Dragon Ball: did Vegeta surpass Goku before the Moro arc?

I understand why Vegeta is so popular. "I love Vegeta, legit love Vegeta." Even so, it amazes me how many people who call themselves Vegeta fans are treating Vegeta surpassing Goku in the Moro arc of the Dragon Ball Super manga as some kind of miracle that had never happened before. If you're a fan of Vegeta, you should know he has surpassed Goku numerous times before the Moro arc.

Claiming to be a Vegeta fan while assuming it's never happened exposes you as a poser fan. Or maybe you just forgot, which is fair, because some people haven't watched Dragon Ball Z in 20 years. So here is every time Vegeta surpassed Goku across Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT and Dragon Ball Super, up to the point the story had reached when I wrote this.

Vegeta only surpassed Ultra Instinct Omen in the Moro arc

First, I need to get something out of the way. Vegeta fans are excited about him surpassing Goku, but you have to understand that he only surpassed Ultra Instinct Omen and the powered up version of that form. Vegeta has not surpassed perfected Ultra Instinct. Some people can't seem to wrap their heads around this.

Maybe I'm wrong, because the manga was still going on at the time of writing. But I'm about 99 percent sure that Vegeta surpassed only Ultra Instinct Omen, not perfected Ultra Instinct.

Vegeta was stronger than Goku from his Dragon Ball Z debut

When Vegeta was first introduced in the early stages of Dragon Ball Z, Goku had just died, so obviously Vegeta surpassed him then. We also know that Vegeta was much stronger than Raditz, who Goku could not beat. That makes it the first time Vegeta surpassed Goku, if you even want to count it.

I say that because for the majority of their lives, as children, adolescents, teenagers and adults, Vegeta was stronger than Goku off world. To me that one may or may not count, but it is a point in Vegeta's favor. It's safe to say Vegeta had a leap over Goku throughout most of their lives.

Vegeta's Great Ape form outclassed Goku in the Saiyan saga

That lead continued into their fight at the end of the Vegeta saga, where Goku could only keep up with Vegeta by using the Kaio-ken. It goes back and forth here. Kaio-ken Goku was able to beat Vegeta while both were in their humanoid forms, but Vegeta had the Great Ape form, and with that he was able to completely outclass Goku.

Some would call that cheating because of the Great Ape transformation, but it doesn't matter. Vegeta was still stronger than Goku in that instance. If you're going to talk about transformations, you have to fight with your strongest form. Goku had no tail, so he couldn't use the Great Ape form, and even if he did, he couldn't control it. As far as I'm concerned, "vegeta wins without question."

Vegeta led Goku through most of the Namek and Frieza saga

When we move on to the Namek and Frieza saga, Vegeta was stronger than Goku throughout the majority of the arc. While Goku had convalesced and was beginning his training on the ship to Namek to surpass his limitations, Vegeta was already doing that on Namek through battles against Dodoria, Zarbon and the Ginyu Force.

The Zarbon fight is notable. Vegeta almost died, got a huge zenkai boost and was able to beat Zarbon in the rematch. Then during his fight with Recoome of the Ginyu Force, Vegeta got pummeled, and when Goku showed up and gave him a senzu bean, he got another zenkai boost. So even though Goku was stronger than Vegeta during the Ginyu fight, during the Zarbon fight Vegeta was way ahead of Goku, though Goku was catching up fast.

One gray area is Goku on Namek after Captain Ginyu swaps bodies with him. Goku's body was thrashed as a result, and while Goku was healing and out of commission, Vegeta was stronger. Once Goku healed up and went to confront Frieza, Vegeta died. Even though he was resurrected, that was the last time Vegeta could compete with Goku on power for several years, because of Goku's time on Yardrat and the three year time skip between Trunks's arrival and the arrival of Androids 19 and 20.

Vegeta surpassed Goku in the Android and Cell arcs

During that time skip, Vegeta was trying so hard to surpass Goku, and he was able to do it in the battle with Android 19. Even setting aside Goku's heart virus, Vegeta was stronger than Goku during this period, no questions asked. It is stated in the series that Vegeta was stronger than Goku during the early part of the Android arc. And once again, as in previous arcs, Goku was out of commission for a while.

Vegeta stayed stronger all the way into the fight with Cell's second form, because he went into the Room of Spirit and Time and came out with higher levels of Super Saiyan that Goku had yet to discover. When Goku went into the Room of Spirit and Time himself, he was able to catch up to Vegeta and maybe even go a bit further. Meanwhile, Vegeta was getting thrashed by Perfect Cell.

When Goku left the Room of Spirit and Time, he was in Grade 4 Super Saiyan, and he was stronger than Vegeta. The idea that Grade 4 is weaker than Grades 2 and 3 is nonsense. Grade 4 Super Saiyan Goku was way stronger than Vegeta, and even after going back into training, Vegeta still wasn't able to catch up to Goku until the Buu saga. Or did he?

