I think that the super saiyan form ( in universe) was hyped up because no one else until goku's time besides yamoshi met the requirements to achieve the form so it passed into legend
I actually talked about this with my brother and we came to the same conclusion, goku should be the only super saiyan. Not only does this allow for other saiyans to seek unique paths to power, but it also keeps Goku unique. Outside of ssj4 and the god forms I would keep ssj2 as the maximum evolution of super saiyan, since a. That’s what it was built up to be and b. Ssj3 is useless. Also I would incorporate the back feeling, but do it better. Rather it being a “tingly feeling in the back” it’s that since the spine connects the body when turning super saiyan efficiently one must focus all of their energy into the spine and fire it out. When the form is initially shown this can be a hinderance since to much energy can overload the spine and cause paralysis. And that’s my TED talk on how to make blond alien monkeys better.
Let's fix the Kaio-ken, Freezer's power level and the Super Saiyan: 1- Kaio-ken should be a form which pushes one's capabities as IF you were above your own level, not increasing your power but forcing you to optimize your own energy output to reach higher highs. Goku wouldn't be able to push beyond 5 times, (at Freezer's saga) otherwise he would die the moment he reaches his limit. 2-Freezer's power level should be at BEST 10 times more powerful than Goku, though what makes him so frightening is his absurd resilience and seemingly endless stamina that lets him attack recklessly without breaking a sweat, so even if he was at the same power level as Goku he still would have the upper hand. 3- Super Saiyan is a 10x multiplier, is basically Ozaru without the burden of being a giant practice target rampaging around mindlessly. Super Saiyan grants accelerated healing which lets Goku be on par with the endless stamina of Freezer and give him the upper hand. Imagine it, a warrior that no matter how many hurt them they can brush it off like nothing happened.
Some of the revisions you made are pretty bold. I wouldn’t go as far as removing Cell from existence. Even though he wasn’t a part of Toriyama’s original vision for the Androids saga, I think he was a crucial element in making the arc as impactful as it was. And saying he’s just a “budget Frieza” is pretty absurd honestly. I doubt the Androids would be that difficult to beat unless they trained before the Cell Games (which I suppose would be called something else in this scenario). Ignoring Senzu Beans for the sake of killing off characters feels unnecessary too. Otherwise I like how this reinforces the power and prestige of Super Saiyan. If Toriyama had treated the form with more respect then I doubt DBS would’ve had the problem of too many transformations. Who knows, maybe Toriyama wouldn’t have needed to end the original run of the series when he did back in 1994?
Pretty cool idea to keep Future Trunks here the whole time. If I had to treat the transformation without messing with the plot too much, I would just do this: -Super Saiyans should be a one an arc thing more or less. Gohan would unlock it after Goku sacrifices himself against Cell. Vegeta either should’ve gotten it right before he self-destructs against Buu, or we get a brief glimpse of it after Trunks dies when he fires a sneak attack at Cell. -Super Saiyans should only be unlocked through genuine emotional turmoil. I’m fine with stuff like the Grade system and perfected Super Saiyan since its basically refining a new technique or in Grade’s case overclocking your PC. If you reach the strength minimum, it should feel like butting your head against a ceiling like with Trunks or post-retcon False Super Saiyan. You hit the ceiling but you can’t force your way through it, so your body has to try and compensate or work around it. -Trunks I don’t say cheapens Goku’s transformation. They had different paths to it, but it was well earned on both ends. He’s in his own time, with his own history and turmoil, and him showing up as one does a lot for implying just how strong the Androids and Cell end up being. If the Super Saiyan who cut Frieza like butter can’t even fight them, it says a lot.
7:44 For those of you who don't get it, i believe the pun is refrencing Drangon Ball AF Personally, Freeza saga is to me the real ending of Dragon Ball. And if Shonen Jump gave Toriyama more time he could have easily come up with a sequel series covering Gohan and still have Goku as his mentor without him having to die all the god damn time. I always thought Super Saiyan 1 is a perfect send-off for Goku's story and then have Gohan and the rest of the Z fighters unlock a new central power system that isn't just power boost. Let's say the more energy they put into their body, the more they train, they can unlock hidden and unique abilities locked within themselves and can be achieved by having a perfect concentration between your mind and body. It still goes with the idea of the original Dragon Ball, makes the fights more unique and that way it wouldn't make 90% of the original Dragon Ball cast useless. Other fighters can still copy the other person's unlocked abilities just like during the Sayian saga but for that they have to work together so everyone can teach to each opther how that attack works instead of just making a beam of light but naming it with a different name (looking at you galick gun which is just a faster kamehameha)
Trunks becoming ssj with the death of Gohan is Fine There should be an side story with vegeta becoming so frustaded that he turns super sayian Gohan should unlock ssj in the Cell fight
Trunks lost Gohan, Vegeta almost died again after training for years, Gohan was trained to use the form. The form is obtained through intense mental pain, or other mental training. What are you talking about?
