Trunks (ト ラ ン ク ス, Torankusu) is an iconic character from the Dragon Ball Z animated series. He is part of the Dragon Ball universe as the eldest son of Vegeta and Bulma. Evolving in an alternate timeline to his futuristic counterpart, (Trunks of the Future), this version of Trunks was raised under the influence of his father, a Saiyan prince, and trained from an early age to become a fearsome warrior. ⚔
He also played a key role in the epic battle against the fearsome Majin Boo. Indeed, Trunks’ popularity within the saga drew the attention of Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama to the importance of this character. 📺
Before exploring this guide to the character of Trunks in more detail, it’s important to understand that Dragon Ball comprises three distinct timelines (even five if you include those of Dragon Ball Super!), all of which have played an essential role in Trunks’ history. Let’s find out right now who this mysterious character really is! 🤗 🔥PRODUCTS OF THE MOMENT🔥
WHO IS TRUNKS?
Trunks was born in the year 766 in the Dragon Ball universe. He is the fruit of the union between Vegeta, the famous Prince Saiyan, and Bulma, a former friend of Goku. As a result, he is also Prince of the Saiyans and third heir to the throne, succeeding his father, Vegeta, and uncle, Tarble. 👨👨👦👦
The birth of Trunks unfortunately failed to reconcile Vegeta and Bulma, Vegeta preferring to devote himself to training to defeat androids rather than raising his son. Consequently, until the death of Cell, Trunks was mainly raised by Bulma and her family. After the Cell arc, Vegeta became more involved in Trunks’ upbringing, training with him regularly and encouraging him to excel. 🦾
TRUNKS’ PERSONALITY
Due to his childhood spent in a period of relative tranquility, this Trunks proved to be radically different from his futuristic counterpart, Trunks of the Future. He’s very spoiled and mischievous. However, he also possesses redeeming qualities, such as a willingness to fight to protect his loved ones. 🥰
Nevertheless, he has inherited his father’s impetuous arrogance and hardly takes his opponents seriously (with the possible exception of Goten), thus sharing Vegeta’s opinion of them. He has also inherited fierceness from Vegeta on an almost unconscious level, which was demonstrated when he fell trying to walk as a toddler and didn’t even cry, which is very rare for most babies. He is also highly intelligent, like his mother, from the age of 8. 👶🏻
Trunks admires Vegeta enormously and constantly seeks his approval. He frowns whenever his father doesn’t give him enough attention, as when he refuses to take him to the amusement park. He also has a close relationship with his friend Goten, Son Goku’s son. They are inseparable during their youth, whether fighting or playing. 🎲
Trunks has also developed a certain arrogance, always seeking to take on opponents more powerful than himself, despite warnings about their strength. This trait is further amplified when he merges with Goten to form the famed Gotenks. 💥
APPARENCE OF TRUNKS
Trunks’ most remarkable physical traits are inherited from his mother. He has the purple hair of Bulma and the blue eyes of his grandfather, the Dr. Brief. His facial expression is scowling but confident, with marked features and Vegeta’s complexion. 👀
When he transforms into Super Saiyan, his eyes turn green with no pupils, and his hair stands up and becomes blond, like all Saiyans. He wears a dark green gi with an orange belt and bracelets. As for his footwear, he is often seen wearing golden boots.
