Dragonball
Future Trunks - Son of Vegeta
Future Trunks is a character in the manga Dragon Ball and the anime Dragon Ball Z. He is the Human-Saiyan hybrid son of Vegeta and Bulma from the future. By the time Present Trunks was born, the timeline had been altered by Future Trunks' and Cell's trips to the past. Therefore, the two Trunks had completely different lives (as opposed to those who lived before the time machines arrived – they lived the exact same lives as their counterparts until the point at which the two timelines diverge, three years before the androids). "Mirai" is the Japanese Kanji name for 'future'.
This is the first Trunks that the readers and/or viewers ever see in the manga and anime. Trained by the alternate timeline's Gohan, Future Trunks travels through time to seek help from Goku to prevent the Androids from ravaging the world, like they did in his dark future. Future Trunks is a loyal and uncompromising warrior, and can be slightly cocky at times. He inherited his mentor's do-or-die attitude, as well as his father's brash confidence (though he displayed less of it at different times; it was most on display in his fight against Frieza). He wields a Capsule Corporation jacket.
Personality
Future Trunks, having never met his father or grew up under his influence, combined with the fact that he grew up in an apocalyptic world, is very cautious and serious, unlike his main timeline counterpart, who had a personality very similar to his father's. Future Trunks feared the Androids, panicking at the introduction of Android 16,and before going back in time, was very respectful to everyone, especially his mother and master.
Because he comes from the future and believes he knows what is going to happen, Future Trunks is usually shown thinking that only some things will matter and others probably won't (although he's usually right in the long term). This is shown in, at first, his resistance to do anything unless Goku is present. Other things, such as his surprise that Piccolo's fusion would make a difference, also show this. As such, he is usually surprised at events (on a different layer than the fact that history was different from his recollection). He is even (though very rarely) shown to be cocky, such as when he became a Super Saiyan 3rd Grade - but when he loses his seeming "advantage" this cockiness dissolves instantly. Molded from his dark timeline, he is very serious and is a determined fighter like his father. He is also the only full or half-Saiyan that doesn't display a voracious appetite at some point during the series, with the exception of the History of Trunks special, when he imitates his mentor Gohan's eating habit.
Unlike his father or alternate timeline self, Future Trunks is often shown to be very polite and well-mannered. This is clearly shown in the original version through his speech, as he is often heard using the polite form of Japanese phrases when addressing his allies. After returning to his timeline to defeat the androids, he is never seen in the series again. In Dragon Ball Z Movie 9 while talking to Chi-Chi, Bulma states that Future Trunks came back to the past one last time to enter the World Tournament. In an interview with Akira Toriyama when asked by a Trunks fan what had happened to Future Trunks and the Majin Buu of his timeline, he stated that he didn't realize that the series was going to continue past the Cell Saga, and that it was supposed to be the final chapter in the Dragon Ball series. However, due to overwhelming demand from Japanese fans, he continued the series.
Appearance
Like Goku, Future Trunks is muscular, yet a bit taller (after his training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber) and more slender. He has blue eyes and straight, light purple hair due to his maternal side. From his first appearance to the time he enters the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Future Trunks' hair is cut short, only reaching the middle of his ears. After his exit from the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, his hair is long, reaching his shoulders, due to a year of having to cut it himself. However, Bulma cuts it before his second year in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, and again after the Cell Games. Future Trunks gains his facial features and his light tan skin color from his paternal side. Throughout Future Trunks' appearances, he is usually seen wearing golden boots, grey pants, a black sleeveless shirt, and an indigo Capsule Corporation jacket. (Although his jacket is a light blue color in The History of Trunks.) He also wears clothing identical to his father's, a blue skin-tight jumpsuit, white gloves, white boots with yellow tips, and Saiyan Armor. Like most other Saiyan-Human hybrids in the series, he has never been seen with a tail.
Differences
Due to living in such a bleak and dangerous future, Future Trunks is much different than his present time counterpart. Due to a hostile and lonely life with nearly everyone dead, Trunks' best and only friend is Future Gohan, who he is closer to with than Trunks and Gohan, although the present time-line Trunks had Goten as his best friend, while Future Trunks didn't have any close friends. It is unknown how Future Trunks would react to meeting Trunks, however this occurs in the video games Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2, Dragon Ball Z: Legendary Super Warriors, and Dragon Ball: Raging Blast. In Budokai 3, as well as in Shin Budokai, Trunks states that it is "Just like having a brother" whereas in Legendary Super Warriors and Tenkaichi 2 he does not even realize it is his future self, and the two have a sparring match. In Dragon Ball: Raging Blast, upon encountering his past self, Future Trunks is disappointed that Trunks has become spoiled and arrogant in times of peace. However he retracts his disdain for the boy after being surprised by the young Saiyan's strength after they battle, most notably at his ability to transform into a Super Saiyan at such a young age. They did meet in the manga and anime, however, when Trunks was still just a baby; once when Future Trunks rescued him and Bulma from Dr. Gero's attack, and once when Future Trunks came to Capsule Corporation before the Cell Games announcement. For a minute, Trunks incessantly pulled on Future Trunks' hair.
