The Goku Black arc was arguably the𒉰 most important story arc ൩for Dragon Ball Super at the time of its release. Af🔴ter two story arcs that simply retold Battle of Gods and Resurrection F, and a half baked tournament that barely spanned a dozen 𝔉episodes, the👍 Goku Black arc was Super’s chance to prove to fans that Dragon Ball was still tense, Dragon Ball was still relevant, and Dragon Ball was still cool. Whether or not you think Super actually 🥀proves any of this with the Goku Black arc, one thing is cl🦄ear: Super Saiyan Rage is really cool, right?
Not only does Future Trunks play an active role this arc, he actually gets a brand new transform🎉ation that lets him fight head on with the main villains alongside Super Saiyan Blue Goku and Vegeta. It’s a powerful, furious form that elevates Future Trunks above the other supporting characters, fitting for one of the arc’s three major leads. As expected in a series like Dragon Ball Super, though, great power brings🎃 with it many the secret. From its design, to what it represents for Future Trunks, to just how strong it actually is, Super Saiyan Rage is one of the ღmost interesting transformations in the entire franchise.
25 Trunks, The Demigod
By far the most significant change Super Saiyan ♓Rage brings for Future Trunks is the fact that it turns him into an out♑right Demigod. If you had to give Dragon Ball Super a ma🌌in theme, it’d have to be “the tangibilityꦉ of divinity.” From Battle of Gods all the way to the end of the Universe Survival arc, Goku and Vegeta spend the entire series tapping into godly power in an attempt to🍷 break past their limits and match the divine in battle. We see t𒊎his shift into godly power on a visual level when they turn Super Saiyan Blue. Specifically, the blue aura signifying a mixture of Saiyan Ki and God Ki. Future Trunks has a blue aura in SSR. Coincidence?
It is worth mentioning that despite having a blue aura, Future Trunks is only just a Demigod because he’s still leaking golden, regular Super Saiyan Ki.
Logistics on how this can be possible aside, it’s obvious from just looking at Future Trunks that he hasn’t tapped into God Ki properly, but has tapp🦩ed into it just enough to take advantage of some of Super Saiyan Blue’s benefits. Remarkably, Super Saiyan Rage is the only instance in the entire series of a character only becoming slightly divine. Typically these things happen with a bit more absolution, but rul♔es don’t really apply to Future Trunks.
24 It’s Stronger Than Super Saiyan God
Although it only𝐆 lasted for one arc in the anime, Super Saiyan God was Goku’s way of closing the gap between him and Ultimate Gohan left over from Dragon Ball Z. With just one transformation, he went from a pitiful Super Saiyan 3 to a being with unprecedented power. Needless to say, Super Saiyan God was, and is, a big deal. ♔For the average mortal to tap into Super Saiyan God levels of power, they’re going to need a pr🌸etty big boost. We’re talking Super Saiyan Rage levels of boost.
That’s right, Future Trunks’ SSR actually powers him up all the way past Super Saiyan God Goku.
If Super Saiyan Blue Goku and Vegeta struggle fighting against Zamasu and Goku Black, it goes without saying that Super Saiyan God Goku wouldn’t be able to do much damage. When Future Trunks turns Super Saiyan Rage for the first time, he actually puts up nearly as good a fight against both Zamasu and Goku Black as Goku and Vegeta did during their stint trying to stop them. Logically, this puts Future Trunks close to Super Saiyan Blue’s level without putting him entirely on it. Taking ❀this into consideration, it’s clear that SSR Future Trunks has to be stronger than Super Saiyan God Goku.
23 The Power Boost Is Astronomical
You may be asking yourself, “how is this possible?” After all, Futu෴re Trunks couldn’t even defeat Super Saiyan 3 Goku in a spar just a few episodes earlier. Is Super Saiyan Rage’s power boost really so astronomical that it took Future Trunks from someone with just a Super Saiyan 3’s power level to someone who could surpass even Super Saiyan God? Well, yeah, didn’t you read the title of this e𒊎ntry? Whether or not it makes sense, (it actually does, but we’ll touch upon that later,) Super Saiyan Rage’s power boost is absolutely astronomical.
Before you start masking that keyboard, because Dragon Ball Super ruined the series’ power scaling, remember that a boost like this isn’t unprecedented. Goku goes from🍎 a 𝔉Super Saiyan 3 to a Super Saiyan God in Battle of Gods, or did you forget? Futur♐e Trunks getting so much stronger thanks to Super Saiyan Rage is really no d♛ifferent from how the God Ritual affects Goku in Battle of Gods. It’s also important to 🐻remember that Future Trunks is a ✅half-breed Saiyan, a tailless one at that. Those two factors combined ensure that he’s at a higher base level than either Goku or Vegeta right out the gate. If anything, it’d be weird if SSR didn’t make him so strong.
