Is Ultra Ego as strong as Ultra Instinct in Dragon Ball Super? Explained

Modified Jun 19, 2024 05:56 GMT

Dragon Ball Super has been criticized throughout the years because of several creative decisions but the Ultra Instinct and Ultra Ego transformations have been heavily celebrated by the fandom. This is because these transformations not only make Goku and Vegeta stronger but also come with different abilities and restrictions that are a welcomed departure from more Super Saiyan power-ups.

In that regard, a lot of people have wondered if Ultra Ego is just as strong as Ultra Instinct in the Dragon Ball Super series. It makes a lot of sense to ask this question because Vegeta has always been compared to Goku and has been on a similar level for the vast majority of the franchise, although the answer to this question requires a lot of context.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the Dragon Ball Super series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author and not Sportskeeda as a whole.

What is Ultra Ego?

Vegeta using Ultra Ego (Image via Shueisha and Deviantart/Roccomanga)

Ultra Ego is the transformation of the Gods of Destruction and Vegeta learned to use it while training with Beerus during the Granolah arc in the Dragon Ball Super manga. As of this writing, he has only used this transformation once, which was in that arc while fighting Granolah.

This transformation makes Vegeta stronger as he receives more damage and is consumed by the desire to fight, thus giving a lot of focus to going into the offensive. It is a perfect transformation for Vegeta and his personality and he reached it as a way to ascend through his own means instead of copying Goku's approach.

What is Ultra Instinct?

Goku using Ultra Instinct in the anime (Image via Toei Animation).

On the other hand, Ultra Instinct is the transformation of the Angels and focuses on reaching a state of inner calm and peace of mind. The user should be able to move without any thought and the transformation, while powerful, mostly serves as a borderline defense as the mastered version can dodge almost any attack out there, as shown by Whis in some moments of both the manga and the anime.

Goku first reached this form in the Tournament of Power arc and the manga presented as the end result of his journey through martial arts, not just in Dragon Ball Super, but in the franchise as a whole. When it comes to the manga, the Moro and Granolah arcs have shown him training to perfect the transformation, although he still has a way to go.

How Dragon Ball Super emphasizes the two as equal, explained

Goku and Vegeta using their transformations (Image via Shueisha and Toei Animation).

The Dragon Ball Super series has put a lot of emphasis on maintaining Goku and Vegeta as equals but also displaying how they are different. Ultra Ego and Ultra Instinct are a very good example of this narrative thread as they are both very powerful abilities but also come from different sources, with the first one hailing from the Gods of Destruction and the other one from the Angels.

It is also the fact that Ultra Ego focuses on an offensive fighting style and is consumed by the desire to destroy, while Ultra Instinct is all about peace of mind and defense. In that regard, it also sets up the key differences between Vegeta and Goku's characters and the paths they have to go through in their respective journeys.

In terms of who is more powerful, Goku has had a lot more time to train with Ultra Instinct, so he is probably a bit stronger at the moment, although Vegeta with Ultra Ego did overpower Granolah, who gave the protagonist a lot of problems. Therefore, it is safe to say they are fairly even in Dragon Ball Super, as of right now.

Final thoughts

As of this writing, it seems that the Dragon Ball Super manga has established Ultra Ego as an equal to Ultra Instinct. However, Ultra Ego needs more exposure in the series to gauge how powerful it can be, at least when comparing the versions Goku and Vegeta are using with their respective transformations.

Related articles

Edited by Bharath S