March 19 1991: That was the day that all of fiction would forever remember. Because that was the day that a powerful alien named Son Goku was able to fulfill the ancient prophecy that made the cold emperor of the universe feel fear for the first time in his entire life. Because on this day the power of the Super Sayian was made in full force. Since that legendary moment Dragonball has been using transformations as a convenient ass-pu I mean an amazing idea to keep the story "fresh" and "interesting" for better or worse. So I thought that I would decide to share my thoughts and rank the various Super Sayian transformations to see which one I find to be supreme.
Note
This will be pretty much a post giving my overall thoughts on each Super Sayian form, impact, appearance, transformation and specific traits from worst to best. That being said I decided that for sanity's sake I'll be talking about only the main line super saiyan forms which in my opinion are 1-4, God and Blue without any variants. If you like this post I could do more but right now that's the limit. I think nothing else needs to be said so let's get into it.
Super Sayian 3
Okay so I don't know how much hate I'm going to get for this but I'll explain my thoughts on the form soon enough. For starters if we are ranking the forms purely on the transformations themselves than 3 beats every form by a country mile. The way Goku slowly shows off each of the forms, only to show off just how further beyond he's come in those 7 years is freaking excellent before the massive reveal. And just when you think what he's about to do is impossible, Goku then starts his 5 minute scream session.
Cities shake, monitors are destroyed and the clouds start to gather as Goku pushes his limits to become a brand new warrior. His transformation in Fusion Reborn was even worse as we see him literally shake the entire Outer World with his power. Both of them are amazing pieces of animation that can hype up any DBZ fan. Unfortunately I've got problems with literally everything else with the form.
For one since Toryiama didn't plan the existence of this form very well it completely fucks over Majin Vegeta's Motivation since it makes clear that Goku despite the grave situation was holding himself back the entire time in one of the best fights in the series. Secondly the design Super Sayian 3 is one of my least favorites. I like the added pupils and the lighting like aura, however the long hair and lack of eyebrows makes everyone involved look like a 90's neanderthal. And I haven't even gone into the obvious issue that this form eats up ki faster than Goku in an all you can eat buffet. All that combined makes the form kind of useless as it never really has any moments to shine or get over these obvious flaws, which in turn makes it dead last.
Super Sayian God Super Sayian
If I could summarize all of my problems with Super this is it. Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan is redundant, too safe, poorly throughout and feels like nothing more than an excuse to sell toys. Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan is a terrible name and while yes it is called blue it would make a hell of a lot more sense to just have this be Super Sayian God and let the much better predecessor of this form be called Sayian God for less redundancy. Speaking of redundancy this form's design is overall boring as all hell. I love the blue shell breaking effect it has going on but after that it's just as Freiza pointed out, Super Saiyan with blue hair dye and a lighter aura. There is no style and no substance behind the design choice and it really shows considering how in the movie we never learned how we got the form which is a problem when it's the actual first introduction.
Speaking of the redundancy, I have to ask just like three what is the actual point of this form? God had already introduced that Goku was nearly a universe buster already, and at best, if blue is like super Saiyan, then it's a 50 times multiplier, which means that Goku should have surpassed Beerus by light years already. Yet not only has every character without God ki has caught up to the form, but on top of that, the form is so casual that Goku has consistently used it against all the z fighters who with none of the training can all keep up with it. This pretty much makes blue have no real impact and presence, which is unfortunate since I like the idea of the form.
Mixing God with Super Sayian on paper makes some sense, and I like the emphasis on proper ki control. The manga, I think, also handles the form a lot better and gives it more wright and creative abilities behind it as we see fun workarounds for the power drain and better evolutions of the form. Unfortunately, the anime never does a good job of showing that pinpoint ki control instead of having all drawbacks of the form mitigated as time goes on. Thus we are left with a husk of a form that was far surpassed by others on arrival.
Super Saiyan 2
Now, this is where we get to the more positive side of the rankings. To me, Super Sayian 2 as a concept works great. Throughout the Cell Saga, we've had the buildup and evolution of Super Sayian take many forms. And as we see these evolutions go on, we completely see them reach their peak in the form of perfected Super Sayian. We think that this would be the form to beat cell, only to in a surprise twist have it so it all must rest on Gohan. And as we see Gohan's rage finally peak, we get introduced to the original Ascended Sayian.
While other forms are more powerful, I don't think anyone can match up to 2's supremacy on the battlefield. The music itself helped to show Gohan's breaking point and almost prophetic ascendance as we see him demolish Cell with ease. That being said, though, there is nothing that makes the form special compared to others. It got quickly surpassed by other forms, it's designed is often imperceptible to the original Super Sayian, and it doesn't do much outside of its appearance. That being said, it's still an old reliable that will stay that way for a while.
