The Saiyans are the strongest warrior race in the Dragon Ball universe, but they owe a lot of their success in battle to their many transformations. While any Saiyan can turn into a Great Ape so long as they have a tail and look at the Full Moon, it’s their Super Saiyan forms that turn them into killing machines. Even Super Saiyan 1 is enough to make a Super Saiyan 50x stronger than their base form, making them a serious threat across the multiverse.
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Ever since Goku unlocked Super Saiyan on Namek, the Saiyans have only gotten access to stronger and crazier transformations. As of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, there are dozens of different Super Saiyan forms, each one stronger than the last – but not every Saiyan has the power to make use of their race’s absolute best transformations.
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Bardock: False Ultra Instinct
For the longest time, Bardock’s strongest canon transformation was his Great Ape form. All that changed when he returned in Dragon Ball Super’s Granolah the Survivor Saga. Midway through the arc, the manga flashes back to Bardock saving Granolah’s life from Gas. While fighting Gas, Bardock gets a power-up that’s eerily similar to Ultra Instinct Sign. Make no mistake, this form is not actually Ultra Instinct, but it’s closer enough for Gas to remember fighting Bardock when Goku uses True Ultra Instinct later in the arc.
Bardock’s “False Ultra Instinct” transformation gives him Super Saiyan-like aura and a massive power boost that lets him fight on relatively even footing with Gas. Interestingly, Roshi uses a similar form while fighting Jiren in the Dragon Ball Super manga’s Tournament of Power, but where Roshi’s version focuses on skill-based maneuvers, Bardock’s is all about raw power.
Future Gohan: Super Saiyan 1
Future Gohan is the single saddest character in the Dragon Ball franchise. In Gohan’s timeline, Goku died of the Heart Virus before the Androids arrived. Shortly afterward, all the Z-Fighters were killed, leaving Gohan completely on his own. Since Goku died not long after the Frieza Saga, Future Gohan spent his whole life believing that Super Saiyan 1 was the peak of his power. It’s implied that Future Gohan never surpassed Goku’s Power Level of 150,000,000 when he fought Frieza.
Future Gohan has just as much potential as his main timeline counterpart, but with no one to train him, he plateaus at Super Saiyan 1. Had Goku lived just a little longer, he may have been able to show his son that he could achieve true greatness. Instead, Future Gohan dedicates his life to keeping his timeline safe from Androids 17 & 18, while training Future Trunks as best he can.
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Goten: Super Saiayn 1
Goten was the youngest Super Saiyan in history when he was introducdd. At just seven years old, Goten was already a rival to his brother Gohan in Power Level and was only slightly weaker than Trunks, despite the fact Trunks was personally trained by Vegeta while Goten was trained by Chichi. Unfortunately, Goten has no real interest in martial arts, and prefers to go on dates or play superheroes with Trunks.
Goten is by no means weak, but he’ll likely never surpass Super Saiyan 1. Goten doesn’t have the same fighting spirit as his father, and was considered to be enough of a liability by the Z-Fighters where he wasn’t brought to fight either Golden Frieza or Moro. If he actually trained, Goten could have at least unlocked Super Saiyan 2 by now.
Trunks: Super Saiyan 1
The main timeline version of Trunks is nowhere near as strong as Future Trunks. Due to his relatively peaceful upbringing, Trunks just doesn’t have the same drive as his future counterpart to grow powerful. He’s certainly strong for his age and had a lot of potential in the Majin Buu Saga, but he’s failed to make use of his talents in Dragon Ball Super.
Like Goten, Trunks’ strongest transformation is regular Super Saiyan. At best, Super Saiyan Trunks is strong enough to fight crime as Great Saiyaman X1. To his credit, he’s able to do some slight damage to Cell Max in the Dragon Ball Super manga, but he’s also being hard carried by the Gammas, and still needs to fuse into Gotenks to actually make himself useful.
Gotenks: Super Saiyan 3
Gotenks has since fallen off, but he was originally the third-strongest Z-Fighter behind Ultimate Gohan and Super Saiyan Vegito at the end of Dragon Ball Z. Super Saiyan Gotenks was already stronger than Super Saiyan 3 Goku, but he reached new heights when he pulled out Super Saiyan 3 during his fight with Super Buu. Super Saiyan 3 Gotenks is ridiculously strong and could have defeated Super Buu himself had he took the fight seriously.
The last time Super Saiyan 3 Gotenks was seen was in the Copy-Vegeta filler arc, where Copy-Vegeta easily defeated him in Super Saiyan Blue. As of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, Goten and Trunks cannot perform the fusion dance correctly anymore, resulting in a fat version of Gotenks who can’t even turn Super Saiyan.
