Dragon Ball Super: Goku Finally Masters Ultra Instinct

Episode 129 of Dragon Ball Super, "Limits Super Surpassed! Ultra Instinct Mastered!!" 

For the entire Tournament of Power, the final storyline in Dragon Ball Super, Universe 11's Jiren has dominated the martial arts competition, easily shrugging off attacks from the champions of various realities across the Dragon Ball Multiverse. He's also revealed himself to have combat strength on par with the gods. While the anime series' protagonists from Universe 7 have put up a valiant fight and given Jiren the most trouble, forcing him to unleash his full potential for the first time, the Pride Trooper has still very much had the battle under control.

Picking up from the cliffhanger ending of the previous episode, Goku has once again trigger Ultra Instinct, a transformation that allows its users to achieve divine combat sense, reflexively and effortlessly dodging blows and moving at blinding fast speeds as it pushes the user's body beyond its normal physical capabilities. Goku first unlocked the form in his earlier bout against Jiren. When the stoic warrior redirected Goku's Super Spirit Bomb back at him, Goku briefly achieved the form to barely survive his own attack before eventually reverting to his base state from the sheer exertion.

In another close fight against Jiren, Goku holds his own much better against the final opponent remaining across the Dragon Ball Multiverse. However, when the fight is rejoined, Belmond, the God of Destruction from Jiren's home universe, observes that Goku still has not completely mastered the transformation into Ultra Instinct. Goku and Vegeta's trainer Whis had first made note of this while Goku demonstrated the form against the fused Saiyan warrior Kefla, unable to take full advantage of the offensive boost of Ultra Instinct and forced to rely on quick thinking to defeat his opponent before the short-lived transformation wore off.

While Belmod is initially confident Jiren can overcome the latest display of Ultra Instinct, Vegeta points out that Saiyans have always been able to push themselves above their normal limits under pressure which has been seen all throughout the Tournament.

While this bold claim is certainly fueled by Vegeta's signature pride, it's certainly not without precedent in the long-running franchise. Goku had pushed his Kaio-Ken technique to reckless levels in separate fights against Vegeta, Frieza and Hit, and it was only when the Z Fighters had completely lost hope against Frieza that Goku went Super Saiyan for the first time. In the non-canonical Dragon Ball GT, Goku had achieved Super Saiyan 4 -- a transformation which may no longer exist in Dragon Ball canon at all -- during his final fight against a Baby possessed-Vegeta. And the Saiyan Prince's prediction comes true as Jiren makes his final, desperate offensive against Goku.

As Jiren fires a massive blast against Goku, the attack is suddenly and decisively cancelled out, and Jiren is floored by a flurry of punches from Goku. The Saiyan warrior has now triggered a new form of Ultra Instinct marked by a visible change in physical appearance. Goku's hair and irises have transformed into a shimmering platinum with a similar energy aura around him to match. Additionally, Goku's voice appears to have noticeably changed as well, more ethereal than normal reflecting Goku finally unlocking the divine potential within himself. As Goku stands on the cleared battlefield, Whis observes that his student has finally mastered Ultra Instinct.

Ever since it's tease, nearly 20 episodes ago, Ultra Instinct has allowed Goku to briefly tap into abilities beyond his normal limits and fight evenly against far more powerful foes. However, as he was surprised himself by the new combat state, Goku had been unable to take full advantage of the additional abilities and power levels it granted him. True to form, with only minutes to spare in the tournament for the fate of the entire Dragon Ball Multiverse, Goku has hit a new level of power that may be just enough to eliminate Jiren. That said, given the Pride Trooper's resolve the entire competition, he will not be going down quickly or quietly.

Dragon Ball: 10 Things About Beerus That Make No Sense

We've seen Beerus destroy a variety of things in Dragon Ball Super, from Kai like Zamasu to ghosts like Dr. Slump's Dr. Mashirito. He's even destroyed entire halves of planets with just a drop of energy. It's not an exaggeration to say that he's one of the strongest characters we've ever seen in the franchise, but for the most part, he still remains a mystery. We're not even sure how he became a God of Destruction in the first place!

There's so much about Beerus that just doesn't make sense, no matter what angle you look at it from, although being an actual deity might make Beerus immune to the standards of logic we lowly mortals are forced to abide by.

10BEERUS IS SO SKINNY BUT ALSO IMMENSELY POWERFUL

Since the days of Dragon Ball, we've learned that size and muscle concentration don't mean a thing in this franchise. Even as petite children, Goku and Krillin defeated men twice their size during the World Tournament, and even in Dragon Ball Z, muscleheads like Nappa and Recome couldn't hold a candle to their often slimmer superiors like Vegeta and Captain Ginyu.