This is the first Trunks that the readers and/or viewers ever see in the manga and anime. Trained by the alternate timeline's Gohan, Future Trunks travels through time to seek help from Goku to prevent the Androids from ravaging the world, like they did in his dark future. Future Trunks is a loyal and uncompromising warrior, and can be slightly cocky at times. He inherited his mentor's do-or-die attitude, as well as his father's brash confidence (though he displayed less of it at different times; it was most on display in his fight against Frieza). He wields a Capsule Corporation jacket.
Personality
Future Trunks, having never met his father or grew up under his influence, combined with the fact that he grew up in an apocalyptic world, is very cautious and serious, unlike his main timeline counterpart, who had a personality very similar to his father's. Future Trunks feared the Androids, panicking at the introduction of Android 16,and before going back in time, was very respectful to everyone, especially his mother and master.
Because he comes from the future and believes he knows what is going to happen, Future Trunks is usually shown thinking that only some things will matter and others probably won't (although he's usually right in the long term). This is shown in, at first, his resistance to do anything unless Goku is present. Other things, such as his surprise that Piccolo's fusion would make a difference, also show this. As such, he is usually surprised at events (on a different layer than the fact that history was different from his recollection). He is even (though very rarely) shown to be cocky, such as when he became a Super Saiyan 3rd Grade - but when he loses his seeming "advantage" this cockiness dissolves instantly. Molded from his dark timeline, he is very serious and is a determined fighter like his father. He is also the only full or half-Saiyan that doesn't display a voracious appetite at some point during the series, with the exception of the History of Trunks special, when he imitates his mentor Gohan's eating habit.
Unlike his father or alternate timeline self, Future Trunks is often shown to be very polite and well-mannered. This is clearly shown in the original version through his speech, as he is often heard using the polite form of Japanese phrases when addressing his allies. After returning to his timeline to defeat the androids, he is never seen in the series again. In Dragon Ball Z Movie 9 while talking to Chi-Chi, Bulma states that Future Trunks came back to the past one last time to enter the World Tournament. In an interview with Akira Toriyama when asked by a Trunks fan what had happened to Future Trunks and the Majin Buu of his timeline, he stated that he didn't realize that the series was going to continue past the Cell Saga, and that it was supposed to be the final chapter in the Dragon Ball series. However, due to overwhelming demand from Japanese fans, he continued the series.
Appearance
Like Goku, Future Trunks is muscular, yet a bit taller (after his training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber) and more slender. He has blue eyes and straight, light purple hair due to his maternal side. From his first appearance to the time he enters the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Future Trunks' hair is cut short, only reaching the middle of his ears. After his exit from the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, his hair is long, reaching his shoulders, due to a year of having to cut it himself. However, Bulma cuts it before his second year in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, and again after the Cell Games. Future Trunks gains his facial features and his light tan skin color from his paternal side. Throughout Future Trunks' appearances, he is usually seen wearing golden boots, grey pants, a black sleeveless shirt, and an indigo Capsule Corporation jacket. (Although his jacket is a light blue color in The History of Trunks.) He also wears clothing identical to his father's, a blue skin-tight jumpsuit, white gloves, white boots with yellow tips, and Saiyan Armor. Like most other Saiyan-Human hybrids in the series, he has never been seen with a tail.
Differences
Due to living in such a bleak and dangerous future, Future Trunks is much different than his present time counterpart. Due to a hostile and lonely life with nearly everyone dead, Trunks' best and only friend is Future Gohan, who he is closer to with than Trunks and Gohan, although the present time-line Trunks had Goten as his best friend, while Future Trunks didn't have any close friends. It is unknown how Future Trunks would react to meeting Trunks, however this occurs in the video games Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2, Dragon Ball Z: Legendary Super Warriors, and Dragon Ball: Raging Blast. In Budokai 3, as well as in Shin Budokai, Trunks states that it is "Just like having a brother" whereas in Legendary Super Warriors and Tenkaichi 2 he does not even realize it is his future self, and the two have a sparring match. In Dragon Ball: Raging Blast, upon encountering his past self, Future Trunks is disappointed that Trunks has become spoiled and arrogant in times of peace. However he retracts his disdain for the boy after being surprised by the young Saiyan's strength after they battle, most notably at his ability to transform into a Super Saiyan at such a young age. They did meet in the manga and anime, however, when Trunks was still just a baby; once when Future Trunks rescued him and Bulma from Dr. Gero's attack, and once when Future Trunks came to Capsule Corporation before the Cell Games announcement. For a minute, Trunks incessantly pulled on Future Trunks' hair.