22 It Makes A Lot Of Biological Sense
On the subject of Super Saiyan Rage’s power boost making sense, there’s mo🍒re to it than Future Trunks just being a tailless, hybrid Saiyan, but let’s cover that detail first. From as soon as𒁃 Gohan is introduced in the series, it’s established that Saiyans and Earthlings produce children with far greater potential than their own. Gohan can easily surpass Goku is he trains and he actually winds up the stronger of the two by the end of Dragon Ball Z.
There is one other detail that ensures Super Saiyan Rage makes sense, though: Vegeta. In the Goku Black arc, Vegeta trains Future Trunks. While the training isn’t meant to give Future Trunks God Ki, Vegeta does spar using Super Saiyan Blue. Since Super Saiyan Rage uses the God Ki derived from Super Saiyan Blue, it can be assumed that some of the Ki rubbed off on Trunks during his training with Vegeta. At the very least, sparring with a Blue Vegeta gave Future Trunks a better unde🐓rstanding of the inner workings of God Ki, allowing him to tap into it later on. Worth noting, Vegeta developed his God Ki through immersion training on Whis’ planet so there is a precedent of it being contagious, so to speak.
21 Trunks Actually Defeats A Major Villain Without Goku’s Help
Unless your name is either Son Goku or Son Gohan, chances are you aren’t going to be defeating any main antagonist. Minor villains? Sure, go for it, all yours. Actual major villains w𓆏ith depth and complex motivations? You stay behind and watch Goku or Gohan save the d𝐆ay like the rest of us! Naturally, this is where Super Saiyan Rage comes in. If there’s one thing Future Trunks’ new form does right, it’s making him strong enough to defeat a major villain. He doesn’t have anybody’s help, Goku doesn’t cheer him on from the afterlife, and Vegeta doesn’t distract Zamasu so Trunks can get the finishing blow. With SSR🉐, Future Trunks actually, legitimately defeats Merged Zamasu🎉.
Merged Zamasu is actually immortal so Zeno has to come in and save the day, but that doesn’t change the fact that Future Trunks is the only character in the entire Goku Black arc to subdue the main villain.
Vegeta fails completely, doing♍ absolutely nothing to Merged Zamasu; Goku get a few good shots in, and actually nearly beats him in the manga, but doesn’t have the stamina to finish the fight; and Vegetto Blue runs out of the time before he can finish Merged Zamasu off. Super Saiyan Rage Future Trunks just straight up rushes Merged Zamasu with his sword and cuts him in half, ending the fight right then and there. The aftermath is a bit more nuanced, but, for all intents and purposes, ꧒Trunks wins.
20 Trunks Gets A Different Power Up In The Manga
Although Super Saiyan R🧸age defines Future Trunks’ character ar𒉰c in the Super anime’s 𒈔version of the Goku Black arc, to the point where not having it would leave Trunks with an incomplete arc, the manga adaptation of Dragon Ball Super actually give Future Tr♈unks aꦏ different power-up altogether.
Rather than have Trunks undergo a rage-fueled transformation that echoes the Cell saga at the end of the saga, Trunks instead reveals that he’s been made Kaioshin’s formal apprentice
This🌊 gives him the ability to heal Goku and Vegeta’s wounds ala Dende in the Frieza saga.
Is it underwhelming? Kind of, yeah. Does it make sense? Actually, it might even make more sense than Super Saiyan Rage. While SSR does make narrative sense, and we’ll touch upon that more in-depth in just a bit, Trunks being Kaioshin’s apprentice feels more in-li♋ne with the character and lore of the universe. Future Trunks has always played a support role in the series, and making him into an outright healer who can fight keeps him in the action while also respecting his natural power. Goku Black and Zamasu are also m🧸uch weaker in the manga so a form like SSR would trivialize them completely. Which one is actually better, though, is reliant entirely on the type of fan you are.
19 Toriyama Didn’t Design It
Dragon Ball Super has this nas💛ty habit of introducing new forms like they’re going out of style, and there’s a very weird, specific trend to go along with many of the new additions. What do Ultra Instinct -Sign,- Super Saiyan Evolution, and Super Saiyan Rage all have in common? They weren’t designed by Akira Toriyama🍰. Allegedly. Obviously, with a claim as bombastic as this, it’s important to back it up with evidence, but I have something better than evidence for this claim: a lack of evidence. Or rather, a lack of concept art.
