Summary
As every lifelong fan ofDragon Ballknows, death isn’t considered that much of a problem in this world. Through the overuse of the Dragon Balls over the many decades that the franchise has been airing, death has essentially lost all meaning since people can just be brought back whenever they perish. Because of this, many feel that there are no grander stakes for the series since the characters are technically never really in any mortal danger.
However, it is known that, eventually,Dragon Ballwill end. In this inevitable finale for the franchise, there will likely be some stakes that will be long-lasting and should have a permanent effect on this world, which many fans theorize will be the death of thefan-favorite Saiyan Prince; Vegeta. The exact reasons for how this could happen are pretty nuanced, so let’s take a look at the possibility of Vegeta dying at the very end of the series.
Why Death Has Lost Meaning InDragon Ball
A Byproduct Of Wish Granting Orbs
In the beginning stages of theDragon Ballstory, death is treated the same as in every other series. The threat of it was everpresent though, since this universe consists of magical and incredibly powerful characters who could erase entire planets in the blink of an eye, of whom there were many. Of course, the standard rules regarding resurrection were largely the same,as one could find the Dragon Ballsand bring others back from the dead, though the act of doing so was very difficult.
However, whenZrolled around, the action of gathering the Dragon Balls to bring someone back from the dead essentially became standard practice, inadvertently showing that death wasn’t really something to be taken very seriously. Sure, the characters always feared it, but their resurrection through the Dragon Balls, or often even other methods, became far too common, which ended up with many fans thinking that there were no true stakes.
Story Arc
Saiyan Saga
Since the beginning of the franchise, Goku has remained the series' most beloved character, and understandably so. However, things started to change later on inDragon Ball Zafter Vegeta defected to the side of the heroes andshed his villainous past. Through his time with Goku and his friends, Vegeta eventually turned into one of Earth’s mightiest and most important protectors.
It is largely agreed that the Prince is the most well-written character in the entire series and that his amazing character arc has been one of the highlights of the franchise as a whole. Many unofficial polls and rankings have been held by the community regarding the characters, in which Vegeta has been voted the most beloved, best-written, and overall greatest character in the entire franchise numerous times, showing how deeply his journey resonates with fans.
Trunks, Bulma, I’m doing this for you. And yes, even for you, Kakarot.
Although he has largely been in Goku’s shadow for the majority of his time as a hero, Vegeta has eventually moved up to becoming his equal inDragon Ball Super, which is where they’ve faced the multiverse’s most powerful foes. Because of this, he isnow at the forefront of Universe 7’s forces, directly undergoing Divine Training alongside Goku, although for different techniques. Since the antagonists introduced inSuperare incredibly powerful and are only getting stronger, there will eventually be the strongest one toward the series' end.
This is most likely to be Black Frieza, who is the most important villain in the entire franchise, especially for Vegeta. It was Frieza who destroyed the Prince’s planet and eliminated his entire race, so he holds the greatest grudge against the Frost Demon, and most fans of the franchise believe that it should be Vegeta who defeats him for good. Because of this belief, many await a spectacular battle against the Saiyan’s greatest foe at the end.
In this fight, and just generally for the series, Vegeta’s death wouldcause huge splashes throughout the world. The greatest moment in his entire story was the sacrifice he made to destroy Buu and protect the planet, which many regard as one of the most important moments in the franchise, so for him to do something similar at the very end of the series, but in a way that he’s sacrificed for good, would be the perfect way to end the story arc of someone who wanted to control the universe but eventually gave his life to save it.
Killing Vegeta off would be very bittersweet, but it would be the greatest send-off to a character and would be done so in a way that fixes the meaninglessness of death in the series. Sure, he could always be brought back, but the writers should remove that crutch from the series as a whole, since it would take away from such an incredible sacrifice.
Only a failure abandons his principles and his pride!
The reason why Vegeta, specifically, is singled out is because it’s his death that will cause the greatest impact on fans and would mean the most overall. Sure, Goku’s death would be just as impactful from a narrative sense, butVegeta definitely holds the same importancein the eyes of most fans, and the layer of tragedy regarding him sacrificing himself for the family and planet that he eventually learned to call his own would be far greater.
At this stage, this is all speculation until theDragon Ball Supermanga eventually returns to see where the story is headed. However, the contextual clues and narrative importance of Vegeta’s eventual sacrifice would complete his character arc and would cement him as not only the greatest deuteragonist in anime history, but one of the greatest fictional characters of all time, even though many argue that this is already the case.
