The original Super Saiyan is one of the most iconic transformations not only in Dragon Ball, but in anime and manga history. Goku first unlocks Super Saiyan while fighting Frieza on Namek, and both Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super have since gone on to dedicate a considerable amount of screen time to the Saiyans further perfecting Super Saiyan through training and mutations.
Goku VS Vegeta: The Strongest Saiyan in Every Dragon Ball Super Saga
Despite Goku starting the series far stronger than Vegeta, it didn’t take long for Vegeta to catch up to Goku in Dragon Ball Super & even surpass him.
Super Saiyan 1 has more variants than any other Super Saiyan form, creating a wide gap in power from SSJ’s weakest version to its absolute strongest in Dragon Ball. Unlike other transformations, Super Saiyan has a fairly even mix of both non-canon forms and canon versions between DBZ, the movies, and Dragon Ball Super.
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Easy (15s)Medium (10s)Hard (5s)Permadeath (5s)
10
Pseudo Super Saiyan
Users: Goku
Pseudo Super Saiyan is a non-canon form that was introduced in the fourth Dragon Ball Z movie, Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug. Due to not having a high enough Power Level to trigger the real Super Saiyan form transformation, Goku instead turns into a Pseudo Super Saiyan during his final battle with Lord Slug.
Pseudo Super Saiyan is somewhere in-between Goku’s base form and regular Super Saiyan in terms of strength. Goku unfortunately is not able to keep the form active, however, and is forced to use Kaioken x 100 to defeat Slug. It goes without saying, but Kaioken x 100’s massive power boost naturally makes it much stronger than Pseudo Super Saiyan.
9
Super Saiyan
Users: Goku, Future Trunks, Vegeta, Future Gohan, Gohan, Goten, Trunks, Gotenks, Vegito, Cabba, Goku Black, Caulifla, Kale, Broly, Gogeta
The transformation that changed everything for Dragon Ball, anime, and manga, the original Super Saiyan form gives the use a 50x boost to their base Power Level. Goku first unlocked Super Saiyan after Frieza killed Krillin on Namek in DBZ. Just about very Saiyan since has gone on to unlock Super Saiyan, either through an emotional trigger, training hard enough, or by simply managing their S-Cells like with the younger hybrids or Universe 6 Saiyans.
Super Saiyan may be the weakest canon SSJ transformation, but its general lack of Ki and stamina drain makes it a mainstay for all the Saiyans, even as of Dragon Ball Super. Goku still regularly uses Super Saiyan 1 to test his strength against weaker opponents before scaling up to stronger transformations.
8
Spirit Bomb Super Saiyan
Users: Goku, Future Trunks
Spirit Bomb Super Saiyan was introduced in the film Dragon Ball Z: Super Android 13. During the final battle with Android 13, Super Saiyan Goku absorbs his Spirit Bomb due to SSJ’s instability using a technique meant only for the pure of heart. Spirit Bomb Super Saiyan Goku grows so strong, he manages to kill Super Android 13 with one hit, making him slightly stronger than Semi-Perfect Cell.
In the Dragon Ball Super anime, Future Trunks uses his own version of Spirit Bomb Super Saiyan when he absorbs the Genki of all of Earth’s living humans and turns that power into the Spirit Sword. Combined with his unique Super Saiyan Rage transformation (a version of Super Saiyan Blue), Future Trunks manages to defeat Fused Zamasu using his own mix of Spirit Bomb Super Saiyan.
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7
Super Saiyan Second Grade
Users: Vegeta, Future Trunks, Goku
Super Saiyan Second Grade is the first major breakthrough for the Super Saiyan form in Dragon Ball Z, and more or less a straight upgrade over SSJ1. By accepting a little bit more Ki and stamina drain over regular Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan Grade 2 offers the user a huge boost in Power Level.
Vegeta ultimately uses Super Saiyan Grade 2 to defeat Semi-Perfect Cell, before making the mistake to let Cell absorb Android 18 and grow Perfect. While training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, however, Goku realizes that Super Saiyan Grade 2 (and by extension Grade 3) will only get his Power Level so far, deciding that the best way to actualize Super Saiyan’s full potential is to push the original form to its absolute limits as a base state.
6
Super Saiyan Third Grade
Users: Future Trunks, Goku, Caulifla
In terms of pure Power Level, Super Saiyan Third Grade is implied to be roughly on par with Super Saiyan 2 in terms of strength. Unfortunately, the transformation’s drawbacks make it borderline useless unless the enemy the user is fighting is slow as molasses. Super Saiyan Grade 3 greatly increases the user’s raw strength and muscle mass at the expense of their speed.
In the Cell Saga, Future Trunks uses Grade 3 to fight Perfect Cell, but fails to land a single hit in the manga. Perfect Cell also uses his own version of Grade 3 when he gets desperate fighting Super Saiyan 2 Gohan, likewise becoming too slow to land a single blow. In Dragon Ball Super‘s Tournament of Power, Caulifla unlocks Super Saiyan Third Grade while fighting Goku, which he uses as a learning moment to teach her how best to use her transformations and power.
