Super Saiyan is virtually synonymous withDragon Ballat this point. The entire Frieza arc centers itself on the idea of a Super Saiyan rising up to defeat the galactic tyrant. Frieza himself is motivated by a fear of the legendary Super Saiyan, a prophetic warrior who would surely put an end to Frieza’s reign of terror.
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Dragon Ball teases whether or not Goku, Vegeta, or Gohan are thelegendary Super Saiyan, ultimately settling on Goku. Many fans misbelieve that Super Saiyan was intended to be a special transformation just for Goku, but that’s far from the case. Super Saiyan’s role inDragon Ballhas an interesting history and is used primarily as a narrative tool by Akira Toriyama.
Updated on August 01, 2025, by Ritwik Mitra:Dragon Ball is one of the most popular shonen series of all time, featuring everything from epic battles to amazing transformations that have burned their image into the minds of millions of impressionable children all over the world when they witnessed this masterpiece on their television screens.
A big part of what made the series so popular is the Super Saiyan transformation, which is easily the most recognizable aspect of this illustrious series. Here are some weird facts about this series that most fans aren’t aware of.
15The Tingling Sensation On A Saiyan’s Back
There was a time when the Super Saiyan transformation was one of the most mysterious and exciting transformations in the show. However, with the advent ofDragon Ball Super, almost everything about the Super Saiyan transformation has been described in excruciatingly long detail.
As perthe Saiyans of Universe 6, there’s a unique trigger to becoming Super Saiyan. Apparently, feeling a tingling sensation on one’s back is what Saiyans need to focus on to achieve this transformation.
14How S-Cells Play A Role In Making Someone A Saiyan
Along with the tingling sensation, there’s another factor that governs whether someone is capable of transforming into a Super Saiyan. This is to do with the obtuse S-Cells.
Apparently, only Saiyans who have S-Cells in their body are capable of becoming Super Saiyan. Apparently, Saiyans with a pure heart have a greater quantity of these S-Cells, allowing them to turn into a Super Saiyan at a moment’s notice.
13A Super Saiyan’s Tail Also Turns Gold
Given the sheer number of tailless Saiyans inDragon Ball, it’s no wonder that most people haven’t seen any tailed Super Saiyan in the series. If they did, they would’ve noticed something really cool about this transformation.
The Super Saiyan transformation gives a golden hue to a Saiyan’s hair upon transformation. This applies to the fur on a Saiyan’s tail too, which also undergoes this change!
12Chi-Chi Doesn’t Like Super Saiyan Gohan Because Of His Blonde Hair
When Chi-Chi seesGohan in his Super Saiyan formfor the first time, she instantly disapproves. While most people might assume that she simply doesn’t want her son to fight, the reasons for her dislike of this form go deeper than that.
In Japan, a child who dyes their hair blonde is seen as a sign of rebellion. With this context, it makes more sense as to why Chi-Chi was so disgusted after seeing Gohan in this form.
11Super Saiyan’s Can’t Use A Spirit Bomb Because Of An Impure Heart
The Spirit Bomb is one of the most iconic techniquesinDragon Ballby a country mile. This powerful technique has decimated most enemies in the series… but, oddly enough, Goku has never pulled off this move in his Super Saiyan form.
This is because only a warrior with a pure heart can use the Spirit Bomb in battle. Given the bloodlust for battle that Goku gets in this transformation, it’s understandable as to why he can’t really channel the energy for a Spirit Bomb in this form.
10Transforming Was Never A Given
It’s important to recognize thatDragon Balldoes not introducethe concept of Super Saiyan as a transformation. In the context of what Frieza and Vegeta believe, the Super Saiyan is more a state of being that one naturally achieves by becoming stronger. Vegeta erroneously believes himself to have become the Super Saiyan multiple times on Namek.
There’s no way any of the characters could know that Super Saiyan would cause a physical transformation, but it’s for the best that it does. Narratively, it’s a fantastic way of signaling Goku’s rage and representing him embracing his Saiyan heritage through a visual overhaul.
9Designed To Save Time On Inking
Super Saiyan also saves on inking, which is what motivated Akira Toriyama’s final design for the form. Since Goku’s hair is jet black (along with most of the other characters inDragon Ball,) it needs to be consistently inked from chapter to chapter.
Wanting to save himself and his assistants timeduring the Frieza arc, Toriyama conceived Super Saiyan’s clear hair as a means of saving time on inking. Considering just how long the final battle between SSJ Goku and Frieza is (even in the manga,) this probably saved Toriyama a great deal of stress.
8Pseudo Super Saiyan
For some bizarre reason, Toei wanted to beat Akira Toriyama to the punch when it came to Super Saiyan (a precedent that would later see them debuting Gogeta before Toriyama could, spurring the creation of Vegetto instead.) The fourthDragon Ball Zmovie, Lord Slug, introduces the Pseudo Super Saiyan – a false transformation state Saiyans trigger whencloseto turning Super Saiyan.
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The final design is incredibly barbaric, with Goku’s pupils going white and his muscles expanding. Pseudo Super Saiyan also takes cues from Kaioken in terms of its color scheme. While Super Saiyan does represent Goku reconciling his nature as a Saiyan, he does so while keeping his humanity in-canon.
7The Red Eyed Super Saiyan
While Super Saiyans have green eyes in canon, concept art for the fifthDragon Ball Zmovie – Cooler’s Revenge – features a Super Saiyan Goku with red eyes. Goku doesn’t appear as such during the final movie, but Toei’s concept art might be based onDragon Ball’s limited color manga chapters.
Toriyama does draw Goku with green eyes in full color, but super Saiyan is depicted with red eyes in all limited color chapters. It’s possible Toei preferred this design element for Super Saiyan before ultimately abiding by Akira Toriyama’s intended color scheme.
6Super Saiyan Was Never Special
Many fans deride Trunks’ introduction as downplaying how special Super Saiyan is, but that’s also explicitly the point. In order to prevent Goku or Super Saiyan from being de facto get out of jail free cards, Akira Toriyama creates a future timeline where all the main characters have been killed and even Super Saiyan isn’t enough.
This is conveyed through Trunks arriving, turning Super Saiyan with no fanfare, and killing Frieza & King Cold in a single chapter – only to reveal he’s nothing againstthe Androids terrorizing his future. Super Saiyan isn’t special, which is exactly what gives the Cell arc its drama.
