Vegeta never just says “I.” He says “I, the prince of the Saiyans.” He never calls Goku “Goku” either — it is always カカロット, the Saiyan name Goku himself barely uses. That pride is written straight into his grammar, which makes Vegeta quotes in Japanese a brilliant lesson in how Japanese speakers show rank, respect and contempt with a single word. I teach Japanese, and below are ten of Vegeta’s best-known lines from Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super in the original Japanese, with rōmaji, a translation, the grammar underneath, and an honest note on which ones you could actually say to a person.
Can-you-use-it legend: ◎ = safe in real conversation · △ = fine in anime, odd in life · ✗ = don’t say this to a person.
Vegeta quotes in Japanese
| Japanese | Rōmaji | English | Use it? |
|---|---|---|---|
| がんばれカカロット…おまえがナンバー1だ!! | Ganbare Kakarotto… omae ga nanbā wan da!! | Go for it, Kakarot… you’re number one!! | ◎ Swap おまえ for a name |
| オレは……超ベジータだ!! | Ore wa… Sūpā Bejīta da!! | I am… Super Vegeta!! | △ Pure ego |
| サイヤ人は戦闘種族だっ!!なめるなよーーっ!!! | Saiya-jin wa sentō shuzoku da!! Nameru na yo!!! | Saiyans are a warrior race!! Don’t underestimate us!!! | ✗ Picks a fight |
| ……まるで超サイヤ人のバーゲンセールだな…… | …Marude Sūpā Saiya-jin no bāgen sēru da na… | …It’s like a bargain sale on Super Saiyans… | ◎ Great joke pattern |
| こんなもんじゃない……!!オレはベジータだ!!敵がいくら強くてもオレはさらにそれを超える!! | Konna mon ja nai…!! Ore wa Bejīta da!! Teki ga ikura tsuyokute mo ore wa sara ni sore o koeru!! | This isn’t all I’ve got!! I’m Vegeta!! No matter how strong the enemy, I’ll go even further beyond!! | △ Great grammar |
| 貴様のような下級戦士が超エリートに遊んでもらえるんだからな | Kisama no yō na kakyū senshi ga chō erīto ni asonde moraeru n da kara na | A low-class warrior like you gets to be played with by a super elite | ✗ Insult |
| 戦闘民族サイヤ人の王子のこの俺に、こんなものを着せるのか!! | Sentō minzoku Saiya-jin no ōji no kono ore ni, konna mono o kiseru no ka!! | You’d make me, the prince of the warrior-race Saiyans, wear this?! | △ Funny, but arrogant |
| へっ！きたねぇ花火だ | He! Kitanē hanabi da | Heh! What dirty fireworks | ✗ Cruel |
| トランクス……ブルマを……ママを大切にしろよ…… | Torankusu… Buruma o… Mama o taisetsu ni shiro yo… | Trunks… take good care of Bulma… of your mom… | ◎ Soften the ending |
| 身勝手の極意はカカロットがやればいい。俺のやり方で勝つ | Migatte no gokui wa Kakarotto ga yareba ii. Ore no yarikata de katsu | Ultra Instinct is for Kakarot. I’ll win my own way | ◎ Swap 俺 for 私 |
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The grammar underneath each line
がんばれカカロット — why Vegeta says “Kakarot” and not “Goku”
This is Vegeta’s most loved line, from the Majin Buu arc. It tops the fan poll on マイナビニュース, and the reason is the name. Everyone on Earth calls the hero 悟空 (Gokū). Vegeta refuses. He uses カカロット, Goku’s birth name from the Saiyan home world, because in his eyes Goku is a Saiyan first — and a low-class one at that. In Japanese, the name you choose for someone is a statement about your relationship. Calling a classmate by their family name plus さん, by their first name, or by a nickname all mean different things, and Vegeta’s カカロット says: “I know what you really are.”
The grammar itself is simple. がんばれ is the command form of 頑張る (“to try hard”), and as a cheer it is completely normal — crowds shout it at sports days all over Japan. おまえがナンバー1だ uses が to point at the one person who is number one: “you are the one.” Swap おまえ for a friend’s name and you have a lovely compliment: 〇〇ちゃんがナンバー1だよ！
貴様 — how “honoured sir” became an insult
Before his fight with Goku on Earth, Vegeta sneers 貴様のような下級戦士が超エリートに遊んでもらえるんだからな. Look at the kanji in 貴様 (kisama): 貴 means “noble, precious” and 様 is the most respectful name ending in the language. Centuries ago it really was a polite way to say “you,” used in letters to people of high rank.
