Super Saiyan 4’s journey into Dragon Ball canon has been an arduous one. It took 28 years before Akira Toriyama decided to finally make Dragon Ball GT‘s strongest transformation a part of the mainline Dragon Ball story by way of Dragon Ball DAIMA. It was well worth the wait, though, as SSJ4 Goku made Episode 18, “Awakening” the best episode of Dragon Ball DAIMA by far, and arguably one of the best fight sequences in the franchise’s history. Super Saiyan 4 Mini Goku definitely made a strong impression in Dragon Ball DAIMA, but is he actually stronger than GT’s original version of the form?

Despite Dragon Ball DAIMA’s Super Saiyan 4 drawing clear inspiration from Dragon Ball GT character designer Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru’s original design for the transformation, there are clear differences in how Goku looks and acts in the form, as well as in how he actually achieves it. It’s obvious Dragon Ball DAIMA‘s SSJ4 is a completely different animal from its Dragon Ball GT counterpart, but it has a substantial impact on Goku’s power level just like it does in GT. While there’s much less to go off with Dragon Ball DAIMA‘s Super Saiyan 4 than GT’s version of the form, it’s still enough to definitively say for certain that Dragon Ball GT‘s Super Saiyan 4 Goku is stronger than Dragon Ball DAIMA‘s – at least for now.

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Dragon Ball DAIMA’s big battle between Goku and Gomah gives fans what they want — and more — in a gorgeous, action-heavy, Super Saiyan spectacle.

Dragon Ball DAIMA SSJ4 Goku is Extremely Strong, But He Doesn’t Last Long

Super Saiyan 4’s First Appearance in Dragon Ball DAIMA Lasts a Total of 10 Minutes

In Dragon Ball DAIMA Episode 18, Goku unlocks Super Saiyan 4 through a power-up gifted to him by Neva, the Legendary Namek. Blending his Demonic Ki with Goku’s Saiyan DNA, Neva unlocks a previously unknown level of potential in Goku, turning him into Dragon Ball DAIMA’s take on GT’s iconic Super Saiyan 4. Notably, while Mini Goku’s SSJ4 in Dragon Ball DAIMA bares many similarities to Dragon Ball GT’s, he has just as many differences, potentially indicating this could be a new form entirely.

The form was never directly called Super Saiyan 4 in Episode 18, but documents have since revealed the form was being referred to internally by Toei as SSJ4 during Dragon Ball DAIMA‘s production. This at very least confirms Goku’s new form was always intended to be DAIMA’s take on GT’s strongest form; but it wouldn’t be surprising for Toriyama to have named it something else to highlight its distinct connection to the Demon Realm. Mini Goku’s new form doesn’t only look a bit different from GT’s Super Saiyan 4, it also acts differently too. Goku has a much more beast-like, primal fighting style in Dragon Ball DAIMA which seems to directly hint at how the form taps into his Saiyan Oozaru genetics.

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10 Biggest Differences Between Super Saiyan 4 Goku in Dragon Ball DAIMA & Dragon Ball GT

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Super Saiyan 4 Goku pulls out all the stops against Demon King Gomah as he delivers an impressive beatdown which Dragon Ball fans are unlikely to ever forget. However, in spite of his merciless fighting style, Goku actually doesn’t last very long against King Gomah. From the moment Mini Goku turns Super Saiyan 4 at the 8 minute point in Dragon Ball DAIMA Episode 18, to the moment he is powered down to Super Saiyan 3 at the 17:20 mark, Goku’s first usage of SSJ4 in canon lasts less than 10 minutes total. This is a far cry from Goku’s first transformation into a Super Saiyan 4 in Dragon Ball GT, which lasts around five episodes until the final blow is dealt to Baby.

Of course, SSJ4 Mini Goku’s short fight against Gomah is more a testament to the Evil Third Eye’s overwhelming power than it is an indication of Super Saiyan 4’s weakness. The Tertian Oculus is a legendary item for a reason. With SSJ4 Mini Goku having only fought one opponent who’s already difficult to scale, he simply doesn’t have the same feats that SSJ4 Goku does in GT. At most, what can be said for certain about SSJ4 Mini Goku is that he’s far more powerful than Super Buu, since Majin Duu himself is likely around Buu’s level, and Gomah was able to fight Duu, SSJ3 Goku, and Tamagami 1 all at once. This being the case, SSJ4 Goku in Dragon Ball DAIMA is definitely his strongest form at this point in the series, but he’s still not stronger than Dragon Ball GT Goku.

Dragon Ball DAIMA Super Saiyan 4 Cannot Be Stronger Than Dragon Ball GT’s

Goku’s Base Power Level in Dragon Ball GT is Significantly Greater Than in Dragon Ball DAIMA

Super Saiyan 4 Goku in Dragon Ball GT has way more screentime and feats to work off when determining his strength than Super Saiyan 4 Goku in Dragon Ball DAIMA does. The most that can be said for certain about SSJ4 in Dragon Ball DAIMA is that it makes Goku at least three times the strength of his SSJ3 form, because he fought a Gomah who could fight back against Tamagami 1, Super Saiyan 3 Goku and Majin Duu. However, even this doesn’t say much, because he’s still in his Mini form, which is presumably at least a bit weaker than his adult form at the end of DBZ. If Super Saiyan 3 Mini Goku is weaker than SSJ3 adult Goku, it means that SSJ4 Mini Goku could be more around the level of Buu Saga Vegito, who was the strongest character in DBZ by far. In contrast, Super Saiyan 4 Goku in Dragon Ball GT is significantly stronger than anyone in the Buu Saga.

The most obvious reason Dragon Ball GT’s Goku is automatically stronger than Dragon Ball DAIMA’s is that GT takes place after the End of Z, which is ten years after the Buu Saga. Goku has become significantly stronger since that time, so much so that he can fight an opponent as strong as Majin Buu while still in his base kid form. Specifically, Dragon Ball GT Kid Goku is able to fight toe to toe with Rildo, who is confirmed to be stronger than Buu by Goku himself. By the time Goku fights Baby Vegeta, the power scaling goes out of control. In the Baby Saga, Baby takes over Vegeta’s body, and absorbs the powers of Goten, Gohan, Trunks and Bulla.

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This has a terrifying similarity to Super Saiyan God Goku in Dragon Ball Super, which required the powers of five pure-hearted Saiyans to power up to the form. Baby essentially becomes a Saiyan deity of his own after becoming Super Baby Vegeta. In fact, he’s so powerful that even Uub‘s fusion with Majin Buu, Majuub, is powerless to stop him. SSJ3 Kid Goku himself is not even close to a match for Super Baby Vegeta. These feats highlight the magnitude of power Baby Vegeta holds in Dragon Ball GT, which is what makes Super Saiyan 4 Goku’s strength even more impressive.

After becoming a Super Saiyan 4 in Dragon Ball GT, Goku treats Super Baby Vegeta as a joke. While Baby seems to be somewhat equal to Goku initially, it turns out SSJ4 Goku was just toying with him as he became acclimated to his new power. Baby had to turn into a Golden Great Ape to finally fight back against SSJ4 Goku, and even that required every dirty tactic he could think of to throw Goku off his game. Dragon Ball GT SSJ4 Goku is several times more powerful than anyone from the Buu Saga, and it’s not even close. Compared to Dragon Ball DAIMA Super Saiyan 4 Goku, whose feats so far only place him at perhaps equivalent to Vegito (if he’s lucky) GT SSJ4 Goku is by far the stronger of the two.

Dragon Ball GT SSJ4 Goku is Hard to Scale On His Own

Comparing GT Goku To Anyone Can Often Be a Challenge

Dragon Ball GT Goku’s greatest feats are difficult to measure up to a series like Dragon Ball Super, especially since some of GT Goku’s most impressive feats don’t even happen when he’s a Super Saiyan 4. Goku broke through the Sugoroku space, which exists in another dimension, while still in his base form. This is definitely an impressive feat, but it’s far from something that’s new to Dragon Ball. Both Super Buu and SSJ3 Gotenks did something similar when they escaped from the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. SSJ Blue Gogeta’s fight against Broly in Dragon Ball Supe: Broly is generally accepted to have taken place in between dimensions as well.

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Dragon Ball DAIMA’s Power Scaling Makes Even Less Sense Than GT

Despite their surface level similarities, Dragon Ball DAIMA is doing pretty much everything better than GT; except for its power scaling.

