Who doesn’t like anime transformations?
But they weren’t as popular as you might think. It was Goku’s Super Saiyan transformations that made it an integral part of the mainstream battle shounen anime.
With the masses loving it, the transformations didn’t stop there; we got Super Saiyan 2, 3, and 4; then came Super Saiyan God, Blue. The recent ones like Ultra Instinct, Ultra Ego, Gohan Beast, and Black Frieza are also loved globally.
That said, with so many of transformations, it’s easy to be overwhelmed. That’s why I have curated this list. So, without further ado, let’s dive into the list of Top 10 Dragon Ball transformations.
10Super Full Power
Super Full Power or Full Power is Jiren’s answer to Goku’s Perfected Ultra Instinct. While facing Goku, the fear of losing made him relieve all his past traumas, which enabled him to break through his limits and attain this form. Jiren was able to overpower Goku in terms of raw power, going as far as blasting Goku away before the Saiyan lost his cool and almost defeated him.
9Super Saiyan God
The God of Destruction, Beerus, came to Earth looking for the Super Saiyan God. To protect the Earth from destruction, the Saiyans had no choice but to ask Shenron, who tells them it’s a legend, and can only be achieved with six righteous Saiyans. Among them, five have to share their power with one Saiyan.
After following the instructions, Goku transforms into the Super Saiyan God, which is unlike any of his transformations. This form is way stronger than SSJ3. The Super Saiyan God’s Ki cannot be detected by any normies; only those with God’s Ki can. Unfortunately, Goku couldn’t win the fight in this form for obvious reasons.
8Super Saiyan Blue
When a Saiyan becomes a Super Saiyan using the God’s Ki, the form is called Super Saiyan Blue. God’s Ki is the power source of the Super Saiyan God. This is the strongest Super Saiyan form Goku and Vegeta achieved during their training with Whis on Beerus’ planet.
This form is far from being perfect because it consumes an enormous amount of Ki. However, with training, one can get stronger and control excessive Ki drainage. Throughout the entire Dragon Ball Super anime, we’ve seen Goku use 20x Kaio-ken on this form. At the same time, Vegeta turned into an anime-original form, Super Saiyan Blue Evolved, which is said to be similar to Ultra Instinct Sign by Whis. The form was later introduced in the manga for the reader’s ease.
7Super Saiyan 4
Super Saiyan 4 has to be the most fascinating transformation in the Dragon Ball universe. It is true to the Saiyan roots and takes us back to the early days of Dragon Ball Z.
In Dragon Ball GT, when Goku loses his sanity after turning into the Golden Great Ape, Pan helps him regain sanity and condenses the energy of the Ape into his human form, transforming Goku into Super Saiyan 4. This is the only form where the Saiyans (including Vegeta) retain their tail. Super Saiyan 4’s absence from the canon timeline is the only sad thing.
6Legendary Super Saiyan
In Dragon Ball Super: Broly (2018) movie, Broly was revealed to be a Legendary Super Saiyan. However, before him, Kale from Universe 6 was introduced as a Legendary Super Saiyan, but many wouldn’t remember, given she was a supporting act.
But, in the 2018 DBS movie, Broly showed us how frighteningly powerful the Legendary Super Saiyan is. Even though it was Broly’s first time transforming into this form, he took down Goku and Vegeta in their Super Saiyan Blue form. Both the Saiyans had to merge into Gogeta to take Broly down, that too, after a hard-fought tussle.
Goku said this at the end of the movie, “He’s probably even stronger than Beerus.”
5Orange Piccolo
Yes, Ultra Instinct, Ultra Ego, and all these transformations are exciting, but it’s been a while since Piccolo had a transformation. Fortunately, Piccolo got his much-deserved power-up in the most recent movie.
In Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero (2022), the absence of both the Saiyans meant our beloved green pea finally evolved into a gigantic carrot. Shenron granted Piccolo’s wish to unlock his potential and gave him a power boost as a bonus. Thus, Piccolo achieved this new form. According to Toriyama, Orange Piccolo’s battle power is on par with Goku and others. The true potential of this form is yet to be revealed.
4Ultra Instinct
Ultra Instinct is a state in which the body and consciousness sever the link between them, letting the subconscious take control during battles. In this state, the body moves independently without having to think and then react.
When Jiren countered Goku’s spirit bomb back to him, Goku absorbed the energy while surpassing his limit to achieve Ultra Instinct Sign, the first transformation and the most unstable one as well.
Next comes the Perfected Ultra Instinct, a massive power-up to the Ultra Instinct Sign. This holds the power of Autonomous Ultra Instinct, which is said to hold the true capability of Ultra Instinct, used by Grand Minister and Whis.
Then there’s True Ultra Instinct, a form unique only to Goku. This is an enhanced version of Ultra Instinct Sign that helps him use the best of both his Saiyan nature and the strength of Ultra Instinct.
3Ultra Ego
Vegeta’s urge to surpass Goku, but in another way, led him to the power of the God of Destruction. Beerus introduced Vegeta to this power, which differs from Angels like Whiss, who has Ultra Instinct. But in this case, Vegeta had to focus on only one thing, destruction. With enough training, he finally achieved Ultra Ego.
Vegeta’s Ki is similar to a God of Destruction in this form. Unlike other transformations, the more he got hit, the stronger he became. He uses Ultra Ego against Granolah for the first time and still has a long way to go before he masters this form.
2Black Frieza
Black Frieza’s return to knock out Goku and Vegeta in one shot reminds me of a dialogue from the 1973 movie Papillon, “Hey you bastards, I’m still here!”
After safely escaping Earth from the hands of Broly, Frieza found a Hyperbolic Time Chamber in one of his conquered planets and trained for over a decade to achieve his new form, Black Frieza. Due to the long training time, he has got rid of the stamina flaw he had with Golden Frieza and is said to have equal power to that of the Gods of Destruction. This explains why he took Goku and Vegeta down in one shot in their Ultra Instinct and Ultra Ego forms, although exhausted from their previous battles.
1Gohan Beast
In Episode 90 of Dragon Ball Super, Gohan challenges Goku to a duel to see how he fares as a fighter since his last proper fight was against Super Buu.
During this battle, Gohan said, “My goal is an ultimate form no one has ever seen before.” This felt like another hollow dream to the fans, but it soon became a reality. In the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero (2022) movie, Akira Toriyama presented us with Gohan’s new Beast form.
This form equals Goku and Vegeta’s strongest forms, proven in the latest chapters of Dragon Ball Super when Gohan’s Beast Form catches up to Goku’s Perfected Ultra Instinct and even manages to land a hit. Gohan’s Beast form has endless potential.
Final Thoughts
Dragon Ball Z is a pioneer of transformations. Among all the transformations, these are my top 10 Dragon Ball transformations. Considering that Super Saiyan 4 is the only non-Dragon Ball Super transformation, the transformations have been consistently great over the years. But are there any older transformations you prefer over those on the list? Let me know.
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