Super Saiyan God
And here we have another criminally underutilized form to add to the list. However, unlike other forms, God, to me, makes the most of its short appearances. I like it's requirements and overall transformation since not only would it be hard enough for it not to be common, but it also makes it one of the few transformations that Goku has complicated feelings about. For once, he understands what it's like to be Vegeta as he knows God in that short time was a peak he could never reach. Speaking of the design, I like it more than Blue. The introduction of pupils and orange and red aura mixed with the leaner appearance makes this form stand out a little more from the rest.
God also has some unique perks on top of that. The Broly movie was amazing at characterizing the form a lot better. The calmer and more evasive fighting style in the form is something new and different. Overall, God is great for what it was, a new form to revitalize the franchise and breathe new life to it, I'm just sad that this form gets so little appearances.
Super Saiyan
And now we enter into the OG. Super Sayian's impact, power, and appearance have never really beaten and, I'm glad it never will. Throughout the Namek Saga, we were introduced to more of a Sayain's biology through Vegeta. By abusing zenkais, adaptability, and pure effort, Vegeta managed to clear house with Frezia's empire. This makes the legend of the Super Sayian all the more tempting, as we see despite Frieza's arrogance still secretly fear the Saiyans.
And that hype gets ever stronger as Goku makes his subtle appearance into the fray. As the Namek saga ramps up even further. And it all comes together when in a surprise attack, Frieza takes out Krillin and Piccolo. With his best friend dead, one of the best shots at resurrection nearly dead and his son seconds from sharing that same fate, the age-old prophecy is finally broken in a legendary sight.
Goku's gentle persona turned into pure wrathful warrior as we see Frieza slowly crumbling sanity is a freaking gold mine of moments as we see his golden light surpass Frieza's darkness. On top of that amazing introduction we also mustn't forget how much of a mild stone it became throughout the Cell Saga, as the experimentation across the 4 saiyans at the time. The various grades that we are seen help give the form more variety and freshness as the audience is left in wonder over what other surprises so far. Overall the form still holds up to this day but I've got one last form that outclasses it for me.
Super Saiyan 4
Okay, I think that any reasonable fan of Dragon Ball, no matter what your opinions on Gt, can agree that Super Saiyan 4 is the best thing to come out of it. And I don't know where to start for how great this transformation is for me. I guess we'll start at the obvious, the design because holy hell, it's refreshing for a Super Saiyan design to look like an actual transformation. The red fur, black hair, and striking eyes create a standout and memorable design that looks clean. Next up I guess would be lore. With so many transformations being discovered all the mystique that they potential could have is gone, but Super Sayain to me has the potential to bring that mystique back to franchise—having the Oozaru enter the fray again with Earth as the surrogate moon creates so much symbolism. Gt as a series was all about taking a modern spin on old Dragonball which I feel like it works well with the form.
Having Goku establish his identity in the form is sort of like a subtle way of him making up for killing his master while at the same time honoring the Saiyan heritage by having him fight on a new tuffle planet. Plus, for fans, this is pretty much a way of having the lighter moments of early Dragon ball while having 4 be the indicator of a serious fight.
Next up, let's talk about the qualities of the form. Effectively Super Sayian 4 might be the form that holds ki the best out of all of them. During the Shadow Dragon Saga Goku was able to go toe to toe with Nova Shenron, got blinded and frozen by Eis, got beaten the crap out of by Omega, absorbed the energy of all of his compatriots, fought Omega, fused with Vegeta and finally lost all of his power immediately after the fusion. Even in Dragon Ball time, Goku must have fought the dragons for hours on end with little to no rest while showing off numerous taxing techniques. And not only can the form absorb energy from both allies and enemies, but this form also has one last ace in the hole.
Once the form recovers from a technique than four pretty much adapts to it immediately. Thus while other forms may be stronger, it's clear four can potentially be far more versatile considering it dealt with Baby and Shadow Dragons. While yes, the conditions and weaknesses are obvious (tail/oozau/playful nature); these weaknesses aren't the most exploitable and can be overcome rather easily in all honesty. Goku and Vegeta are rather a discipline,d so I don't see the nature of the form is a problem, the tail can be curled up to make it less open, and oozaru can already be overcome with high possibility. Which is why I think 4 will always reign supreme for me.
Epilogue
Well, that was my list. I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know if you want more of this because I love Dragonball and wouldn't mind returning to it for another time.