Super Saiyan

File:Super Saiyans.JPG

All Super Saiyans that have appeared in the original manga series.

The Super Saiyan (超サイヤ人, Sūpā Saiyajin), was introduced as a fictional legend in the Dragon Ball manga created by Akira Toriyama. The first character to transform into a Super Saiyan is the series' main protagonist Son Goku, in volume 27 of the 42 volume manga series, better known to general fans as Dragon Ball Z; named so after the anime adaptation of the manga series was split into two sub-series. The Super Saiyan also appears in a third, anime-only series called Dragon Ball GT. In the series, the Super Saiyan is a transformation that is only accessible to characters who possess heritage from the fictional race called the Saiyans. The effects of the transformation results in greatly enhanced physical abilities.

The first transformation to Super Saiyan occurs involuntarily, when a Saiyan has reached his natural limit and is overcome with intense emotion. Future transformations are achieved when the Saiyans massively increase a certain energy in their bodies called chi. As the series continued, the status of the Super Saiyan as being "legendary" is quickly departed from due to more characters developing the ability to transform.

Creation and conception

Appearance

Toriyama first drew the Super Saiyan as a lean warrior with upright yellow hair and green eyes. In the colored version of the manga, the Super Saiyan is surrounded by a flame-like white aura. As the series progresses and more forms are introduced, each form is slightly altered from the previous one; often possessing more upright hair and altered aura appearances. The two ascended forms of the Super Saiyan introduced later in the series possess blue electrical bolts in the aura. Toei's anime adaptation of the Super Saiyan forms were slightly altered, mostly due to budget issues concerning animation. In the anime, the aura color was changed to yellow, as well as the different auras for the forms usually being less distinguishable than in the manga. Toei also added bolts to the inappropriate Super Saiyan forms in the anime, or occasionally left them out of the appropriate ones.

Concept

As the series continued and more powerful villains were introduced, the Super Saiyan concept was modified by Toriyama several times. As a result of these new villains, Toriyama at first had created "upgraded" forms of the original Super Saiyan, but then later created all new Super Saiyan forms. At the end of the manga, there were three forms or levels of the Super Saiyan, with several intermediate forms between the first and second form. As the anime was produced, Dragon Ball's animation company Toei created more forms, such as a pre-Super Saiyan form called Giji Super Saiyan, and an alternate genetically exclusive form called the Legendary Super Saiyan. Later in Dragon Ball Z's spin-off sequel Dragon Ball GT, Toei created Super Saiyan 4. Dragon Ball GT was cancelled after only 64 episodes due to lack of popularity, and no more Super Saiyan forms were officially created by Toriyama or Toei.

Heritage and gender controversy

Toriyama ran into a problem with his Super Saiyan concept in the last manga volume, where the quarter Saiyan female named Pan is introduced as the granddaughter of Goku. Toriyama's Super Saiyan concept had become a staple concept in the Dragon Ball series, so Toriyama had received many questions about Pan's ability to become a Super Saiyan. Toriyama wrote that Pan's Saiyan heritage was too diluted in order for her to ascend to Super Saiyan, but later admitted that the only reason he made that rule was because he could not come up with a logical design for a female Super Saiyan because most of the characteristics associated with the Super Saiyan were characteristics typical of males, and not females; such as increased muscle mass and enhanced facial features. Toei ignored this rule in their spin-off series Dragon Ball GT when they made distant Saiyan descendents Son Goku Jr. and Vegeta Jr. have the ability to transform into Super Saiyans even though their Saiyan heritage was even more diluted than Pan's.

Naming scheme

When the ascended Super Saiyan forms were introduced in the series, Toriyama had never actually given them names. It wasn't until volume 40 that the ascended Super Saiyan forms were given names by Goku. Goku was facing an opponent named Majin Buu, and decided to show him the different Super Saiyan forms, as a result he came up with names for them. He showed Buu his regular form, then Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan 2, and then as a climax, introduced Super Saiyan 3. When the advanced grades of the first Super Saiyan form were introduced, several names were given by the characters, but no official names for the advanced grades were decided on in the series. It wasn't until the Daizenshuu was produced that the advanced grades of the regular form of Super Saiyan were actually given names.

Legend

This account of the Super Saiyan legend is based on the storyline presented in the manga series, being that the manga storyline is more consistent with the rest of the Dragon Ball timeline.

The legend of the Super Saiyan is first introduced by the Saiyan prince Vegeta during the second story arc of the series called the Freeza Saga. Even though a detailed description of the legend is stated in the Freeza Saga, an indirect reference was made to it earlier in the series in the previous story arc called the Saiyan Saga. The legend told the story of a Saiyan with unlimited power who had existed a millennium prior. The assumption that many Saiyans had was that any Saiyan becoming a Super Saiyan was an extremely rare event, and only being a possible transformation for the stronger individuals of the race. When a Saiyan achieved the state of Super Saiyan, it was said that his pure heart would be overcome by rage, resulting in this radical transformation. The Super Saiyan legend was known by many races, and was considered the strongest being in the galaxy.

