Trunks is the son of Vegeta and Bulma, and the saga gives us two versions of him: the sword-wielding young man who arrives from a devastated future, and the boy who grows up in the present. The first debuts in chapter 331 of the manga, in summer 1991, cutting Frieza to pieces in seconds; the second becomes, together with Goten, the face of the new generation.
Who he is
Future Trunks comes from a timeline where Goku has died of a heart disease and Dr. Gero's androids have wiped out Earth's fighters. The last survivor, Gohan, trains him until he too falls; finding his body, Trunks becomes a Super Saiyan. His mother Bulma builds a time machine, and he travels to the past to change things. He is serious, kind and haunted, the opposite of his father at the same age.
Present-day Trunks, on the other hand, grows up pampered at Capsule Corporation: cocky, mischievous and inseparable from Goten, Goku's younger son.
His story across the series
- Dragon Ball Z: Future Trunks dispatches Frieza and King Cold the moment they land on Earth, tells Goku who he is and hands him the medicine for his heart disease. He returns when the androids appear, trains with Vegeta in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber and faces Cell, who kills him during the Cell Games. Revived with the Dragon Balls, he goes home and destroys both the androids and the Cell of his own era. In the Majin Buu saga it is present-day Trunks's turn: at eight he wins the junior tournament against Goten and learns the Fusion technique with him, giving birth to Gotenks.
- Dragon Ball Super: Future Trunks comes back for help against Goku Black and Zamasu, and his anger unlocks a new form, Super Saiyan Rage. Present-day Trunks stays in the background and, now a teenager, appears in the film Super Hero.
- Dragon Ball Daima: he too is shrunk by Gomah's wish.
- Dragon Ball GT: he is the rather half-hearted president of Capsule Corporation and heads into space with Goku and Pan to recover the Black Star Dragon Balls.
Powers, techniques and transformations
| Technique or form | Key moment |
|---|---|
| Sword | Future Trunks's weapon, used to slice Frieza in two |
| Burning Attack | One of his signature blasts |
| Super Saiyan | Future Trunks at Gohan's death; the present one already as a child |
| Powered-up Super Saiyan grades | Training with Vegeta (Cell saga), later dropped because they slow him down |
| Gotenks | Fusion with Goten (Majin Buu saga) |
| Super Saiyan Rage | Against Goku Black and Zamasu (Super) |
Young Trunks turning Super Saiyan almost as a game says a lot about how common the golden forms have become for the new generation, as we explain in our guide to Super Saiyan transformations.
Relationships
- Vegeta is the father Future Trunks never really knew, and whom he discovers, to his surprise, to be capable of love.
- Bulma is the brilliant mother who builds him the time machine.
- Gohan is Future Trunks's teacher.
- Goten is present-day Trunks's best friend and his other half in Gotenks.
Why he is iconic: our take
Trunks's arrival is one of the biggest twists in Dragon Ball. An unknown teenager turns Super Saiyan, a form only Goku had reached up to that point, and finishes Frieza with a single stroke. Then we learn he is Vegeta and Bulma's son, and the saga opens up to time travel.
Future Trunks is also the most melancholic character in the series: no victory in the past erases the tragedy of his own present. That is why his return in Super meant so much to fans who grew up with Z.
Did you know? Tite Kubo, creator of Bleach, has said that no fight scene has ever shocked him more than Trunks's first appearance.
Trivia
- Like the rest of Bulma's family, he is named after underwear: trunks, as in boxer shorts.
- Takeshi Kusao, his Japanese voice, has named Trunks as his favourite Dragon Ball character.
- In Funimation's English dub, Eric Vale voices Trunks as a teenager and adult, while Laura Bailey voiced him as a child.