Super Saiyan is virtually synonymous with Dragon Ball at this point. The entire Frieza arc centers itself on the idea of a Super Saiyan rising up to defeat the galactic tyrant. Frieza himself is motivated by a fear of the legendary Super Saiyan, a prophetic warrior who would surely put an end to Frieza’s reign of terror.
Dragon Ball teases whether or not Goku, Vegeta, or Gohan are the legendary Super Saiyan, ultimately settling on Goku. Many fans misbelieve that Super Saiyan was intended to be a special transformation just for Goku, but that’s far from the case. Super Saiyan’s role in Dragon Ball has an interesting history and is used primarily as a narrative tool by Akira Toriyama.
Updated on December 11, 2021, by Ritwik Mitra: Dragon Ball is one of the most popular shonen series of all time, featuring everything from epic battles to amazing transformations that have burned their image into the minds of millions of impressionable children all over the world when they witnessed this masterpiece on their television screens.
A big part of what made the series so popular is the Super Saiyan transformation, which is easily the most recognizable aspect of this illustrious series. Here are some weird facts about this series that most fans aren't aware of.
15 The Tingling Sensation On A Saiyan's Back
There was a time when the Super Saiyan transformation was one of the most mysterious and exciting transformations in the show. However, with the advent of Dragon Ball Super, almost everything about the Super Saiyan transformation has been described in excruciatingly long detail.
As per the Saiyans of Universe 6, there's a unique trigger to becoming Super Saiyan. Apparently, feeling a tingling sensation on one's back is what Saiyans need to focus on to achieve this transformation.
14 How S-Cells Play A Role In Making Someone A Saiyan
Along with the tingling sensation, there's another factor that governs whether someone is capable of transforming into a Super Saiyan. This is to do with the obtuse S-Cells.
Apparently, only Saiyans who have S-Cells in their body are capable of becoming Super Saiyan. Apparently, Saiyans with a pure heart have a greater quantity of these S-Cells, allowing them to turn into a Super Saiyan at a moment's notice.
13 A Super Saiyan's Tail Also Turns Gold
Given the sheer number of tailless Saiyans in Dragon Ball, it's no wonder that most people haven't seen any tailed Super Saiyan in the series. If they did, they would've noticed something really cool about this transformation.
The Super Saiyan transformation gives a golden hue to a Saiyan's hair upon transformation. This applies to the fur on a Saiyan's tail too, which also undergoes this change!
12 Chi-Chi Doesn't Like Super Saiyan Gohan Because Of His Blonde Hair
When Chi-Chi sees Gohan in his Super Saiyan form for the first time, she instantly disapproves. While most people might assume that she simply doesn't want her son to fight, the reasons for her dislike of this form go deeper than that.
In Japan, a child who dyes their hair blonde is seen as a sign of rebellion. With this context, it makes more sense as to why Chi-Chi was so disgusted after seeing Gohan in this form.
11 Super Saiyan's Can't Use A Spirit Bomb Because Of An Impure Heart
The Spirit Bomb is one of the most iconic techniques in Dragon Ball by a country mile. This powerful technique has decimated most enemies in the series... but, oddly enough, Goku has never pulled off this move in his Super Saiyan form.
This is because only a warrior with a pure heart can use the Spirit Bomb in battle. Given the bloodlust for battle that Goku gets in this transformation, it's understandable as to why he can't really channel the energy for a Spirit Bomb in this form.
10 Transforming Was Never A Given
It’s important to recognize that Dragon Ball does not introduce the concept of Super Saiyan as a transformation. In the context of what Frieza and Vegeta believe, the Super Saiyan is more a state of being that one naturally achieves by becoming stronger. Vegeta erroneously believes himself to have become the Super Saiyan multiple times on Namek.
There’s no way any of the characters could know that Super Saiyan would cause a physical transformation, but it’s for the best that it does. Narratively, it’s a fantastic way of signaling Goku’s rage and representing him embracing his Saiyan heritage through a visual overhaul.
9 Designed To Save Time On Inking
Super Saiyan also saves on inking, which is what motivated Akira Toriyama’s final design for the form. Since Goku’s hair is jet black (along with most of the other characters in Dragon Ball,) it needs to be consistently inked from chapter to chapter.
Wanting to save himself and his assistants time during the Frieza arc, Toriyama conceived Super Saiyan’s clear hair as a means of saving time on inking. Considering just how long the final battle between SSJ Goku and Frieza is (even in the manga,) this probably saved Toriyama a great deal of stress.
8 Pseudo Super Saiyan
For some bizarre reason, Toei wanted to beat Akira Toriyama to the punch when it came to Super Saiyan (a precedent that would later see them debuting Gogeta before Toriyama could, spurring the creation of Vegetto instead.) The fourth Dragon Ball Z movie, Lord Slug, introduces the Pseudo Super Saiyan – a false transformation state Saiyans trigger when close to turning Super Saiyan.
