Is Goku’s Ultra Instinct a Technique or Transformation? (2024)

Ultra Instinct is one of Dragon Ball Super’s most exciting new additions to the franchise. Akira Toriyama created this new form to breathe new life into the series, after the iconic Super Saiyan transformations had become a bit stale. Considering how UI Goku’s fight with Jiren broke the internet and even caused a conflict in international relations, it’s safe to say Toriyama achieved his goal with it. While not quite as well-known as the Super Saiyan form, UI is definitely iconic in its own right.

Despite warranting comparisons to Super Saiyan, Ultra Instinct has notable differences that seem to indicate it’s something of an entirely different category. Beyond just the physical difference between UI and SSJ, the way Goku utilizes it, and the way his teacher, Whis, describes it, show that it’s not just a simple transformation like SSJ is. Just as Goku can easily dodge any attack while using UI, Ultra Instinct seems to avoid all simple labeling, making it just as allusive and enigmatic as the Angels from whom it originates.

How Goku Learned to Use Ultra Instinct

Goku First Tapped Into UI During His Fight With Jiren in the Tournament of Power

Goku first started learning to use Ultra Instinct from Whis, though it was never mentioned by name in the early arcs of Super. Whis simply hinted at the idea that Goku’s body should move without thinking. This was what gave Whis his incredible reflexes in battle, allowing him to easily avoid attacks from Goku and Vegeta when both were in their SSJ Blue forms.

While Goku trained in trying to master this skill with Whis, he still hadn’t achieved it during their training on Beerus’ planet. It wasn’t until the Tournament of Power when Goku would finally forcibly achieve the Ultra Instinct state for the first time. During the fight with Jiren, Goku attempted to use his most powerful attack, the Genkai Dama, also known as the Spirit Bomb, to finally bring down Universe 11’s juggernaut once and for all. Unfortunately, even that wasn’t enough, as Jiren easily redirected the giant energy ball of the Spirit Bomb back at Goku. After witnessing Goku take the brunt of the blast, all his friends and teammates believed he must surely be dead. However, in that moment, Goku was forced to surpassed his limits, achieving for the first time, Ultra Instinct.

In this early stage of UI, not much changed about Goku’s physical appearance. The most noticeable changes were a unique, purple-blue aura, and Goku’s eyes turned grey instead of their usual black. Of course, as fans later learned, this was the first stage of UI: Ultra Instinct Sign. Goku would later go on to achieve yet another new stage later in the Tournament, the silver-haired Perfected Ultra Instinct form, which would increase his speed, reaction-time and strength even more. However, in both cases, Goku was unable to return the form for long, as it drained a lot of energy similar to any new form he learns but hasn’t yet mastered.

Over time, Goku would gradually gain greater control over UI, until he eventually reached an entirely new form of the technique during the Granolah Saga. Ordinarily, UI would calm Goku’s mind to such a point that he would feel no emotion at all while using it. However, during the fight with Gas on Planet Cereal, Goku found a way to tap into UI while still feeling emotion, and this became what is known as True Ultra Instinct.

The reason this latest form of UI is called “True” is because Goku has finally accessed it in his base form, which was a major goal given to him by Whis. The angels all access UI in their base forms, utilizing it more as a technique than a transformation. In this state, Goku can fight using the full force of his anger - which is a powerful catalyst of power for him. This was the first time Goku was able to move past using UI as a transformation, instead embracing the technique of the Gods as it was meant to be utilized.

Ultra Instinct is a Divine Technique

Goku Uses UI as a Technique When Utilizing True Ultra Instinct

In Dragon Ball, there are simple differences between a technique and a transformation. The most important of these is that, with a transformation, the user’s physical body changes beyond just a muscular bulk-up. As seen in the Super Saiyan transformation, Goku’s eyes and hair color change, while only his aura and muscle density change while using the Kaioken technique. Additionally, a major difference between a transformation and a technique is that the latter has to be learned by training or practice, while the former can be achieved through raw power. This shows how a transformation is completely tied to a fighter's unique physiology. A technique can theoretically be learned and utilized by anyone, but a transformation is more connected to genetics.

During Goku’s fight with Moro, he actually calls UI a technique. According to him, Ultra Instinct Sign is the “initial stage of the technique of the Gods.” This directly confirms that UI Sign is indeed a technique, and there’s more reason to believe that’s the case. During the Tournament of Power, when Master Roshi dodges Jiren’s punches, Beerus inquires whether it could be Ultra Instinct. Whis assures him, though, that while it bares “a resemblance” to UI, it’s “still a far cry from that technique.” Even though it’s not exactly UI, Whis does recognize that it’s “a similar principle.”

While UI can take on the properties of both a technique and a form, it’s more the former than the latter. Both Goku and Whis refer to it as a technique, even though Goku can undergo the UI transformation. In Dragon Ball, techniques and transformations have always had a bit of a blurry middle-ground as it was. Since the Saiyan Saga, when Goku first learned Kaioken from King Kai, the difference between techniques and transformations was already a bit ambiguous.

It was clear even then that there was something different about the Kaioken from the Oozaru, but the facts were further confused by Goku’s later SSJ transformation. Even so, the Super Saiyan form was arguably even more similar to the Kaioken than it was to the Oozaru, which shows that there isn’t a very hard line in the sand between techniques and transformations. Ultra Instinct truly embodies the idea that techniques and transformations are not so far apart. That’s because it shares similarities between both techniques and transformations, and can be utilized as either.

Ultra Instinct Can Be Used as a Transformation

UI's Nature as a Technique or Form Can Change Depending on How Goku Uses it

While UI is a technique in its purest form, it’s far more versatile than its application than its closest cousin, the Kaioken. Like the Kaioken, it can be used to amplify Goku’s power and combat capability, but it can also be taken a step further to be used as a genuine transformation more along the lines of the Super Saiyan forms. Specifically, Goku’s white-haired Perfected Ultra Instinct is a transformation instead of just a technique.

Whis even doubles down on the difference while training Goku on Beerus’ planet. According to him, “as for the full transformation that accompanies Ultra Instinct, let’s set that aside as a last resort for when a battle demands that you surpass your limits.” In that context, the white-haired Perfected Ultra Instinct form is something that “accompanies” Ultra Instinct, rather than it being Ultra Instinct itself. This further expands on what Goku said to Moro about Ultra Instinct being a “technique of the Gods”.

Notably, all angels in Dragon Ball Super have white hair, further emphasizing how Goku is tapping into a state of the angels when using UI as a transformation. When using UI as a technique, though, Goku can integrate it into his own fighting style, giving him the potential to implement it in a way completely unique to him. This could theoretically let him use his full Super Saiyan strength while also using Ultra Instinct at the same time.

Ultra Instinct taps into the martial arts origins of Dragon Ball more than any transformation or technique in the series. That’s because, like the legendary Bruce Lee put it, UI is truly “like water”. It can adjust or change shape to the user’s situation like water can, letting Goku surpass the artificial technique/transformation binary to overcome any obstacle, or opponent, in his path.

Dragon Ball

Dragon Ball tells the tale of a young warrior by the name of Son Goku, a young peculiar boy with a tail who embarks on a quest to become stronger and learns of the Dragon Balls, when, once all 7 are gathered, grant any wish of choice.

Created by

Akira Toriyama

First Film

Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies

Latest Film

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero

First TV Show

Dragon Ball

Latest TV Show

Dragon Ball Super

Upcoming TV Shows

Dragon Ball DAIMA

First Episode Air Date

April 26, 1989

Cast

Sean Schemmel , Laura Bailey , Brian Drummond , Christopher Sabat , Scott McNeil

Current Series

Dragon Ball Super