From Kaioken, to Super Saiyan, and now Ultra Instinct, Dragon Ball has had its fair share of transformations over the years. Each one, typically first gained by Goku with a few notable exceptions, changed the landscape of action within the franchise and pioneered new eras of combat. Kaioken brought out a brutality that wasn’t often present in DB up to that point; Super Saiyan allowed for fights to last longer and with tougher foes; Super Saiyan God finally saw Goku attaining strength on par with the gods; and Ultra Instinct has now paved the way for battles on a universal level. Dragon Ball just keeps upping the ante, and we couldn't love it more.

Of all the transformations in the series, the newest is by far the most interesting. It’s not recency bias, either, Ultra Instinct is genuinely an incredibly fascinating form, unlike anything the series has done before. It’s intentionally mysterious, used only by the highest on the divine hierarchy, and now it’s in the hands of the greatest martial artist alive. Powerful, bombastic, and elusive, Ultra Instinct is a form ripe with secrets. There's a lot to unpack from the newest from the newest level in the series — and needless to say, fans are chomping at the bit to learn everything there is to know about Goku's newfound power.

25 Ultra Instinct Was Foreshadowed As Early As Resurrection F

via cablechannels.abs-cbn.com

While Ultra Instinct will always be associated with the Tournament of Power for obvious reasons, let’s not forget that it existed as a concept as early as Resurrection F. For the arc itself, any suggestion that Ultra Instinct exists is more in favor of Goku and Vegeta growing as martial artists. Whis mentions how they can move on their own if they just cleared their minds while focusing in on the battle at hand, but nobody could expect such a character heavy idea to blossom into Ultra Instinct.

Resurrection F was released in 2015, but we wouldn't get an official name for Ultra Instinct until 2017. 

Come the Universe Survival arc, clearing his mind and staying focused is exactly what Goku has to do to maintain UI. Looking back on the arc, we even see Whis using Ultra Instinct to dodge and mark his disciples. The two can’t get a single hit in because Whis genuinely is moving on his own. In the context of the film, it’s to display that the Saiyans still have much to learn. In the greater Dragon Ball context, it’s foreshadowing Goku’s inevitable endgame.

24 Toriyama’s Concept Art For Ultra Instinct Is Basically Just Super Saiyan God

via dragonball.wikia.com

Toriyama has never been shy about cutting corners for Dragon Ball, but his concept art for Ultra Instinct is on another level entirely. Revealed in an issue of V-Jump, Ultra Instinct’s final concept art is basically just a recolor of the Battle of Gods concept art for Super Saiyan God complete with skinny Goku. There are only two changes: the eyes and the hair. It really does look like Toriyama took the Battle of Gods art and hastily colored over it. It’s quite sad, because the anime’s concept art for the form is actually incredible. For shame, Toriyama. The least you could have done was take off Goku’s shirt. Anything to separate it aesthetically from his previous form.

23 The Stages Of Ultra Instinct

via https://rmehedi.deviantart.com/art/Goku-Mastered-Ultra-Instinct-730111395

The trickiest part about discussing Ultra Instinct is the unfortunate fact that there are two very different states of the form to discuss: Ultra Instinct -sign- and complete Ultra Instinct. When Goku is silver haired, that means he’s currently utilizing UIS. When Goku is white haired, that means he’s in the complete state. -Sign- is the more unstable of the two, and blatantly worse, but it does have its strengths, especially in regards to Ki control. On top of that, it simply fizzles out when the user loses their focus. Complete Ultra Instinct is a better boost all around, allowing the user to fight at full power, but losing it caused Goku to take a serious amount of damage. Both fall under the Ultra Instinct moniker, but they have their fair share of differences.

22 Toriyama Probably Didn’t Design Incomplete Ultra Instinct

via twitter.com/govetaxv

To say that Dragon Ball has a lot of concept art would be an understatement. You can look at any character, any form, and find at least some conceptual doodles drawn by none other than Akira Toriyama at some point. Super is no exception with Toriyama dishing out new art with every arc. There is one notable omission in the concept art department, though: the silver haired Ultra Instinct. While Toriyama definitely designed the white form, the silver only has concept art by the anime staff.

Toriyama drew concept art for complete Ultra Instinct, but not incomplete. Coincidence? I think not. 

Most likely, Toriyama designed the white form and then Toei chose to retool it so Goku had a visual cue to illustrate the instability of Ultra Instinct. More than anything, it’s just telling that there’s concept art by Toriyama for white UI, but not silver. That alone seems to imply that the design for Ultra Instinct -sign- was, at the very least, conceived by the anime’s staff. Goku was probably always going to need to master UI, but Toriyama likely just envisioned it all with the white hair.

