User blog comment:Rainbowroad6w/FAQs of Sonic I'm tired of./@comment-3530426-20110817161334/@comment-115265-20110818003937

It's most likely that the Super Saiyans in DBZ are based on ancient Japanese mythology, and Super transformations in Sonic are based on DBZ.

Whatever the original source is, the transformations thing does have a "family tree" effect.