Bulma and Vegeta may have had their share of marital problems in the Dragon Ball series–including but not limited to Vegeta’s occasional regression into a supervillain–but overall they are a match made in heaven as Bulma’s genius-level intelligence and aggressive nature makes her the perfect partner for someone as vastly powerful and even more vastly hard-headed as Vegeta. In fact, Bulma proved just how perfect Vegeta is for her as a partner years before the two even met.
Bulma made her debut in the very first issue of Dragon Ball while Vegeta didn’t come on the scene until Dragon Ball Chapter 204 by Akira Toriyama. While Vegeta was initially a brutal villain who would just as soon kill Bulma as he would look at her, he eventually became one of the Z Fighters’ strongest allies and became a full-fledged member of the team. Along his journey from villain to hero, Vegeta fell in love with Bulma and the two were soon married and expecting a son, Trunks. While their relationship initially came as a shock to many, it really shouldn’t have been as Bulma revealed early in her Dragon Ball career exactly what kind of man she is most attracted to, and Vegeta fits the bill perfectly.
In Dragon Ball Chapter 5 by Akira Toriyama, Bulma and Goku are traveling the world searching for Dragon Balls and find themselves in a small town that is plagued by a vicious monster who is responsible for abducting every young woman in town and taking them to his home to be his brides. When Bulma discovers that one of the town elders has the Dragon Ball they are searching for in her possession, she makes a deal with the townspeople that Goku will defeat this monster in exchange for the mystical orb. The townspeople agree and Goku goes to battle with the mysterious villain. However, when the monster comes to town expecting to easily abduct a new bride, Goku discovers that he isn’t as powerful as he led the townspeople to believe and is just a weak shapeshifter who is able to make himself look intimidating.
Before Goku defeated the villain, who was revealed to be the now-familiar and notoriously cowardly Oolong, the shapeshifter tried to lure Goku (who was dressed as a woman) into his clutches rather than taking ‘her’ by force. In that effort, Oolong transformed into a handsome man, and while that didn’t peak Goku’s interest, Bulma immediately became interested in the villain and even presented herself as someone who was willing to be one of his brides. When Oolong transformed back into a monster following Goku’s initial attack, Bulma snapped herself out of her smitten daze—commenting to herself that she has a weakness for ‘hot’ guys. This reaction to Oolong’s handsome form implies that Bulma is most interested in attractive, alpha-male ‘bad boys’ who don’t play by the rules. This description perfectly fits Vegeta and totally explains why she fell so hard for the reformed villain.
Aside from Oolong, Bulma’s relationship with Yamcha also reveals her ideal type as he, too, was introduced as a villain. As time went on, however, Yamcha completely lost his edge and his persona as a ‘bad boy’ completely faded which left Bulma completely disinterested. Vegeta, on the other hand, only got more badass when he gave up the life of villainy which apparently keeps the spark very much alive between him and Bulma. Bulma likes her men to be mean, powerful, and a little dangerous–something she revealed in one of her first Dragon Ball chapters which perfectly explains her attraction to Vegeta.
