Dragon Ball Can Humans Transform Like The Saiyans

Do Dragon Ball's human characters such as Krillin, Master Roshi, and Yamcha have the potential to undergo Saiyan-like transformations of their own?

Events that take place in Dragon Ball Super may have opened the door for some of the anime’s human characters to undergo their own transformations. Thus far, just the Saiyans and some of their alien or otherworldly foes possess this capability.

For a long time now, biology has stood in the way of several Dragon Ball characters when it comes to keeping up with Goku, Vegeta, and Gohan. As Saiyans, they naturally have a tremendous amount of potential, which has enabled them to achieve great heights in the Dragon Ball franchise. Over the years, the heroes have unlocked a number of new levels, including Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan 2, Super Saiyan Blue, and more. However, not all of the Z-Warriors share their Saiyan heritage, which means they’re seemingly limited in terms of how far their power can grow. Training goes a long way of course, but it’s not enough to keep them in the same league as Goku and Vegeta. As a Namekian who can fuse with other members of his species to become more powerful, Piccolo can keep up better than most, but the same can’t be said for the anime’s human characters.

It’s worth wondering if Yamcha, Krillin, and Master Roshi have the means to obtain their own forms. Roshi has a Max Power state, but it’s more of a power-up akin to Goku’s Kaio-ken technique than it is a true transformation. At this point in the anime, none of the three have been able to unlock a form possibly because humans simply don’t possess the physical capability to pull it off. The same can be said for Tien, who isn’t a human, but he is an Earthling. However, the discovery of the Ultra Instinct state proves that there are forms out there that aren’t exclusive to a particular species. That’s good news for Krillin, Roshi, Yamcha, and Tien.

Goku breaking away from the Saiyan path and accessing a divine power level that has nothing to do with his Saiyan bloodline is huge not only for his character, but for others as well. It means that theoretically, a human could reach Ultra Instinct, providing that they had a similar degree of progress. The problem with that though, would be getting to that point. It’s hard to imagine any of the lower-tier Z-Warriors ever making it to the Super Saiyan Blue-level of strength that Goku had when he reached Ultra Instinct for the first time in the Tournament of Power.

Alternatively, it’s possible that there are significantly less-challenging transformations that they can reach in Dragon Ball’s future. After all, Gohan appears to be headed toward one that isn’t an evolution of the Super Saiyan form. Krillin, Tien, and Yamcha have impressively gained enough power to easily surpass what Goku had as a Super Saiyan in the Frieza Saga, so they do seem deserving of upgrades. Any of them learning new forms is a scenario that may never happen, but unless they find some way to even the playing field a bit, it’s unlikely that they’ll ever be relevant again.