The Granolah the Survivor Arc of Dragon Ball Super continues to excite fans with a major plot development with the Heeters becoming the primary villains, and Granolah being Goku and Vegeta's important ally who must avenge his mother and the Cerealian race. One of the most memorable scenes of the arc so far is Vegeta's transformation into his Ultra Ego, a powerful new form he developed while training with the God of Destruction, Beerus. Vegeta says that it's a form that's completely unique to him, and with the debut of the new form in Dragon Ball Super, fans are wondering about its place in the entire series.
Dragon Ball Super artist Toyotarou recently confirmed that he was the one who created the design and name for Vegeta's Ultra Ego form, and original series creator Akira Toriyama approved the idea. In a special interview to celebrate the release of the latest volume and hthe upcoming panel for Jump Festa 2021 (which will also reveal the first color look for Ultra Ego), Toyotarou explained the inspiration behind Ultra Ego's look and how he came up with the name.
"The original Japanese words for 'Instinct' and 'Ego' are similar, but depending on the kanji, or the reading, Instinct becomes 'Your body moves on your own,' right? So that's Ultra Instinct," Toyotarou explained (as translated by DBSChronicles), "On the other hand, even though the Japanese for 'Ego' is similar to 'Instinct' if you look closely at the kanji, you could explain it as, 'Doing as you please,' right? In short, it's the difference between 'your body moving freely' and 'moving your body freely.'"
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"I think the way the meaning diverge like that is so cool. I did worry calling it 'Ultra Ego' was a bit too obvious, but it was an interesting one,"Toyotaro added, "I figured it would be easy for fans to remember, so I took the opportunity to create 'Ultra Ego' and have it be the polar opposite to 'Ultra Instinct.'"
It's interesting how Toyatarou explained the difference between Ultra Ego and Ultra Instinct. The mangaka also said that the character design was supposed to mirror some of Beerus' looks due to the connection to the Gods and Angels: "Ultra Instinct is a technique of the angels, but Ego is different, and it's a technique used by Gods of Destruction."
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