Recent developments in Dragon Ball Super suggest that the hit manga series may be looking to slowly phase out the multitude of Super Saiyan forms in favor of new techniques like Ultra Instinct. Dragon Ball is known for being a series chock full of transformations, techniques and power ups. Of this myriad, the iconic Super Saiyan form stands out as one of the most popular and perhaps intrinsic to the story of Dragon Ball.
The Dragon Ball series penned by legendary mangaka Akira Toriyama first introduced the idea of Super Saiyans in chapter 204, titled “Farewell, Son Goku.” In a brief mention by Nappa that is almost treated as a throwaway line, the brutish Saiyan jokingly talks about how the mixing of Saiyan and Earthling blood could create a Super Saiyan. Though the origin of this term was meager, it certainly became a staple of the series soon after with the events of Dragon Ball’s Namek Saga culminating in Goku’s transformation into a Super Saiyan. Since then, the Super Saiyan transformation has spawned dozens of variants, including the various Super Saiyan grades, Super Saiyans 2 and 3 as well as Super Saiyan God and Super Saiyan Blue just to name a few.
In an interview for the 2013 film Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, Akira Toriyama mentioned that he was resistant to the idea of Goku achieving an even more macho form or a new flashy transformation. This of course led to the final design of Super Saiyan God, which actually appears as if it condenses Goku’s muscle, and gives him a skinnier frame. Additionally instead of a drastic change in appearance, only his hair color and eyes transform. Later on in a 2014 interview with Naho Ooishi, when asked if fans will ever see a Super Saiyan 5, Akira Toriyama clarified that both Super Saiyan 2 and Super Saiyan 3 were merely powered up variations of the original Super Saiyan form. Toriyama then stated that after the fight with Beerus, Goku realized that mastering his base and Super Saiyan form would both raise his power higher and drain less energy. Because of this Toriyama theorized that Goku would no longer use those forms going forward. With the recently consistent usage of Mastered Ultra Instinct, Dragon Ball Super may be signaling the phasing out of almost all Super Saiyan forms.
In the recent battles with Moro, Granolah and the Heeter clan, Goku has been able to activate Mastered Ultra Instinct multiple times. This ability to consistently activate Ultra Instinct may be a sign that Super Saiyan forms could be a thing of the past soon. As of right now, the only reason Goku really has to even use the non god-chi imbued Super Saiyan forms is for when he’s messing around. On top of that, the threats that Goku and company are currently facing don’t seem anywhere weak enough to where Super Saiyan, 2, and 3 would be of any use. Even Super Saiyan God is scarcely seen at this point.
Despite this apparent move away from Super Saiyan forms, the transformation is undoubtedly so iconic it would be strange to imagine a Dragon Ball world without them at this point. While there is presumably no way to entirely eliminate using Super Saiyan forms entirely because of things like merchandising and toy sales, it remains very possible that new forms unrelated to Super Saiyan could take their place eventually. As Dragon Ball Super continues to progress, so will Goku’s level of Ultra Instinct and it remains to be seen if the Super Saiyan forms will be of any relevance from here on out.
Sources: Battle of Gods Interview, 2014 Naho Ooishi Interview