6. Dragon Ball Z - Vegeta
Dragon Ball Z is one of the most popular anime shows of all time; if you were a kid during the days of Toonami then it is more than likely that you watched this show. Dragon Ball Z was a sequel to Dragon Ball and continued the story of Goku and his friends- after a brief introduction to what would be the story of the series- we got straight into the action. The main villain of the first saga was Vegeta, the prince of Gokus now destroyed home planet. Vegeta was of course defeated but this loss set him up for the best character arc in the entire show. Like Piccolo before him, Vegeta found himself having to team up with Goku and the Z fighters, all the while maintaining a tight grip on his pride. It was this pride that would consistently be his downfall and provided some of the most memorable moments in the series. Like his death at the hands of Freeza, when he breaks down in tears as Goku and we the viewers discover why he is so desperate for supreme power, or foolishly allowing Cell to attain his perfect form when he could have easily killed him and saved a number of lives- including his own sons. Each time a new threat would arrive Goku- if no one else- held out hope that he would finally get over his ego and truly become trustworthy. Eventually he did. As Dragon Ball Z went on Vegeta would shed a bit more of his Sayian armour, symbolising his growing comfort in his surrounding on the Earth. After one last egotistical power trip, Vegeta finally set his rivalry with Goku aside and sacrificed himself in an attempt to end the threat of Buu. His sacrifice in vain as Buu survived, some would argue that this would have been the fitting end for Vegeta, but this is Dragon Ball so that means he came back to life- again. From this point on- with the story finally coming to its conclusion- Vegeta had come full circle. He was now willingly teaming with his greatest enemy, accepting that Goku was stronger than him and fully embracing his place as an adopted Earthling. In a show that has been criticised for moving at a snails pace and leaving certain characters in a state of stagnation, Vegetas road to redemption is one that can be tracked from his first appearance in Dragon Ball Z to the last. His story is a brilliantly executed character piece, in a genre of Anime not particularly well known for it.