Super Saiyan 4: who designed it, if not Akira Toriyama?

Super Saiyan 4 was Dragon Ball GT's evolution of the Saiyan transformation beyond what we saw in Dragon Ball Z. It's funny that many fans knock GT but love this form. It's popular among Dragon Ball fans, surprisingly so. To me, it's Goku's most powerful form in the original run of the anime.

Dragon Ball GT aired from 1996 to 1997.

Super Saiyan 4 was designed by Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, not Akira Toriyama

Akira Toriyama was involved in the early creative process behind GT. As the series progressed, he was less and less involved. Because of the confusion that lasted for so many years, many fans believe Toriyama designed Super Saiyan 4. He did not. Based on every interview we've seen about GT, he had no input whatsoever into this transformation.

Super Saiyan 4 was designed by longtime Dragon Ball character designer and key animator Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru. Nakatsuru was an absolute beast when it came to emulating Toriyama's style. He was one of the best artists ever to work on Dragon Ball, and he's the one who designed this form.

The first time, and to my knowledge the only time, Toriyama drew Super Saiyan 4 was for the Dragon Ball GT Dragon Box DVD release. That came out many years after GT was already over. Toriyama did nothing with this form. "It's Nakatsuru's baby," and yet it's still beloved among fans.

Why I think fans love Super Saiyan 4

I think the form is beloved because of how different it is from the other Super Saiyan forms. That difference is not only in its overall design but also in how Goku attained it. As GT progressed, the writers had to come up with higher and higher levels of power, and Super Saiyan 3 was not cutting it. Goku battled Baby Vegeta and could not get the job done with Super Saiyan 3.

The Kais found a way to tap into the secret Saiyan power. Goku became a Golden Oozaru by taking in a tremendously high amount of Blutz Waves and turning into a Great Ape. He was totally out of control. Once he gained control, thanks to his love for his granddaughter, he mutated one more time. He took control of his body and became Super Saiyan 4.

The look sets it apart too. You grow red fur on your body. Your hair is dark and somewhat long, though not as long as Super Saiyan 3. You get mysterious magical pants that happen to grow. The most important change to me is that Goku was a kid for most of GT, and Super Saiyan 4 turned him back into adult Goku. I think part of the reason fans love this form is that they were getting sick of kid Goku, at least kid Goku in GT.

Super Saiyan 4 as a controlled Golden Great Ape, and why you don't need Super Saiyan 3

The lore has always interested me. It's implied that the Golden Great Ape is the truest form of the Legendary Super Saiyan, but it can't be controlled. Super Saiyan 4 is like a controlled version of the Golden Great Ape, except it's the level above it, the mutation above it. There's also been a theory for years that Super Saiyan 1, 2 and 3 are gradual mutations leading to this form.

However, it's clear that you don't have to achieve Super Saiyan 3 to get Super Saiyan 4, contrary to what Funimation may have said in interviews back in the day. The proof is Vegeta, who never needed it. His route was a bit of cheating, to be honest. Bulma built a machine that fires a high concentration of Blutz Waves into the body. Vegeta became an ape, then a Golden Great Ape, then quickly controlled himself to become Super Saiyan 4.

When Goku and Vegeta fused into Gogeta, Gogeta was in Super Saiyan 4 from the start. Many fans have theorized about why Gogeta has red hair in GT. You can have a million theories, but it's never been explained. It looks cool. It isn't a preview of Super Saiyan God, because Toriyama and the GT writers had no idea they'd ever do that form. GT came a decade or so before Battle of Gods.

Super Saiyan 4 episodes and the full power Super Saiyan 4 question

Goku achieved the form in Dragon Ball GT episode 34. Vegeta got it in episode 59. Gogeta made only one appearance, in episode 60. That's a fusion rather than a transformation, but I love revisiting how powerful Gogeta was.

Goku used Super Saiyan 4 for nearly all of the rest of GT to battle his foes. He made a joke out of Baby Vegeta in humanoid form and was even able to defeat Golden Great Ape Baby Vegeta. He had some help in that fight, but he still did it in this form.

