It is basically impossible to talk about the early days of the series without mentioning the Great Ape Dragon Ball Z era. You remember the first time you saw it, right? Gohan is stranded in the wilderness, the moon is full, and suddenly this small, scared kid turns into a multi-story engine of pure destruction. It wasn't just a power-up. Honestly, it was a horror element in a show that eventually became all about glowing hair and screaming.
The Oozaru, or Great Ape, is the biological wildcard of the Saiyan race. It’s a 10x multiplier. That sounds like a simple math equation, but in practice, it meant a low-level soldier could wipe out an entire planetary civilization in a single night.
The Science of the Blutz Wave
How does it even work? Akira Toriyama, the creator, gave us a pseudo-scientific explanation that actually makes sense within the lore. Saiyans have a specific gland in their tails. When the tail is exposed to a certain amount of sunlight reflected off the moon—specifically 17 million zeno of Blutz Waves—it triggers a massive chemical reaction.
The heart rate spikes. The bones stretch. Fur erupts.
If the moon is full and the sky is clear, any Saiyan with a tail becomes a Great Ape. But there’s a catch. Most Saiyans, especially "low-class" ones like Goku or Gohan, lose their minds. They become feral. They don't remember who their friends are or why they’re fighting. They just want to smash. It’s a total loss of agency. On the flip side, elite warriors like Vegeta or Nappa actually keep their consciousness. Vegeta can talk, strategize, and use techniques like the Galick Gun while in Oozaru form. That is what made the fight on Earth so desperate.
Why the Great Ape Dragon Ball Z Transformation Vanished
You've probably noticed that we haven't seen a Great Ape in years. Not in Super, and certainly not in the late stages of Z. Why?
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The short answer: Power creep.
The long answer is a bit more nuanced. Once Goku achieved Super Saiyan on Namek, the Great Ape Dragon Ball Z multiplier became obsolete. Super Saiyan is a 50x multiplier. The Great Ape is only 10x. Why bother turning into a slow, massive target that requires a specific celestial event when you can just turn your hair gold and move at the speed of light?
- The Tail Liability: Having a tail is a massive weakness. If someone grabs it, a Saiyan loses their strength. If someone cuts it off, the transformation ends instantly.
- The Animation Budget: Honestly, drawing a massive, hairy beast interacting with tiny environments is a nightmare for animators compared to two guys punching each other in a desert.
- The Scale Problem: Once the characters started moving so fast that the human eye couldn't track them, being a mountain-sized ape became a tactical disadvantage. You can't dodge a Destructo Disk when you're the size of a building.
That Time Vegeta Cheated the Moon
One of the coolest moments in the Saiyan Saga was the "Power Ball." Since the moon had been destroyed by Piccolo (RIP Moon), Vegeta had to get creative. He created a ball of condensed Blutz Waves using his own energy. He threw it into the atmosphere and triggered his own transformation.
It was a genius move, but it had a cost.
Creating a Power Ball drains a significant amount of Ki. Vegeta was already exhausted from his fight with Goku, and forcing the Great Ape form was a last-ditch effort. It worked, but it left him vulnerable. This is a detail people often forget. The transformation isn't free. It’s a biological tax on the body.
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The Gohan Factor
Gohan's relationship with the Great Ape Dragon Ball Z form is tragic. As a toddler, he had no control. He killed his own grandfather (Grandpa Gohan) while in this state—though he didn't know it at the time. Later, during the fight with Vegeta, Gohan’s transformation was the only reason the Z-Fighters won.
Imagine being five years old and waking up naked in a crater, surrounded by rubble, with no memory of how you got there. That was Gohan’s childhood. The Oozaru wasn't a "cool power" to him. It was a curse that he eventually outgrew once his tail was permanently removed.
What Most Fans Get Wrong About the 10x Multiplier
There is a common misconception that the Great Ape form makes you ten times faster. It doesn't. It makes you ten times stronger.
In the Dragon Ball universe, Power Level (or Battle Power) is a composite score of strength, speed, and durability. When Goku’s power level of 8,000 multiplied to 80,000 in his (theoretical) ape form, his raw destructive output skyrocketed. However, his surface area also increased. He became a giant target. In a fight against someone like Frieza or Cell, an Oozaru would be sliced to ribbons before it could land a single punch.
It’s a blunt instrument. It was designed for conquering primitive worlds, not for high-level martial arts.
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The Legacy of the Tail
Even though the Great Ape Dragon Ball Z form is gone, its DNA is still there. In Dragon Ball GT (which, yeah, isn't canon to the main timeline but still matters to the lore), the Golden Great Ape was the bridge to Super Saiyan 4. It combined the primal power of the Oozaru with the control of a Super Saiyan.
In Dragon Ball Super, we see Broly using a form called "Wrathful." This is basically the Great Ape's power channeled into a human body. Broly gets the 10x strength boost without growing 50 feet tall. It’s the ultimate evolution of the concept. It proves that the "Ape" isn't just a physical change; it's a reservoir of untapped, chaotic energy that every Saiyan carries in their blood.
How to Scale Great Ape Power Levels
If you're trying to figure out how strong these beasts actually were, look at the numbers from the official Daizenshuu guides.
- Kid Goku: Power Level 10 -> Great Ape 100 (Stronger than Master Roshi at the time).
- Gohan (Saiyan Saga): Power Level 1,200 -> Great Ape 12,000 (Stronger than Nappa).
- Vegeta (Earth): Power Level 18,000 -> Great Ape 180,000 (Stronger than Captain Ginyu).
When you see it on paper, you realize how terrifying Vegeta was on Earth. At 180,000, he was the strongest being in the known galaxy outside of the Frieza Force elites. If he had stayed in that form, he could have theoretically challenged the Ginyu Force and won.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Lore Buffs
To truly understand the impact of the Oozaru on the series, you have to look past the "monster movie" aesthetic and see it as the foundation of Saiyan identity.
- Watch the subtle cues: Notice how the eyes of a Great Ape are always red. This signifies the "bloodlust" that takes over the Saiyan brain.
- Revisit the Saiyan Saga: Pay attention to how Vegeta moves in his ape form. He isn't clunky. He moves with the grace of a trained fighter, which is a terrifying contrast to Gohan’s mindless smashing.
- Explore the "Wrath" state: If you want to see the modern version of this power, re-watch Dragon Ball Super: Broly. The "Ikari" or Wrathful form is the direct spiritual successor to the Great Ape, proving the Oozaru's relevance even in the era of gods.
- Check the gaming lore: In games like Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, the Great Ape boss fights are designed to show the scale difference. Use these to appreciate the sheer size that the anime sometimes struggles to convey.
The Great Ape is the root of everything we love about the Saiyans. It’s raw, it’s dangerous, and it reminds us that beneath the flashy hair and heroic speeches, these characters come from a race of interstellar predators.