21 The Mushin Connection: Ultra Instinct Has Basis In Reality

Your mind is clear. You have abandoned the very concept of ego. Fear, hate, rage. These are all emotions that escape you. Every action you take is an action entirely on its own. There is no thought, no hesitation. For the first time in your life, you truly understand what free will is as your body moves on its own. I’m not talking about Ultra Instinct, but, rather, Mushin.

Believe it or not, UI does have basis in reality. Mushin is a legitimate mental state in martial arts and meditation where you clear your mind entirely and allow your body to react naturally. Much like Ultra Instinct, it’s a state attainable only by the most talented of masters. It can be a hard concept to process as “real,” but it’s also important to consider that Mushin doesn’t mean you’re flying around like Goku to defeat Jiren. All it means is that you’re relying entirely on your natural instincts in a state of pure zen.

20 Whis Is The First Character To Use Ultra Instinct In The Series

via GoddessMechanic2 (deviantart)

Before Goku ever got his Saiyan hands on Ultra Instinct, we actually saw Whis use it back in Resurrection F. At the time, it could be assumed that he was just outclassing Goku and Vegeta with speed, but hindsight makes it rather obvious that Whis was using a fully realized state of UI. Not only does he dodge every single attack thrown at him, he also finds time to mark both of his pupils’ uniforms. We’ve seen speed in Dragon Ball, and this isn’t it. Whis using Ultra Instinct is further evidenced by the fact that he berates his students for lacking a clear mind and letting their thoughts stray away from the battle. For Whis, dodging and attacking is entirely instinctive. It might not have been called Ultra Instinct at the time, but all the properties were there.

19 Ultra Instinct Doesn’t Actually Make You That Much Stronger

Via: deviantart.com(Kanchiyo)

Unlike other transformations in the series, Ultra Instinct doesn’t actually make the user stronger. Rather, it gives them the means to surpass their natural limitations in order to attain strength. The difference from other transformations like Super Saiyan, you may ask, is that turning SSJ actually explicitly multiplies your strength. You can train it as your base as seen in the Cell saga, but it also gives you a boost.

Regular Goku actually hits harder than UI Goku at first. 

When Goku triggers Ultra Instinct for the first time, it actually makes him weaker if Kefla is to be believed. His punches and kicks barely register while still mastering the state. It’s only through pure concentration that Goku is able to tap into a power stronger than his own. Even then, though, it’s still not his natural strength he’s using. There’s no doubt Goku will inevitably figure out how to use UI properly, but, as of Super’s ending, it didn’t make him stronger. It just gave him the means to be.

18 Beerus Can Use Ultra Instinct In The Manga

via: dragonball.wikia.com

In the anime, the only characters we see use Ultra Instinct are Whis and Goku. Both make sense since Whis is an angel and Goku’s strongest master, and Goku is our main character. It is a bit odd that Ultra Instinct is billed as the state of the gods but is never used by a god, but it still works. Until you read the manga and see Beerus using it against the other Gods of Destruction. At the start of the Universe Survival arc, Zeno forces all of the GoDs to fight and Beerus busts out UI almost immediately.

Why the difference? Well, the manga actually skipped adapting Resurrection F which means readers never got foreshadowing for the transformation. By having Beerus trigger it at the start of the arc, Whis’ demonstration is effectively replaced with a proper physical showing of the state. It does mean the manga’s Ultra Instinct isn’t foreshadowed early, potentially making the payoff a bit less impactful than in the anime, but Beerus’ version of UI does a great job at offering some fresh foreshadowing to replace Whis’ version.

17 Goku Completed Ultra Instinct, But He Didn’t Master It

via twitter.com/youngjiji

Complete doesn’t mean mastered, and that’s important to recognize when discussing Ultra Instinct. Although Goku completed Ultra Instinct by the end of the Tournament of Power, he didn’t technically master it. Why is that? Simple, Goku still doesn’t have complete control over the transformation. On top of rejecting his body near the end of the Tournament of Power, Goku has no clue how it actually works outside of the moment. Every time he uses it, he effectively blanks and allows his instincts to take over. It's a lot to wrap your head around, but it is founded in logic. More importantly, there’s still one thing Goku has zero control over when it comes to Ultra Instinct …

