Dragon Ball: 10 Best Versions of Super Saiyan, Ranked

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The original Super Saiyan transformation is instantly recognizable, not just within the world of Dragon Ball, but as a landmark moment in anime and manga. Goku first achieved this form during his battle with Frieza on Namek. Since then, both Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super have shown Saiyans constantly training and evolving to master and improve the Super Saiyan form.

The first Super Saiyan form has the most variations of any Super Saiyan transformation, resulting in a significant difference in power levels within the Dragon Ball series. What makes Super Saiyan unique is that its different versions – both official and non-official – appear consistently across DBZ, the movies, and Dragon Ball Super.

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10. Pseudo Super Saiyan

Users: Goku

Pseudo Super Saiyan is a transformation that appears in the movie Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug, and isn’t part of the main Dragon Ball Z story. During his fight with Lord Slug, Goku doesn’t have enough power to become a regular Super Saiyan, so he transforms into this alternate form instead.

Pseudo Super Saiyan is more powerful than Goku’s normal state, but not as strong as a full Super Saiyan. Unfortunately, Goku can’t maintain this form for long and has to use Kaioken x 100 to win against Slug. As you’d expect, Kaioken x 100 is significantly stronger than Pseudo Super Saiyan due to its immense power increase.

9. Super Saiyan

Users: Goku, Future Trunks, Vegeta, Future Gohan, Gohan, Goten, Trunks, Gotenks, Vegito, Cabba, Goku Black, Caulifla, Kale, Broly, Gogeta

The first Super Saiyan transformation was a game-changer for Dragon Ball, anime, and manga, increasing a character’s power level by fifty times. Goku achieved this form for the first time in DBZ after witnessing Frieza kill Krillin on Namek. Since then, almost every Saiyan has unlocked Super Saiyan, usually through intense emotion, rigorous training, or by controlling their S-Cells – a method often used by younger Saiyans and those from Universe 6.

While Super Saiyan is considered the least powerful of the official Super Saiyan forms, its efficiency – it doesn’t drain much energy – makes it a go-to transformation for all Saiyans, even in the latest series, Dragon Ball Super. Goku often uses Super Saiyan 1 to gauge his power against weaker foes before switching to more powerful forms.

8. Spirit Bomb Super Saiyan

Users: Goku, Future Trunks

The Spirit Bomb Super Saiyan transformation first appeared in the movie Dragon Ball Z: Super Android 13. During his fight with Android 13, Super Saiyan Goku unexpectedly absorbed a Spirit Bomb. This was due to the unstable nature of the Super Saiyan form, and the Spirit Bomb technique is normally only usable by those with a pure heart. The resulting power boost made Goku strong enough to defeat Super Android 13 with a single blow, putting him at a slightly higher power level than Semi-Perfect Cell.

In Dragon Ball Super, Future Trunks creates a special attack by gathering energy from everyone on Earth. He transforms this energy into a powerful sword while also using a unique version of Super Saiyan Blue called Super Saiyan Rage. With this combination, he’s able to defeat Fused Zamasu.

7. Super Saiyan Second Grade

Users: Vegeta, Future Trunks, Goku

I remember watching Dragon Ball Z and being really impressed when characters first achieved Super Saiyan Grade 2. It felt like a significant step up from the original Super Saiyan transformation. Basically, it gave you a massive power boost, though it came at a cost – you used up energy and stamina a bit faster. It was a clear trade-off: more power for a quicker drain on your resources.

Vegeta briefly defeats Semi-Perfect Cell using a more powerful form of Super Saiyan, but then makes the error of letting Cell absorb Android 18 and reach his Perfect form. During training, Goku discovers that these enhanced Super Saiyan forms have limitations. He realizes the true path to power lies in maximizing the potential of the original Super Saiyan form by pushing his base level to its absolute peak.

6. Super Saiyan Third Grade

Users: Future Trunks, Goku, Caulifla

Super Saiyan Third Grade is about as strong as Super Saiyan 2, based on power levels. However, it’s rarely useful because of its downsides. While it significantly boosts a fighter’s strength and muscle size, it makes them much slower, so it only works against very slow opponents.

During the Cell Saga, Future Trunks transforms to his Third Grade form to battle Perfect Cell, but can’t hit him at all. Perfect Cell later uses his own Third Grade form when struggling against Super Saiyan 2 Gohan, but it also makes him too slow to land any attacks. In Dragon Ball Super‘s Tournament of Power, Caulifla reaches the Third Grade form during her fight with Goku, and he uses the opportunity to help her understand how to use her transformations and power more effectively.