Beerus takes this a step further, always appearing in a state of malnutrition despite being one of the strongest fighters in the Dragon Ball multiverse. One look at his arms and you'd think he never trained a day in his life. As we said before, we know muscles don't matter in this series, but even Gotenks has bigger biceps.

9BEERUS EATS SO MUCH JUNK FOOD BUT DOESN'T GAIN WEIGHT

Although Beerus and Champa are twin brothers, their body types differ so drastically. While Beerus looks like he's never eaten a day in his life, it's evident that Champa eats every hour! This not only indicates what they do in their spare time, since Beerus is sleeping most of the day and Champa's more of a foodie than a Destroyer, but it also shows that Gods of Destruction aren't condemned to a single body type.

Over the course of Dragon Ball Super, we've seen Beerus down some calorie-dense foods, from huge ice cream sundaes to pizza slices dripping with cheese, and even instant ramen - one of the most sodium-packed meals a person could consume. And yet somehow he still manages to maintain that slim physique despite going straight to sleep after eating.

What are his secrets?!

8BEERUS CAN SLEEP FOR DECADES WITHOUT HAVING TO EAT OR USE THE BATHROOM

As we mentioned above, Beerus is known for his century-long naps. Before Dragon Ball Super, he was asleep for the entirety of Goku's life. After authorizing the destruction of Planet Vegeta, he went back to sleep for nearly four decades straight.

We know for a fact that we can't get through a good night's sleep without skipping to the bathroom every four hours, and many of us know how it feels to get hunger pangs in the middle of the night. For a guy with such a huge appetite, we can't believe Beerus is such a heavy sleeper!

7BEERUS (SOMEHOW) FELL ASLEEP DURING ZENO'S ALL UNIVERSE HIDE & SEEK TOURNAMENT

When the Gods of Destruction were first introduced, fans wondered what the divine hierarchy was. They knew that Gods of Destruction somewhat outranked the Kais, and even though the Angels were considered attendants, they somewhat outweighed their Gods of Destruction. But who ruled all of the universes? That answer came to us in the form of the Omni-King, Zeno.

The Dragon Ball Super manga revealed that at some point, Zeno held an All Universe Hide and Seek Tournament, but the game was canceled after Beerus fell asleep for half a century during the event. We know how meticulous Beerus is when dealing with Zeno, even threatening to destroy Goku at one point when the Saiyan considered dropping by Zeno's house.

If even hearing his name causes Beerus to start sweating, then how could he get relaxed enough to fall asleep during the Omni-King's event in the first place knowing what he's capable of?

6BEERUS WIPED OUT THE DINOSAURS WITHOUT DESTROYING THE EARTH

In Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, Beerus mentioned that he visited Earth once before and destroyed the dinosaurs that inhabited the planet because of how rude they were.

We've always seen Beerus destroy entire planets, and he usually gets the job done. He's not one to selectively kill the species that angered him. Forget the fact that there are still dinosaurs on Earth. Why didn't he just destroy the entire planet as he's done hundreds of times before?

5BEERUS CAN STILL GET FOOD POISONING

After the Reality Machine #2 created what was supposedly the most delicious food of all time, Beerus rushed to the scene to try it out. What he didn't know was that that same machine had created a piece of poop earlier. When you can survive in the middle of space and destroy planets with the tap of a finger, we figured Beerus was somewhat immune to food poisoning, but we were dead wrong here.

In the Dragon Ball Super manga, he was shown to down a poison put in his food by an alien race after indulging in a meal on their planet. If his digestive system had no problem filtering so much of that stuff that was specifically made to kill a person, what's a tiny bit of fecal matter?

4BEERUS WAS "ASLEEP" THROUGH THE ENTIRETY OF THE BUU SAGA

In order to preserve the universal balance, Gods of Destruction and Supreme Kais of each universe share a life. If one dies, so does the other. Going off of this fact, it doesn't make sense that Beerus stayed asleep for the entirety of the Buu Saga when Shin's very life was in danger after Majin Buu's resurrection.

We know he wasn't even thought of all those years ago, but there wasn't a convincing enough reason to explain why Whis didn't wake him up so that he could save Shin when Majin Buu nearly killed him... twice!

3BEERUS & SHIN SHARE A LIFE

Going off of the last point, we're lost as to how it's possible for Beerus and Shin to share a life. While both do live on for millions of years, we know that Kais are born, with all of them belonging to the same race, while Gods of Destruction are made.

With the right training, any mortal can become a God of Destruction, no matter their species! So how is it that these two share a life link when chances are, they weren't even born the same year? What kind of magic is used to establish this life link in the first place?

