Depending on how you view Goku and Vegeta's relationship, they're either the best of friends or still the best of enemies. Since their battle extends all the way back in the Saiyan Saga, Goku and Vegeta have had a complicated companionship. While they've put aside their differences to take on whatever threat faces them, they still have difficulty working together.
Vegeta hates the fact that Goku, a "Lower-Class Warrior," always overpowers him, while Goku hates Vegeta's smug-loner attitude. We decided to take a look back at Goku and Vegeta's rivalry and came up with 5 reasons they're better as friends, as well as 5 reasons why they're better as enemies.
10 Friends: They're the last of their kind(in their universe)
Like Superman and General Zod, one of the things that unite Goku and Vegeta is the fact that they're the last of their race. Sure, Broly has finally surfaced in the Dragon Ball canon, but we've still yet to see if Broly is willing to work with Goku and Vegeta as of now. The fact of the matter is that Goku and Vegeta are all that's left of the Saiyan Race. They've slowly been repopulating by letting Broly run wild and have fathered Gohan, Goten, Trunks, and Bulla. If they want the Saiyan Race to have a chance of coming back, they're the best their species has to offer.
9 Enemies: They can't work together
While the two have put aside their differences to take on opponents like Zamasu, Jiren, Cooler, and Broly, the two can't work together as a team. Goku has had better luck teaming up with Piccolo, Krillin, and Gohan than with Vegeta.
Heck, even Frieza was willing to put his pride aside to work with Goku so that they could eliminate Jiren from the Tournament of Power. The only people Vegeta has ever worked with is his son from the Future and his pupil, Cabba, from Universe 6.
8 Friends: They're Earth's/Universes 7 last hope
Like it or not, Goku and Vegeta are the only things keeping the earth, as well as their entire universe, from destruction. Goku may be the Hero of Dragon Ball, but even he has his limits and needs help from his friends and family. While Piccolo, Krillin, Tien, Androids 17 and 18, and Gohan are all-powerful fighters, they all pale in comparison to Vegeta in terms of pure strength and fighting knowledge. If the two Saiyans were to ever go back to being arch-enemies, the Universe and Planet Earth wouldn't last that long without the combined forces of the two strongest Saiyans in the cosmos.
7 Enemies: They Push each other to be better
Goku and Vegeta don't play well with each other, but that doesn't mean that the two aren't strong on their own. If anything, the two work as great motivators for one another. As Vegeta said to Frieza, as much as he wants to kill Goku, it's their rivalry that keeps pushing him to get stronger. Likewise, Goku didn't let Krillin kill Vegeta for the same reason. They may not admit it, but Goku and Vegeta see each other kind of like how the Joker views Batman. Things would get boring if the two were to would kill each other now.
6 Friends: They have family that get along with one another
Goku and Vegeta may not get along too well, but their families do. Goten and Trunks are the best of friends, and Goku's known both Chi-Chi and Bulma since he was a child. Sure, He may drive Chi-Chi and Bulma mad with his child-like intelligence and lack of manners, but the two women know that Goku is still a decent guy who's willing to stand up against threats like King Piccolo and Frieza.
Vegeta may come off as a heartless bastard, doing things like beating up his son, but he's shown to love his family. Besides, we've seen what happens in dozens of shows when families of friends argue with one another. Things work out just fine.
5 Enemies: Vegeta still has a lot of blood on his hands
Vegeta has done a lot of bad things in his life, even after he became a "good guy." He's killed entire planets worth of people, he's physically abused his son, he let an evil wizard control him, and he'd rather kill as a means to an end rather than let someone go. Sure, Goku has killed people, but it's always as a last resort. Vegeta is still a hero in the eyes of Z-Fighters, but that doesn't mean there's no chance he'll commit genocide. Again.
4 Friends: Can't keep someone like Broly in Check alone
Goku and Vegeta are strong alone, but when they fuse into either Vegito or Gogeta, they could probably take on the likes of Lord Beerus. When they're alone, things wouldn't be so easy or even possible.
Goku and Vegeta nearly got killed when the two went up against Broly. If it weren't for the two performing the Fusion Dance (and Frieza taking a beating for an hour), the universe would still be suffering the likes of Broly. Sure, Beerus and Whis could take out the Legendary Super Saiyan, but they wouldn't do anything until he came to their place and threw a temper tantrum.
3 Enemies: Vegeta's Ego
Vegeta's Ego is both a blessing and a curse. It's the thing that keeps him motivated, but it's also that thing that gets him into trouble. Be it when he let Frieza and Cell achieve their final transformations, or letting an opponent, like Goku, get the upper hand to make things more interesting, Vegeta's Pride will always be the thing that keeps him from being the strongest warrior in the universe and playing second fiddle to Goku. Hell, Vegeta was willing to let the earth be destroyed twice when Goku even suggested that the two should fuse when they went up against Super Buu and Broly.
2 Friends: They're the best buddy cop duo in anime
Goku's a goofy, optimistic guy who became a natural fighter, thanks to the great teachers like Master Roshi and King Kai. Vegeta's the uptight cynic who received his skills from the greatest Saiyan training programs and his father. When these two work with one another, they get into some wacky shenanigans and take on the worst the universe has to offer. Since the Majin Buu saga, Dragon Ball has essentially become a classic buddy cop series, like Rush Hour or Tango and Cash. Heck, Hobbs and Shaw is the live-action Dragon Ball movie we'll never get. It included the same macho bravado, cartoonishly evil villains, and the hilariously awesome battles that the series is known for.
1 Enemies: That time Goku used Bulma as leverage for Old Kai
Not Cool Goku. You don't see Vegeta offering up your wife off to some old creep, do you?