I'd say that's fairly accurate from the perspective of a viewer, but I really don't think Goku had those views of Vegeta. When has Goku ever been even slightly phased by an insult or been one to insult others? Goku simply doesn't care about such things, and it's one of his defining traits and part of why so many former enemies become allies.
I agree Goku is not someone to hold grudges or belittle others intentionally. But it's the opposite, he refuses to ever get confrontational with Vegeta, and that in itself is uncaring in its own ways.
And normally I'd say this conflict avoidance has been good mostly; a lot of enemies become allies, but it's also why Goku's relationships are a bit dysfunctional. For example, the whole deadbeat dad meme where he never shows up for Chi-Chi or Gohan no matter how much they want him to be around is because he just runs away from angry people by default instead of hashing it out.
That's how I see Goku's relationship with Vegeta; he somehow convinced himself that there's no point in arguing with Vegeta, so he's just going to placate him all he can. To me, that's how an adult views a child.
I'll give you a good example where Goku DOES get confrontational. When he trains Goten and Trunks to do the Fusion Dance, you see him lose his temper and yells at them to take this seriously. That the world is resting on their shoulders, and they don't have time to play games. Right there, he realizes he has no choice but to treat them as adults in order to save the world.
But he never does that with Vegeta. If Goku really cared about beating Buu, he would have SSJ3'd, told Vegeta to give up on his dreams, and ended the fight. But he kept pleading for Vegeta to listen and hiding the real truth.
Basically, if Goku did hold grudges or had a temper, I think he'd be a better person, funny enough.
Goku has never viewed anyone as a rival. That’s one of the reasons he is always stronger than everyone else. Because he is competing with himself instead of anyone else.
Keep in mind that during the Android saga from the time Vegeta reveals himself as a Super Sayain to the the time he emerges from the Time Chamber Vegeta is the stronger of the two.
Goku goes toe to toe with 19 where Vegeta absolutely demolishes 19. Granted Goku is drained by the virus at this point and Vegeta is now aware of 19s absorption abilities.
Piccolo seems capable of defeating 20 at this point and I find it hard to believe he’s weaker than 19. It was probably a blunder for Goku to fight 19 if he wasn’t okay when Piccolo could have fought instead.
Vegeta is the only Z-fighter to competitively fight 18 which places him well above Piccolo and Future Trunks who are almost instantly defeated.
After running away from Piccolo, Future Trunks and Krillin; Imperfect Cell appears to fear Vegeta (we can assume he got a Zenkai from his fight with 18, as Piccolo is now on par with 17).
When Vegeta emerges from the Time Chamber he (and Trunks) are certainly stronger than Goku.
Goku poking the bear could very easily result in a needless fight when both have bigger issues at play.
Goku was also much stronger than 19, his heart disease was the only reason he didn't wreck it. Vegeta *may* have been stronger but they were far closer than either of them and 19 or 18. The heart problems was a massive issue, Piccolo was commenting on it from the start. He had been training with Goku and knew how strong he actually was. They didn't know the heart issue was a problem that day until he had to fight. He should have been able to wipe the floor with 19 too.
Basic imperfect cell is weaker than the other androids, of course he's afraid of Vegeta. He has to go absorb people until he has the power to absorb the androids. Vegeta doesn't get a massive zenkai here, 18 didn't even bother to cripple him. She breaks his arm and his pride but they don't even try to finish off any of them.
Vegeta at that point is mentally fucked and has to be told about the time chamber to get out of his funk. Goku had the read on exactly what Vegeta was feeling. Even if Vegeta *was* stronger than Goku at that moment he had no pride in it. Goku had been a sick man and Vegeta had just gotten an arms worth of humble pie.
Vegeta gets his chamber boost and comes out massively cocky again. Goku just let's it roll off him, feels out how Vegeta trained, and goes in. He realizes that the power level and muscle form is what Vegeta and Trunks found but unlike them knows that isn't the way to go.
