Vegeta is one of the better characters in the series, some would say the absolute best, but is that truly the case?
Vegeta was somewhat similar in his first two arcs to how Piccolo was, a villain without much depth in the first, before becoming a well rounded character in the next. I won't say much of Saiyan Arc Vegeta, as he had little to his personality different from villains such as Piccolo Daimao or 23rd TB Piccolo. The Freeza Arc is where he starts to shine and I'd even say it was his peak. His role in fighting against Freeza using strategy to turn every situation in his favour made him easily the most interesting character to watch in this arc. He did get somewhat hindered by his sudden obsession with the Super Saiyan being shoehorned in without much build up before Goku's arrival, though it's excusable compared to the other merits he provided. He was one of the few villains who Toriyama gave a justification for his actions, having been manipulated by Freeza for the most part and his plea for Goku to defeat Freeza was one of the most meaningful moments of character development in the series, allowing his arc to become whole. It was somewhat disappointing how quickly he gave up against Freeza though, considering all his scheming and opportunistic luck throughout almost a year of publication built up to him giving up after Freeza just dodging a few hits and deflecting a large Ki blast. Nevertheless, I believe his character was handled well enough here that I would've been fine with him remaining dead, whether or not the series were to end here.
This is in part due to the Cell Arc being a great disservice to his character. Until Trunks' death, Vegeta had completely regressed as a character. His hopes in Goku becoming the Super Saiyan were replaced with jealousy of not being one, making his speech before death seem meaningless. What's more, the clever opportunist of the Namek Arc was replaced with pure arrogance. I can tolerate it after he became a Super Saiyan due to what it meant for him at the time, but his attitude of believing it to be invincible was completely ridiculous due to already knowing Super Saiyan Trunks was nothing to the Artificial Humans. What's more, him letting Cell absorb #18 is a complete opposite of his Namek Arc self. On Namek, he'd kill any opponent when getting the chance. Him letting Freeza transform was justified as he already knew Freeza could do so and therefore fighting against his 1st form would just waste his energy when Freeza could instantly turn things around. Here, there was no justification beyond "muh Saiyan pride", altering what was previously a no-nonsence character into someone who extends the plot with CIS. His reaction to Trunks' death was good, but not enough to redeem his actions in this arc or equal his Namek Arc self.
The Boo Arc is where most would say his character peaked, but I'd disagree. For one, the changes in his personality as a result of having a family (something hindered by him explicitly saying so with exposition) happened completely offscreen. Beyond training Trunks for one chapter, we're not given many scenes to make his development seem believable. This is also hindered by him allowing Babidi to control him, effectively doing the exact same thing as against Cell just to extend the plot. His Final Explosion and words to Trunks were nowhere near as meaningful as his final words on Namek, since here the chance of him being revived was certain if anyone wished to, as all it'd take were two Shunkan Ido trips from Galu to get to Namek. His acceptance of Goku's superiority and willingness to fuse with him were good, but the former didn't hold as much weight as him begging Goku carry the torch for him on Namek and the fusion was just what any rational person would do in the situation anyway.
Vegeta is still one of the best developed characters in the series, but didn't have as much consistency with his development as Piccolo or Kuririn, nor the subtlety of it that the former did. Whilst I'd say these three are the best written characters in the series, I'd honestly place Vegeta as 3rd amongst them due to this.
I might also add that whilst he was the best developed of the three in Super for a while if counting it, the Tournament of Power ruined this by have him constantly flip-flopping between his current and Cell Arc personality and motives. For example, we're not given any indication that he's seriously fighting to protect the lives of Bulma and Trunks at all given his performance, with him seeming to only care about his superiority. One step forward, three or more steps back.
6/10
