Dragon Ball Super: Jiren Or Vegeta - Who Is Stronger? Why The Forms Matter

The "Dragon Ball" franchise is all about characters facing off against each other. The catch is that the results can vary from encounter to encounter, thanks to the regular power boosts pretty much every major character receives between battles. Sometimes, it's relatively easy to keep track of how the balance of power develops. All you have to do is keep track of Son Goku (Mazako Nozawa) — who fights most of the heavy hitters at some point down the line — in order to get an idea of where the featured players stand at any given time. However, things can get pretty complicated in scenarios where he's not directly involved.

Apart from Goku, Vegeta (Ryō Horikawa) is one of the franchise's central characters. His ever-increasing power level tends to hover somewhere in the approximate region of the protagonist, though every once in a while, one of them receives a power-up that gives them an edge. This makes him an interesting comparison point to other all-powerful figures such as Jiren (Eiji Hanawa), the Pride of Universe 11. A borderline invincible warrior who might be the strongest mortal in the multiverse, respected hero Jiren is part of his universe's Pride Troopers in the Tournament of Power competition and actually eliminates Vegeta during this particular "Dragon Ball Super" battle royal. In a true show of strength between the two, however, there's reason to believe that Vegeta would emerge as the victor ... but only in a form that hasn't debuted in the anime yet.

It's actually an understatement to say that Vegeta loses to Jiren in the Tournament of Power. The Universe 11 warrior has the upper hand throughout the fight and even takes the time to deliver an offhand beatdown to Goku in between attacks. After completely and utterly manhandling the Saiyan prince to the point that bits of his life flash before his eyes, Jiren pulls out the big guns and blasts Vegeta with a Power Impact. When the battered Vegeta retaliates with a powerful Final Flash, Jiren not only takes its full force willingly ... but remains completely unharmed by the attack, and actually takes the time to admire Vegeta's move before knocking the Saiyan out. 

The beatdown is just about as one-sided as they come in the franchise, and as such, should be pretty conclusive proof of Jiren's absolute superiority. However, as stated, forms are a massive game-changer in the "Dragon Ball" universe, and it just so happens that Vegeta has something pretty powerful up his sleeve.

Jiren is a powerful dude, there's no two ways about it. However, should the confrontation happen by the time Vegeta can access his Ultra Ego form, the Saiyan should have no trouble making short work of the Universe 11 hero.

Ultra Ego Vegeta has only appeared in the manga so far, so the hyper-powerful form isn't well-known if you're only keeping up with "Dragon Ball" anime. While he obviously hasn't had the chance to test his Ultra Ego might against Jiren, there are certain signs that indicate that the form has indeed made Vegeta the more powerful character of the two. 

A major hint for this comes in the very Tournament of Power where Jiren faces Goku in his extreme form, Super Full Power. Goku uses his own powerful Mastered Ultra Instinct form to fight back and turns out to be the stronger combatant.  This is important because Ultra Ego Vegeta and Mastered Ultra Instinct Goku have both faced off against the Cerealian bounty hunter Granolah in the manga, and it was clear that Vegeta did considerably better. Because this essentially confirms that Vegeta's Ultra Ego is stronger than Goku's Mastered Ultra Instinct, it's pretty clear that Ultra Ego Vegeta would walk all over Jiren, Super Full Power or not.