This is Still One of the Best Transformations in Dragon Ball

• Dragon Ball GT’s Super Saiyan 4 transformation has the most original design in the franchise and one that explicitly references the Saiyans’ past and heritage.
• Super Saiyan 4 receives a stronger showcase and the opportunity to take out more villains than Dragon Ball’s other transformations.
• Despite Dragon Ball GT’s contentious reputation, Super Saiyan 4 remains a popular transformation that’s prominent in video games and promo series like Super Dragon Ball Heroes.

Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball franchise has inspired an audience for four decades through its courageous characters and suspenseful storytelling, but it’s the series’ groundbreaking transformations that have left the greatest impression on its fans. Transformations have become a staple of every Dragon Ball series. They’re a popular way to reflect incredible bursts of power and just how far along these heroes have come. There are dozens of unique transformations across the different Dragon Ball series, but it’s the Super Saiyan spectacles that garner the most attention. Goku’s initial Super Saiyan transformation during his arduous clash against Frieza is an unforgettable Dragon Ball moment that kicks off an ongoing tradition that’s still being expanded upon in Dragon Ball Super.

Dragon Ball has showcased so many Super Saiyan transformations that the series has even transitioned from numerical rankings to a color-coded system. It’s easy to get lost in the nostalgic magic of Dragon Ball Z’s original Super Saiyan transformations or the newly godly heights of Dragon Ball Super’s Super Saiyan God and Super Saiyan Blue transformations. However, there’s a strong case to be made for why Dragon Ball GT’s Super Saiyan 4 metamorphosis is the franchise’s best and boldest transformation. Dragon Ball GT continues to receive criticism from the franchise’s fandom. It’s far from perfect, but its signature Super Saiyan transformation is a highlight that deserves to be celebrated.

Custom Image of Goku SSJ 4 and Ultra Instinct

Related

10 Reasons Super Saiyan 4 is Better Than Ultra Instinct

Goku’s Ultra Instinct transformation is his strongest power, but there’s a strong case to be made for why Dragon Ball GT’s Super Saiyan 4 is superior.

Super Saiyan 4 Celebrates The Saiyans’ Roots More Than Any Other Transformation

SSJ4 Functions as a Synthesis Between Saiyans and the Great Ape

Close

Dragon Ball GT Super Saiyan 4 Ape Form Red Aura Energy Absord Trio Header

Related

Dragon Ball GT: 10 Things Everyone Forgets About Super Saiyan 4

Dragon Ball GT introduces the Super Saiyan 4 transformation, a popular transformation that is still featured prominently in many video games.

The tremendous power boosts that come along with each new Super Saiyan transformation are so exciting that it’s easy to forget the significance and origins of these metamorphoses. Individuals become significantly stronger through Super Saiyan transformations, but they’re supposed to be a reflection of Saiyan supremacy that celebrate this warrior race’s potential. The majority of Super Saiyan transformations are reduced to golden hair and auras that are visually impressive, yet bear little resemblance to Saiyans.

However, the Super Saiyan 4 transformation connects back to the species’ core. Super Saiyan 4 functions as a synthesis between a Saiyan’s human and Great Ape forms, which are the race’s two extremes. The Great Ape transformation was plentiful during the original Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z’s Saiyan Saga, but it gradually gets pushed to the wayside and becomes a forgotten relic of the series’ past once Super Saiyans enter the picture. The same is true for Saiyans’ tails, which were once the species’ defining trait and are now rarely referenced.

Super Saiyan 4 doesn’t erase these crucial Saiyan building blocks and instead finds new ways to showcase them. Super Saiyan 4 strength can’t be achieved without first becoming a Golden Great Ape and then harnessing that phenomenal power. This also means that a tail is fundamental to the metamorphosis. Goku and Vegeta need to regrow this appendage in order to ascend to these new heights. The SSJ4 transformation is also significant in the sense that it incorporates Blutz Waves, a unique phenomenon that’s triggered by the full moon or a close enough approximation.

Other Super Saiyan transformations rely on physical strength and emotional triggers, but there’s barely any emphasis on Saiyan physiology. Goku spent the majority of his life actively ignoring his Saiyan heritage. He continues to harbor some shame for his people’s violent past, although he’s recently made peace with this aspect of his life in his own way. The SSJ4 transformation, on the other hand, forces individuals to confront and embrace their Saiyan roots. There’s no getting around it and Goku and Vegeta manage to reclaim pride for their people through using the Super Saiyan 4 transformation to protect the planet and eliminate evil.

It’s also no coincidence that Super Saiyan 4 makes its debut during Goku’s battle against Baby, a Neo Machine Mutant with ties to the Tuffle race that was exterminated by the Saiyans. Baby attempts to create a new Planet Plant for his fallen people, while eliminating the Saiyans in the process. There’s significant meaning in how this prolific transformation reveals itself when the Saiyan population needs to be defended the most during a spiritual clash. The other Super Saiyan transformations emerge when the Earth needs protection, but none of them carry the same level of personal weight as this one.