Biography
Future Trunks was born in 766 Age and is from an alternate timeline, one in which the Earth is continually terrorized by the evil Android 17 and Android 18. By the time we are introduced to the pair of Androids, over three fourths of the world's population has been eliminated by them during their spree of destruction. In this future, Future Gohan and Future Trunks are weaker versions of themselves without the training of the experienced Z Fighters later on.
In this timeline, Goku dies of a heart virus six months before the Androids arrive, leaving the Z Fighters without one of their greatest heroes. Trunks' father Vegeta and all of the heroes of Earth (except Gohan) are killed, with the Androids easily outclassing them in power since they were both built to be more powerful than Goku. Over the course of the next thirteen years, Gohan becomes Trunks' mentor and trains him in everything he knows. Trunks is at age 14 at the time. He tries his best to teach Trunks how to become a Super Saiyan as well, necessary for him to compete against the Androids' might. However, with everyone already dead and having not yet felt a certain level of sadness and sorrow, Trunks simply cannot find the motivation to transform. (In the manga, Trunks had already became a Super Saiyan)
Gohan and teenage Trunks face the Androids in battle where Trunks, in his inexperience, is cornered by Android 18. Gohan is forced to sacrifice himself to save Trunks, losing his arm in the process which only further demoralizes Trunks and causes his confidence to fall. Trunks tries repeatedly to attain Super Saiyan during training but still struggles with it, unlike his alternate-timeline self who attains it at a much younger age and with relative ease.
Later the pair are drawn into battle against the Androids again, so Gohan knocks Trunks unconscious knowing that if he faces them again he will be killed. Gohan holds his own against the Androids, being stronger than each individually (only in the anime; Gohan initially lost against a #17 who was using less than half his full strength, and even after the years of training with Trunks, he is effortlessly defeated by the foe and killed before Trunks awakens) but unable to compete with both of them and their infinite energy reserves. Gohan is defeated and killed, leaving Trunks to find his body lying in the rain. Overcome with anger and grief, Trunks finally transforms into a Super Saiyan (as said above, in the manga, he was able to transform already, but due to his inexperience was unable to even keep up with an armless Gohan in his normal state, until his training for the next 3 years) and spends the next few years training to avenge his fallen allies but despite all this, he struggles to defeat the Androids.
After another close escape, Bulma reveals her time machine to Trunks, which she hopes he will use to return to the past and save Goku, hopefully altering the future. In this future, Trunks did not know his father, Vegeta, at all, as he was only an infant at the time he was murdered by the Androids. When he finally meets his father in the past, he is seen to be constantly trying to impress him. This is often mixed with disgust and horror towards his father's uncaring attitude towards those around him, especially when Vegeta refused to save Bulma and baby Trunks when Dr. Gero blew up the capsule plane, forcing Trunks to save his present counterpart and his mother, instead.
Having lived in an age of apocalyptic terror, Future Trunks had to go through intense training that made him stronger in the end than his alternate-self in the main Dragon Ball Z timeline, who lived in an age of peace with the Androids and Cell defeated, though this counterpart seen in the main timeline is able to naturally transform and wield far greater power than Trunks had as a teenager whilst only 8 years old, enough to hit Super Saiyan Vegeta in the face, in the Buu arc.
Every time Future Trunks travels into the past, he creates a different timelines, each one unaffected by different outcomes, which is why he didn't go back in time and destroy the Androids before they were activated by Dr. Gero, for it would simply create an alternate timeline and would not affect his own. The time machine he travels in was also low in power, so he would have been stuck in the past forever. This also means that if Goku told Bulma or Vegeta that they were going to have a son together around the time of his first time-travel and before Bulma stopped dating Yamcha, it would have no difference to his existence whether Bulma and Vegeta decided to have a child together or not.
Time travel
In 784 Age, Trunks travels back in time 20 years, in order to warn Goku about the android threat in the future, as well as to deliver medication that will cure Goku of the heart virus that he is supposed to die from. However, upon arrival he is greeted by Frieza with his father King Cold. They had come to Earth in order to seek revenge upon Goku's loved ones. Trunks, then seventeen years old, did not look like much of a threat to Frieza, and he freely told him so. Frieza was then given three opportunities to kill Trunks, but the young Super Saiyan was able to block and dodge the attacks with ease (and kill all the minions he had brought to Earth with his father) to great frustration of Frieza. Frieza then turns angry and fires his a large orange sun-like energy ball (the same attack he used to blow up Planet Vegeta) at Trunks. Trunks just catches the attack and tells Frieza that he must have "dropped it," after which Frieza detonates the blast with an energy wave (only in the anime, while in the manga Frieza never tried a planet-busting ki attack, and fired this blast immediately instead). Trunks then easily remains unscathed and performs what he calls his Burning Attack to have Frieza dodge the blast, which is followed up by his Instant Transmission technique (just as he did in Trunks' original timeline) when Future Trunks showed up, and killed Frieza himself.