Personally, I'd prefer the androids to survive and be reformed like in canon, I like them as characters and seeing them fight with the Z-Fighters in the ToP was one of my favorite things about that arc, especially with 17 being a cool character and being really cool in the ToP, especially at the end. I also kinda like Cell, and I do understand your critics of Cell, but he's unique enough and at least a decent villain. Also when it comes to rewrites, you should consider what Fans like, and even if it's through the rose-tinted glasses of Nostalgia, you should remember a lot of fans love Cell as a Villain, so he should be kept here, so you could either use the same cell, or find a way for present Cell to appear when he didn't in the future timeline, perhaps like some theories on what happened to 16 in the future timeline, Cell was also scrapped with the death of Goku. The Heart virus also isn't a bad plot device, it's similar to how Goku got heavily injured or killed in previous sagas, allowing him to come late for an epic enterence, something that doesn't happen in Super much and makes Goku less baddass, cool, or intimidating. Over all, I don't think removing the Heart Virus is necessary. Unless I missed it, you also didn't add any weaknesses for super saiyan either, you just nerfed the Villains in power, which is cool since they still have their "Infinite" Stamina, rather than relying on raw power, but you could add weaknesses like it being hard to control/it coming with a lot of anger and agression, sorta like we saw on Namek, thus changing the way one fights and thus adding weaknesses/flaws to it for enemies to exploit. In addition or alternatively, it could have a high energy drain, meaning as an opposite to the androids, Super Saiyans lose energy quicker and can't fight as long. This could be applied to Saiyans as a whole, with Humans having more Stamina but less power while Saiyans are the opposite, and Androids are just enchanting existing Human abilities. As a side note, I myself hate the "Infinite energy" Part of the androids, it's just something to make the androids sound cool, and I've never liked it myself, at least as someone who's into science. Sure, a lot of this of course isn't scientific, but "infinite" energy itself has so many consequences for the worldbuilding and setting, making you wonder why it's only used for the androids and nothing else when their are so many other spacefairing societies out there. It's especially dumb when all they need is "Very high" Stamina rather than infinite, we don't even need to see them wear down with that excuse as there shouldn't be much that would have the same amount of Stamina. As for Cell, we could roughly take your scenario, but earlier Establish Cell's appearence same as canon, regardless if he's from the future or present(If anything, time travel and the timelines just need to be better established for the former), and right as their about to defeat the weakened Androids, Cell swoops in and asborbs one of the androids, probably 17, and then the Z-Fighters and Androids have to work together to stop a Semi-Perfect Cell. As a brief side note, 16 could be also be include, he'd just be the one battling Goku, possibly over proving he's stronger thant one of the androids and/or more a threat. After Krillin possibly Bonding with and helping 18 quite a lot, Cell would Asborb her too and the Cell Games could still happen like normal. In place of Super Saiyan 2, Gohan, with his Hybrid Potiental, could simply be much more stronger than Goku in Base, perhaps 5 or 10 times stronger, allowing him to be much more stronger than Super Saiyan Goku when he turns super saiyan. To Fix the trigger, he could also spend a lot more time with 16, either 16 being fixed Sooner or them having a lot more time, perhaps they could also train in the time chamber together, and thus allow 16's death to leave much more impact, and thus make more sense as a trigger(As some have complained that 16 isn't a proper trigger as the two barely know each other.) For the Super Saiyan transformation of Vegeta, there are two possible scenarios, both with a same or similar trigger. First scenario could be a Saga based on the arrival of Cyborg Frieza and King Cold, as just because it was set up for Trunks doesn't mean it can't be reworked into something else. With more established bonding before hand and with Bulma being there like in canon, perhaps Bulma could be seriously hurt or even killed(she can still be brought back as she hasn't died before, ignoring the Namekian Dragon Balls), which could turn Vegeta Super Saiyan. The Second Scenario could be similar, but take place in the Android Saga instead, perhaps Gero or 19 kills Bulma, leading to a similar result. Though, one problem is that we don't want to be too repeative, as that's something you shouldn't do in writing, at least not too much as diminishing returns is a thing, and another thing is a Transformation should reflect a change in a character(though you probably already know that), so it might be good to use other than the pain of loss as a trigger for super saiyan, and I've heard of people describing it as a need that trigger Super Saiyan rather than specifically loss, so that could work here for Vegeta, perhaps something related to his pride and/or some kind of desperation As for Trunks, his could be similar, rather it's through losing Bulma or someone else, desperation, or some kind of change related to him. Aside from what I've stated in my previous paragraph, it would probably be good narrative wise to give them each a villain to over come, and it might be good to have it far part time wise as we probably shouldn't bloat a Saga too much with super saiyans, though who knows if that's a problem or not. For specific villains, we could bring in the Movie Androids for Trunks and/or Vegeta to over come, and either new and original villains or other movie villains if need be. Either way, the villains they overcome should probably mirror or relate to them as in way, like Totally not mark has stated in his videos. Speaking of, Totally not mark has made a video about Future Trunks, and his Dynamic with Vegeta, which you should watch if you ever overhaul this. Overly sarcastic productions also had made a video on transformations I believe, which you should check out.