Because the Super Saiyan transformation had not been demonstrated by any Saiyan in recorded history, most races that had heard the legend of the Super Saiyan dismissed it as simple mythology, even most Saiyans. This was until several Saiyans emerged that possessed physical potential that had rapidly evolved beyond their known natural limits. The galactic overlord Freeza also had dismissed it as simple legend until he witnessed a genetically weaker Saiyan defeat one of his elite warriors. As a result, Freeza realized that a Super Saiyan emerging was a possibility. Fearing the Saiyans, he destroyed the race and their planet.

However, four Saiyans (Goku, Vegeta, Raditz, and Nappa) escaped the destruction, and one of the four would ascend to the legendary form and use it to defeat Freeza. Goku and Vegeta procreate with humans later in the series to produce hybrids, and most of the hybrids inherited the potential to ascend to Super Saiyan in spite of their impure heritage.

It was originally stated that a Saiyan must be pure of heart to make the transformation, whether it be pure good or pure evil. The legend also originally stated that only one Super Saiyan would emerge in a thousand years; this is later contradicted when another Super Saiyan appears one year later. As a result, the legendary status of the Super Saiyan ceases and by the end of Dragon Ball, there are numerous other Super Saiyans. It was later discovered that any male with at least half Saiyan heritage was biologically capable of ascending to Super Saiyan if they were powerful enough, but only under the appropriate conditions. In the written series, all the male characters with Saiyan heritage who existed after the Freeza Saga managed to achieve Super Saiyan, and some of the characters managed to achieve advanced Super Saiyan transformations.

Evolution in the manga series

Early concept

Super Saiyan (超サイヤ人, Sūpā Saiyajin) was introduced in volume 24 of the 42 volume manga series, in the character Vegeta's recounting of a legend about a super warrior from the Saiyan race. Vegeta suspected that the series' main protagonist Son Goku was a Super Saiyan due to his substantial increase in physical power in a short amount of time. During the events of volume 27, Son Goku is seen to transform into what he calls a Super Saiyan, confirming Vegeta's suspicions earlier in the series.

Son Goku uses his new power to defeat the current antagonist of the series, a galactic over lord by the name of Freeza. Freeza had destroyed the Saiyans out of his fear of their growing power, and the idea of a possible "Super Saiyan". As a result of defeating Freeza, Son Goku avenges the Saiyan race, and the death of his best friend, a human by the name of Kuririn.

As the series continues, the Super Saiyan becomes a staple concept in Dragon Ball, being achieved by several other characters in the series. Details about the Super Saiyan are revealed such as its limits and weaknesses. Son Goku later contracts a virus that attacks his heart, and his Super Saiyan transformation is revealed to actually increase the virus's effects on his body. By this time, the character Vegeta had also achieved Super Saiyan, and it is his defeat as a Super Saiyan that reveals the Super Saiyan had limits, despite its incredible power.

• Supa Saiya-jin (Super Saiyan)

Advanced grades

Continuing with the story, Toriyama decided to introduce several advanced froms of the Super Saiyan. The character Vegeta is the first one to reveal a second form of the Super Saiyan, which he uses to battle the character Cell. However, due to Vegeta's arrogance, Cell is able to reach his full power and defeat Vegeta in his advanced Super Saiyan form, revealing yet more limits. Vegeta's son from the future, Trunks displays a third form of the Super Saiyan, however the form's weaknesses such as bulky mass lead to his defeat, although even Cell states that Trunks is stonger than him at the time. These flaws are exploited by Son Goku later in the series, who decides that simply mastering the regular Super Saiyan is the most effective way to become stronger. As a result of this revelation, these advanced froms are not used beyond a few chapters in the series.

Son Goku later battles Cell with his mastered state of Super Saiyan, and proves to be stronger then Vegeta and Trunks were in the advanced grades. Despite his power in his mastered state of Super Saiyan, Son Goku was unable to defeat Cell.

• Supa Saiya-jin Dai ni Denkai (Type 2)
• Supa Saiya-jin Dai san Denkai (Type 3)
• Supa Saiya-jin furu powa (Full Power Super Saiyan)

Ascended levels

Toriyama had introduced a character earlier in the series by the name of Son Gohan, who was the first son of Son Goku. Toriyama had introduced the possibility of Son Gohan becoming stronger then his father earlier in the series, when Son Gohan had unknowingly assisted his father in defeating the evil Saiyan Raditz, who was revealed to be Son Goku's older brother. Son Gohan had revealed a massive dormant power that revealed itself whenever he threw fits of rage. During their training to battle Cell, Son Goku trained Son Gohan to become a Super Saiyan, knowing that if he became a Super Saiyan, his dormant power would probably be a catalyst in the defeat of Cell. Son Gohan was able to achieve Super Saiyan and master it, due to his father's guidence and training.

