A form that carved out a new approach to transformations in Dragon Ball Super, this is a look into the divine power of Super Saiyan God.
Highlights
- Super Saiyan God revolutionized the Dragon Ball franchise by introducing a new divine transformation with unmatched power potential.
- The ritual to unlock Super Saiyan God requires five righteous Saiyans channeling their energy into a sixth, leading to a powerful transformation.
- Super Saiyan God’s unique design, calm mental state, and godly ki sensing abilities make it a formidable form surpassing all previous Saiyan transformations.
More than a decade ago, the Dragon Ball franchise rewrote the rules of Saiyan transformations through the debut of the new Super Saiyan God form in Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods. At the time, there were two power-ups competing for the crown of the strongest form accessible to the series’ Saiyans.
The forms in question were Super Saiyan 3 from Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball manga and the Dragon Ball Z anime, alongside Super Saiyan 4 from Dragon Ball GT, whose status in the franchise’s canon has been debated. With the premiere of Dragon Ball Super further down the line, Super Saiyan God was solidified as a new baseline, allowing the series to explore new, uncharted territory. On this note, here is a look at what makes Super Saiyan God unique, along with the manner in which it revamped the franchise’s power system.
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What Is Super Saiyan God?
Introduced as a legend among the Saiyan race, Super Saiyan God is a divine transformation that uses godly ki. By virtue of tapping into this new type of energy, a Super Saiyan God’s power far exceeds all the normal Super Saiyan transformations that were previously featured in Dragon Ball Z. Even the planet destroying Super Saiyan 3 does not hold a candle to this form.
According to the legend recounted by the Eternal Dragon, Shenron, a Super Saiyan God once appeared on the planet Vegeta, to defeat evil Saiyans residing there. The immense power possessed by this individual allowed them to succeed in their endeavor, but the limits of the transformation led to its disappearance not long after. Consequently, evil took root on the planet once again, and the Super Saiyan God was relegated to being a myth.
A Ritual To Unlock Divine Power
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The primary means to achieve this transformation, as stated by Shenron, is through an ancient ritual. While the overall ritual itself is fairly similar in both Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods and the Dragon Ball Super anime, a few details differ between both versions.
In the movie and the anime, the ritual requires five righteous Saiyans to hold hands and assemble in a circle, to channel their energy into a sixth Saiyan, who assumes the power of a Super Saiyan God if the process is performed correctly. As per the movie, the five righteous Saiyans had to transfer their ki into the sixth, whereas the anime retelling had them “pour their hearts” instead.
Moreover, the Dragon Ball Super version also featured a host of changes to the weather and environment, in a more elaborate rendition of the procedure. Both versions culminate in a blue aura spreading around those assembled, before the transformation into a Super Saiyan God occurs. The anime version also had the two Saiyans on either side of the ritual’s target, placing their hands on the back of the one who would become a Super Saiyan God.
Once the final transformation commences, the sixth Saiyan rises above the others as their body is shrouded in a pinkish-red aura, turning their eyes red, and their hair magenta-red or crimson-red, while the rest of their appearance also takes on a similar hue. This completes the ritual and the individual attains the power of a Super Saiyan God.
Goku initially despised this aspect of the transformation, claiming that it was a form of power that he could not attain on his own, although this proved to not be the case. Further down the line, both Goku and Vegeta were able to bypass the ritual and assume the form on their own, after training with Whis to refine their control over godly ki.
Surpassing All Other Super Saiyans
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Upon powering up, the newly ascended Super Saiyan God is enveloped in a fiery red aura, resembling a roaring inferno. Contrasting other Super Saiyan forms, the user’s hair retains the shape it assumes when in their base state, with the change in color being the only altered feature of this transformation.
What sets this transformation apart from other Super Saiyan forms in terms of design, is the noticeable reduction in muscle mass, which makes the user’s frame seem slender and youthful. This is fairly coherent with the lean and refined appearances of other divine figures in the Dragon Ball franchise, including Beerus, Zamasu, the Angels, and the Supreme Kai.
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Another distinguishing feature of the transformation, is the calm and collected mental state of its user. This is a drastic departure from the aggressive, emotionally turbulent, and stern demeanor of the standard line of Super Saiyan transformations depicted in Dragon Ball Z.