Trunks informs Goku of the future where the Androids arrive and kill all of the Z Fighters in a large battle, also telling Goku not to inform anyone about it, however Piccolo's sensitive Namekian ears pick up the conversation and tells the Z Fighters of the future, inspiring the heroes to train their hardest for the next three years. However, inadvertently, Trunks' revelation of the future alters it slightly.
The Androids and Cell
When the androids eventually appear and they face the Z Fighters, Goku had not contracted the heart disease six months prior like he was supposed to, instead he contracted it during the battle against #19. Vegeta then saves Goku, telling Yamcha to take him home and cure him with his medication, and reveals his new Super Saiyan form, killing #19 with great ease when he uses his signature Big Bang Attack to reduce him to a smoldering head. Trunks returns to the past to find Android 19 (from his detached head) and Android 20, two androids he never saw in his timeline and realizes that this timeline is now branching off considerably from his own. When Android 20 (in reality, Dr. Gero) releases the real androids of his future, Android 17 and Android 18, they rebel and kill their creator before releasing the previously unknown Android 16.
Because Future Trunks warned the heroes of the future and they trained to become stronger, the androids of this timeline have been made considerably stronger, to the point where Android 18, the weakest of the three, by herself is able to even easily take down Super Saiyan Vegeta and Trunks together. Vegeta attempts to fight Android 18 but is no match, so Trunks rushes to his father's aid but is smashed down by #17; when Trunks rises again to attack #18, she breaks his sword and throws him at Vegeta.
Eventually, Cell from another alternate timeline is revealed and hatches from his larval state, and he sets about absorbing the androids of the current timeline. Because the androids and Cell are superior in strength to any of the fighters, the heroes go to train again, this time in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.
When Vegeta and Trunks train in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber together, Trunks believes he surpasses Vegeta in power (though he fails to see the reason why Vegeta stops increasing his maximum power at the time) by ascending further to the Ultra Super Saiyan state like Trunks. However, throughout the year that was spent in the Time Chamber, Trunks realized Vegeta's real sense of Saiyan pride and thought it was best to hide his true power level out of fear of upsetting his father, unaware of the fact or reason Vegeta purposely didn't ascend.
Trunks had managed to reach what is known as Ultra Super Saiyan, where the Saiyan is still a Super Saiyan, but has greatly augmented their physical strength from even the Ascended Super Saiyan state. However, due to the overblown muscle mass, the brute force benefit in this form is offset by a gross decrease in speed, a point which Cell proved by toying with him, constantly dodging his every move, then explaining the flaw and proving he could bulk up just the same. It is later realized that Vegeta was at the very least just as strong as Trunks (most likely even stronger, based on his attitude and taking Trunks' full power Finish Buster blast without harm) and could have easily reached this same level of power if he wanted, but decided against it due to knowing full well the form's weakness, something Trunks failed to spot during their training due to his inexperience.
(Incidentally, Goku came to the same conclusion as Vegeta when he and Gohan were training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, and hence stopped his training as well, but Gohan at first failed to spot the weakness and thought that it would give him the power to defeat Cell, to which Goku responds that "all the power in the world is no good if you can't even hit the guy!". This scene further proves both the inexperience factor which caused Future Trunks to miss the weak point and the fact that Vegeta did understand it, since if Goku could deduce such a thing then certainly so could the much more tactical Prince of All Saiyans.)
Combating Cell
Trunks is the second Saiyan to take on Perfect Cell with the intention of destroying him. Although Future Trunks' power was enough to deal significant damage to Cell, Future Trunks simply kept increasing his power, unaware that his speed was greatly decreasing and his energy consumption greatly augmented to a point where sustaining the state would prove to be a problem. His body became too bulky and slow from the large quantity of muscle and this gave Cell the upper hand, despite not even having powered up and slightly below Trunks in brute strength. Trunks quickly realized that he was too slow and gave up hope right before Cell's eyes. The battle hungry Cell however, was intrigued at how strong Trunks had become in such a short period of time and posed a challenge to the strongest fighters on Earth (The Z Fighters) to train as much as they could over a period of ten days. Then at the end of these ten days all the greatest fighters of Earth will compete in the Cell Games. Trunks then left the battlefield and spread the word about the Cell Games before taking a position in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, again training for a whole year in one day.
When Trunks emerges from his training his power had seen very little increase compared to last time, because this time he could not unlock any new forms because he had not mastered the Super Saiyan state to become Full Power Super Saiyan, a prerequisite for attaining Super Saiyan 2. Trunks is forced to contend with Cell's smaller but incredibly powerful clones along with the other heroes, slowly and gradually losing the fight and being forced to drop out of Super Saiyan, unlike his father. After Cell self destructs out of fear of Super Saiyan 2 Gohan, one cell containing the core of his being survives and he uses it to resurrect himself, much stronger than he ever had been before. Upon his reappearance, he impales Trunks through the chest with a powerful energy blast, killing him. (While the FUNimation dub states that this was intentional, the original version implies that he was just firing randomly, thus meaning that the kill was unintentional, as evidenced by the line "Trunks? Oh, so that's who I killed...".)
