Saiyan Beyond God

Saiyan Beyond God is one of the most conceptually important power states in Dragon Ball Super, representing the bridge between the Super Saiyan God ritual and the development of Super Saiyan Blue. The state occurs when a Saiyan who has previously undergone the Super Saiyan God transformation manages to retain that form's residual power, known as God's Crimson Radiance, within their base form even after the godly transformation has worn off.

Goku first entered this state unintentionally during his battle with Beerus in Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods. After the Super Saiyan God form expired mid-fight, Goku continued battling at a level that should have been impossible for his base form. He managed to surpass the power he had displayed as Super Saiyan God when he destroyed Beerus's Beerus Ball, demonstrating that the divine energy had been absorbed into his body on a fundamental level.

During the Golden Frieza Saga, Goku and Vegeta deliberately trained to master this retained divine power. While sparring inside Whis's Staff, they discovered the key principle: to maintain divine energy, a Saiyan must raise their power while simultaneously controlling their ki so that absolutely none of it leaks out. Vegeta realized this was the core secret of divine energy and described the process as intensely demanding. This principle of total ki containment became the foundation for both the Saiyan Beyond God state and its natural evolution, Super Saiyan Blue.

The most historically significant aspect of Saiyan Beyond God is its role as the prerequisite for Super Saiyan Blue. When a Saiyan in the Beyond God state attempts to transform into a Super Saiyan, the divine energy they are containing interacts with the Super Saiyan transformation to produce Super Saiyan Blue (Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan) instead of a normal Super Saiyan. In this sense, Saiyan Beyond God is to Super Saiyan Blue what a standard base form is to regular Super Saiyan: the foundation upon which the more dramatic transformation is built.

In the Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' manga adaptation, this relationship was illustrated visually when the image of Super Saiyan God appeared behind Goku as he nearly landed a blow on Whis while in his Saiyan Beyond God state. This ghostly afterimage served as a visual reminder that the divine power was still present within Goku even though his outward appearance was that of an ordinary base-form Saiyan.

Goku and Vegeta both used this state during their battle with Frieza on Earth, with its effectiveness varying across different versions of the story. In the movie, Goku in this state clearly outmatched Frieza's trained true form. In the manga and anime versions, the match was more even, with Frieza's power being depicted as roughly on par with the Saiyan Beyond God state.

Following the events of Resurrection 'F' and its adaptations, confirmed usage of the Saiyan Beyond God state becomes ambiguous. The Super Saiyan God transformation eventually returned as a directly accessible form in Dragon Ball Super, seemingly replacing the need for the intermediate Beyond God state. Whether Goku and Vegeta still technically enter this state when using their base forms in later arcs is a matter of interpretation rather than explicit confirmation.