Son Gohan later fought Cell, where his dormant power revealed itself, transforming him into an ascended form of the Super Saiyan. Son Gohan easily defeated Cell with this new form of Super Saiyan, and had succeeded his father as the Earth's greatest defender. Son Goku and Vegeta later are revealed to achieve this form, however the form's limits are challenged by the character Majin Boo, and Goku reveals an even stronger from of Super Saiyan. There are no more Super Saiyan forms revealed in the manga series, as Toriyama ended the series shortly after.

• Supa Saiya-jin 2
• Supa Saiya-jin 3

Toei transformation variants

The following Super Saiyan forms only appeared in the anime series, and were created by Dragon Ball's animation company Toei in order to elaborate on and expand Toriyama's written Dragon Ball series.

False Super Saiyan

During the development of the Super Saiyan concept, Dragon Ball's animation company (Toei) produced a movie depicting Goku's first Super Saiyan transformation. However, the form was later called Giji Supa Saiya-jin, which depicted Goku with his regular black hair, but flowing, eyes lacking irises and the golden aura of the anime Super Saiyan coloring the body gold. Goku uses this form in his fight against Lord Slug in Dragon Ball Z movie 4 and easily overpowers him. Goku is also seen to use a similar transformation in a filler episode of Dragon Ball Z, however it has never been confirmed if that transformation is a False Super Saiyan.

Legendary Super Saiyan

In Dragon Ball Z movie 8, Toei created a Super Saiyan whose abilities exceeded all other Super Saiyans in the series; an attempt to create an idea that there was a single legendary Super Saiyan. The character they created was named Broly, whose final Super Saiyan form is called Legendary Super Saiyan. This form is often misinterpreted as the Super Saiyan 3rd Grade, but does not have the same physical flaws of massive chi consumption and speed loss as the 3rd Grade does. This form has many advantages, as it requires no chi consumption, gives the user phenomenal strength and speed, and constantly raises the user's power as long as they remain in The Legendary Super Saiyan form.

Super Saiyan 4

File:Toriyama SSj4 DragonBox.jpg

Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama's variant of the Super Saiyan 4, drawn exclusively for the Dragon Box.

The Super Saiyan 4 (超サイヤ人4, Sūpā Saiyajin 4) is a form that exclusively appears in Toei's spin-off anime series Dragon Ball GT, and was not part of the original series. Even though Toriyama supervised the production for Dragon Ball GT, he did not design the characters or Super Saiyan 4. The Super Saiyan 4 was designed by Toei artist Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, and was designed to more closely resemble the Saiyan Ape form which appears early in the written series. As a result, the Super Saiyan 4 design does not resemble the original Super Saiyan design of golden-yellow hair and green eyes. While Toriyama did not design the Super Saiyan 4, he did draw a manga version of Goku as a Super Saiyan 4 for the Dragon Box, a massive media boxset containing all the Dragon Ball movies and episodes ever produced by Toei.

Wanting to expand the Dragon Ball series, Toei created a new series called Dragon Ball GT. As new enemies emerged in the series, Goku searches for a way to ascend what he had originally thought was the last Super Saiyan form. As a result, he went through a process that enabled him to transform into a Super Saiyan 4. The Super Saiyan 4 form is the most advanced Super Saiyan transformation achieved in the anime series, and is only accessible to pure blooded Saiyans; this was discovered when the parasitic Tuffle Baby had infected Vegeta, and Baby-Vegeta could not transform to this because Baby was not a Saiyan, making Baby-Vegeta's heritage impure.

The Super Saiyan 4 has several unusual characteristics like it only being possible for pure Saiyans to achieve the transformation. Odd visual characteristics can be observed with disappearing articles of clothing after transformation, and the instant aging of Goku from child to adult when he transforms into Super Saiyan 4. Fans of the anime say this is because the power level of the Super Saiyan 4 is too much to be contained within a child. When compared to the previous Super Saiyan forms, the Super Saiyan 4 also has an unusual appearance. The Super Saiyan 4 does not have yellow hair, but rather has a tail and red fur that covers most of the body. Each Saiyan who can utilize the transformation has different colored fur, hair and eyes from the other Saiyans who can achieve the form.

Appearances in other media

After the success of Dragon Ball, Akira Toriyama created a self-parody manga entitled Neko Majin Z, which features Son Goku and Vegeta, and introduced a new Saiyan named Onio, who also has the ability to transform into a Super Saiyan. In the series, the Super Saiyan transformation was altered slightly, where the aura of the regular Super Saiyan contains bolts of electricity.

As part of his self parody, the main character Neko Majin actually has a transformation that is similar to the Super Saiyan, where he becomes "Super Neko Majin".

External links

• Daizenshuu EX's Transformation Guide on Super Saiyans