Future Trunks, with lavender hair and a blue jacket with a turned-up collar, a sword on his back, looks down with a serious expression against a cloudy sky

Trunks: Vegeta's Son from the Future

CharacterSaiyansTime Travel

Trunks is the son of Vegeta and Bulma, and he exists twice in Dragon Ball. The first one we meet arrives from a future ravaged by the androids, aboard a time machine built by his mother: he kills Frieza, warns Goku and fights Cell. The other is born in the present, grows up at Capsule Corporation and forms Gotenks with his friend Goten. Here's a look back at both versions of the character, his return in Dragon Ball Super against Goku Black and the voices that brought him to life.

He shows up out of nowhere, turns Super Saiyan and slices Frieza to pieces in a matter of seconds. The arrival of Trunks left its mark on generations of readers, and the character doesn't stop there: there are two of him, one from a future in ruins, the other born in the present. Here's the story of Vegeta's son, from his “Hope!!” machine to the Goku Black arc.

Contents

One character, two Trunks

Trunks is the first child of Vegeta and Bulma, a half-Earthling, half-Saiyan hybrid, and Bulla's big brother. The character exists twice: the first Trunks we meet arrives from the future thanks to a machine built by Bulma, and it's only a few years later that he's actually born in the present.

The two are the same person, raised in two different worlds: Trunks's and Cell's trips through time changed history so much that the two Trunks lived completely different lives. To tell them apart, they're called “Future Trunks” and “Present Trunks.”

His name is a pun by Akira Toriyama: like Bulma and her family, Trunks and his sister Bra (Bulla in the Funimation dub) are named after underwear, with “trunks” referring to boxer shorts and Bra to the bra. Future Trunks appears in the manga in the summer of 1991; Present Trunks, for his part, shows up as a baby a few weeks later, in chapter 337.

In a garden with palm trees, adult Trunks in a khaki sweater leans down and reaches out his hand to kid Trunks, in a yellow sweatshirt, in front of a domed gazebo
In Dragon Ball Super, Future Trunks reaches out to Present Trunks, still a kid: one and the same person, raised in two different worlds.

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A future ravaged by the androids

Future Trunks comes from an alternate timeline where Earth is terrorized by Android 17 and Android 18. Goku died there of heart virus, and every fighter fell to the androids except Gohan. Trunks never knew his father: Vegeta was killed by the androids when his son was just a baby.

In this devastated world, Future Gohan is both his mentor and his only friend. The TV special The History of Trunks, aired in Japan on February 24, 1993, tells how his story ends: Gohan loses his left arm protecting Trunks, then knocks him out so he can face the androids alone. When he comes to, Trunks finds his mentor's body and, overwhelmed with grief, turns Super Saiyan.

The TV special is based on a special manga chapter published in 1992 and collected in volume 33. In that chapter, Trunks is already a Super Saiyan when he trains with Gohan: his transformation over his mentor's body was invented for the TV special.

To change the course of events, his mother, Future Bulma, builds a time machine. On its hull, an inscription reads “Hope!!”: the hope of their world.

High-angle view of devastated ground in the rain: a golden-haired warrior, in a yellow and blue aura, stands near a body lying on the ground
Before the body of his mentor, Gohan, Trunks turns Super Saiyan: a scene invented for the TV special The History of Trunks.

Back to the past: Frieza, the androids and Cell

Trunks travels twenty years back in time to warn Goku about the android threat and bring him the medicine for his heart virus. On arrival, this mysterious 17-year-old turns Super Saiyan and single-handedly takes out Frieza and his father, King Cold. He then reveals to Goku the future that awaits the fighters, and asks him to keep his parents' identity a secret.

Returning to the present at 19, he discovers androids he's never seen in his own time, Android 19 and Android 20: history has already changed course. By then he wears a short jacket bearing the Capsule Corporation logo, and his sword never leaves his side, until his fight against Android 18, who blocks it with her arm and damages it.

With Krillin, he searches Dr. Gero's lab, recovers Android 17's blueprints for his mother, then destroys the lab and Cell's embryo. He then enters the Hyperbolic Time Chamber with Vegeta to train there for an entire year, while only a single day goes by outside. Against Perfect Cell, he unleashes a heavily muscled Super Saiyan form, but it's too slow, and he gives it up.

At the Cell Games, Cell reappears after self-destructing and pierces his chest with a deadly beam. Trunks is brought back to life by Shenron along with Cell's other victims. Back in his own time, he finally destroys the androids, then his own timeline's Cell.

A golden-haired warrior, surrounded by a yellow aura, leaps with his sword raised toward Android 18, a blonde in jeans, who raises her arm in a rocky gorge
Future Trunks, as a Super Saiyan, brings his sword down on Android 18, who blocks it with her arm and damages it (Dragon Ball Z, episode 136).

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Present Trunks: Goten, Gotenks and the Buu Saga

As a baby, Present Trunks is ignored by his father: when he and his mother get caught up in a fight, it's Future Trunks who saves them. Raised in the peace and comfort of Capsule Corporation, he grows up far more self-assured, proud and carefree than his future counterpart. Trained by Vegeta, he turns Super Saiyan at just 8 years old, without his father knowing.

At the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament, he wins the junior division by beating his best friend, Goten, in the final. To get into the adult tournament, the two boys squeeze together into the costume of the masked fighter Mighty Mask, before being unmasked by Android 18 and disqualified.

Facing Majin Buu, Vegeta hugs his son for the first time, then knocks him out before sacrificing himself. With Goten, Trunks learns the Fusion Dance: together, they form Gotenks. Absorbed by Buu in this form, then freed along with Goten, Trunks dies when the original Buu blows up Earth, before being brought back to life with the other Earthlings.