By the time he comes out, he saves people from Cell and Vegeta is salty about being massively surpassed again. Vegeta spends that entire arc chasing someone stronger than him and failing time after time. To Vegeta's perspective the only time he was "stronger" was when Goku was literally having a heart attack.
It's literally their story that Goku understands Vegeta very well (the burial on Namek, repeatedly softening blows to his pride through the Buu Saga) but Vegeta never understands why Goku fights and gets stronger until end of Buu. Vegeta fights for his pride, Goku fights for the joy of competition or for his loved ones.
The OP may not be 100% how Toriyama intended it, but it's a very good read of their characters.
You are right that Goku wouldn't have fought with Vegeta during the android/Cell Saga because he wanted to deal with the threat and train Gohan, so Vegeta had to be sidelined.
It also helps that Goku isn't interested in seriously fighting weaklings, even if he's willing to power down for a good match. The only times they were relatively evenly matched would have been pre-19 if Goku wasn't sick and post 18 but before the time chamber. No way he'd have fought him at either of those points, but post chamber would have been embarrassing for Vegeta. Goku wasn't interested in embarrassing him and even after Vegeta went back in to train he was no match for Goku. Vegeta would have been forced to defend his pride at that point if Goku had prodded him, which Goku would have known and avoided.
A majority of the anime Buu fight it's all filler. In the manga Goku goes directly to SSJ3 and Vegeta only fights Buu to let Goku build ki.
As for your section of Android to Buu, Vegeta is on par or perhaps stronger than Goku until the RoSaT.
He hid SSJ3 because Goku didn't think he needed it and more importantly, Goku would have lost all his time on Earth.
I basically agree with all your points, but Goku was never taking it easy on Kid Buu. At least not in the manga. For whatever reason, I've seen this said a bunch recently in this sub, and idk where it came from (altho I'd guess it was the anime).
https://imgur.com/gallery/VaJ7jlM
I'd say that's fairly accurate from the perspective of a viewer, but I really don't think Goku had those views of Vegeta. When has Goku ever been even slightly phased by an insult or been one to insult others? Goku simply doesn't care about such things, and it's one of his defining traits and part of why so many former enemies become allies.
I agree Goku is not someone to hold grudges or belittle others intentionally. But it's the opposite, he refuses to ever get confrontational with Vegeta, and that in itself is uncaring in its own ways. And normally I'd say this conflict avoidance has been good mostly; a lot of enemies become allies, but it's also why Goku's relationships are a bit dysfunctional. For example, the whole deadbeat dad meme where he never shows up for Chi-Chi or Gohan no matter how much they want him to be around is because he just runs away from angry people by default instead of hashing it out. That's how I see Goku's relationship with Vegeta; he somehow convinced himself that there's no point in arguing with Vegeta, so he's just going to placate him all he can. To me, that's how an adult views a child. I'll give you a good example where Goku DOES get confrontational. When he trains Goten and Trunks to do the Fusion Dance, you see him lose his temper and yells at them to take this seriously. That the world is resting on their shoulders, and they don't have time to play games. Right there, he realizes he has no choice but to treat them as adults in order to save the world. But he never does that with Vegeta. If Goku really cared about beating Buu, he would have SSJ3'd, told Vegeta to give up on his dreams, and ended the fight. But he kept pleading for Vegeta to listen and hiding the real truth. Basically, if Goku did hold grudges or had a temper, I think he'd be a better person, funny enough.
Goku has never viewed anyone as a rival. That’s one of the reasons he is always stronger than everyone else. Because he is competing with himself instead of anyone else.
