Toei Animation has achieved what many thought impossible by finally allowing Vegeta to transform into a Super Saiyan 3, a form that many fans believed the Saiyan Prince would never attain.
However, while Dragon Ball Daima may show Vegeta reaching the Super Saiyan 3 state for the first time in the main continuity, the Saiyan Prince has had a long history with this transformation.
If you’re wondering when Vegeta first achieves his Super Saiyan 3 form, you might be surprised to learn that it was not in the anime. The video game Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Battlers was released in Japan in 2009 as a mobile game combining card battles with character designs, quite similar to the recent Dragon Ball Heroes game. This is the first instance where players could briefly see this character transformation occur.
In the mobile game mentioned above, Vegeta isn’t the only character to achieve this form for the first time; legendary Super Saiyan Broly also reaches Super Saiyan 3. Dragon Battlers has opened the door for Super Saiyan 3 Vegeta to appear frequently in the future.
Vegeta’s Super Saiyan 3 is Just the Beginning
Super Saiyan 3 Vegeta is expected to make a quick return in the video game Dragon Ball Z: Raging Blast, as in Dragon Ball Heroes, almost every new Saiyan introduced in the series has been shown to achieve this form. Raging Blast focuses on character roles from shonen anime, granting characters like Nappa, Bardock, Raditz, Trunks, Gohan, and Goku Black unique abilities tied to this transformation. Unfortunately for Nappa, in his case, SSJ3 only makes his hair longer and changes its color to yellow, as Vegeta’s character design does not feature hair on his forehead.
Super Dragon Ball Heroes – the anime adaptation accompanying the video game – features two versions of Vegeta, who can either transform into Super Saiyan 3 or cooperate to counter new threats. The Time Patrol version of Vegeta has the potential to transform into Super Saiyan 3 while also advancing further to become Super Saiyan 4, gaining immense power known as “Limit Breaker.”
The Unique Characteristics of Vegeta’s Super Saiyan 3 in Daima
Before Dragon Ball Daima, the transformations into Super Saiyan 3 “outside of the time stream” for Vegeta mainly reflected the significant impact of Goku and Gotenks’ transformations. Both Son Goku and the fusion of Goten and Trunks are the only characters in the official Dragon Ball timeline to utilize this form, making it reasonable that the video games explore the Super Saiyan 3 form of other characters as well.
Instead of having long hair flowing down to his ankles, Vegeta’s Super Saiyan 3 form features hair that flows outward. Although it is not officially stated, it draws inspiration from Akira Toriyama’s original design for SSJ3, while incorporating many distinctive elements reflecting Vegeta’s unique character development and new transformation style.