This act causes a drastic change in Vegeta who becomes enraged that someone who cared about him has been killed and reveals his affection for his son. Vegeta then gives everything he can give to try and take down Super Perfect Cell although he fails and is overwhelmed by Cell's power, who takes all his attacks without a scratch and severely cripples him with a halfhearted blow, preparing to kill him like he did Trunks (only to have Gohan shield him, but at the cost of over half his power along with the use of his left arm). After Cell's defeat, the dead Trunks is taken to Kami's Lookout where he is revived by Shenron. Later when told how his father reacted to his death, Trunks became shockingly proud of his father.
Back to the Future
After the celebrations for Cell's long-waited defeat, Vegeta acknowledges Trunks while he says his goodbyes. After saying his goodbyes, Trunks returns to his own time to exact revenge on the androids for murdering the Z Fighters. After reuniting with his mother, Bulma, Trunks hears a news update on the location of the androids and he quickly powers up into his powered Super Saiyan form, now greatly augmented by his two years of training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. Meanwhile, the androids are about to kill another innocent man (in the manga he is killed before Trunks' arrival by being shot to the face by #17), when suddenly Trunks hurtles a very accurate energy attack which narrowly misses Android 17. The cocky androids foolishly underestimate Trunks and try to rush him. Trunks easily dodges their attacks and punishes them duly, obliterating Android 18 in a point-blank energy blast. Android 17 looks on in disbelief and his feelings soon turn to hatred when the outclassed android charges Trunks again, but he too is terminated with ease in a single blow, before being blown to dust effortlessly.
The completely unscathed Trunks returns home since everything now seems at peace with the Earth, except for one thing: Cell. Three years pass before the determined bio-android roams around in his weakest form looking for the now non-existent androids and comes across Trunks and Bulma saying their goodbyes near the time machine. Trunks is age 23 at the time. As Trunks is about to leave for the past one final time to inform them of his success, he senses Cell and sends his mother away. He turns towards Imperfect Cell and begins to taunt him with his knowledge from the alternate past. He informs him that he has killed the androids from the current time.
The cocky Cell approaches the half-Saiyan under the false impression that Trunks is still at the level of power when he initially went back in time and warned Goku, even weaker than the future Androids who are in turn inferior to Cell's strength by a long shot. The fight begins and Cell is clearly outclassed as Trunks hurls him outside of the city with a simple energy wave in his base state. Once outside West City, Trunks then transform into Super Saiyan and then proceeds to clobber Cell with great ease. When declaring that Cell must die, Cell gets enraged and launches his tail at Trunks. Future Trunks takes action by grabbing Cell's tail and swinging him around in a circle, building up momentum, and then hurling him high into the air. Cell realizes that he has no hope against the new powers of Trunks, and prepares a Kamehameha wave large enough to destroy the planet, knowing all too well that he could survive in space. Cell begins the attack but is interrupted when Trunks powers up and unleashes a massive destructive wave of energy (Heat Dome Attack) which incinerates Cell completely. With the future finally at peace, Future Trunks is seen for the last time in the series, thanking Goku and his friends in the past one last time.
Another Alternate Timeline
In another alternate main timeline, Future Trunks went into the past and helped Goku just as in the main timeline. Future Trunks and the Z Fighters manage to defeat the androids and he travels back to his alternate future timeline. Because this was a completely different timeline, the events of Cell never occurred and he never trained in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. When he returned to his alternate future timelime he disabled the other future androids and was going to go back to the past to tell the others of their defeat. Instead he ran into and fought with Cell who killed him and then went on to take Trunks' time machine into the main timeline to mesh with the events of the show. However, this timeline returned to a peaceful state as the androids were deactivated and Cell traveled to the main timeline. This came with the loss of Trunks, which could have brought the Saiyan race to what seems to be extinction in this specific timeline.
Another Road
This story is only featured in Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai - Another Road. It has been some years since the defeat of Cell, Future Trunks has entered the World Martial Arts Tournament and meets the Supreme Kai and Kibito and has to hold off Babidi and Dabura but he knew he couldn't do it alone. So he goes back into the past and brings Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Krillin, Piccolo, Android 18, Goten, and Trunks to help him stop Majin Buu. With Broly, Cooler and Janemba also on the loose, the Z Fighters made Dende the future world's new guardian. Gohan also brought the now alive Future Gohan, Pikkon and Bardock (who Goku was surprised to see) to help them. Babidi stole the Dragon Balls but Hercule stole his wish from conquering the universe. Babidi lashes at Hercule, but Majin Buu took the blow and he turned Babidi into candy and ate him. He became his pure form when he did that. Goku, Gohan, Goten, Future Bardock and Future Gohan defeated him with a True Family Kamehameha and the future world was back to Peace.
