Ancient Saiyan Bloodline – Ancient Saiyans (alternatively known as Prehistoric Saiyans) existed long ago. Aside from time travelers, none still exist in the modern time. They possess ki completely different from their modern-day counterparts and like them can transform into the Great Ape, Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan 2 and Super Saiyan 3 forms.
The first type of ancient Saiyan was the evil type, the most notable being Cumber, who displayed the unique "Evil Aura" and as an extension of this, their golden-haired Super Saiyan forms possessed differences to modern Saiyans and they were capable of drawing out the full power of Super Saiyan 3.
The second type of ancient Saiyans was the good type: the "Super Saiyan God race", these most notable of these ancient Saiyans was the previous Super Saiyan: Yamoshi. Good ancient Saiyans are referred to as "the defeated" by Giblet due to them having been defeated and killed by evil Saiyans. They possess the potential to become Super Saiyan Gods.
Oozaru Form – Their tail also grants a Saiyan special transformations; a great metamorphosis into a giant ape beast with tremendous power when looking at a full moon. The Saiyan grows incredibly in size and tenfold in strength while drastically changing in appearance. If the tail is removed, this ability is lost. In this state, a Saiyan will generally lose most if not all control of themselves, with aggressiveness reaching its peak, causing them to lost all rationality to primal instinct. However, some Saiyans who have advanced enough (i.e. Prince Vegeta) are able to contain this heightened ferocity, allowing them to retain their individuality and rationality to perform in battle as normal.
Though normally a tail is required access the transformation, it is possible for Saiyans to transform even if their tail is removed, however they require the use of a Blutz Wave Generator which will cause them to transform, causing their tail to regrow briefly while in their transformed state, as shown by Vegeta in Dragon Ball GT. As the Saiyans of Universe 6 lost their tails through the process of evolution they are presumably incapable of transforming into Great Apes (it is unknown if they would be capable of transforming via the use of a Blutz Wave Generator like the Saiyans of Universe 7).
By managing to access the power of the Great Ape without taking on the form, a Saiyan takes on the Wrath State.
Super Saiyan (I, II, III) – The most powerful ability of a normal Saiyan, however, is the ability to drastically augment their speed, strength and energy by transforming into a Super Saiyan. The ability is rare and difficult to achieve normally, but gives the Saiyan unbelievable enhancements to their normal abilities. Saiyans possess several Super Saiyan transformations, each different in appearance and the power they provide. For the majority of the Super Saiyan forms, the Saiyans muscle mass increases slightly, their irises turn bluish-green and their hair turns golden in color. There are additional transformations beyond Super Saiyan, and variations thereon.
There are several forms of Super Saiyan, most notably the Super Saiyan 2 and Super Saiyan 3 forms.
As shown by Cabba's Super Saiyan transformation during his match with Vegeta in the Tournament of Destroyers, the Saiyans of Universe 6 are capable of achieving this form in the same manner as the Saiyans of Universe 7.
When used by a heroic ancient Saiyan, the form is identical to the modern day Super Saiyan - though it possesses a golden tail (which is not always portrayed as a trait of a modern Saiyan). The ancient Saiyan Shallot also displayed a unique angered state with black Super Saiyan-like hair and red eyes. When used by an evil ancient Saiyan, the Super Saiyan form exhibits differences from those of a present day Super Saiyan; under Saiyan Cumber's utilization the forms retained his red and black aura and both his pupils and irises were present. Additionally, when utilized by Cumber, the Super Saiyan 3 form did not appear to greatly increase the length of his hair. Additionally, Cumber proved to be able to access the full power of Super Saiyan 3.
Super Saiyan God – Through several different methods a Saiyan can ascend to godhood and achieve the Super Saiyan God form, the most notable being a sacred ritual involving the transfer of ki from five righteous Saiyans to a sixth Saiyan as host. Attaining these forms is quite difficult and only three Saiyans are known to have ever accomplished it - with only two retaining the power. These forms possess Godly ki. Here it is through accomplishing an extremely high level of strength.
