Dragon Ball Is Finally Remembering Vegetas Worst Crimes

Dragon Ball Super's manga continuation has finally acknowledged Vegeta's worst crimes, which are the murders he committed against the Namekians.

The Dragon Ball franchise is finally remembering Vegeta’s most evil acts in the anime. After years of being ignored, the atrocities Vegeta committed against the Namekians have been properly addressed in Dragon Ball Super’s manga continuation. There’s no telling what he did during the time that he served in the Frieza Force, but what happened with Piccolo’s people were easily his worst on-screen crimes.

Before becoming a respected Z-Warrior and the husband of Bulma, Vegeta was a ruthless and evil character who once worked for Frieza. Seeing his enemies in pain often brought him amusement, and his decision to execute Nappa for failing to kill Goku were indicative of his potential for cruelty. However, it eventually became apparent that Vegeta was capable of change. Over the years, he’s evolved into a trustworthy ally of Goku, a good father to Trunks, and a hero that the Earth can count on when it’s threatened by powerful forces like Zamasu and Frieza.

One problem is that the Z-Warriors (including Vegeta himself) seem to have forgotten the horrible things that Vegeta did as a villain, but the series is making an effort to correct that by revisiting Vegeta’s search for the Dragon Balls on Planet Namek. Vegeta – while laughing manically – slaughtered an entire village of Namekians, and left no survivors. Not even the children were spared his wrath. In his pursuit of the Dragon Balls, Vegeta expressed a willingness to do whatever it took to get what he wanted, and what made it worse is the sense of enjoyment he got from the experience. Vegeta felt no remorse, and even after becoming a hero, he didn’t look back on this dark period in his life.

However, the Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga in the manga continuation for Dragon Ball Super called back to this moment and saw Vegeta acknowledge the things he did wrong. When Dragon Ball’s new villain, Moro, launched an attack on the Namekians, Vegeta quickly stepped in to save them. He then admitted that he did “untold harm” to them in the past, and because of that, he was determined to ensure that not a single one of them died again. Vegeta giving everything he had to protect the Namekians amounted to a much-needed act of atonement for the character.

Prior to the Moro arc, Dragon Ball had done very little to address Vegeta’s murderous history. Characters like Tien and Piccolo were understandably hesitant about letting him walk among them in the Android Saga, but these issues fell to the wayside as time passed. After Vegeta turned against the Z-Warriors to side with Babidi, Vegeta later redeemed himself for his betrayal by sacrificing himself, but not until the manga continuation has he really attempted to make up for what transpired in the Frieza Saga. But now that he has taken steps to make amends to the Namekian people by becoming their self-appointed protector, Vegeta’s transformation into a hero feels a bit more earned.