WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Dragon Ball Super Chapter 76, by Akira Toriyama, Toyotarou, Caleb Cook and Brandon Bovia, available now in English through Viz Media.
Since the earliest days of the franchise, Goku has bitten his opponents when in a state of desperation. This has extended all the way to Dragon Ball Super, with the hero at various times biting Beerus and Freeza. Now, Vegeta has taken a page from his rival's move book and bitten Granolah.
At the start of Dragon Ball Super Chapter 76, Granolah is still dominating Vegeta, proving the Saiyan Prince's Ultra Ego power just isn't enough to take him down. Soon, Goku intervenes, and Vegeta snaps at him, seemingly breaking bad again. Granolah then hits Vegeta when he's distracted. While Vegeta does end up out of the conflict with Granolah for a short time, he soon returns to once again renew his assault on the last Cerealian.
Vegeta accesses his Ultra Ego form and the fight begins. Initially, he's actually pretty successful, knocking Granolah into a Sugarian city. This panics Granolah, who doesn't want to hurt the local populace, as it reminds him of the Cerealians being wiped out by the Saiyans. The two engage in close-range combat so as to keep from hurting the Sugarians, and eventually Vegeta bites Granolah's forearm. Soon, the last Cerealian shakes off his opponent, remarking "You animal." However, Vegeta's plan has sort of worked: He's lured Granolah into a brawl that's too close range. This doesn't have the effect Vegeta intended -- which was to neutralize Granolah's rapid-fire energy blasts -- but it does evidence his new mindset.
Vegeta has, historically, not really bitten his opponents. Biting one's foes in battle isn't exactly honorable. However, that action here shows how the mindset Ultra Ego required of Vegeta causes him to become more feral and ruthless. In this case, Vegeta is willing to do whatever he can to beat Granolah, and that means biting him. Still, as the battle progresses, Vegeta realizes he's not quite able to use Ultra Ego to the full extent of its power, as he's changed quite a bit since his first appearance in Dragon Ball Z. As such, the question remains: Will Vegeta continue to pull a Goku and bite people?
Dragon Ball Super Chapter 77 releases on Oct. 20 in English through Viz Media.
