The Ultimate Super Saiyan Guide:
(This will be a bumpy ride so hang on.)
The Great Conflict:
One of the most debated topics between manga and anime is the legend of a super saiyan. In anime, Vegeta states that 1 in every 1,000 saiyans is born a legendary Super Saiyan. In manga, Vegeta states that once every 1,000 years a Super Saiyan is born. It's not a difficult choice which one you need to trust. Believe the manga when it comes to pure facts. So, does this mean that most of the saiyans are incredibly lucky? No, of course not it's a myth. Myths and legends were made to entertain us and explain inexplicable events.
           Ok in anime when Vegeta talks about the legendary Super Saiyan, we see a shadow of a great monkey. This is the golden monkey we see in Dragonball GT. This was the form of the legendary Super Saiyan. This form of Super Saiyan can be attained by two ways. One, absorbing an incredible amount of Brute Waves. Two, by having a tail and meeting the standard requirements for Super Saiyan. This said, the legendary Super Saiyan was either a fake, and simply absorbed that astronomical amount of Brute Waves or he was born with the requirements.
          In manga no form of the legendary Super Saiyan is seen. This is very difficult when combined with anime. Does having a tail affect how a Super Saiyan looks? Yes, it is said that having golden hair, and emerald green eyes was merely the result of not having a tail when transforming into a Super Saiyan.

So what do you need to become a Super Saiyan like Goku and Vegeta?
Here are the requirements,
A minimum power level of 1,000,000
A quite, pure and calm heart
Extreme Rage, (that triggers the transformation)
No Tail

          The power level of 1,000,000 is easy to obtain. Like Frieza's transformation, the body of a saiyan can only hols so much power in it's normal form, hence the upgrade to Super Saiyan physically changes the saiyan's body and allows them to possess a greater power. (This is true for every other stage of Super Saiyan.) Having a calm and pure heart is simple, mainly because it doesn't matter if you're pure good or pure evil, (Vegeta) Extreme rage is actually the hardest task to achieve. It cannot be anger, one has to do a bit of soul searching to find what truly makes them hate. For Vegeta, he had to redirect his anger to himself for being weak, not at Goku for being stronger.

Forms of a Super Saiyan:
Super Saiyan 1: (Achieved by Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Goten, Trunks, Gotenks, Vegetto, Gogeta and Brolly.)
          Goku was the first to reach this form on Namek when he battled Frieza. When Frieza killed Krillen that was the trigger for his extreme rage. This form of Super Saiyan the fighters power is increased 50 times! However, this form uses up energy and will drain the user of energy faster than if they fought as normal saiyans.

Stage 2 Super Saiyan: (Achieved by Goku, Vegeta and Future Trunks.)
          You may see this as Super Saiyan 1.5, somewhere between Super Saiyan and Super Saiyan 2. The users body mass increases, which causes their fighting potential to also increase. This form is somewhat effective, but the user cannot get any stronger or he'll transform into...

Stage 3 Super Saiyan: (Achieved by Future Trunks.)
          This is a step beyond Super Saiyan 1.5, think of it as Super Saiyan 1.8. This form the users muscle mass is incredibly bulky and is the users fighting potential is very high. But the big muscles make it hard for the saiyan to move and actually slows him down. This is why Trunks lost against Perfect Cell leaving this form useless.

Super Saiyan 2: (Achieved by Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, Gotenks.)
          First achieved by Gohan when he fought Perfect Cell. This form is very hard to achieve, it is very hard for a Super Saiyan to surpass himself. Most of the time the Z-Fighters call this form a Super Saiyan that surpasses a Super Saiyan, an ascended saiyan or we like to call it Super Saiyan 2. This form the users muscle mass does not increase, but increases their strength and even increases their speed! Their hair also has some more tuffs in it and blue electricity flows through them.

Super Saiyan 3: (Achieved by Goku and Gotenks.)
          The most powerful form of a Super Saiyan in DragonballZ. The fighter has no eyebrows and their hair grows down to their legs. Goku was the first to show us this form when he fought Fat Majin Buu. Goku didn't want to defeat fat buu because he wanted his sons to save the Earth for once. This form is only achieved by training and this is the only form where a saiyan can actually collapse from exhaustion because Super Saiyan 3 takes ALOT of energy to power up.

          First when I spoke of the golden monkey in Dragonball GT Goku actually becomes this form when Pilaf wishes that Goku was a child to Shenlon, (because Goku had a tail when he was a kid.) So Goku transforms into a golden monkey due to his tail and loses all sense of reason and destroys everything in his path.

Super Saiyan 4: (Achieved by Goku, Vegeta and Gogeta.)
          This is only seen in GT and I don't agree with this as a Super Saiyan, but Legendary Super Saiyan 2. Don't get it? Ok, I'll try and explain it better, this form the user has black hair, red fur and weird eyes. When Goku transformed into a golden monkey he was strong or legendary Super Saiyan. When he powered down, he transformed into a Legendary Super Saiyan 2, (or Super Saiyan 4) But this form is incredibly hard to stay in, Goku only stays in it for 10 minutes before he passes out. A saiyans fighting power from Super Saiyan 3 increases 10 times when in Super Saiyan 4.

False Super Saiyan: (Achieved by Goku)
          In Movie #4: Lord Slug Goku transforms into a somewhat form of Super Saiyan. King Kai says he's a Super Saiyan, but think of it as Super Saiyan 0.5 it's not as strong as a regular Super Saiyan, but stronger than the Kaoken technique.

Positives of a Super Saiyan:
          Well the fighter can become stronger and faster than he ever thought possible and can match their opponent and save the Universe.

Negatives of a Super Saiyan:
          A Super Saiyan must always be reminded of hate, so Goku cannot create a Spirit Bomb while as a Super Saiyan. Also mentioned earlier a Super Saiyan burns off energy faster than if i his normal form.

What about women?
          Gohan's daughter Pan is seen in Dragonball GT and her and Bra are the only female saiyans seen. Does this mean a girl can never become a Super Saiyan? Nope, if Pan transformed into a Super Saiyan it is possible that we'd see a new form of Super Saiyan! Well Pan never met all the requirements, don't see this as sexist because I'm not. Pan has never became rage filled as the males have. This is just a sign that females can handle stress better than males can.

          Wells that everything you need to know about Super Saiyan, I've hoped I cleared every question you had about them. So that's it and I ask that no one copy or steal this or any other of my written material, because this took me a really REALLY long time to write.
                                                                                -Matt
Super Saiyan:
Super Saiyan 2:
Super Saiyan 3:
Super Saiyan 4: