"Long ago, a small group of pure-hearted Saiyans pooled their powers together to create a savior... A Super Saiyan God!" |
Super Saiyan God (超サイヤ人ゴッド, Sūpā Saiya-jin Goddo) is a Saiyan transformation that surpasses Super Saiyan 3 and its predecessors. It is obtained through a ritual involving six righteous Saiyans.
Overview
Concept and creation
According to interviews with the Battle of Gods character designer, Tadayoshi Yamamuro, the original concept for Super Saiyan God had the form being more muscular, wearing a cape, and with a hairstyle in-between Super Saiyan 3 and Super Saiyan 4. The series' original author, Akira Toriyama, came up with a picture of Super Saiyan God that was completely different than Yamamuro's own initial muscular, cloaked design. They went back and forth like this a bit before settling on the final design, and Toriyama was insistent on the form not being too different from Goku's regular appearance, specifically not being really muscular.[3]
Appearance
Unlike past Super Saiyan forms, Super Saiyan God displays a flame-like aura
When in this form, the Saiyan's general appearance remains unchanged with the exception of a few slight differences: the skin tone becomes darker; the hair loses any stray hair, lifts up slightly and gains the user's Super Saiyan form bangs, as well as adopts a red and pinkish-red coloring; the Saiyan's eyes grow, becoming sharper and the irises become red; the overall body structure appears to become younger, thinner, and somewhat taller; the aura becomes more explosive and flame-like in appearance. For Goku's appearance, there is a slight difference in his boots. The laces changed from brown to red and the soles changed from brown to white.
Usage and power
The power of this form is great enough to allow Goku to fight against the God of Destruction Beerus, who had effortlessly defeated Super Saiyan 3 Goku, Gohan, Majin Buu, Gotenks, and a fully powered Super Saiyan 2 Vegeta, and was thought to be strong enough to defeat even a fusion of Goku and Vegeta. This form also allows the user to sense and possess godly ki which can only be sensed by deities. As powerful as the form is, it however has drawbacks: it requires some time for the user to fully tap into its power and it drains the user's energy reserves fairly quickly, thus creating a time limit, although it is speculated by Beerus that the latter limitation could be overcome. The sheer power of Goku and Beerus' fists colliding sent ripples throughout the universe, with Old Kai commenting that just three punches could wipe out everything in the universe, leaving a void of nothingness.
Super Saiyan God Goku delivers his first punch at Beerus
The power of Super Saiyan God can heal the user's wounds as seen in "Let's Keep Going Lord Beerus! The Battle of Gods Continues!" by Goku when he was hit in the stomach by Beerus.
Super Saiyan God has a short time limit, however, the user keeps the form's power. In Goku's case, he is seen losing the form, yet retaining the power, allowing him to continue to battle Beerus on equal grounds in his base and Super Saiyan form.[4]
Goku unhappy about the way he achieved the form
In the Dragon Ball Super manga, however, Goku later displays the ability to transform from his Super Saiyan to his Super Saiyan God state, which possesses power equal to or greater than a Super Saiyan Blue at 10% power. In his Super Saiyan God state he is a match for Hit at full power.
Later in the manga, during his spar with Future Trunks, after realizing that Super Saiyan 2 Future Trunks was a match for his Super Saiyan 3 form, Goku quickly powered up into Super Saiyan God in order to defeat Future Trunks, which he did with a single kick to the neck.
The Ritual
The ritual is needed in order to achieve the Super Saiyan God transformation. It requires five righteous Saiyans to perform and a sixth Saiyan to channel the ritual and ki into.
The ritual being performed with the presence of Videl
In Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, six righteous Saiyans hold hands in a circle and transfer their ki into the Saiyan who is becoming the Saiyan God. After this process, a blue fiery aura will appear throughout the circle, signifying the ritual is working. The Saiyan who is becoming the Super Saiyan God will ascend and transform into the Super Saiyan God.