Cabba: Super Saiyan 2
Cabba might be the weakest of Universe 6’s Saiyan trio, but he was the first Saiyan in his universe to turn Super Saiyan and is unquestionably one of Planet Sadala’s greatest warriors. Unlike Kale and Caulifla, who rely on S-Cells to unlock their Super Saiyan forms, Cabba’s transformations stem from old-school emotional triggers.
During the Tournament of Power, Cabba unlocks Super Saiyan 2 while fighting Monna. His resolve to protect his universe and respect for Vegeta draws out his latent power. Interestingly, Cabba never unlocked Super Saiyan 2 in the Dragon Ball Super manga, making the form exclusive to the anime.
Caulifla: Super Saiyan 2
Caulifla is the closest thing Universe 6 has to a Goku. She loves martial arts, thrives in the heat of battle, and can learn just about any technique just by seeing it once. Caulifla almost immediately understands how best to use her S-Cells to trigger Super Saiyan just by watching Cabba transform once.
While fighting with Goku in the Tournament of Power, Caulifla is able to push her Ki far enough to unlock Suepr Saiyan Third Grade – a form that took Goku weeks to unlock while training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. From there, it takes no time at all for Caulifla to manipulate her Ki into activating Super Saiyan 2. Impressively, Caulifla’s version of Super Saiyan 2 was strong enough to force Goku into his Super Saiyan God form.
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Kale: Legendary Super Saiyan
The strongest unfused Saiyan in Universe 6 and Dragon Ball’s first canon Legendary Super Saiyan, Kale’s timid nature hides the fact that she is actually ferociously powerful. Once Kale becomes a Legendary Super Saiyan in the Tournament of Power, she grows strong enough to give Super Saiyan Blue Goku a serious beating. Kale’s only drawback is that she cannot control the form whatsoever.
In the Dragon Ball Super manga, Legendary Super Saiyan Kale personally eliminates several universes from the tournament all on her own. Even without LSSJ, it’s implied that Kale is hiding her true power and is actually quite a bit stronger than Caulifla. Like Broly, if and when Kale learns to master Legendary Super Saiyan, she’ll be unstoppable.
Future Trunks: Super Saiyan Rage
In the Dragon Ball Super manga, Future Trunks’ strongest form is the mastered version of Super Saiyan 2. After seeing Goku and Gohan master Super Saiyan 1 for the Cell Games, Trunks applied those same principles to his training and grew to be as strong as Super Saiyan 3 Goku by the time of the Goku Black Saga. The Dragon Ball Super anime instead gives Future Trunks a God form for his final battle with Zamasu.
By training with Vegeta before they return to his timeline, Future Trunks somehow absorbs some of his father’s God Ki from Super Saiyan Blue. While fighting Fused Zamasu in a heightened emotional state, all that God Ki surfaces and gives Trunks access to Super Saiyan Rage. Super Saiyan Rage Future Trunks was faster than Fused Zamasu and strong enough to cut him in half with his Sword of Hope. Had Zamasu not been immortal, Trunks would have killed him on the spot.
Goku Black: Super Saiyan Rosé
Goku Black is an anomaly among Saiyans. Since Goku Black is actually Zamasu possessing Goku’s body, he has access to Saiyan Ki, Supreme Kai Ki, and God Ki. When Goku Black tries to activate Super Saiyan Blue, all his different Ki types blend together, morphing the form into Super Saiyan Rosé – a version of Super Saiyan Blue that’s been corrupted by Zamasu’s status as a Supreme Kai.
Super Saiyan Rosé is slightly stronger than the regular Super Saiyan Blue that Goku and Vegeta use. SSR also gives Goku Black a host of unique abilities, like being able to manipulate a scythe made entirely out of Ki. Interestingly, Goku Black was not strong enough to trigger Super Saiyan Rosé right away, and needed multiple Zenkai boosts to activate the form.
Kefla: Legendary Super Saiyan 2
The Potara fusion between Caulifla and Kale, Kefla is the strongest female character in the series after Heles. Since Kefla is half-Kale, this technically makes her a Legendary Super Saiyan. Further evidence is the fact that Kefla’s Super Saiyan forms tint her hair green, like with Kale and Broly. This also technically means that Kefla is the only canon character in Dragon Ball capable of turning Legendary Super Saiyan 2.
Kefla’s Super Saiyan 2 transformation is a mix of Caulifla’s Super Saiyan 2 and Kale’s Legendary Super Saiyan forms, giving her green hair with the signature SSJ2 lightning bolts. Legendary Super Saiyan 2 Kefla is strong enough to fight on equal footing with Ultra Instinct Sign Goku, and was only defeated due to Goku’s being a much more skilled martial artist.
