Vegeta and Goku have been competing for the title of ‘strongest Saiyan’ since they first crossed paths in Dragon Ball canon, and while fans have widely accepted that Goku has that title locked down, it was actually already revealed at the start of Dragon Ball Super that Vegeta was the stronger of the two.
When Vegeta first fought Goku way back at the start of Dragon Ball Z, he was able to crush him (literally). However, that discrepancy in power would soon flip during the Frieza Saga, as Goku trained hard enough to not only surpass Vegeta, but also unlock the transformation of Super Saiyan. Before long, Vegeta would unlock the Super Saiyan form as well, at which point he was essentially a fully-reformed villain and member of the Z-Fighters. Therefore, Goku and Vegeta stopped trying to kill each other (for the most part) and actually trained together in order to increase both of their power levels. Still, every time that Vegeta made a step forward it was only to find out that Goku had already surpassed him, giving the impression that he would always be the second strongest Saiyan. However, even before the appearance of Ultra Ego, one sequence in Dragon Ball Super hint that Vegeta was hiding a power a lot stronger than Goku’s.
Lord Beerus Confirms Vegeta Was Stronger Than Goku In Dragon Ball Super
In Dragon Ball Super chapter #3 by Akira Toriyama and Toyotarou, Lord Beerus comes to Earth seeking the Super Saiyan God he believes he saw in a vision. Upon arriving at the planet, Beerus fights Gotenks (though ‘fight’ is a generous term), and smacks Bulma, who aggressively reprimands Beerus for being too violent with the kids, and for being an overall terrible guest. This leads Vegeta to scream his now-iconic “my Bulma” line before erupting in a massive surge of power. Vegeta attacks Beerus in a fit of blind rage, at which point Vegeta actually manages to get a few solid hits in. While they weren’t damaging to Lord Beerus in the slightest, Vegeta still did immensely better than Goku.
When Goku first fought Lord Beerus on King Kai’s world, he was powered up to Super Saiyan 3, and even then, he couldn’t make contact one single time. Beerus utterly humiliated SSJ3 Goku, meanwhile Vegeta was actually able to knock Beerus around a bit. The reason this is so impressive (even when none of Vegeta’s attacks actually did anything) is that Gods of Destruction can Ultra Instinct, even if they haven’t perfected it quite yet. Lord Beerus’ body should have avoided Vegeta’s attacks automatically like with Goku, but Vegeta proved to be faster, which is absolutely incredible – especially considering Vegeta was at a lower Super Saiyan level than Goku.
Vegeta’s Rage Made Him Faster Than Ultra Instinct
Goku couldn’t hit Lord Beerus when he was a Super Saiyan 3, and even after he unlocks Super Saiyan God, he doesn’t land any hits in the manga (but he does in the anime) while Vegeta was able to do so as a presumed Super Saiyan 2. This means Vegeta’s base strength was astronomically higher than Goku’s, as his Super Saiyan amplifier, boosted by his pure rage from seeing “his Bulma” hit, made his body faster than Beerus’ Ultra Instinct in Super Saiyan 2, while Goku wasn’t even close to that level of speed in Super Saiyan 3. In short, while it was only for a moment, Vegeta‘s fight with Lord Beerus proves that he was stronger than Goku right at the start of Dragon Ball Super.
