Where can Saiyan transformations go from here?

[Golden SS4]

Honestly I really miss the original blonde look. Somehow it just encapsulates “quiet anger” imo.

Not SS3 or SS2 with all the fireworks just the original SS.

I know something like that happened in Battle of Gods, Goku accessed the power of SSG while in his normal SS form somehow, but I wish they could do that better.

Like suppose Goku combines all the transformations he has up to this point, ignoring the possible destruction it might wreck on his body, and it just ends up looking like the original Super Saiyan form from the Namek Saga. I think that would be so epic, idk. Nostalgia is a powerful thing.

[Yuli Ban]

I personally prefer SS2 just because it's the perfect evolution of Super Saiyan; before there were numbers denoting how strong the form was, one could argue this was a perfected Super Saiyan.

You know— cultivating the form to unlock its peak potential, as if Super Saiyan was a new base form and Super Saiyan 2 was more like "Super Saiyan 100%". Because at that point, was it actually accepted that all the different appearances of Super Saiyan were entirely new transformations? That's a genuine question, too— I'm aware that some Usenet posts date back to 1991-1993 and follow the series complete with speculation, but I want to see if anyone thought that the graded forms were actually forms and not just the result of greater training allowing more power. You know, like in base form.

What am I getting at? Well, it's that it's much too late to undo the culture of transformations in the series. There was once an opportunity to follow a more satisfying progression, but that was long ago. There was one last chance with Super Saiyan God, and they blew it. Even if they do nothing but evolutions and mastering existing forms, they're still going to be considered new transformations/forms.

[Golden SS4]

Yeah it sucks, it just feels completely messy. SSG with red hair looks like base form hair some random cheesy ritual, then ooh blue super saiyan, then ooh back to base form but with silver eyes, oh and silver hair too...

Just give me back SS1 and 2...

[Matches Malone]

I personally prefer SS2 just because it's the perfect evolution of Super Saiyan; before there were numbers denoting how strong the form was, one could argue this was a perfected Super Saiyan.

I want to see if anyone thought that the graded forms were actually forms and not just the result of greater training allowing more power. You know, like in base form.

It's that it's much too late to undo the culture of transformations in the series.

If we're going by the original manga, Ssj2 wasn't treated as a "new" form when it was introduced, but rather Gohan's raw power mixed with Ssj. I also consider it my favorite form, as it perfects what I like about the original.

I don't have data from back then, but I view those forms as being no different than the Saiyan just bulking up like Freeza and Roshi did, just being able to do so as Ssjs.

This is unfortunately true, as the franchise is now known for its Ssj transformations. Whenever something new is announced the question of a new transformation is one of the first fans are asking about. I think this could've been avoided had Ssj been treated like a perfected form and if 3 didn't exist. This is why I don't know how long the franchise can last, as you can only give Goku so many forms before you literally run out of options.

Yeah it sucks, it just feels completely messy. SSG with red hair looks like base form hair some random cheesy ritual, then ooh blue super saiyan, then ooh back to base form but with silver eyes, oh and silver hair too...

The point of SsjG (back then) was to establish that there was nowhere else for Goku to go transformation wise, as not only did he need some special ritual to get another one, the form it resulted in had a time limit. It was meant to bring things back down to base and Ssj1 (according to Toriyama himself). That was unfortunately overturned and now DB has essentially become a parody of itself with all these new forms being introduced everywhere.

This is why I think BOG should've been the last story focused on the current cast, as there's no logical way to move forward with them both in terms of character development and especially power. We should've gone beyond EOZ with the next gen of fighters being trained by the older characters, something like what Boruto is currently doing.

[ABED]

If the choice is following the next gen or keeping the story that's spinning its wheels going, I'll pick the latter every time because at least it's more honest. It doesn't give the appearance of moving forward.

Where can transformations go from here? Another color like orange.

[Matches Malone]

If the choice is following the next gen or keeping the story that's spinning its wheels going, I'll pick the latter every time because at least it's more honest. It doesn't give the appearance of moving forward.

I don't know how a next gen show (with heavy presence from the old gen) is anything but moving forward.

