Super Kaioken vs Super Saiyan 2: which is stronger in DBZ?

The Super Kaioken is the technique Goku used against Paikuhan, known as Pikkon, in the Other World Tournament of Dragon Ball Z. It's a combination of two powers with some interesting and unique properties, but it's not quite Super Saiyan 2. The Super Kaioken is still way too unstable and way too dangerous compared to Super Saiyan 2, which has zero drawbacks.

Understanding the Super Kaioken means understanding the Kaioken itself first. The Kaioken is a fusion of mind, body and spirit that have to be in alignment, and in the rage based Super Saiyan form it becomes very difficult to control.

Toriyama dropped the Kaioken after Frieza, but Toei Animation brought it back

The last time Goku used the Kaioken in Akira Toriyama's original manga was against Frieza. After that, Toriyama chose not to use it for the rest of the Dragon Ball manga. Once Goku discovered the Super Saiyan transformation, the Kaioken became obsolete.

That didn't stop Toei Animation from using it. The studio worked the Kaioken into the Dragon Ball Z movies that came out after the Frieza saga, and into the Other World Tournament arc. That arc is a five episode filler story set after the Cell Games, running across Dragon Ball Z episodes 195 to 199. In the Other World Tournament, we saw for the first time ever what happens when Goku uses the Super Saiyan transformation and the Kaioken together. The result is the Super Kaioken.

Why Goku needed the Super Kaioken to fight Pikkon

When Pikkon was introduced in this arc, he was built up as one of the most powerful warriors in the Other World Tournament. He was presented as a serious rival to Goku, and as someone who might end up winning the entire tournament. Pikkon was faster and stronger than Goku at the time, so Goku had to find a way to raise his power enough to land a blow.

Just a few episodes earlier, Gohan had unleashed Super Saiyan 2 and killed Perfect Cell once and for all. Goku didn't know how to tap into Super Saiyan 2 yet, so that wasn't an option. His alternate method of getting more power, a cheat code in a way, was the Kaioken. With the Super Kaioken, Goku evened the playing field and delivered some big shots to Pikkon.

The Super Kaioken is Kaioken stacked on Super Saiyan

It's important to clarify how this works, because it can be confusing. The Super Kaioken is not the Kaioken with Super Saiyan on top of it. Goku transforms into a Super Saiyan first and then activates the Kaioken. In other words, "it's the kaio ken stacked on top of super saiyan not the other way around." That distinction makes a big difference.

The concept wasn't in the original manga. It was exclusive to the anime and its filler arc. Interestingly, we saw a version of it in Dragon Ball Super when Goku used Kaioken Blue, and many of the same ideas behind the Super Kaioken carry over to that technique.

Dragon Ball Super explained why the combination is so risky

In Dragon Ball Super, the Old Kai mentions that using the Kaioken with Super Saiyan is impossible and very lethal. The reason is the intense emotional turmoil the Super Saiyan transformation creates in the mind and body of the user, which would make it hard for Goku to control.

That ties back to the Kaioken being a fusion of mind, body and spirit. Those three have to be in alignment. Super Saiyan is a form driven by rage, and in that state it becomes very difficult to control the Kaioken and stay mindful and focused in battle. It's funny that Dragon Ball Super explained this decades after the Super Kaioken appeared in Dragon Ball Z, and yet it makes perfect sense.

Is Super Kaioken equal to Super Saiyan 2?

For years, many fans have wondered whether the Super Kaioken would equal Super Saiyan 2. The Kaioken is a multiplier that doubles and amplifies your strength, speed and senses, so wouldn't that be equal to Super Saiyan 2? The answer is not really, and the big reason is that the Kaioken is unstable, especially with Super Saiyan.

Goku could use the Kaioken to power up his Super Saiyan body and get close to the power Gohan had at the Cell Games. But remember that in the Cell saga, Super Saiyan Gohan was stronger than Goku even before reaching Super Saiyan 2. Full power Gohan was still more powerful than full power Goku. You can argue Goku got a zenkai from dying, which could be a possibility, and that his body was more stable in the afterlife. That all makes sense. We still know Super Saiyan 2 Gohan at the Cell Games was an absolute monster.

The big problem with the Super Kaioken compared to Super Saiyan 2 is stability and stamina. The Kaioken burns out and damages your body. We saw it in Dragon Ball Z and in Dragon Ball Super, and King Kai explains in Dragon Ball Z, long before Super, that the Kaioken can have an adverse, torturous effect on the body.

Could Goku have beaten Cell with the Super Kaioken?

Hypothetically, could Goku have beaten Cell with the Super Kaioken? Possibly. But at what cost? And could he have landed the finishing blow, given that Cell knew how to regenerate? If Goku had put all that power into a big Kamehameha to blow up Cell the way Gohan did, would it have gotten the job done?

It's up for debate, but I feel like it wouldn't have worked. The Kaioken would have put too much stress on Goku's body. He could only have maintained it for seconds, maybe a minute at most, before burning himself out and losing the power. The Super Kaioken might be a shortcut to that kind of power, but if it only lasts a few seconds, would he really have beaten Cell, who had the most incredible stamina of any foe they had faced up to that point?

It's tough to say. We also can't forget how weak the Other World Tournament made Cell look when he went to the afterlife. That still bothers me to this day, and I don't like the writing there, but you could use it in an argument too. I can see both sides of this debate.

No matter which way you slice it, though, the Super Kaioken is still far too unstable and too dangerous compared to Super Saiyan 2, which has zero drawbacks. When you hit Super Saiyan 2, there's nothing to worry about. "So super kaioken looks cool, gave us some great moments, but it's not quite super saiyan 2."