One important ability granted by the Super Saiyan God form, is the capacity to sense godly ki. That being said, the user might take considerable time to fully acclimatize to this, alongside other aspects of the transformation. A Super Saiyan God user can absorb and nullify attacks after contact. The godly ki they wield in this form also has healing properties, which can be applied to the user’s own body or be used to treat others.
Wielding The Strength Of A God
Due to the cool-headed temperament of the Super Saiyan God form, users must adapt their fighting style to conform with its strengths. As opposed to focusing on brute force and aggression, Super Saiyan God necessitates a balanced approach to combat, driven by evading, counterattacking, and executing calculated moves in a more refined fashion than earlier Saiyan transformations.
That being said, the strength obtained by a user of this form eclipses all preceding Super Saiyan forms. If improperly controlled, a few punches between individuals who have reached this level of strength could wreak havoc across huge stretches of the planet they are situated on. After assuming this form, Goku was able to fight evenly with Beerus, although the God of Destruction was not at full power.
Prior to this, Goku’s Super Saiyan 3 form had been easily defeated by Beerus with a single blow. Such a drastic rise in strength is something to marvel at, and all this ties into the form’s roots in godly ki. Unfortunately, this is also the main drawback for first-time users. If the user of this form does not have sufficient control over their godly ki, the transformation will run out quite rapidly.
This was exactly what happened to Goku during his fight against Beerus. Later on, after a great deal of training, he was able to overcome this drawback and use the form without too many hindrances. By the time of the Universe 6 Saga, Goku had fully mastered the form and used it to supplement his Super Saiyan Blue form, which drained far more of his stamina and was not as agile as Super Saiyan God.
Unlike Goku, Vegeta attained the form by training with Whis, and took some time to master it. He also employed it to complement his Super Saiyan Blue form, especially in the Dragon Ball Super manga, where he instantly switched between both forms to conserve stamina and enhance his offensive abilities.
By using Super Saiyan God’s heightened mobility to move across the battlefield, Vegeta and Goku could outmaneuver opponents, and then transform into Super Saiyan Blue to land more powerful attacks. This was a measure they devised in the manga, due to how much Super Saiyan Blue drained their ki reserves when active. However, after fully mastering Super Saiyan Blue, they no longer had to rely on this trick.
What Effect Did This Form Have On The Series?
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Perhaps the most important effect of Super Saiyan God’s introduction, was the migration of the series’ power system to one rooted in the concept of godly ki. This new form of energy is said to be far more potent than normal ki, which served as the basis of earlier transformations in the Dragon Ball franchise, including all preceding Super Saiyan forms.
As Dragon Ball Super expanded the scale and scope of the Z Fighters’ battles to conflicts between divine beings that spanned the entire multiverse, Universe 7’s Saiyans had to gain power ups that would allow them to compete with such entities. Hence, Super Saiyan God offered a means to introduce this new power system and establish a new baseline of strength for characters to have a significant impact in major battles.
While Super Saiyan God itself became a supplementary form, Goku and Vegeta’s training in harnessing godly ki, allowed them to tap into the power system even in their base states, achieving the level of a Saiyan beyond God. Made possible by the Super Saiyan God form, this state permits them to call upon the raw power of godly ki without having to undergo a full transformation.
Goku and Vegeta pushed this form even further to create Super Saiyan Blue, which is said to be the divine equivalent of the original Super Saiyan transformation. The two Saiyans created further upgrades to this form, as seen in Goku’s Super Saiyan Blue Kaio-ken, and Vegeta’s Super Saiyan Blue Evolved.
Although this concludes the divine Super Saiyan transformations in the main series, the new godly ki-based power system was the foundation for Goku’s Ultra Instinct and Vegeta’s Ultra Ego forms. With this, the Dragon Ball franchise is now embarking on a path toward new character-specific transformations, and much of this was made possible by the seeds sown by Super Saiyan God.
Dragon Ball Super is available to stream on Crunchyroll.
Dragon Ball Super
ActionAdventure
Release Date
July 5, 2015
Studio
Toei Animation
Creator
Akira Toriyama
Number of Episodes
131
Streaming Service(s)
Crunchyroll
, Funimation
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