‘Dragon Ball’ Creator Finally Reveals The Secret Behind Going Super Saiyan

It’s been a long time since fans first learned about the Super Saiyan transformation, but there are still plenty of secrets surrounding the power-up. Over the years, fans have theorized just how fighters like Goku have been able to tap into the form when others could not. However, you don’t need to guess much longer.

After all, Akira Toriyama just revealed the real secret behind the Super Saiyan form.

Not long ago, the famed Dragon Ball creator did an interview with Saikyo Jump about his iconic franchise. It was there Toriyama revealed there is a biological trigger needed for Saiyans to unlock the power-up.

“It’s not like anyone can become a Super Saiyan through training and anger. In order to become a Super Saiyan, one’s body must contain something called “S-Cells,” Toriyama confirmed.

“Once these S-Cells reach a certain amount, a trigger such as anger will explosively increase the S-Cells and cause a change in the body: that’s Super Saiyan.”

According to Toriyama, most Saiyans do have S-Cells of some sort but their quantity wildly varies. The more S-Cells a Saiyan has, the more likely they are to have high power levels. The S-Cells also predispose fighters to using the Super Saiyan form, but the cells only activate after being triggered. Heightened emotions are what agitate the S-Cells most easily, so Goku was able to tap into the form back in Dragon Ball Z after he flew into a rage following Krillin’s brutal murder.

After decades of wondering, fans now have a clear-cut reason for why Goku has always been so powerful. The Saiyan inherited S-Cells from Bardock and Gine, and he got a lot of them. The hero’s genetic makeup paired with his persistent training regiment made his a textbook Super Saiyan candidate. So, when push came to show, Goku was able to tap into the power when Freeza pushed him to his limits years ago.

Did you expect Toriyama’s biological breakdown of the Super Saiyan form to work out like this? Hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to let me know and talk all things comics and anime!