Dragon Ball without transformations is like Dragon Ball without martial arts, or Dragon Ball without Ki attacks, or Dragon Ball without Vegeta angrily declaring himself stronger than Goku only to get pulverized into the ground. The point is that transformations are a key part of Dragon Ball and serve an important role within the story. Giving a character a new transformation is a clean and quick way of demonstrating growth. Goku turning Super Saiyan at the end of the Frieza saga tells us he’s finally accepted his Saiyan heritage, and Gohan turning Super Saiyan 2 during the Cell Games cements him as the new protagonist for the time being.

While Ultra Instinct stood out as the form to beat in the Universe Survival arc, we were graced with one other form during the Tournament of Power: Super Saiyan Evolution. Triggered by Vegeta near the end of the tournament, and by extension the series, Super Saiyan Evolution quickly became the subject of hot debate within the fandom. Was it foreshadowed? How strong is it? Why exactly did Vegeta get it? Although the series may not answer these questions directly, this article will. Confused about how SSE works? Worry no more. I’m here for you.

25 Toriyama Most Likely Didn’t Design SSE

Canonicity in regards to Dragon Ball Super is a genuinely tricky subject. With two different mediums to follow and neither written by Akira Toriyama, what exactly can we as fans consider canon for DBS? Rule of thumb tends to be that any event, character, or transformation that overlaps between the anime and manga was clearly outlined by Toriyama and must be canon. Any differences are medium specific and must be canonized either by how they fit into the story or how they relate back to Toriyama as an author. With that in mind, it’s very likely Toriyama did not come up with Super Saiyan Evolution.

To start, there’s no concept art by Toriyama for the form. There is concept art for Ultra Instinct which we’ve seen, but nothing as far as Vegeta’s SSE goes. There’s also the fact that Toriyama seldom introduces more than one major transformation per arc and, when he does, it’s done far enough apart where it doesn’t really come off as derivative. Since the Universe Survival arc is all about Ultra Instinct in the first place, it seems very weird for Vegeta to get a new, separate transformation near the end of the tournament. It doesn’t fit Toriyama’s writing style and feels counterproductive to the narrative.

24 Super Saiyan Evolution Can’t Be Vegeta’s Answer To Ultra Instinct

Since its introduction, there’s been this idea within the fandom that Super Saiyan Evolution is Vegeta’s answer to the Ultra Instinct dilemma. As of where Super left off, Ultra Instinct feels very much like a Goku-only form. There’s also Gohan and Vegeta both stating they’ll forge their own paths independent of Goku throughout the arc implying that all the Saiyan will start to branch off in terms of power. Vegeta outright saying he’ll forgo Ultra Instinct in favor of his own path seems fairly indicative of SSE being his UI, but that simply cannot be the case.

Super Saiyan Evolution is really just a continuation of Super Saiyan Blue, but not in a particularly massive or impactful way. It’s still a mix of God Ki and Super Saiyan Ki, just a bit more potent. This could mean Vegeta will continue down the Super Saiyan line naturally while Goku develops Ultra Instinct, but that still doesn’t mean it’s Vegeta’s version of Ultra Instinct since Goku could also, very easily, develop Super Saiyan Evolution. Any Saiyan could, honestly. It seems more likely that Super Saiyan Evolution is just a placeholder until Toriyama develops a proper new form for Vegeta. It’s also entirely likely Vegeta will just get UI at some point, rendering SSE’s entire existence null.

23 SSE Is Weaker Than GoD Toppo

Here’s a good rule of thumb when discussing Dragon Ball: just because a character defeats another character in battle doesn’t mean they’re necessarily stronger. One of Dragon Ball’s recurring themes is that skill is more important than just raw strength. Golden Frieza is stronger than Super Saiyan Blue Goku in Resurrection F, but the latter wins because he fights smarter. This also applies to Super Saiyan Evolution Vegeta’s fight with God of Destruction Toppo. The latter is actually stronger, but the former wins by simply fighting a bit better. GoD Toppo overwhelms Vegeta with strength only for Vegeta to condense all his Ki into an explosive burst, knocking Toppo off the stage.

