The Saiyan Saga in Dragon Ball Z was a huge turning point, and the story hasn’t been the same ever since. It revealed Goku’s origins as a member of the proud warrior race, which explains a lot about his natural talent as a martial artist. Following that, the series also introduced the Super Saiyan form, and no moment in Shonen history has ever been as iconic as Goku’s first transformation. Over the decades, the franchise introduced several Shonen tropes that continue to inspire countless mangakas and popular shows even today. The most popular trope among them was transformations, which became a standard for action Shonen. Of course, even within the Dragon Ball universe, no transformation is as powerful and exceptional as a Super Saiyan.
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The series has introduced several Super Saiyan transformations over the years, but not many hit the mark as they should have. This includes both the canon and the anime original transformations. These three Super Saiyan transformations have become irrelevant over the years, and fans might never see them again. It’s not just because these forms are weak or have many drawbacks, but the main reason is how the power level has changed completely in Dragon Ball Super, making these forms pretty much useless.
3) Pseudo Super Saiyan
Many fans probably don’t remember or even know about this underrated form since it’s an anime original. This form was featured only in the 1991 movie, Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug. Pseudo Super Saiyan is a semi-advanced technique that happens when a Saiyan is on the brink of death, where they briefly reach the state of a Super Saiyan. During the movie, Goku was initially overpowered by Lord Slug, but he easily got the upper hand after transforming, as he became uncontrollable, reminding King Kai of the Super Saiyan form from the legend.
However, unlike what the name suggests, it’s not technically a Super Saiyan form. The anime featured Goku’s first transformation right around the time of this movie, which is why it didn’t feature the real form so the series’ spotlight wouldn’t be hindered. The 1991 movie is the only time Pseudo Super Saiyan was shown, and there’s no reason for the anime to focus on it again.
2) Super Saiyan Third Grade
This was more like a sub-form before the concept of Super Saiyan 2 was introduced. However, the sub-grades were flawed and came with more drawbacks as compared to the powers they granted. This form granted brute strength in exchange for speed, which isn’t really considered a smart move when most villains in the series are just as fas they are powerful. This is especially true for Cell since this transformation was introduced during the Cell Saga.
However, another issue is that the overly buff form looks especially jarring, making it all the more unforgettable. Future Trunks used it during his fight with the villain, and he was able to surpass the power of Super Saiyan. He unlocked this ability while training in the Hyper Time Chamber. Trunks was able to fight Cell on equal footing for a brief time before the villain learned about the speed disadvantage and exploited it to gain the upper hand.
1) Super Saiyan 3
Super Saiyan 3 remains one of the most polarizing transformations in the entire franchise. It was introduced in the Buu Saga and didn’t get any chance for development since the main story was over not long after that. Goku’s Super Saiyan 3 merely served as a distraction so the Z Fighters could carry out their plan against the overpowered villain. Unfortunately, this form had way too many drawbacks to be considered useful. While it does grant immeasurable power to the Saiyan, it comes at a steep price of draining all of their stamina.
Not to mention that Goku was unable to continue the fight for a long time after using this form since he was forced back into return to the other world, as he was already dead. Additionally, the anime did revive this form in Dragon Ball Daima only to give Vegeta a brief moment of time to shine before Goku took over the spotlight again with Super Saiyan 4.
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