Highlights
- Goku Black’s Super Saiyan Rose transformation was widely loved by fans for its unique take on the traditional Super Saiyan formula.
- Goku Black, fueled by his desire to eradicate all Gods and mortals, becomes an incredibly powerful and sadistic villain.
- Super Saiyan Rose is achieved by infusing God Ki into oneself, visually distinguished by its pink hair, and grants immense power and abilities to Goku Black.
Throughout the entire Dragon Ball franchise, there have only been a few characters that have been as loved in their very first appearance as Goku Black. An evil version of Goku, this villain had divine powers that were strong enough to force the Saiyans to use their Super Saiyan Blue transformations, eventually overpowering this foe for a little while before he unlocked his own Super Saiyan Rose form.
As soon as it was introduced, Super Saiyan Rose became an instant hit with fans of the series because it offered a new take on the traditional Dragon Ball Super Saiyan transformation formula. This is because it was, much like Majin Vegeta, a form unique to a villain of the series and was stylistically incredible to witness. So, let’s take a look at Goku Black and his terrifying Super Saiyan Rose transformation!
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Goku Black’s Rampage
In the timeline of Future Trunks, an apprentice of the Supreme Kai of Universe 10 named Zamasu existed. Though he was an apprentice to this Kai, named Gowasu, his main job there was to serve his master some tea, something that negatively impacted his life as he felt he was wasting too much time doing needless tasks. At one point, Zamasu visited Universe 6 and gathered the Super Dragon Balls to make a wish that allowed him to swap bodies with the strongest mortal, which was Goku at the time.
Once this wish had been made, Zamasu went on a rampage under the guise of Goku, due to which Future Bulma coined the name ‘Goku Black’. Goku Black was a sadistic and powerful villain who destroyed everything that he came across with the goal of eradicating all Gods and mortals from the universe in order to rebuild everything from scratch. He would undertake these goals with an alternate version of Zamasu who made a wish to become immortal. Together, they would wreak havoc across the timelines.
Enter Super Saiyan Rose
As Goku and Vegeta accompany Trunks back to his timeline to fight and finally put an end to Goku Black, they come face to face with the monster. It should be noted that when it comes to his transformation into Super Saiyan Rose, the manga and anime differentiate slightly. Moving on, Vegeta engages the villain and fights on par with him in his Super Saiyan 2 form in the manga.
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Despite unlocking his own Super Saiyan form to even the odds, Black continues to get overwhelmed by Vegeta as the latter finally transforms into Super Saiyan Blue and beats the villain mercilessly. However, Future Zamasu saves his counterpart and allows him to get multiple Zenkai Boosts after healing him a few times, causing Goku Black to find a new power within himself and transforming into Super Saiyan Rose.
In the anime, it more or less happens the same way, only Goku Black has the upper hand throughout most of the fight and never enters his regular Super Saiyan form. In his fight against the Saiyan Prince, Goku Black admits that their battle has made him stronger in the process, which eventually allows him to unlock his Super Saiyan Rose transformation, mitigating any real threat that Vegeta may have posed to him. Goku Black and Goku then fight afterward, though Black gains the upper hand against the Saiyan.
Upon their escape from this timeline, Goku, Vegeta and Trunks train even more so they can properly deal with this new transformation of Goku Black. When they return, Vegeta takes on the evil version of Goku once more, but this time, he does a great deal of damage to him while explaining how he is merely an impostor inside Goku’s body, something which will never allow him to realize its true strengths. Knowing that he should also have trained to match their strength, both versions of the villain retreat to fuse into the terrifying Merged Zamasu.
How Does Super Saiyan Rose Work?
Goku Black needed a substantial power boost to contend with the Saiyans, so, he ended up unlocking a transformation that would allow him to compete with Goku and Vegeta’s Super Saiyan Blue form. The way that Super Saiyan Rose works is essentially the same as how the God form works for the Saiyans, in that the form is achieved through infusing God Ki into oneself while powering up, unlocking an extremely powerful technique.
However, visually, Super Saiyan Rose is very different from Goku and Vegeta’s ascended Super Saiyan God transformation. This is because when the mortals infuse God Ki with their SSG transformation, the resulting power-up gives their hair a blue color, whereas when Goku Black does it, the hair turns pink. This is because Zamasu inside of Goku Black is a deity, so he is already divine, which means the resulting transformation is different from the one that the mortals use. In terms of power and ability though, the forms are virtually the same.
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Powers and Abilities
Goku Black’s main repertoire of abilities is virtually similar to that which most of the characters use in all of Dragon Ball. What this means is that he can manipulate his Ki and energy, allowing him to power up to multiple forms that are each more powerful than the last, as well as having the ability to shoot highly destructive energy blasts from his hands in the forms of waves, beams and energy balls. His destructive power is immense as he has been shown to destroy halves of planets in his base form.
On top of this, he also has incredible physical prowess, as mere punches and kicks from him can knock down entire buildings and structures and were shown to damage even Goku and Vegeta in their toughest forms at the time. Inversely, his physical toughness is also great, as he could even take powerful blows and Ki attacks from the Saiyans but still be standing afterwards.
However, his signature move is the Ki Sword, which he can form from his aura. This sword is incredibly powerful as it was shown to cut even the strongest of materials, such as when Goku Black mortally wounded Vegeta in his Super Saiyan Blue form by stabbing him through the chest. Later on, this Spirit Sword was made even stronger when Goku Black stabbed himself with it to infuse more of his hatred and divine essence into the weapon, forming a gigantic energy scythe that could rip open space itself. Coupling these abilities with his terrifying intellect makes Goku Black one of the deadliest foes in the entire franchise!
Dragon Ball can be streamed on Crunchyroll and Funimation.
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