You can use this as another reason why Super Saiyan Evolution can’t be Ultra Instinct’s equal: it just isn’t useful enough. Ultra Instinct allows Goku to dodge and deflect attacks like they’re nothing. SSE does nothing of the sorts for Vegeta. If anything, it feels, at times, that SSE truly does nothing for Vegeta. Ultra Instinct is more than a palette swap for Goku. It fundamentally changes the way he fights. Super Saiyan Evolution doesn’t do that for Vegeta, and still pales in comparison to Universe 11’s strongest warriors.

22 Is Super Saiyan Evolution As Strong As Ultra Instinct?

If Super Saiyan Evolution is weaker than God of Destruction Toppo, it goes without saying that it’s probably not as strong as Ultra Instinct, let alone the unmastered variant Goku uses against Jiren for the first time. Given that GoD Toppo doesn’t fight anyone else, it’s debatable just how strong exactly he is. SSE Vegeta wasn’t stronger, but he did put up a good fight. Not matter how you cut it, though, there’s just no way GoD Toppo can be stronger than Kefla who Goku managed to defeat with the silver-haired Ultra Instinct. If Vegeta can’t beat GoD Toppo that means he can’t beat Kefla which means he can’t beat UI Goku.

Now, it’s also debatable just how strong Kefla is, and her being weaker than GoD Toppo could actually work in Vegeta’s favor, but fusions are typically ranked much higher than non-fusions. Toppo is a God of Destruction now, but Kefla is a potara fusion between two people with an intimate bond, a facet which actually amplifies the power of the fused warrior. Taking into account that SSE Vegeta did absolutely nothing of value against Jiren whereas unmastered Ultra Instinct did, it’s not looking particularly good for Vegeta.

21 Super Saiyan Evolution Is Vegeta’s Super Saiyan Blue Kaioken

You want to know the real reason why Super Saiyan Evolution isn’t Vegeta’s version of Ultra Instinct? Because it’s his version of Super Saiyan Blue Kaioken. The moment Goku gained access to Super Saiyan Blue Kaioken in the Universe 6 tournament was the moment Goku secured a lead over Vegeta for the rest of Dragon Ball Super. No matter how hard he trained or how many years he wasted away in the Room of Spirit and Time, Vegeta was never going to be able to compete so long as Goku could just trigger Super Saiyan Blue Kaioken, multiplying his power to extreme degrees.

Super Saiyan Evolution allows Vegeta to catch up to Goku’s SSBKK in the anime, and his feats actually imply they’re totally equal. Not only is SSE not enough to defeat Toppo, it ultimately does nothing in the fight against Jiren. When the two team up against the Pride Trooper, Goku uses Super Saiyan Blue Kaioken while Vegeta uses Super Saiyan Evolution. Neither character is depicted as having an edge over one another and both do minimal damage against Jiren in the long run. It certainly takes the wind out of SSE’s sails to recognize it as little more than a Kaioken place over, but that’s on Toei.

20 Vegeta Likely Won’t Get SSE In The Manga

Super Saiyan Evolution fans be warned because Vegeta will almost certainly not achieve SSE in the manga adaptation of Dragon Ball Super. Not only has the form gotten zero foreshadowing in the manga, Vegeta already has a form that fulfills Super Saiyan Evolution’s role within the story: Mastered Super Saiyan Blue. At the end of the Goku Black arc, Goku harnessed all his Ki and transcended Super Saiyan Blue entirely. This allowed him to get an edge over Merged Zamasu in their final battle. Since this pushed Goku over Vegeta, though, Toyotaro quickly gave the form to Vegeta at the start of the Universe Survival arc.

Mastered Super Saiyan Blue already fulfills SSE's role. 

If Super Saiyan Evolution is supposed to be Vegeta’s version of Super Saiyan Blue Kaioken then there’s simply no need for it in the manga. Goku doesn’t use Kaioken whatsoever in the manga. In fact, Mastered Super Saiyan Blue is as closes to a Kaioken analogue as we’re going to get in Toyotaro’s serialization. Giving Vegeta Super Saiyan Evolution would create an awkward situation where Vegeta is actually ahead of Goku in terms of power and transformations, even if just briefly. It seems more likely that Vegeta might get a glimpse of Ultra Instinct and then get eliminated before he triggers it, leaving the form exclusive to Goku in the manga and SSE non present.

