Gohan’s Dragon Ball Beast Form Compared to Super Saiyan and Ultra Instinct

Many fans miss Dragon Ball Super being on their screens. The Tournament of Power arc ended in 2018 with the Z fighters defeating Jiren and Goku breaking the internet with the reveal of Ultra Instinct. After that, all we got was a couple of movies. Not to disparage them or anything. Dragon Ball Super: Broly and Super Hero were fantastic. The latter film came out two years ago and made waves with two long-time fan favorites getting new forms, but one in particular stole the show.

Gohan has been held in high regard for almost three decades as Goku’s successor. Sadly, he’d fallen short despite his achievements in the Cell Saga. He had become complacent in the years since and neglected his training, and as shown in Super Hero, he had remained so following the defeat of Majin Buu. Fate is a funny thing, though. In the climax of the most recent film, Gohan discovered a power deep within him that allowed him to persevere, unlocking the new Beast Form and saving the world once again. Since then, many have said it’s more powerful than his father’s Ultra Instinct, but is that true? How is Gohan’s Beast Form different from Super Saiyan and Ultra Instinct?

How Was Gohan’s Beast Form Achieved?

As stated above, Gohan has been neglecting his training for quite some time. Vegeta was the first to point this out during Gohan’s fight with Dabura in Dragon Ball Z episode 227. It was about a decade since Gohan defeated Cell, and the younger Saiyan had neglected his training, believing that no greater threat to humanity could emerge. Because of his negligence, Gohan was unprepared for Majin Buu, and even when he had caught up in strength, his arrogance allowed Buu to gain more power. The time between then and Super Hero was a four-year jump, and Gohan was yet again wrong about a greater threat emerging and was once again unprepared when Cell Max emerged.

In this film, the long thought-dispersed Red Ribbon Army reemerged and used the research of the deceased Dr. Gero to create Cell Max, a hulking red rampaging copy of his predecessor. Along with their schemes, the Red Ribbon Army also orchestrates the kidnapping of Pan, Gohan’s four-year-old daughter.

The battle against the android is rough, with most of the remaining Z-fighters on Earth being defeated, including Piccolo, despite his new Orange form that he gained thanks to the dragon Shenron unlocking his full potential. However, seeing his master’s defeat and fueled by rage at the abduction of his daughter, Gohan’s inner rage manifests into a new Beast form, a unique transformation of silver hair and red eyes. With this newfound power, Gohan can eliminate Cell Max with a special-beam cannon.

How Does the Beast Form Work in Dragon Ball Super?

While fans haven’t seen Gohan Beast since the movie, he’s been hard at work in the manga and has joined his father and Vegeta on Beerus’s planet to test the limits of his best form. Currently locked in a fight with Goku, Gohan has done the unimaginable in chapter 103. With one punch, he knocked Goku out of Ultra Instinct. With this astonishing feat, Whis remarked that the Beast Form is entirely unique to Gohan as he was using neither Super Saiyan form nor Divine Technique, just his own talent, making it more unique than Super Saiyan or Ultra Instinct, which can be used by the gods. Despite this, the Beast form bears more similarities to Ultra Instinct.

Always having been prone to bestial reactions when backed into a corner or under intense stress, seeing Piccolo on the verge of death was enough to snap Gohan into his new form, similar to Android 16’s demise at the hands of Cell in the Cell Saga. Early in Dragon Ball Z, Vegeta theorized that Gohan’s being half-human made him stronger than a full-blooded Saiyan. Beast form appears to be attached to Gohan’s emotional state, just like Super Saiyan 2 was initially.

Toriyama himself stated that every time Gohan rose higher in power, he became closer to the Beast form. That being said, it may also be a downside. If he needs to be out of control to be in this form, then the anger he’s unleashing could be blinding, causing more of a hindrance despite the heightened power.

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Beast vs. Ultra Instinct in Dragon Ball

Let’s see how Gohan compares to his father’s Ultra Instinct. Goku first entered this form in Episode 110 in his fight with Jiren. The alien was by far the most formidable opponent Goku had ever faced up to that point and was putting the hero through his paces, so it’s safe to say Goku’s back was against the wall. In this form, Goku can calm his mind, fight strictly on instinct, and block out all other reactions to his opponent. To do this, Goku had to enter a state of meditative calm, as opposed to the emotional state that being a Super Saiyan put him in.

However, this is also a drawback, as the form is easy to break if he can’t stay calm. Emotional reactions are enough to break the technique. Not only that, but even if he can maintain the form, he can only do so for so long due to the immense strain it puts him through. With his moves being strictly instinctual, they no longer have restraint. On top of that, he can’t just activate this mode at will but only by finding a state of tranquility in the heat of battle. This is where Gohan’s beast mode has an advantage.

The form is almost the exact opposite, running on rage as opposed to calm. It also doesn’t possess the physical strain that Ultra Instinct does, allowing Gohan to do more with it and for longer durations. Essentially, Gohan can break through his dad’s form if he can break his calm, but there are far fewer ways for Goku to calm Gohan, so he’ll leave his form, at least none that have been discovered yet.

Akira Toriyama wasn’t kidding when he said Gohan was stronger than everyone else now. However, perhaps Goku’s Ultra Instinct isn’t Gohan’s foil. After all, he has yet to face Vegeta in his Ultra Ego form, and no one knows the true potential of Frieza’s Black form yet. Who knows, there may just be a chink in the beast’s armor yet to be discovered. Dragon Ball Super is streaming on Hulu and Crunchyroll.