Goku y vegeta vs super heroes

Warning: Spoilers for Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero

Vegeta’s long-awaited victory over his rival in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero hardly serves as proof that he’s surpassed Goku. In Super Hero’s post-credits scene, an exhausted Goku collapsed after one last punch from Vegeta, who remained standing just long enough to be declared the winner. His shocking win came as a result of a grueling, hard-fought battle set on Beerus’ planet.

For Vegeta, officially overtaking Goku has been his biggest goal since Dragon Ball Z. Though he didn’t technically lose their Saiyan Saga fight, their encounter was enough to demonstrate that Goku was the superior fighter. Ever since, Vegeta has put a tremendous amount of time and effort into securing his position as the strongest force in the universe. As Majin Vegeta, he thought he had succeeded in the Buu Saga, but his win was sullied by the realization that Goku was holding back his Super Saiyan 3 transformation. Vegeta held onto his goal throughout Dragon Ball Super where he made gain after gain, all the while waiting for his chance to get a legitimate win over Goku.

That chance came at last in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, which ended with Vegeta getting what he’s wanted since Dragon Ball Z. But as huge as this moment was for the franchise and their rivalry, it should be noted that his win doesn’t make him Earth’s strongest hero. Goku still has that title because their sparring match didn’t involve any transformations. For the entirety of the sparring match, both characters fought only on their base forms. For Vegeta to prove he’s the strongest, he’d have to face off against Goku at his full power. Specifically, he’d need to take down Ultra Instinct Goku, and right now, there’s no evidence he can do that.

Why Goku Is Still Stronger Than Vegeta

Dragon Ball Super’s Tournament of Power created a massive obstacle toward Vegeta surpassing Goku when the latter unlocked the completed Ultra Instinct state. Vegeta, dismayed by the speed and power possessed by Goku when using the form, realized that once again, his rival was a huge step ahead of him. With the progress Vegeta has made, it’s not hard to imagine Vegeta matching up (and possibly even winning) if they fought in their Super Saiyan or Super Saiyan Blue forms. But in the continuity of the anime, Vegeta so far has no real answer for Ultra Instinct. The best he can do is Super Saiyan Blue Evolved, which wasn’t powerful to beat Universe 11’s Jiren. Goku, on the other hand, overpowered Jiren with ease once he completed Ultra Instinct.

As things stand, Ultra Instinct is the difference-maker when it comes to the Goku vs. Vegeta debate in the Dragon Ball anime. So until Goku uses it in a no-holds-barred fight with Vegeta in Dragon Ball (and loses), he’ll hold on to his spot at the top of the anime’s power scale. Thanks to Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, the Saiyan Prince has achieved a massive moral victory that he’ll surely be basking in for a while, but it’s not the ultimate triumph he’s been craving.

Dragon Ball Super: Super Herodidn't feature nearly as much of Goku and Vegeta as fans expected. The movie was instead focused on the exploits of their friends and family, especially Piccolo and Gohan. However, that doesn't mean that they didn't get to do anything important in this movie.

When the movie found time to focus on two of the universe's greatest warriors, it actually had a lot to say about their rivalry. In fact, they both get this big moment that encapsulates their history together while also providing Vegeta's true perspective on it. While this movie didn't focus on them, it did add another key element to their story as it's been portrayed throughout Dragon Ball.

The moment between Goku and Vegeta comes about as the two of them are having a big match. This fight, free of transformations and energy blasts, saw the two of them in a complete, uninterrupted bout of hand-to-hand combat. This fight ended up taking up the rest of their time throughout the movie.

The end result of this fight was revealed in a post-credits scene. Goku and Vegeta, both completely exhausted from fighting, fell to the ground, but Goku was the first to go down. Vegeta was overjoyed at this outcome as, to him, it meant that he'd finally beaten Kakarot. As monumental as this achievement is for the Saiyan Prince, it's not the most important part of this fight.

Vegeta's assessment of the fight has a lot of meaning behind it. For one thing, it tells the audience about what Vegeta considers to be a win against Goku. It means beating him in combat and being the last man standing with as little room for debate as possible.

Vegeta's concept of winning implies that he never felt like he truly won against Goku, not even in their first fight. Technically, Vegeta overpowered and beat Goku in their first official fight, fair and square. After turning into a Great Ape, he'd crushed Goku's body and had him dead to rights. The only reason he can't count this as an absolute win is that Krillin, Gohan, and Yajirobe stepped in to help Goku finish the fight when he was too broken to do it himself. If it weren't for them, he would have killed Goku and possibly destroyed the Earth.

In fairness, however, Vegeta was the one who said it would be fine for Goku and co. to join forces against him. He arrogantly believed that he could still finish all of them off even if they were to come at him all at once. To make that boast and still end up defeated would make it his loss overall.

Getting stronger than Goku doesn't count for anything, either. For all the times he's surpassed Goku in strength, be it through Zenkai boosts, training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, or some sort of new transformation, none of it would count for anything on its own. Unless he actually beat Goku with his newfound power, he couldn't truly say that he'd won.

Unfortunately, Vegeta really only had a couple more times to fight Goku in Dragon Ball Z. On Namek, he beat Captain Ginyu in Goku's body, but it was mainly because the latter was inexperienced with his new powers; it would be a much different story if Goku were fighting and he'd used his Kaio-ken technique. In the Buu Saga, Vegeta used a sneak attack to knock Goku out while he had his guard down; not only was this after their fight was called off, but if Goku had taken the fight seriously, he would have won. Vegeta technically took out Goku in both of these fights, but not in a way that could be called a genuine win.

Additionally, if Vegeta is saying he's finally beaten his rival in the movie, then that implies that he lost all of his off-screen battles with him, too. All of the time they spent sparring in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Goku won. In that closing scene from the Dragon Ball Super anime where they're reenacting their first battle but in Super Saiyan Blue, Goku must have won. Suddenly, every one of their fights where the result was never shown has all become a win for Goku.

This might even mean that any fights they've had in promotional material or some other source all ended with Goku winning. For example, that shot of the two of them fighting from the Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout opening must have been a Goku win. Likewise, that final battle Goku and Vegeta were implied to have had in Dragon Ball Online might have also gone to Goku. If this weren't the case, then the meta significance of Vegeta "finally beating Kakarot" in Super Hero wouldn't carry nearly as much weight.

Of course, a lot of how Vegeta defines beating Goku has changed throughout their time together. Originally, all he needed to do was kill Goku and his friends and either conquer or destroy Earth: he had nothing to prove. As DBZ progressed, Vegeta's need to kill Goku faded, but he still wanted to defeat him and reaffirm that he was the Prince of the Saiyans. By the end of the series, he was fully willing to acknowledge Goku as better than him, though he had no intention of being left in the dust.

This is what led to Vegeta's view of their rivalry in DBS. He can accept that there's a power gap that's not always in his favor, but it's not something he's content with. Where he once mocked Goku for trying to use effort to beat superior opponents, now he's the one who has to work hard to surpass Goku. This back and forth to become the best is what's pushed both of these fighters to unimaginable new levels of power.

The movie really shows how Vegeta's rivalry with Goku has changed over the years. At first, beating Goku was expected of him to establish his dominance. Now that he's been humbled by the lower-class Saiyan, he'll find solace if he can beat such a worthy opponent just once. He's come to realize that there's always progress to be made, and if he wants to stay ahead, he'll have to train hard.