Super Saiyan 4 Has The Most Unique & Distinct Design

SSJ4 Ditches the Iconic Golden Hair & Opts for a Fresh Look

Close

Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta fires off blasts in Dragon Ball GT

Related

Why Dragon Ball GT’s Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta Has Red Hair

Dragon Ball GT introduced the Super Saiyan 4 form for Goku, Vegeta and Gogeta, and it stood out due to its weird hair color and aesthetics.

Each Super Saiyan transformation is special in its own way, but there’s an increasing case of diminishing returns for each of them. These progressive transformations provide more of the same, with benign differences such as an electrified aura, slightly longer hair, or a different colored aura. This also applies to transformations like Ultra Instinct, Ultra Ego, and even Gohan Beast, which are undeniably powerful, but bring little else to the equation.

Some transformations, such as Super Saiyan 3, even begin to feel like parodies of the process due to its cumbersome hair that’s not very aesthetically pleasing. Akira Toriyama, during the development of Super Saiyan God, has even admitted that he completely forgot about the Super Saiyan 2 transformation. He erroneously considered Super Saiyan 3 to be the process’ second stage. That being said, none of this applies to Super Saiyan 4’s design, which wildly breaks free from this structure and does its own thing.

Super Saiyan 4 ditches the golden hair and opts for a fresh look, rather than a more extreme version of its predecessors. It’s not only genuinely different, but it’s almost scary when it first reveals itself, as if Goku is transforming into a werewolf-esque abomination. Super Saiyan 4 features more mane-like black hair, red bags under the eyes, and a shirtless look where the individual is covered in pink or red fur, which also extends to their prominent tail.

This is all an extreme design that blurs the lines between Saiyan and Great Ape, but it also goes one step further with Goku and Vegeta’s fused form, Gogeta. Oddly, Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta has red hair that isn’t present in either Goku or Vegeta. It gives Gogeta a distinct flair that isn’t present in any other fused transformations, which speaks to Super Saiyan’s unique nature and versatility.

It raises some interesting questions over what color hair another Super Saiyan 4 transformation would take on. Most importantly, Dragon Ball GT’s Super Saiyan 4 transformation feels as if it still contains many secrets that could surprise audiences, whereas the other Super Saiyan transformations have grown stale and feel perfunctory at this point in the franchise.

Super Saiyan 4 Receives A More Substantial Showcase In Its Series

SSJ4 Becomes The Focus of Dragon Ball GT

Close

A Saiyan transforming, a Great Ape, and Super Saiyan 4 Goku from Dragon Ball.

Related

10 Reasons the Dragon Ball Franchise Should Retire Super Saiyan Once & For All

Super Saiyans have become one of the most prominent battle strategies in Dragon Ball, but it might be time to say goodbye.

All of Dragon Ball’s transformations receive a prominent debut. However, the series’ ever-evolving nature often means that it’s never too long until a newer and better Super Saiyan transformation comes along. Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan 2, Super Saiyan 3, and Super Saiyan God are all victims of their subsequent transformations that go on to replace them and ostensibly make them irrelevant. The original Super Saiyan transformation even has to contend with clunkier mid-stages like Super Saiyan Second and Third Grade.

These transformations are powerful when they hit the scene, but they lose much of their impact when they’re inevitably revealed to be a means to a greater end and not the apex of Saiyan strength, after all. Super Saiyan 3, while treated like the strongest of Dragon Ball Z’s transformations, suffers the most from this pattern. Super Saiyan 3 gets introduced too late in the game to be properly used and Dragon Ball Super debuts Super Saiyan God so quickly that it unfortunately slips through the cracks.

Super Saiyan 4 is a rare instance where Dragon Ball truly embraces and supports one of its transformations instead of just thinking about what will come next. Super Saiyan 4 gets introduced around half-way through Dragon Ball GT and it remains the series’ ultimate weapon and not just a stop-gap to something greater. Super Saiyan 4 truly feels like the height of Saiyan strength and like Goku and Vegeta have mastered their race’s secrets.

Dragon Ball GT is by far the shortest of the Dragon Ball series, but it makes the most of its time and finds many unique situations to apply Super Saiyan 4 strength. Dragon Ball GT helps the audience slowly gain a greater understanding of this transformation, its advantages, and its setbacks, whereas other Super Saiyan transformations focus more on the spectacle and not the specifics.

Super Saiyan 4 Is Used To Defeat The Most Villains

SSJ4 Goes Up Against Baby & Omega Shenron

Close

Goku, Vegeta, Trunks, and Gohan in Super Saiyan form with Piccolo in Dragon Ball Z

Related

Dragon Ball: Who is the Strongest Super Saiyan of All Time??

