Dragon Ball Super may have notoriously poor pacing and animation flubs, but by the time it wrapped up its as-of-yet final arc, the Universal Survival Saga, the show was able to transform itself from something mediocre to a show worth watching for fans of the Dragon Ball franchise and even some newcomers.
Speaking of transformations, Super delivered an enormous amount new forms, along with a slew of old favorites, so we’re going to be tallying them up in our list.
Our criteria for the list is simple: any transformation, whether it debuted in Dragon Ball, Z, or Super, is eligible as long as it appeared in Super (or its movies) at some point. So that means that incredibly old forms such as Master Roshi’s Max Power or the now incredibly outdated Super Saiyan forms are game.
We’re also only judging transformations, not specific characters. So even though there are more than a handful of characters who go Super Saiyan 2, we’re looking at Super Saiyan 2 as a whole.
On the other hand, there are certain characters who go through unique transformations, which we’ll be addressing too.
Lastly, despite us using the term “worthless” in our ranking system, there is no transformation on this list that didn’t show its merits at least once, so you won’t find any shaming of favorite (or not-so-favorite) characters, just a cold look at the raw power their forms show off.
With that said, here is Every Transformation In Dragon Ball Super Ranked From Most Worthless To Most Powerful.
Master Roshi's Max Power
This form first appeared in Dragon Ball but made a triumphant return in Dragon Ball Super.
The old, lecherous Master Roshi is not only able to pump his frail body up into an incredible muscular form, but to one that doesn’t lose any speed.
In this state, Roshi has destroyed the moon, stood up to the Frieza Force, and even fought against powerful opponents in the Tournament of Power.
In the Dragon Ball Z movie, The World’s Strongest, Dr. Wheelo believed Master Roshi to be the strongest man on the Earth and, although Goku had long surpassed his master, it’s not hard to see why Roshi’s legend lives on.
Tupper's Petrified State
As a member of the dangerous Pride Troopers from Universe 11, Tupper had the unique ability to transform himself into an incredibly armored form by manipulating his weight, a technique that he used extremely effectively, even against a base-form Goku, who was unable to escape his grasp.
Unfortunately for Tupper, he was easily outmatched by Android 18, who tossed the fighter like you would a baseball to a toddler.
Things played out differently (but just as bad for Tupper) in the manga, with Goku freeing himself by going Super Saiyan and eliminating the threat himself.
Ganos' Bird Form
Hailing from Universe 4, Ganos and his teammates fought against extinction in the Tournament of Power.
In his base form, Ganos appears akin to a regular teenager. In this form, he’s rather formidable, but his birdlike, transformed state increases his speed and power.
Alas, this form was still not enough against Max Power Master Roshi, so why do we have him above the codger?
Simple: Ganos’ potential is extremely dangerous. Due to his growth rate, his power is growing at a fearsome rate, to the point he may have been able to rival, or even surpass Goku.
Despite not getting to see this play out, that ability alone moves him up from the bottom ranks.
Katopesla's Suit Modes
Katopesla was a Tokusatsu-styled policeman and a member of Universe 3’s team in the Tournament of Power.
While his base form is far from impressive, his suit can go through a number of metamorphoses that greatly increases certain skillsets, such as his speed or power being enhanced by three hundred times.
His final form, “Ultimate Mode,” increases both speed and power, and he’s even able to go up against Super Saiyan Vegeta with it.
Sadly, his suit was no match for the Prince of all Saiyans, and Katopesla takes his measly spot at 25.
Frost's Final Form
Frost is Universe 6’s Frieza, though he's a bit more clever. For many years, he portrayed himself as a merciful do-gooder, but the truth is that he would secretly start wars in order to stop them, making himself appear as a hero, and then buy up the ravaged land in order to turn a profit.
While that’s impressive on a scale of evildoing, Frost’s transformation abilities are far from it.
Boasting a similar physique and set of forms as Frieza, Frost’s final form is seemingly only as powerful as his Universe 7 counterpart, meaning he’s completely out of his league when against a modern Super Saiyan.
Super Saiyan
The beloved, golden-haired transformation that debuted in DBZ and allowed Goku to achieve victory against the cruel Frieza was the absolute standard of power for what seemed like ages in the franchise.
