Highlights
- Only a few Saiyans access the Legendary Super Saiyan form, known for near-limitless power & berserker rage.
- Broly and Kale showcase variations of this form, differing in appearance and abilities.
- Control over the Legendary Super Saiyan form is crucial to avoid burning out and self-destruction.
Solely spoken of in legends until its debut in Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan, the Legendary Super Saiyan form is a bit of an anomaly, in that only a few chosen Saiyans have ever gained access to it in history. Throughout the Dragon Ball franchise, beginning with Dragon Ball Z all the way up to Dragon Ball Super, only three characters have been depicted in this form.
Moreover, two of them are simply variations of the same character, illustrating the form’s uniqueness within the canon of the Dragon Ball franchise. As an unpredictable state of near limitless power which pushes the user to go on destructive rampages, the Legendary Super Saiyan form has been the subject of much fascination, due to how it embodies some of the core traits of the Saiyan race.
What Is The Legendary Super Saiyan Form?
Noted to appear only once in a millennium, the Legendary Super Saiyan transformation is bestowed upon a very small group of Saiyans with immense potential. In terms of design, the various versions of this form diverge considerably from the standard line of Super Saiyan transformations.
For starters, users of this form generally power up to the Super Saiyan C-Type transformation, which is their equivalent of the standard Super Saiyan form. In a slight departure from the form’s general traits, the Super Saiyan C-Type used by Dragon Ball Z’s Broly has dull yellow hair, whereas the variant accessed by Kale grants her increased muscle mass, height, and dull yellow hair with a tinge of green.
Upon powering up this form sufficiently, the user will achieve the Legendary Super Saiyan state. Every version of the Legendary Super Saiyan form is a powered up evolution of the first Super Saiyan transformation. Due to how this transformation augments a user’s muscle mass by a considerable degree, the Legendary Super Saiyan form is somewhat comparable to the Super Saiyan Third Grade state, with one key difference.
Unlike Super Saiyan Third Grade’s main weakness, which comes as a consequence of sacrificing speed for power, the Legendary Super Saiyan form boasts incredible agility and mobility. This functions well in proportion with the heightened strength afforded by the transformation. Lastly, the Legendary Super Saiyan form also tends to be focused solely on brawling and exerting brute force, and users adopt a heavyweight fighting style centered on grabs, slams, and crushing blows to make full use of their overwhelming strength.
A Berserk State Fueled By Rage
In every one of its iterations throughout the Dragon Ball franchise, the Legendary Super Saiyan form has exhibited characteristics of a berserker state. Virtually all of its users gain unfathomable power, rivaling even the strongest characters in the franchise, upon activating this transformation.
However, the drawback to this form is the manner in which it clouds a user’s judgment, turning them into a rage-fueled monster whose sole intent is to kill. In extreme cases, this can lead to the user losing control and attacking everything and everyone around them indiscriminately. Both versions of Broly, along with Kale, were prone to going berserk whenever they deployed this form in combat. Furthermore, the key to unlocking this transformation appears to be intense negative emotions such as hatred, anger, or sorrow.
When spoken of in ancient Saiyan folk tales, the Legendary Super Saiyan was said to be a being of untold power whose instinct-driven nature exemplified the true essence of the Saiyan race’s lust for battle. According to the legends of Universe 6’s Saiyans from Dragon Ball Super, the Legendary Super Saiyan is a demonic form that forces its user’s power to grow indefinitely as they embark on an endless rampage, until they eventually run out of energy and die.
The Differences Between Each Incarnation
Both Kale and Dragon Ball Super’s Broly exude a green aura of ki and have solid green hair after undergoing this transformation. They also grow considerably taller and gain enhanced muscle mass, with Broly reaching a height of over three meters when using this form. Throughout Dragon Ball Super, the depiction of this form is consistent enough to identify Kale and Broly as inheritors of the Legendary Super Saiyan’s power.
Alternatively, Dragon Ball Z’s Broly initially has lime green hair which turns golden when he powers up. One other distinguishing feature of this transformation is the absence of pupils and irises, which make the user look far more maniacal and unhinged than their base state. Essentially, all this ties into the true nature of the Legendary Super Saiyan transformation and its mythical origins.
Kale’s Legendary Super Saiyan form occasionally featured bursts of bio-electricity, and it also had a final variant, after she mastered its power and gained control of it, ending the berserk rampages that typified her use of this transformation. In this state, she retains the cyan pupils of the standard Super Saiyan form, as her general demeanor is far calmer, indicating that she can now channel the transformation’s power of her own free will.
With respect to its power scaling in the Dragon Ball franchise, the Legendary Super Saiyan form ofDragon Ball Z’s Broly completely overpowered Goku, Vegeta, and Trunks when they were in their normal Super Saiyan states. Even Gohan had a hard time against him while using Super Saiyan 2, and needed assistance from Goku, Goten, and Trunks to finally defeat him.
Due to the shift in the power system of Dragon Ball Super, the Legendary Super Saiyan forms of Kale and this series’ version of Broly are scaled slightly differently when compared to the original form in the Dragon Ball Z movies. Both forms have been depicted as being able to fight evenly with a user of Super Saiyan Blue.
The sole exception here was Gogeta’s Super Saiyan Blue form, due to the temporary boost in power granted by the Fusion Dance. In the anime version of the Tournament of Power, only Goku’s Ultra Instinct Sign form could decisively overpower Kale’s Legendary Super Saiyan, and even Super Saiyan Blue would not have been able to defeat it particularly easily.
Boundless Power That Corrupts Its Wielder
Unfortunately, a major common feature among all three users of the Legendary Super Saiyan form, is the lack of control they initially displayed in wielding it. Although they were gentle Saiyans in their base form, the Legendary Super Saiyan transformation turned Kale and both versions of Broly into mindless forces of nature whose only purpose was to eradicate all life in their vicinity.
Despite the extent to which the transformation’s power clouds a user’s judgment, Kale and both versions of Broly were exceedingly effective in their battles against the Dragon Team. That being said, the strain of using the transformation heavily drains a user’s ki, which makes the form fade quite quickly when deployed in battle.
When a user’s ki runs out, they will revert to their normal Super Saiyan form, and regain some sense of clarity in the process. Kale’s overuse of the form initially put her life in danger, as she was pushing her body beyond its limits to sustain it.
Even though all Legendary Super Saiyans may appear to have almost infinite power that only grows stronger with each passing fight, their bodies will eventually run out of energy and be pushed to the brink of death if things are taken too far. Fortunately, both Kale and Broly from Dragon Ball Super were able to master the form and retain their self-awareness, to channel its potential more effectively.
Why Is This Form Significant?
At the time of its introduction, the Legendary Super Saiyan form was one of the earliest character-specific transformations unique to the Saiyan race in the Dragon Ball franchise. This essentially tied the form to its sole wielder at the time, to the point where Broly’s name became synonymous with it. Once the form re-emerged in Dragon Ball Super, it was given a new lease of life by Kale’s introduction.
Subsequently, in Dragon Ball Super: Broly, the form was once again recontextualized in the canon of the series, equating it to a higher power level than the previous version in Dragon Ball Z. This feature film also introduced a new version of Broly into the series’ canon, which tempered some of his more extreme qualities and turned him into a more sympathetic anti-hero character.
As Dragon Ball Super progressed, and new divine transformations, such as Super Saiyan Blue Kaio-ken and Super Saiyan Blue Evolved were revealed, the saturation of such transformations inspired a new course for the Dragon Ball franchise. The introduction of the Gods of Destruction and the Angels led to the incorporation of character-specific transformations for each of the Saiyans in the main cast.
Since the Broly from Dragon Ball Super has now become the newest ally of the Dragon Team, who is honing his power alongside Goku and Vegeta, it stands to reason that his version of the Legendary Super Saiyan form will be the basis for his own evolution. At a point where character-specific forms such as Goku’s Ultra Instinct, Vegeta’s Ultra Ego, and Gohan’s Beast are stealing the spotlight, a revamped take of a classic Super Saiyan form, may be exactly what is needed to give Broly some time to shine on his own.
Dragon Ball Super is available to stream on Crunchyroll.
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