When Does Goku Go Ultra Instinct? (Every Episode)

At this point in the Dragon Ball storyline, Goku’s most powerful state is his Perfected Ultra Instinct, as this is the very stater that the Angels are in by default. We know that this state allows Goku to have a power level that’s exponentially stronger than his Super Saiyan Blue form. But it was the fact that he was able to instinctively dodge his opponent’s attacks that allowed him to fight Jiren on par in the anime. So, when does Goku go Ultra Instinct in Dragon Ball Super?

Goku goes Ultra Instinct for the first time in episode 110 when he nearly dies due to his Spirit Bomb getting pushed back by Jiren. Meanwhile, when he couldn’t defeat the Kefla, the fused form of Caulifla and Kale, he goes Ultra Instinct again. He entered Perfected Ultra Instinct near the end of the tournament.

While Goku was indeed able to fight at his most powerful during the Tournament of Power when he fought Jiren, the thing that needs to be understood is that he was yet to master the state. That means that Goku could not enter it at will and was not fully able to handle the effects of the form. Nevertheless, let’s look at when Goku entered Ultra Instinct during the Dragon Ball Super anime.

When Did Goku Achieve Ultra Instinct The First Time?

In the Dragon Ball Super anime, we know for a fact that Goku is able to reach the power of the divine when he was able to unlock Super Saiyan God. Since then, Goku’s divine powers only increased as he entered Super Saiyan Blue, which was powerful enough to impress the audiences from the different universes during the Tournament of Power due to the fact that he was powerful enough to rival the strength of a God of Destruction.

Nevertheless, as powerful as Goku was in his Super Saiyan Blue form, the biggest problem that he needed to address was the fact that he had seemingly peaked in that state. This isn’t rare in the Dragon Ball continuity because, no matter how hard Goku and his friends trained, they always peaked at their current forms. And that requires them to unlock new forms that allow them to surpass their limits.

The form that we are talking about is Ultra Instinct, which is currently Goku’s most powerful state. He was able to achieve this during the Tournament of Power. But when did Goku enter Ultra Instinct the first time? Well, we need to look at the fact that Goku needed to fight someone much stronger first before he was able to surpass his limits and unlock Ultra Instinct.

In that regard, Goku needed to address the fact that Universe 11 had a fighter that was so powerful that he himself was stronger than the universe’s own God of Destruction. This is unheard of because it seems like no other character on the series, regardless of their universe, is stronger than their God of Destruction. But here comes Jiren, who proved himself too powerful for Goku to handle when the Saiyan challenged him in the Tournament of Power right away so that he could test the limits of his power.

Jiren’s power proved to be too much for Goku because he needed to enter his Super Saiyan Blue Kaio-Ken x20 form to even try to match the strongest Universe 11 warrior. But the problem was that Jiren didn’t even put in a lot of effort against Goku’s most powerful transformation. And that was when he had to resort to his trump card—the Spirit Bomb. 

Goku’s Spirit Bomb has always been powerful enough to defeat opponents much stronger than he is because of the fact that it feeds off of the power that he is given instead of his own power. In fact, he was able to defeat Kid Buu with this very same move. And in that fight against Jiren, Goku used the might of Universe 7 to strengthen his Spirit Bomb.

Jiren, however, proved to be too much as he was able to almost effortlessly push back Goku’s Spirit Bomb. He basically threw the massive energy ball back to Goku, who couldn’t handle the power of the Spirit Bomb as it seemed like he died as a result of the power of his own move.

While Universe 7 believed that Goku had died due to the Spirit Bomb, it appeared that he was still alive and had become a lot stronger as a result. This was when he unlocked his Ultra Instinct Sign form, which is basically the initial state he enters before he could completely enter the Perfected Ultra Instinct state. Goku achieved this form during episode 110 of the Dragon Ball Super anime.

During this state, Goku was quickly learning and improving as he was still adjusting to the form. He was so strong and fast that he was able to easily avoid both Top and Dyspo, who are only second and third to Jiren among all of the fighters of Universe 11. In fact, Goku was so strong that he was able to push back Jiren, who was in his suppressed state and was about to eliminate him from the Tournament of Power before he had burned through all of his energy and was easily blown away by the might Pride Trooper.

Which Episodes Do Goku Use Ultra Instinct?

After Goku achieved the Ultra Instinct Sign state during the events of episode 110 of Dragon Ball Super, he was able to achieve this form later in the anime when he was pushed back. After all, the only way for him to be able to achieve this form was when he was pushed back far enough to the point that he could break his limitations.

Despite losing all of his stamina after entering Ultra Instinct Sign for the first time, Goku needed time to recuperate because of the demands of the form. The Tournament of Power proceeded, and that was when the Saiyans of Universe 6 were able to show their stuff. Both Caulifla and Kale were so impressive that they were able to unlock new forms. In fact, Kale proved herself to be quite strong as the Legendary Super Saiyan counterpart of Universe 6.

When Kale was able to control her Legendary Super Saiyan form, that was when she and Caulifla used the Potara Earrings to fuse and become stronger than almost everyone in the Tournament of Power aside from Jiren. That was when they became Kefla, who was very powerful to the point that she was easily able to overwhelm Goku, who had returned to battle after a brief rest period.

Kefla was so strong that Goku’s strongest Super Saiyan Blue state could not match her prowess. As such, Goku was once again forced to break through his shell of limitation after getting pushed to the brink of elimination. That was when he entered Ultra Instinct Sign once more as he used this form to defeat Kefla. 

Goku was able to defeat the mighty fusion warrior of Universe 6 by utilizing the state’s capability of dodging attacks in an instant as he was charging up a Divine Kamehameha while instinctively dodging Kefla’s attacks. Kefla ate a Kamehameha at point-blank range as she was eliminated from the Tournament of Power. Goku was able to achieve this state during episode 115.

As Goku learned how to control the power more, he was able to show a display of power that was strong enough to break Jiren out of his meditation. However, the problem was that he was too fatigued to stay in Ultra Instinct Sign. As such, he needed to rest first before he could do any more damage to the key fighters in the Tournament of Power.

While Goku was able to eventually get back on track by resting a bit, he could not achieve the form at will because it was important for him to be able to fight a warrior that was strong enough to push him back just as much as the Spirit Bomb and Kefla were able to do so. In that regard, Goku stayed in his Super Saiyan Blue form in most of the crucial fights against the remaining warriors in the Tournament of Power because Jiren was the only fighter that he could not defeat without entering Ultra Instinct.

Of course, after a lot of the key fighters had already been eliminated during the final portion of the Tournament of Power, that was when Goku entered Ultra Instinct once more. This happened during episode 129 when he entered Ultra Instinct Sign and had become so good at controlling the state that he forced Jiren to become serious.

The heat of the battle against Jiren allowed Goku to gradually evolve while he was in this state. As such, he eventually unlocked his powerful Perfected Ultra Instinct, which is the form that followed Ultra Instinct Sign.

In this form, Goku was able to force Jiren to enter his full power. However, that was not enough for the Pride Trooper, who needed to unlock a new form to contend with Goku’s Perfected Ultra Instinct. But Goku still eventually got the upper hand but was forced out of the state when it took a massive toll on his body. He never entered the state again during the anime because he had tired Jiren out too much that he and Frieza were able to force him out of the ring with a tandem attack.