Of all the couples in Dragon Ball, there is no doubt that Vegeta and Bulma were the most unlikely pairing of the bunch. Vegeta's irritable, self-centered attitude seemed like it would never work with someone as friendly and outspoken as Bulma. But then Bulma has been proven to have a thing for the bad guys, hitting on people like General Blue, Yamcha (back in his bandit days), Zarbon, and even Zamasu.
Once Vegeta needed a place to stay following the defeat of Frieza, Bulma was quick to offer to let him stay with her. From there, Trunks was born and it was a slow journey towards Vegeta becoming the caring family man that he is today.
There were lots of bumps in the road, though, and you might be surprised at just difficult it was for them to get there. Here's a reminder with 15 Things You Didn't Know About Vegeta and Bulma's Relationship.
15. BULMA'S DISTURBING DREAMS ABOUT VEGETA
Bulma had already seen that Vegeta was capable of killing, so it makes sense that she would be afraid of him early on. When the two of them were on Namek we even see that Bulma has a nightmare of Vegeta coming after her for the Dragon Balls that ends right before he attacks her. Those nightmares soon took a backseat to worrying about Frieza, but that wasn't the last time Bulma dreamed about the Saiyan.
After returning to Earth Bulma is one of the first to become more welcoming to Vegeta. In fact, she becomes so infatuated by him that she even admits to Yamcha that she had a dream about kissing the Saiyan. This was especially awkward since Bulma and Yamcha were still a couple at the time. Apparently that dream was a harbinger of things to come, though.
14. VEGETA AND BULMA HAVE A BETTER RELATIONSHIP THAN GOKU AND CHI-CHI
This one makes sense when you think about the information we've been given from the anime, but your first instinct might be to assume Goku is a very affectionate person. In truth, Goku might be even more addicted to training than Vegeta is. Sure, Goku is a friendlier person but it's well-known that he is not the most devoted father. And he frequently skips out on his wife as well to do more training.
Dragon Ball Super has done a lot to show how much more compassionate Vegeta has become. For one, he's shocked when he learns that Goku has never kissed Chi-Chi. Then Vegeta was ready to skip out on the universal survival tournament to take care of Bulma during her second pregnancy. And once Bulla is born, Vegeta is very protective of her, becoming so defensive that he transforms into a Super Saiyan Blue just from Yamcha and Hercule upsetting her.
13. VEGETA ABANDONED A PREGNANT BULMA
Everyone knows Vegeta did not start out as a good father, but you might be surprised how terrible he was at first. Not only did he take no interest in Trunks at first, but Vegeta couldn't be bothered to help Bulma at all.
After Bulma got pregnant Vegeta didn't even stick around to make sure she was okay. Instead, this is the period where Vegeta went off into space to become a Super Saiyan. Vegeta doesn't even meet his infant son for the first time until after he returns to fight the androids.
Fans of Super might be surprised by this since so many people now know of the scene where Vegeta chooses to stay and help Bulma during her second pregnancy rather than immediately fight in the upcoming tournament. But Vegeta really was a deadbeat dad early on.
In fact, Vegeta might just be one of the biggest deadbeats ever since he's probably the first guy who's ever left the planet rather than support his son.
12. THEY HAD THEIR FIRST CHILD BEFORE THEY WERE MARRIED
With Goku and Chi-Chi, we see their wedding at the end of the original Dragon Ball, so we know exactly when it happens. But with Vegeta and Bulma, we never get to see their wedding, so you might assume they've been married longer than they actually have.
Once the Z Fighters return to Earth after dealing with Frieza, Bulma invited Vegeta to live with her and she is clearly attracted to him. Shortly after the story skips forward quite a while to when the androids are about to invade, so you might figure Vegeta and Bulma got married during that time. That's actually not true, though.
Vegeta and Bulma do have their son Trunks in that interim, but at this point it seems like their relationship was primarily based on attraction rather than having a commitment to each other. Initially, Vegeta is so standoffish that he refuses to even help Bulma and Trunks when they are in danger. It's not until after Cell is defeated that Vegeta dedicates himself to being a better father and becoming a husband.
11. CHI-CHI OFFERED TO SWAP HUSBANDS WITH BULMA
This is a fleeting moment in Dragon Ball so you couldn't be blamed if you forgot about it. But when you're rewatching the Buu saga, this scene between Bulma and Chi-Chi is always good for a laugh. While waiting for Goku, Chi-Chi can't help noticing that Bulma seems to care about Goku a lot. That's not too unusual since they have known each other since they were children, but Chi-Chi interprets it as attraction.