16 Goku Can’t Trigger Ultra Instinct On His Own

via https://thesyanart.deviantart.com/art/DBS-Migatte-no-Gokui-4K-Wallpaper-Ultra-Instinct-708933029

Ultra Instinct stands out as the only one Goku’s transformations that can be triggered on its own. Like with Vegeta and Super Saiyan 4 in Dragon Ball GT, Goku needs external help to transform. Since UI is a state of mind in many ways, triggering it requires a clear mind, a focus on the battle, and a desperate will to fight. Every time Goku transforms, it’s because he’s in a dangerous situation. The first time, he’s about to be disintegrated by the Genki Dama; the second, he’s on the verge of defeat at the hands of Kefla; and the third, he’s the only person left standing who can defeat Jiren. Unlike SSJ which can just be turned on and off like a light switch, the stars have to align for Ultra Instinct to come out.

15 Ultra Instinct Got The Original Super Saiyan Treatment

via pinterest.com (SwintEntropy)

The original Super Saiyan transformation is the most popular form in the series in large part thanks to all the build-up it got leading up to Goku’s climactic showdown with Freeza. No other form in the series gets the same amount of narrative attention or payoff. Until Ultra Instinct. Foreshadowed incredibly early, mentioned constantly through the Tournament of Power, and used as a means of developing Goku’s character, UI is the modern Super Saiyan. Dragon Ball Super replicated that same feeling of growth and anticipation by teasing Ultra Instinct at every turn while also making Goku’s struggle to master it satisfying to watch. It probably won’t end up as beloved as Super Saiyan 2 or 3, but it’s definitely integrated into the story far better than both.

14 Goku Slowly Gains More Of His Personality The Longer He Uses Ultra Instinct

via https://nekoar.deviantart.com/art/Ultra-Instinct-Goku-wtf-708602960

Goku’s stoicism when he first uses Ultra Instinct stands out as one of the most interesting facets of the form. This is a character who’s never shied away from banter so seeing him so subdued left an understandable impact on the fanbase. While the form is mostly known for Goku’s total composure, he does slowly gain back aspects of his personality the longer he uses it, likely paralleling his mastery of Ultra Instinct.

The longer he uses Ultra Instinct, the more Goku starts to resemble himself. 

By the final time he uses it in the Tournament of Power, Goku is able to show genuine anger and actively talk in his UI state. In a way, this also mirrors how Super Saiyan affected him when he first attained the form on Namek. Initially, he was filled with pure rage, but he slowly redeveloped his personality through his fight with Freeza. It’s quite fitting for a form like UI which already shares narrative similarities with SSJ.

13 Goku’s Body Can’t Handle Ultra Instinct Yet

via db-z.com

As useful as Ultra Instinct is, Goku never actually perfected it by the end of Dragon Ball Super. He spent quite a bit of time triggered the mastered state, but, as seen in episode 130, Ultra Instinct rejected his body in the most crucial moment of the Tournament of Power. Seemingly, using UI for too long triggers a backfire in the body where all the latent energy tears out and renders the user physically unstable. Goku is able to bounce back rather quickly considering he’s Goku, but the best he can do after that is trigger an unstable Super Saiyan that flickers in and out. Going into the next movie, Goku still won’t have Ultra Instinct fully stable.

12 Goku’s Inability To Handle Ultra Instinct Is The Only Thing That Makes It Fair

via secrethet.deviantart.com

All things considered, Ultra Instinct absolutely needs to have a backfire drawback for it to be fair. While Jiren put up a fight against it, he’s also the strongest non-god alive as far as we know. The very concept of Ultra Instinct as a concept propels Goku so much higher than any other character in the franchise. For someone for Vegeta to compare, Goku needs to handle UI poorly for them to remain rivals. It also adds tension to every fight. The series would stop being fun if triggering Ultra Instinct meant Goku couldn’t lose. Instead, triggering it means that, while Goku can win, he’s also running the risk of getting torn to pieces if he takes too long to finish the fight.

11 Vegeta’s Mind Isn’t Clear Enough For Ultra Instinct

via koolanime.wikia.com

Pointed out by Whis in Resurrection F, Vegeta’s biggest problem as a fighter is his inability to take each battle as is. He gets too caught up in his own head and spends more time thinking of what to do than actually doing. This ends up biting by the end of the film when he hesitates to defeat Freeza and the Earth, in turn, gets blown to bits. More relevantly, it’s what’s stopping him from triggering Ultra Instinct.

So long as he keeps overthinking things, Vegeta will never achieve Ultra Instinct. 