[ABED]

If the choice is following the next gen or keeping the story that's spinning its wheels going, I'll pick the latter every time because at least it's more honest. It doesn't give the appearance of moving forward.

I don't know how a next gen show (with heavy presence from the old gen) is anything but moving forward.

It's pretending to move forward when it's going back to an earlier point of a fighter's development. We've already seen it with the older generation. No need to see it again.

[emperior]

Hopefully nowhere. And hopefully they won’t introduce new ones with new colors like orange or violet, just for the sake of having a Super Saiyan form for every color.

They have probably already exhausted the hair changes, so I don’t think we need more forms like 3 or 4 either.

Therefore I hope future power-ups will be more like Ultra Instinct and Spirit Control and less like Super Saiyan forms.
The possibility of Super Saiyan being mixed with Ultra Instinct also seems to have been dismissed by Toyotaro’s manga (which confirmed UI to be the opposite of SS).

To be honest I too wouldn’t mind if they went back to the original Super Saiyan to make it Goku’s strongest transformations, and loved the idea in Battle of Gods. But now that we have Ultra Instinct, I don’t think it would make sense.

[ZodiacBeast]

We don't need a new Saiyan form. I would like to see some sort of "Spirit Control" form, but I don't mind it staying a technique.

I really like the idea of Spirit Control giving the weaker fighters, such as the humans, a boost to make them viable fighters again. Then again, they missed the chance to give them Kaio-ken, soooo...

[Kaboom]

If the best that even Toriyama can come up with anymore are cheap, lazy, unoriginal recolors of past forms, then I hope this is the end of new ones for a very long time. I'm fairly convinced that Toriyama used up the last of his form-designing creative juices with Super Saiyan God, since that was the last one that was in any way unique or impressive.

[Grimlock]

It should probably be said that we are in square one when people say "we don't need more (Super) Saiyan forms but I wouldn't mind a technique that grants the Saiyan a transformation/recolor". If this new Vegeta's technique were to be possible only via a transformation, it would be no different than Vegeta getting yet another (Super) Saiyan transformation. Just like Ultra Instinct shouldn't really get this free pass it gets.

As far as I know, the problem is the quantity of forms and recolors Saiyans get, whatever they may be. The problem would/will not be solved if we are still getting (Super) Saiyan forms/recolors just masqueraded as different names and using a "different concept".

[ArmenianPepsi]

SSJ transformations can go on forever as long as they have a distinct color of the rainbow to make Goku's hair

But jokes aside if DB keeps going on, they'll be bound to force out a new form for when the story puts Goku into a corner and he needs a way to beat the opponent somehow stronger than his current most powerful form.

[MyVisionity]

They could always just go more ape-like.

Like maybe one stage results in fangs. Then the next stage results in red eyes. Then next maybe they fight completely naked. Then the fur, then the tail, then so on. I would also bring in different fur colors like green or purple or whatever at some point.

Maybe also give them special abilities exclusive to the monkey forms. Like the power of suggestion or some kind of hypnosis. Or the ability to turn into stone or water, or maybe shapeshift into people from out of somebody's memories or something. Just play into the whole monkey-horror vibe and make it weird and disturbing type shit.

I suppose they could also bring back the Oozaru transformations at some point in order to face giant-sized opponents and so forth.

[Alruneia]

The next addition to the heap of transformations should preferably make the heap smaller. At the moment, it's right on the verge of becoming an unmanageable mess. Besides his base form, Goku currently has SS1, SS2, SS3, SSG, SSB, UI Sign and UI, with the first six all appearing in the Moro arc and the seventh probably set to appear pretty soon. I know that UI Sign and UI technically aren't transformations, but they do change Goku's appearance, and that's what's important here. Basically, a new transformation at this point should cause at least a few of the already existing transformations to become obsolete, similarly to how Grade 2 and Grade 3 have been made obsolete.
But as far as to what they can actually do to create new forms if they need/want to, there's plenty of elements out there they can use. Create a semi-SS4 form (like Broly's rage form but a step further), then combine it with the various SSes, or create a combination between UI and SS somehow, or invent a new kind of god ki (angel ki or something) to create new SSG and SSGSS forms... and there's always Calvo... and there's always the rest of the colour wheel, allowing for an orange form, a violet form, an indigo form... Sky's the limit when you don't care about quality.
The amount of Super Saiyan forms there are is something I might address in the last few arcs of Dragon Ball Ultimate. Not that it matters.

