The Prince of the Saiyans has employed a new transformation in Dragon Ball Super’s manga during the Granolah The Survivor Arc, with Vegeta unleashing the full power of the technique that he was able to learn while training beneath the god of destruction Beerus in Ultra Ego. Though the technique is seemingly comparable to Goku’s Ultra Instinct, attuned to Vegeta’s personality and granting him a major boost of power, the Saiyan Prince still finds himself at a loss against the intergalactic bounty hunter, which leaves us wondering if the transformation was able to live up to the hype.
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Dragon Ball Super, in general, has had some trouble with transformations, with several transformations being learned off-screen, including the likes of Super Saiyan Blue and Ultra Ego, and not having an emotional connection or event tied to them. With Super Saiyan’s first level being discovered by Goku on the Planet Namek following the death of his best friend Krillin and Super Saiyan 2 being discovered by Gohan following the death of Android 16, these emotional moments are nowhere to be seen when it comes to some of these more powerful forms of Super.
Goku’s Ultra Instinct wasn’t just learned in the anime by the Saiyan surviving the Spirit Bomb being hurled his way, though in the manga this happened differently as he attained Ultra Instinct following Master Roshi being beat down by Jiren, it was explained somewhat thoroughly by Whis. While these emotional connections weren’t necessarily as grand as some that took place in Dragon Ball Z, it definitely seems as if an attempt was made, and for the most part, Ultra Instinct has not only boosted Goku’s strength but it’s given him some big victories.
Goku has been able to use Ultra Instinct to defeat Moro for one, and the power he gleaned from it also allowed him to overpower Jiren, though the form’s enemy was too much for him to control in its perfect state during the Tournament of Power. With Vegeta’s Ultra Ego, the most explanation that we get is that the Saiyan Prince was able to learn it while training with Beerus, but we don’t get the opportunity to see how he managed to hit this new level. On top of this, while Goku netted victories against the past antagonists, Vegeta is beaten multiple times by Granolah, leaving us to wonder if the transformation was even worthy of introducing at this juncture.
Vegeta and his fans have had a rough history throughout Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super, with the Saiyan Prince not just playing second fiddle to Goku in several battles, but also learning new techniques and transformations that are effectively pushed to the side. Goku’s Ultra Instinct came about because he was able to reach a point wherein his body was able to move on its own, conserving energy to be used at precise moments in both offensive and defensive capabilities, but the same level of explanation just hasn’t been given to Vegeta’s new transformation. This is of course subject to change, but Ultra Ego really could have used more background when it first appeared.
On the appearance front, Ultra Ego does seem like the perfect progression for the Saiyan Prince, not just making Vegeta look closer to a god of destruction, but making the Z Fighter far more fearsome looking, rather than Goku’s ethereal transformation. We’re crossing our fingers that the transformation isn’t just explored further in the future of Dragon Ball Super, but that it also allows Vegeta a win that he has sorely needed in the sequel series for quite some time.
How have you felt about the introduction of Ultra Ego? Do you think Vegeta will ever net a victory in Dragon Ball Super? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of Dragon Ball.
