"Super Saiyan 2 and 3 are nothing more than powered-up variations of Super Saiyan. After the fight with Beerus, Goku realized that mastering his normal state and Super Saiyan would raise his level more and sap less strength, so I think he probably won’t become Super Saiyan 2 or 3 any more."
This statement reminded me of those nomenclatures that appeared in a magazine around 1993, where they dealt with "transformations" in grades, including Super Saiyan 2.
- Super Saiyan Grade 1: The level Goku reached on Namek.
- Super Saiyan Grade 2: The level that Vegeta presented against Semi-Perfect Cell, calling himself "Super Vegeta".
- Super Saiyan Grade 3: The level that Trunks presented against Perfect Cell, with the loss of speed as his weak point.
- Super Saiyan Grade 4: This is the level dominated by Goku and Gohan, being more powerful than the previous ones, avoiding loss of speed and excessive energy wastage.
- Super Saiyan Grade 5: Today known as "Super Saiyan 2", it was the most powerful stage yet.
Obviously, the names were made before Goku revealed Super Saiyan 3, as well as naming the stages higher than the original Super Saiyan.
Since it was revealed that Super Saiyan Blue (SSGSS) is the Super Saiyan with the powers of Super Saiyan God, some fans have wondered why Goku never tried to "merge" Super Saiyan God and Super Saiyan 2 or 3.
The answer, in my opinion, is in line with Toriyama's interview and the 1993 magazine's way of naming the Super Saiyan stages.
It always seemed to me that Goku named Super Saiyan 2 and 3 out of convenience, just as he prefers to just call Blue instead of a more difficult name like SSGSS.
When placing the subsequent levels of the original Super Saiyan as simple variations, it can be concluded that Super Saiyan 3 would be Super Saiyan Grade 6, as well as that Super Saiyan who faced Beerus in the film's climax would be something like Super Saiyan Grade 7, ending a cycle just like Grade 4, which went through "scandalous" variations before returning to basics with full power.
In this way, the SSGSS would be a step beyond grade 7, taking the form to the divine level.
Although the Dragon Ball Super manga changed some details of the events of The Battle of Gods, the part involving the Super Saiyan and its variations (up to the Grade 6) still works in the current context.
What do you think?