35 Years Later, Dragon Ball Finally Resurrects A Forgotten Goku Form, And It's Epic

Published Jul 26, 2026, 4:00 PM EDT Zach joined the ScreenRant Anime team as a contributor in June 2024, before taking on a Senior Writer role in November. Since then, he has covered breaking news and produced features and lists about the most popular anime titles. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Dragon Ball has had little trouble evolving and adapting throughout its four-plus decades of activity. Goku and Earth's greatest fighters have inspired generations of audience members, leaning on the trends the series itself set and appealing to ever-changing tastes. And though they've always been a selling point for the series, modern Dragon Ball has leaned heavily on its trademark, flashy transformations. Dragon Ball Super saw the introduction of colorful Super Saiyan God forms, as well as Goku's Ultra Instinct, Gohan's Beast form, Piccolo's Orange form, and Vegeta's manga-exclusive Ultra Ego. 2024's Dragon Ball Daima revisited Super Saiyan 4, the fan-favorite transformation from the ultra divisive Dragon Ball GT. More than 40 years on from its debut, the franchise prefers to cater to its audience's desires, and it's a strategy that's proven effective at keeping Dragon Ball so relevant. However, a recent trailer for the upcoming Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero DLC proves the series is also willing to go back and dig up not just fan-favorite forms and lore, but largely forgotten history as well. Since its debut in 1991, the franchise has all but ignored one rare Goku transformation, until now. Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero Revives Goku's False Super Saiyan The Long-Forgotten Form Is Making a Comeback in Sparking! Zero's Upcoming DLC Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero, the franchise's most recent gaming entry, revived the celebrated series known in North America as Dragon Ball: Budokai Tenkaichi, active prominently during the late 2000s and 2010s. The game has been nothing short of a massive financial success, becoming the fastest selling Dragon Ball video game title in history, and its upcoming Super Limit-Breaking NEO DLC is set to provide players with a hearty influx of new content. The expansion will introduce a new solo mode, major roster additions, new fighting stages, and more. Though, of the new additions, the Dragon Ball community has zeroed in on one. During the trailer, a Goku using his False Super Saiyan form was revealed, though it's still unconfirmed whether the transformation is playable or part of an ultimate attack. Dragon Ball · Character Profile Which Dragon Ball Character Are You? “Power comes in response to a need, not a desire.” 👊 Goku The Fighter 👑 Vegeta The Prince 🧘 Piccolo The Mentor POWER UP → 01 A powerful new enemy appears. What’s your first reaction? AThis is amazing! I can’t wait to fight them and see how strong they are! BI’ll defeat them myself. No one else is worthy of the challenge. CWe need a plan. Rushing in blindly is how people get killed. NEXT → 02 How do you train for an upcoming battle? AFind the strongest sparring partner I can and push myself past my limits every day BTrain alone in isolation — I don’t need anyone holding me back CMeditate, study the enemy’s weaknesses, and train the younger fighters so they’re ready too NEXT → 03 Your team is losing a fight. What do you do? AJump in front of everyone — I’ll take the hits so my friends can regroup BGet angry. I refuse to lose — my pride won’t allow it. I’ll surpass my limits right here. CFall back and coordinate — someone needs to think clearly while everyone else is panicking NEXT → 04 A rival challenges you to a one-on-one fight. How do you respond? AAbsolutely! Let’s go right now — no holding back! BFinally, a chance to prove I am the strongest. I accept — and I will crush you. CIf it serves a purpose, fine. But pointless fighting is a waste of energy. NEXT → 05 An old enemy offers to join your side. What do you do? AI don’t trust them — once an enemy, always an enemy. They’ll betray us. BSure! Everyone deserves a second chance. The more friends the better! CI’ll allow it, but I’m watching them closely. Trust is earned, not given. NEXT → 06 What’s your biggest weakness? AI’m too trusting and sometimes let enemies power up just for the thrill of the fight BMy pride — I’d rather die than accept help from someone else CI keep everyone at arm’s length — caring about people is a liability I struggle with NEXT → 07 You sense a massive power level approaching Earth. What’s your move? AFly straight toward it — I want to meet them first and see what they’re made of BPrepare myself — if this threat is real, I’ll be the one to destroy it CGather the fighters, assess the threat, and make sure the people I protect are safe first NEXT → 08 What drives you more than anything? AProtecting those who can’t protect themselves — someone has to be the responsible one BThe thrill of getting stronger — there’s always a new level to reach, a new challenge to find CProving my worth — I am the Prince of all Saiyans, and I will surpass everyone REVEAL MY CHARACTER → Power Level Scanned Your Dragon Ball Identity 👊 Goku “I am the hope of the universe. I am the answer to all living things that cry out for peace.” You’re a pure-hearted warrior who lives for the thrill of the fight. Every challenge is an opportunity, every enemy a potential friend, and every defeat just fuel to come back stronger. People are drawn to your infectious optimism and unbreakable spirit, even when your naivety drives them crazy. You’d give your last Senzu Bean to a stranger and charge headfirst into a battle you can’t win — not because you’re reckless, but because you genuinely believe that pushing past your limits is the only way to grow. Like Goku, your greatest power isn’t your ki — it’s your ability to inspire everyone around you to be better.Pure-Hearted Fearless Limitless Inspiring 👑 Vegeta “I do not fear this new challenge. Rather like a true warrior, I will rise to meet it.” You carry yourself with the pride of royalty and the ferocity of a born warrior. Second place is not in your vocabulary, and you’d rather break your body than your spirit. People might call you arrogant, but beneath that iron exterior lies someone who has learned to fight not just for themselves, but for the people they’ve quietly grown to love. Your journey is one of evolution — from cold-blooded conqueror to Earth’s fiercest protector — and every scar you carry is proof that pride and love can coexist. Like Vegeta, you don’t just want to be the strongest — you need to earn it on your own terms.Proud Relentless Fierce Evolving 🧘 Piccolo “Sometimes, we have to look beyond what we want and do what’s best.” You’re the one everyone depends on when things fall apart — the calm center in the middle of chaos. While others charge in recklessly or let their ego do the talking, you see the bigger picture and make the hard calls that need making. You didn’t choose to care about people, but somewhere along the way it happened, and now you’d sacrifice everything for those you’ve taken under your wing. Stoic on the surface, deeply loyal underneath, you’re the mentor, the strategist, and the last line of defense all in one. Like Piccolo, your true strength is wisdom — and the courage to do what’s right even when no one is watching.Wise Tactical Protective Stoic ↻ PLAY AGAIN False Super Saiyan debuted in the 1991 film, Dragon Ball: Lord Slug, and has not really been recognized by the franchise since. There's a reason for that, as the movie was produced and released in theaters before Akira Toriyama debuted Super Saiyan in the Dragon Ball manga. The movie's transformation was a place-holder of sorts, as Toei's staff was not yet made aware of Super Saiyan's official design. When the form made its iconic first appearance in the Namek Saga, Dragon Ball understandably moved away from it in favor of Toriyama's Super Saiyan. In the years since, False Super Saiyan has been referenced on very few occasions, making an unnamed appearance in the series' mobile game Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle, but remaining elusive elsewhere. The addition into Sparking! Zero is a big deal, not just because a niche piece of history is being revisited, but because the move signals a major change for Dragon Ball games moving forward. False Super Saiyan Signals a Change in Dragon Ball Games Fans of Dragon Ball have been turning to the franchise's gaming entries to relive their favorite anime moments for decades, though those same games have relied primarily on the manga's content for years. Rarely will any titles venture into content that was not the result of Akira Toriyama's work. Dragon Ball Daima, despite being an anime-original series, was overseen by Toriyama shortly before his passing in 2024. The artist was also an advisor, though to what capacity is unknown, on Dragon Ball GT. If Toriyama was not involved in it, it's rarely used elsewhere in the series. Goku's False Super Saiyan is a rare creation of Toei Animation to find itself utilized elsewhere in the series, a move that may signal further additions of the sort in future franchise entries. Dragon Ball's lore is extensive, and fans will be able to get their hands on a niche piece of series history in Sparking! Zero's upcoming DLC, launching July 30th. Systems Released October 11, 2024 ESRB T For Teen Due To Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence Developer(s) Spike Chunsoft Publisher(s) Namco Bandai Engine proprietary engine