Akira Toriyama has given a lot of thought to his magnum opus, the Dragon Ball series where he tells the story with his mighty and lovable protagonist, Son-Goku. Throughout the series’ run, the character has continuously surprised us as he pushed beyond his physical limits and showcased to the fans what it means to break past your limits. Such was the case when he transformed into Super Saiyan for the very first time.
While SSJ was iconic and marked a major landstone in the history of the series, there was another technique, that the Saiyan used to do, which put immense strain on his body. Now, he integrates this technique with his SSJ form which is slowly killing his body, due to the two techniques’ conflicting nature.
Goku’s Exclusive Super Saiyan Transformation Kills Kakarot’s Body Every Time He Uses It
For ages, Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball series has been home to one of the most popular anime and manga series for fans all around the world. During the Dragon Ball Z days, before Kakarot unlocked his Super Saiyan form, his most handy technique was the Kaio-Ken. The Kaio-Ken or the King Kai Fist allowed him to multiply his speed and power at the cost of tiring and putting an immense strain on the user’s body.
If fans remember, this technique puts such strain on him that after his epic battle with Vegeta in Dragon Ball Z, he could not move a muscle and he needed the help of his friends. However, the King Kai Fist’s appearance was limited when being an SSJ was the new normal in the series.
The long-forgotten technique made its return in the franchise’s recent addition, Dragon Ball Super, where the viewers were taken aback as Kakarot decided to integrate the two techniques. The legendary technique made its return and was first used during the tournament that took place between Universe 6 and Universe 7. During Goku’s battle with Hit, when the fight was reaching its peak, the Z-Fighter decided to showcase his new exclusive technique, the Super Kaio-ken.
However, after their battle came to an end, the exclusive technique put more strain on his body. As a result, fans started to believe that this new technique was a forbidden technique because Kaio-Ken and Super Saiyan techniques do not go hand in hand because of the conflicting energies.
This was also said by the protagonist himself because he himself mentioned how if messed up either technique, his body would have been a toast. Furthermore, after the battle, his body was reacting to the brutal strain that almost ripped his body apart. To add to the authenticity of the idea, Dragon Ball Wiki, mentioned how Old Kai in DBS mentioned that using Super King Kai Fist is lethal because it puts an intense emotional turmoil on him and he can’t have precise ki control to survive.
Why Did Akira Toriyama Decide to Limit The Appearance of the Kaio-ken Technique?
The Kaio-ken is one of the first techniques that Akira Toriyama decided to give to Kakarot, and using it he has won many battles that decided the fate of the universe. From Vegeta to Pikkon, the Saiyan has used this technique to give a tough time to his foes.
The forbidden technique was founded by King Kai, and when the user activates the Kaio-ken, the user gains a red and fiery aura around them, and their whole body receives a reddish tint. The technique multiplies the user’s ki for a heartbeat and turns their aura crimson, and in exchange for extreme body recoil, their power and speed would be amplified.
Since Goku always goes overboard, as he would multiply the power by 3, 4, 10, and 20, but he went all out in Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug, when he used Kaio-ken x100 to rip a hole through the giant Lord Slug.
Since defeating the villain came at the cost of extreme fatigue and bodily recoil, it would be lethal if something were to happen to Son-Goku. Hence, it can be assumed that the SSJ form was introduced in the Namek Saga, and since then, this technique has not been used even once!
Dragon Ball Super can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
