Ultra Instinct in Dragon Ball enables Goku to immobilize psychic opponents, exemplified in his confrontation with Hearts. Hearts, possessing telepathic capabilities, fails to foresee Goku's maneuvers while he is in the Ultra Instinct mode. This state grants Goku the ability to react and maneuver instinctively, rendering it challenging for telepaths such as Hearts to anticipate his actions or read his mind.
Goku demonstrated Ultra Instinct's rarely acknowledged advantage during his battle against the psychic villain Hearts in Super Dragon Ball Heroes.
Dragon Ball fans are well-versed in the immense power of Ultra Instinct, but this incredible transformation has an often overlooked benefit: it can completely thwart a psychic opponent. This unique aspect of Ultra Instinct was prominently showcased in a chapter of Super Dragon Ball Heroes, where Goku triumphed over the evil Hearts.
In Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Universe Mission chapter 7, the god-slaying villain Hearts, allied with Zamasu and several others, is fighting the warriors of Universe 11, who are joined by Vegeta and Future Trunks. The battle goes poorly for the heroes, with even Top, wielding the power of a Destroyer God, struggling. Hearts' main advantage is his ability to read the minds and hearts of his opponents, giving him insight into their next moves and making it easy to avoid damage.
Hearts even uses this ability against the incredibly fast Dyspo, showing that his reaction time is up to the challenge. However, everything changes when Goku enters the battlefield.
Goku's Ultra Instinct: A Psychic's Worst Enemy
Goku arrives and activates Ultra Instinct Sign, saving the Supreme Kai of Universe 7 from certain death. Hearts is stunned when he cannot anticipate Goku's movements, and Goku demonstrates his power by swiftly defeating the Evil Saiyan, Cumber. Hearts realizes that reading Goku's mind in this state is nearly impossible, and if Goku had achieved Perfected Ultra Instinct, it would be completely impossible. Hearts is forced to rely on numbers and eventually retreats to Universe 7.
The reason Hearts cannot read Goku's mind is due to the nature of Ultra Instinct—it allows the body to act and move independently of conscious thought. This means Goku's movements are disconnected from his thoughts, making them unreadable to psychics. Ultra Instinct is thus the bane of psychic warriors, allowing martial artists who possess this power to easily defeat them.
Psychic warriors are rare in the Dragon Ball universe but not unheard of. Characters like General Blue, Chiaotzu, Cell, and Frieza have all used psychic abilities to varying extents. Mind-reading, in particular, is used by several major characters, often for telepathic communication but sometimes in battle, as Hearts does—the Supreme Kai uses it against Piccolo in his first appearances.
Ultra Instinct's ability to resist psychic manipulation is one of its strongest features, even if it's rarely highlighted. It makes sense that a divine technique like Ultra Instinct would be beyond mere psychic powers. Hearts quickly understands that his usual tactics are useless against Goku, forcing him to retreat. Goku's Ultra Instinct is undoubtedly one of his most powerful forms in Dragon Ball, and its immunity to psychic opponents underscores its phenomenal power.
Dragon Ball: A Legendary Franchise
Created by Akira Toriyama, Dragon Ball is a multimedia franchise that began in the 1980s. It started as a serialized manga in Weekly Shonen Jump in Japan and quickly expanded internationally through manga and anime adaptations. The original Dragon Ball series followed the young Son Goku on his quest to find the Dragon Balls, mystical orbs that grant wishes. The series then evolved into the immensely popular Dragon Ball Z, which follows Goku as an adult in high-intensity battles and his unending pursuit of strength. The franchise has also seen numerous successful video game adaptations and continues to release new animated series and films, including the recent Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.
Key Points
- First Film: Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies
- Latest Film: Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero
- First TV Show: Dragon Ball
- Latest TV Show: Super Dragon Ball Heroes
- First Episode Air Date: April 26, 1989
- Latest Episode Air Date: October 5, 2019
- Notable Cast Members: Sean Schemmel, Laura Bailey, Brian Drummond, Christopher Sabat, Scott McNeil
- Current Series: Dragon Ball Super
- Popular Video Games: Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Dragon Ball: The Breakers, Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission, Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z, Dragon Ball Xenoverse, Dragon Ball Z Kakarot