In this timeline, Goku dies of a heart virus six months before the Androids arrive, leaving the Z Fighters without one of their greatest heroes. Trunks' father Vegeta and all of the heroes of Earth (except Gohan) are killed, with the Androids easily outclassing them in power since they were both built to be more powerful than Goku. Over the course of the next thirteen years, Gohan becomes Trunks' mentor and trains him in everything he knows. Trunks is at age 14 at the time. He tries his best to teach Trunks how to become a Super Saiyan as well, necessary for him to compete against the Androids' might. However, with everyone already dead and having not yet felt a certain level of sadness and sorrow, Trunks simply cannot find the motivation to transform. (In the manga, Trunks had already became a Super Saiyan)
Gohan and teenage Trunks face the Androids in battle where Trunks, in his inexperience, is cornered by Android 18. Gohan is forced to sacrifice himself to save Trunks, losing his arm in the process which only further demoralizes Trunks and causes his confidence to fall. Trunks tries repeatedly to attain Super Saiyan during training but still struggles with it, unlike his alternate-timeline self who attains it at a much younger age and with relative ease.
Later the pair are drawn into battle against the Androids again, so Gohan knocks Trunks unconscious knowing that if he faces them again he will be killed. Gohan holds his own against the Androids, being stronger than each individually (only in the anime; Gohan initially lost against a #17 who was using less than half his full strength, and even after the years of training with Trunks, he is effortlessly defeated by the foe and killed before Trunks awakens) but unable to compete with both of them and their infinite energy reserves. Gohan is defeated and killed, leaving Trunks to find his body lying in the rain. Overcome with anger and grief, Trunks finally transforms into a Super Saiyan (as said above, in the manga, he was able to transform already, but due to his inexperience was unable to even keep up with an armless Gohan in his normal state, until his training for the next 3 years) and spends the next few years training to avenge his fallen allies but despite all this, he struggles to defeat the Androids.
After another close escape, Bulma reveals her time machine to Trunks, which she hopes he will use to return to the past and save Goku, hopefully altering the future. In this future, Trunks did not know his father, Vegeta, at all, as he was only an infant at the time he was murdered by the Androids. When he finally meets his father in the past, he is seen to be constantly trying to impress him. This is often mixed with disgust and horror towards his father's uncaring attitude towards those around him, especially when Vegeta refused to save Bulma and baby Trunks when Dr. Gero blew up the capsule plane, forcing Trunks to save his present counterpart and his mother, instead.
Having lived in an age of apocalyptic terror, Future Trunks had to go through intense training that made him stronger in the end than his alternate-self in the main Dragon Ball Z timeline, who lived in an age of peace with the Androids and Cell defeated, though this counterpart seen in the main timeline is able to naturally transform and wield far greater power than Trunks had as a teenager whilst only 8 years old, enough to hit Super Saiyan Vegeta in the face, in the Buu arc.
Every time Future Trunks travels into the past, he creates a different timelines, each one unaffected by different outcomes, which is why he didn't go back in time and destroy the Androids before they were activated by Dr. Gero, for it would simply create an alternate timeline and would not affect his own. The time machine he travels in was also low in power, so he would have been stuck in the past forever. This also means that if Goku told Bulma or Vegeta that they were going to have a son together around the time of his first time-travel and before Bulma stopped dating Yamcha, it would have no difference to his existence whether Bulma and Vegeta decided to have a child together or not.
Time travel
In 784 Age, Trunks travels back in time 20 years, in order to warn Goku about the android threat in the future, as well as to deliver medication that will cure Goku of the heart virus that he is supposed to die from. However, upon arrival he is greeted by Frieza with his father King Cold. They had come to Earth in order to seek revenge upon Goku's loved ones. Trunks, then seventeen years old, did not look like much of a threat to Frieza, and he freely told him so. Frieza was then given three opportunities to kill Trunks, but the young Super Saiyan was able to block and dodge the attacks with ease (and kill all the minions he had brought to Earth with his father) to great frustration of Frieza. Frieza then turns angry and fires his a large orange sun-like energy ball (the same attack he used to blow up Planet Vegeta) at Trunks. Trunks just catches the attack and tells Frieza that he must have "dropped it," after which Frieza detonates the blast with an energy wave (only in the anime, while in the manga Frieza never tried a planet-busting ki attack, and fired this blast immediately instead). Trunks then easily remains unscathed and performs what he calls his Burning Attack to have Frieza dodge the blast, which is followed up by his Instant Transmission technique (just as he did in Trunks' original timeline) when Future Trunks showed up, and killed Frieza himself.