Evil Saiyan – Saiyans can take on an empowered state known as Evil Saiyan. This form grows the user's hair to the same length as a Super Saiyan 3 - but keeps it it's natural color. Aside from an increase in power, Saiyans using this form possess an Evil Aura which has special properties and numerous utilities.
Super Saiyan Blue – Once a Saiyan masters the divine power of Super Saiyan God, by transforming from a Saiyan with the power of Super Saiyan God into the Super Saiyan form, they can access a new more powerful transformation called Super Saiyan Blue, more descriptively known as "Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan". When a Saiyan breaks through their normal limits, they can achieve the power beyond Super Saiyan Blue.
Super Saiyan 4 – By combining Great Ape and Super Saiyan, a Saiyan becomes a Golden Great Ape. Their offensive capacities have become much greater, and their rage is even more intense than the standard Great Ape's. While in the Golden Great Ape state, the power and strength of a Saiyan increase extraordinarily.
The Super Saiyan 4 form is a unique transformation attained through control of the Golden Great Ape form. Despite being called a "Super Saiyan" it is not part of the main Super Saiyan line of transformations.
By achieving a power beyond their limits in Super Saiyan 4 form, a Saiyan will be enhanced further into a Ultra-full-power Saiyan 4.
While evil ancient Saiyans have been shown capable of taking on the Golden Great Ape form, they have not displayed the ability to become Super Saiyan 4 after gaining control over their Golden Great Ape form.
Ultra-Instinct – ultimate technique that separates the consciousness from the body, allowing it to move and fight independent of a martial artist's thoughts and emotions. It is an extraordinarily difficult technique to master, even for the Hakaishin. However, angels like Whis appear to have mastered it. As a result, it is known as the "state of the gods"
Most users of Ultra Instinct, such as Whis, do not display a noticeable difference when using the technique. However, Son Goku and Moro adopt a unique transformation when using it. When the technique fully manifests, Goku's eyes and hair become a distinctive silver coloration. His hair remains raised slightly and his aura remains crystalline—though, in addition to blues and whites, it now sports purple and red hues as well and is noticeably brighter. In the manga, the Hakaishin Beerus notes that any god would recognize this form as the technique Ultra Instinct. This seems to be the case in the anime as well, as Whis and Beerus both recognize it and the Hakaishin from each universe stand to acknowledge Goku's achievement.
he body of any living being is accompanied by limitations. For one to fight — or to even perform basic actions — they must first process their actions and think with their brain. Doing this limits their speed and will hamper their ability to fight effectively. The ultimate goal for a fighter is the Mastery of Self-Movement, the ability for each and every part of their body to act and think on its own; this allows for much greater reaction speed, as a fighter no longer needs to take the time to process their actions, and can simply do them. Whis has mastered this ability, though Beerus possesses a more rudimentary form, and has not mastered it.
Whis, who has completely mastered the technique, was able to fend off two Saiyan Beyond Gods with no trouble, handling them as if they were children.
Like his Super Saiyan and Super Saiyan Blue transformations, Ultra Instinct was susceptible to Gokū's rage, allowing him yet another explosive increase in power and speed whenever Jiren angered the Saiyan. However, because this explosion of emotion disturbed the calmness of his heart that allowed him to obtain the technique in the first place, Gokū's ability to use Ultra Instinct expired rather painfully shortly thereafter
Ki Mastery – Saiyans have a natural affinity to control Ki energy, allowing them to generate very powerful energy blasts even at young ages. In Dragon Ball GT it is said that Saiyans and half-breeds possess a unique type of energy called "Saiya Power".
Also, any energy lost during a battle, will be completely restored, and, in some cases, multiplied, after a short time of resting.
Ancient Saiyans possess different energy from their present day counterparts, the evil ancient Saiyan Cumber was shown to have a corrupting aura and the ability to create shadow hands.
Hybrid Saiyans like Gohan, Beat, and Pan are shown to be able to manipulate their ki subconsciously without formal training though said abilities usually manifest when they are in danger. Examples include Gohan's Leave My Daddy Alone! and Hidden Potential techniques, Pan developed the ability to use Flight without formal training, and Beat could subconsciously use ki while guarding to cancel out simple Ki Blasts. Gohan and Goku Jr. are also known to subconsciously access their hidden potential through emotional distress particularly when enraged, though their power often fluctuates depending upon their emotions though with training they can learn to consciously and better control their energy.
