Was Vegeta an anti hero in the Cell arc?
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I don't think he felt any allegiance to Earth or its fighters until the Boo arc. He had too many villainous moments until the Cell Games for him to be considered any type of hero, particularly when he made Cell perfect and beat his son for getting in the way. And he joined the CG only to avenge his previous defeat against Cell, not with any intention of saving Earth.
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He’s a antagonist.
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This was like the will he or won't he saga. His intentions were never evil, albeit they were selfish and stupid.
So while he has anti-hero vibes he is fully a Z fighter. At least Piccolo was planning to conquer the world after he beat the Saiyans.
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Eh, do you think Vegeta felt more like a Z warrior in the androids saga than Piccolo did in the Saiyans saga? Idk...
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Honestly yes. Piccolo was still in the Demon clan until he sacrificed himself for Gohan.
Vegeta on the other hand had no real reason to return to Earth unless he tacitly signed up for Z Senshi membership.
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Not really. Cell Saga Vegeta is him at his most obnoxious. I think Vegeta serves as far more of an anti-hero on Namek because even though he's a villain we get glimpses into his tragic upbringing, where he then acts smart and makes good decisions that serve both himself and the other Z fighters. In the Cell Saga he's far more self serving and sort of gets what's coming to him because of his arrogance. He's always arrogant sure but at least on Namek he wasn't blinded by it.
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He was still evil. Just shared a common cause with the actual good guys, which was wanting to beat the Androids and Cell. He may have not functioned as an antagonist at this point in the story, but he was by no means a hero. Calling him one, even an antihero, just because he beat up bad guys is a reach.
Vegeta doesn't qualify as an antihero at all until the tail-end of the Cell arc when he helps Gohan kill Cell. Even then, calling him an antihero is a bit of a stretch when he only cared about one person other than himself. In the Boo arc, although he was pretty much part of the Dragon Team, he didn't go to Bobbidi's spaceship out of any desire to protect anyone; he just wanted to stop anything that was getting in the way of his fight with Goku. Eventually, his impatience got the best of him and he basically sold his soul just to fight Goku, even choosing to kill hundreds of civilians. He sacrificed his life against Fat Boo, but he was just doing that to protect Bulma and Trunks. Caring about two people doesn't make you a hero. Nor does forcing the very same people you killed to help out against a threat you created, which is what Vegeta does when he suggests the Genkidama.
To be honest, the only time Vegeta came off as truly heroic in DBZ was when he protected civilians from Hildegarn, but that's non-canon. The first time he "canonically" comes off like a hero is when he defends the Namekians from Moro in DBS. Still, when you've already killed so many people, you're always gonna be a piece of shit. Vegeta is still scum at the end of the day.
Vegeta doesn't qualify as an antihero at all until the tail-end of the Cell arc when he helps Gohan kill Cell. Even then, calling him an antihero is a bit of a stretch when he only cared about one person other than himself. In the Boo arc, although he was pretty much part of the Dragon Team, he didn't go to Bobbidi's spaceship out of any desire to protect anyone; he just wanted to stop anything that was getting in the way of his fight with Goku. Eventually, his impatience got the best of him and he basically sold his soul just to fight Goku, even choosing to kill hundreds of civilians. He sacrificed his life against Fat Boo, but he was just doing that to protect Bulma and Trunks. Caring about two people doesn't make you a hero. Nor does forcing the very same people you killed to help out against a threat you created, which is what Vegeta does when he suggests the Genkidama.
To be honest, the only time Vegeta came off as truly heroic in DBZ was when he protected civilians from Hildegarn, but that's non-canon. The first time he "canonically" comes off like a hero is when he defends the Namekians from Moro in DBS. Still, when you've already killed so many people, you're always gonna be a piece of shit. Vegeta is still scum at the end of the day.
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Piccolo "Junior" was never part of the Demon clan. This is confirmed when Goku and Raditz's spirits pass into the afterlife after Piccolo kills them. Victims of real demons go into limbo.
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Pretty much. He was technically part of the Z-Warriors, but he wasn't actually a good guy at all at that point as shown when he helped Cell achieve perfect form just so he can have a good fighter (Goku would never try to hurt anyone for the sake of a good fight).
At the same time, he wasn't evil like he was during the Saiyan and Namek arcs (his deathbed must've gotten a lot of shit off his chest) as he called out Cell (in his own way) for attacking Krillin unprovoked and felt guilt for the first time after getting Gohan injured by Cell.
At the same time, he wasn't evil like he was during the Saiyan and Namek arcs (his deathbed must've gotten a lot of shit off his chest) as he called out Cell (in his own way) for attacking Krillin unprovoked and felt guilt for the first time after getting Gohan injured by Cell.
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Eh, I think I might have, somewhat, wrongly thought of what an anti hero meant, never searched for the words meaning besides guess work. Always took it more like a not part of the heroes, but not a villain, more like someone who's in with the heroes in the cause but to which most characters still have a cautious and weird and a little scary feeling towards, like a grey area.
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Porunga reviving Vegeta when asked to revive the good guys never made any sense, unless the Namekian definition of “good guy” is very broad.
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God is forgiving.
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Piccolo gave Gohan the demon clan gi with his clothes beam attack.
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A wannabe demon ain't a demon.
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Pretty sure the implication was that Piccolo mellowed out since the last Budokai. He was as evil as always before that.
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Even Goku told Gohan that Piccolo wasn't as evil before they saw each other again when Raditz appeared.
Piccolo hadn't killed anyone for 8 years since his birth. He wasn't as bad as the Demon King Piccolo.
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I'd say he was an antihero. He was fighting the killers of humankind, but without typical hero qualities. Does he slip into being an antagonist at any point in the Android/Cell Saga? You could say he did when trying to help Cell to transform and directly opposing Krillin and Trunks - but I'd say no, because he still had the same main goal as the Z crew, which was to defeat Gero's weapons. He wanted to face Cell's strongest form, but it doesn't change that he wanted to kill Cell. He'd be an antagonist if he wanted to help Cell to defeat everyone or if he was helping Cell to transform while letting him kill loads of humans (not just Android 18, who was an enemy anyway). Instead he's an anti-hero, because he has the same goal, but just has a slightly different idea of how to achieve it and maybe different motivations.
Was he a Z-fighter? For viewers he was a Z fighter when he turned up for Freeza and Cold's arrival, dressed like a flamingo. He'd fought alongside them already, only Z fighters turned up there, plus him having a kid with Bulma was revealed.
In-universe, against King Cold I wouldn't call him a Z fighter, since nobody liked him, talked to him or wanted him around lol, except maybe Bulma.
Against Cell I'll say he was at minimum a fringe Z fighter, because he'd already been training with Trunks, saved Goku and the others included him in their plans.
Against the androids I'm not sure. Did the others want him to be there? I can't remember if the Z fighters talked about Vegeta between the end of the timeskip and him arriving.
Was he a Z-fighter? For viewers he was a Z fighter when he turned up for Freeza and Cold's arrival, dressed like a flamingo. He'd fought alongside them already, only Z fighters turned up there, plus him having a kid with Bulma was revealed.
In-universe, against King Cold I wouldn't call him a Z fighter, since nobody liked him, talked to him or wanted him around lol, except maybe Bulma.
Against Cell I'll say he was at minimum a fringe Z fighter, because he'd already been training with Trunks, saved Goku and the others included him in their plans.
Against the androids I'm not sure. Did the others want him to be there? I can't remember if the Z fighters talked about Vegeta between the end of the timeskip and him arriving.
