Many consider Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball to be one of the best anime series ever made, and there's a very good reason for that. As well as its incredible longevity and the important role that it played in helping to popularize anime in the West, the series laid a lot of the groundwork for what shonen anime and manga would eventually become, inspiring countless creators in the process.
One of the many things that make Dragon Ball stand out from the crowd is its fantastic use of transformations. In particular, the Super Saiyan transformation plays a pivotal role throughout the franchise, even if certain characters miss out on some of its many forms. The Dragon Ball Super card game makes up for this somewhat though, giving non-canon Super Saiyan transformations to some of Dragon Ball's most popular characters.
1 Super Saiyan 3 Trunks
There are a few different versions of Super Saiyan 3 Trunks in the card game, the first of which debuted in Series 4, Colossal Warfare. Sadly, this isn't a form that fans ever get to see Trunks use in any of the canon Dragon Ball series, with Super Saiyan 2 Rage form being the most advanced form that he has achieved at the time of writing.
Interestingly, though, Trunks does make it to Super Saiyan 3 in Super Dragon Ball Heroes, making him one of only a handful of characters to achieve the form besides Goku. However, as Super Dragon Ball Heroes isn't considered canon, Goku remains the only unfused Dragon Ball character who is able to use the Super Saiyan 3 transformation.
2 Super Saiyan God Trunks
Despite being introduced fairly late on in the series, Trunks plays an important role throughout the events of Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super. He helps to tie the present and the future together and effectively serves as a gateway to an alternate reality in which the Androids almost wiped out humanity.
With this in mind, it's not surprising to see Trunks being shown a lot of love in the Dragon Ball Super card game, with his Super Saiyan God form being another that is still to feature in any canon material. As with his Super Saiyan 3 transformation though, the form has been shown off in Super Dragon Ball Heroes, with Trunks achieving it during the Dark King Mechikabura saga.
3 Super Saiyan 3 Vegeta
The future of Dragon Ball seems destined to focus on the younger generation of Saiyans, with Goku and Vegeta set to take more of a back seat as time goes by. With this in mind, it seems incredibly unlikely that fans will ever get to see Vegeta using Super Saiyan 3, particularly as he has long since surpassed that level with his Super Saiyan God Blue and Ultra Ego transformations.
However, those who are still eager to see the Saiyan prince in Super Saiyan 3 form can at least do so with the help of the Dragon Ball Super card game. Super Saiyan 3 Vegeta was first introduced in 2020 as part of the Unison Warrior Series, with a promo card, SS3 Vegeta, Terrifying Agent of Destruction, following in March of 2023.
4 Super Saiyan 4 Gohan
Dragon Ball GT is probably one of the least popular Dragon Ball series, but it does introduce a lot of interesting ideas. Perhaps the most notable of these is Super Saiyan 4, which utilizes the power of the Great Ape without the user succumbing to the mindless destruction and slow movements that typically go hand in hand with that form.
Sadly, Dragon Ball GT isn't canon, meaning that, strictly speaking, neither is the Super Saiyan transformation. That didn't stop the creators of the Dragon Ball Super card game from creating several Super Saiyan 4 Gohan cards though, the first of which came courtesy of the Unison Warrior Series. It's nice to see Gohan getting a bit more love, with the young but mighty warrior having missed out on numerous Super Saiyan forms.
5 Super Saiyan 3 Raditz
If Goku's son can get a new form or two in the Dragon Ball Super card game, it seems only fair that his deceased brother Raditz should also get a bit of attention. Interestingly, Raditz was treated to a Super Saiyan 3 transformation in the Dragon Ball Super card game, despite the snotty sibling having never achieved Super Saiyan 1.
There are a lot of great Raditz cards in the game, but most see him in his regular form. In fact, his Super Saiyan 3 form is only available in the SS3 Scramble combo card, which was one of the secret rares in the Series 7 set Assault of the Saiyans. There's also a Great Ape Raditz card, although this doesn't showcase the Super Saiyan form.
6 Super Saiyan Bardock
The last of Goku's family to receive a new Super Saiyan transformation in the Dragon Ball Super card game is his father Bardock, who plays a starring role in the Bardock - Alone Against Fate DLC for Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot. He gets a Super Saiyan form, which would no doubt have come in handy during Frieza's attack on Planet Vegeta.
There are quite a few different versions of Super Saiyan Bardock, the first of which came in the Series 3 Booster Cross Worlds. Since then, he's gone on to receive numerous Super Saiyan 3 and Super Saiyan 4 cards, but his "Bardock, Father and Son" card from the Dragon Brawl Draft Box is arguably the best-looking.
7 Super Saiyan 3 Nappa
In addition to a huge boost in power, the golden glow of a Saiyan's hair after achieving Super Saiyan is one of the transformation's signature traits. This led many to wonder what would happen to a bold character like Nappa if ever they should become a Super Saiyan; a question that the Dragon Ball Super card game eventually answered in 2019.
Rather than sprouting golden hair on his head, Nappa's signature goatee grows longer to resemble the spiky hairstyles of Goku and Vegeta. There are two different Super Saiyan 3 Nappa cards available to players of the card game; one belonging to the Assault of the Saiyans series and the other, SS3 Nappa, Golden Invader, being a promotional card.