Top 8 Dragon Ball Transformations (RMR 8th Anniversary Part 4/8)

Redmanwriter

May 30

Wayne Rock, Featured Writer

As RMR turns eight years old, we celebrate the various forms of media that give us amazing entertainment to write about. Sadly, the anime community was recently dealt a crushing blow, when Akira Toriyama, the godfather of modern shonen, sadly passed away. Since Toriyama-sensei was notorious for not allowing any of his characters to fully pass on, we can consider that he has simply ascended to his final form. To honour and celebrate his life and unmatched contribution to anime, here are my picks for the top eight transformations in Dragon Ball history!

For this list, design is the primary consideration, but power level increase and the overall impact of the transformation sequence are also factors. And, it should be obvious, but SPOILERS AHEAD.

#8 Freiza's Original Final Form (Dragon Ball Z)

While the expectation might be to talk about his golden form here, it's just too similar to his original final form design, except gold. The transformation sequence was also quite lacklustre in comparison. For me, the juxtaposition between Freiza's clunkier, borderline over-designed first three forms and his sleek, streamlined, white and purple final form is perfection. The way the Alien-inspired third form, cracks and glows, leads the audience to believe they are about to see a truly grotesque transformation, only to slowly and deliberately reveal the simplistic silhouette behind the smoke is truly sublime work. This is only further enhanced by the gorgeous 90's soundtrack.

#7 Super Saiyan 4 (Dragon Ball GT)

I was extremely happy when my editor (hi guys!) said I could include GT transformations on this list, because I really don't think the list would be complete without the inclusion of Super Saiyan 4 (SSJ4). Although not designed by series creator Akira Toriyama (that honour goes to character designer Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru), there's not a Dragon Ball fan who doesn't appreciate the awesomeness of this form (cue DB fan typing in angry all CAPS). It's all good though, because Toriyama would go on to design his own evolution of the Super Saiyan form in Dragon Ball Super (which *spoiler alert* might just appear somewhere on this list *wink wink*).

SSJ4 is technically not a Super Saiyan derivative, instead being a further evolution of the Great Ape transformation, but with the Saiyan mastering that form and condensing its raw power. For a non-Toriyama design, this thing looked spectacular. Just by looking at it, it was clear as a Kamehameha to the face that it was a blend of Oozaru and Saiyan with the deep-set eyes, a full tail, fur covered arms and torso, but with the bare chest poking through. All the power and intensity of a gorilla, but twice as cool.

#6 Legendary Super Saiyan (Dragon Ball Super: Broly)

Okay, just to be clear, we're talking specifically about the Legendary Super Saiyan from Dragon Ball Super: Broly and not the one from Dragon Ball Z: Broly. Toriyama designed the characters for the Dragon Ball Z: Broly movie, but he had very little to do with the actual production. So, when he was brought on board to do is own take on the Broly story, my man absolutely cooked.

The original Broly design always felt a little weird to me, especially his Super Saiyan form. His arms were way too disproportionately big for his body, which I know was to show how much more powerful he was than a regular Saiyan, but it looks wrong (especially when you look at the game sprite version in Dragon Ball FighterZ…eww). Super Broly is much more proportionate by design, and I love how much of the elements of regular Broly are carried over into the transformation, making it more of a cohesive design. And yes, the original transformation sequence is better (I mean c'mon, there's a Pantera backing track), but this new one isn't that far off. The raw emotion in Broly's screams coupled with the gorgeous animation gives me chills every time! It takes Super Saiyan Blue Gogeta to stop (not kill) this guy, so in terms of power level, he's definitely up there. This is one transformation that I always go back to just for a random rewatch.

#5 Super Saiyan God (Dragon Ball Super)

To be fair, when the Super Saiyan God official design was first shown, many Dragon Ball fans (me included) were not impressed. For years, the internet had been bombarded by sketchy fan art about what Super Saiyan 5 through 10 might look like and Super Saiyan God wasn't even close. Why was his hair red? Why was he even smaller than his base form? Nothing made sense.

However, admittedly over time, this form really grew on me. I've grown to appreciate what Toriyama was going for with this design. The initial design by character artist Tadayoshi Yamamuro had the form extremely muscular, with a cape and a hairstyle resembling a midpoint between Super Saiyan 3 and 4. Toriyama insisted that the form not be too much off from Goku's base form and specifically not being too muscular. This makes a lot of sense because while Saiyans are all about rage, the god form is actually much more level-headed and collected. The almost youthful design gives the form an immortal, Greek god aesthetic, which is what I think Toriyama was going for. I will say that out of all of these transformations the actual sequence lacks the emotional punch of basically all the others, given that it's more of a ritual. And that's why, as much as I love it, I can't justify it going higher on the list.

#4 Ultra Instinct (Dragon Ball Super)

I love Ultra Instinct in both concept and execution. The idea that Goku basically has to shut off his mind and give into his instincts, allowing him to react instantaneously is very cool, even by Dragon Ball standards. It's probably the form he has struggled with the most too, having achieved a weaker version in different parts of Super before finally going full Ultra Instinct against Jiren.