[pepd]

There are three main transformations: Ōzaru, SS and SSG; SSGrades/2/3 are just power-up forms and SSB is a combination of SSG and SS with a simple recolor (a nice response to the request of a new transformation, I think); I would prefer simple small visual changes improving existing forms and techniques if more forms are necessary.

[Melee_Sovereign]

If we're going by the original manga, Ssj2 wasn't treated as a "new" form when it was introduced, but rather Gohan's raw power mixed with Ssj. I also consider it my favorite form, as it perfects what I like about the original.

Makes me kind of wish that SSJ2 was a Gohan-exclusive form.

[Jord]

We haven't gotten color purple yet. Let's go for that one. Just a purple dye. Nothing fancy.

[Golden SS4]

Hopefully nowhere. And hopefully they won’t introduce new ones with new colors like orange or violet, just for the sake of having a Super Saiyan form for every color.

They have probably already exhausted the hair changes, so I don’t think we need more forms like 3 or 4 either.

Therefore I hope future power-ups will be more like Ultra Instinct and Spirit Control and less like Super Saiyan forms.
The possibility of Super Saiyan being mixed with Ultra Instinct also seems to have been dismissed by Toyotaro’s manga (which confirmed UI to be the opposite of SS).

To be honest I too wouldn’t mind if they went back to the original Super Saiyan to make it Goku’s strongest transformations, and loved the idea in Battle of Gods. But now that we have Ultra Instinct, I don’t think it would make sense.

Well what if UI mixed with SS looks like the original form? I’d take it. I loved the idea of accessing SSG power in SS in BOG it’s a shame they scrapped that for blue hair...

[Golden SS4]

They could always just go more ape-like.

Like maybe one stage results in fangs. Then the next stage results in red eyes. Then next maybe they fight completely naked. Then the fur, then the tail, then so on. I would also bring in different fur colors like green or purple or whatever at some point.

Maybe also give them special abilities exclusive to the monkey forms. Like the power of suggestion or some kind of hypnosis. Or the ability to turn into stone or water, or maybe shapeshift into people from out of somebody's memories or something. Just play into the whole monkey-horror vibe and make it weird and disturbing type shit.

I suppose they could also bring back the Oozaru transformations at some point in order to face giant-sized opponents and so forth.

They did that with SS4. I say just make SS4 canon and call it a day. They did it with Broly.

[Golden SS4]

The next addition to the heap of transformations should preferably make the heap smaller. At the moment, it's right on the verge of becoming an unmanageable mess. Besides his base form, Goku currently has SS1, SS2, SS3, SSG, SSB, UI Sign and UI, with the first six all appearing in the Moro arc and the seventh probably set to appear pretty soon. I know that UI Sign and UI technically aren't transformations, but they do change Goku's appearance, and that's what's important here. Basically, a new transformation at this point should cause at least a few of the already existing transformations to become obsolete, similarly to how Grade 2 and Grade 3 have been made obsolete.
But as far as to what they can actually do to create new forms if they need/want to, there's plenty of elements out there they can use. Create a semi-SS4 form (like Broly's rage form but a step further), then combine it with the various SSes, or create a combination between UI and SS somehow, or invent a new kind of god ki (angel ki or something) to create new SSG and SSGSS forms... and there's always Calvo... and there's always the rest of the colour wheel, allowing for an orange form, a violet form, an indigo form... Sky's the limit when you don't care about quality.
The amount of Super Saiyan forms there are is something I might address in the last few arcs of Dragon Ball Ultimate. Not that it matters.

My ideal scenarios would be to either have Goku combine SS and UI and it coming out looking like his original SS form perhaps with a silver glow around him and shinier hair texture. Or they make SS4 canon along with the Golden Oozaru, maybe even something like my pfp to separate it from the GT version. If Broly can be made canon then why not stuff from GT and other movies? Broly was the best thing to come out of Super yet.