There are few moments in the Dragon Ball series that are more epic than Goku’s first transformation into a Super Saiyan. Up until that point, the Super Saiyan form was believed to be a myth, an unattainable legend that only served as a source of fear to enemies of the Saiyan race to make the Saiyans seem more powerful than they are. However, Goku single-handedly proves that becoming a Super Saiyan is attainable in a moment that shocked readers to their core when the manga first came out–or at least, it would have, if the series didn’t completely spoil it just a few chapters before it actually happened.
Goku is a Saiyan who was raised on Earth after his parents sent him to that planet as an infant in an attempt to save his life prior to the total annihilation of the Saiyan home world, Planet Vegeta, at the hands of Lord Frieza. Frieza, at that time, ruled over the Saiyans and used them as his own personal army to conquer more planets and expand his ever-growing empire. However, Frieza had a premonition of his death that inspired him to wipe out basically the entire Saiyan race—a vision that foretold his demise by the hands of none other than a Super Saiyan.
In Dragon Ball chapter 270 by Akira Toriyama, Goku is on his way to Planet Namek to help the Z Fighters take down the seemingly unstoppable Lord Frieza. During the six-day trek, Goku is training non-stop in some of the most grueling conditions imaginable. To give better insight into how intense his training really is, Akira Toriyama added some editor’s notes to better explain what is happening and what all of Goku’s hard work means for his power level. Unfortunately, Toriyama gives away a bit too much information here. By the end of the chapter, readers are explicitly told by Toriyama himself, “Goku doesn’t know… that he now has the potential to become a Super Saiyan.”
In a totally unnecessary flick of the pen, the creator of Dragon Ball completely ruins the most epic moment of the entire series. After Frieza admits why he secretly fears the Saiyans when he is at odds with a few of them on Planet Namek, he gives readers an epic teaser, making them think that one of the Saiyans–including Goku, Vegeta, and Gohan–could become a Super Saiyan and take him down. What this information doesn’t do, however, is completely give away who Frieza is talking about while also being careful not to confirm that it is actually possible for one of the Saiyans to reach this level of power. At this point, Frieza is just voicing his concerns, and by doing so he places the idea in fans’ heads that perhaps an epic transformation could be on the horizon. But then, the series just ruins it.
Before this chapter, any of the Saiyans could have been this ‘Super Saiyan’ Frieza is so scared of. Vegeta could have fit that role given his personal ties to Frieza and his steady redemption throughout this arc. Even Gohan could have been a contender due to the fact that the series already established that human/Saiyan hybrids are more powerful than pure-blood Saiyans. But no, the series itself decided it was necessary to take the mystery and suspense out of this moment entirely and tell readers directly that it’s Goku, completely out of the blue and with no reason behind it whatsoever—which is how one small detail spoiled Dragon Ball’s most epic moment.