On a palm-lined esplanade, two boys, one dark-haired in an orange gi, the other with lavender hair, touch the tips of their index fingers together
Goten and Trunks complete the Fusion Dance, index finger to index finger: together, they form Gotenks.

Goku Black, Dragon Ball Super and GT

Dragon Ball Super fills in Future Trunks's past: a few years after his victory over Cell, he eliminated Babidi and Dabura with the help of his era's Supreme Kai, preventing Majin Buu's revival. He then returns to the present, during the Goku Black arc, to ask Goku and Vegeta for help against an enemy who looks just like Goku.

In the anime, he heads back to the past after watching his mother get killed before his eyes by Goku Black. In both versions, he arrives unconscious; when he wakes up, he mistakes Goku for Black and attacks him before realizing his mistake. The anime also gives him a transformation all his own, Super Saiyan Rage, and has him use the Evil Containment Wave (Mafuba) on Zamasu, whereas the manga gives that role to Goku.

In both the manga and the anime, it's Future Trunks who slices Fused Zamasu in two. Yet Zamasu survives in another form, and Future Zeno erases that world: Trunks leaves with Mai, his ally, for another timeline. The manga adds that he was trained as an apprentice by Future Supreme Kai, which gives him a healing power.

As for the present, the Dragon Ball Super manga turns Trunks and Goten into masked vigilantes, Saiyaman X-1 and X-2. And in Dragon Ball GT, an anime-only sequel, Trunks has become president of Capsule Corporation and heads into space with Goku and Pan in search of the Black Star Dragon Balls.

In front of a large yellow machine marked Capsule Corp., Trunks in a khaki sweater, sword on his back, stands near a seated Goku and Vegeta, amid ruins
Future Trunks alongside Goku and Vegeta, whose help he came to ask for against Goku Black, in front of a time machine.
Round black rug with a cream border: Future Trunks as a Super Saiyan grips his sword, surrounded by lightning bolts and Capsule Corporation logos

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Personality, popularity and English voices

Unlike his father and his present-day counterpart, Future Trunks is very polite: in the original Japanese version, he addresses his elders in formal language. Manga artist Tite Kubo, the creator of Bleach, has said that no fight scene ever made as strong an impression on him as Trunks's first appearance.

In Japanese, Trunks is voiced by Takeshi Kusao, both as a kid and as a teen, except in Dragon Ball Daima, where his mini version has a different voice. In Funimation's English dub, Eric Vale voices Trunks as a teen and as an adult in all Dragon Ball media, from Future Trunks in Dragon Ball Z to Dragon Ball Super and the adult Trunks of GT, while kid Trunks is voiced by Laura Bailey in Dragon Ball Z, then by Alexis Tipton in Dragon Ball Super; Tipton also voices Trunks and Gotenks in the English dub of Dragon Ball Daima, where mini Trunks has a voice of his own, Celeste Perez. In the alternate Ocean Group dub of Dragon Ball Z, Trunks is voiced by Alistair Abell as a teen and an adult, and by Cathy Weseluck as a kid.

A golden-haired warrior, sword pointed downward, slices through Frieza's white and purple body, partly mechanical, against a blue sky
Future Trunks slices up Frieza as soon as he arrives: no fight scene ever made as strong an impression on Tite Kubo, the creator of Bleach, as this first appearance.

Trunks at a glance

Key fact Trunks
Japanese name トランクス Torankusu, from the English word “trunks” (boxer shorts)
Two versions Future Trunks (from an alternate timeline) and Present Trunks
Family Vegeta and Bulma (parents), Bulla (younger sister)
Teachers Future Gohan, then Future Supreme Kai (Dragon Ball Super manga); Vegeta for Present Trunks
Fusion Gotenks, with Goten, through the Fusion Dance
Voices Takeshi Kusao (Japanese); Eric Vale, Laura Bailey, Alexis Tipton (English)

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Why are there two Trunks?
    The first Trunks we meet comes from an alternate future, aboard the time machine built by his mother. The second is born in the present a few years later. They're the same person, raised in two different worlds.
  • Why does Future Trunks travel back in time?
    On his first trip, to warn Goku about the threat of Android 17 and Android 18, who are ravaging his era, to bring him the medicine for the heart virus that kills him in Trunks's world, and to find a weakness in the androids.
  • Who killed Frieza, Trunks or Goku?
    Goku defeats Frieza on Namek, but the tyrant survives. It's Future Trunks who kills him, along with his father, King Cold, as soon as Frieza sets foot on Earth. Brought back to life much later, in Resurrection 'F', Frieza is killed by Goku this time.
  • Who is Gotenks?
    He's the fusion of Present Trunks and Goten, achieved through the Fusion Dance during the Buu Saga.
  • What is Super Saiyan Rage?
    A transformation exclusive to the Dragon Ball Super anime, which Future Trunks reaches through his anger at Goku Black and Zamasu. It doesn't exist in the manga.
  • Who voices Trunks in English?
    Eric Vale voices Trunks as a teen and as an adult in all Dragon Ball media, including Future Trunks and the adult Trunks of GT; in Funimation's dub, kid Trunks is voiced by Laura Bailey in Dragon Ball Z, then by Alexis Tipton in Dragon Ball Super. In Japanese, it's Takeshi Kusao, except for the baby's cries, given to an actress, and for his mini version in Dragon Ball Daima.

🧣 In Dragon Ball Super, Future Trunks wears a long red scarf; for your own neck, take a look at our Dragon Ball scarves and bandanas.

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