Over time it slid all the way down. Japanese has a pattern linguists call “respect wearing out”: a word for “you” gets used so often that its politeness fades, until it sounds sarcastic and finally rude. お前 (literally “the one in front”) went the same way. Today 貴様 is the most hostile “you” you will hear in anime, and almost nobody uses it in real life except as a joke. It is a perfect word for a proud prince to throw at an enemy, and a terrible word to say to anyone else.
| “You” | Rōmaji | How it sounds today |
|---|---|---|
| 貴様 | kisama | Hostile, contemptuous — villains and rivals only ✗ |
| てめえ | temē | Street-fight rude ✗ |
| おまえ | omae | Rough; OK among close friends, rude to others △ |
| あなた | anata | Polite but distant; often avoided ◎ |
| Name + さん | …-san | The safe, everyday choice ◎ |
Teacher’s note: the real-life answer to “how do I say you?” is usually “use their name.” 田中さんはどう思いますか？ (“What do you think, Tanaka-san?”) is far more natural than any pronoun. Also notice 遊んでもらえる — 〜てもらう means “to receive a favour,” so Vegeta is mockingly saying Goku should feel grateful to be beaten up. In everyday speech the same grammar is warm: 先生に教えてもらった, “my teacher taught me (and I’m thankful).”
サイヤ人の王子のこの俺 — stacking titles in front of 俺
Early in his life on Earth, Vegeta is handed a pink shirt to wear and explodes: 戦闘民族サイヤ人の王子のこの俺に、こんなものを着せるのか!! The joke is in the grammar. Japanese puts descriptions before the noun, joined with の, so Vegeta can pile title upon title in front of the word for “me”: warrior race → Saiyans → prince → this → 俺. In English it would be “me, this prince of the Saiyans, the warrior race.” In Japanese the “me” arrives last, like a drumroll.
His “I” is 俺 (or オレ in katakana in many manga panels) — casual, masculine and confident, fine among friends but never for school or adults you don’t know. 着せる is also worth learning: 着る is “to wear,” and 着せる is “to make someone wear” or “to dress someone.” Parents use it every morning: 子どもに服を着せる, “dress the kids.”
まるで〜のバーゲンセールだな — the best Vegeta line to borrow
Seeing little Trunks and Goten turn Super Saiyan as children, Vegeta mutters …まるで超サイヤ人のバーゲンセールだな… まるで (“just like, exactly as if”) introduces a comparison, and だな is a thinking-aloud ending: “it’s like…, huh.” Fans in Japan use this line all the time as a joke template: if everyone in class gets full marks, someone will say 満点のバーゲンセールだな.
まるで is useful far beyond jokes: まるで夢みたい (“it’s like a dream”), まるで本物のようだ (“it looks just like the real thing”). It usually pairs with みたい or ようだ at the end of the sentence.
敵がいくら強くても — “no matter how” with いくら〜ても
After losing to Android 18, Vegeta refuses to accept it: こんなもんじゃない……!!オレはベジータだ!!敵がいくら強くてもオレはさらにそれを超える!! The key pattern is いくら + the て form + も, meaning “no matter how…”
| Piece | Full form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| こんなもん | こんなもの | “this kind of thing” — もの squashed to もん in speech |
| いくら強くても | 強い → 強くて → 強くても | no matter how strong |
| さらに | — | even more, further |
| 超える | こえる | to go beyond, to surpass — the same 超 as 超サイヤ人 |
Kids can use いくら〜ても straight away: いくら食べても太らない (“no matter how much I eat, I don’t gain weight”), いくら練習しても難しい (“however much I practise, it’s hard”). And look at 超: the kanji in 超サイヤ人 and 超ベジータ is read sūpā in the series, but its everyday reading is ちょう, and as a verb it is 超える. Teenagers in Japan say 超おいしい for “super tasty.”
