The wacky and wild antics of Dragon Ball Z have enamored countless, passionate fans in the decades since its inception.

Of course, with a fanbase as active and passionate as those of the Dragon Ball franchise, it’s no surprise that there have been endless debates about characters and plotlines.

Like most fan-focused arguments, there are generally no clear winners, and the topics have ranged from “would Goku be able to beat Superman?” to “why do people actually like Yamcha?” (if anyone figures that one out, let us know.)

The ultimate Dragon Ball debate, though, is a fiery, war-torn battlefield that can be summed up in a simple combination of three words: Goku vs. Vegeta.

These two fan-favorites (and in-universe eternal rivals) have legions upon legions of devout fans who support their every action, and take every opportunity to debate who would not only win in a fight, but who is a better character, period.

Using the power of memes, we’re here to settle this debate once and for all.

It's time to put Goku and Vegeta head-to-head in a fateful duel that can only be won by fan-created pictures found on the internet.

Prepare for battle with the 15 Goku Vs. Vegeta Memes That Prove Who The Better Saiyan Is.

Goku Doesn't Even Know How To Kiss His Wife

Let’s talk about Vegeta. This guy was once a merciless warrior who would wipe out entire civilizations without a care. Heck, he almost offed Goku during his own bid to take over the Earth, leaving the hero with a shattered skeleton.

But times change for the villain. He finds himself in love with Dragon Ball’s ultimate genius, Bulma, and ends up becoming a father to one of the series’ coolest and most beloved characters. He loves his family to death.

Then there’s Goku, who is terrified of his wife, and seemingly has no idea what a kiss is. Miraculously he has two children, but if he doesn’t know how something as simple as a kiss works, it’s difficult to imagine he can figure out childbirth.

He’s also a terrible father to his supposed children, with Piccolo taking on the role for Gohan. Sadly, Goten will just grow up disenfranchised.

Vegeta's Pretty Proud Of Himself For No Reason

For all his talk about being extremely powerful, and a great warrior, and the best the Saiyan race has to offer, he sure fails to prove it time and time again.

Like this meme is happy to point out, “scumbag” Vegeta’s claims about his toughness and battle power are seemingly just empty gloats, since his actual results from fateful duels are pretty pathetic in the long run.

Generally speaking, Vegeta has been able to nail some great hits on every major foe, even having iconic fight sequences with most of them, but, like clockwork, he always ends up bloody, beaten and (sometimes) dead, unable to finish the fight.

Do you know what happens once he’s out cold? Someone steals his glory. Perhaps it wasn’t even his glory to begin with, considering the pathetic outcomes.

Goku Is Afraid Of Chi-Chi

Alright, who cares if Goku has saved the world countless times? Does it even matter if the “strongest man in the universe” doesn’t even have the gumption to stand up to his own wife?

Goku has triumphed over space tyrants, bio-androids specifically designed to kill him, artificial humans, demon kings, his killer brother and even gods. And yet it’s his wife that chills him to the bone.

Let’s turn our attention to Vegeta. Sure, he’s a cranky, prideful villain-turned-hero, but this is a man who clearly loves his wife, and goes out of his way to defend her (especially from a "peeping tom" Goku, mind you.)

People spend so much time relying on Goku, but imagine if the franchise's ultimate villain had a visage and personality comparable to Chi-Chi.

We seriously doubt Goku would be able to rise to the challenge, leaving Vegeta to reign as champion.

Vegeta Skips SSJ3...

You know what else? While Vegeta occasionally shows off his new levels of power, he’s only grandstanded about it a few times, back when his allegiance and morals were still in question.

On the other hand, Goku can’t resist holding back everything he has in some kind of deranged tease until he’s pushed a little too hard.

Then, and only then, he’ll take things up a notch, and he’ll make a big show of it while he’s at it. Take his Super Saiyan 3 transformation, for example.

When he debuts this form against Buu, he savors every moment of the drawn-out transformation, only for it to prove fairly useless in the long run.

Vegeta, on the other hand, had no need for Super Saiyan 3. In GT, he went straight to SSJ4, because that’s the kind of guy he is.

... Because He Can't Do It

There’s one problem with Vegeta’s apparently-cool skipping of Super Saiyan 3: it’s that he can’t do it.

