Future Trunks Trunks first appears in chapter #331 , published in
Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on July 15, 1991. Upon
Goku's return from Planet Yardrat, Trunks confides in Goku his tragic story. As told in the stand-alone manga side story and chapters #419 and 420, Trunks has traveled from twenty years in the future where the world is in constant ruin due to the terror of the two androids
#17 and
#18 which were created by
Doctor Gero, the former chief scientist of the
Red Ribbon Army. By this time, Goku has succumbed to an unknown heart virus, and everyone, except for Goku's son
Gohan, has fallen at the hands of the artificial humans. Trunks has been living with Bulma and secretly training with his master Gohan. After an unsuccessful ambush, Gohan is murdered by the Androids. When Trunks finds the body, he becomes engulfed in rage and sadness, awakening his Super Saiyan transformation. After Gohan's death, Trunks assumes the mantle of Earth's sole protector against the artificial humans for the next three years until Bulma finishes her time machine. Once he informs Goku of the events to come, Trunks gives Goku a special medicine Trunks returns to help in the present-day battle against the artificial humans, only to learn that his actions only affected the present timeline with a new future, while his own timeline remains unaffected. With the appearance of
Cell from another alternate timeline, Trunks trains with Vegeta in the
Room of Spirit and Time. After Vegeta's defeat, Trunks fights Cell in his newly gained Perfect form before conceding once learning his new Super Saiyan form proves to be ineffective. He later participates in Cell's martial arts tournament, where he is killed by Cell. After Trunks is revived by the Dragon Balls following Cell's defeat, he returns to his own timeline to defeat both the Androids and later the Cell of his time. A few years later, Trunks is accosted by the Supreme Kai of Universe 7, whom he helps in defeating Babidi and Dabura to prevent the revival of
Majin Buu. Years later, having reached Super Saiyan 2 during his fight against Badidi and Dabura, Trunks encounters a new dark enemy known as Goku Black, who slaughters the Earth's residents as the Saiyan survivor helps the survivors defend themselves, before attempting to recruit Goku and Vegeta from the present timeline. During Goku and Goku Black's fight, Trunks' time machine is destroyed, leaving him stuck in the present era, until Bulma rebuilds a new one. After a reunion with a now adult Gohan, Trunks becomes encouraged to defeat Goku Black for the people of his own timeline to have a chance at that same happiness, also having a reunion with a reformed Android #18. Trunks then receives training from Vegeta, vowing to surpass both his father and Goku Black in strength. After Beerus erased Zamasu in the present timeline, Trunks would later learn that Goku Black is a rogue Supreme Kai named Zamasu from an unaltered present timeline who acquired Goku's body and allied himself with the future timeline's Zamasu. During the battle, both versions of Zamasu provoke Trunks into his Super Saiyan Rage form by telling him that his meddling in time is the cause of their actions. After numerous fights, including Goku Black and Zamasu fusing with the Potara earrings, Trunks gathers the energy from all remaining life on the planet into his sword into the Spirit Bomb Sword, and cuts Fusion Zamasu in half. Despite losing his body, Zamasu's essence began to envelop the entire universe before being destroyed alongside the entire multiverse by that timeline's version of Zeno. Trunks and the others retreat to the past. Goku later invited Trunks to get Future Zeno. The two go back, with Trunks and Mai bidding their farewells as they live in a new future timeline where Zamasu's actions never occurred, that is home to another Mai and another Trunks.