The ritual done in Dragon Ball Super
In Dragon Ball Super, to perform the ritual, the six righteous Saiyans gather in a circle, all holding hands in the process. The selected Saiyan to ascend will have the two Saiyans next to the target place their palms on the user's back, while the user faces away from the group. Next, instead of concentrating their ki into the body, they must "pour their heart" into them. Blue aura appears around the group, shrouding each individual in the ritual. If done correctly, a yellow flame like beam emitting from the group shoots up into the sky, and golden colored clouds start to emerge. They began to spread across the blue sky, eventually covering it completely after a few minutes. The sea changes into a golden hue as well, becoming violent and forming huge whirlpools. At this point, the user begins to experience a significant amount of pain. A blue aura starts to appear from one of the Saiyans, eventually transferring it into the Saiyan who is about to become god through the other five Saiyans. After this, another beam shoots up from the one who absorbed the blue aura, which causes some of the clouds to dissipate and leave an enormous hole. The weather changes over and over in a matter of seconds, changing from rain, to hail, to a thunderstorm, to clear, during which a few days appear to pass, to snow, and clear again. The user rises up and becomes a pinkish-red silhouette of themselves. Next, the user becomes a shadowy figure, before emitting a huge light, and appearing again in their natural form. The end result is the user's ascension into the Super Saiyan God form.
Doing the Super Saiyan God ritual can drain a participant's energy. In the episode "Let's Keep Going Lord Beerus! The Battle of Gods Continues!", Gohan and Goten cannot fly because they used most of their energy during the ritual.
History
Super Saiyan God Goku rushes toward Beerus
The "Super Saiyan God" is the legend among legends of the warrior race, the Saiyans. The power of six good-hearted Saiyans must be infused for one of them to achieve this legendary form. As Shenron explains to the Z Fighters and company during the events of Battle of Gods, a Super Saiyan God once appeared on Planet Vegeta to stop the evil Saiyans but he failed because of the form's time limit. The Namekians were also aware of the Super Saiyan God, and wrote of the method to achieve the form in their book of legends.
Super Saiyan God Goku fighting Beerus in the woods
It is shown in Dragon Ball Minus that the legend of the Super Saiyan God was one of the reasons why the tyrant Frieza committed the Genocide of the Saiyans. Thirty-nine years before the events of the Battle of Gods Saga, the Oracle Fish foretold the appearance of a Super Saiyan God to Beerus the Destroyer. This revelation is what hastens the Destroyer God's awakening in the film and the genesis of the events of Battle of Gods.[5]
Goku utilizes the Dragon Balls to ask Shenron how to reach the Super Saiyan God form in order to battle with Beerus. The dragon reveals that they need the power of six righteous Saiyans for one of them to reach the form.
Goku transforms into Super Saiyan God in his fight against Hit in Dragon Ball Super manga
The form gives Goku the power to resist Beerus, but he reverts to his regular base form due to the form's time limit. However, he learns the form's godlike feeling, which allows him to use Super Saiyan God's power against Beerus even in his regular Super Saiyan form. Goku did not quite like Super Saiyan God because he could only reach that level of power with everyone else's help rather than on his own, so Goku feels content becoming able to fight at a level not too far removed from Super Saiyan God all on his own. The two seem to be equally strong at some point with Goku having an edge, but Beerus eventually wins when he uses his Sphere of Destruction in an attempt to take down Goku. Goku is able to stop Beerus' energy sphere, barely holding it back, and then he briefly transforms to Super Saiyan God once again and outputs a large amount of energy to dispel the massive sphere. The fight ends with Goku completely exhausted, and Beerus states that the Super Saiyan God was not that strong and the Oracle Fish's prediction was a little exaggerated. Beerus then claims he is too worn out from his fight with Goku to destroy the Earth, and he later states that Goku and Vegeta (who says will also become a Super Saiyan God next time) may become truly formidable one day.
Later, in the Dragon Ball Super manga, during the semi-final match of the Universe 6 and 7 Gods of Destruction Selection Martial Arts Competition, it is revealed that Goku can now access this form under his own will instead of performing the ritual, being able to power up further as a Super Saiyan to access the form. Goku used this form in order to match Hit's full power, choosing not to go straight to his Super Saiyan Blue form in order to save stamina. After the return of Future Trunks and during Goku's sparring match against him, Goku used this form for a brief instant, powering up to it from a Super Saiyan 3 to dodge Future Trunks' attack and knock him down from behind with a single hit.
