Dragon Ball Transformations That Were Barely Used

Key Takeaways

• Super Saiyan God was overshadowed by Super Saiyan Blue, making it irrelevant after its initial appearance.
• Frieza showcased multiple transformations before settling on his iconic final form.
• False Super Saiyan was a brief glimpse of Goku’s power that hinted at greater transformations to come.

The sheer number of transformations in Dragon Ball will boggle the minds of viewers who are not familiar with the series. The franchise has made a name for itself by letting fans enjoy some spectacular transformations that raise the power of certain fighters to new heights.

Sometimes, Dragon Ball can feature so many transformations that some of these moments end up being fleeting ones that are surpassed by natural progressions of these forms not long after. Keeping track of these transformations can be somewhat overwhelming, especially those that don’t make too many appearances.

8 Super Saiyan God

The First Step To Unlock Divine Ki That’s Surpassed Not Long After

• Known User(s): Goku, Vegeta
• Form Debut:Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods

After a lengthy wait, fans were eager to check out another Dragon Ball movie that was canon and introduced a new form to the series. The Super Saiyan God form served as a gateway for Goku to unlock divine ki, reaching a point where he’d powered down to a base Super Saiyan form but was still strong enough to fight Beerus because of the power ceiling unlocked by Super Saiyan God.

Fans were expecting to see this transformation rear its head later on in the series, only for Super Saiyan Blue to appear in Resurrection F and become the go-to form for the Saiyans in Dragon Ball Super. Barring a brief appearance in Dragon Ball Super: Broly courtesy of Vegeta, this form hasn’t been all that relevant ever since its first appearance.

7 Frieza’s Second & Third Transformation

A Brief Showcase Before This Tyrant Transforms Into His Last Form

• Known User(s): Frieza
• Form Debut:Fighting Power: One Million?? (Episode 78 of Dragon Ball Z) & Frieza’s Second Transformation (Episode 82 of Dragon Ball Z)

There’s no denying that Frieza is one of the most diabolical antagonists in the history of Dragon Ball. His brutal actions led to Goku’s rage overwhelming him as he unlocked the Super Saiyan transformation for the first time in the series. Before this moment, this tyrant did a great job of flexing his skills by showing off the sheer wealth of transformations he could use to enhance his power.

Before settling on the form that everyone is familiar with, Frieza whipped out two forms that enhanced his power just enough to make the Z Warriors fear his might. The second transformation made him look like his father, while the third one feels like Toriyama’s take on the iconic Xenomorph design from Alien.

6 False Super Saiyan

A Cool But Short Glimpse Into The True Power Of A Saiyan

• Known User(s): Goku
• Form Debut:Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug

Lord Slug is an antagonist that a lot of people have forgotten about. The movie starring this antagonist is decent, but nothing special. However, there’s one great moment in this movie that gives viewers a taste of things to come.

After being beaten to a pulp by Lord Slug, the Namekian’s hurtful words unleashed a wave of rage in Goku, who reached a new height in power and transformed into a False Super Saiyan. While he lacked the iconic golden hair, the golden aura made it clear that Goku’s power was on a whole new level at this point.

5 Great Namekian

The Giantification Of A Namekian

• Known User(s): Piccolo
• Form Debut:Enter King Piccolo (Episode 102 of Dragon Ball)

After a lengthy wait, Piccolo unlocked a brand-new transformation that went a long way in making him relevant again. Orange Piccolo may not be the greatest name, but he looks great in this form, especially when he remembers that he can transform and become a giant to take on Cell Max.

The fact that Piccolo himself forgot about this ability shows how much this Great Namekian transformation was ignored after a solitary appearance in Dragon Ball. Super Hero targeted a kaiju fight and brought this gigantic form back, but it’s clear that Piccolo won’t be using this power anytime soon after this throwback appearance.

4 Super Saiyan Third Grade

A Saiyan Bulks Up So Much That Their Speed Is Greatly Impacted

• Known User(s): Goku, Future Trunks, Caulifla, Vegeta (implied)
• Form Debut:Trunks Ascends (Episode 162 of Dragon Ball Z)

Before reaching the perfected form of an Ascended Super Saiyan, there are various grades that these fighters reach. The Second Grade form is very useful and helps Vegeta tear Semi-Perfect Cell apart, but there’s another grade above this that should be stronger but suffers from a handicap.

The Super Saiyan Third Grade form may buff a warrior’s strength, but this comes at the cost of a Saiyan’s agility. There’s no point in using this form, since most fighters won’t be able to land a single blow. That is why Super Saiyan Third Grade is only shown to highlight this drawback before it became obsolete, barring a cameo appearance in Dragon Ball Super when Caulifla made the same mistake and learned a lesson from Goku.

3 Monster Form

Zarbon Shows Off His True Power, Only To Be Incapacitated

• Known User(s): Zarbon
• Form Debut:Zarbon’s Surprise (Episode 53 of Dragon Ball Z)

The Namek Saga allows Vegeta to show off the power of the Zenkai Boost after his first loss against Zarbon. He thought he had the upper hand against Frieza’s lackey, only for Zarbon to abandon his beauty and become a complete monster who almost kills Vegeta.

However, after getting stronger following this brush with death, Vegeta comes back and shows Zarbon who’s boss. No member of Zarbon’s race has made an appearance after this point, which means that this Monster Form has also become a forgotten transformation.

2 Super Saiyan Rage

Future Trunks Unlocks A New Form

• Known User(s): Future Trunks
• Form Debut:Zamasu’s Ambition The Storied “Project 0 Mortals” of Terror (Episode 61 of Dragon Ball Super)

Future Trunks can’t seem to catch a break. Even after defeating the Androids and bringing some sense of stability to his world, Earth is endangered once again by Goku Black and Future Zamasu, who kill his mother right before he jumps to the current timeline in the hopes of asking Goku and Vegeta to help him out.

After being beaten to a pulp once again, Trunks’ rage overflows and helps him unlock a new transformation. This helps him become almost as strong as the Saiyan duo who have unlocked godly transformations. This new form is poorly explained and doesn’t make an appearance after the Future Trunks arc, making it one of the many question marks that plague this storyline in Dragon Ball Super.

1 Evil Buu

The Manifestation Of Buu’s Evil Side That Transforms Not Long After

• Known User(s): Buu
• Form Debut:The Evil of Men (Episode 254 of Dragon Ball Z)

After Majin Buu decides to amend his ways, all the evil in his body is expelled to form a new version of this villain who only has evil in his heart. Despite looking rather skinny, Evil Buu boasts enough power to defeat his pure-hearted half and absorb him.

After this brief appearance, Evil Buu transforms into Super Buu, a character everyone is familiar with. He may not be a direct transformation per se, but he still makes an impact with a single fight, showing just how terrifying Buu can be when he doesn’t face any distractions.

• 

  Dragon Ball

  Release Date

  February 26, 1986

  Studio

  Toei Animation

  Creator

  Akira Toriyama

• 

  Dragon Ball Z

  Release Date

  April 26, 1989

  Studio

  Toei Animation

  Creator

  Akira Toriyama

• 

  Dragon Ball Super

  Release Date

  July 5, 2015

  Studio

  Toei Animation

  Creator

  Akira Toriyama