Epic Dragon Ball Z Character Transformations
“This isn't even my final form!”
Those words have been the dread and downfall of many cartoon heroes and video game characters
over the years.
From Sephiroth's one-winged angel to Maleficent's black dragon and beyond, a transformation
– or 2, or more – is a time-tested, surefire way to show the audience that things just
got “really real.”
No TV show has ever had quite as big a love affair with character transformations as Dragon
Ball Z, in which both heroes and villains upgrade their combat skills on the regular
via dramatic physical transformations.
These are some of our favorites!
When it comes to surprising and awesome character transformations, no media property can touch
Dragon Ball Z's crown.
The long-running sequel to Akira Toriyama's original Dragon Ball series, and prequel to
the even more over-the-top Dragon Ball GT and Dragon Ball Super, Dragon Ball Z follows
Earth's perennial hero, the Saiyan warrior Son Goku, as he defends his adoptive planet
and various other parts of the universe from a rogue's gallery of colorful villains.
Along the way, practically every hero and villain of consequence changes his physical
characteristics at least once, ascending to a new level of skill and strength in a bid
to dominate the battlefield.
Here are some of the most epic Dragon Ball Z transformations ever.
Majin Buu to Kid Buu
Late in the series, magically summoned baddie Majin Buu, a servant of the evil wizard Babidi,
gives the Z Fighters a serious run for their money, bouncing and floating and giggling
all over the battlefield like a hyperactive pink marshmallow.
A chain of events reveals that Buu's pudgy appearance is the result of powerful beings
he's absorbed in his past; through trickery and sheer force of will, Goku and Vegeta (in
a combined form) get Buu to absorb them, and then, from inside his body, they eventually
manage to force him to expel all his previously absorbed entities.
This causes Buu to revert to his original, ancient form – Kid Buu.
Kid Buu's appearance isn't that surprising – he's basically a shorter version of the
Super Buu form seen earlier during the saga – but the crazy way he returns to this original,
purest, and most dangerous form makes it a truly epic transformation.
The fact that Kid Buu, now free of the calming influence of other personalities, immediately
decides to destroy the entire Earth for the fun of it just makes the whole thing even
more mind-boggling.
Goku and Vegeta to Vegito
Speaking of the Majin Buu saga, this late stage of Dragon Ball Z gives fans their first
glimpse of fusions.
There are two ways to fuse fighters together into a new, even more powerful, combined being,
but the simplest is a pair of earrings, called Potara Earrings, given to Goku by the Old
Kai as a last-ditch ace in the hole against Buu.
When two beings wear one earring each, they're fused together – but the fusion is, in most
cases, permanent, making Goku and Vegeta's choice to combine into the mighty Vegito very
serious.
Fortunately for Bulma and Chi-Chi, once Vegito is absorbed by Buu, the conditions inside
Buu's body cause the two to separate once again, but the sheer determination it took
for the two heroes to combine – and the treat of seeing the show's two all-time fan
favorite characters merged into one – makes this transformation one for the record books.
Larval Cell to Perfect Cell
For something that starts out looking like a giant bug, Dr. Gero's evil genetic creation
Cell ends up packing a heck of a punch on the battlefield.
Though it takes some time for the villain to work his way up from draining civilians
for energy, to absorbing his fellow Dr. Gero-created baddies Androids 17 and 18 and finally achieving
his perfect form, the complete transformation – from cicada-esque larva, to skinny bug-person,
to beefy bruiser, and finally the ultimate organic fighting machine – is one of the
most radical and consistently surprising chains of events in the series.
As a chimera made of genetic material from the world's most powerful warriors, including
Goku, Piccolo, and Trunks, Cell is no pushover.
At every turn, the Z Fighters try, and fail, to stop his evolution; it's only well after
he reaches his full power that he's finally defeated by Goku's son, Gohan.
Gohan goes ape
Though it came as no surprise to fans of the original Dragon Ball series, fans new to the
show's mythology were almost as shocked as Piccolo when Goku's toddler-age son, Gohan,
gets accidentally exposed to the light of a full moon and morphs into an enormous, rampaging
ape-beast with glowing red eyes.
This transformation is a natural power of the Saiyan warrior race, one that seemingly
stems from their tails.
All the Saiyans in DBZ, including Gohan, eventually lose their tails, and the ability to transform
into Great Apes along with them.
In the meantime, though, as Gohan's reluctant guardian during Goku's time in the afterlife,
the green-skinned Namekian warrior, Piccolo, has his hands full just trying to stay alive
when the moon shines bright and ape-Gohan starts smashing mountains and stomping giant
holes in the ground.
Frieza, Frieza, and more Frieza
If we had to choose one villain – a through-and-through villain; sorry, Vegeta – to represent the
entire Dragon Ball Z TV show, this white-and-purple intergalactic tyrant would be the obvious
choice.
The star of the first saga that really showed off just how long and epic DBZ's story arcs
could get, Frieza is the ruler of the known universe, and such bad news that even Goku's
friend and mentor, King Kai, does everything in his power to convince our hero to avoid
fighting him at all costs.
Over the course of the story, we not only learn that Frieza is responsible for the destruction
of the Saiyan home world, but that he has more transformations than even the most ludicrous
video game boss.
Not only does he exhibit 4 primary forms during his titanic fight with Goku and the gang on
planet Namek; he also has an adjustable power level in his final, perfect form... and even
briefly shows up later in the show in yet another form, having been robotically reconstructed
by his father, King Cold.
Goku goes Super Saiyan
Sure, it turned out to be the first of many, many Super Saiyan transformations for the
DBZ gang, but no transformation in the series is quite as electrifying as the first time
Goku goes blonde.
Facing down the final form of Frieza at long last, Goku stands alone, his friends defeated.
Even his greatest rival, Vegeta, has been killed, in a surprisingly poignant turn of
events.
Determined to at least save the others, Goku instructs them to flee the dying planet Namek,
leaving him alone on the planet with Frieza.
The final straw comes when Frieza ruins Goku's plan by killing his oldest friend, Krillin
– who he's known since almost the very beginning of the original Dragon Ball manga, when they
were both small children – and then announces his plan to kill Goku's son Gohan next.
Needless to say, that's just about the last mistake Frieza ever makes.
The transformation that follows – Goku's golden aura, his blue-green eyes, his unbelievable
power and incredible rage – stands as one of Dragon Ball Z's most memorable and iconic
moments.
So, what's your favorite epic Dragon Ball Z transformation?
Which final forms make you “go ape?”
Be sure to like this video and share your thoughts in the comments below.
Don't be afraid to post at your full power!
And remember, subscribe to CBR for more transformative videos about all the TV shows, movies, comics,
and games you love.