Highlights
- Both Goku and Gohan have powerful transformations that represent their characters at their peaks.
- Ultra Instinct is a mindset for Goku that enhances his abilities, while Gohan’s Beast form is easier to access.
- Goku’s experience as a fighter gives him an advantage, but Gohan’s Beast form may be hard to counter.
Son Goku and Son Gohan are both powerful Saiyans in their own right, and major players since their respective introductions in Dragon Ball. One can argue that their respective transformations are good representations of their character, and especially that they are powerful compared to even their former peaks of power. Ultra Instinct is a strong mindset and augmentation, while the Beast form that Gohan attains is a powerful transformation that represents him at his best, after having accepted his power. Overall, it’s easy to say that Dragon Ball is showing much more powerful forms in the future.
Of course, Goku and Gohan have defeated powerful characters that set the benchmark and limit of their new transformations, and only recently did they spar with each other using those forms. Which begs the question of which would win, and more importantly, what advantages does one have over the other.
The Case For Ultra Instinct
The Advantages And Weaknesses
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Manga Debut |
Dragon Ball Super Chapter 41, “Ultra Instinct” (Non-Angel) |
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Anime Debut |
Dragon Ball Super Episode 129, “A Transcendent Limit Break! Autonomous Ultra Instinct Mastered!” (Non-Angel) |
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Users |
Angels, Goku, Moro |
While Gohan’s transformation has been implied and said to be stronger than even Goku’s Ultra Instinct, raw power doesn’t always translate to a swift victory in battle. Part of what makes the Ultra Instinct such a dangerous mindset and ability for Goku is that once he reaches the true autonomous Ultra Instinct, he doesn’t have to think at all about dodging or attacking, and instead just does it with no delay. On top of augmenting his already powerful abilities, True Ultra Instinct takes all the aspects that Goku had struggled with before and adjusts them to his personality and truthful nature as a warrior. Not to forget, that since Goku has decades of experience being a martial artist and a fighter over the course of protecting his home on earth, Goku has the advantage of having more training and considerably much more know-how.
However, at the same time, one must consider that Mastered Ultra Instinct and True Ultra Instinct have different levels of power, as well as different requirements for activation. Where Mastered Ultra Instinct is at its peak, and the strongest form of Goku, True Ultra Instinct is not the same level of power but has a much easier activation and considerably inordinate boost all the same. The only issue with this form when putting it up against Beast, is that there aren’t many counters against the Beast form, which doesn’t require a change in mindset but a simple transformation trigger as easily as Super Saiyan was. In fact, Ultra Instinct’s gap can still be closed depending on the speed, power, and reaction time one has. As a matter of fact, Goku still has to polish his newly acquired transformation in order to close the gap with Beast.
The Beast Within
The Conclusions Between Nature and Instinct
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Manga Debut |
Dragon Ball Super Chapter 99, “Son Gohan’s Ultimate Awakening!” |
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Anime Debut |
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero (Movie) |
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Users |
Gohan |
Speaking of which, when the Dragon Ball Super: Super Heroes movie came out, everybody who saw the movie would have been given the treat that is Beast Gohan, the white-haired transformation that looks aesthetically similar to Ultra Instinct. However, at the same time, this ability gives off a different aura, and a different theme surrounding it, as well as its own advantages. As seen in the movie, Gohan and even Orange Piccolo struggled to fight Cell Max on equal footing without risking it exploding and destroying the earth, and even Gohan was trying to break his limits. It isn’t until Orange Piccolo is seemingly knocked out and in peril, that Gohan unleashes the Beast within him, and the clear boosts in strength are shown. Gohan’s calmer, stronger, and able to overwhelm Cell Max to a considerable amount; Gohan is even able to access this transformation much more easily compared to Goku’s Ultra Instinct. On top of that, Gohan has adapted the ability that Piccolo did first, and used the Special Beam Cannon to finish off Cell Max safely. It would seem that Beast Gohan is unbeatable, and especially with Goku and Vegeta both surprised and pleasantly eager to test their strength against Gohan’s new form.
Even so, Dragon Ball is never one to have the status quo stay for too long. This story has introduced Super Saiyan as the strongest transformation, only to offer different grades of power, and Super Saiyan 2 in the same arc. Even with all that detail, Beast and Ultra Instinct are not direct parallels in the same way Ultra Ego is to Ultra Instinct, but they represent different aspects of the two characters. Goku becomes true to himself, and Gohan awakens a new power and becomes more consistent in his training. Dragon Ball is unlikely to remain the same way with who may be stronger, and until we get a definitive battle, it’ll be worth trying to understand the differences between the two transformations.
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