Multi-Form Technique – To perform it, the users powers up and splits into two, then those two split clones into four. Unlike the Afterimage Technique, these are tangible clones, not just imprints left by speed. This technique has a quite obvious weakness, however. The four clones are created by the user's energy level divided into four. After using the technique, the clones are usually four times weaker than the user individually. The version used by Cell in the anime were all capable of using Cell's normal level of power and did not become four times weaker.
Regeneration – This is a recovery at the level of Majin Buu and Cell. This means that the recovery from injuries is exceptional. As long as there is a singular living cell remaining it is possible to recover completely.
Flight – Due to their natural ability to control their energy, and the massively increased gravity of their home planet, Saiyans possess the innate ability to fly at hypersonic speeds, with little, to no effort at all. Due to their superior Ki control, they're able to fly much more faster than normal humans, proven by Goten, when he completely outclassed Videl in their first day of flying training.
Typical Saiyan Characteristics:
Strength – Saiyans naturally possess vast superhuman strength, far greater than that of Earthlings and other alien races and are veritable fighting machines. They are capable of easily lifting ten times their own weight (before receiving Master Roshi's training, Goku was already able to lift Bulma's car at age 12).
The naturally high gravity of Planet Vegeta (10x that of Earth) develops their physical strength, making them incredibly strong at young ages. Even weaker Saiyans are capable of conquering most planets alone. Due to their insane levels of physical power, they are easily able to destroy mountains, islands, and potentially entire planets just with pure physical strength, especially in the Super Saiyan states. For example, during Goku's battle with Kid Buu, the planet they were fighting on was warping and contracting with each blow and would have destroyed it if not for the Sacred World of the Kai indestructible nature. God-like Saiyans, possess an astronomical level of physical strength, capable of crumbling apart the entire universe when clashing with another God. Broly a Legendary Super Saiyan displays strength that is high even by the Saiyan's standards as seen in his Wrathful and Full Power states where he could brutalize both Goku and Vegeta in their God forms with his own phyiscal strength despite lacking any God-Ki. When Broly and Gogeta clashed they were capable of shattering a Dimension of Strange Swirling Lights with their blows.
Through tough training, Saiyans can reach new levels of power, and the more intense training and fights they go through, the stronger they become. If a Saiyan survives a near-death experience through extreme injury to the body, then, when the body recuperates, the Saiyan grows much stronger than they were previously, their body adapting to compensate for the damage dealt, essentially evolving their power, the more they fight. The duration of recovery does not seem to hinder this ability as Saiyans have healed through natural, technological and mystical means and still gained substantial increases in physical strength.
Saiyans put a heavy emphasis on strength and fighting ability when it comes to importance in their society. In fact, they will excommunicate Saiyans who do not show potential to assist in their violent ways, even alleged "royalty," such as Tarble.
Speed/Agility – Saiyans possess tremendous levels of superhuman speed, easily capable of breaking the sound barrier, even with their basic moves. They also have much faster reflexes than an average Human; reflexes so fast that they can avoid a bullet without any trouble at all, or even catch them with no harm. Their superhuman speed can easily be seen in their fighting skills; their movements occur in fractions of seconds which are not visible to average Human eyes, and even "super" humans, like Krillin, Tien or Yamcha, have trouble following up a Saiyan's speed.
Their agility is also substantial in their battles and training, they can easily perform immensely high jumps or acrobatics far more advanced than those of normal human beings, with no drawback or strain on their bodies. These movements can be improved by training, transformations, and other methods. These natural powers of speed and reflex make nearly all Saiyan hand-to-hand combat very fast. In the anime, the strongest and most powerful of Saiyans (especially those who can turn Super Saiyan), can easily move faster than the speed of light, and even King Kai, who can easily track Attack Ball's traveling at faster-than-light speeds, can't keep up with them.
Saiyans who have achieved the Super Saiyan God form and above, such as Goku and Vegeta, can even keep up with a God of Destruction's immense speed, and the likes of Dyspo, a being whose speed surpasses sound and light.
