Vegeta Saga

The Vegeta Saga, also known as the Saiyan Saga or Saiya-jin Saga, is the first saga from the Dragon Ball Z series. It follows the Piccolo Jr. Saga and precedes the Namek Saga. This saga aired in Japan in 1989 and 1990. It comprises US season 1. It was later included in the FUNimation Season One Remastered Box Set, which also includes the first 4 episodes of the Namek Saga and on the FUNimation Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Box Volume 1 Set.

Its main plot concerns the arrival of three humanoid aliens, known as "Saiyans", to Earth, looking for Goku first, and the Dragon Balls later. The most powerful of these Saiyans is Vegeta. The saga covers the arrival of the first of these Saiyans, Raditz, and his fight against his brother Goku and Piccolo. It then covers the subsequent training and preparation for the arrival of the other two Saiyans, Nappa and Vegeta. Finally, it covers the fight between the Z Fighters and the two powerful Saiyans, culminating in the climactic battle between Goku and Vegeta. On the section which details the climactic battles of each saga, Daizenshuu 2 splits the Saiyan Saga into two arcs: the Raditz Saga (which ends with the fight against Raditz) and the Vegeta Saga (which ends with the fight with Vegeta).

Plot
The Vegeta Saga begins five years after the events in the Piccolo Jr. Saga depicted at the end of Dragon Ball. A reunion at the Kame House reunites Goku with his old master, Master Roshi, and his friends Krillin and Bulma, who all have not seen each other in five years. Goku surprises everyone by bringing along his four-year old son, Gohan. Unfortunately, the reunion is interrupted by the arrival of a mysterious being, who identifies himself as a Saiyan by the name of Raditz. Raditz identifies Goku as Kakarot and berates him for not completing his "mission". Further complicating matters, Raditz also claims that Goku is from the same Saiyan race as he is, and that he and Goku are in fact brothers. Goku and Krillin understandably think that Raditz is nuts, however Roshi reveals that there may be some truth to the Saiyan's words. In a major turning point in the series, Master Roshi reveals that Goku's adopted grandfather, Grandpa Gohan, found a strange space capsule in the woods containing baby Goku. As a baby, Goku was violent and ill-tempered, though one day he fell down a ravine and suffered severe head trauma, which in turn changed Goku into the happy, amicable child that everyone came to know and love.

Gohan, who had been watching helplessly from inside Raditz's pod, manages to blow the pod apart upon hearing his father's screams. Raditz's scouter detects the child's power level to be 1,307, substantially higher than that of Goku and Piccolo. The infuriated Gohan charges at Raditz, who is unable to react in time, and receives a swift head-butt to the chest, breaking his Saiyan Armor. Gohan's power level soon drops back to 1; and Raditz realizes that Gohan's power is affected by his emotions. Raditz quickly smacks Gohan aside, but is still physically hurt by the previous attack. Goku, using what little strength he has left, leaps up and locks Raditz in a full nelson. Raditz is unable to break free, and Goku tells Piccolo to try his attack again. Piccolo does not hesitate to comply, knowing that the beam will kill Goku as well; though he knows that Goku's friends will most likely use the Dragon Balls to resurrect him, he is nonetheless satisfied with killing his archenemy. He fires off another Special Beam Cannon, and Raditz, held by Goku, is unable to dodge it again, and the beam penetrates through both Raditz and Goku, mortally wounding both of them. Raditz curses Piccolo, but commends his brother's spirit. Piccolo informs Raditz that Goku will be wished back to life using the Dragon Balls. Raditz, with his dying breath, retorts by saying that the scouter on his head acts as a transmitter as well, and that the other two Saiyans will come to Earth and avenge his death. Piccolo, upset at Raditz's cockiness, delivers an early deathblow to him.

Krillin, Master Roshi, and Bulma arrive at the scene, to find Raditz dead and Goku dying. Though they can bring him back with the Dragon Balls, Krillin takes watching his friend die very hard. Shortly after he expires, however, Goku's body vanishes. Piccolo takes that to mean that the Guardian of Earth, Kami, has plans for Goku in the Other World. Piccolo then surprisingly regenerates his arm, tells the others of the impending arrival of two more powerful Saiyans, and picks up the unconscious Gohan, with the intention of training the child to fight the Saiyans. The others protest, but can do nothing to stop Piccolo.