5. Super Saiyan A-Type

Users: Broly

Super Saiyan A-Type is a special transformation that only Broly achieves in the movie Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan. Because Broly is incredibly powerful, his father, Paragus, uses a ring to limit his strength. When Broly tries to become a Super Saiyan while wearing the ring, he doesn’t transform normally; instead, he activates Super Saiyan A-Type, which is a weaker version of the standard Super Saiyan 1 form.

Broly’s incredible strength makes his Super Saiyan A-Type form very powerful – strong enough to fight on equal footing with Goku’s Full Power Super Saiyan and even beat Vegeta’s Second Grade Super Saiyan. However, unlike typical Super Saiyan transformations, this form isn’t a natural evolution of power. Instead, it’s a result of his full potential being artificially held back.

4. Full Power Super Saiyan

Users: Goku, Gohan

In the Dragon Ball manga, Full Power Super Saiyan was the strongest form of the standard Super Saiyan. Goku achieved this by training with Gohan for nine months in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. He discovered that the secret to maximizing Super Saiyan’s power was to constantly use the transformation, adapt to its energy drain, and essentially treat it as his natural state, allowing him to begin training all over again from a higher starting point.

After training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Goku and Gohan become much more powerful than Vegeta and Future Trunks, even when those two are using their enhanced forms. Gohan, in his full-power Super Saiyan state, is so strong that he could have defeated Perfect Cell without ever needing to transform into a Super Saiyan 2.

3. Super Saiyan C-Type

Users: Broly

Super Saiyan C-Type is a special form unique to Broly in Dragon Ball Z. After a device controlling his power is removed, Broly can skip the standard Super Saiyan transformation and go directly into C-Type. This form is essentially the regular Super Saiyan, but amplified by Broly’s identity as the Legendary Super Saiyan.

Interestingly, in Dragon Ball Super, Broly doesn’t transform into the Super Saiyan C-Type form seen previously. Instead, he becomes a regular Super Saiyan, but with a power level exceeding even Super Saiyan Blue Goku and Vegeta. This makes Super Saiyan C-Type Broly roughly as powerful as, or even more powerful than, Super Saiyan 2 Gohan in the movie Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Second Coming, establishing it as one of the strongest Super Saiyan transformations in the entire series.

2. Super Saiyan Kaioken

Users: Goku

Super Saiyan Kaioken is an incredibly powerful form achieved by combining the Super Saiyan transformation with the Kaioken technique. While Goku never uses this form in the official Dragon Ball story, it appears in the anime Dragon Ball Z during the Other World Tournament Saga as part of a filler storyline. This combination multiplies the power of both Super Saiyan and Kaioken, resulting in a huge boost to Goku’s strength.

Pikkon defeated Super Perfect Cell, and Super Saiyan Kaioken Goku fought on roughly equal footing with him. This suggests that Super Saiyan Kaioken Goku is more powerful than Super Saiyan 2 Gohan. While this doesn’t quite fit with the official storyline, the power scaling makes some sense. A standard Super Saiyan transformation multiplies power by 50, and Kaioken at least doubles it. Combining these gives Super Saiyan Kaioken a power boost similar to the weakest form of Super Saiyan 2, which offers a 100x increase.

1. Legendary Super Saiyan

Users: Broly, Kale, Kefla

Legendary Super Saiyan is significantly more powerful than the standard Super Saiyan form – it’s so distinct, it could be considered a separate transformation altogether. The series suggests that only one Saiyan per universe can achieve this state, with Kale representing it in Universe 6 and Broly in Universe 7. Unlike other forms, a Legendary Super Saiyan grows stronger as a battle continues, potentially surpassing even the power of God forms like Super Saiyan Blue.

In Dragon Ball Super, Kale reaches a power level capable of destroying many universes, while Broly could only be defeated by the combined power of Super Saiyan Blue Gogeta in Dragon Ball Super: Broly. Kefla, created when Kale and Caulifla fuse, also transforms into a version of the Legendary Super Saiyan form. This makes her the only character in the official Dragon Ball story who can reach the Legendary Super Saiyan 2 level – a transformation previously only seen in non-official DBZ games with the original Broly.

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2026-04-03 05:06