Highlights
- Goku and Vegeta diverged during the Moro Arc, focusing on unique training paths.
- Goku mastered Ultra Instinct, while Vegeta evolved Super Saiyan Blue and trained with Beerus.
- Their different paths enhance their rivalry and prepare them for future challenges.
Dragon Ball is no stranger to giving Goku a good number of rivals over the course of the story, but one can argue that Goku and Vegeta are both the best rivals for each other now that we are this deep into the story. However, for the longest time, Goku and Vegeta have been chasing each other, ever since the end of the Cell Saga, and all the way into Dragon Ball Super, getting the same transformations and the same power levels with one or the other falling behind.
Now, with Goku and Vegeta having achieved different forms that are different paths for them, they have become their own kind of warrior unique to Dragon Ball. Even so, why exactly is this important at all? Why do Goku and Vegeta need to be on different paths in training and the story, and what are the benefits of doing so?
Goku And Vegeta’s Journey
And The Struggles
Beginning with the Android Saga, Vegeta and Goku’s rivalry only started to pick up steam once Goku became Super Saiyan, and Vegeta vowed to become one as well. From there on, whether it be Super Saiyan Grade 2, or even achieving Super Saiyan Two, or all the way to Super Saiyan Blue, Goku, and Vegeta have been on the same path to achieving greater heights of strength, inevitably copying each other along the way. Mind you, they didn’t copy each other in attacks or values, but rather because they thought that it was a race for both of them to become stronger than the other the same way. Even so, when Dragon Ball Super was produced, Goku and Vegeta wouldn’t break out of this habit until the Tournament of Power, and afterward in the manga.
The journey for these two is impressive, although the struggles were for Akira Toriyama to make these two somehow more dynamic rather than copying the transformations of each other. However, near the end of the Tournament of Power Arc, Goku achieved Ultra Instinct and Vegeta instead evolved his Super Saiyan Blue form. Instead of copying the Ultra Instinct, Vegeta inevitably realizes that the form isn’t for him and that Ultra Instinct doesn’t fit his own value system.
When Did They Diverge?
The Separation
Of course, many people wonder when exactly Vegeta and Goku diverged. That would be during the Moro Arc, where Goku began more specific training for Ultra Instinct, and Vegeta learned Yardratian techniques, including the Instant Transmission, and the Forced Spirit Fission. These were techniques that ultimately allowed them to work together in different ways to combat Moro so that they could save their home.
However, the important thing to realize is that Vegeta and Goku decided to focus on their own training instead of constantly fighting and chasing each other because the Moro arc made them realize that they needed their own path. Goku took Ultra Instinct and training from Whis to focus on mastering a new strength that was a mindset rather than a transformation. Vegeta trained with Beerus, because he was a warrior who needed to stop repressing his own identity and instincts; Beerus knew that and decided to push Vegeta the only way a God of Destruction can.
Two Parallel Paths
Why It’s For The Best
Ultimately, there isn’t any disadvantage to these two going their different paths. Vegeta and Goku have always wanted to find an answer to the question of who’s stronger, but it wouldn’t mean much of anything if they didn’t earn their way to that victory in their own way. Vegeta wants to refine and master Ultra Ego, and Goku has achieved his own Ultra Instinct so that they can both find a way to defeat Freeza. Dragon Ball found an answer as to why these two parallel paths may be for the better, and certainly found a way to seamlessly integrate it into the story of these two characters.
Goku and Vegeta are both headed on very different paths. That may not mean they have to stop being rivals, and certainly not stop being Saiyans in their own way. All the story has to do is give Goku and Vegeta a chance to improve, defeat Freeza in the future, and raise the stakes even higher with the promise of stronger opponents in the future. Dragon Ball has provided that for decades, and it will continue to do so.
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