Trunks informs Goku of the future where the Androids arrive and kill all of the Z Fighters in a large battle, also telling Goku not to inform anyone about it, however Piccolo's sensitive Namekian ears pick up the conversation and tells the Z Fighters of the future, inspiring the heroes to train their hardest for the next three years. However, inadvertently, Trunks' revelation of the future alters it slightly.
The Androids and Cell
When the androids eventually appear and they face the Z Fighters, Goku had not contracted the heart disease six months prior like he was supposed to, instead he contracted it during the battle against #19. Vegeta then saves Goku, telling Yamcha to take him home and cure him with his medication, and reveals his new Super Saiyan form, killing #19 with great ease when he uses his signature Big Bang Attack to reduce him to a smoldering head. Trunks returns to the past to find Android 19 (from his detached head) and Android 20, two androids he never saw in his timeline and realizes that this timeline is now branching off considerably from his own. When Android 20 (in reality, Dr. Gero) releases the real androids of his future, Android 17 and Android 18, they rebel and kill their creator before releasing the previously unknown Android 16.
Because Future Trunks warned the heroes of the future and they trained to become stronger, the androids of this timeline have been made considerably stronger, to the point where Android 18, the weakest of the three, by herself is able to even easily take down Super Saiyan Vegeta and Trunks together. Vegeta attempts to fight Android 18 but is no match, so Trunks rushes to his father's aid but is smashed down by #17; when Trunks rises again to attack #18, she breaks his sword and throws him at Vegeta.
Eventually, Cell from another alternate timeline is revealed and hatches from his larval state, and he sets about absorbing the androids of the current timeline. Because the androids and Cell are superior in strength to any of the fighters, the heroes go to train again, this time in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.
When Vegeta and Trunks train in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber together, Trunks believes he surpasses Vegeta in power (though he fails to see the reason why Vegeta stops increasing his maximum power at the time) by ascending further to the Ultra Super Saiyan state like Trunks. However, throughout the year that was spent in the Time Chamber, Trunks realized Vegeta's real sense of Saiyan pride and thought it was best to hide his true power level out of fear of upsetting his father, unaware of the fact or reason Vegeta purposely didn't ascend.
Trunks had managed to reach what is known as Ultra Super Saiyan, where the Saiyan is still a Super Saiyan, but has greatly augmented their physical strength from even the Ascended Super Saiyan state. However, due to the overblown muscle mass, the brute force benefit in this form is offset by a gross decrease in speed, a point which Cell proved by toying with him, constantly dodging his every move, then explaining the flaw and proving he could bulk up just the same. It is later realized that Vegeta was at the very least just as strong as Trunks (most likely even stronger, based on his attitude and taking Trunks' full power Finish Buster blast without harm) and could have easily reached this same level of power if he wanted, but decided against it due to knowing full well the form's weakness, something Trunks failed to spot during their training due to his inexperience.
(Incidentally, Goku came to the same conclusion as Vegeta when he and Gohan were training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, and hence stopped his training as well, but Gohan at first failed to spot the weakness and thought that it would give him the power to defeat Cell, to which Goku responds that "all the power in the world is no good if you can't even hit the guy!". This scene further proves both the inexperience factor which caused Future Trunks to miss the weak point and the fact that Vegeta did understand it, since if Goku could deduce such a thing then certainly so could the much more tactical Prince of All Saiyans.)
Combating Cell
Trunks is the second Saiyan to take on Perfect Cell with the intention of destroying him. Although Future Trunks' power was enough to deal significant damage to Cell, Future Trunks simply kept increasing his power, unaware that his speed was greatly decreasing and his energy consumption greatly augmented to a point where sustaining the state would prove to be a problem. His body became too bulky and slow from the large quantity of muscle and this gave Cell the upper hand, despite not even having powered up and slightly below Trunks in brute strength. Trunks quickly realized that he was too slow and gave up hope right before Cell's eyes. The battle hungry Cell however, was intrigued at how strong Trunks had become in such a short period of time and posed a challenge to the strongest fighters on Earth (The Z Fighters) to train as much as they could over a period of ten days. Then at the end of these ten days all the greatest fighters of Earth will compete in the Cell Games. Trunks then left the battlefield and spread the word about the Cell Games before taking a position in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, again training for a whole year in one day.
When Trunks emerges from his training his power had seen very little increase compared to last time, because this time he could not unlock any new forms because he had not mastered the Super Saiyan state to become Full Power Super Saiyan, a prerequisite for attaining Super Saiyan 2. Trunks is forced to contend with Cell's smaller but incredibly powerful clones along with the other heroes, slowly and gradually losing the fight and being forced to drop out of Super Saiyan, unlike his father. After Cell self destructs out of fear of Super Saiyan 2 Gohan, one cell containing the core of his being survives and he uses it to resurrect himself, much stronger than he ever had been before. Upon his reappearance, he impales Trunks through the chest with a powerful energy blast, killing him. (While the FUNimation dub states that this was intentional, the original version implies that he was just firing randomly, thus meaning that the kill was unintentional, as evidenced by the line "Trunks? Oh, so that's who I killed...".)