For just about everything Toriyama draws for the series, there’s a piece of concept art attached to it to prove he’s the actual illustrator. We got concept art for Super Saiyan God, Super Saiyan Blue, and Mastered Ultra Instinct all before the end of the series done by Akira Toriyama. We did not, however, get concept art for Ultra Instinct -Sign,- Super Saiyan Evolution, or Super Saiyan Ra🔯ge drawn by Toriyama.
The implication, of course, is that Toei developed these forms for the anime to generate hype. Does this lessen Super Saiyan Rage’s impact in the story?
Well,🃏 that’s up to you. Does it truly matter whether or 𓂃not Toriyama writes and draws Dragon Ball?
18 The OTHER Super Saiyan Rage
Super Saiy♕an Ikari, also translated as Super Saiyan Anger, or more commonly known as Super Saiyan Rage, isn’t actually as original as you might think, both in naming and how the form relates to previous transformations in the series. Weirdly enough, it’s not unoriginal due to some transformation you may have forgotten about in the series. It’s unoriginal due to a familiar transformation that was named differently for a video game. Which video game would go so far as to create a Super Saiyan Rage of their own? None other than the legendary Dragon Ball Z: Legacy of Goku II for the Gameboy Advance.
At the end of The Legacy of Goku II’s version of the Cell Games, rather than turning into a Super Saiyan 2, Gohan transforms into the visually similar “Super Saiyan Rage.” Along with Gohan being in his Saiyan armor instead of Piccolo’s gi, it’s a notable enough change to make any fan raise their eyebrows. Here’s the thing, though, Super Saiyan 2 didn’t become the official name of the form until the Buu saga. As far as names go, Super Saiyan Rage fits it quite well. That’s not the only aspect that makes Trunks’ SSR unoriginal, though. Super Saiyan Rage as Super utilizes it is actually Super Saiyan 2.
17 It’s An Offshoot Of Super Saiyan 2
If you break Super Saiyan Rage down to its aesthetic properties, it’s quite obvious that it’s just a more intimidating looking version of Super Saiyan 2 with an emphasis on Blue Ki. Future Trunks’ hair is the exact same in Super Saiyan Rage as it is in Super Saiyan 2; he has lightning wrapped around his body, a staple of the post-Super Saiyan 1 transformations; and🔯 his golden aura undergoes no change whatsওoever, implying he’s still in some base related to Super Saiyan 2.
If the visuals aren’t enough for you, there’s also the fact that Super Saiyan Rage is straight up called “Super Saiyan 2” on merchandise.
If you own a Super Saiyan Rage figure, statue, or toy of Future Trunks, there’s aꦉ good chance it was actually just marketed as “Supe꧋r Saiyan 2 Future Trunks.” Does this really mean anything, though? After all, you shouldn’t base your Dragon Ball kn﷽owledge off of merchandise. You should base it off video games! In Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, Future Trunks’ Super Saiyan Rage model is literally just his Super Saiyan 2 form with a bit of blue added onto it. If the merchandise treats it as Super Saiyan 2, and the video games treat it as Super Saiyan 2, there’s a good🧜 chance it has more basis in Super Saiyan 2 than it lets on.
16 Future Trunks’ Only Unique Form
Characters don’t 🍷really get unique transforꦐmations all that often in Dragon Ball. Future Trunks gets Super Saiyan only a few chapters after Goku does; everyone gets Super Saiyan 2 during the time skip between t🧜he Cell and Majin Buu sagas, and Gotenks gets Super Saiyan 3 shortly after Goku shows it off for the first time. Dragon Ball Super sought to change that, though, giving the four main Saiyans unique forms. Goku got Super Saiyan Blue Ka🍌ioken and two versions of Ultra Instinct; Vegeta got Super Saiyan Evolution; Gohan tapped backed into his Ultimate power; and Trunks got Super Saiyan Rage.
As it stands, Super Saiyan Rage is the only form completely unique to Trunks. While we don’t see any other characters use Super Saiyan Grade 3 in combat except for Future Trunks, it’s implied that both Goku and Vegeta can use, but simply chose not to. Super Saiyan Rage is something only Future Trunks can use, and something we’ll likely only see him use. The circumstances surrounding the transformation are so specific that it's un🦹likely anyone else could properly trigger it. Honestly, as one of the four major Saiyans in the series, Super Saiyan Rage is a long time coming for Trunks. The kid deserves some special treatment at this point.