Continuing with my rewatch of ‘Dragon Ball Z’ and the 2nd episode has established the Saiyan lore. We learn Goku’s backstory. Where he came from. Why he has a tail and turns into a big ape. Why he is unusually strong and powerful. What his mission and purpose was before he became Earth’s saviour. This is why Dragon Ball Z is the pinnacle show in the Dragon Ball franchise. It gives us the answers we wanted all along about Goku and the Saiyan race. This lore is what eventually introduces us to Prince Vegeta. It’s this character that is my favourite.
The proud but not quite yet noble Prince of all Saiyans.
He doesn’t show up yet but very soon he will be introduced into the show and I’m so excited for it because it’s this character that makes DBZ work.
At the moment we’re just dealing with Goku’s brother Raditz who is really only here to tell us the Saiyan lore.
He isn’t a significant character to the story even if he is Goku’s biological brother. He is defeated pretty quickly.
But Vegeta - who arrives with his henchman Nappa - is the character of all-time within Dragon Ball franchise.
He is the Yin to Goku’s Yang and he makes the story of DBZ truly work and hit. Without Vegeta it’s just another fantasy story about heroic deeds and saving innocents - which is fine. Those stories are great on their own. 👍
But every now and then you need a villain who chooses heroism. You need a Vegeta, a Xena, a Zuko, a Spike.
You NEED the other side of the coin for it to really work.
Goku could have been that character if he didn’t forget his mission as a Saiyan and become the Earth’s hero out of nurture vs nature instead of an informed choice.
Choice is always what does it for me. If there’s no choice than I really don’t care about the theme of redemption or any storytelling surrounding that.
Choice is the point of it. If the character can’t choose than the reformation they undergo is nonconsensual.
Therefore it’s not truly sincere. It’s just what they think they need to do out of external influence or out of guilt.
Redemption has to be chosen by you even if it can’t be earned by you. Even if ultimately it has to be chosen for you because you don’t get to absolve yourself of your wrong actions and choices. That’s not true redemption.
You don’t get to choose WHEN you’re redeemed.
But you must choose to redeem yourself initially.
Otherwise the theme and storytelling means nothing because it does not have your expressed consent and therefore your entire heart is not put into achieving it.
Vegeta is the character that makes Goku work harder for what he wants out of who he actually is as opposed to who he has been told to be or nurtured to become.
Goku’s heart is only sincere because he is always faced with the opposite of who he is and the strength of his determination in protecting and defending the Earth is out of that fact. Without that opposite element, he is just doing what he has been nurtured to do by those he loves that depend on him. That’s not enough to turn the tide of his true nature as a destructive Saiyan warrior.
So thank the gods for Saiyan lore and for Prince Vegeta because we only truly understand who Goku is through an exploration of his backstory and what he could have been. It’s only DBZ that goes deep into this storytelling and that’s why it’s my most favourite in the franchise. I feel like heroic stories only really work and hit when it’s pulled into exploration of the themes of redemption, of forgiveness and of vengeance because you need to see WHY anyone wants to be a hero or a martyr or a saviour.
Is it who they truly are as a person or have they just been conditioned or corrupted into it? Chosen for it?
The answer often lies in the dichotomy of yin-yang.
Vegeta isn’t just a character that is great on his own.
He makes other characters great too by being Vegeta.
Storytelling and characterization like that is so fucking hard to come across in this day and age of TV shows. I blame it partially on the fact that they’re not long-form and therefore don’t have the time to flesh all of that out.
But at the end of the day that’s a pitiful excuse because I know writers that can create one-episode characters and still provide much more depth and detail to them than some writers today can provide in lead characters.
Steven L. Sears for example. An exceptional TV writer who knows how to do a lot in very little time to do it and has created guest starring one-episode characters that feel more alive and real and strong than most lead ones.
It’s down to the creator’s intention. It is always down to the creator’s intention. And quite frankly - if you can’t do it properly, then get the fuck out of the writing room.
Because I will not watch poorly written TV storytelling.