19 The Super Saiyan Grade 2 Connection

Super Saiyan Evolution is pretty much the Super Saiyan Blue equivalent of Super Saiyan Grade 2. If you don’t remember, the Super Saiyan Grade forms were developed near the end of the Cell saga by the main characters as a means of improving upon the Super Saiyan transformation. Vegeta developed Super Saiyan Grade 2 which boosted his strength; Trunks developed Super Saiyan Grade 3 which gave him overwhelming power at the expense of speed, and Goku developed Super Saiyan Grade 4 which completely eliminated Super Saiyan’s stamina issues. Gohan triggering Super Saiyan 2 could even be considered Super Saiyan Grade 5 given the context.

If you think about it, Super Saiyan Evolution resembles Super Saiyan Grade 2 quite a bit. Not only is it the Grade form that Vegeta himself develops, it also looks a lot like it. Both forms are buff; both put more emphasis on his spikes, and both do little more than just boosting the strength that’s already there. It’s, in many ways, a retread of what Vegeta went through in the Cell saga, but given some new context. Considering how often Toei referenced other parts of the series throughout the anime version of the Tournament of Power, it’s entirely possible that this connection is intentional.

18 What’s In A Name? Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan Shinka

Names in Dragon Ball have always been a bit weird. Saiyans are named after vegetables; Demon King Piccolo’s children are named after instruments; and Namekians are named after snails. On top of that, the transformation names we’ve gotten in Dragon Ball Super have been… interesting to say the least. There’s Super Saiyan God, so far so good; Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan, not really feeling this one; Migatte no Gokui for Ultra Instinct’s Japanese name, a cute pun; and Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan Shinka, the Japanese name for Super Saiyan Evolution. Yikes.

If you thought Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan was bad, Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan Shinka is on an entirely new level. Its acronym would be SSGSSS which is just way too much. It honestly sounds more complicated breaking it down into just letters. Thankfully, “shinka” directly translated into “evolution” thus giving us Super Saiyan Evolution. Unfortunately, this does mean SSE’s English name really would be Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan Evolution. Super Saiyan Evolution, like Super Saiyan Blue was before the Universe 6 Tournament arc, is just a fan name. If you want to be official about it then you have to call Super Saiyan Evolution “Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan Evolution.”

17 Super Saiyan Evolution Ties Into The Overarching Theme Of Pushing Past Your Limits

One of Dragon Ball’s main themes is reaching your limits, acknowledging that you’ve done so, and then breaking past them for the benefit of self-growth. It’s an idea that deeply ingrained within the series and one that won’t be going away anytime soon. The very concept of Super Saiyan directly ties into shattering your limits after all. For all the issues Super Saiyan Evolution may have, it actually fits quite nicely into the idea of pushing past your limits. Vegeta, having seemingly reached his peak, finds newfound strength in a moment of desperation.

Making Super Saiyan Evolution all the more thematically relevant is the fact that the Universe Survival arc is all about pushing past your limits. Goku spends the entire Tournament of Power trying to break down his personal barriers so he can achieve Ultra Instinct. Vegeta should not have been able to achieve UI for narrative reasons, which thankfully he didn’t, but it was important to have him contribute to the overall theme in some way. Giving him Super Saiyan Evolution is far from perfect, and brings with it quite a few issues we’ll touch upon later within the article, but it is thematically appropriate all things considered.

16 SSE Is No Match For Jiren

As excited as Vegeta must have been to get a new form, and subsequently defeat God of Destruction Toppo, he must have been so disheartened when he finally got to fight Jiren in his Super Saiyan Evolution state only to do even worse than Goku. To add insult to injury, Jiren straight up held back most of their fight because he didn’t consider Vegeta a serious threat. As significant as Super Saiyan Evolution might be to Vegeta, it pales in comparison to what Jiren is capable of. Not that it doesn’t make sense, though.

To be fair, not much is a match for Jiren. 

