Summary
Viewed by many martial artists as the “absolute peak” of their craft, Autonomous Ultra Instinct is both a divine transformation and a mental state attained by select few highly powerful characters inDragon Ball. It wasfirst referenced by the Angel Whisduring his sparring sessions with Goku and Vegeta inDragon Ball Super. The initial transformation associated with this ability, known as “Ultra Instinct Sign” made its earliest appearance during Goku’s first bout with Jiren during the Tournament of Power.
Later on, during Goku’s final confrontation against Jiren at the climax of the tournament, he attained the completed version of this form known as “Perfected Ultra Instinct,” which gave him a massive boost in power to overwhelm his nigh on invincible opponent. The form has been described as the peak of Goku’s abilities at present. It is a departure from theprogression of Super Saiyan transformationsthat were littered throughoutDragon Ball Z, culminating in the divine form known as Super Saiyan Blue. Even Gods of Destruction inDragon Ballare said to struggle with this obtaining this kind of power, with Goku being the only known mortal from theDragon Ball Zcanon to have attained it.
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What Is Autonomous Ultra Instinct?
Essentially,Autonomous Ultra Instinct grants usersthe ability to react independently of premeditated thought, circumventing the time needed for commands to travel from the brain to the limbs via nerve impulses. Instead, each limb and part of the body acts on its own to respond to a threat, executing the perfect move with perfect timing and precision. Users can then move much faster and more efficiently to adapt to whatever is thrown at them, eliminating the need for them to think about their movements beforehand. This also augments their attacks by unforeseen levels, launching them in to the domain of divine beings such as Angels.
To be able to do this, theuser must completely master their emotionsand clear their mind of any stray thoughts, acting on pure intuition. Furthermore, they must also push through their limits with the aid of a trigger, which can either be the struggle of resisting an exceptionally powerful attack or other extreme experiences. Lastly, they must retain clarity in their thoughts and emotions while doing this. Failure at any step in this process will make all efforts in vain and a user will not be able to achieve this state.
Angels such as Whis and the Grand Minister are said to always be in astate of Autonomous Ultra Instinct, and it is the trademark ability of their kind. For mortals, this state is attainable mainly through a divine transformation as seen in Goku’s case, where they first obtain the incomplete version of Ultra Instinct Sign. Once they learn to harness its power to a greater extent, they will be able to access the completed version known as Perfected Ultra Instinct, or even utilize its benefits while in their base state. This provides an incredible boost in strength and speed, to a degree not seen before in the series.
Various Stages Of Refinement
In itsfirst stage, Ultra Instinct Sign, users can dodge any attack intuitively, relying on their limbs to react and act independently at speeds that would have otherwise been impossible. However, this is only the first phase, as dodging and moving are far easier to master when compared to offensive maneuvers according to Whis. In this vein, a user will only attain Perfected Ultra Instinct when they learn to extract the form’s full potential while attacking.
Since most martial artists are trained to think up strategies and look for weaknesses in their opponents, they will always be hindered from concentrating on the moment at hand, which is what Ultra Instinct demands. Once again, the time taken by impulses from the brain to travel to the limbs slows a user down, preventing them from utilizing the transformation to its fullest extent. Even after awakening it three times, was only when he discarded all other concerns to focussolely on his fight with Jiren, that Goku was able to master Ultra Instinct Sign and ascend to its next stage with Perfected Ultra Instinct.
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Following this, there is a considerable deal of additional training that must be undertaken to fully master the form and access it at will, as it exerts a considerable strain on the body due to the level of godly ki required to maintain it. As seen in how Goku’s body horrifically gave out just as he was about to deal the final blow to Jiren in the Tournament of Power, mortals who use Autonomous Ultra Instinct risk pushing themselves beyond its natural limits. They will be severely worn out and run the risk of death in the most extreme cases as per the anime.
Goku’s use of the formhad a time limit, as his body reached a point of intense exhaustion each time he attained Ultra Instinct Sign, leading to the transformation fading out. Later on, he endured intense pain when his body gave out from the stress of using the completed form. Hence, mortals such as him must learn to access its full power at will while honing their body to become more accustomed to the toll it takes. Whis believes that even when mastered completely, there will still be some sort of time limit on the ability. Users of Autonomous Ultra Instinct are also not entirely invincible, as they can still be defeated by opponents who have mastered the form to a higher degree, or those in possession of so much raw power that they can overcome the boost in strength it grants to a user.
The Form’s Best Exponents
Despite how he was commended for achieving Perfected Ultra Instinct during his fight with Jiren, Goku’s proficiency with the form at the time was still the bare minimum when compared to more experienced users. Refining this technique further would allow him to access all of its benefits even in his base state, to negate the potential drawbacks of using the transformation for too long. Most combatants who train to fight with a proactive and analytical approach to battle would struggle to attain Ultra Instinct, which is one of the form’s biggest drawbacks.Consequently, it has been stated thatGods of Destruction such as Beerushave difficulty mastering this form, due to the emotional balance it requires, although they can harness some of its facets depending on their respective temperaments.
Similarly, Vegeta had a hard time understanding how to attain Ultra Instinct, which made him realize that it was not suited to his fighting style. This led him to embark upon a different path and harness thePower of Destruction with his Ultra Ego form, which was far more aligned with his Saiyan instincts. Whis and the other Angels are always in a state of Autonomous Ultra Instinct, and their mastery of the form far exceeds anything that Goku was able to perform even during his fight against Jiren.
Even when sparring with Whis after the Tournament of Power, Goku was still easily beaten, despite now being able to tap in to the godly ki necessary to manifest this mental state. After Whis, it has been mentioned that the Grand Minister’s expertise in using Ultra Instinct is second to absolutely no one, surpassing even his children by a considerable margin. IfGoku truly intends to master the form, it is likely that he will need to receive more training from the Grand Minister to make use of Autonomous Ultra Instinct to its fullest extent.