While any Saiyan these days can turn into a Super Saiyan, only one is proficient enough with the form to be called the best while in it.

Dragon Ball’s transformations, Super Saiyan or otherwise, frequently punctuate the heroes’ biggest battles. These transformations are an effective way for the heroes to turn the tables when they’re overwhelmed and progressively gain the advantage against their opponents. These transformations, while helpful, don’t actually lead to the villains’ defeat on multiple occasions.

When Goku is involved, he still tends to defer to the Spirit Bomb instead of actually using his new transformation to destroy the enemy. There are exceptions to this rule, like how Gohan’s Super Saiyan 2 transformation is crucial in Cell’s defeat. Dragon Ball struggles to replicate this formula and Super Saiyan 2 doesn’t result in many other villains’ defeats beyond this initial spectacle.

This reflects a short-sighted approach to these transformations and raises questions over whether they needed to exist in the first place or were merely a convenient plot device to mix things up. Alternatively, Dragon Ball GT’s Super Saiyan 4 transformation is responsible for the defeat of nearly all the series’ major villains. Super Saiyan 4 Goku defeats Baby and it goes on to become the most prominent tool in the Saiyan’s attack arsenal.

​​​​​​​Goku takes on seven Shadow Dragons during the anime’s final story arc and he uses Super Saiyan 4 tactics against all but one of them. Omega Shenron, Syn Shenron’s evolved form and Dragon Ball GT’s final villain, would have easily destroyed the universe if not for Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta’s power seriously injuring the villain. It’s much easier to support and celebrate Super Saiyan 4 as the franchise’s ultimate transformation when it’s responsible for so many villains’ destruction.

Super Saiyan 4 Has Surpassed Its Source Material & Found Popularity Elsewhere

SSJ4 is Loved More Than The Series it Comes From

Close

Goku Super Saiyan and Super Saiyan God

Related

10 Biggest Differences Between DBZ’s Super Saiyan Transformations & Dragon Ball Super’s

Dragon Ball’s Super Saiyan transformations are iconic, but they’ve changed between the series like DBZ and Dragon Ball Super.

Dragon Ball is an incredibly popular anime and manga, but it’s also found new life as a successful video game franchise. One reason that Dragon Ball GT’s Super Saiyan 4 transformation is so special is because it’s managed to find success beyond its source material. Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super are celebrated franchise additions and so it should come as no surprise that their original transformations resonate with audiences.

However, it’s more impressive that the Super Saiyan 4 transformation has found such support when the series that it comes from is still so contentious with fans. Audiences may not like Dragon Ball GT and the direction that it takes, but it’s clear that Super Saiyan 4 is its most popular element. The Super Saiyan 4 transformation has received a lot of love in Dragon Ball video games and it’s made its way into certain titles even when nothing else from Dragon Ball GT makes the cut.

Audiences were quite excited to learn that Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta would be a playable character in Dragon Ball FighterZ, as well as Goku’s GT counterpart, including the character’s Super Saiyan 4 transformation. Additionally, Dragon Ball Heroes and its promotional anime counterpart, Super Dragon Ball Heroes, treats the Super Saiyan 4 transformation as one of its most popular wild card transformations.

Dragon Ball Heroes often feels like glorified fan fiction that indulges in non-canonical transformations and multiple versions of the same character existing at once. This has resulted in new transformations for characters, such as Super Saiyan 3 Raditz and Super Saiyan God Xeno Trunks. However, this concept goes for broke when it comes to new Super Saiyan 4 characters. There’s Super Saiyan 4 Bardock, Super Saiyan 4 Xeno Vegito, and Super Saiyan 4 GT Gohan.

Super Saiyan 4’s prominence in these expanded universe Dragon Ball stories speaks to its popularity and utility. The franchise and its fans want to do as much with the Super Saiyan 4 transformation as possible. With any luck, it will only be a matter of time until it canonically appears in Dragon Ball Super and there’s already speculation that Broly may be set up to reach this powerful milestone.

Cast of Dragon Ball Z leaping towards the camera in Anime Poster

Dragon Ball

Dragon Ball tells the tale of a young warrior by the name of Son Goku, a young peculiar boy with a tail who embarks on a quest to become stronger and learns of the Dragon Balls, when, once all 7 are gathered, grant any wish of choice.

Created byAkira ToriyamaFirst FilmDragon Ball: Curse of the Blood RubiesLatest FilmDragon Ball Super: Super HeroFirst TV ShowDragon BallLatest TV ShowDragon Ball SuperUpcoming TV ShowsDragon Ball DAIMAFirst Episode Air DateApril 26, 1989CastBrian Drummond, Scott McNeil, Christopher Sabat, Laura Bailey, Sean SchemmelCurrent SeriesDragon Ball Super