hi friends! this is a quick run-down on the character vegeta, in case you aren't very familiar with him outside of screaming power dudes. this is all canonical info--check out my about + posts for hcs!
vegeta is the prince of the saiyan race. who are the saiyans? well, they were an elite class of alien warriors who had a passion for conquering. think of them a little like space vikings.
and where are they now? dead as can be! vegeta is the last full-blooded survivor of his royal lineage, with his father dying with their people. his planet was blown up by the entity known as frieza who he would go on to unfortunately serve for many, many years. his planet and people died when he was five.
what IS a saiyan, though? as aforementioned, they were a warrior race! specifically, they are a strange sort of humanoid alien capable of using a planet's moon(s) to transform into great apes and more efficiently fuck up the places they're invading. when they aren't giant murder monkeys, they are perfectly human, but with a fluffy monkey's tail! every time they heal from battle, they grow stronger, because idk warrior stuff. they are capable of flight, superhuman strength, superhuman speed, and can channel their energy into physical blasts capable of exploding planets.
and frieza...? vegeta worked under frieza, a glorified evil space realtor, under the pretense of being taken in due to his planet being struck and destroyed by a meteor. he was a child, so he did not know any better, but frieza was the actual reason for the planet's destruction. vegeta worked under him until his approximate mid-twenties, when the events of dbz occurred, clearing out planets to sell, and slowly gathering his strength to try and one day be free of frieza.
post-frieza? after getting killed by frieza (but being brought back by the infinite-life-giving dragon balls bcuz death is only permanent if u don't believe hard enough), vegeta goes through a whole manga's worth of a redemption cycle. he is the poster boy for just... being redeemed by existing. he is a grumpy, angry man with a lot of unresolved trauma who eventually finds a family and peace on earth, but ONLY after a lot of murder. so much murder. and an intense definitely-not-gay rivalry with goku self-imposed and made to last by vegeta.
also he's rly short. he's 5'5". a tiny man, full of tiny man rage. he has a history of breaking in the faces and kneecaps of people who underestimate him for it.