Present Trunks Trunks' second incarnation first appears as an infant in chapter #337 , published on August 26, 1991. He is only featured as a background character. When he is eight, Trunks participates in the 25th and defeats
Son Goten in the junior division, although the two of them cheated equally. Goten is his best friend and childhood rival, though Trunks is stronger and older than Goten as it is later pointed out by Goku. Eager to compete in the adult division, Trunks and Goten together impersonate another competitor, and are pitted against Android #18 and others in the Tenkaichi Budokai. But they are disqualified when #18 figures out the ruse and blows their cover, revealing that they are really two people. Upon the arrival of
Majin Buu, Trunks is forced to train with Goten in the
Room of Spirit and Time to become the fused warrior Gotenks. Gotenks fights Buu, first in the time dimension, then in the real world until the thirty-minute fusion time limit expires. Through Buu's treachery, they, along with
Piccolo, are absorbed by Buu, thus increasing his power. Once freed, Trunks, along with Goten, Gohan, and Piccolo, are killed when Buu blows up the Earth. After being resurrected, Trunks helped to rally the people on Earth to support Goku's
Genki-Dama in his defeat of Majin Buu. At the end of the series, Trunks, now grown up, participates in the 28th Tenkaichi Budokai against the fighter Otokosuki. Trunks appears in
Dragon Ball Super, which chronologically takes place before the ending of
Dragon Ball Z, as a recurring support character. He is usually paired with Goten and is often used as comic relief. He then meets his future counterpart in person for the first time during the Goku Black arc, having interacted with him beforehand as an infant. In the Universe Survival arc, Trunks and Goten are stopped from taking part in the Tournament of Power, and instead instructed to look after Android 17's haven for animals so that he can aid Goku in the tournament. He, alongside Goten, both grown up, appear in
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, assisting Gohan, Piccolo, and their friends in combating the revived Red Ribbon Army. Gotenks also appears, albeit in the obese state, due to the duo doing the fusion technique wrong.
Appearances in other media In
Dragon Ball GT, Trunks' second incarnation has become the President of Capsule Corporation, but does not take the job seriously. He accompanies Goku and
Pan into space to recover the Black Star Dragon Balls. They have many strange encounters and meet many unusual characters, including the robot named Giru, who would act as the gang's Dragon Radar. Upon arriving on Giru's home world, the trio are hijacked by Dr. Myu's robots, and Trunks is solidified in living metal for study. Although the contents of the plate were not really Trunks, but a cleverly made decoy by both Trunks and Giru. Trunks uses the opportunity to uncover Dr. Myu's plan, which is to awaken
Baby, and sabotage the process. Trunks' plan fails as Baby had managed to escape to Earth. When they return home, Baby has managed to possess Vegeta and brainwash everyone else into becoming his followers. Shortly after arriving, Trunks also falls victim to Baby's mind control and battles Goku. Later, he, along with Goten, travels the globe fighting the villains that escape from Hell. Trunks also appears in the promotional anime for Super Dragon Ball Heroes, as Xeno Trunks. Xeno Trunks can use the Super Saiyan God transformation using God Ki. Both incarnations of Trunks have appeared in most
Dragon Ball-related video games. He has also appeared in other related games such as
Jump Super Stars, its sequel
Jump Ultimate Stars, and
Battle Stadium D.O.N. The game
Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai – Another Road centers around Trunks' battle with Majin Boo in his future timeline. In 1992, Trunks would act as an escort through time in the interactive Video game
Dragon Ball Z: Get Together! Goku World. Future Trunks is also featured in the MMORPG
Dragon Ball Online, where he is referred to as . This version of Trunks plays a major role in the plot of
Dragon Ball: Xenoverse, helping the player to correct changes in the
Dragon Ball timeline caused by the manipulations of Towa and Mira and fights the player in the game's climax alongside the game's main antagonist Demigra after becoming possessed by him. After the duo are defeated and Trunks is returned to normal, he intervenes when Demigra tries to take control of the player. In the
Dragon Ball and
One Piece crossover manga
Cross Epoch, Trunks is a member of Captain Vegeta's air pirate crew. Trunks also made an appearance in the 2004
Fuji TV interactive feature
Kyūtai Panic Adventure Returns!, where he and six other Dragon Ball characters delivered the Dragon Balls to restore the aqua city of
Odaiba. In music, the song "Chīsa na Senshi~Goten to Trunks no Theme~" by Shin Oya focuses on both Trunks and Goten. Trunks has been featured in his own brand of soft drink called Trunks Cola. ==Reception==