It's mostly teasing, but Chi-Chi actually offers to swap husbands with Bulma. She acknowledges that Vegeta isn't a very sweet person, but he is dependable. Vegeta is present for the offer and can't help laughing about it himself. It might not even be that weird, given that both women do have pretty similar relationships with the Saiyans. Plus Goku did have an awkward knack for winding up in sexual situations with Bulma when he was younger.
10. THEY GOT TOGETHER BECAUSE YAMCHA CHEATED ON BULMA
Yamcha doesn't exactly have a legion of devoted fans, but you do have to wonder how his relationship with Bulma could have possibly fallen apart. They met as teenagers and were in a off-and-on relationship for over ten years. When Yamcha is killed by a Saibamen, Bulma even says that she would have married him if he had survived. How did all go wrong that she wound up with Vegeta marrying her instead?
The answer to that is that Yamcha cheated on Bulma— multiple times as a matter of fact. We never really see Yamcha in a relationship with another woman, but he is shown getting distracted by attractive women, so it's not hard to piece things together.
It has to be salt in the wound to Yamcha that Vegeta got with Bulma instead, since Yamcha held a longtime grudge with the Saiyan for attacking the Earth alongside Nappa.
9. VEGETA'S HEIGHT IS CHANGED TO MAKE HIM TALLER THAN BULMA
Longtime fans of the franchise who really scrutinize the characters were quick to comment on this one, but if you have more of a casual interest in Dragon Ball then this one probably slipped past you.
In DBZ, one of Vegeta's most notable traits is that he was always a bit on the shorter side, noticeably shorter than Goku, and even smaller than Bulma. However, by the time Super was made, Vegeta's height had changed. Now he's about on par with Goku's height, and suddenly bigger than Bulma.
This might be because Toriyama was bothered by the height difference, or he could have simply forgotten about the disparity. When Super was coming out fans infamously noticed how Android 18's hair had initially been depicted as purple despite her always being blonde. So Vegeta's height change might have just been a total accident. That or he got a sudden growth spurt in his middle age.
8. VEGETA ADMITS HE'S MOST ATTRACTED TO BULMA'S PUSHY PERSONALITY
Vegeta flat out admits this fact in Super, but with how fleeting it is you could easily forget that he confirmed something long-suspected about Saiayans: they are attracted to strong-willed partners. This is something a lot of fans have joked about due to Bulma and Chi-Chi both being known for being hot-headed and domineering. But it's interesting to hear Vegeta openly acknowledge that what appealed to him about Bulma is that she stood up to him.
However, it's hard to say whether Vegeta is just using his personal taste as a generalization for all other Saiyans. From what we have seen of Goku's parents, Bardock and Gine, they don't fit Vegeta's description that well. Gine is actually shown being more of a homemaker rather than a fighter. Still, Chi-Chi and Bulma take care of their homes, so maybe Gine just has a more fierce side we haven't been shown.
7. IN FUTURE TRUNKS' TIMELINE, BULMA AND VEGETA WERE JUST A FLING
Due to the villains having a lot more success in Future Trunks' timeline, a lot of events wound up changing. For one, thanks to Vegeta dying at the hands of Androids 17 and 18, the Saiyan never wound up having anything more with Bulma than a brief fling. Future Trunks confirms this himself, no doubt getting the story from Future Bulma. Obviously Vegeta and Bulma were still together long enough to have Trunks, but they didn't have the time needed to form a lasting relationship.
The tragedy never really stopped in the future timeline for Trunks and Bulma, though. They survived the arrival of Cell and Buu, but when Goku Black appeared, Bulma was one of the victims killed. So Future Trunks never got to know his timeline's version of his dad, lost his mom, and never got to meet his sister either. Future Trunks really has had a rough life, even by Dragon Ball standards.
6. VEGETA'S FIRST WORDS TO BULMA WERE A THREAT TO KILL HER
Lots of couples have stories about how they first met and what led them to fall in love. Chi-Chi pretty much instantly fell for Goku, but he was totally oblivious to it, so it made for a funny introduction. But Bulma and Vegeta might skip telling how they met to some of their friends, given that their story is far less charming. Though Bulma first saw Vegeta on TV when he invaded Earth, she didn't actually meet him in person until they encountered on Namek.
At the time, all Vegeta cared about was getting the Dragon Balls to wish for immortality. He didn't care at all about the Z Fighters and had no problem leaving them for dead. When Vegeta wanted the Dragon Balls from the heroes, he had no trouble blatantly threatening to kill them if they didn't hand the Dragon Balls over. Though in some versions of the story, he does later think of Bulma as being a gorgeous woman after meeting her, so apparently the seeds had been planted even then.
