How Does Vegeta’s Super Saiyan 3 Differ From Goku’s?

One of the most exciting developments in Akira Toriyama’s final offering to the world, Dragon Ball DAIMA, is probably one of the most unexpected things in the history of the Dragon Ball franchise. Originally introduced in 1994, Goku’s Super Saiyan 3 transformation was one of the most significant parts of the Majin Buu saga and one of the moments that solidified Vegeta’s acceptance of Goku’s superiority as a warrior. Despite being able to go band for band with Goku in terms of transformations, especially with the divine forms introduced in Dragon Ball Super, Vegeta had originally only ever achieved Super Saiyan 3 in non-canonical iterations of the franchise, specifically, the PlayStation 3/XBox 360 game, Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2.

Dragon Ball DAIMA has finally changed that, with Vegeta defeating a Tamagami with his version of Super Saiyan 3, but are there any differences between his version of the transformation, and Goku’s?

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Over the course of Dragon Ball Z, after Goku defeats Frieza, several new Super Saiyans emerge. With more Super Saiyans comes a better understanding of the mechanics of the transformation and what gives rise to it (long before the “tingly feeling on the nape of your neck”). The first transformation is driven by rage, with Goku achieving it after witnessing Frieza’s murder of Krillin. For Vegeta, the transformation came about as a result of rage, envy, and despair at his inability to achieve it. This remained the case until Dragon Ball Super, when it was revealed that parallel universes exist and that Saiyans were never wiped out in Universe 6, the parallel to the Dragon Ball universe we’d known up to that point. Vegeta facilitated the transformation of Cabba, who also needed to experience incredible rage to access the power which he was already strong enough to harness. The rage of the initial Super Saiyan transformation was its biggest drawback, not to mention that it wasn’t the most economical use of one’s energy before Goku and Gohan mastered it in the lead up to the final battle against Cell.

Gohan was the first to achieve Super Saiyan 2, which featured the original transformation’s hallmark characteristics like golden-blonde hair that stands on end and green eyes, but now also featured arcs of electricity and pointier hair. The drawback of this transformation was the unbelievable arrogance it gave its user when first achieved, and had it not been for this arrogance, Goku would not have died in the Cell Saga and the battle against the android wouldn’t have come down to that iconic beam struggle. Goku returns during the Buu Saga, but still very much dead. He was granted a day to be among the living, but cut down his time immensely when he tried to challenge Majin Buu, giving us one of the most iconic introductions of a Super Saiyan form to date. The transformation, while incredibly powerful, was the least efficient in terms of energy use, cutting down his 24 hours of freedom to a mere 30 minutes after using it, making Super Saiyan 3’s biggest drawback its intensive energy demands.

Canonical Users of the Super Saiyan 3 Transformation

Vegeta Enters a Very Special Group of Fighters

Up until Vegeta’s accomplishment in DAIMA, there have only been two canonical users of the Super Saiyan 3 transformation, Goku and the fusion between Goten and Trunks, Gotenks. Interestingly, Gotenks skipped Super Saiyan 2 entirely. In Gotenks’ hands, Super Saiyan 3’s insane power is revealed, as at some point during the fight against Super Buu, he and Piccolo are trapped in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, which Buu sequestered into a pocket dimension, and after trying everything to escape, Gotenks reveals his Super Saiyan 3 transformation and is able to replicate Buu’s technique, freeing himself and Piccolo.

Like with Goku, fighting in this form takes a great deal of strength, and while it gave him the upper hand against Buu at times, he was unable to maintain it when he was about to apply the killing blow. However, unlike Goku’s Super Saiyan 3, Gotenks can tap back into it if his constituent fighters get an hour of rest before attempting to fuse again, meaning that the toll taken by the transformation can possibly be negated if Gotenks defuses back into Goten and Trunks.

Is Vegeta’s Transformation All That Different?

Aesthetic Differences and an Uncharacteristic Level of Calm

In Vegeta’s case, Super Saiyan 3 has some interesting aesthetic and technical differences. Despite being in a much smaller body than he’s used to, Vegeta’s transformation seemed to be more efficient when it came to energy usage, allowing him to fight on par with, and eventually best a powered up Tamagami. In fact, Vegeta’s was so powerful in his Super Saiyan 3 form that he didn’t use his hands for most of the fight after transforming, and he had a seemingly calmer demeanour overall that contrasts his usual abrasiveness.

Aesthetically, Vegeta’s Super Saiyan 3 features the same lack of eyebrows and increased hair volume, but unlike Goku’s and Gotenks’s, his hair doesn’t curve downwards and reach his waist, instead, it simply adds greater volume to his upward-spiking hair, with some locks curling out sideways from the nape of his neck. Overall, there’s less hair to Vegeta’s Super Saiyan 3, not to mention the lack of the solitary bang seen in Goku’s version of the transformation. While its actual attributes compared to those of Goku’s Super Saiyan 3 are yet to be officially outlined, Vegeta’s total lack of fatigue after his fight against Tamagami Number Two might just be indicative of a sleeker, more refined Super Saiyan 3.

Dragon Ball DAIMA

Dragon Ball Daima is the latest anime in Akira Toriyama’s legendary franchise. After being transformed into a child, Goku must travel to a new world to try and turn things around.