Despite forms that far surpass this initial foray into the Super Saiyan state, this original one still makes an appearance in Super, and still manages to pack a wollop.
Although it’s stronger than Master Roshi and the other human Z-fighters, it’s nothing to mostly every other adversary in Dragon Ball Super.
This puts this once-mighty form near the tail-end of our rankings.
Super Saiyan 2
Super Saiyan 2 plays a surprisingly large role in Dragon Ball Super. It’s first appearance was in Dragon Ball Z, when Gohan mastered it and used it to obliterate Cell, but it soon lost relevance with the advent of the rarely-seen Super Saiyan 3.
In Super, however, it gets a breath of fresh air from the Universe 6 Saiyans, notably Cabba, Caulifla, and Kale.
While these three warriors show immense proficiency and power while using it (likely due to the crazy power scaling employed throughout most of Super), the transformation as a whole is still nothing compared to what is to follow on this list.
This leaves Super Saiyan 2 and all of its lightning behind.
Gotenks
Gotenks debuted in one of the strangest stretches of Dragon Ball Z’s Buu Saga, where multiple wacky plans and gimmicks were on display, and a seemingly endless arsenal of transformations from the evil Buu made their mark in what felt like every episode.
Gotenks is the fusion of Goten and Trunks, and was extremely powerful, managing to nearly defeat Buu.
In the end, of course, they failed and they would fail again as Gotenks when they challenged the God of Destruction, Beerus.
Beerus made their once-fearsome fused warrior look like a joke by spanking the bratty transformation in the movie Battle of Gods.
Super Saiyan 3
There was a time when Super Saiyan 3 was the coolest and most powerful form in the franchise’s history.
Although rarely seen in both the show and movies, this state was the epitome of stoic strength. Its first appearance in the Buu Saga is legendary for its epic introduction by Goku, and it was this form that Gotenks nearly put Buu away with.
Alas, like many once-powerful forms in Z, Super Saiyan 3 is shown to be utterly worthless against the might of a God of Destruction, specifically Beerus.
With nary a movement, Goku in his long-haired, ultimate form was tossed aside like trash.
God-Like Saiyans
As less of a transformation and more of a state of being, this form makes our list because its essentially a new base form for both Goku and Vegeta.
Born from the ability of Saiyan physiology to remember and adapt to new forms of power, this what it’s like for Goku and Vegeta to power up without genuinely tapping into divine ki, instead having their bodies more-or-less emulate the sensation.
In theory, it’s stronger than the Super Saiyan forms (as transforming into a Super Saiyan from this state immediately results in Super Saiyan Blue).
However, we really don’t have much concrete evidence of its might.
Super Saiyan God
Super Saiyan God is a legendary transformation that Goku was able to achieve it in Battle of Gods by having a pure heart and the help of six righteous Saiyans holding hands and transferring their energy into their chosen subject.
This form gave the Saiyan access to divine ki, and gave him an enormous boost of power along with other enhanced abilities.
Though it would soon be overtaken by Super Saiyan Blue, Goku not only tapped into this form a few times in the Tournament of Power, but also against Beerus in an attempt to protect the Earth.
The Fused Namekians
Piccolo is one of the Dragon Ball franchise’s coolest characters and also one of the strongest warriors.
Piccolo was able to attain extreme power by fusing with fellow Namekians Nail and Kami, which allowed him to become the most powerful fighter in existence for a brief time.
That was with only two, so imagine if he fused with an entire, planetary population of Namekians.
Universe 6’s Namekian fighters, Saonel and Pirina, did just that, and were incredibly strong.
They were able to regenerate without batting an eyelash and even survived the perfected version of the Special Beam Cannon, a supremely dangerous attack able to wipe out exponentially more powerful opponents.
In-Shape Buu
The Majin Buu Saga contained lengthy, annoying, head-scratching moments, particularly with the seemingly-endless glut of transformations that the pink menace went through.
Well, in Dragon Ball Super, he goes through one more, and it’s an interesting one: he loses a bunch of weight and gets into real fighting form.
Buu’s been overweight for quite some time, but excited to partake in the Tournament of Power, he eventually decided to get into shape.