If Super Saiyan Evolution is Vegeta’s Super Saiyan Blue Kaioken, which it is, then why would it even put a dent in Jiren? SSBKK Goku barely accomplished anything against Jiren even after pushing Kaioken to times twenty. It took Ultra Instinct to finally catch Jiren off guard. Super Saiyan Evolution is not Ultra Instinct, not even close, so it’s not going to do anything in the long run. Props to Vegeta for trying his best and, once again, genuinely believing he’s the strongest man alive for some reason, but he seriously should have known Super Saiyan Evolution wasn’t going to do better than Ultra Instinct against Jiren.

15 Can Vegeta Still Trigger Super Saiyan Evolution?

Following the events of the Tournament of Power, Goku reveals to Vegeta that he can’t access Ultra Instinct at will. It makes sense all things considered. Ultra Instinct was something Goku had to push out of himself time and time again. For him to be able to just turn it on like Super Saiyan would diminish much of its initial value and importance. What’s more interesting about Goku telling Vegeta he can’t access Ultra Instinct is the context. The two are about to spar and Vegeta tells Goku to use Ultra Instinct so they can fight at their best. It makes sense for the character, but there’s a problem. Vegeta isn’t using SSE.

If Vegeta wants to fight at his best, and believes Goku can still use Ultra Instinct, wouldn’t he tap into Super Saiyan Evolution right away to show Goku he wants to fight at full power? This could just be a visual decision meant to show us that Goku and Vegeta are equal in Super Saiyan Blue without directly confirming Super Saiyan Evolution as a lesser form, but it also begs the question: can Vegeta still use Super Saiyan Evolution? Nothing except this scene implies he can’t which makes the whole scenario all the odder. We won’t truly know until the movie comes out and, even then, the answer might not be entirely clear.

14 Evolution Is The Last Godly Form We See In Super

If there’s one thread that defines the entirety of Dragon Ball Super, it’s the divine. From the first episode to the last, Dragon Ball Super is an anime about the characters and their relationships with the gods. Battle of Gods directly expands the Dragon Ball mythos with the addition of Beerus and Whis, and it only snowballs from there. By the Universe Survival arc, we have multiverses, angels, and even an Omni-King to watch over us from on high. The main characters even access the power of the divine themselves with Goku beginning the series by triggering Super Saiyan God and ending it with Ultra Instinct.

That said, Ultra Instinct isn’t actually a godly form, it’s a technique. It’s still godly so it fits the trend, but it’s missing the transformation angle. That’s where Super Saiyan Evolution comes in. SSE stands out as the very last godly transformation we see in Dragon Ball Super. In a way, it’s actually quite fitting. The anime began with Goku tapping into the power of the gods and ended with his rival, Vegeta, doing the same. Of course, the focus is on Ultra Instinct at the end, as it should be, but SSE is still a distinction worth noting.

13 Super Saiyan Evolution Ultimately Accomplishes Nothing In The Tournament Of Power

Super Saiyan Evolution might actually be the most useless transformation in the entire series. Vegeta accomplishes absolutely nothing in the Tournament of Power thanks to the form. Toppo’s defeat? It happened because Vegeta blew himself up ala the Majin Buu saga, not because of Super Saiyan Evolution. Vegeta fighting Jiren? I mean, he didn’t really accomplish anything there, he just sort of lost super badly. All SSE does is make Vegeta look a bit uglier. You may be wondering how a form that wins a fight could be the most useless in the series when there are forms that haven’t won any, but I’m about to tell you why winning isn’t that important.

No, accomplishing nothing isn't an accomplishment. 

Super Saiyan 3 never wins a single fight in the Buu saga, but it has narrative weight. It’s the next step in the Super Saiyan line and it directly contributes to the plot on multiple occasions. On top of that, it’s a subversion on how Super Saiyan transformations work in general. It cannot save the day. Super Saiyan Evolution, on the other hand, has no thematic or narrative weight. It means absolutely nothing in the context of Vegeta’s character arc in the way Super Saiyan 3 works off Goku’s. It is entirely devoid of internal or external meaning.

