Vegeta learning Hakai: is Frieza the target in Dragon Ball Super?

Vegeta is set to learn Hakai, the technique the Gods of Destruction use to destroy things. I don't think it's going to tip the power balance in Dragon Ball Super, and it won't put him above Goku. I believe it's being done to set up a big moment, and the likely target for that moment, as I see it, is Frieza.

The tease came in chapter 69 of the Dragon Ball Super manga. At the time, that chapter was early in the arc, so everything here is my read of where things looked to be heading then.

Beerus humiliates Vegeta in Dragon Ball Super chapter 69 and teases Hakai

In chapter 69, Beerus comically slaps Vegeta around, taunting and humiliating him. Even if you're a Vegeta fan, maybe some people won't like that, but I thought it was quite entertaining. Along the way, Beerus teases that he's going to show Vegeta how to perform Hakai.

Vegeta has already assembled a tremendous arsenal. There are the techniques he developed himself, like the Big Bang, Final Flash and Galick Gun, and there's Final Explosion, which he was able to survive in Dragon Ball Super. In the Moro arc he learned to teleport with instantaneous movement, or Shunkan Ido, and he also learned Forced Spirit Fission, which may end up being probably the most useful technique Vegeta knows that Goku and the others don't.

I'll say first that the idea of Vegeta, or any character, getting a new technique is a good one. I've always wanted Dragon Ball to shift the focus back to technique rather than transformations. I always wanted the show to become more strategic, like Dragon Ball used to be.

Why Hakai may not change Vegeta much as a character

Will Hakai matter in the grand scheme of things? I think this whole storyline is building up to a bigger moment, not to Vegeta's evolution as a character. I don't think it's going to affect him at all, though I could be wrong about that. The chapter was early in the arc, and we didn't know what was going to happen.

Consider what Hakai offers Vegeta. He already knows how to destroy a planet with ease; he could do that in Dragon Ball Z. I'm not going to power scale, but some would say he's universal tier, if not higher. Vegeta is extremely strong.

Vegeta already beat Toppo's Hakai in the Tournament of Power

For a reminder of how strong Vegeta is, go back to the Tournament of Power in the anime. Vegeta faced Toppo, a God of Destruction in training. That implies Toppo had trained to become a God of Destruction for some amount of time. We don't know how long, but he was next in line to become the god for Universe 11, and he used Hakai energy against Vegeta.

The Hakai Toppo used there wasn't the same one Beerus used to wipe out Zamasu. Toppo was obviously toning it down, because killing someone in that tournament means disqualification, and the leader of the Pride Troopers wasn't about to get Universe 11 disqualified. So he held back.

Still, Vegeta took a lot of Toppo's punishment and Hakai power, from someone who had trained under a God of Destruction long before Vegeta decided to take Beerus's training seriously in the recent chapter. Vegeta ate all his shots and then eliminated Toppo from the tournament. That doesn't necessarily mean Vegeta is more powerful than a God of Destruction, but with that move he had surpassed Toppo at the very least. Beerus, of course, is on a completely different level from Toppo.

Learning Hakai from Beerus won't make Vegeta stronger than Goku

So will Hakai matter? The answer is probably not, but it probably will. By probably not, I mean Vegeta isn't going to surpass Goku. With Goku able to master silver haired Ultra Instinct, Vegeta isn't going to overtake him in strength just by learning Hakai. It's not happening.

I've seen some people argue that if Vegeta learns Hakai from Beerus, that will put him at a higher tier than Goku because of how strong Beerus is. That makes no sense to me. There's been a debate going on for months, which I was involved in a little, about whether silver haired Goku in the Moro arc has truly surpassed Beerus, and I want to see what else this arc reveals about Beerus's power before weighing in on that.

But claiming Vegeta becomes stronger than Goku because he learned a technique from Beerus is illogical. By that logic, if Krillin learns Hakai from Beerus, is Krillin going to be as strong as Goku? Learning a technique from someone doesn't automatically make you as strong as, or stronger than, someone else. "That's not how energy has ever worked in Dragon Ball." Even when Goku learned the Kamehameha from Master Roshi, he wasn't stronger than Roshi until later on. It takes time to get there.

So Hakai won't tip the scales in Vegeta's favor as far as pure strength and speed go. It may, however, be a useful technique for him.

Who Vegeta might use Hakai on: the Heeters, Granolah or Frieza

Here's where I think this is going. At some point in the arc, close to the end, I think Vegeta is going to Hakai somebody. Maybe one of the Heeters, maybe Granolah. I don't know if it'll be them, but it's going to be somebody. This is building toward Vegeta learning to use Hakai where Goku couldn't. Goku admitted he couldn't learn Forced Spirit Fission, and in the previous chapter he admitted he failed at Hakai, but Vegeta will learn it.

The likely suspect is Frieza, at some point in the future of Dragon Ball Super. I could totally see Vegeta using Hakai on him, and it makes perfect sense. Vegeta has wanted to get rid of Frieza for a while; in Dragon Ball Super: Broly he even told Goku he wanted to protect the Earth from Frieza. Yet he's never been the one to kill Frieza. Trunks killed Frieza, and Goku killed him at one point, but Vegeta has never been the guy to do it.

Fans have wanted this since the Frieza saga of Dragon Ball Z, all the way back to 1990. That's over 30 years, and the story hasn't pulled the trigger. Imagine how satisfying it would be for Vegeta fans if he used Hakai on Frieza and put him away once and for all. Hakai can wipe you out of existence, which means no more resurrections, just like what Vegeta told Frieza in Resurrection F, except this time he wouldn't be coming back. Vegeta hates Frieza for many different reasons going back to his childhood, so it would be a satisfying conclusion to that story.

Why the Hakai payoff probably isn't about Goku

It may not even happen in this arc; it may come after. But there's a reason Vegeta is learning this technique, and it's not to surpass Goku. Vegeta isn't going to kill Goku, or even try. We're past that. That was angry Dragon Ball Z Vegeta, and "Dragon Ball Super Vegeta has actually gone beyond that."

So he'll use it on someone, and the question is who. Vegeta learning Hakai is "not going to be a game changer for anything else," but I think we might end up getting that moment later on in Dragon Ball Super.