How tall is Vegeta?

Vegeta's official height: 164 cm

Vegeta, the proud prince of the Saiyans and Goku's lifelong rival in Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball, is listed at 164 cm (5′5″). Strictly, 164 cm is 64.6 inches, about 5′4½″, so you will see it rounded to either 5′4″ or 5′5″. The figure comes from Dragon Ball: Super Exciting Guide, the pair of official databooks Shueisha released in 2009, as cited by the Dragon Ball Wiki.

The same guide lists Vegeta's weight as 56 kg (about 123 lb). At 164 cm and 56 kg, his body mass index is about 20.8. The Dragon Ball Wiki describes him as well built but below average in stature, which is a fair summary of the numbers: short by the standards of the main cast, but dense and muscular.

Unlike Goku, Vegeta's guide entry has no "adult" label because he appears in the story only as a grown man, apart from flashbacks to his childhood.

Vegeta versus Goku: the 11 cm gap

Vegeta's defining relationship is his rivalry with Goku, and the two are clearly mismatched in size. Goku's adult height in the same guide is 175 cm, so Vegeta is 11 cm shorter. The Dragon Ball Wiki illustrates the difference with a design sheet drawn by Toriyama showing the two Saiyans side by side in their Super Saiyan Blue forms.

Both Saiyans have almost the same build; Vegeta is simply a smaller version of the same lean, muscular frame. An 11 cm gap is roughly the length of a smartphone, enough that Vegeta's eye line sits around Goku's mouth when they stand face to face.

The size difference adds an extra layer to Vegeta's pride. Wikipedia's summary of the character notes that he becomes obsessed with surpassing Goku after losing to the Z Fighters, and the series repeatedly frames him as the one who is always looking up at his rival, literally as well as figuratively.

Vegeta next to the Dragon Ball cast

Vegeta is one of the shorter fighters in the main cast. Of the core Z Fighters, only Krillin is shorter. But two of the most significant characters in his life are shorter still: Frieza, the tyrant who destroyed the Saiyans' home planet and kept Vegeta in his service, is listed at just 158 cm in his final form. Vegeta stands 6 cm taller than the being he spent years serving and resenting.

Vegeta's family: a shorter father than his son

Vegeta's own family produces two height facts that surprise many fans.

His wife is taller. Bulma is listed at 165 cm as an adult, 1 cm taller than Vegeta. As a teenager she was 163 cm, so for most of the story the two are effectively level, with Bulma edging ahead. In practice, Bulma's footwear and Vegeta's hair decide who looks taller in any given scene.

His son from the future is taller. Future Trunks, who arrives from a ruined timeline to warn the heroes about the androids, is listed at 170 cm as a teenager, 6 cm taller than his father. The present-day Trunks is listed only as a child, at 129 cm, but the future version shows that Vegeta's son was expected to outgrow him.

How Vegeta's look changes over the series

The Dragon Ball Wiki notes that Vegeta's appearance shifts considerably across the series, even though his official height does not change. When he first arrives on Earth, he looks very short and lean, especially beside his massive partner Nappa. Over later arcs, he seems somewhat taller and noticeably more muscular, his forehead appears smaller, and his features become sharper and older-looking.

That change has more to do with art style and posture than any growth. Toriyama's drawing style evolved over the run of Dragon Ball Z, and the early Vegeta, smiling and smug in his debut, was drawn quite differently from the scowling, battle-hardened prince of the Cell and Buu arcs. When you compare Vegeta with another character, use the official 164 cm for every arc.

The hair factor

Vegeta's most distinctive feature is his hair. It is jet black, spikes straight up in a tall flame shape and has a pronounced widow's peak. Toriyama himself, as quoted in Wikipedia's account of the character's development, admitted he never imagined a character with "this kind of hairstyle" could become popular, let alone win more votes than Goku in favorite-character polls. Practically, the hair adds a lot of visual height. In many panels it brings the top of Vegeta's silhouette close to Goku's, even though their actual heads are 11 cm apart.

In Super Saiyan forms the hair rises further and turns gold, which closes the visual gap even more. None of this changes the official figure, which is measured to the top of the head.

Vegeta among the Saiyans

Vegeta likes to remind everyone that he is the prince of a warrior race, but among the Saiyans with published heights he is the shortest adult.

Broly, the legendary Saiyan of Dragon Ball Super: Broly, is listed at 208 cm in his base form, 44 cm taller than Vegeta. Even the half-Saiyans who grow to adulthood, Gohan and Future Trunks, end up taller than the prince. The sources used here give no heights for Nappa, Raditz, Bardock or Vegeta's father, King Vegeta, so the comparison stops there. On screen, Nappa is clearly the largest of the original Saiyan invaders, which is part of why the early Vegeta looks so small.

Common mistakes when comparing Vegeta

Vegeta is one of the characters most often mis-sized in fan-made charts. A few habits cause most of the errors:

• Counting the hair. His flame-shaped hair can add well over 10 cm to his silhouette. Measured to the top of the hair, he can appear nearly as tall as Goku, which erases the real 11 cm gap.
• Counting the boots. Vegeta wears Saiyan battle armor and boots through much of the series, and the wiki notes he is one of the few Saiyans who keeps wearing the traditional armor in daily life. Thick-soled boots add height in many scenes; official figures are barefoot.
• Using early or late art. His debut design looks smaller and leaner than his later appearances. The official height does not change between arcs.
• Rounding. 164 cm is 5′4.6″. Rounding up to 5′5″ is standard on this site, but some sources round down to 5′4″, which can make two charts appear to disagree when they are using the same number.

How Vegeta's size fits his character

Toriyama has said in interviews, as summarized by Wikipedia, that he originally intended Vegeta to be just a villain but found his straightforward personality unexpectedly interesting and helpful to the story. He named Vegeta, along with Piccolo, as one of his favorite fighters. Vegeta's name is a pun on "vegetable," following the Saiyan naming pattern.

A shorter, compact build suits the character's personality. Vegeta is defined by pride, intensity and an inflated sense of his own royal status. Being the shortest of the main Saiyan fighters, shorter than his rival, his rival's son and even his own future son, gives that pride a slightly comic edge without ever making him look weak. His power, like everyone's in Dragon Ball, has nothing to do with height. Frieza, the most feared villain of the early series, is even shorter.

What 164 cm means in real-world terms

Converted, 164 cm is 64.6 inches, about 5′4½″. The 164 cm page shows the full conversion and real people at that height.

The NCD Risk Factor Collaboration, whose national averages this site uses, estimates adult Japanese men born in 1996 at an average of 170.8 cm. That puts Vegeta about 7 cm below the average Japanese man, which matches the wiki's "below-average stature." Against the US male average of 177.1 cm, he would be about 13 cm shorter. The average height in Japan page has the full trend.

Among real people listed on this site, Daniel Radcliffe at 165 cm is the closest match, just 1 cm taller than Vegeta. Kevin Hart, at 158 cm, would be 6 cm shorter, the same gap as between Vegeta and Frieza.

Comparing Vegeta yourself

The height comparison tool lets you put Vegeta next to Goku, Bulma, Trunks or real people at true scale, and the height difference calculator gives the exact gap between any two heights. Comparisons worth trying:

• Vegeta vs Goku: the 11 cm gap behind the series' great rivalry.
• Vegeta vs Bulma: the wife who stands 1 cm taller.
• Vegeta vs Future Trunks: the son from the future, 6 cm taller.
• Vegeta vs Frieza: the prince 6 cm above his former master.