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Once again, it's time to dive into the Dragon Ball multiverse, a journey that will get ridiculous very quickly. As transformations are Dragon Ball's bread and butter, games introducing new ones were only a matter of time, especially since Akira Toriyama's manga and anime leave the door open for a few truly overpowered versions of characters. These forms might not be canon, but they sure are fun.
Be it the Budokai series, Xenoverse, or Dragon Ball Heroes, the extended universe comes packed with OP transformations way too broken to be made official. Nevertheless, they are part of the franchise, and they echo the spirit of fan-created forms that used to populate the internet in its early days (and still do, to an extent). Let's get silly.
All these Dragon Ball transformations debuted in a game, and they aren't canon.
Majin Buu's Many Other Absorbed Forms
Buu's Endless Potential, Realized
- Perfect example: Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2
- In Budokai 2, Super Buu can absorb Tien, Vegeta, Cell, and Frieza
Even more so than Cell, Majin Buu's absorption ability has the potential to serve up endless transformations; as long as somebody new exists, he can consume them. In Dragon Ball Z, Super Buu has three transformations: Buutenks, Buuccolo, and Buuhan. Most games stick to the canon forms, but we have gotten a couple of exclusives over the years.
Budokai 2 is the best and most famous example, as Super Buu can use the absorption ability in the middle of a fight. Once players execute the combo, Buu looks around for a viable candidate, absorbs them, transforms, and gains a few of their moves. In random matches or training, Buu picks a target at basically random, and he looks beyond just the canon forms.
In the game, Buu can absorb Cell, Frieza, Vegeta, or Tien, unleashing four unique looks. He reacts positively to the first three, but the same cannot be said for his Tien form.
Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan Berserk Vegeta (And Goku)
A Blink And You'll Miss It Transformation
- Debuted in Dragon Ball Heroes
- Appears in the Super Dragon Ball Heroes anime
This transformation encapsulates Super Dragon Ball Heroes' absurdity in a nutshell.
In Dragon Ball Heroes, Super Saiyan Blue Vegeta and Goku enter Berserk mode for roughly a minute, accomplish nothing, and then return to normal. Much later on, Vegeta re-enters and masters this form, in one of the anime's better moments. Vegeta's Berserk Controlled form is among the best-looking transformations in DB Heroes and Dokkan Battle, and it is the only form in this article that could realistically fit the main timeline.
Dragon Ball Heroes introduces the concept of Evil Aura, which is constantly emitted by evil Saiyans. Cumber is the most famous example, and his aura is strong enough to influence other Saiyans. Fu, the main villain of Dragon Ball Heroes, uses Cumber's evil ki to temporarily transform Goku and Vegeta, who enter Berserk mode and essentially lose their senses. When Fu tries to repeat the process on Vegeta later on, the Saiyan Prince taps into his long history of defeat and manipulation, using that to regain his senses.
Transcended Super Full Power Saiyan 4 Limit Breaker Broly Is A Powerful Idiot
One Power Up On Top Of Another
- Debuted in Dragon Ball Heroes
- He features in the Super Dragon Ball Heroes anime
Ah, Broly, Dragon Ball's ultimate musclehead.
While the canon DBS version has not been significantly touched by the extended universe, the original Broly cannot stop popping up in other media. This trend even predates Dragon Ball Heroes, with 2009's Dragon Battlers and Raging Blast featuring Super Saiyan 3 Broly. Even more obscure is Broly God, a version who appears solely in a Studios Japan attraction called Dragon Ball Z: The Real 4-D at Super Tenkaichi Budokai.
However, naturally, Dragon Ball Heroes introduces the most powerful versions of Broly: Super Saiyan 4 and Dark Broly. The latter merges SS4 Broly with a Dark Dragon Ball; physically, he simply looks a bit darker than normal. Later on in Dragon Ball Heroes, Broly achieves his Full Power Limit Breaker SS4 form, and then he goes up another level by absorbing Dark King Demigra's evil ki.
Look, Dragon Ball Heroes just throws everything at the wall to see what sticks, and Transcended Super Full Power Saiyan 4 Limit Breaker Broly might be the most "let's just stack everything" transformation in the franchise. In the promo anime, he only appears for a few minutes and gets absolutely dogwalked by SS4 Xeno Gogeta.
Perfect Hearts Is A Beautiful Gold Villain
Oh, Dragon Ball Heroes, You Are Simultaneously Awesome And Ludicrous
- Debuted in Dragon Ball Heroes
- He features in the Super Dragon Ball Heroes anime
OK, we are getting into "what is this" territory now. If you never played Dragon Ball Heroes or watched the promo anime, you will likely not know Hearts, who is one of the early big villains in both of them. His base form is quite capable, but his Ultimate/Perfect form is so overpowered that he one-hits most of Dragon Ball Super's strongest characters, including Jiren. In fact, Hearts straight-up kills the supposedly immortal Fused Zamasu.
Hearts achieves this form by absorbing the Universe Seed, which has enough power to create a whole new universe. Perfect Hearts goes against the grain of typical Dragon Ball transformations, and that's what makes him interesting. He doesn't rely on energy blasts, instead focusing on gravity and kinetic meteorites, and his sleek aesthetic sets him apart from the many power-ups that rely on muscle growth.
For all its beautiful nonsense, Dragon Ball Heroes knocks most of its new designs out of the park.
Youthful Dark King Fu Is As Powerful As A Universe
Dragon Ball's Strongest Kid
- This form debuts in Dragon Ball Heroes; however, Fu is introduced in Dragon Ball Online and then Xenoverse 2.
- Appears in the Super Dragon Ball Heroes anime.
Generally, I try to avoid mentioning Fu in "You've Never Heard Of" articles, as he appears in so much media.
He is Dragon Ball Heroes' main villain and features prominently in the anime's first episode. While I imagine quite a few people dropped the series when they realized what it was, they would still have met Fu. Even before that, his first major appearance happens in Dragon Ball Online, and he even features as a villain in Xenoverse 2's "Extra Pack 2" DLC.
Unless somebody stuck until episode 39 of Super Dragon Ball Heroes or played the arcade game extensively, Fu's perfected form should be completely unknown to them, and he looks wildly different than his more famous version. After absorbing a bird and then the Universe Tree, Fu becomes a superpowered child who easily beats Super Saiyan Blue Gogeta and Super Saiyan 4 Xeno Gogeta at the same time. You really cannot take Dragon Ball Heroes seriously.