The reason Goku can achieve it so readily after being fueled by the energy from the Genki Dama is because he lives in the moment of the battle. He has his flaws, but he’s able to zone himself in better than Vegeta. So long as Vegeta keeps overthinking each move, he’ll never be able to tap into the hidden registers of Ultra Instinct.

10 Ultra Instinct -Sign- Only Boosts Ki Attacks

via @Miyabi_DB_3

More commonly known as the silver haired, incomplete state of UI, Ultra Instinct -Sign- has one key feature that differentiates it from mastered Ultra Instinct: it only increases Ki. Although UI as a whole isn’t meant to be a form that boosts the user’s power, the state does allow them to tap into their deeper registers of strength. Since UIS is so unstable, though, the best Goku can do with it is focus up some Ki to make up for his awful offense.

We see this clearly in his fight with Kefla. Even though his melee attacks are downright pitiful, the very nature of Ultra Instinct allows him to hyper focus his Ki to the point where one Kamehameha completely knocks the Potara fusion right out of her, something we haven’t seen in the series before. Considering using Ki is more of an internal ability, it makes sense that UIS would boost it while keeping physical techniques weak due to the more external nature of punching or kicking.

9 Ultra Instinct Is The Most Fitting Form Goku Has Ever Gotten

via youtube.com (Abhinav1booyaakaa) & (Rhymestyle)

Goku is a character who’s all about bettering himself and while many forms have given him strength multipliers to do so, there is not a single form that feels so appropriately Goku as Ultra Instinct. Designed for the master martial artist in mind, UI is combat first, multipliers second. In fact, it doesn't even make you stronger, it just gives you the tools to get stronger. For Goku, a character who famously disliked Super Saiyan God because he felt the strength it gave him wasn’t actually his, Ultra Instinct is the natural endpoint for Goku’s forms. Any advantage he gets from it is entirely dependent on how he uses it.

8 Vegeta Was Never Going To Get Ultra Instinct The Same Arc As Goku

via https://sonimbleinim.deviantart.com

Although a non-issue now that Dragon Ball Super is over, many fans expressed interest, and later disappointment, in Vegeta gaining Ultra Instinct alongside Goku during the Universe Survival arc. There were many theories focusing on him mastering an “offensive” version of UI while Goku mastered the “defensive.” Of course, this didn’t happen, but it should be noted that it was never even a possibility.

Maybe someday, Vegeta. But not today. 

Narratively, Vegeta getting UI in an arc all about Goku getting it is a horrible move. It diminishes the initial trigger when Goku fights Jiren, it belittles all the development Goku got during the arc, and it bloats the final fight with a desire to keep the two characters equal. It’s okay for Goku to be stronger, and it makes for a better story to keep UI exclusive to him for at least one arc. Dragon Ball is a story with arcs and themes, and it needs to be treated as such by the fans.

7 Goku Is The Only Mortal To Achieve Ultra Instinct

via: areajugones.sport.es

Goku has always been something of a prodigy as far as Dragon Ball is concerned, but Super takes it to another level entirely by making him the first mortal to achieve Ultra Instinct. This isn’t like with Super Saiyan or Super Saiyan God, either, where he’s just the first person in a while to reach those milestones. As far as we know, Goku is the first non-divine being in the Dragon Ball mythos to attain and master Ultra Instinct.

It really speaks volumes to Goku’s status as a martial artist. The series had always portrayed him as a heavily gifted fighter, but the original series ended with him weaker than Gohan. Dragon Ball Super has made it a habit of beefing up Goku back to the top of the main character totem pole, but Ultra Instinct is its own beast entirely. With Ultra Instinct, Goku may genuinely be on the same level as the Gods of Destruction now.

6 Ultra Instinct Means Zamasu Was Right About Humans

via youtube.com (Fornever World)

Zamasu feared mortals for what they were capable of and, while he was definitely an extremist, he wasn’t exactly wrong to be a bit worried. Ultra Instinct is proof that mankind can surpass even the gods in the right context. Give humanity’s nature to destroy itself even in the wake of intelligence, too many people with Ultra Instinct could lead to a divine uprising in Zamasu’s eyes. Even more pointed is the fact that just about anyone in the Tournament of Power would have made a selfish wish thus dooming the universes. If Jiren had Ultra Instinct, for instance, the multiverse would have been gone. Humanity is inherently destructive and while Goku would never use Ultra Instinct for selfish means, it doesn’t mean someone else wouldn’t.