goku. Thus the cycle continues.
However, the two never actually manage to defeat each other. While it’s clear that Vegeta could never defeat Goku, Goku himself is also never able to really beat Vegeta in battle. In a majority of their face-offs, Vegeta is often seen trying to climb up to Goku’s level and nearly beats him… until Goku makes a surprising comeback.
Surprisingly, there are many things that Vegeta can do that Goku can’t. After all, everyone is different and has their own skillset. There are many things that Goku can’t do, despite the fact that he’s viewed as a Saiyan God.
Some of this extends to the fact that Vegeta has created techniques on his own. Additionally, he has been defined by his life outside of training, which has provided him with new power stronger than anything that Goku could ever inherit.
In the end, Vegeta has proven that he’s a lot more than just a second rate character. It’s time to take a look at things that only Vegeta can do, including not only his signature fighting skills but also his expertise on things outside of fighting.
With that said, here are the 15 Things You Never Knew Vegeta Could Do That Goku Can’t.
He Can Use Galick Gun
His signature attack, the Galick Gun is iconic and something that Vegeta developed before he arrived on Earth. The Galick Gun is fired from his hands and is powerful enough to destroy planets if he’s able to gather enough energy.
When he faced off against Goku, Vegeta’s signature attack and Goku’s Kamehameha were evenly matched, suggesting that Goku’s power could obliterate massive amounts of power.
Whenever Vegeta couldn’t perform the Kamehameha or morph into his Super Saiyan form, he used this attack. Just like Goku’s abilities, Galick Gun evolved a number of times, but Vegeta himself developed the power on his own.
Vegeta later used Super Galick Gun to stop Frieza from destroying the world. He’s also eventually able to use Double Galick Gun, which could shoot beams from his hands, allowing him to attack two opponents at once. It’s an unique attack, and one that Goku is unable to mimic.
He Can Overcome His Weakness… While Goku Needs Outside Help
As a tactician, Vegeta looks at both his and his enemies’ weaknesses. Whenever he is defeated, Vegeta reflects on what went wrong and learns from his mistakes, which helps to prep him for his next battle.
Meanwhile, Goku often seeks out help from other characters or asks side characters to bestow him with new ultimate forms that he can mimic in battle. For example, Master Roshi taught Goku his main move– the Kamehameha– while King Kai taught him Kaoi Ken and Spirit Bomb.
Vegeta never had this kind of help. Instead, he spent his time training and coming up with his own new powers. New powers weren’t bestowed on him freely. Instead, he had to do things on his own and overcome his flaws in order to come up with new strategies.
He Can Control His Great Ape Form
Goku has had a lot of difficulty controlling his Great Ape form, whereas Vegeta has no trouble at all. However, given the fact that Goku is unaware of his lineage, it’s understandable that he would lose control of his alien form.
The series showed Goku struggling with this form many times, as he often fought to find a way to stop his transformation. This, of course, was solved with outside help.
Kami removed Goku’s tail, which prevented his transformation, while the Ultra Divine Water made it possible for Goku retain the powers of his Great Ape Form. Thus this erased any need for consequences.
So it came as a surprise to many fans when it became apparent that Vegeta could morph into Ape form without losing control. In Ape form, he’s able to retain his powers, thanks to his own willpower and experience. Vegeta is much stronger in his Ape form, and doesn’t have to think twice about moves while in this form.
He Can Take Time Out Of His Training To Be With His Family
Goku is always off training to fight against the newest threat, which causes a lot of rifts with his family. ChiChi often tries to stop Goku from running off all the time, and the series even shows this as a running gag.
Goku’s long training sessions often mean that he won’t be seeing Gohan and Goten for awhile. Fortunately, ChiChi supports her husband and still cheers for him, but it still causes a lot of tension in their relationship.
Vegeta, on the other hand, spends time with his family a lot. In fact, in one instance, he even chose to spend time with his family over challenging his longtime rival.
In Dragon Ball Super, Vegeta took care of Bulma while she was pregnant. Vegeta could have spent time training, but instead he choose to take time off and spend it with his wife.
When his kids have birthday parties, he goes to the events during his downtime. He even vists the other families when Goku is away.
He Can Swallow His Pride
The fact that Vegeta can occasionally swallow his pride speaks volumes about his character and separates him from other Saiyans– including Goku. Goku has always trained in order to gaining power, while Vegeta trained solely to restore his dignity as a Saiyan warrior.