5. THANKS TO VEGETA'S TRAINING, HE HAS AGED FIVE YEARS AHEAD OF BULMA
It can be hard to tell what age Saiyans are since they stay in their prime for so long, but believe it or not, when Vegeta first showed up, he was only a year older than Bulma. She was 29, while Vegeta was 30. Due to Vegeta's fixation on training, that age gap between them has increased by an additional five years.
In the universal tournament saga of Super Bulma is 47 and Vegeta is now 53. This is thanks to Vegeta's training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, where time passes far more quickly than outside the chamber. Multiple training sessions in the chamber only amounted to a few days past in the outside world, but for Vegeta several years went by.
Of course this is nothing compared to some of the other age changes Dragon Ball has seen. For instance Emperor Pilaf and his gang have regressed back into being children thanks to a wish using the Dragon Balls. Still, Bulma might be hoping Vegeta takes it easy before he's old enough to be her dad.
4. THEIR DAUGHTER'S AGE HAS FLUCTUATED
Something that confused many people during Dragon Ball Super was the situation involving Pan and Bulla. Prior to Super, most people knew these characters best from Dragon Ball GT, where Pan looks like a preteen girl, and Bulla looks like a teenager. Because of this, many people believe that Bulla is the older girl. The Dragon Ball guidebook Daizenshuu 7 also seems to confirm this, saying Bulla was born in the year 778 and Pan in 779. However, none of this is actually true, according to DBZ or Super.
All other sources on the age of both girls has Pan still being listed as being born in 779, while Bulla is supposed to have been born in 780. This shocked many fans who were convinced Bulla was older. Super seems to have finally put the situation to rest by showing Bulla being born after Pan, but Vegeta and Bulma's daughter has caused a lot of confusion.
3. VEGETA HAS NEVER DEFEATED ANYONE WHO ATTACKED BULMA
Like Goku, Vegeta is not into getting a paying job since he'd rather train. Vegeta feels his contribution to the household balances out because he is a protector, but his track record in that regard isn't so good.
We see this going all the way back to DBZ, where Bulma and baby Trunks are nearly blown out of the sky by Android 20, but Vegeta doesn't do a thing to try and save them. Vegeta grew more compassionate with time, but his success at avenging Bulma is still abysmal. He certainly had no luck at getting revenge against Buu after the villain killed Bulma.
Everyone recalls Vegeta getting furious and attacking Beerus after the latter slaps Bulma, but Vegeta soon lost that battle. Then, when Frieza returned in Super and endangered Bulma by firing an energy blast at her during his fight with Goku, Vegeta stopped the blast, but never managed to defeat Frieza. Lastly we saw this again when Bulma tried to subdue Zamasu by pretending to be attracted to him, only for Zamasu to render her unconscious. Once again, Vegeta failed to beat Zamasu, leaving him with a really bad success rate of defending his wife.
2. THEIR DAUGHTER WAS ALMOST NAMED AFTER AN ONION
This one probably isn't a big secret if you're the type of person who knows Akira Toriyama names his characters according to themes (like all of Frieza's race having cold-related names), but you may have missed it if you aren't a vegetable aficionado. In the episode of Super where Bulma reveals her and Vegeta's daughter will be named Bulla, Vegeta initially protests. He says he wants to give her a Saiyan name, suggesting Eschalot. That's probably not a word most people have heard, but an eschalot is just an onion.
This fits with the theme of how all the pure-blooded Saiyans in Dragon Ball have vegetable-related names. But it makes sense that this would get shut down since Bulla is not a pure Saiyan. Still, lots of people noticed Bulla's head was basically drawn like an onion, so the joke is conveyed, even if you don't know what an eschalot is. Though Eschalot might have been a better name since everyone in Bulma's family is named after underwear, so Bulla is really a word that means Bra.
1. THEY BOTH HAVE SECRET SIBLINGS
Having family members that appear out of nowhere sure is a common occurrence in Dragon Ball. DBZ kicks off with Goku finding out he has a long lost brother named Raditz, and then Frieza's dad King Cold pops up out of nowhere to save his son, followed shortly after by Trunks arriving from the future and announcing he's the son of Vegeta and Bulma. So when it turned out Vegeta and Bulma had more relatives they never once mentioned, it was quite par for the course.
In Vegeta's case, his brother Tarble is non-canon since he only appeared in the one-off story “Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!”, but it definitely got pretty ridiculous with how many Saiyans had survived the total annihilation of their species at this point.
As for Bulma? She really has no excuse since her sister Tights actually is canon, first appearing in Jaco the Galactic Patrolman. Apparently Bulma just never mentioned her sister for like fifteen years, not even to invite Tights to her wedding.
---
What do you think has been Vegeta and Bulma's best Dragon Ball moment together? Share your thoughts in the comments!