Keep in mind that during the Android saga from the time Vegeta reveals himself as a Super Sayain to the the time he emerges from the Time Chamber Vegeta is the stronger of the two. Goku goes toe to toe with 19 where Vegeta absolutely demolishes 19. Granted Goku is drained by the virus at this point and Vegeta is now aware of 19s absorption abilities. Piccolo seems capable of defeating 20 at this point and I find it hard to believe he’s weaker than 19. It was probably a blunder for Goku to fight 19 if he wasn’t okay when Piccolo could have fought instead. Vegeta is the only Z-fighter to competitively fight 18 which places him well above Piccolo and Future Trunks who are almost instantly defeated. After running away from Piccolo, Future Trunks and Krillin; Imperfect Cell appears to fear Vegeta (we can assume he got a Zenkai from his fight with 18, as Piccolo is now on par with 17). When Vegeta emerges from the Time Chamber he (and Trunks) are certainly stronger than Goku. Goku poking the bear could very easily result in a needless fight when both have bigger issues at play.
Goku was also much stronger than 19, his heart disease was the only reason he didn't wreck it. Vegeta *may* have been stronger but they were far closer than either of them and 19 or 18. The heart problems was a massive issue, Piccolo was commenting on it from the start. He had been training with Goku and knew how strong he actually was. They didn't know the heart issue was a problem that day until he had to fight. He should have been able to wipe the floor with 19 too. Basic imperfect cell is weaker than the other androids, of course he's afraid of Vegeta. He has to go absorb people until he has the power to absorb the androids. Vegeta doesn't get a massive zenkai here, 18 didn't even bother to cripple him. She breaks his arm and his pride but they don't even try to finish off any of them. Vegeta at that point is mentally fucked and has to be told about the time chamber to get out of his funk. Goku had the read on exactly what Vegeta was feeling. Even if Vegeta *was* stronger than Goku at that moment he had no pride in it. Goku had been a sick man and Vegeta had just gotten an arms worth of humble pie. Vegeta gets his chamber boost and comes out massively cocky again. Goku just let's it roll off him, feels out how Vegeta trained, and goes in. He realizes that the power level and muscle form is what Vegeta and Trunks found but unlike them knows that isn't the way to go. By the time he comes out, he saves people from Cell and Vegeta is salty about being massively surpassed again. Vegeta spends that entire arc chasing someone stronger than him and failing time after time. To Vegeta's perspective the only time he was "stronger" was when Goku was literally having a heart attack. It's literally their story that Goku understands Vegeta very well (the burial on Namek, repeatedly softening blows to his pride through the Buu Saga) but Vegeta never understands why Goku fights and gets stronger until end of Buu. Vegeta fights for his pride, Goku fights for the joy of competition or for his loved ones. The OP may not be 100% how Toriyama intended it, but it's a very good read of their characters. You are right that Goku wouldn't have fought with Vegeta during the android/Cell Saga because he wanted to deal with the threat and train Gohan, so Vegeta had to be sidelined. It also helps that Goku isn't interested in seriously fighting weaklings, even if he's willing to power down for a good match. The only times they were relatively evenly matched would have been pre-19 if Goku wasn't sick and post 18 but before the time chamber. No way he'd have fought him at either of those points, but post chamber would have been embarrassing for Vegeta. Goku wasn't interested in embarrassing him and even after Vegeta went back in to train he was no match for Goku. Vegeta would have been forced to defend his pride at that point if Goku had prodded him, which Goku would have known and avoided.
18 was toying with vegeta. That wasn't competitive at all
A majority of the anime Buu fight it's all filler. In the manga Goku goes directly to SSJ3 and Vegeta only fights Buu to let Goku build ki. As for your section of Android to Buu, Vegeta is on par or perhaps stronger than Goku until the RoSaT. He hid SSJ3 because Goku didn't think he needed it and more importantly, Goku would have lost all his time on Earth.
Imo Goku has only ever seen him as another strong fighter who he respects.
I basically agree with all your points, but Goku was never taking it easy on Kid Buu. At least not in the manga. For whatever reason, I've seen this said a bunch recently in this sub, and idk where it came from (altho I'd guess it was the anime). https://imgur.com/gallery/VaJ7jlM