Advanced levels
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Goku's Saiyan beyond God state
- Saiyan beyond God: The Saiyan beyond God state is a specialized state which possess the power of Super Saiyan God without having to transform into the form itself.
- Super Saiyan Blue: This Super Saiyan is another form that allows you to utilize godly ki. It surpasses the normal Super Saiyan God in terms of power but still not enough to take down Universe 7's God of Destruction, Beerus. However, according to the attendant of Beerus, Whis if both Goku and Vegeta are in this form and worked together they could defeat Beerus.
Video game appearances
Super Saiyan God Goku in Dragon Ball Heroes
- Dragon Ball: Zenkai Battle
- Dragon Ball Heroes
- Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Mission
- Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z
- Dragon Ball: Ultimate Swipe
- Dragon Ball: Xenoverse
- Dragon Ball: Xenoverse 2
- Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden
- Dragon Ball Discross
- IC Carddass Dragon Ball
- Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle
Trivia
- In an interview, Akira Toriyama states the power differences between the Battle of Gods characters. Super Saiyan God Goku is about a "6", Beerus a "10", and Whis about a "15".[4]
- The original design of the Super Saiyan God having him wearing a cape,[3] and the original Super Saiyan God fighting evil Saiyans on Planet Vegeta are very similar to the Guardian of Planet Vegeta (god wearing a cape) wanting to destroy the Saiyans because of their evil behavior as described in King Kai's story about the destruction of Planet Vegeta.[6]
- Frieza mentions the Super Saiyan God transformation at one point in the 2014 manga Dragon Ball Minus.
- As revealed in Dragon Ball: Xenoverse, anyone who attains Super Saiyan God is immune to Demigra's Dark Magic, as his magic does not work on deities.
- In the villain scenario of Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butōden, Goku achieves the Super Saiyan God form with the help of Vegeta, Gohan, Future Trunks, Gotenks and Bardock. The latter is the one responsible for telling them about this transformation.
- In the Dragon Ball Super manga, it is revealed that Goku can power up to this form directly as a Super Saiyan, or even as a Super Saiyan 3, as implied during the brief spar with Future Trunks.
- The form was once referred to as "Super Saiyan Red" by Goten, as a reference to Super Saiyan Blue.
Gallery
 Super Saiyan God in the Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods Official Movie Guide  Goku moments after achieving Super Saiyan God  Goku as a Super Saiyan God  Goku seeing the differences in his body  Super Saiyan God Goku next to Vegeta, Videl, and Gohan  Super Saiyan God Goku's side face  Super Saiyan God Goku during his battle against Beerus  Goku revealing he swallowed his pride in order to fight Beerus  Super Saiyan God Goku above the West City  Super Saiyan God Goku caught on Full-Nelson  Super Saiyan God Goku rushing toward Beerus  Close-up of Goku's face as Super Saiyan God  Super Saiyan God Goku fighting Beerus in a wasteland  Super Saiyan God Goku in a subterranean cavern  Super Saiyan God Goku landing in water while fighting in the subterranean cave  The Super Saiyan God transformation running out reverting Goku to his base form Goku transforming into Super Saiyan God and absorbing Beerus' technique  Super Saiyan God in Dragon Ball Super opening Super Saiyan God Goku in the GDM3 trailer  Super Saiyan God Goku art for Dragon Ball Zenkai Battle  Super Saiyan God Goku in Dragon Ball Xenoverse Super Saiyan God Goku card for Dragon Ball Heroes The Super Saiyan card from the mobile game Dokkan Battle |
References
- ↑ Weekly Shōnen Jump #14, 2013
- ↑ Dragon Ball Xenoverse, Vegeta 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 [1]Tadayoshi Yamamuro interview, okstars.okwave.jp
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods Anime Comics - "Akira Toriyama-sensei Godly Interview"
- ↑ V-Jump #4, 2013
- ↑ Dragon Ball Z episode 20, "Goku's Ancestors"