I absolutely adore the design, which is basically Super Saiyan physique but with Goku's regular, albeit silver, hairstyle and silver eyes. I prefer the anime version to the manga though, the difference being that the manga version the physique is more similar to Super Saiyan God. The transformation sequence is nothing short of instantly iconic, especially when the Ultra Instinct theme kicks in and you just know something Super (pun intended) is about to happen. You see the sheer amazement on Beerus' face as he acknowledges what a unique specimen Goku is. This transformation literally broke the internet and will forever be one of my favourites.

#3 OG Super Saiyan (Dragon Ball Z)

Of course, we all know the OG Super Saiyan would make this list, it was just a matter of where it would land. It's just such an iconic design, often imitated but never quite duplicated. This concept went on to inspire so much of the transformations in other anime, like Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach. It continues to be a mainstay to this day and probably is as iconic as its creator. I doubt I have to remind anyone of what it looks like or even what the transformation sequence entails, because as fans, it has been forever etched into our minds.

#2 Gohan Beast (Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero)

I'll just come right out and say it, Gohan Beast is as close as we're ever going to get to those unofficial fan art of Super Saiyan 5 that made the rounds on the anime forums of the late 90's internet and it is GLORIOUS. The long, ultra spiky, silver hair, combined with the Super Saiyan 2 physique is just, all kinds of awesomesauce.

What gets it so high on the list for me is the transformation sequence though, and if this was a list about the top transformation sequences, this would be number one. The entire build-up, and the film itself, is a love letter to Gohan and Piccolo's relationship. I just love how many callbacks there are to Z era Gohan and Piccolo. The villain being Cell Max. Gohan standing frozen as Cell Max pummels Piccolo. The emotion at seeing Piccolo's lifeless body being the catalyst for the transformation, which isn't overly protracted, but gets straight to the point without sacrificing any of the visual and emotional impact. Then Gohan being unfazed by Cell Max's attack and countering with his own version of the Special Beam Cannon, Piccolo's signature move. It's only that much more poignant when you realise this was Toriyama's last Dragon Ball film. Toriyama-sensei did the fanbase a huge favour when he gave us Gohan Beast, a transformation that rivals even the most iconic.

#1 Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan (Dragon Ball Super)

This might be a controversial pick but it's one I'm sticking with. And just to be clear I'm including all of the variations of this form in this pick as well, because I cannot exclude Super Saiyan Rose. Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan, or more commonly referred to as Super Saiyan Blue, is basically the Super Saiyan form of Super Saiyan God. It's a bit more complicated than that, but that's what the wiki is for. I will say that I fell in love with this form from the moment it was introduced. Heck, even my social media handle, @supersaonblue, is a play on this particular transformation. It takes everything great about the OG Super Saiyan form and elevates it. The blue/pink hair is immediately more striking than the blond. And we all know that the blond hair was just Toriyama's way to save time having to ink Goku's black hair, which was done by hand at the time. So this instantly feels more intentional from a design perspective.

The physique isn't as slender as Super Saiyan God, but also not as big and bulky as OG Super Saiyan, so it gives the form some heft, but nothing that looks like it would impede speed. The aura also glows blue or red (depending on if it's Super Saiyan Blue or Rose) which makes the design even more striking and imposing than all the others and, to cap it off, even the eyes match the colour of the user's hair. Every single character that has been depicted in this form has looked the coolest they've ever been, with characters like Vegito, Gogeta and Black absolutely slaying.

Goku first achieves this form in the Resurrection F movie, which I saw in cinemas, so maybe there's a bit of a bias there. But I'm not a fan of really long, drawn out transformation sequences, so I really enjoyed how easily Goku just switched to Super Saiyan Blue. It was effortless, like he didn't even have to try too hard. Almost as if he was showing off. Seeing Freiza's shocked face afterwards further cemented that feeling. So, while it lacks some of the grandiosity of the other transformations, it still gets points from me. SSGSS, reigns supreme as the best Dragon Ball transformation, of them all.

I really hope you enjoyed this list. What are your favourite Dragon Ball transformations? Leave them in the comments below. I've been your boy, Wayne aka SuperSaonBlue, and I'll be Instant Transmission-ing off to a distant planet to continue training my writing skills in the hyperbolic Time Chamber. Until next time.

And you can check out more of my anime articles on Robot Mango Reviews below:

Wayne loves to complain, and that was an unintentional rhyme. When I'm not watching movies, TV, anime or trophy hunting on PS4, you can usually find me deep in my thoughts preparing my next scathing review of a bad movie. I think Zack Snyder's take on superheroes is terrible and that The Quick and the Dead is actually a decent movie. I re-watch Death Note every year. Unlike the other fine writers on this site, I'm not a critic, but I can definitely Rock a review…(Read More)