If anything, the fact base Kid Goku could do something that SSJ3 Gotenks could do proves that he was truly at another level by Dragon Ball GT. Similarly, base Kid Goku took a direct energy blast from Syn Shenron while charging the Spirit Bomb in his base form and didn’t even flinch. This is another indication of how much stronger Dragon Ball GT Goku is from DBZ. In this instance, however, he was absorbing the powers of beings from all over the Universe, so it’s possible it was the energy of the others which absorbed the brunt of that blast. In any case, Dragon Ball GT’s SSJ4 Goku is undeniably exponentially more powerful than anyone during the Buu Saga. It’s more than apparent that Dragon Ball DAIMA’s Super Saiyan 4 Mini Goku would be no match for him.

Dragon Ball DAIMA’s Super Saiyan 4 Still Has Room to Grow

Dragon Ball Super Could Provide its Own New Spin on SSJ4 in Future Arcs

As of Episode 18, Dragon Ball DAIMA’s Mini Super Saiyan 4 Mini Goku isn’t as powerful as Dragon Ball GT’s, but that doesn’t mean he’s reached the pinnacle of the canonical version of the form just yet. For starters, SSJ4 Goku in Dragon Ball DAIMA is still a child, which should mean he’s even weaker than he would be as an adult. While some inconsistencies indicate Mini Goku may be just as strong as his adult form (like defeating Tamagami 3 rather easily), this is more a narrative quirk than a steadfast indicator of his strength.

It’s also very possible Goku became way stronger by the start of Dragon Ball DAIMA as opposed to his Buu Saga counterpart, making his Mini form around the same level as he was during the Buu Saga as an adult. Fans can make a solid bet that adult Goku is still stronger than Mini Goku in Dragon Ball DAIMA, meaning that adult SSJ4 Goku in DAIMA might very well be more comparable to Dragon Ball GT’s SSJ4 Goku. Additionally, with Dragon Ball DAIMA confirmed to be canon to the main Dragon Ball storyline, it’s possible that Dragon Ball Super could once again give Goku a variation of the form somewhere down the line.

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Considering Dragon Ball Super Goku is even stronger than GT Goku, Dragon Ball Super’s Super Saiyan 4 Goku would be far stronger than that of Dragon Ball GT. With Goku having finally learned to master Ultra Instinct while still using his emotions as of the Granolah the Survivor Saga, it’s possible he could blend UI with a more emotional form like SSJ4 to reach untapped heights of strength. Its potential inclusion in Dragon Ball Super gives the canonical SSJ4 of Dragon Ball DAIMA even greater potential for power than Dragon Ball GT’s ever had, even if Goku hasn’t shown it just yet.

There are still a lot of unanswered questions regarding Dragon Ball DAIMA’s SSJ4 as of Episode 18. It’s not even certain whether Goku will be able to tap into the form again without Neva, and even the actual name of the transformation is ambiguous for now. Based on his first showing against Gomah, it’s fairly certain that Super Saiyan 4 Mini Goku is nowhere near the strength of Dragon Ball GT’s SSJ4 Goku, and it’s not even close. If SSJ4 does get brought back in Dragon Ball ​​​​​​​Super, though, the techniques of the Gods of Destruction and Angels could very well elevate the new canon version of Super Saiyan 4 to become the most powerful transformation in the series’ history.

Dragon Ball DAIMA is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Dragon Ball

Created by

Akira Toriyama

First Film

Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies

Latest Film

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero

First TV Show

Dragon Ball

Latest TV Show

Dragon Ball DAIMA

Summary

Dragon Ball is the labor of writer/illustrator Akira Toriyama, beginning with Dragon Ball back in 1984. The series originally started as a serialized manga back in Weekly Shonen Jump for nearly a decade until it expanded into the anime franchises it is most known for today. Dragon Ball was later adapted into two animes, with one being Dragon Ball Z, the most universally known series in the entire Dragon Ball canon. The franchise has continued to expand lore via films, video games, and additional sequel TV series, such as the more recent Dragon Ball Super and Super Dragon Ball Heroes. Dragon Ball centers mostly around Son Goku, a being known as a Saiyan, and his friends as they face off against intergalactic threats and seek out the titular dragon balls. When all seven of these balls are collected, they can be used to summon a legendary dragon that can grant the wishes of whoever so gathers them. The Dragon Ball franchise continues to be one of the most well-known and beloved animes of all time, with over forty different countries airing it, and has had a tremendous impact on Western culture as a whole.

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