Broly: Legendary Super Saiyan
Also referred to as Full Power Super Saiyan (and not to be confused with Goku and Gohan’s full power forms from the Cell Games), Broly’s Legendary Super Saiyan transformation is massively overpowered. In Dragon Ball Super: Broly, turning into a Legendary Super Saiyan scales Broly up to Gogeta’s Power Level, and it’s even implied he’d give Beerus some trouble in a serious fight.
Unlike his regular Super Saiyan form, Broly cannot activate Legendary Super Saiyan willingly. He’s currently training with Goku and Vegeta on Beerus’ Planet to control his emotions and find a way to trigger Legendary Super Saiyan on his own. He’s closer than ever now that he has Gohan Beast as a sparring partner, and the cover for Dragon Ball Super Volume 24 suggests that it’s only a matter of time before Broly gets LSSJ 100% under control.
Vegeta: Ultra Ego
Ultra Ego is Vegeta’s answer to Ultra Instinct, and a transformation perfectly suited to the Prince of All Saiyan’s love of battle. Unlike Ultra Instinct, which is designed to dodge as many attacks as possible on instinct, Ultra Ego actually gets stronger the more damage the user takes. Likewise, Ultra Ego operates a lot like Legendary Super Saiyan, drawing out more of Vegeta’s power the longer he fights.
Ultra Ego has yet to win any fights, but this is only because Vegeta hasn’t mastered the form yet. Since Ultra Ego’s fuel is damage, it’s easy for Vegeta to get lost in the heat of combat and exhaust himself completely before dealing the finishing blow. Because of this, Vegeta still uses Super Saiyan Blue Evolved as his main form (like when he fought Gohan Beast in Dragon Ball Super Chapter 103), but that doesn’t change the fact Ultra Ego is easily his most powerful form.
Goku: Perfected Ultra Instinct
Ultra Instinct’s gone through many different phases since Goku unlocked the transformation fighting Jiren in the Tournament of Power. Between Ultra Instinct Sign and True Ultra Instinct, Goku’s got no shortage of Ultra Instinct forms to choose from. That said, the strongest version of Ultra Instinct is Perfected Ultra Instinct.
True Ultra Instinct briefly surpassed PUI during the Granolah the Survivor Saga, but as seen when he was fighting Gohan Beast in Dragon Ball Super Chapter 103, Perfected Ultra Instinct is once again Goku’s strongest form. Perfected Ultra Instinct gives Goku a massive speed, power, and defense boost, allowing him to tank hits and dodge lightning-fast attacks like nothing. Since training with Merus, Goku can trigger Perfected Ultra Instinct whenever he wants, eliminating the form’s main weakness of needing a clear mind and heart.
Gohan: Beast
Beast is a unique form entirely exclusive to Gohan. Like his Ultimate form from the Majin Buu Saga, Beast draws out all of Gohan’s latent potential and power into one of the single strongest transformations in the franchise. Gohan Beast was the only character strong enough to kill Cell Max in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, and later defeated both Goku and Broly in the manga.
Despite only having the form for a few hours, Gohan can already activate Beast whenever he wants. Whis even sees so much potential in Gohan’s new form, that he suggests to Beerus that Gohan succeed him as Universe 7’s God of Destruction. Thanks to Beast, Gohan is currently the strongest main character in the series, and the second-strongest mortal after Black Frieza.
Vegito: Super Saiyan Blue
Super Saiyan Vegito was the strongest character at the end of Dragon Ball Z, but he was surpassed by Whis, Beerus, and Goku in Battle of Gods. When Vegito returned in the Goku Black Saga, he came back stronger than ever. Super Saiyan Blue Vegito was much more powerful than Fused Zamasu, and came surprisingly close to beating him.
Unfortunately, the Potara earrings’ one hour time limit for mortals is simply too weak to maintain a fusion of Vegito’s caliber. Super Saiyan Blue makes Vegito so strong, he can only keep the fusion active for a few minutes. Any form stronger than Super Saiyan Blue would likely cause Vegito to defuse immediately.
Gogeta: Super Saiyan Blue
Although logic would dictate that Gogeta and Vegito should be equal in strength, Gogeta’s win record and feats imply he’s actually more powerful than Goku and Vegeta’s Potara fusion. Vegito has lost every fight he’s been in, whereas Gogeta beat Legendary Super Saiyan Broly.
Gogeta’s strongest transformation is Super Saiyan Blue, and his version of the form was powerful enough to allow him to break into a different dimension while fighting Broly. Super Saiyan Blue Gogeta may even be stronger than Beerus, or at least equal in terms of Power Level.
- Created by
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Akira Toriyama
- First TV Show
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Dragon Ball
- Latest TV Show
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Dragon Ball DAIMA
- Upcoming TV Shows
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Dragon Ball DAIMA
- First Episode Air Date
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February 26, 1986
- TV Show(s)
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Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, Dragon Ball Super, Dragon Ball DAIMA