Meanwhile, Kami calls together the strongest fighters on Earth in order to train them for the arrival of the Saiyans. The fighters selected to train on Kami's Lookout are Krillin, Tien Shinhan, Yamcha, Chiaotzu, and Yajirobe. Six months pass, Gohan is surviving in the desert and Goku is still running down Snake Way. Piccolo decides that Gohan's survival training is finished, and begins to personally train him. Also, in the original anime (it is removed in Dragon Ball (Z) Kai), the Saiyans destroy planet Arlia on their way to Earth

Upon their arrival, the Saiyans Nappa and Vegeta immediately destroy the city they landed in. Vegeta, wanting to find the Dragon Balls, uses his scouter to determine the location of the strongest warrior on the planet, whom he presumes to be the one who killed Raditz. They head off towards Piccolo and Gohan. Piccolo and Gohan sense the incoming powers, as well as several smaller ones, who turn out to be Krillin, Yamcha, Tien, and Chiaotzu. The Saiyans arrive. When Krillin arrives, Nappa and Vegeta also reveal that they came to Earth to use the Dragon Balls for immortality. The Saiyans recognize Piccolo as being a Namekian. This revelation about his true origin shocks Piccolo for a while, with Kami also realizing that his creating the Dragon Balls was some kind of racial memory from his Namekian heritage. Nappa decides to let Saibamen beat up the fighters first, and plants seeds in the ground, which sprout and become six small green aliens. Tien fights one first, and easily bests it. Upon seeing this, Vegeta deduces that the fighters are concealing their power and easily destroys the defenseless Saibaman for its incompetence. Yamcha goes after another Saibaman, and seemingly defeats it with a Kamehameha. However, it instantly stands up again and latches on to him and self-destructs, killing both of them. An enraged Krillin snaps and launches a devastating Expanding Energy Wave blast that splits off into six separate blasts, one for each remaining Saibaman and one for each of the two Saiyans.

Goku tells Vegeta that he wants to fight elsewhere so as to not destroy the bodies of his friends. They head off to a desert, while Gohan and Krillin fly back towards the Kame House. Vegeta implies that not many low-class warriors like Goku get to spar with the elite like Vegeta, but Goku replies that even a lower-class reject can surpass the elite if he tries hard enough. Goku and Vegeta begin to fight, and appear to be evenly matched. Vegeta tells Goku to release his hidden power, to which Goku complies. He engages the Kaio-ken, however Vegeta manages to defend against it. Vegeta powers up a great deal himself, and Goku uses the Kaio-ken x2, however, he still is not a match for Vegeta. Finally, Goku concentrates all of his energy into a Kaio-ken x3, raising his power level to 24,000, which worries King Kai. In this form, Goku gains the upperhand, and forces Vegeta to use one of his signature attacks. Flying straight up into the air, Vegeta powers up and unleashes his Galick Gun at Goku and the earth. Unable to move for fear of letting the blast hit the earth, Goku charges up to Kaio-ken x3 again and launches his own Kamehameha at Vegeta. The two blasts collide intensely, and Goku finally gains the upper hand by stepping up his Kaio-ken to x4. The Kamehameha overpowers Vegeta, who goes flying into the air. However, this leaves Goku's body devastated.

Yajirobe attacks the Saiyan with his sword, but this only distracts Vegeta for a moment, and Vegeta lashes out at the cowardly Yajirobe, knocking him into some mountains. Goku, telepathically, tells Gohan to look at the sky, which Gohan does, much to Vegeta's dismay. Gohan transforms into a Great Ape, and, while initially attacking everything, begins to concentrate only on Vegeta with his father's voice. After a beating from Great Ape Gohan, Vegeta manages to cut off Gohan's tail with a Destructo Disc, however he has no energy left to move out of the way of the de-transforming ape, and is crushed by Gohan. When the dust clears, Krillin is the only one left capable of moving. He grabs Yajirobe's katana that he dropped earlier, and staggers over to Vegeta, determined to stop him and put him down. Barely alive, Vegeta calls for his ship using a its control remote, however, Krillin gets to him before it arrives. Krillin is just about to kill Vegeta when Goku telepathically tells Krillin to spare him. In an emotional scene, Goku convinces Krillin to let Vegeta live because he had never fought someone so strong and this made him more excited than scared. Because of this, Goku desires to have a rematch with him someday; he also expresses a belief that Vegeta may learn mercy and reform as Piccolo did. Though understandably skeptical, Krillin ultimately decides to trust Goku's judgment and lets Vegeta go. Vegeta vows to make Goku regret sparing him before he departs. The story is continued in the Namek Saga.

Major characters

 * Goku
 * Piccolo
 * Vegeta
 * Krillin
 * Gohan
 * Yajirobe
 * Chiaotzu
 * Tien Shinhan
 * Yamcha
 * Nappa


 * Saibamen

Supporting characters

 * Bulma
 * King Kai
 * Kami
 * Master Roshi
 * Chi-Chi
 * Fortuneteller Baba
 * Oolong
 * Puar
 * Launch
 * Korin
 * Mr. Popo
 * Ox-King
 * Turtle
 * Bubbles
 * Gregory
 * Frieza (Kai only)
 * Bardock (Kai only)
 * Grandpa Gohan
 * King Piccolo (Kai only)