This poor guy is always a step behind Goku and, as this meme brilliantly illustrates, he actually tries to cover his glaring inadequacies up, with often embarrassing results.

Vegeta has the gall to stomp around and claim he’s the ultimate warrior and way stronger than Goku, but he can’t muster the seemingly rudimentary Super Saiyan 3 transformation.

He wasn’t even able to achieve Super Saiyan God when it was debuted, instead opting to find a work-around for it and go straight to Super Saiyan Blue, which sounds like a cheap shortcut. And it is.

This is only the start of Vegeta’s troubles, though. For such a prideful guy, his world is about to shattered.

Vegeta Has Never Even Beaten Frieza

Frieza is the series’ most identifiable villain. His sickening, bone-white hue, crystalline, purple carapaces, and literally-nightmare-based multiple forms, coupled with his gleeful cruelty, make him a favorite amongst the pantheon of DBZ villains.

This monstrous destroyer of countless worlds, even had a direct hand in the near-extinction of the Saiyan race, something that Vegeta takes quite personally, since he’s the Prince.

For years, he watched his proud father grovel to the malicious Frieza, a sight which made the young Vegeta fester with rage.

When he was finally old enough, he decided he would usurp the tyrant. While he came close to getting vengeance for his entire race, Frieza eventually trumped him, and Goku ended up being the one to punish Frieza.

That was hard enough to swallow, but Frieza would also be defeated by Trunks, Gohan, Pikkon and Goku. Again.

Yes, tearful Vegeta, your pride is nothing but broken glass.

Vegeta Thinks Goku Is A Clown

After failing to avenge his race multiple times, and watching others (even a non-Saiyan!) beat the tar out of the treacherous Frieza, you’d think Vegeta would give up on trying to restore his obliterated pride and maybe reevaluate his life as a humble man.

You’d be wrong. No matter what incredible feats Goku performs, no matter what upper-echelons of power he reaches, or supremely-powerful beings he defeats, Vegeta just can’t help but view Goku as a mere annoyance or, as shown in the meme, a goofy clown.

True, Goku is a complete moron and often does extremely embarrassing things (particularly in Super) but as fans, and generally every other character in the show, can tell, Goku is a reliable and awesome hero.

However, if it makes you feel better, Vegeta, keep telling yourself he’s a clown.

Goku Is Over 9000

One of the earliest Dragon Ball memes was the virus-like sharing of an early Saiyan Saga clip with Vegeta and Nappa assessing Goku’s power level.

Upon being questioned by the folically-challenged, hulking Nappa as to what the scouter had determined about Goku’s battle prowess, Vegeta removes the device, crushes it, and screams out in disdain that it was “over 9000!”

This moment cemented Nappa and Vegeta as meme-lords, and this tired sequence has found itself referenced throughout all kinds of media, far beyond the point of redundancy.

That said, despite this moment making both Vegeta and Nappa internet famous, this meme is happy to point out that it was Goku whose power level was the subject of Vegeta’s rage.

So despite the fame and popularity that Vegeta earned from the clip, it was Goku’s legend that really made the impact.

Goku Is Always A Step Ahead

Vegeta really just can’t seem to get a break. Not only does he go well-beyond his limits to try and surpass Goku, putting himself into dangerous, even lethal, situations to pursue his unobtainable goals, the achievements that he does make almost always end up as obsolete seemingly moments after their introduction.

Super Saiyan? Yeah, your son did that already. Super Vegeta? Absolutely worthless. Maybe even more of a hindrance than a help. Super Saiyan 4? You couldn’t even achieve that on your own. And the list goes on.

However, you know who never skipped a form? Who always did the ground work for every transformation? That’d be Goku.

Like we see in the meme, even when Vegeta is surpassed, Goku’s already working on the next step while Vegeta plays catch up.

Those tears are, once again, deserved.

Vegeta, You Shouldn't Talk To Strangers

You know, despite all of our criticisms of Vegeta, we do kind of feel bad for the guy.

He lost his purpose, he was beaten by a low-class warrior, he failed to avenge his race, and is apparently incapable of defeating a major villain (with his butt being severely kicked following the shamefully inadequate attempt.)

Then there’s Goku: always stronger and always getting new forms, forms that Vegeta probably has fever-dreams about.

It’s almost like Goku wakes up and he’s suddenly able to transcend Super Saiyan, or his hair has grown four feet.

