Saiyans

Saiyan transformations are most notable in the major changes to the character's hair. Spikey, golden hair is hard to miss! Many of the Saiyan characters throughout the series reach various levels of "Super" Saiyan, which results in even longer hair, loss of eyebrows... and eventually red fur on the body! These Saiyan levels pretty much define DragonBall Z as a series, but there are a few that even the most hardcore fans have a little bit of confusion about. What about those "in-between" stages? Who actually reaches SSJ2? We must know!

While we use the word "Saiyan," the original Japanese term is Saiya-jin (the suffix "jin" meaning a "being" or "person"; for example, a Nihon-jin is a person from Japan!). When using abbreviations, we will be using the traditional "SSJ" instead of, for example, "SS" (despite our conventions of using the spelling "Saiyan" on the site). "SS" sounds (to us, anyway) far too much like the name of a ship and/or the Nazi secret police.. and well... that's just not appropriate. Note also that the "ai" diphthong in the word should be pronounced as a long "i" as in "eye," and not a long "a" as in "day." Hope that helps!

Giant Ape (Ozaru)
Saiyans that still have their tails have the ability to transform into "giant monkeys," a form called Ôzaru. However, a full moon is needed to begin the process (or an equal substitute, such as Vegeta's "Power Ball" technique, which mixes with the planet's oxygen). Sunlight that is reflected off of the moon contains "Bruits Waves," and is measured in units called "Zeno."

When a Saiyan absorbs at least 17,000,000 Zeno of moon-reflected sunlight, a reaction occurs in their tails which begins the transformation! The Ôzaru form is said to increase the power of the Saiyan by ten. However, the transformation can be easily reversed by simply removing the tail (by cutting or pulling it off), or destroying the source of the "Zeno" (being the moon).

False Super Saiyan
While fighting Slug (and nearly beaten to a pulp), Goku suddenly throws a hand forward and catches Slug's punch. As Goku looks up, we see the Super Saiyan power manifest itself as a golden aura surrounding Goku. It is obviously more than just Goku using Kaiô-Ken; besides the golden aura, his (black) hair stands on end, his pupils disappear, and (similar to his actual first SSJ transformation), he does not seem to exercise complete control, with the brute force and anger pulling through.