Vegeta is a member of the royal Saiyan lineage, the extraterrestrial race that the series' main protogonist is from. Even though Vegeta is viewed as a dangerous enemy to Goku for the beginning of the series, he later becomes an ally to Goku and assists in the defeat of powerful enemies such as Cell and Majin Buu. He always strives to "surpass Kakarot (Goku's birth name)". He was originally created by Akira Toriyama to be just a main villain of the Saiyan saga but due to his popularity he ended up being the main rival to the main character of the series, Goku.