Dragon Ball: 5 Transformations That Rival Super Saiyan 3

It's no secret that the Dragon Ball franchise gives a lot of importance to transformations and forms in general. Almost every single main character in the series has undergone a power-up that has allowed them to climb many levels of strength in one fell swoop, rather than individually training for everything.

One of the strongest and most recognizable transformations is Super Saiyan 3, which only Goku, Vegeta, and the fused warrior Gotenks have realized. Although it is exceptionally powerful, there are a few transformations in Dragon Ball that rival Super Saiyan 3 in power, so let's take a look at what these are.

Mastered Super Saiyan 2 Performed Better Against Beerus

User: Vegeta

Although it seems kind of counter-intuitive, considering how Super Saiyan 3 is literally defined as a step up from Super Saiyan 2, Vegeta actually surpassed the strength of Super Saiyan 3 in the Beerus arc. The difference in power wasn't monumental but the rage Vegeta felt due to Beerus striking Bulma was enough to increase his power to surpass Super Saiyan 3 Goku.

The reason for this still isn't fully explained, but the fans have come up with some interesting theories. The main theory states that, at that moment, Vegeta managed to tap into the power of Super Saiyan 3 but couldn't use it for long enough due to the limitations of his current form and the fact that he hadn't unlocked it at the time. In any case, Vegeta's Mastered Super Saiyan 2 is a worthy rival to the Super Saiyan 3 form.

Kid Buu Was The Ultimate Equal To Goku

User: Majin Buu

At the very close of the Buu Saga, the ultimate battle for the fate of the universe was shown between Goku and Buu, where the latter had finally assumed his true form from millions of years ago. Although this wasn't the strongest version of Buu that we had seen, it was by far the most dangerous due to its insanity and uncontrollable nature to destroy everything.

Goku in his Super Saiyan 3 form is largely believed to be equal to Kid Buu in terms of overall power, though the real issue comes with Kid Buu's superior stamina. Ultimately, the two were equal, though due to the energy cost of Super Saiyan 3, Goku had to step out of the fight to charge his Spirit Bomb. In any case, in terms of overall power, Kid Buu is the perfect rival for Super Saiyan 3.

The Tertiary Occulus Awoke An Immensely Powerful Form

User: King Gomah

In the Demon Realm, much of the interesting power scaling of the series continued. However, everything changed when the Tertiary Occulus was revealed as an object of exceptional magical powers that made its user far more powerful. This was never better exemplified than through King Gomah's amazing transformation.

In this form, Gomah went up against Goku and Vegeta together and was seen to hold their Super Saiyan 3 forms at bay. A caveat here is the fact that Gomah wasn't at all stronger than Super Saiyan 3, but his durability and regeneration were far too great for the heroes to deal with in that form, leading to the awakening of Goku's Super Saiyan 4 transformation.

The Ultimate Form Was The Strongest In The Buu Saga

User: Gohan

The greatest power-up in the Buu Saga that came from a non-fused character was Ultimate Gohan. It was never any secret that Gohan's true strength lay in his unmatched potential, which has historically allowed him to close the gap to Goku and Vegeta without needing to train as extensively as they do. Eventually, all this potential was drawn out by Elder Kai.

As a result, Ultimate Gohan was born, who was the most powerful non-fused character in the entire series up to that point. His battle against Super Buu truly showed his immense power, and through absorbing him, Super Buu transformed into Ultimate Buu, who was such a powerful villain that Super Vegito was needed to take him down, which alone speaks to Ultimate Gohan's strength.

Kefla Would Have Made A Great Rival For Super Saiyan 3

User: Kefla

Of all the transformations on this list, Kefla is the most contentious and interesting one. This is because the two versions of her, from the manga and anime, are implied to be on vastly different levels of strength, since the anime one lost to Ultra Instinct Sign Goku, while the manga version was defeated by Ultimate Gohan, matching him completely.

If the latter is to be believed, she can definitely be seen as a worthy rival to the Super Saiyan 3 form, though she would likely be slightly stronger. This is because Super Saiyan 3's strength is comparable to Ultimate Gohan's, though it is ultimately weaker. With that in mind, this form and Kefla's Super Saiyan state can be seen as being on a similar level.

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