Super Saiyan 3 is the third form of Super Saiyan that increases a Saiyan’s power exponentially, though it comes with a pretty sizable downside. Super Saiyan 3 drains a Saiyan’s ki much faster than the previous two transformations, so while it is powerful in small bursts, it isn’t ideal in a fight where stamina is required, such as a tournament.

Throughout Dragon Ball Z and Super, the only Saiyans to obtain the Super Saiyan 3 transformation were Goku and Gotenks (the fusion of Trunks and Goten), making it an incredibly rare form when compared to Super Saiyan 1, 2, God, or even Blue. While that could be because Super Sayain 3 drains too much energy to be worth it, there’s another reason why it’s so rare–one that is an extension of the form’s ki-draining side effect.

Super Saiyan 3 is Secretly an Otherworldly Transformation

In Dragon Ball chapter #475 by Akira Toriyama, Goku confronts Buu and Babidi in an effort to buy Goten and Trunks more time to learn the Fusion Dance. At this point, Goku has returned from the grave for just twenty-four hours, and he only has a bit of time left. This means he can’t be the one to beat Buu, and with Vegeta dead and Gohan presumed dead, the only ones left to fight Buu were Goten and Trunks–and they don’t stand a chance against Buu unless they fuse. So, Goku does what he can to give Goten and Trunks all the time they need, and in the process, try out an all-new transformation he learned in the afterlife: Super Saiyan 3.

It is now common knowledge that Super Saiyan 3 uses up a lot of ki, and in Dragon Ball chapter 476, Goku explains exactly why that is. According to Goku, Super Saiyan 3 should really only be used in the Other World, or anywhere time doesn’t flow. When it is used in a place like Earth, too much energy gets used up too quickly, and it isn’t a worthwhile transformation, despite its near-unparalleled power. This implies that Super Saiyan 3 is something of a divine Super Saiyan transformation akin to the Super Saiyan God, one that shouldn’t be used by mortals as it simply doesn’t work in the mortal realm. When taking a look at some other examples, the evidence seems to check out.

Super Saiyan 3 Is Not Meant For The Mortal World

In Dragon Ball Super, when Goku challenges Beerus on King Kai’s world–which exists outside the flow of time–Goku goes Super Saiyan 3 to battle the God of Destruction. In the anime film Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn, Goku goes Super Saiyan 3 to fight Janemba in hell, another location where time doesn’t flow as it does on Earth. Then, when Goku shows off Super Saiyan 3 to the Saiyans of Universe 6 in DBS’s Tournament of Power, he only stays in that form for a short period because of the ki drain, as the tournament is held in a place where time is flowing as it should (as made clear by the countdown clock).

In short, Super Saiyan 3 isn’t meant for the mortal realm, making it an incredibly interesting aspect of Saiyan transformations that deserves to be more thoroughly explored, and that is why it is so rare in Dragon Ball Z.