Why didn't Vegeta's tail grow back?

[Jeff Styles]

I mean, Vegeta himself says it'll grow back again...

 

[Papasmurf]

Getting his shit kicked in by Freeza and tail-choked scared it from ever growing back

 

[Void]

They seemed to outgrow the need for it. GT contradicts this, but GT is retarded so it doesn't really matter.

 

[Spiral-Force]

They seemed to outgrow the need for it. GT contradicts this, but GT is retarded so it doesn't really matter.

Well in GT, there was a clear need for it; using it as a gateway to Super Saiyan 4. At least they didn't have their tails randomly grow back; Goku had to get his fully pulled out in a painful procedure, and Vegeta temporarily got his back with the Blutz Wave Generator.

 

[Void]

Why would Vegeta's tail disappear after he reverted back? I always thought that was weird.

 

[Spiral-Force]

Guess that's just a side effect of using the machine without already having a tail.

 

[Let's Go Fearless!]

Toriyama abandoned it once the Zenkai and SSjin forms became a thing.

 

[withheldforprivacy]

I theorize there is a limit at oozaru power. Once a Saiyan surpasses that limit in his normal form, he no longer needs to transform, so his tail does not grow back.

 

[The_Authority]

It's plot-based -- like all things in Dragon Ball. There was no longer a need for it, so it never grew back. If you are unhappy with that, then you could believe that it would have grown back, but Vegeta died before it did, which made it a permanent thing. That's not a great explanation seeing as Tenshinhan's arm was restored when he died, but you could attribute that to Enma choosing to restore it when he let Tenshinhan keep his body, which Vegeta didn't have that treatment.

Death is really inconsistent in the series. Goku dies with a hole in his chest, comes back perfectly fine. Okay. Tenshinhan dies without an arm, comes back with two arms... even though his corpse still had one arm. Cool. Why do Tenshinhan's and Yamucha's scars not heal? Why was Kuririn's soul returned to his physical body in Dragon Ball, but in Z, his body was destroyed and he just pops out of thin air?

The point is, if you want a simple explanation, just blame it on Vegeta dying before he grew his tail back lol