Dragon Ballis well-known forits amazing transformations, but even the most dedicated fans might have missed a few. TheDragon Ballfranchise popularized transformations in anime. They’ve become synonymous with the shōnen genre, and it’s become rare for any action-based series to not have them.
Some of the most popular transformations inDragon Ballhave made their way to other anime series as well.The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You, Kaguya-sama: Love is War,andThe Elusive Samuraiare just a few of the biggest series to feature the legendary Super Saiyan transformation in their franchises.
Most fans can name transformations like Super Saiyan,but even the most diehard fans ofDragon Ballcan’t name some of the rarer ones.These transformations haven’t made their way to the canon yet, but who knows what the future holds?
7Super Kaio-ken
Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle
The Kaio-ken technique was one of the first transformations inDragon Ball.It’s one ofGoku’s strongest techniques inDragon Ballfor a reason: it works. The Kaio-ken technique is a power multiplier that few can use because of how hard it is to control. It also costs a lot of stamina, so Goku only uses it when he really needs to.
The Kaio-ken has been used in combination with a few of Goku’s forms, but rarely with the base Super Saiyan Form. Goku notably brought the Kaio-ken back to the main canon after unlocking Super Saiyan Blue, multiplying his God Ki amazingly.
The Super Kaio-ken is a combination of Kaio-ken and the Super Saiyan forms. Goku has long blonde hair like a Super Saiyan, but is shrouded in a red aura like he’s using the Kaio-ken. He doesn’t use the form in the main canon, and withUlta Instinct being his strongest form ever, he may never.
6Super Saiyan 5
Dragon Ball AF
Super Saiyan 5 is the coolest form inDragon Ballto never actually exist.People couldn’t handle the fact that theDragon Ballfranchise was finished afterDragon Ball GTand were clamoring for anything related to the series. When an image of Super Saiyan 5 appeared, people wanted it to be real so badly, they didn’t care if it was actually just fan-made.
Dragon Ball AF was supposed to be the sequel series toDragon Ball GT,but it was only ever a myth. The supposed image of Super Saiyan 5 wasn’t actually Goku either, nor was it ever intended to be a continuation of the Super Saiyan form.
The iconic white-haired, red-skinned, Saiyan-looking character is actually known Tablos in the Spirit Killer form. He was a character created by David Montiel Franco, a fan of the series who probably never intended for the rumor to grow as large as it did.
5Dark King
Dragon Ball Heroes
Dragon Ball Heroesisn’t in the officialDragon Ballcanon, but that doesn’t mean that the story isn’t interesting. It features the cast ofDragon Ballin a new world fighting powerful enemies who have even more powerful forms.
BeforeDragon Ball DAIMAwas(debatably) added to theDragon Ballcanon,Dragon Ball Heroeswas the first series to really explore the Demon Realm and more of the characters in it. Dabura, Babidi, and Buu were the only characters from the mysterious realm, and they never talked about their home too much inDragon Ball Z.
Dragon Ball Heroeschanged that with the Dark King form.It’s a powerful, albeit non-canon, form only attainable by a Demon of the Demon Realm. It’s usually reserved for the strongest of them all, and the only three known users are Mechikabura, Fu, and Demigra.
4Super Saiyan Nappa
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2
Nappa is one ofthe most unintentionally funny characters in anime. He starts as a vicious villain and one of the strongest enemies in the entire series early inDragon Ball Z,coming to Earth to dominate the planet’s inhabitants and finish what Raditz started.
While he started as a beast of a character, he ended up becoming a meme. He’s a bald Saiyan who was obliterated by Vegeta for losing a fight, which is a pretty tough way to go for someone who killed several Z Fighters on his own.
One of the biggest memes surrounding Nappa is his Super Saiyan form.While Nappa never reaches the form inDragon Ball,fans have always speculated what it would look like, mainly because Nappa is bald. The Super Saiyan form is synonymous with long, spiky, golden hair, and Nappa doesn’t have any to begin with.
3False Super Saiyan
Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug
False Super Saiyan, or Pseudo Super Saiyan, is a form that makes its one and only appearance in the non-canonDragon BallfilmDragon Ball Z: Lord Slug.The film that this form takes place in occurs while Goku is on Namek but before his fight with Frieza, so power-wise, it makes sense that Goku is getting close to the Super Saiyan form without actually reaching it.
False Super Saiyan looks nearly identical to Goku’s first transformation into the legendary form.His muscles get a bit bigger, his hair spikes up (without turning gold), and his face looks ferocious. This form turned the fight on the almost untouchable Lord Slug, giving Goku an upper hand when he and his friends needed it most.
Because this form was almost exactly the regular Super Saiyan form, it never made an appearance again. It isn’t found in any officialDragon Ballmedia, including the card games, or even the gacha games.
2Evil Saiyan
Super Dragon Ball Heroes
Cumber might be the most interesting character inDragon Ballto not appear in the main timeline. He’s a prominent character inSuper Dragon Ball Heroes, starting the series as one ofthe strongest villainsaround before ending up as a powerful and reliable ally. He’s an ancient Saiyan capable of the Evil Saiyan form, a form even Vegeta can’t use.
While the normal Super Saiyan state comes with a golden aura and spiky, golden hair, the Evil Saiyan form is a little different.Evil Saiyans have black and red aura and long, black hair that looks a lot like Super Saiyan 3.Cumber isn’t the only Saiyan capable of this form, as Turles used it too.
Cumber’s Evil Saiyan form allowed him to fight Super Saiyan Blue Vegito evenly, a feat even Broly couldn’t pull off. Broly was dominated by Super Saiyan Blue Gogeta, but maybe he would’ve had a leg up had he obtained access to this less-than-noble transformation.
1God Broly
Dragon Ball Z: The Real 4-D at Super Tenkaichi Budokai
Broly is one of the most destructive characters in anime. When he was first introduced to the canon, he was a villain. He was being controlled by his father, Paragus, but even Broly’s dad couldn’t control his son’s rage. When Broly became angry, he transformed into the Legendary Super Saiyan form: a form no other character in the universe has ever reached.
God Broly might be one ofthe strongest characters in all ofDragon Ball.Broly’s base form was enough to handle Super Saiyan God Goku, andhis God Broly Form made Super Saiyan Blue Goku feel useless.
God Broly is somehow even bigger and bulkier than regular Broly. The form resembles Super Saiyan 3, showing Broly with longer hair, bigger muscles, and a brutal aura. The Z Fighters are lucky that this form has never reached the canon, because if it did, there wouldn’t be much they could do about it.