In World Mission, Beat is shown to be faster than the game world speedsters Burter, Neiz, and Dyspo when he encounters them in an anomaly within Age 764 of the game world.
Durability/Endurance – Saiyans possess enormous amounts of superhuman durability, and are a remarkably resilient species, who refuse to be physically broken. Even as children, Saiyans are easily capable of taking on bullets, explosions or sharpened objects and come out relatively unharmed, and as even younger infants, are able to survive extreme head-trauma and stunt forces.
However, as fully developed adults, Saiyans possess immense levels of resistance to nearly all harm, and essentially, no Earthling-made weapon could possibly hurt them, and even most alien weapons cannot either. According to Dr. Gero, at age 24, Goku was already so tough, that even basic nuclear blasts and City-leveling explosions would not manage to kill his enemy, prompting the later to build up planet-destructing bombs on each one of his Androids, hoping that this last-effort method managed to kill Goku, in the case the Androids could not. Stronger or god-like Saiyans can survive this type. Even while unconscious and in their base form, a Saiyan is capable of surviving re-atmospheric reentries with no negative effect to their bodies.
When a Saiyan becomes a Super Saiyan, their durability, as well as their strength, increases massively, becoming tough enough to easily survive powerful energy beams, even to their faces, with no visible harm or scratch, and take most blunt forces against large amount of rock or solid matter, with no discomfort. God-like Saiyans can survive universe-clashing forces with essentially no harm, or even take planet-destroying finger-taps from Beerus, a God of Destruction with little issue.
However, they are not invincible, and substantially powerful forces and enemies can overcome a Saiyan's basic durability. But even if they are hurt, Saiyans not only also appear able to heal from injuries at a faster rate than normal human beings, but also have an extremely high tolerance to physical pain, and will only succumb to injuries if a massively high amount of bones are broken, also, they possess remarkable immune systems, making it very hard for them to become sick (in fact the only illness in the series shown to be capable bypassing a Saiyan's immune system is Heart Virus). If a Saiyan lets his guard, the most important part of their durability, gradually down, no matter how powerful, this will cause the Saiyan to become vulnerable to behind surprise attacks, and will take as much damage as a "super-human" could. God-like Saiyans have an even higher durability, and can survive star system-shattering energy attacks like Beerus' Sphere of Destruction, as demonstrated by Goku, but with extreme difficulty.
It is said by Vegeta that Saiyans are unable to survive in the vacuum of space, although they are capable of going to the upper levels of a planet's atmosphere, as seen when Goku fought Beerus and when Goku and Vegeta were looking for Moro.
Intelligence – Saiyans are considered for the most part to be comparable in intelligence to humans. Goku's head trauma and sheltered childhood left him unenlightened about anything not concerning martial arts, though he gradually outgrows this as his teachers all stressed the values of brains over brawn. Due to a Saiyan's strength, their level of cunning is generally downplayed, unless their strength is below average, like Raditz. Perhaps as a byproduct of their speed and reflexes, Saiyans are also abnormally quick learners, able to process large amounts of information within a limited amount of time. This can be seen when Goku was able to use the Kamehameha after seeing it just once and Vegeta taught himself how to sense energy despite being reliant on scouters for most of his career. Despite being a race of barbarians, Saiyans have no trouble adapting to new technology. It is unknown if Saiyan aptitudes carry onto their hybrid children, as the intelligence of all Saiyan hybrids has been shown to be products of their upbringing (Gohan was privately tutored, Trunks grew up in a family of scientists etc.). However, a Saiyan's superhuman learning curve is seen time and time again throughout the series, such as Goku learning the Kamehameha Wave after seeing it just once, Vegeta developing the ability to sense energy after learning about it on his first trip to Earth, and Gohan being able to keep up with immense amounts of coursework in his private studies as a child despite his young age.
Saiyans also have very good memories, even from the time they were babies. This was evident when Raditz meets Goku and expects him to remember his brother and his mission only to discover Goku suffered from amnesia due to a severe concussion as an infant. Broly as well was able to remember Goku's Saiyan name and appearance despite them both being newborns the last time they met.