Dragon Ball: Why Vegeta Doesn’t Want Goku’s Ultra Instinct Form

In Dragon Ball Super, Vegeta had no interest in unlocking the Ultra Instinct form. During the show’s Tournament of Power story, Goku’s training with Whis paid off when he accessed the Ultra Instinct transformation, which allowed him to react to attacks at an amazingly fast rate. Before figuring out how to use this state to its full extent, Goku was able to physically challenge Universe 11’s Jiren and defeat Kefla. After developing the complete Ultra Instinct form, Goku was able to overwhelm Jiren without much difficulty.

Currently, Ultra Instinct is the most powerful transformation in the Dragon Ball universe. However, it’s not something that Goku’s rival is actively pursuing. Though Vegeta’s biggest goal has always been to surpass Goku, acquiring Ultra Instinct for himself isn’t a priority for the character. In his battles with Top and Jiren, Vegeta never attempted to acquire Goku’s new power-up. Instead, he managed to achieve the next level of Super Saiyan Blue, which he used to defeat Top in the tournament’s final minutes.

Vegeta has good reasons for pursuing Super Saiyan Blue Evolved and foregoing Ultra Instinct. In the manga, Vegeta explained quite clearly why Ultra Instinct isn’t for him. Though Vegeta has trained with Whis, he told Jiren that he has “no master” and that his power was forged by “the fires of solo training”. He explained that he doesn’t like being taught anything, which means that he wouldn’t want to learn Ultra Instinct from Goku or Whis. Plus, he’s not in favor of remaining in Goku’s shadow. This prompted him to say that Goku could have Ultra Instinct “to himself”. This philosophy, combined with his pride in his Saiyan heritage, has made Vegeta committed to focusing on the Super Saiyan path, whereas Ultra Instinct isn’t connected to their race. This sort of devotion is what inspired him to access Super Saiyan Blue Evolved for the first time during the big fight with Top.

Part of what Vegeta wanted to do was demonstrate that he doesn’t have to follow directly in Goku’s footsteps in order to stay on his level. Vegeta wasn’t stronger than Goku during the Tournament of Power, but he was able to at least keep Goku from totally leaving him behind. After all, Super Saiyan Blue Evolved is a transformation that even Goku hasn’t pulled off.

In the Dragon Ball Super manga continuation, Vegeta reaffirmed his disinterest in Ultra Instinct by telling Whis in no uncertain terms that he won’t be making an attempt to unlock it. While he’s risking Goku getting too far ahead of him, his decision has been a good one so far. From the looks of things, Super Saiyan Blue Evolved could just be the first step in Vegeta’s new journey to set himself apart from Goku. Vegeta has since learned powerful new techniques, such as Spirit Fission and, through Beerus, he has discovered that a formidable alternative to Ultra Instinct does indeed exist. The good thing for Vegeta is that it doesn’t require a tranquil state of mind like Ultra Instinct does. Letting go of his anger and clearing his mind has never really been Vegeta’s style, so it does look like Vegeta can catch up to Goku without copying him.

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