Throughout the nearly 40-year history of the Dragon Ball franchise, creator Akira Toriyama has consistently found ways to give his characters interesting (and incredibly cool) new capabilities. But although the first ones that come to mind will often be the awesome energy blasts that the franchise helped popularize in anime, there are actually quite a few others that are just as interesting.

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These powers weren’t just eye-popping to see when they premiered in the Dragon Ball manga and on the anime, they have also profoundly influenced tellers of action-packed stories across the planet ever since, and continue to do so to this day.

8 Flying: So Simple Yet So Important

Flying Tien and Chiaotzu Dragon Ball

With the god-level powers present in Dragon Ball Super, it’s easy to forget how significant something like flying was at one point in the franchise. In Dragon Ball, Goku had gotten quite far with the help of the Flying Nimbus (and that one time he used his tail as a propeller at the World Martial Arts Tournament) but when Chiaotzu and Tien popped up and could simply fly around at will, that changed everything.

It may be old hat at this point, but that very ubiquity speaks to just how tremendous of an addition to the series flight really was. It opened up the entire world to the main characters, and it made fans dream of having the same ability.

7 Ki Blasts: The Franchise’s Defining Feature

Goku's First Kamehameha Dragon Ball

Akira Toriyama may not have invented the concept of concentrating pure energy in one’s bare hands and using it as weapon, but there’s no doubt he contributed tremendously to the concept’s popularization.

From the first time fans saw Master Roshi extinguish a fire the size of a mountain with a Kamehameha, up to the nearly planet-sized ki blasts that would come later on, this one ability has pretty much always been the most distinctive quality of the entire franchise. And while there have been a ton of awesome techniques from characters of all kinds, the strongest and the coolest may very well still be that beautiful blue blast that Master Roshi conjured up all those years ago.

6 Instant Transmission: A Little OP, But Still Awesome

Instant Transmission Goku

As if flying didn’t open up the world to Goku and company enough, Akira Toriyama eventually decided that they were going to need a little something more to continue telling compelling stories in the Dragon Ball universe. Thus, Instant Transmission was born.

This technique isn’t very flashy, but it is definitely useful. With Goku now capable of instantly teleporting throughout the universe, possibilities were made infinite. Of course, the storytelling then needs to contend with an ability that can constantly remove uncertainty and danger from the equation, which is tough. But even so, how can anyone say teleporting isn’t absolutely awesome?

5 Sensing Power Levels: Much Cooler Than Wearing A Scouter

Mr. Popo Sensing Ki Dragon Ball

It started as a vague sense of presence and power and evolved into a psychic GPS and stat tracker, but in all of its iterations sensing someone’s power level has always been an awesome aspect of the Dragon Ball universe.

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Master Roshi may have initially suggested an ability to sense the power of a foe in the Red Ribbon Army saga of Dragon Ball, but Mr. Popo was the one who originally laid the facts of the ability bare. It would go on to become an integral part of the series, but it was probably at its coolest when it still held mystery and only a select few characters could wield its power.

4 Fusion: Sometimes Cool, Sometimes Hilarious

Fusion Dragon Ball Z Trunks Goten Gotenks

Both forms of fusion in the Dragon Ball universe have shown that they have their ups and downs, but regardless they always prove entertaining, and when they work out they’ve given fans some of the coolest moments and some of the coolest characters in the history of the series. It's even provided some strange ones that some fans may not even know about.

From Gotenks and Vegito in the Buu saga, to Gogeta’s awesome appearances throughout the Dragon Ball movies and series', to the return of Vegito in Dragon Ball Super, this technique has undoubtedly made its mark on the franchise and its coolness simply can’t be ignored.

3 Great Ape: A Troublesome But Powerful Ability

Great Ape Goku Pilaf Saga

Is transforming into a skyscraper sized monkey creature at the sight of the full moon an ability or an awful curse? In reality, it’s probably a bit of both, but that’s neither here nor there because the Great Ape transformation is one of the coolest things in all of Dragon Ball regardless.

It all began with the shocking moment when fans learned that Goku’s tail held more secrets than previously suggested in the very first saga of Dragon Ball and has since provided a ton of cool moments throughout the franchise’s history that gave the show a bit of a kaiju spin to keep things interesting.

2 Super Saiyan: The Biggest Paradigm Shift In Series History

Super Sayan Goku Frieza Saga

Any fan who saw Goku become Super Saiyan for the very first time totally unspoiled remembers exactly where they were and exactly how they felt. That transformation was easily one of the biggest moments in anime history, not just because it was really, really, really cool, but because it informed so many anime that followed.

Do Luffy’s Gears exist without Super Saiyan Goku? Do Ichigo’s many transformations? There are too many other examples of the super powerful, super cool-looking hero transformation out there to even count, and odds are they were either heavily inspired or totally ripped directly from the Dragon Ball series.

1 Ultra Instinct: The Ultimate Ability

Ultra Instinct Goku

While some fans may argue that Toriyama’s knack for conjuring awesome abilities peaked at Goku’s initial Super Saiyan transformation, Ultra Instinct came on strong way late in the game and it gives the golden haired, blue-eyed powerhouse a run for its money like the Cobra Kai to Super Saiyan’s Karate Kid.

The State of the Gods shows Toriyama getting metaphysical, allowing anyone who masters it to forego the limitations of the physical body so that their thoughts and movements can become one unified all-powerful thing. If there was one awesome way to top the unbelievable coolness of Super Saiyan, this may very well be it.

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