Vegeta has often been seen as prideful prince, viewing any signs of defeat as weakness. However, even Vegeta can see the bigger picture– fighting in order to prove yourself doesn’t always mean that you’ll win.
For example, Vegeta restrained his ego in order to find Frieza’s weakness. Vegeta even made takoyaki for Beerus and bowed down to him, showing him the utmost respect in order to prevent the God of Destruction from destroying the world.
He knows when and where to keep his ego in check. Vegeta can swallow his pride, and that is one of the main reasons why he’s able to do a lot of things that Goku can’t.
He Can Prove His Worth As A Tactician
One key distinction between Goku and Vegeta is that Vegeta is a tactician. Although there are many depictions of Vegeta loosing his patience and quickly becoming angry, the Saiyan Prince actually plans before facing his opponents.
For example, Vegeta doesn’t attack Beerus when he plans to destroy Earth, as he’s aware that he’s impossible to kill. Considering the fact that he was part of the royal court, Vegeta had to learn how to maneuver and become a politician. In his day to day life, he must constantly order and control soliders and large armies.
Unlike Goku’s need to train in order to gain more power, Vegeta’s training differs– he trains by trying to find his opponents’ weakness. If he is defeated in battle, he trains ten times harder and tries to think of new ways to maneuver in the battlefield.
Compared to Goku, Vegeta is always away of his opponent’s moves and thus plans ahead when he’s in battle. Goku would never spend so much time trying to understand his opponents’ motives and moves.
He Can Be A Supportive Husband
Goku and Chi-Chi may be considered a weird pairing, but far more absurd is the relationship between Vegeta and Bulma. At first, Goku (and the rest of the fandom) was shocked to learn about this new development.
Similar to ChiChi and Goku’s relationship, Vegeta and Bulma’s relationship wasn’t perfect. During the Cell Games, Vegeta didn’t show much love to either his son or Bulma. Instead, he focused all of his energy on surpassing his rival.
After the Cell Games, Vegeta decided to get to know his family family and thus gives up part of his Saiyan pride for them. Over time, Vegeta becomes a kind and caring husband.
He’s supportive of Bulma’s inventions and admires her strong, overbearing personality. When Vegeta learns that he’s expecting a second child, he drops his training so that he can take care of her.
Goku would never do this for ChiChi. Even when Vegeta learns from Future Trunks in Super that Alt Bulma was killed by Dark Goku, he vows vengeance on Dark Goku.
He Can Withstand 500 times Earth’s Gravity
Among his long list of feats, Vegeta is able to train in an atmosphere that is 500 times Earth’s gravity. The Gravity chamber was created by Bulma and Bulma’s father for Goku. It was used to help Goku train, allowing him to enhance his speed and strength. However, when Goku used it, he was only able to train with the setting at 100 times the Earth’s gravity.
Vegeta, once again, manages to beat Goku’s record, training with a gravity that is 500 times heavier than normal gravity. Given that Bulma is an owner of Capsule Corporation, it’s likely that the company modified the chamber to fit his daily training routine.
Using the Gravity chamber, Vegeta was able to increase his strength in preparation of any upcoming battles, while also improving his speed and stamina. He may not be as strong as Goku, but he was definitely able to beat Goku’s record.
He Can Get Along With His Brother
Compared to Goku and Raditz’s unstable relationship, Vegeta manages to maintain a good relationship with his little brother Tarble. Saiyans don’t often display affection, though, as members are usually measured based on physical strength alone.
Tarble’s is extremely weak, which complicates matters. Though Vegeta is originally ashamed of his younger brother, since Table is seen as an embarrassment to the royal lineage, he gradually accepts his little brother.
Tarble looks up to Vegeta, believing that his older brother defeated Frieza, which is one of the reasons why Vegeta is willing to overlook Tarble’s weaknesses. It’s even likely that Vegeta cared about his little brother before his time on Earth.
Even before he met Bulma, Vegeta never talked about his little brother or mentioned him, though this was possibly to prevent Frieza from knowing his little brother’s whereabouts.
He Can Kill His Enemies In Cold Blood
When viewers saw Vegeta for the first time, he looked like a cold-blooded killer. He was the main antagonist of the Super Saiyan Saga and proved himself as a ruthless killer.