2BEERUS IS STRONG ENOUGH TO HOLD OFF ALL THE OTHER GODS OF DESTRUCTION

In the manga's Zen Exhibition Match, Beerus managed to hold his own against the other Gods of Destruction, dodging their attacks with ease as they targeted him in unison. If it wasn't for Sidra's barrier, several of them would've been destroyed by one of his attacks at one point, proving that he's up there when it comes to the strongest Gods of Destruction.

Yet the reason why he was forced to participate in this tournament in the first place was because his universe lacked a high enough mortal level due to the fact that he slept more than he actually did his job. Given this, why would he be stronger than the Gods of Destruction who actually did their jobs instead of napping for centuries on end?

1BEERUS HASN'T MASTERED ULTRA INSTINCT YET

Even Beerus hasn't mastered Ultra Instinct to the extent that Goku had during his battle against Jiren. Although this probably is due to the fact that he spends less time training than he does sleeping, at his level, Beerus should've mastered this technique eons ago.

If Goku managed to do it in under an hour, Beerus should already have the technique down. We get that he's lazy and sleeps all his time away, but come on - he's had all the time in the universe! What's his excuse?

Dragon Ball: Super Saiyan God Vs Super Saiyan 4 - Which Is Stronger?

Akira Toriyama's beloved Dragon Ball has introduced a whole host of Super Saiyan transformations as its characters take on increasingly more powerful opponents across the various anime series that expand the franchise beyond the stories in Toriyama's core manga.

The non-canonical anime continuation Dragon Ball GT introduced the concept of Super Saiyan 4. However, the recent anime/manga series Dragon Ball Super, overseen by Toriyama himself, kicked off by introducing a new form known as Super Saiyan God before introducing even more powerful transformations. Now, we're taking a closer look at both of these transformations to see which form is really stronger than another.

WHAT IS SUPER SAIYAN GOD?

At the beginning of Dragon Ball Super, after the God of Destruction Beerus easily bests Super Saiyan 3 Goku, the longtime protagonist scrambles to achieve a higher form to save the Earth. He learns that if five other Saiyans channel their energy into him, he can unlock a mythical form known as Super Saiyan God. After receiving this energy from Gohan, Vegeta, Trunks, Goten and his unborn granddaughter Pan, Goku achieves the transformation.

Super Saiyan God causes Goku's muscle mass from Super Saiyan 3 to decrease to his normal physique while his hair turns bright red and no longer stands on end as he gains a fiery aura. In this form, Goku's speed and reflexes are significantly boosted and he is able to stand toe-to-toe against Beerus in orbit over Earth for a time, impressing the God of Destruction enough to spare Earth and agree to train him. Later in the series, it is revealed Vegeta obtained this form while training under Beerus and his mentor Whis, foregoing the ritual that Goku used to unlock the form the first time.

WHAT IS SUPER SAIYAN 4?

Towards the end of the first major story arc in GT, Goku had regrown his tail after being reverted physically to a child, with the help of the Supreme Kai and Elder Kai. Despite this, he was still unable to defeat the Tuffle villain Baby who had possessed the body of Vegeta and recreated his home planet near Earth. As Goku lay defeated, the sight of his home caused him to transform into a giant, golden ape before Pan calmed him down, harnessing the immense power and transforming into a Super Saiyan 4 for the first time.

In this form, Goku was restored to the physical age of an adult, with most of his body covered in bright red fur while his hair grew longer and retained its natural color. Goku used this form to defeat Baby and rescue Vegeta, and later able to transform at will as he fought other opponents. Vegeta would also achieve this form after being immersed in waves simulating the moon's effects. When fused with Goku, the two formed the composite warrior Gogeta who also appeared as a Super Saiyan 4 for the final battle against Omega Shenron.

WHICH SUPER SAIYAN TRANSFORMATION IS STRONGER?

For all extents and purposes, Super Saiyan 4 is an extension of Super Saiyan 3, albeit with a more animalistic appearance, since it harnesses the powers of the great golden ape into a humanoid form. Goku and Vegeta are able to fight opponents on a higher level, but Goku has repeatedly faced issues with power consumption, prematurely reverting to his child form due to the energy demands of fusing into Gogeta and struggling to overpower Super Android 17 in a separate encounter. Even the debut of Super Saiyan 4 required Goku to receive a power boost from Gohan, Trunks, Goten and Pan in order to simply defeat Baby, putting its supremacy in doubt.

While Super Saiyan God certainly taxes the body rapidly as well, with Goku unable to maintain it for his full fight against Beerus, the boost in speed and combat reflexes make him able to fight on relatively equal footing against gods themselves, as the form's name suggests. While even more powerful transformations were introduced later in Super, the manga still depicted Vegeta using the form to take advantage of Super Saiyan God's enhanced speed before transforming into Super Saiyan Blue to deliver crushing blows.