ママを大切にしろよ — a command that is really a goodbye
Before his sacrifice against Majin Buu, Vegeta finally hugs his son and says トランクス……ブルマを……ママを大切にしろよ…… Notice how he corrects himself mid-sentence from ブルマ (her name) to ママ (“Mom,” from Trunks’s point of view). That switch is the whole emotional moment: the proud prince speaking as a father for once.
大切にする means “to treasure, to look after.” しろ is the plain command form of する, softened slightly by よ. In real life, swap the ending for 大切にしてね (gentle) or 大切にしてください (polite): 体を大切にしてくださいね, “please take care of yourself,” is a phrase Japanese people write at the end of letters and cards.
俺のやり方で勝つ — Vegeta in Dragon Ball Super
In the Tournament of Power, Vegeta rejects Ultra Instinct: 身勝手の極意はカカロットがやればいい。俺のやり方で勝つ. Two great patterns here. First, 〜ばいい means “it’s fine if…, someone can just…” — やればいい, “he can do that.” Second, verb stem + 方 (kata) makes “the way of doing”: やり方 (way of doing), 食べ方 (way of eating), 書き方 (way of writing).
With 私 in place of 俺, this is a confident, perfectly usable sentence: 私のやり方でやってみます, “I’ll try it my own way.” Also in Super, after Beerus strikes Bulma, Vegeta roars よくも俺のブルマを！ — よくも means “how dare you,” and it is one of the few moments he says outright that Bulma is his.
Is Vegeta good for learning Japanese?
He is one of the best characters in anime for learning how Japanese marks status. Every Vegeta line tells you who he thinks is above and below him: 貴様 and 下級戦士 for enemies, カカロット to keep Goku in his place, titles stacked in front of 俺 for himself. Vegeta dialogue in Japanese is also full of genuinely useful grammar — いくら〜ても, まるで, 〜ばいい, 〜方. But his speech style is arrogant and rough from start to finish. A child who copies it directly will sound like they think they are royalty, and 貴様 aimed at a real person is a genuine insult.
So keep the pattern and change the clothes: 貴様 becomes the person’s name plus さん, 俺 becomes 私 or 僕, しろよ becomes してね. The quickest way to feel the difference is to talk with real friends your own age in Japan — you will learn in one conversation why nobody says 貴様, and which Vegeta jokes make Japanese kids laugh.
Keep going with the same method: our Dragon Ball quotes in Japanese guide covers the whole cast, and Goku quotes in Japanese shows the cheerful, rural-accented voice Vegeta is reacting against. For more proud rivals and their scary pronouns, see anime villain quotes in Japanese, and Vegeta’s 俺 is compared with 僕 and 私 in Ore vs Boku vs Watashi. If you are starting from zero, our guide to learning Japanese with anime sets out a weekly routine, and our tuition page explains how live classes with Japanese friends work.
FAQ
What is Vegeta’s most famous quote in Japanese?
がんばれカカロット…おまえがナンバー1だ!! (Ganbare Kakarotto… omae ga nanbā wan da!!) — “Go for it, Kakarot… you’re number one!!” He says it while watching Goku fight Majin Buu, finally admitting his rival is the strongest. It came first in a マイナビニュース reader poll of Vegeta’s lines.
Why does Vegeta call Goku “Kakarot”?
カカロット is Goku’s Saiyan birth name. Vegeta uses it to treat Goku as a fellow Saiyan — and, at first, as a low-class one beneath a prince. Even after they become allies he keeps the name, so it turns into a sign of rivalry and, quietly, respect.
Is “kisama” rude in Japanese?
Yes, very. 貴様 was once a respectful word, but its politeness wore away over the centuries, and today it is a hostile, contemptuous “you.” Don’t use it with real people. Use their name with さん instead.
Did Vegeta say “Power level… only 5… trash”?
No — that famous scouter line about a farmer belongs to Raditz, Goku’s brother, near the start of Dragon Ball Z. It often gets credited to Vegeta because it sounds exactly like him. Vegeta’s own scouter moments come later, as he reads Goku’s rising power.
My child loves Dragon Ball. How do they practise with real Japanese speakers?
Tomodachi Japan is an online Japanese school for children living outside Japan, taught by Japanese school teachers in small classes of eight, with classmates their own age in Japan. Parents don’t need to speak Japanese — we guide you in English. The free school guide below has the timetable, tuition and scholarship details.
