Dragon Ball Daima’s twelfth episode changed the game in a series that has prided itself on throwing some major monkey wrenches into the shonen’s lore. Toei Animation did the unthinkable in finally giving Vegeta a Super Saiyan 3 transformation, a form that many thought the Prince of the Saiyans would never receive. While we only witnessed the Z-Fighter take advantage of this form in his child-like form in the Demon Realm, gaining this transformation is making serious waves in the anime world. However, while Daima might be the first time Vegeta has canonically gone “SSJ3,” the Saiyan Prince has had a long history with the transformation.
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If you’re wondering when Vegeta went Super Saiyan 3 for the first time, you might be shocked to learn that it wasn’t in an anime. Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Battlers hit Japan in 2009 as an arcade game that incorporated cards into its design, much like the recent Dragon Ball Heroes. This was the first official time that any shonen fan had ever been given a glimpse of what the former villain would look like with a Super Saiyan 3 makeover. In the arcade game, Vegeta wasn’t the only one to receive this form for the first time as the Legendary Super Saiyan Broly would also go SSJ3. Dragon Battlers opened the door for Super Saiyan 3 Vegeta to make appearances quite frequently in the future.
[RELATED: Dragon Ball Daima: Vegeta’s Super Saiyan 3 Holds a Major Difference From Goku’s]
Vegeta’s Super Saiyan 3 Was The Only The Beginning
Super Saiyan 3 Vegeta would quickly make a comeback in the game Dragon Ball Z: Raging Blast but it was in Dragon Ball Heroes that nearly every Saiyan introduced in the franchise would hit this level. The outside-of-continuity arcade game focused on the shonen franchise’s multiverse, giving characters like Nappa, Bardock, Raditz, Trunks, Gohan, Goku Black, and more the ability to rely on this transformation. Hilariously enough, in Nappa’s case, SSJ3 only caused his beard to grow and turn blond since Vegeta’s former partner-in-crime had no hair on the top of his head.
Super Dragon Ball Heroes, the anime adaptation that accompanied the arcade game, featured two Vegetas that would either butt heads or team up to fight against the biggest threats to their universes. The Vegeta of the Time Patrol had the ability to transform into a Super Saiyan 3, while also going far beyond that to become a Super Saiyan 4, which would grow even more powerful with the boost known as “Limit Breaker.”
Vegeta’s Past Super Saiyan 3 Vs Daima’s
Before Dragon Ball Daima, Vegeta’s previous “outside-of-continuity” Super Saiyan 3 transformations took the majority of its influence from what we had seen with both Goku and Gotenks. Both Son and the fusion of Goten and Trunks were the only in-continuity characters in Dragon Ball history to use the form so it would make sense that the video games would be more than willing to model the Saiyan Prince’s look after them.
Rather than having his long hair stretch to his feet, Vegeta’s canon Super Saiyan 3 had it sticking back out. While not officially claiming to be a nod to the original design of SSJ3 by Akira Toriyama, there are mor ethan a few similarities between the original plan that the mangaka had for the transformation and Vegeta’s new look.
Want to see what other surprises Dragon Ball Daima has in store for the Prince of the Saiyans? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on the Z-Fighters and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.
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