Dragon Ball z to Dragon Ball super the growth of Son Goku has been exponential as per usual with the character time and time again insurmountable odds after insurmountable odds he is not only emerged victorious but also far stronger but the end of z goku’s greatest power was that of super Saiyan 3 a transformation that all but stands to be diametrically opposed to what is currently his greatest power in dragon ball super and fair enough super Saiyan 3 was certainly trivialized with the start of the series.

Ultra instinct its progression beginning

Where as in the case of ultra instinct its progression beginning with its mention during resurrection of f has been quite the extensive journey when it comes to true mastery now there are a number of narrative differences between dragon ball z and dragon ball super many of which being situational in nature z chapters were weekly were as super chapters released monthly z also didn’t have the precedent of itself to back it up and honestly Akira Toriyama at the time wasn’t creating the story with the future in mind but rather handling it moment to moment with super on the other hand although we have faced a number of rather different threats there seems to be a far more conscious attempt at continuity call backs and development.

Bodily state intrinsic to the beings known as angels

We get too ahead of ourselves what exactly is ultra instinct well it is a bodily state intrinsic to the beings known as angels which may from there be emulated by other walks of life the core principle being that of unconscious movement which may thereafter be applied to offense defense and most notably evasion this is considered to be the absolute peak of martial arts and is absurdly difficult to master even for the especially powerful and the reason for this is actually pretty simple again with this being a state of being derived from the angels beings intended to be representatives of neutrality in the multiverse a practitioner of ultra instinct must be capable of truly clearing their mind to a complete calm and with that such a thing at least the complete mastery of it is largely an impossibility for the vast majority of beings even gods of destruction as it stands to conflict with the very nature of their grand purpose however one might argue that Goku is pretty much the ideal candidate for the power.

Suffered as a child

When it comes to potential as his very desire for combat itself may be considered instinctual thanks to that head injury he suffered as a child he’d lost the inherently aggressive nature typical of Saiyans and also did not experience their ravenous culture at all his desire for battle simply being a genetic inclination and in being such a simple minded person at his core passivity is pretty much his default to begin with and so when every part of your body yearns for physical exertion and your mentality is Zeno to begin with I’d say you’re pretty much made for ultra instinct although technically it was made for him narratively now the very first time Goku tapped into the state of being was during the tournament of power albeit with an incomplete form known as ultra instinct sign now goku’s means of acquiring this form in the anime as opposed.

Goku transcended his own limitations and emerged

The manga were very different in the anime after being exposed to the energy of his own redirected spirit bomb Goku transcended his own limitations and emerged with an almost frighteningly calm aura and demeanor and with that he immediately began putting in that work and putting its incredible power on full display in the manga however in recognizing there to be a wall between himself and even greater power Goku would receive a bit of tutelage from master Roshi he was made to consider the teachings of his various masters over the years which included Master Korin kami and Mr Popo as well as king kai and from there he was made to observe Master Roshi display an evasive technique very reminiscent of ultra instinct as weeks would furthermore describe him to be the mortal closest to understanding and mastering ultra instinct at the time despite being unaware of it himself but yeah after seeing this Goku was able to achieve ultra instinct sign albeit only for an incredibly brief moment as he did not even manage to deliver a single punch with it before being beaten and this difference in depiction extended to the perfected version of the form as well as in the manga with his second attempt.

Silver-haired state and ship the tide of his battle against Jiren

Goku was able to make use of this silver-haired state and ship the tide of his battle against Jiren however his lack of training with his newly acquired form could not overcome the unbridled and seemingly endless power possessed by Jiren and so he lost in the anime on his third attempt Goku was able to do so and this display of power was enough to make every god of destruction left in attendance rise to their feet in recognition as he subsequently brutalized Jiren and exceeded the apex of his power only to then have his body fail on him just before delivering the final blow either way anime or manga the power given its divine origins may only be wielded by mortals for so long before it ultimately destroys them but even then one may train to endure and bypass this restriction and that is precisely what Goku aimed to do beyond the tournament of power now from a certain perspective ultra instinct sign may be considered to be a redundant power and don’t get me wrong lesser super Saiyan transformations are not necessarily discarded in favor of stronger ones but that’s because they still have their own merits ultra instinct sign however demands a similar expenditure to its completed counterpart yet is very much lacking in power due to his emotions being uncontrolled and that instability ends up burning absurd levels of stamina with that being said he has actually used this form in tandem with the powerhouse or power stress principle a state best known for its application in the case of super Saiyan second and third grade and so as a means of offsetting that lacking power Goku used this at the cost of limiting ultra instinct’s incredible evasive and defensive capabilities but anyways although Goku was able to make use of autonomous movements it was still in the rudimentary fashion employed by the likes of Beerus rather than that of an angel-like Whis.

