Goku’s Best Forms, Ranked By Design

Putting personal preference aside, Dragon Ball‘s Goku is arguably the most recognizable anime and manga character of all time. Akira Toriyama’s beloved Saiyan debuted in 1984, and he has been a fixture of pop culture ever since. Even during the roughly 15-year period when a new Dragon Ball anime was not produced, Goku still regularly starred in video games, ensuring he was never too far away from the spotlight.

Throughout the decades, Goku has gone through various forms, designs, transformations, and looks. He has had black, blonde, red, blue, and white hair, along with occasionally changing his preferred Gi. Kakarot aged from a child to an adult, and he eventually became a husband and a father. He was even an ape for a few periods of his life.

For the most part, Goku’s designs have been constantly great. Sure, a couple of forms are not as iconic as others, but they generally fit the character well. Still, let’s take a look at Goku’s best forms.

Here are a few notes and criteria:

• The focus is solely on each form’s design, not their power level or importance in the story.
• Each form will be limited to one inclusion. For example, Kid Goku will cover all series that use that form.
• Oozaru will be omitted, just because Goku’s Great Ape form is not unique. Still, it is a simple but great design.

8

Super Saiyan Blue Kaio-ken Goku

Combining A Great Form With A Divisive One

• Debut Series: Dragon Ball Super
• Debut Episode: Episode 39

Dragon Ball Super, naturally, gave Goku quite a few new forms, most of which were OK. Throughout most of the show, Goku and Vegeta rely on Super Saiyan Blue, which is largely just the basic Super Saiyan form with blue hair. While not horrible, the change in hair color takes some time to get used to, and overexposure might have led to some viewers growing bored with SSB.

Due to being surpassed by Super Saiyan transformations, Kaio-ken became a thing of the past fairly quickly in DBZ, which was a shame. Therefore, Goku’s decision to combine SSB and Kaio-ken came as a welcome surprise, especially since they complement each other relatively well. The Kaio-ken aura adds an intensity missing from the base SSB form, along with lightening up Goku’s hair in the process.

7

Super Saiyan 3 Goku

A Great Transformation Scene Results In A Form That Has A Bit Too Much Going On

• Debut Series: Dragon Ball Z
• Debut Episode: Episode 245

Super Saiyan 3 Goku is a bit of a weird one. Unleashed during DBZ‘s Buu Saga, the form’s debut sequence is the definition of epic, to the point of being comfortably among Goku’s greatest transformation scenes. However, the design is a bit of a mixed bag.

The extremely long hair is deliberately excessive, and it does not compliment Goku’s facial features as well as most of his other forms. However, the weirdest part is the removal of the eyebrows, significantly sharpening Kakarot’s characteristics in the process.

While a bit polarizing, Super Saiyan 3 is not a bad design by any stretch of the imagination, and it works well as a middle step between Super Saiyan 2 and 4.

6

Kid Goku

Akira Toriyama Hit The Ground Running With Goku

• Debut Series: Dragon Ball
• Debut Episode: Episode 1

While overshadowed by his adult form, Kid Goku is nevertheless iconic, especially for fans who started their Dragon Ball journeys with either the manga or the original anime series. Akira Toriyama’s brilliance is on full display in Goku’s earliest designs, with his physical presentation reflecting his straightforward personality and somewhat animalistic nature.

Combining a chaotic hairstyle with soft facial features, Goku radiates innocence and power. The monkey tail is also a great eye-catching inclusion that introduces a touch of uniqueness to an otherwise simple (but awesome) design. Kid Goku’s appearance also reflects the adventurous and comedic tone that defined Dragon Ball‘s earliest arcs.

Kid Goku returning for Dragon Ball GT and Daima might have diminished this form’s overall popularity as they were arguably a step back for the character, despite both shows updating the original design well.

5

Ultra Instinct Goku (Sign & Mastered)

Goku Becomes As Close To A God As Possible

• Debut Series: Dragon Ball Super
• Debut Episode: Episode 110 (Ultra Instinct Sign); Episode 129 (Perfected Ultra Instinct)

After a few underwhelming transformations that felt like recolored retreads of past glories, Dragon Ball Super finally knocked one out of the park with Ultra Instinct, a form that had been teased since the sequel’s earliest episodes.

Initially, Goku achieved Ultra Instinct Sign, an imperfect version that (arguably) looks better than its subsequent evolution. Enhancing his base aesthetic with silver flourishes and denser hair, Goku is genuinely intimidating in this form, something that both Super Saiyan Blue and Super Saiyan God lacked.

Mastered Ultra Instinct completes the transformation, giving Goku full-blown silver hair along with an angelic but fierce aura that reflects the form’s god-like origins. It is an immaculate design that screams “powerful,” more so than most of Dragon Ball‘s other forms.

4

Super Saiyan 4 Goku

Goku’s Most Complete Super Saiyan Transformation

• Debut Series: Dragon Ball GT
• Debut Episode: Episode 34

Dragon Ball GT is not looked back upon all that fondly, being largely regarded as a skippable adventure with a few redeeming features. That said, Super Saiyan 4 is, for the most part, beloved and regarded as the sequel’s crowning achievement. Even as GT became a footnote in Dragon Ball‘s history, SS4 remained relevant through games and spin-offs like Super Dragon Ball Heroes, before becoming canon courtesy of Dragon Ball Daima.

Similar to Super Saiyan 3, SS4 has a lot going on. However, this form’s decision to embrace the excess is to its benefit. In GT, SS4 is presented as the ideal Saiyan evolution, the one that represents the race in its purest state. The red fur, tail, and hairstyle combine to create a picture of controlled power, granting Goku an overwhelming presence that also reflects the Saiyan race’s long and storied history.

The Daima form is also a fun evolution of the GT original.

3

Base Adult Goku

The Most Iconic Anime Design Ever

• Debut Series: Dragon Ball
• Debut Episode: Episode 133

Introduced during Dragon Ball‘s final arc and a fixture of Dragon Ball Z and Super, standard adult Goku is the face of the franchise, even more so than his kid variant. Honestly, this Goku design could be argued as the greatest of all time, simply due to its consistency and recognizability. Even people who have never watched an anime are likely to identify this version of Goku.

Usually seen wearing a red (or maybe blue) Gi, wristbands, and kung fu shoes, Goku’s design is pitch-perfect, to the point that his silhouette should be instantly identifiable if somebody is remotely familiar with Dragon Ball or anime in general. Echoing his martial arts expertise and unflinching dedication to training, Goku’s base adult form completely encapsulates his personality, drive, and reason for being.

2

Kaio-ken Goku

An Awesome Form That Goku Does Not Use Enough

• Debut Series: Dragon Ball Z
• Debut Episode: Episode 23

Despite having a fairly short shelf-life in Dragon Ball Z, Kaio-ken left a long-lasting impression. Part of that has to do with it being Goku’s first transformation in DBZ, along with the fact it takes place during one of the best fights in the franchise. However, more importantly, the form just radiates awesomeness, despite not changing all that much about Goku’s general look.

When activated, Goku becomes engulfed in a red aura, which remains a presence throughout the technique’s use. Kaio-ken is mostly activated in emergencies when Goku needs a quick power boost to try and even up the playing field, and its intensity matches the desperation of these situations.

1

Super Saiyan Goku (&, To A Lesser Extent, Super Saiyan 2 Goku)

Goku’s Best And Coolest Form

• Debut Series: Dragon Ball Z
• Debut Episode: Episode 95

Here it is, the most iconic Dragon Ball transformation of all time. In fact, Super Saiyan Goku is arguably the greatest transformation in anime history, with its introductory scene being etched in pop culture yore. Popularity aside, this form hits the perfect middle-ground between familiarity and change, being a clear evolution of base Goku without threatening to go into “too much” territory.

With faded blonde-spiked hair, a golden aura, and defined muscles, Super Saiyan Goku manages to look both majestic and threatening, all the while omitting a calming presence that is mostly absent in subsequent forms. Goku has never and will never look better than this.

Super Saiyan 2 Goku also looks good, but it is not that different from its predecessor. More importantly, Goku does not use this form that much.