What if Krillin killed Vegeta?

One of the defining moments in Vegeta’s life was when he came to Earth and was beaten black and blue by the combined efforts of Goku, Krilin, Gohan and, of course, Yajirobe. While Vegeta lay there half-dead attempting to escape in his Space Pod, Krillin picked up Yajirobe’s sword and was this close to sending Vegeta to King Yemma office in the Other World.

But thankfully, Goku told Krillin to spare his life and let Vegeta fly away to live to fight another day. But we’ve decided to look at the following Dragon Ball Sagas to see what happened if Krillin killed Vegeta.

If Krillin killed Vegeta, then Goku probably wouldn’t have grown as strong as quickly as he did. Goku may have defeated Frieza, but Earth would still be destroyed by Dr Gero’s creations or Majin Buu. Goku also would have died from the heart virus as Future Trunks wouldn’t have been born.

Namek Saga

Even if Vegeta was killed, that wouldn’t have changed that much in the gang’s plan. They still needed to get to Namek to use their Dragon Ball to wish back their friends. However, Krillin killing Vegeta against Goku‘s wishes may have caused an argument.

Maybe Goku wouldn’t feel comfortable with Krillin taking his son to Namek now that he’s a cold-blooded Murderer! Maybe someone like Yamcha would go with Gohan, or maybe they’d have waited a bit, and Goku would have accompanied Gohan and Bulma.

As the way things played out in Namek, Vegeta helped Goku a lot get his Zenkai boosts, which ultimately led him to become Super Saiyan, so Goku was powerful enough to defeat Frieza. Vegeta also delayed Frieza getting the Dragon Balls, but Vegeta also caused the Ginyu Squad to be called in early.

But It’s possible Goku and Gohan could have been more stealthy and gathered a Dragon Ball while remaining hidden. It’s also possible that Goku fighting Dodoria, Zarbon, and the Ginyu Force maybe have given Goku the necessary Zenkai boosts to become a Super Saiyan.

Goku also would have had an extra Sensu bean he didn’t waste on Vegeta, so he wouldn’t have needed Vegeta to delay Frieza. While we don’t know what would have happened, I think it’s fair to assume that Goku, with his plot armour, would have still been over to overcome Frieza and wish back his friends.

So as it stands, even if Vegeta was killed, there’s a good chance Goku still defeats Frieza!

Future Trunks Saga

Would this even be called the Future Trunks Saga? It would probably be called the Heart Virus Saga. Because with no Vegeta, there’s no Trunks, seeing as how Vegeta fathered him with Bulma.

So Future Trunks wouldn’t have travelled back in time to give Goku the Heart Virus medicine, meaning he’d have died before the Androids even appeared.

Android Saga

So with Goku dead from the Heart Virus and Vegeta also no around, it would have been left to Gohan, Krillin, Tien, Yamcha, Piccolo and Yajirobe to fend off the Androids. We know that even with Vegeta, things didn’t go very well for the Z fighters due to Future Trunks’ timeline.

So it’s safe to say the apocalyptic future that Future Trunks warned us about would have come true, with all earthlings killed. Maybe if Piccolo fused with Kami this time, they might be able to fend off Android 19 and 20, and possibly 17 and 18, they would have still been killed eventually by Cell.

The only hope is that Gohan taps into his potential a lot sooner than the Cell, but he only really achieved this with the help of Goku. Without Goku, it’s still possible Gohan turns Super Saiyan 2 to beat Cell, but this seems unlikely.

If Vegeta had been killed, Toriyama would have made it work.

We can make reasonable assumptions about what would have happened if Krillin killed Vegeta, but famously Toriyama didn’t have a long term plan for Dragon Ball. Anything could change from week to week, depending on what Toriyama felt like doing. So it’s very possible Krillin could have killed Vegeta, and the show would have gone on as per usual. Maybe Yamcha would have stepped into the Vegeta role? Maybe Frieza turns good and becomes the new Vegeta?