The final design is incredibly barbaric, with Goku’s pupils going white and his muscles expanding. Pseudo Super Saiyan also takes cues from Kaioken in terms of its color scheme. While Super Saiyan does represent Goku reconciling his nature as a Saiyan, he does so while keeping his humanity in-canon.
7 The Red Eyed Super Saiyan
While Super Saiyans have green eyes in canon, concept art for the fifth Dragon Ball Z movie – Cooler’s Revenge – features a Super Saiyan Goku with red eyes. Goku doesn’t appear as such during the final movie, but Toei’s concept art might be based on Dragon Ball’s limited color manga chapters.
Toriyama does draw Goku with green eyes in full color, but super Saiyan is depicted with red eyes in all limited color chapters. It’s possible Toei preferred this design element for Super Saiyan before ultimately abiding by Akira Toriyama’s intended color scheme.
6 Super Saiyan Was Never Special
Many fans deride Trunks’ introduction as downplaying how special Super Saiyan is, but that’s also explicitly the point. In order to prevent Goku or Super Saiyan from being de facto get out of jail free cards, Akira Toriyama creates a future timeline where all the main characters have been killed and even Super Saiyan isn’t enough.
This is conveyed through Trunks arriving, turning Super Saiyan with no fanfare, and killing Frieza & King Cold in a single chapter – only to reveal he’s nothing against the Androids terrorizing his future. Super Saiyan isn’t special, which is exactly what gives the Cell arc its drama.
5 Future Trunks Was Always Super Saiyan In The Manga
The History of Trunks manages to milk quite a lot of drama out of Trunks’ relationship with Super Saiyan, but it’s all invented by Toei. In the manga, Future Trunks was always a Super Saiyan. His bonus chapter focuses less on how he becomes a Super Saiyan and more on the impact Goku & Gohan have left on the future.
As hopeless as the world may be, Gohan inspires Trunks to train and become stronger in order to protect their future from the Androids. Similarly, Bulma is inspired by Goku’s memory to create a time machine, all in the hope of sending Trunks back to meet Son Goku and find some way to create a peaceful timeline.
4 Future Gohan’s Relationship With Super Saiyan
Future Gohan has a very interesting relationship with Super Saiyan that’s easy to miss. In the main timeline, Gohan is able to surpass his father while training in the Room of Spirit and Time. Not only does prime Gohan have Goku’s guidance, he knows Super Saiyan isn’t the limit of their power. Future Gohan, on the other hand, genuinely believes Super Saiyan is the peak.
In Gohan’s timeline, Goku was at his strongest as a Super Saiyan on Namek. It can be assumed that no one surpasses Goku in the future, especially since Future Gohan is canonically only about as strong as SSJ Goku. Without his father to guide him, Future Gohan doesn’t believe in his own potential anymore, nurturing Trunks’ instead.
3 Most Saiyans Transform For The First Time Off-Screen
Goku’s first transformation into a Super Saiyan is a bombastic moment and one of Dragon Ball’s defining scenes. With that in mind, it’s almost hard to believe that every other Saiyan triggers Super Saiyan for the first time off-screen (in the manga t least.)
Gohan starts tapping into SSJ during his RoSaT training but masters it off-screen; Vegeta turns Super Saiyan for the time during the time skip; and Goten, Trunks, Gotenks, & Vegetto are all introduced with Super Saiyan as an inherent part of their skill set.
2 Super Saiyan 2: The 5th Grade Form
One detail most fans forget is that Goku doesn’t start numbering the Super Saiyan forms until the Majin Buu arc. During the Cell Games, Gohan technically does trigger Super Saiyan 2, but it would actually have been known as Super Saiyan Grade 5 at the time. The back half of the Cell arc focuses on each Saiyan developing their own version of Super Saiyan, deemed with a Grade.
Vegeta’s is Grade 2, Future Trunks taps into Grade 3, Goku’s mastered Super Saiyan is Grade 4, and Gohan’s enraged state against Cell would be Grade 5. Naturally, this stops being the case as soon as Goku drops “Super Saiyan 2” against Buu.
1 Super Saiyan 3 Pushes Power Too Far
Super Saiyan 3 is often derided for amounting to little in the Buu arc, but this is arguably the point. Dragon Ball twists itself as its ending, subverting series norms while playing up the humor that was lost when Raditz revealed Goku was a Saiyan. Super Saiyan 3 is Super Saiyan gone too far.
Goku has raw power, but he wastes stamina in the form. Super Saiyan 3 has no eyebrows, is pure muscle, and shakes the very universe; but it can’t defeat Majin Buu. It’s significant that Toriyama introduces SSJ3 only to deprive Goku of a single win, forcing him to save the day through the Spirit Bomb. It makes for a better ending if nothing else.