12 Vegeta Most Likely Won’t Use SSE In The New Movie

While there’s really nothing that’s come about regarding the new movie that implies Vegeta won’t be using Super Saiyan Evolution at some point, it’s important to remember that Akira Toriyama is writing the movie himself and that Super Saiyan Evolution is very likely not something he had any say in. Taking into consideration that Movie 20 very much feels like it’s trying to bring Dragon Ball back to its roots, in a sense, there’s no way Toriyama would include something he had no creative control in. If Vegeta transforms at all, it’s be into either Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan Blue, or something new altogether.

Honestly, it’s not really that much of a loss. Simple is better for a project like the new movie and Super Saiyan Evolution is anything but. It would certainly be interesting to see how SSE would look in the new art style, and might actually fix its design issues, but it wouldn’t be able to fix what Super Saiyan Evolution represents. It’s better to just ignore SSE even happened and move on with the story. Of course, since it’s Toriyama writing the script, he wouldn’t even have to ignore it. The man probably doesn’t even know the form exists!

11 Super Saiyan Evolution Is Vegeta’s Only Unique Transformation

Believe it or not, there aren’t a lot of unique transformations within the series, especially for the Saiyans. By the start of the Majin Buu saga, every main Saiyan can use Super Saiyan 1; by the end, Goku and Vegeta can both use Super Saiyan 2 and Future Trunks comes back with access to it in Super; Goku and Gotenks can both use Super Saiyan 3; and Goku, Vegeta, and Gogeta all use Super Saiyan 4 in GT. Goku’s the only character who can use Super Saiyan God in the anime, but Vegeta also uses it in the manga.

Baby Vegeta doesn't count. 

For all its problems and oddities, Super Saiyan Evolution being completely unique to Vegeta is actually pretty cool. The closest thing he had to a unique form before this was his Majin state, and that was something he shared with Pui Pui, Yakon, Spopovich, Yamu, and Dabra. Super Saiyan Evolution being all his feels special even if we might never see it again. Of course, it’s theoretically possible for any Saiyan to tap into Super Saiyan Evolution which does ruin some of its novelty, but it’s unlikely anyone ever will given its very specific context within the series as a whole.

10 Super Saiyan Evolution Is Not Super Saiyan Blue 2

Although it might seem logical to consider Super Saiyan Evolution the natural evolution of Super Saiyan Blue, its name really isn’t indicative of what it is. The very title of “evolution” invokes this feeling of superiority, and it is genuinely superior, but it isn’t superior in the way you think. As mentioned earlier, Super Saiyan Evolution shares quite a few aesthetic similarities with Super Saiyan Grade 2 from the Cell saga, but none with Super Saiyan 2. The reasoning? Because Super Saiyan Evolution is really just Super Saiyan Blue Grade 2 and not Super Saiyan Blue 2.

The jump between Super Saiyan Blue and Super Saiyan Evolution just isn’t big enough for one to call it Super Saiyan Blue 2. Ignoring that it doesn’t even resemble Super Saiyan 2 in the slightest, no lightning and whatnot, it also doesn’t really gives Vegeta any real advantages. It’s more like Super Saiyan Grade 2 where it just boosts the user’s strength. There’s also the question of whether or not Super Saiyan Blue 2 is even possible. Super Saiyan Blue is already the result of Super Saiyan Ki with God Ki, how do you toss a transformation into the mix? Besides, when someone gets Super Saiyan Blue 2, we’ll know for sure. DBS was way too casual with SSE for it to be SSB2.

9 SSE Feels Like Padding Of The Worst Kind

Super Saiyan Evolution genuinely is nothing more than a way to waste time in an already padded out story arc. By the time Vegeta triggers the transformation, we’re at the end of the Tournament of Power and it’s starting to seriously outstay its welcome. Even worse, as previously established, the form doesn’t actually accomplish anything on a narrative, thematic, or character level. Everything Vegeta did after gaining access to Super Saiyan Evolution could, and should, have been done as a regular Super Saiyan Blue. SSE is just a cheap way of manufacturing extra hype at a time where DBS needed to manufacture a suitable ending.

What good comes out of dragging out an already slow arc? 

