With the recent surprise announcement of a new installment in the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi series nearly seventeen years after the third game released, fan speculation has exploded. Anything from what kind of fighting mechanics will it feature to how many characters it will have is up for discussion. One exciting area to speculate on is the moves and abilities the game might feature.
The original Tenkaichi games are loaded with techniques and combos taken verbatim from the show and Manga (just look at SSJ2 Teen Gohan's melee combo), so it's no surprise that people are wondering if this new game will follow in its predecessors footsteps. This is especially so considering all the new Dragon Ball media that's come out since Tenkaichi 3. Here are some new powers and abilities from within that time period that Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi 4 ought to have on release.
6 Ultra Ego
While it hasn't appeared in the anime yet, Vegeta's ultra ego technique has become a fan favorite for those who read the Manga. The ability also serves as the prince's answer to Goku's ultra instinct. Ultra ego is a form defined by a lust for battle, a feeling Vegeta is all too familiar with as a Saiyan elite.
The form increases Vegeta's (as well as Beerus') power without limit as their fighting spirit rises during battle, although this is as much a weakness as it is a strength. A user of ultra ego may lose themselves in their thrill for the fight, not realizing that even though the damage they're sustaining makes them more powerful, it is possible for them to be overwhelmed.
5 Hit's Time Skipping
Hit proved to be an immensely challenging foe for Goku during the Tournament of Power arc, in large part due to his unconventional ability to manipulate time on a limited scale. Hit is able to skip forward in time by up to a half a second, disappearing and then reappearing to observers for that length of time.
Combined with Hit's speed, this makes the technique especially powerful, as he can skip time several times in quick succession during battle against his opponent. The move has appeared in Dragon Ball games before, such as Dragon Ball XenoVerse 2, where Hit appears to stop time for a split second, allowing hit to attack a completely defenseless enemy.
4 Ultra Instinct
Goku's ultra instinct form is among his most powerful, as well as his most loved by fans. It's the opposite of Vegeta's ultra Ego form in that it involves the body fighting on pure instinct, not being slowed down by thoughts and emotion. Goku, however, is not the only user of this form. Both Whis and Moro (after copying it from Merus) are known to use it. In the Manga, Goku initially had little to no control over the form and could only sustain it for so long before reverting to normal.
Eventually, Goku is able to gain enough control over the form to enter and exit it at will. He is also later able to fine-tune it to take advantage of his emotions, resulting in a unique sub-form called True Ultra Instinct. Ultra instinct, has appeared in several DBZ games so far, including Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot and Dragon Ball XenoVerse 2, so featuring it in Tenkaichi 4 seems like a no-brainer.
3 Super Saiyan Blue + Kaioken
The Super Saiyan Blue + Kaioken ability is one of Goku's coolest techniques, and probably his most creative use of talent since he first used the instant transmission Kamehameha against Cell. There is a filler episode of Dragon Ball Z in which Goku combines the power of Kaioken with normal Super Saiyan; however, this is not considered canon.
It isn't until Dragon BallSuper that this idea returns in the form of a combination of the godly power of Super Saiyan Blue and the amplifying nature of Kaioken. It's depicted as being much more powerful than it originally was in DBZ, though it comes with the drawback of inducing a Ki sickness in Goku after heavy use. Kaioken on its own appeared in every Tenkaichi game, though it could never be combined with Super Saiyan like it can be with Super Saiyan Blue in some of the more recent Dragon Ball games.
2 Father + Son Galick Gun
When Gohan and Goku performed the father-son Kamehameha at the end of the Cell saga, it instantly became a fan favorite movie that would go on to appear in many games, often times as Super Saiyan 2 Gohan's ultimate move. Fast-forward many years and Dragon Ball super finally delivered something similar in the form of the Father-Son Galick Gun between future trunks and Vegeta when fighting against fused Zamasu.
The beam is powerful enough to blast through the mad Kai's own attack. Unfortunately, it's not enough to subdue Zamasu, but it's still a wonderful moment between the two characters. Vegeta even expresses pride in his son, something he rarely does out loud. Galick gun is a criminally underused ability, so to see it return in such an extraordinary fashion is a real treat for long time Dragon Ball fans.
1 Forced Spirit Fission
Like the splitting of an atom, Vegeta gained the ability to separate and control energy itself after training on Yardrat. It's an advanced spirit control ability that allows for neat tricks like undoing a fusion or absorption (potentially freeing trapped souls in the process) and giving stolen energy back to its original source.
In the Manga, Vegeta came extremely close to defeating Moro single-handedly after he used this technique to free all the trapped life energy the planet eater had stolen to gain more power. A technique like this can really be useful in a Tenkaichi game. For example, the player could turn Gogeta back into Goku or Vegeta, separate Cell from Android 17 and 18, and then reuse that energy to heal themselves or even revive a dead party member.
A new Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi game is now in development.