Royalty in Name Only

Something about Dragon Ball Z that amuses me is how, in between getting his ass kicked, Vegeta will keep talking about being 'Prince of all Saiyans.' By the time he's first introduced, two of the other three Saiyans in the universe have just died fighting each other. He's the prince of one full-blooded Saiyan (Nappa), and one half-blood (Gohan.)

The number increases a little bit over time. Goku comes back to life - twice! - Vegeta's got a couple of kids now (I don't know if we can count the time-traveling grown-up version of his son from another timeline as a 3rd kid), Goku's got another son. Gohan's got a kid if we want to count quarter-Saiyans. Broly's apparently in canon now, and maybe Vegeta's got a long-lost brother (Tarble or something like that, not sure if he's in continuity or that was another movie one-off.) Still, Vegeta's not even prince of enough people to fill a small classroom, even before taking into account that once Nappa dies, none of them defer to him as any sort of ruler, leader, or inspirational figure.

But it's not clear Vegeta really sees that as something a prince* does. When he's first introduced, he's just learned about the Dragon Balls via Raditz's communicator. Nappa asks if they'll use them to bring Raditz back, but Vegeta dismisses this as a waste of a wish. We know, from Raditz telling Goku, the Saiyans' homeworld was destroyed, and so the four of them (plus Gohan) are all that's left of their species.

You'd figure maybe Vegeta thinks it makes more sense to wish for the entire planet back. Give him back the subjects he was deprived of ruling. But no, he plans to wish for immortality for himself, and maybe Nappa (though I wouldn't have been surprised if he excluded his lackey.) You could argue he doesn't have any idea if the Dragon Balls can restore an entire planet. All he knows is the guy who killed Raditz (Piccolo), is certain they can resurrect Goku, a single person. That's fair, but he has no reason whatsoever to think they can make him immortal, yet that's his first thought.

It would be one thing if Vegeta was just a shitty ruler, who sees his subjects as objects that exist to serve him, to be terminated if they fail. That's how Frieza operates, killing loyal fighters and technicians if they make the mistake of delivering an update or communication when Frieza's in a bad mood.

But it's more like Vegeta's concept of being a prince doesn't actually require anyone for him to rule or command at all. He doesn't even need other Saiyans to grovel and tell him how awesome he is. He's not interested in bringing Raditz back once he dies. As soon as Nappa's back is broken, Vegeta kills him. He makes multiple attempts to kill Goku and Gohan, when they're all that's left of his people. Frieza took the Saiyans to the brink and now Vegeta's trying to nudge them over the edge into oblivion.

But a lot of his prince talk comes back to his efforts to surpass Goku. Vegeta figures that, as a descendant of a royal bloodline. Goku's a low-level commoner, descended from Saiyans of no particular note. When Goku opens a can of Triple Kaioken Whup-Ass on him, Vegeta's muttering about how he's an 'elite Saiyan warrior,' while Goku's a 'low-ranked fighter,' that shouldn't be able to deal out this kind of damage. When Goku hits Super Saiyan, Vegeta casts aside his belief about the Super Saiyan being a legendary figure that hadn't occurred for 1,000 years. If Goku can do it, so can Vegeta. And his Super Saiyan will be even super-er because of his bloodline.

With the Saiyans being a species whose existence seems to revolve around combat, prince is something closer to a champion. The prince should be the best Saiyan, meaning the strongest. That's why it doesn't matter if all the other Saiyans are dead or not. He doesn't need to rule them to demonstrate his status. His continued existence proves his superiority. He's alive and they aren't because he's stronger.

* I also wonder why he always calls himself a prince. His dad's dead, doesn't that make him king by default? Especially once Frieza's dead and Vegeta's no longer under his thumb.