He, Nappa, and Raditz were able to destroy Shikk in three days. Before arriving on Earth, he killed an entire race and even ate the species’ legs in episode five, “Gohan’s Rage”. He doesn’t seem to care about anything. However, after he becomes part of the Z fighters, Vegeta rarely kills anyone, choosing only to do it when it is necessary.
Obviously, Goku would never kill anyone for pleasure. The only times when Goku killed others was when they threatened the lives of his friends. For example, when Frieza tried to kill his friends, Goku immediately killed him in order to send him back to hell.
He Can Work His Way To Surpass His Enemies
One of the defining things about Vegeta is his ability to surpass his enemies through hard work. Unlike Goku, nothing was bestowed upon him. While even he admits that Goku is the strongest Saiyan, this doesn’t stop him from training every day in order to beat Goku.
For example, when Goku’s Kamehameha overpowered Vegeta, the Saiyan Prince trained in order to challenge Goku again. By doing so, Vegeta’s Galick Gun evolved into various new forms. When Goku unlocked Super Saiyan God, Vegeta trained even more and unlocked it as well.
Vegeta trained extensively in the Gravity Chamber in order to master Super Saiyan. Though his arrogance sometimes gets in the way, Vegeta always tries hard and pushes himself to become the very best, overcoming whatever challenge faces him. It’s through hard work and determination that he’s able to achieve great power.
He Can Be More Financially Stable Than Goku
Goku is the most powerful man in the universe and has won many tournaments. However, it is impossible to live off of tournament prize money alone. ChiChi forced Goku to find a stable job, since not even a renowned hero gets a free pass on taxes.
While Goku was forced to become a radish farmer to pay the bills, Vegeta didn’t have to worry about income since Bulma is the known breadwinner of his family. She and her father are the heads of Capsule Corporation, so it’s unsurprising that his wife takes care of the family’s finances.
Vegeta is free to train in the hyperbolic chamber or spend time with his kids during off hours. Even before he married Bulma, Vegeta was the former Prince of Planet Vegeta– so money was never an issue for him.
He Can Wear Pink Like A Boss
It takes a man to wear pink and Vegeta is a true man. Right after he loses against Goku, Vegeta crashes on Earth and tries to find Goku to challenge him for a rematch.
However, before he can do this, Bulma manages to talk him down in front of the Z fighters and tells him to take a bath. When he gets dressed, he changes into a pink shirt– which ironically says “Bad Man” on the back– which becomes a running gag in the show.
Vegeta is initially humiliated, but the shirt doesn’t actually look bad on him. He even becomes accustomed to the shirt, so whenever the Z Fighters mock him because of it, he shrugs it off.
He Can Hold A Grudge Longer Than Goku
Vegeta’s longstanding rivalry and pride is what makes him who he is. So it should come as no surprise that he would use any opportunity he could get to outperform his rival.
However, he sure knows how to hold a grudge. Upon his first defeat, Vegeta vowed that he would eventually defeat Kakarot in a rematch. Though it started out as a mere grudge, after forming a temporary truce to stop Frieza from annihilating Earth, this grudge turned into a long-standing rivalry between Vegeta and Goku.
From power-ups to baseball matches, Vegeta wastes no time in trying to win every competition against Goku. At the same time, Vegeta also holds a grudge against Frieza for killing his people.
Compared to Vegeta, Goku doesn’t hold a grudge for too long. In fact, Goku doesn’t hold a grudge against any of his enemies unless his friends are threatened. Goku trains exclusively to become stronger, whereas Vegeta trains solely to surpass his opponents.
He can Dance
Say what you want about Goku’s array of abilities, but when it comes to dancing, Vegeta can beat him in a quick bingo dance competition. Sure Goku’s dance skills aren’t bad, but no one can do it better than Vegeta.
During Beerus’ visit, Vegeta is desperate to delay the planet’s destruction. The episode saw Vegeta doing some crazy things, such as him using his dance expertise to prevent Beerus from killing everyone.
Vegeta goes up on stage to perform Bingo dance, an aerobics workout routine to catch Beerus. However, when this doesn’t work, Vegeta stop playing and decides to take a stand as Earth’s protector until Goku returns.
Vegeta practices a lot of other hobbies on top of his regular Saiyan training. Many fans probably didn’t about this, but in the manga, Toriyama drew Vegeta dancing in front of the television screen once Beerus’s arc was over. Vegeta would probably never admit to this, though.
Can you think of any other things Vegeta can do that Goku can’t? Sound off in the comments!
