Why Did Vegeta’s Hair Turn Green Just Before He Went Super Saiyan in the Broly Movie?

In The Broly movie, one of the most striking and memorable moments is the transformation of Vegeta into a Super Saiyan with green hair. This peculiar visual effect has sparked numerous discussions among Dragon Ball fans. The greenish hue is often interpreted as a visual effect to emphasize the intense energy and emotion surrounding the transformation. This technique highlights the dramatic moment and signifies the immense power surge Vegeta experiences. It's worth noting that the transformation itself retains the traditional golden hair associated with Super Saiyan forms, but the green hair serves a specific narrative purpose in the film.

Artistic Choices and Visual Storytelling

The film employs various artistic styles and color palettes to enhance the visual storytelling. The green hair serves as a way to convey the heightened stakes of the battle and the characters' emotional states. It does not indicate a new form or ability, but rather emphasizes the raw power and energy involved in Vegeta's transformation. This artistic choice was deliberate and was designed to enhance the visual impact of the scene without altering the fundamental nature of the Super Saiyan transformation.

The Blue Form and Zenkai Bank

It is unclear why Vegeta did not use the green hair transformation in other parts of the film, such as Galactic Patrolman. The blue form could be more efficient considering that the red form has a healing factor which potentially drains ki. Vegeta may have been banking on a Zenkai during the tournament and would not want a Super Saiyan transformation (SSJ) to ruin that. We saw later that he used Royal Blue against Toppo when he was pushed to the brink, and the SSJ's healing factor would have had him less prepared for that fight.

Goku's Ki Turning Green

Similar to Vegeta, Goku's ki also turned green at multiple points during the battle. This is most likely due to Broly's aura contaminating them. There is another point where Broly is making contact with Goku, and his aura is slowly turning green from the contact point. This could be due to living in Vampa's environment for so long. Broly may have gained a degree of radioactivity or some other factor that translates into ki auras. This further emphasizes the intense energy and the critical state of the characters during the fight.

Transformation and Emotional Context

Both Vegeta and Goku undergo transformations where their emotions drive their power, and this can be seen when they turn into Super Saiyan. The original form of Super Saiyan was the legendary green one, which explains why they have green eyes when they become Super Saiyan. As Vegeta transforms, you can see a slow mode where the yellow aura of the Super Saiyan is being added to the Super Saiyan God. This transition is crucial and can be observed in various transformations, particularly the shift from Super Saiyan to Super Saiyan God.

Color Systems in Visual Media

The color system in digital media doesn't follow the traditional Red/Yellow/Blue color scheme used in pure physical media. Instead, it follows the RGB (Red/Green/Blue) system. A color like yellow is created by mixing red and green. Since Super Saiyan God is a red color, a transition from black to yellow would be confusing. Therefore, using green works better as it is not a transformation color for any of Vegeta's forms. With that, black can fade into green, and mixing red into the green would create the familiar yellow of Super Saiyan.

Additionally, this works with the later transformation shift from Super Saiyan to Super Saiyan God from Yellow. You can fade the green in the yellow hue to shift it to red. There is no real underlying meaning behind the green hair beyond its visual effect, as is the case with many elements in Dragon Ball. The battle between Broly and Gogeta confirmed that Broly's green Super Saiyan form is weaker than Super Saiyan Blue (SSB), so it is not something that would aid Goku or Vegeta in their battles.