5
Super Saiyan A-Type
Users: Broly
Super Saiyan A-Type is a transformation unique to Broly in Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan. Due to Broly’s extreme Power Level, Paragus creates a ring for Broly to wear which heavily restricts his maximum power. If Broly tries to turn Super Saiyan while wearing his ring, he instead activates Super Saiyan A-Type – a suppressed version of SSJ1.
Due to Broly’s enormous power, Super Saiyan A-Type is still decidedly powerful and allows him to fight evenly with Full Power Super Saiyan Goku, while surpassing Super Saiyan Second Grade Vegeta. Unlike other versions of Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan A-Type is less a legitimate mutation, and more of an artificial form resulting from the user having their full power limited due to outside factors.
4
Full Power Super Saiyan
Users: Goku, Gohan
Full Power Super Saiyan was the ultimate version of the regular Super Saiyan in the Dragon Ball manga. By training with Gohan for nine months in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Goku realizes that the key to making the most out of Super Saiyan is to use the transformation at all times, get used to the Ki and stamina drain, and essentially make it his base form in order to start training it from scratch.
By the time Goku and Gohan leave the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, their Power Levels far surpass Vegeta and Future Trunks, even with their Grade forms. Full Power Super Saiyan Gohan is so strong, he even could have defeated Perfect Cell without ever needing to turn Super Saiyan 2.
3
Super Saiyan C-Type
Users: Broly
Super Saiyan C-Type is a variant of the original Super Saiyan form exclusive to Dragon Ball Z Broly and Broly alone. Once Broly’s Ring has been deactivated, he can bypass Super Saiyan A-Type in order to trigger Super Saiyan C-Type. C-Type is really just the regular Super Saiyan transformation boosted by Broly’s unique nature as Dragon Ball Z‘s Legendary Super Saiyan.
Worth noting, Dragon Ball Super cannot use Super Saiyan C-Type, instead turning into a normal Super Saiyan (albeit with a Power Level that puts him above even Super Saiyan Blue Goku and Vegeta). Super Saiyan C-Type Broly is about as powerful as, if not stronger than, Super Saiyan 2 Gohan in Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Second Coming, making it one of the strongest Super Saiyan forms in the series.
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2
Super Saiyan Kaioken
Users: Goku
By virtue of stacking Kaioken on top of regular Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan Kaioken is one of the strongest version of Super Saiyan 1 possible. Goku never uses Super Saiyan Kaioken in Dragon Ball‘s actual canon, instead only using the form in the Dragon Ball Z anime’s filler Other World Tournament Saga. Super Saiyan Kaioken combines both SSJ1 and Kaioken’s multipliers into one overwhelmingly powerful transformation.
Since Pikkon was strong enough to beat Super Perfect Cell in the Other World Tournament Saga, and Super Saiyan Kaioken Goku was more or less equal with Pikkon in Power Level, this means that SSJK Goku is even stronger than Super Saiyan 2 Gohan. Canon-wise, this makes zero sense, but as far as multipliers are concerned, the logic does mostly work. Super Saiyan offers 50x power boost, while Kaioken doubles the user’s Power Level at the very least, making Super Saiyan Kaioken comparable to Super Saiyan 2’s 100x boost in its weakest state.
1
Legendary Super Saiyan
Users: Broly, Kale, Kefla
The Legendary Super Saiyan form is far and away the strongest version of Super Saiyan 1, so much so, it could very well be considered its own transformation rather than an offshoot of SSJ1. It’s heavily implied between both Kale and Broly that only one Saiyan in each universe is actually capable of becoming a Legendary Super Saiyan, with Kale being the LSSJ of Universe 6 and Broly for Universe 7. The Legendary Super Saiyan form makes the user stronger the longer they fight, while bringing out a level of raw power comparable to – if not actively stronger than – God forms like Super Saiyan Blue.
Legendary Super Saiyan Kale is strong enough to eliminate multiple universes in the Dragon Ball Super manga, while Legendary Super Saiyan Broly could only be beaten by Super Saiyan Blue Gogeta in Dragon Ball Super: Broly. As a fusion of Kale and Caulifla, Kefla’s version of Super Saiyan 1 is also technically the Legendary Super Saiyan form, making her the only canon Dragon Ball character to be able to turn Legendary Super Saiyan 2 (a form previously exclusive to the DBZ version of Broly in non-canon video games).
- Created by
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Akira Toriyama
- First TV Show
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Dragon Ball
- Latest TV Show
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Dragon Ball DAIMA
- Upcoming TV Shows
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Dragon Ball DAIMA
- First Episode Air Date
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February 26, 1986
- TV Show(s)
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Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, Dragon Ball Super, Dragon Ball DAIMA
