Dragon Ball Super has brought Goku, Vegeta, and their friends into the domain of the gods more than ever before. Their power gradually surpassed Kami, the Kais, and is now even brushing up against the gods of destruction and the angels. The means of Goku’s transcendence to the power of the gods were his Super Saiyan God form and Super Saiyan Blue forms, which both gave Goku a means of tapping into the divine God Ki that allowed him to fight back against universal threats like Zamasu and Golden Frieza.

What is Super Saiyan God?

Super Saiyan God utilizes God Ki—a power much more potent than the ordinary ki that Goku and the others had been utilizing up until now. After Beerus arrived on Earth in search of the Super Saiyan God of prophecy, Goku had no choice but to achieve that transformation or see his entire world be destroyed in the blink of an eye.

Goku was only able to achieve this form by employing the assistance of Shenron, though Shenron’s power alone wasn’t enough. Goku would also need five righteous Saiyans to join together to lend him their power in order to achieve the transformation. Goten, Trunks, Vegeta, Gohan, and Pan (who was still inside Videl’s womb at the time) all channeled their energy into Goku to allow him to achieve the true legendary Super Saiyan God form.

In Super Saiyan God, because Goku channels God Ki, his energy cannot be sensed by mortals in the same way that regular ki can. Goku’s hair and eyes turn red, though his hair does not stand on end like it does in the regular Super Saiyan form. He also gains a red aura that surrounds his body, resembling a burning flame that is both as fierce and as calming as a real fire. In terms of pure power, SSJ God Goku is pretty much unrecognizable from before. Some fans have speculated that Goku’s power multiplies 100,000 times that of his base form: a significant increase from the 50 times the strength that the basic Super Saiyan form has. While no numerical calculation has officially been given, the simple fact that SSJ God allows Goku to actually keep up with a fraction of Beerus’ full strength is proof enough of his considerable power upgrade.

While Goku’s method of channeling power from five righteous Saiyans into his body was a fast track to SSJ God, it wasn’t the only way of achieving the form. Following Goku’s ascension to the form, Vegeta later achieved it through more organic means. Vegeta was trained on Beerus’ planet by Whis in the art of channeling God Ki, which eventually allowed him to achieve both Super Saiyan God and its next level, Super Saiyan Blue.

What Is Super Saiyan Blue?

Simply put, Super Saiyan Blue is Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan. That is to say, SSJ Blue is the Super Saiyan form activated with the God Ki of Super Saiyan God. During his fight with Beerus, Goku absorbs Super Saiyan God into his base form, giving him constant access to God Ki.

Just as Goku’s original blonde Super Saiyan form was an Ascended transformation that multiplied his power from his base form, Super Saiyan Blue has the same effect on the base form of Super Saiyan God.

When Goku and Vegeta become Super Saiyan Blue, their hair stands on end just as it does in their regular blonde Super Saiyan forms, but their hair and eyebrows turn blue. The change from SSJ God to SSJ Blue brings about far more than just a new hair color: the Saiyans receive significant multipliers upon their power.

In Super Saiyan Blue, because it is simply a Super Saiyan form of the Super Saiyan God form, the Saiyans should achieve a multiplier of about 50 times the power of the Super Saiyan God, just as they do in the basic Super Saiyan form.

Is Super Saiyan Blue The Limit of Goku and Vegeta’s Powers?

As has been shown in both the Dragon Ball Super anime and manga, Goku can now tap into new transformations that are even beyond the level of Super Saiyan Blue.

Just as the original Super Saiyan form was surpassed through Ascended Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan 2 and Super Saiyan 3, Goku and Vegeta have both surpassed SSJ Blue into the Ascended SSJ Blue and SSJ Blue Evolved states.

Vegeta first achieved the Ascended SSJ Blue form during the fight against Zamasu, and then later reached SSJ Blue Evolved during the Tournament of Power arc. Goku also learned how to combine his kaioken technique with SSJ Blue to give him an even greater multiplier of power, though that does take a hefty toll on his body.

Even more recently, both Goku and Vegeta tapped into brand-new forms which are not even directly tied to Super Saiyans. These new forms were Ultra Instinct and Ultra Ego: two forms that simulate the basic states of the gods and angels. As their names suggest, Ultra Instinct allows Goku the ability to fight purely based on instinct, giving him superior reaction times; while Ultra Ego lets Vegeta utilize his Saiyan pride to its utmost to grow increasingly stronger the more he fights.

Interestingly, these latest forms don’t provide the same kind of pure power multiplier that the Super Saiyan God and Blue transformations do. Instead, they allow the user to gain such precise control over God Ki that they make the Super Saiyan God form look like the work of a mere mortal in comparison.