So, with that in mind, we wouldn’t put it past the pride-shattered Saiyan Prince to fall victim to Pennywise in the form of Goku, promising all the new forms and transformations he could ever want.

We all transform down here, Vegeta. You’ll transform, too.

SSJ3 Goku Nearly Blew Up The Planet

On second thought, maybe Goku and all his forms aren’t so great, after all.

As “scumbag” Goku is happy to point out in this meme, Goku’s transformations and powering-up sequences tend to have devastating effects on the planet he’s supposedly protecting.

For example, when transforming into a Super Saiyan 3 for the very first time, Goku shattered windows (with glass and debris falling on civilians), created tidal waves, and altered the weather.

This, of course, isn’t the only time that Goku’s obsession with flaunting his power or testing his might jeopardized the Earth.

Initially, Goku let Vegeta live so he could have the chance to fight him again. This wasn’t tame Vegeta, either. This was ruthless sociopath Vegeta.

This trend would continue with ticking off Gods of Destruction and other extremely dangerous entities. Thanks for putting us in danger, Goku!

Goku Killed His Grandpa

You know what else irks us about Goku? It’s not his repeated endangering of an entire civilization and the planet they live on. It’s not even his idiotic personality, lack of parenting skills or over-dramatic displays of powerful transformations.

No, it’s the fact that he killed his Grandpa as a kid, then went on an adventure to collect the wish-granting Dragon Balls, only to not wish his Grandpa back to life.

This wasn’t a one-time deal, either. Goku and the gang routinely collected the Dragon Balls throughout the franchise, making any number of wishes.

Heck, they’ve even used the Eternal Dragon to wish friends, family and Earth’s entire population to life. So why not Grandpa Gohan?

Yep, Goku is deserving of the “scumbag Steve” moniker and hat in this meme.

Vegeta Is The Prince Of All (Six) Saiyans...

One of Vegeta’s favorite things to spout out as if it has any meaning is that he’s the “Prince of all Saiyans.”

That’s great, Vegeta, except there are literally only a handful of you left, and no one even remotely cares that you carry the royal blood of a species that’s constantly teetering on the edge of utter extinction and has no real power behind it.

But go ahead, keep declaring yourself the prince. Maybe someone out there will pity you and prostrate themselves, though it’s more likely that they’ll say “what?” after you proudly make the declaration.

Sure, characters occasionally mention his royalty, but no one legitimately cares or considers it to have any weight.

Vegeta has lost so much, especially to Goku, yet he continues to hold onto an obsolete title. It’s pathetic, really.

... While Goku Is Their God

Hypothetically, let’s say that there was even a semblance of importance behind Vegeta’s proud shouts of his title. Great, he’s the prince of all Saiyans. Good for him.

However, do you know what’s better than a prince? A god. And guess who the god of all Saiyans is: that’s right, Vegeta, it’s your favorite person, Goku.

Like Kanye so deftly points out, being a prince is great, but compared to a god? It’s absolutely meaningless. One is divine and one is, well, definitely not.

It must be so devastating to Vegeta that this one thing from his past that he holds so dearly onto, something that is essentially obsolete, still manages to be exponentially dwarfed by another.

Out of the few remaining Saiyans left in existence, not only is one Vegeta’s absolute superior, but that same one happens to be Goku, the one man that Vegeta can never surpass.

Goku Has Never Beaten Vegeta

After all the disparaging remarks towards Vegeta, all sourced from cripplingly cruel memes crafted by the very fans themselves, it turns out that maybe Goku isn’t the better Saiyan after all.

For all the hardships that Vegeta goes through at the hands of Goku, it’s that same rival who has never once cleanly beaten him.

Despite their thrilling battles and beatdowns, Goku always ends up at death’s door with Vegeta having the upperhand, only for the Saiyan Prince to lose through some unexpected occurrence.

This final meme shows once and for all that Vegeta, despite his pathetic flaws, overcomes Goku where it really matters.

Sorry Goku, but aside from the fact that you’re a terrible father and a needlessly reckless, vain character, it seems you just don’t have the edge against Vegeta in pure combat.

He may only be the prince of six Saiyans, but he’s the king of battle.

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Do you know of any other brutal Dragon Ball Goku Vs Vegeta memes? Let us know in the comments!