This act causes a drastic change in Vegeta who becomes enraged that someone who cared about him has been killed and reveals his affection for his son. Vegeta then gives everything he can give to try and take down Super Perfect Cell although he fails and is overwhelmed by Cell's power, who takes all his attacks without a scratch and severely cripples him with a halfhearted blow, preparing to kill him like he did Trunks (only to have Gohan shield him, but at the cost of over half his power along with the use of his left arm). After Cell's defeat, the dead Trunks is taken to Kami's Lookout where he is revived by Shenron. Later when told how his father reacted to his death, Trunks became shockingly proud of his father.
Back to the Future
After the celebrations for Cell's long-waited defeat, Vegeta acknowledges Trunks while he says his goodbyes. After saying his goodbyes, Trunks returns to his own time to exact revenge on the androids for murdering the Z Fighters. After reuniting with his mother, Bulma, Trunks hears a news update on the location of the androids and he quickly powers up into his powered Super Saiyan form, now greatly augmented by his two years of training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. Meanwhile, the androids are about to kill another innocent man (in the manga he is killed before Trunks' arrival by being shot to the face by #17), when suddenly Trunks hurtles a very accurate energy attack which narrowly misses Android 17. The cocky androids foolishly underestimate Trunks and try to rush him. Trunks easily dodges their attacks and punishes them duly, obliterating Android 18 in a point-blank energy blast. Android 17 looks on in disbelief and his feelings soon turn to hatred when the outclassed android charges Trunks again, but he too is terminated with ease in a single blow, before being blown to dust effortlessly.
The completely unscathed Trunks returns home since everything now seems at peace with the Earth, except for one thing: Cell. Three years pass before the determined bio-android roams around in his weakest form looking for the now non-existent androids and comes across Trunks and Bulma saying their goodbyes near the time machine. Trunks is age 23 at the time. As Trunks is about to leave for the past one final time to inform them of his success, he senses Cell and sends his mother away. He turns towards Imperfect Cell and begins to taunt him with his knowledge from the alternate past. He informs him that he has killed the androids from the current time.
The cocky Cell approaches the half-Saiyan under the false impression that Trunks is still at the level of power when he initially went back in time and warned Goku, even weaker than the future Androids who are in turn inferior to Cell's strength by a long shot. The fight begins and Cell is clearly outclassed as Trunks hurls him outside of the city with a simple energy wave in his base state. Once outside West City, Trunks then transform into Super Saiyan and then proceeds to clobber Cell with great ease. When declaring that Cell must die, Cell gets enraged and launches his tail at Trunks. Future Trunks takes action by grabbing Cell's tail and swinging him around in a circle, building up momentum, and then hurling him high into the air. Cell realizes that he has no hope against the new powers of Trunks, and prepares a Kamehameha wave large enough to destroy the planet, knowing all too well that he could survive in space. Cell begins the attack but is interrupted when Trunks powers up and unleashes a massive destructive wave of energy (Heat Dome Attack) which incinerates Cell completely. With the future finally at peace, Future Trunks is seen for the last time in the series, thanking Goku and his friends in the past one last time.
Another Alternate Timeline
In another alternate main timeline, Future Trunks went into the past and helped Goku just as in the main timeline. Future Trunks and the Z Fighters manage to defeat the androids and he travels back to his alternate future timeline. Because this was a completely different timeline, the events of Cell never occurred and he never trained in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. When he returned to his alternate future timelime he disabled the other future androids and was going to go back to the past to tell the others of their defeat. Instead he ran into and fought with Cell who killed him and then went on to take Trunks' time machine into the main timeline to mesh with the events of the show. However, this timeline returned to a peaceful state as the androids were deactivated and Cell traveled to the main timeline. This came with the loss of Trunks, which could have brought the Saiyan race to what seems to be extinction in this specific timeline.
Another Road
This story is only featured in Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai - Another Road. It has been some years since the defeat of Cell, Future Trunks has entered the World Martial Arts Tournament and meets the Supreme Kai and Kibito and has to hold off Babidi and Dabura but he knew he couldn't do it alone. So he goes back into the past and brings Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Krillin, Piccolo, Android 18, Goten, and Trunks to help him stop Majin Buu. With Broly, Cooler and Janemba also on the loose, the Z Fighters made Dende the future world's new guardian. Gohan also brought the now alive Future Gohan, Pikkon and Bardock (who Goku was surprised to see) to help them. Babidi stole the Dragon Balls but Hercule stole his wish from conquering the universe. Babidi lashes at Hercule, but Majin Buu took the blow and he turned Babidi into candy and ate him. He became his pure form when he did that. Goku, Gohan, Goten, Future Bardock and Future Gohan defeated him with a True Family Kamehameha and the future world was back to Peace.
