Super Saiyan

Super Saiyan is a power up transformation that makes a normal Saiyan stronger. It goes by a bunch of different forms in every chapter of the manga or every episode of the anime. This form has been frequently shown in the entire Dragon Ball franchise.

## Description

The transformation into a Super Saiyan can only be achieved once the Saiyan in question has reached a certain level of strength and been subjected to an overwhelming emotional need to be stronger that goes beyond thought, being triggered by extreme rage in response to that need. For many, it is the pain of losing someone they love, but for some like Vegeta, is the pain of being humiliated and outdone by a rival.

## Types

The Super Saiyan transformation was merely the beginning of non-oozaru transformations in Dragonball, and since then many evolved forms of the initial transformation have been achieved. Each transformation carries new physical characteristics, increases in power, advantages, drawbacks, and more, making each one unique while still being of the same transformation set.

### Super Saiyan

Upon transforming into a Super Saiyan, a Saiyan's hair changes from its normal color - typically black or brown, or other colors in the case of hybrids like Trunks - into a searing golden blond. Their eyes turn a piercing shade of green, their hair spikes up and stands on end, and their body is sheathed in a golden, flamelike aura. When not powering up or channeling ki, their hair is a platinum blond. A Super Saiyan's power is multiplied by 50 times in this form. During their first transformation, a Super Saiyan is a wrathful, nigh-merciless force of destruction and power that possesses none of their more merciful personality traits (in the case of Saiyans like Goku) if they possessed any. A Super Saiyan can temper and master these wrathful, warlike instincts and perfect the ability to use this form while calm with training.

### Super Saiyan 2

Carrying on from the initial Super Saiyan transformation, SSJ2 differs in several ways. In terms of physical characteristics, their hair becomes even spikier than before and their body radiates lightning alongside their golden, flamelike aura. Psychologically, a SSJ2 is even more ferocious and sadistic than a newly transformed Super Saiyan. Any and all control that a SSJ2 had as a mastered Super Saiyan is lost and they become a monster driven by rage and fury. The power of a Super Saiyan 2 is 100 times that of their base form.

### Super Saiyan 3

This transformation retains the lightning and golden flame aura of its predecessors. However, this form causes the green eyes to develop visible pupils, the eyebrows disappear, and the brow ridge is noticeably pronounced. Most striking is the growth of extremely long, spiked golden hair that runs nearly the entire length of the SSJ3's body. Unlike the previous two transformations, SSJ3 is not triggered by rage, but by intensely concentrated focus. However, the form's weakness is that it drains the body at an alarming rate. The transformation multiplies the Saiyan's power by 400 times, making it eight times stronger than the first Super Saiyan transformation.

### Super Saiyan 4

This is the most varied transformation in the Super Saiyan line. This form requires more than rage and power to achieve. The first prerequisite to trigger this transformation is the ability to turn into a Great Ape (Oozaru), so if the Saiyan has lost their tail, they must have it forcibly regrown. The next step is to be able to turn Super Saiyan, as a Saiyan's natural rage will cause their Oozaru form to transform into the mighty Golden Oozaru. And the final step is for the Saiyan to achieve conscious control over the Golden Oozaru form. This form effectively condenses the power of the Golden Oozaru into a humanoid form and making it that much more dangerous.

A far cry from the previous transformations, this form discards the uniform green eyes and blond hair of its predecessors. The tail of a Saiyan is restored in this form if it has been removed and the body is covered in a layer of thick red fur that varies in shade between individuals. Additionally, the eye color is unique to each Saiyan. Vegeta possesses green eyes in this form while Goku's and Gohan's eyes turn a burning gold. In this form, a Saiyan's power is multiplied by 4,000 from their base form. And unlike Super Saiyan 3, this form does not put a taxing strain on the user's body, thus making it superior to the Super Saiyan 3 transformation in every way. However, in this state, a Saiyan becomes more violent and instinct prone, making it harder for them to listen to reason.

The personalization of fur, hair, and eye colors occurs even in the case of a Super Saiyan 4 being created through the Fusion Technique. In Gogeta's case causing him to manifest blue eyes, scarlet hair, and brown fur all over his body. However, the result of being so powerful causes SSJ4 fusions to return to their component Saiyans in ten minutes instead of thirty.

## Variants

The Super Saiyan transformations are all unique, but there exists subsets of the transformation that can only be achieved under circumstances that have nothing to do with training or discipline, and are the products of random mutation or divine intervention.

### Super Saiyan God

Or simply Saiyan God, this transformation is the result of five pure hearted Saiyans channeling their energy in perfect sync and conferring it upon a sixth Saiyan in a ritual that bestows them with divine ki. This allows the user to achieve a degree of power that allows them to match blows with gods of destruction such as Beerus and Champa, who are able to casually decimate planets with the tap of a finger. In this form, the Saiyan's hair turns red and remains in its normal style, their eyes gain visible pupils within red irises, and their body becomes slimmer and more streamlined. Their body then emits a reddish-orange, flamelike aura similar to the Kaio-ken technique. This form does not have any psychological drawbacks like traditional Super Saiyan forms due to being the result of divine ki and not rage. However, the transformation cannot be accessed at will without intense training and the initial ritual only lasts for a limited time. By training in this form, a Saiyan's adaptive biology will learn to handle divine ki and eventually they gain the ability to access it at will, but their strength in their base form will increase considerably on a permanent basis.

### Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan

Simply put as Super Saiyan God or Super Saiyan Blue, this is the product of combining the Saiyan God form with the basic Super Saiyan transformation, creating a hybrid form that is vastly superior to either component transformation. In this state, the Saiyan will gain a bright blue and yellow aura, their eyes turn an vivid electric blue, and their hair will turn a pale blue color and take the style it does in their base SSJ form. However, unlike Saiyan God, the musculature of the SSJB does not reduce and remains generally the same. This form allows Saiyans to not only trade blows with destruction deities, but also puts them at a level that can rival and potentially surpass them. However, this form comes with a serious drawback: the form must be mastered through training to be sustained, as the strain that the hybridized mortal and divine ki puts on the Saiyan's body can drain their stamina in a fashion similar to SSJ3 and even leave them bedridden for extended periods of time.

### Legendary Super Saiyan

This form cannot be accessed by divine intervention or training. It is a random mutation that is exceedingly rare and is only known to have been possessed by two Saiyans throughout Dragonball, Kale and Broly. This form possesses a unique green aura and causes the yellow hair of a Super Saiyan to be thoroughly tinged with green. What is unique about this form physically is that it is so overwhelmingly powerful that it causes the Saiyan's body to forcibly increase in stature to meet the ungodly strain it puts on them. Notably, Kale and Broly are quite tall for Saiyans, with Broly's base form being at least seven feet tall and his LSSJ form being approximately 10 feet tall. And unlike normal Super Saiyans, a Legendary Super Saiyan's musculature is absurd in terms of volume and density, being almost a parody of the extremes of Saiyan physiology.

The form also comes with a massive downside: the strain it puts on the body also affects the mind. Because it is a form fueled by rage more than any other known Super Saiyan form, it is extremely taxing on the wielder's sanity and intelligence and cause them to lash out wildly as if they were a rabid animal instead of a sapient lifeform. Ironically, the only two Saiyans to possess this form are very gentle in their base forms and almost docile and reluctant to fight.