For some reason, Dragon Ball Wiki lists an upgraded version called full power Super Saiyan 4. That's not an official transformation, or even its own transformation, so I'm not sure why it's listed that way. Goku's friends and family donated their energy to power him up so he could beat Baby Vegeta. That's all it is. It would be like saying that when Goku took energy from the Z Fighters in the first Broly movie, he reached a different Super Saiyan form. Nobody says that.

How Super Saiyan 4 works: transforming at will, the adult body and the 10x Kamehameha

Once somebody taps into Super Saiyan 4, they don't have to repeat the process of absorbing Blutz Waves or staring at the moon. After you get the form the first time, your brain adapts and you can transform whenever you want, which is handy.

The form is so powerful that a child's body can't maintain it, so it turns you into an adult. That's always interested me. Goku became a kid because of a wish made with the Black Star Dragon Balls. That means Super Saiyan 4 is powerful enough to temporarily nullify that wish. I wonder if they even thought that through when they came up with it.

Goku's signature Super Saiyan 4 attack in GT is the 10x Kamehameha, which is 10 times stronger than the traditional Super Kamehameha. I love how the beam is red, matching the red fur. It's a cool little design trick from the GT staff that I enjoyed.

Super Saiyan 4 has no stamina problem, but it shortens fusion

Unlike Super Saiyan 3, Super Saiyan 4 doesn't have a stamina problem, or any real problem. The form uses a lot of power and is extremely powerful. It upgrades your speed, stamina, endurance and everything else. You become a monster in this form.

We do find out that it shortens fusion time because of how much power it carries. Gogeta could stay fused for only 10 minutes instead of 30, because the writers had to find some way to stop Gogeta from winning. It's a bit weird, but it somewhat makes sense given how much power the form puts out and the instability of Metamoran fusion.

Super Saiyan 4 is much stronger than the Golden Great Ape

There's a misconception that Super Saiyan 4 is equally powerful to the Golden Great Ape, just controlled. That isn't true. Super Saiyan 4 is much stronger than the Great Ape form.

Much of that may come down to Goku's mind, body and ki being aligned, so he knows how to fully use the power. That could be why. Still, I'm willing to say it's way stronger, because look at what it does and how strong it is across GT.

What the Dragon Ball GT Perfect Files say about Super Saiyan 4

The GT Perfect Files guidebooks give more information. They say that in Golden Oozaru, Goku gains what's referred to as a human heart, or a compassionate heart. The result is the birth of the mightiest of warriors, Super Saiyan 4, who combines reason with tremendous power.

The Perfect Files also discuss the thousand year legend Vegeta talks about in Dragon Ball Z and how it relates to this form. One paragraph implies that only pure blooded Saiyans can reach Super Saiyan 4. Its reasoning is that after Goku first became a Super Saiyan, half Saiyans managed it shortly after, so that legend came to be seen as untrue or overhyped. Super Saiyan 4 may be the real legendary power, or at the very least the Golden Oozaru is.

That got somewhat nullified when the games, and only the games, gave the form to Gohan. Gohan most likely can never do Super Saiyan 4. The games also gave it to Broly and Bardock, who are both pure bloods. But in early Dragon Ball Z, Gohan was still able to become a Great Ape despite being half Saiyan. So theoretically, Gohan maybe can reach it. It's implied that the form is strictly for pure bloods, but it's never outwardly stated.

Is Vegito stronger than Super Saiyan 4?

The Perfect Files also include an article comparing Super Saiyan 4 to Vegito that has confused many fans. Many fans think Vegito is equal to Super Saiyan 4, and that's not exactly what was said. The translation by Herms reads, in part: "After two strongest people merge, they become the greatest master in the universe, perhaps even stronger than Super Saiyan 4."

"Perhaps even stronger" means it's possible, but whoever wrote it didn't want to commit. Maybe they were worried about power scaling debates in Japan or around the Toei offices. I have no clue why they wrote it that way, but the writer is guessing that Vegito could be stronger. I do think that's a possibility. Given how Goku kept getting stronger, maybe Vegito tops Super Saiyan 4 during the Baby fight. That's possibly not the case by the end of GT, when Goku is fighting the dragons and seems a lot stronger.

I never put much stock in that quote, though many fans do. Either way, this is Goku's most powerful form across Dragon Ball, Z and GT, the original shows that ran from 1986 to 1997, not counting Super. Super Saiyan 4 is peak power.