Dragon Ball Z’s Most Useless Transformation was Always Super Saiyan 3

The introduction of Super Saiyan 3 in Dragon Ball Zwas a landmark moment in the series’ history. Fans across the world were glued to the page and screen as Goku’s scream shook the foundations of the Earth, causing earthquakes and tsunamis all over the world. With the amount of raw power this form exhibited, it really is a shame Super Saiyan 3 failed to amount to much within the context of the series.

Super Saiyan 3 was first teased by Goku in Dragon Ball chapter 474, then introduced formally in the subsequent chapter of 475. While powering up to Super Saiyan 3, Goku cycles through all of his Super Saiyan forms, giving readers a direct showing as to which form stands above the rest. While Super Saiyan 2 was meant to be a successor to Super Saiyan: Grade 3, as it gives the user a boost in power without any detriment to speed, the actual Super Saiyan 3 is a whole different story. Super Saiyan 3 is meant to draw out the full power of a Saiyan at any cost, frequently draining the user of stamina and resulting in near-total ki depletion. The Super Saiyan 3 form was set up to be a last-minute resort, throwing everything out the window for one final power boost in order to take on the opponent- but it fell flat in almost every regard.

Goku first brought out Super Saiyan 3 to battle Majin Buu in order to stall for time so Trunks could find the Dragon Radar. In this new form, Goku quickly gained enough power to stand on even footing with Buu and fought until Trunks managed to find the radar and leave West City. It was revealed later that Goku thought he had enough power in his Super Saiyan 3 form to finish off the Majin, but he chose not to in order to give Goten and Trunks a chance to defeat Buu instead. Additionally, when fighting on The Planet of the Kais, Goku also states that he thinks he could have defeated Kid Buu at full power but he both wanted to give Vegeta a chance to fight as well as underestimated the strain Super Saiyan 3 would have on his living body, causing him to eventually lose that fight. Goku’s Super Saiyan 3 form was never seen again in the main Dragon Ball manga, having never won a fight.

Goku, however, wasn’t the only user of Super Saiyan 3, as during the battle with Super Buu, Gotenks also revealed the ability to ascend to the form. Through using the training Goku provided both Goten and Trunks, the boys were able to ascend through the Fusion Technique’s multiplied power. Much like Goku’s transformation, however, this form was short-lived and Super Saiyan 3’s energy drain drastically shortened the amount of time Gotenks’ fusion lasted. This caused their fusion to time out just moments before finishing Super Buu off, leaving the Super Saiyan 3 form with another draw.

Even after being introduced in a spectacular show of power, the Super Saiyan 3 form was quickly overshadowed by other routes the Z-Fighters could take to victories, such as the Fusion Dance, Elder Kai’s Potential Unlocking, and the Potara Earrings. Even with all these alternate win conditions exhausted, the Super Spirit Bomb took the final victory of Dragon Ball Z and Super Saiyan 3 was left without a single win. With the introduction of Dragon Ball Super, the Super Saiyan 3 transformation was even used as a cheap power scaling device, appearing only to get instantly knocked out by Beerus. After being introduced as Goku’s last resort, Super Saiyan 3 turned out to achieve practically nothing within the confines of Dragon Ball Z.