Super Saiyan 3 kept Goku ahead for the rest of Dragon Ball Z, and in GT Vegeta seemingly stayed behind

We don't know exactly what happened during the seven year time skip between the Cell and Buu sagas. We don't know when Goku and Vegeta caught up to Gohan, who had surpassed both of them by then, but we do know that they did. Going into the Buu saga, Vegeta was at the very least equal to Goku, or so we were led to believe.

Even with the Majin Vegeta upgrade, Vegeta was equal to Super Saiyan 2 Goku, but Goku had Super Saiyan 3 in his back pocket and never used it against Vegeta. Yes, I know that was a last minute Toriyama decision, and that at that point they were probably equal in power. It may have been a retcon, but Goku still had that power in his back pocket.

Because of Super Saiyan 3, Vegeta was unable to surpass Goku at any point for the remainder of Dragon Ball Z or the original Dragon Ball manga. Vegeta acknowledged that at the end of the arc when he said Goku was number one, a moment that is misunderstood by many people. In Dragon Ball GT, for the majority of the series Vegeta isn't at Goku's level, or so we are led to believe. I'm not including Baby Vegeta. Baby Vegeta did surpass Goku, but he was also a fusion of Vegeta and Baby, so that one is iffy. Vegeta caught up to Goku in Super Saiyan 4 at the end of the series, but at best he was equal, not technically stronger.

Battle of Gods and Whis training put Vegeta ahead in Dragon Ball Super

With Dragon Ball Super, now we've got something going. Even before Super became an anime, the movie Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods told that story and featured the infamous "my Bulma" scene. During that scene, Master Roshi states that Vegeta did surpass Goku, even in Super Saiyan 2, because of an incredible rage boost we didn't know he had, though I guess they all have it in a way. Some people have a problem with Super Saiyan 2 surpassing Super Saiyan 3, but that shows you the rage power of Vegeta.

Just a few minutes later in the film, Goku taps into Super Saiyan God, and Vegeta is once again relegated to second best. But the Dragon Ball Super anime elaborates on the events between Battle of Gods and Resurrection F, and we find out that Vegeta trained with Whis before Goku did. During that time, Vegeta was able to surpass Goku.

That takes us into Resurrection F, where both seem to be around the same level of power. If you want to say Vegeta was stronger than Goku in the original movie, that's fair, and I'm not going to argue it, because it makes sense that Vegeta might be a bit stronger. He had more experience with god ki from training with Whis. It's an iffy one, but you could count it if you want to.

Goku Black, the Tournament of Power and Blue Evolution

After Resurrection F, things get slippery because Goku and Vegeta are training together, so it's hard to say who was stronger on a day to day basis. The series doesn't give us elaborate explanations. I can tell you that Kaio-ken Blue gave Goku the edge over Vegeta for a short time, even though that's what the Kaio-ken does.

When we get to the Future Trunks arc, things go back and forth. In the anime version specifically, there are a few times Vegeta did surpass Goku, most notably after training in the Room of Spirit and Time and going up against Goku Black in his Rosé form. There, Vegeta pummels Black "in a way that goku could only dream of doing."

In the Tournament of Power, both Goku and Vegeta broke their limitations in different ways and got stronger throughout the tournament. There are a few small moments where it does appear Vegeta surpassed Goku, specifically when he used the Final Flash on Jiren and seemed to actually hurt him. That was a momentary attack, though, and it's still not on the level of Ultra Instinct Omen Goku, and definitely not mastered Ultra Instinct Goku, who has not been toppled by Vegeta even to this day.

When Vegeta unlocked Super Saiyan Blue Evolution, you could say that in that moment he surpassed Goku, but with an asterisk, because Goku had been using Kaio-ken times 20, and some Dragon Ball Super staff members said they were about equal in power. Even so, I firmly believe Vegeta did surpass him in that form. Goku turned the tide again when he used Ultra Instinct Omen once more and later silver haired Ultra Instinct, and Vegeta wasn't able to keep up.

Silver haired Ultra Instinct still gives Goku the edge over Vegeta

This is where things get very interesting. From this point in the series, even though Goku can't tap into silver haired Ultra Instinct at will, he has it in his body somewhere in his back pocket. Until Vegeta is able to surpass that power, or at least achieve it, Goku will have a bit of an edge, even though he can't use it manually. Because of that, Vegeta surpassing Goku at his absolute best does not seem likely to happen anytime soon.

Vegeta did, according to Goku himself, surpass him in the Moro arc. But again, Goku isn't talking about silver haired Ultra Instinct. He's talking about the powered up Ultra Instinct Omen he used, or he may even be referring to Vegeta becoming a smarter fighter than him. It's difficult to say, because Ultra Instinct is such a powerful tool in Goku's pocket. But maybe at some point Vegeta will surpass him.