Now, this isn’t to say the episodes Super Saiyan Evolution are featured in are bad, some are actually incredibly well animated and one in particular stands out as one of Dragon Ball Super’s very best. The problem is that nothing is accomplished from a story perspective and that it ultimately hinders the pacing of the arc and series. The Tournament of Power is slow paced to a fault and SSE slows it down even further to spend some time with Vegeta before the end. The problem is that, by this point, the focus should truly be on Goku fighting Jiren. Splitting the last few episodes with Vegeta only serves to hurt Vegeta’s display because we we’re not going to be in the proper endgame until the focus is back on Goku.

8 How Super Saiyan Evolution Hurts Vegeta’s Character Arc

It’s less that Super Saiyan Evolution hurts Vegeta’s character arc and more that Dragon Ball Super in general does his character a serious disservice while Super Saiyan Evolution is just the straw that breaks the camel's back. At the end of the Majin Buu arc, Vegeta fully admits that Goku is number one and ends their rivalry as Goku fights off Kid Buu. It’s a fitting end for his character and one that concludes his role in the series in an incredibly mindful way. Come Dragon Ball Super, however, and Vegeta is back to lusting over surpassing his once rival.

Going from Dragon Ball Z to Dragon Ball Super, especially if you read the former’s manga, feels jarring thanks to how much it seems Vegeta has regressed. It’s not out of character for him to maintain his rivalry with Goku to an extent, but it is for him to be so extreme about it. Super Saiyan Evolution is born out of a desire to surpass one’s limits, which is actually really great and fits the series’ themes perfectly, but it plays way too much into the “I will surpass you, Kakarot” nonsense that fans believe define Vegeta. SSE is nothing more than a reminder of the development Vegeta left behind in the transition from DBZ to DBS.

7 Dragon Ball Super’s Ugliest Transformation

I’m just going to be blunt with this one: Super Saiyan Evolution Vegeta looks absolutely hideous. Not only is it the ugliest form in introduced in Dragon Ball Super, it might actually be the ugliest form in all of Dragon Ball, and do remember that Super Saiyan 3 literally has no eyebrows. Super Saiyan Evolution just looks so obnoxiously awkward. Not only does it buff up Vegeta in a really weird way that doesn’t fit his design, it also softens his face. Vegeta looks like a little boy with the body of a man. The sparkles certainly don’t help, either.

If Kami were real, he wouldn't let Vegeta out of the house like that. 

It’s clear that Super Saiyan Evolution is trying to model itself around Ultra Instinct, but the latter works for Goku because he’s a character with inherently delicate features. Goku is conventionally cuter so softening his features for a transformation works in his favor. It’s why Super Saiyan God looks good on him. He’s thinner and younger, but it plays off his design. Super Saiyan Evolution looks like it’s fighting Vegeta’s design and not accenting it. Vegeta is so hardened, that the sparkles, the lighter hair, and new eyes make him look out of place. SSE Vegeta looks like fanart of Super Saiyan Blue Vegeta.

6 Super Saiyan Evolution Has Absolutely No Build Up

The Universe Survival arc is a saga all about building up to Goku attaining Ultra Instinct and finally cementing himself into the same realm as the Gods. Whis mentions Ultra Instinct directly, several episodes outright foreshadow Goku eventually getting it, and the last third of the Tournament of Power is spent with Goku trying to figure out and master exactly how to use Ultra Instinct. When he finally triggers Mastered Ultra Instinct, we can fully buy into it because the arc very carefully laid the groundwork for its inevitable appearance. The same cannot be said for Super Saiyan Evolution, unfortunately.

Super Saiyan Evolution truly comes out of nowhere at a point in the Tournament of Power where it honestly comes off more distracting than anything. Goku is in the middle of trying to trigger Ultra Instinct and we’re suddenly forced to watch Vegeta fool around with a new form for a few episodes. It has no build up, it has no foreshadowing, and it has no narrative payoff. Vegeta getting a new transformation at the literal end of the Tournament of Power is fan service to an extreme degree and counter productive to all the careful planning that went into the Universe Survival arc. It is a detriment in every sense of the word.