King Vegeta

Japanese Names: Bejīta Ō (ベジータ王)Name Pun: Vegetable (first half)FUNimation Name: King VegetaSilver Shenron Name: King VegetaOther Names: N/ARace: SaiyanHeight: 6'2"Weight: 241 Lbs. Birth Year: Age 700 CircaDeath Year: Age 737Hobbies: N/AFavorite Food: N/AFavorite Vehicle: N/AFirst Appears: Chapter 296 [Manga], Episode 078 [Anime, DBZ]Appearances: DBZ, DBGTSeiyuu: Banjo Ginga, Masaharu SatoVoice Actor: Christopher R. SabatKing Vegeta looks very much like Vegeta  himself, only with a beard and brown hair. He wears the Vegeta Royal Family Crest on the left side of his armor, as did Prince Vegeta as a child. He also has a large crest on the seat of his throne. His name, like his son's, is a pun on "vegetable".King Vegeta's power level is unknown, as it was never actually stated. As a Saiyan warrior, it was remarked that he was far less powerful than his son Vegeta was even as a child. However, this opinion came from Vegeta himself — who did not have a high opinion of his father. During Bardock: The Father of Goku, the doctors working on Bardock after his injury sustained on Planet Kanassa, stated that his power level was nearing 10,000 (same as Broli), and was expected to pass up King Vegeta in a short time.

King Vegeta appears to be a level-headed, stoic, and honorable man and a symbol of Saiyan pride. Although he is "King", he has come to terms with the fact that his people have no real freedom under "Lord Freeza", but he does not let this feeling on to his people. One important aspect of King Vegeta is that he was the only person Vegeta truly loved for most of his life. When Freeza fatally wounded Vegeta, he explained to Goku that, apparently, the reason why he served Freeza was because Freeza threatened his father. Somewhat, as might be expected of Vegeta's father, he has a rough-mannered personality, and instantly wipes out some of his underlings after getting irritated at them for being unable to capture a planet by the scheduled day.

King Vegeta became an important figure at the time when the Tsufuru-jins and the Saiyans lived together on Planet Plant. In 720 Age, he alone was smart enough to rally and lead his people against the Tsufuru-jins in a conflict that raged for ten long years; this event was the Saiyan/Tsufuru-jin war. After the war's end in 730 Age, the planet was renamed Planet Vegeta in his honor.

Some time after, the Saiyan became space-farers, and eventually came under the dominance of Freeza. Though reluctantly, King Vegeta pledged his allegiance to Freeza, knowing the Saiyans weren't powerful enough to defeat him. The Saiyans worked under Freeza for several years. After marrying an unnamed queen, King Vegeta bared his first child in 732 Age, Prince Vegeta. The young prince would later be given to Freeza under unknown circumstances. As revealed in the JSAT 2008 Special, Dragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!, King Vegeta had a second son named Tarble, whom was deemed inferior and weak, thus sent away from Planet Vegeta as an infant.

In 737 Age, prior to Freeza's attack on Planet Vegeta, King Vegeta realized that Freeza had no further use for the Saiyans and no longer needed them around. According to an anime-only flashback, he decides to rebel against Freeza's oppression and mounts an assault on Freeza's capital ship.

When he arrives in Freeza's chamber room, Zarbon and Dodoria bear witness as Freeza kills him with a single punch to the jaw, after Freeza dodged his punch without effort. The Saiyan elites that followed were also killed by Freeza. Shortly thereafter, Freeza launches his final assault and destroys Planet Vegeta and the entire remaining population of the Saiyan race.

In Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan, King Vegeta was seen in a flashback by Broli's father Paragus. In this flashback it is seen that King Vegeta ordered newborn Broli to be executed due to his extremely extraordinary power level of 10,000. This amount of power was seen as a possible threat to the royal Saiyan family, so Broli was ordered for execution immediately. Paragus attempted to change King Vegeta's mind, but was blasted with a powerful energy attack and thrown into a dump, along with his son. Ironically enough, Freeza would kill King Vegeta and destroy Planet Vegeta later that day.

Although he does not make a proper appearence in the OVA Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans, King Vegeta is momentarily seen in a flash back and is also mentioned at certain points throughout the movie.

King Vegeta is only seen in some original scenes created for the anime. As he is an anime-only character, he is not considered by most fans to be part of the greater Dragon Ball canon (Vegeta is acknowledged to have a father, the King of Planet Vegeta; however, even though Toriyama did contribute to his creation, the specific anime characterization of King Vegeta is not canon to the manga). King Vegeta's appearance is never shown nor described in the manga (and he is not named), but he is only directly mentioned briefly in a single piece of dialogue of Freeza and Vegeta. In that dialogue, he was said to have been surpassed by his son, Vegeta, as a child. All other lines referring to him aren't direct references at all.