While Buu is one of Earth’s strongest warriors, and probably more so after this training, we never actually get to see him in action, so he’ll have to reside in the middle of our list, with only the possibilities of his full potential to go on.
Koicharator
The result of Universe 3’s Bollarator, Koitsukai, and Panchia mechanically fusing into one being was the dangerous Koicharator.
Surprisingly powerful for being a machine, Koicharator is able to easily fend off Ultimate Gohan, but more impressively, go toe-to-toe with with Super Saiyan Blue Goku and Vegeta, proving that his might can even match those with a divine ki.
Koicharator in this form is low on our list, but he has one final transformation up his sleeve that will put him far closer to the top, which is something that we will address a little later on in our countdown.
Ribrianne's Transformations
The Maiden Squadron was a group of warriors from Universe 2 that appeared as young girls. When it came time to get serious, they transformed their bodies with the power of love, spoofing Sailor Moon and other “Magical Girl” series in the process.
Subversively, their leader (and most powerful member), Brianne, transforms into Ribrianne and becomes exceedingly portly and unintimidating, yet gains extreme might in the process.
While this form is rather impressive, she went through another stage, called Super Ribrianne, and then one more, where she became a giant.
Though tough, the forms were no match for Super Saiyan Blue, and were thus defeated by the Androids.
Super Saiyan Rose'
In the destroyed world where Future Trunks hails from, a god named Zamasu has stolen Goku’s body, and now uses the immense strength contained within it to wipe out all mortal life in existence.
Having access to all of Goku’s techniques, Goku Black is able to develop his own version of the Super Saiyan transformation, this time creating Rose’, which is a terrifying, divine boost of evil strength that surpasses even his own understanding.
While Gowasu would later state that Goku Black in this form was the most powerful non-fused fighter, it didn’t stop Vegeta from absolutely wrecking him, so we’ll have to go by that instead of mere words.
Super Saiyan Blue
Essentially the Super Saiyan form of a Super Saiyan God, this divine form has teal hair, a gorgeous blue aura, and most importantly, a vast amount of power.
Used by Goku and Vegeta against the ultra-powerful opponents of Dragon Ball Super, this form has been extremely effective and is a demonstrable fruit of training with Whis.
While extremely powerful, it does have one downside: it consumes stamina at an accelerated rate. This means that Goku and Vegeta need to use it sparingly in drawn out battles, such as the Tournament of Power.
Anilaza
Anilaza is the final form of Koicherator after it combines with Paparoni. This gigantic, fused monstrosity is exceptionally powerful and easily Universe 3’s supreme contender.
Blazingly fast, overwhelmingly strong and impressively resistant, this transformation was not to be underestimated.
It took the combined efforts of Ultimate Gohan, Super Saiyan Blue Goku and Vegeta, Android 17 and Golden Frieza in a major beam struggle, and then Android 17’s expertise with mechanical enemies to finally defeat this enemy.
It’s impressive to realize that Universe 3 could develop a fusion that would put Universe 7’s finest warriors on the brink of defeat, easily taking them all on at once.
Berserk/Legendary Super Saiyan
During the Tournament of Power, Kale is provoked into turning into a Super Saiyan, but the transformation doesn’t go as smooth as it did for Cabba and Caulifla.
Instead, it triggers some sort of expansive, repressed power that drives Kale berserk.
Resembling the hulking Broly, Berserk Kale is a force to be reckoned with, wielding immense speed and gargantuan might, even surviving a direct Kamehameha from Super Saiyan Blue Goku.
She may even have the ability to surpass him, but only in this absolutely uncontrollable, dangerous and berserk state.
Thankfully, she got a grip and we didn’t have to find out.
Kefla
Kefla is the Potara-fused form of Caulifla and Kale, two female Saiyans from Universe 6.
Like all Potara fusions, Kefla was extremely powerful, particularly because Kale and Caulifla had dangerously potent potential, which was now multiplied a considerable amount of times.
This form, which did not engage any kind of divine ki, was able to beat Goku’s Super Saiyan God state, and was even able to resist Super Saiyan Blue enhanced by Kaioken.
Only through a freak chance of achieving a transformation we’ll be addressing later was Goku able to finally defeat this incredible foe, who easily earns her high rank on this list.