The process of achieving Super Saiyan 4 form in Dragon Ball GT is convoluted. First, some conditions must force Goku to change into Super Saiyan, such as seeing Baby demolish Goku’s former student Uub. Second, there must be a condition to transform into Golden Great Ape form. Lastly, he must transform from the rampaging Golden Great Ape form to Super Saiyan 4

What makes Super Saiyan 4 controversial is that only appeared in the short-lived anime Dragon Ball GT. As such, it has yet to be made part of official Dragon Ball canon.

Ultra Instinct Outperforms Super Saiyan 4

The strength of the Super Saiyan 4 form is that it combines the raw power of the Golden Great Ape form with the focus and control of a Saiyan fighter. In the manga, the normal Great Ape form gave Saiyans strength, speed, durability, and size, as well as the ability to fire an energy beam from their mouth. GT shows that a Golden Great Ape form provides these abilities to a much higher degree. The problem with any Great Ape form is that it causes the user to lose control of themselves. Super Saiyan 4 eliminates this by giving Goku access to all that power while keeping his mental faculties.

The Ultra Instinct form, which Goku first experienced in Dragon Ball Super‘s Tournament of Power, is less of a physical transformation, and more of a mental state of mind, although when achieved it does physically change Goku to a small degree. Goku obtained this ability largely from training with Whis, an Angel attendant of Destroyer God Beerus. However, due to the difficulty of mastering its intricacies, such as repressing emotion, Goku does not have a perfect ability to make use of it at will. For instance, in Goku’s fight against Jiren, Ultra Instinct came about more due to the fact that he was losing the fight, and less because he had the ability to access it at will.

Goku’s True Ultra Instinct is His Most Powerful Form

The benefits of Ultra Instinct are more defensive than offensive. While in the form, it is almost as if time slowed to a fraction of its normal speed. So, Goku can see an attack in super-slow motion and simply avoid it. Users of Ultra Instinct need not think of a defense or an attack; the body reacts naturally to analyze the threat or opportunity and moves effortlessly to initiate a response. The problem with the form is that, unless the user has completely mastered its complexities, it is incredibly draining, such that it can only last for a brief period of time.

In the manga however, Goku actually managed to master an improved state, the True Ultra Instinct state, which made it possible for him to maintain it for a longer, if still limited, period of time. Goku even found a way to wield this power while still relying on his emotions, which the form had previously required him to suppress. This ability proved exceptionally powerful, able to defeat Gas, who was wished by the Dragon Balls to be the strongest fighter in the universe at that time. The True Ultra Instinct state that Goku unlocked is thus undeniably more powerful than GT‘s Super Saiyan 4, making Ultra Instinct Goku’s strongest form in Dragon Ball.

Source: Screenrant.com