True transformation of the power

Goku for a while there was having trouble accessing the true transformation of the power observed during the tournament of power this was due to the fact that while in the midst of battle goku’s emotions are all over the place plain and simple but for the sake of better understanding what he was lacking Goku would go on to train with another angel besides Whis or at least an angel in training by the name of Merus and according to him what Goku needed was to achieve self-control in the face of an overwhelming shock to his emotions and this criteria is pretty much identical to how Goku first unlocked the super Saiyan transformation on Namek the sudden death of his longtime friend Krillin right before his eyes served as the emotional catalyst but to follow he gave into a power fueled by rage now this training was major for Goku and although he had yet to return to the form at the time it did cover precisely what he lacked during the tournament of power and that was enough to have his attacks even during ultra instinct sign become pretty powerful.

His stamina and the increasing power

However because of its drain on his stamina and the increasing power of his opponent it would not suffice and so again in being made to observe a friend’s demise rather than succumbing to feelings of sorrow and anger Goku accepted neutrality due to its incredible power rushing inwards goku’s surroundings began to rage but would ultimately settle to a calm as again he would have access to ultra instinct perfected and at this point it was far more powerful and capable than before and as he fought his moves only became more and more fine-tuned.

Goku’s ultra instinct

Now one of the most notable additions to goku’s ultra instinct toolkit would have to be that of telekinesis which he mostly uses as a means of halting his adversaries dead in their tracks and setting them up for his own assault and the defensive capabilities ultra instinct have improved as well as a move previously capable of impaling him in the chest was later resisted without him moving as when honed to this extent the body will reinforce itself when necessary and when provided with an excessive amount of godly Ki Goku was able to produce a massive energy projection of himself an ability that would later allow him to make several energy clones identical to himself and it was beyond this point that Goku was able to tap into the perfected form of ultra instinct at will and so from there he began training with Whis once more with this power in tow yet even with all this facing Goku with still child’s play to Whis who would tell Goku that he needed to develop and refine his own style of ultra instinct rather than simply copying him that the possession of ultra instinct in and of itself is not to be his ultimate goal as currently in regards to the power he was at the very bottom of the pecking order when compared to the angels.

Excessive amount of godly Ki Goku

Which is to say that there was plenty more room for growth in this department which is great because as Goku expressed that Jiren endurance initial use in the manga he doesn’t much care for perfection as that would equate to stopping when he would much rather continue to aim higher Whis would additionally have Goku view ultra instinct as less of a transformation and more like a constant state of being as the angels do that when his heart is calm his body should move on its own regardless of the form that he is in as this would serve to finally rid him of the stamina issue he had been having that causes there to be a time restraint on the power and so with that his full ultra instinct transformation was to be a final gambit of sorts for when the surpassing of his limitations was absolutely necessary and eventually he was able to do it in his base form Goku had become capable of ultra instinct akin to his sign form and thanks to this he had been able to evade exceedingly accurate Ki blast capable of one-shotting him but in his attempt at assessing the situation that thinking disrupted his use of the technique and exposed him to certain danger but with that being said Goku is now capable of using ultra instinct with any of his various forms when coupled with the increased speed of super Saiyan god it only becomes that much more accurate.

Speed of super Saiyan god

When using with super Saiyan blue he becomes ridiculously powerful but the downside to all this is that he is not yet used to using ultra instinct as a super Saiyan like we established before super Saiyan transformations are founded in anger which leads to a conflict with the calmness required of ultra instinct and so it is a juggling act that will need to see more experience and because he has yet to completely master this facet of the power he is not yet able to use his ultra instinct transformation without a time limit but once he is able to do that then he will truly be able to approach the ring of the divine Goku has progressed tremendously when it comes to ultra instinct yet even still the looming issue presented by Whis during resurrection of f seems to still be the case as Goku may at times be overly relaxed and overconfident.

Evolution of ultra instinct

Which leads him to commonly be complacent and caught off guard and this very issue pass the tournament of power is the precise reason why Goku has been defeated in his ultra instinct form on more than one occasion but even still to have been able to obtain this degree of mastery over the power in such a short span of time as compared to the millions of years spent by the various gods of destruction Goku is doing pretty damn well and his path towards even greater heights is rather clear to see but that just about does it for our discussion on the evolution of ultra instinct.