1. Ultra Instinct Sign – Ultra Instinct Sign

Ultra Instinct Sign is the first stage of Ultra Instinct that Goku achieves. In this form, Goku has the ability for his body to react to threats on its own.

The Ultra Instinct Sign was first activated during Goku’s fight against Jiren in the Tournament of Power. In this new state, Goku’s brain is black.

In the manga version, after training with Merus in the Galactic Patrol Prisoner storyline, Goku was able to freely activate this technique at will.

Ultra Instinct Sign also has certain weaknesses. For example, when fighting Kefla, although Goku can react to the enemy’s attacks, Monkey’s attacks are still relatively weak. The reason is because he still thinks when attacking, instead of relying on instinct.

Another weakness of the Ultra Instinct Sign was also mentioned by Whis in chapter 59. The Sign is just a portal leading to Ultra Instinct. It was unstable, and maintaining Sign’s stability would greatly drain stamina.

2. Perfect Ultra Instinct – Perfect Ultra Instinct

Right after Goku achieved Perfect Ultra Instinct, his hair turned silver. At this point, Goku’s attack and defense abilities become truly dangerous. For example, when Goku used the Ultra Instinct Sign, he was unable to defeat Jiren or Moro. But when using Perfect Ultra Instinct, Goku defeated these two tough enemies.

Since Goku deployed this technique against Moro, he was able to activate Perfect Ultra Instinct freely. However, the biggest weakness when Goku is in his white-haired state is that it consumes a lot of energy and cannot maintain it for long.

3. True Ultra Instinct – True Ultra Instinct

This is the form that Goku recently deployed in the manga Dragon Ball Super chapter 85. Goku’s hair in this form is still black, much like when using the Ultra Instinct Sign.

Goku said: “To thrive in the silver-haired form, I need to keep a calm and pure heart. But in this form, I can have free emotions.” This shows that he has discovered a new way to use Ultra Instinct that gives him freedom over his emotions and more freedom to fight, because he does not need to focus on staying calm.

However, in chapter 85, Goku said: “… but I don’t have much time, so let’s solve this problem.” Those words seem to indicate that even True Ultra Instinct won’t last long.