If you’d like to know more about the secrets surrounding this character, I invite you to read our article presenting the 10 Best Secrets about Trunks in the Dragon Ball saga! 🤗
TRUNKS IN DRAGON BALL Z
SAGA CELL
Trunks was born two years after the arrival of Trunks from the Future in DBZ. His counterpart from the future came to warn the Z-Fighters of the imminent threat of the androids, who had already ravaged much of Earth, including Trunks’ closest friend Gohan, in his alternate reality. Despite this warning, the Z-Warriors had to wait and prepare to face this threat. During this period, Vegeta was not very present in his son’s upbringing. 🍼
On the day the androids arrive, Bulma introduces Trunks to Goku’s entire team. They then face Dr. Gero’s creations, C-19 and C-20, and Piccolo reveals to Vegeta and Bulma the identity of Trunks from the Future as his future counterpart. Bulma is relieved to know that Trunks won’t grow up to look like his father. Later in the story, after Cell’s defeat, Trunks learns to walk and Vegeta takes a more active role in his upbringing. 📚
SAGA MAJIN BOO
Seven years after Cell’s defeat at the Cell Games, Trunks takes on a more prominent role in DBZ history. At the age of eight, thanks to his father’s intense training in the gravity room, he’s incredibly strong for his age, even surpassing his best friend, Goten, son of Goku. 👨👦
At the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament (Tenkaichi Budokai), Trunks is upset to be sent to the junior division, but easily makes it to the grand final. He becomes the new junior champion by defeating his best friend, Sangoten, Son Goku’s second son. When he faces Mr. Satan, a simple tap is enough to knock him out of the ring, allowing Trunks to win the match. However, the crowd thinks Mr. Satan purposely lost to be nice to Trunks.
Next, he convinces Goten to secretly participate in the adult division by disguising himself as Mighty Mask. However, Android 18 discovers their ruse and disqualifies them by throwing a Destructo disc during the match. The boys run away to avoid trouble. 🍃
Shortly after hearing about Majin Boo from Videl, Trunks and Goten rush to the battlefield and discover that Piccolo and Krilin have been turned to stone by Dabra. Trunks ends up accidentally smashing Piccolo’s statue. After Krilin returns to normal, Trunks thinks he has killed Piccolo and asks Goten to keep the secret. However, he is shocked to see that Piccolo is still alive moments before Vegeta arrives to confront Majin Boo. 💥
Trunks soon realizes that Vegeta cannot defeat Majin Boo, and tries to help his father. As Majin Boo torments Vegeta, Trunks intervenes and saves him. Vegeta orders Trunks to escape for his own safety, but Trunks wants to stay and help his father fight Majin Boo. However, Vegeta knocks Trunks and Goten unconscious. The boys are then taken to the Belvedere to seek shelter from this formidable adversary. When they wake up, Goku tells them about the Dance of Fusion as a means of defeating Majin Boo, but Trunks expresses doubts. 🕺🏻
Babidi publicly announces that if they don’t come out of hiding, Goten, Trunks and Piccolo, he will destroy more cities. Goku sends Trunks to Capsule Corporation to retrieve the Dragon radar. At this point, Goku confronts Babidi and Majin Boo, and transforms into Super Saiyan 3. Goku then shows the boys the Fusion Dance, as well as, only in the anime, the Super Saiyan 3 form. However, Goku soon leaves Earth, and Piccolo and Krilin take over to teach the boys the Fusion Dance. 👯♂️
At the time of the fusion, Trunks and Goten’s first attempt fails due to Trunks making a mistake with his fingers. Their second attempt also fails when their index fingers don’t touch, much to Piccolo’s frustration at the unsuccessful attempts. The third attempt succeeds in creating Gotenks, who then rushes off to fight Majin Boo but is quickly defeated. After a little practice, they fuse again, but due to Gotenks wasting time playing, they defuse before fighting Majin Buu, the fusion lasting only half an hour. ⌚
When Super Booarrived at the gazebo, Trunks and Goten entered the hyperbolic time chamber to train. Piccolo warns them that Super Boo will enter the room in a minute, which will effectively give them 6 hours of training in the room. ⏳ Later, Super Boo and Piccolo enter, but as Gotenks, they’re not strong enough to beat him. When Gotenks pretended to be tired and out of energy, Piccolo destroyed the entrance to the room, but Super Boo escaped and ate the remaining Z-Fighters. 🍬
Gotenks escapes thanks to his Super Saiyan 3 form and fights the pink villain again. When Super Boo demands revenge from Gotenks, he tricks them and absorbs them to become stronger. But after being freed from Super Boo by Goku and the still-dead Vegeta, Trunks is killed along with Goten, Piccolo and Gohan when Kid Buu uses the Planet Burst attack and destroys the Earth. Trunks is later resurrected by the Namekian Crystal Balls and lends energy to Goku’s Super Spirit Bomb when Vegeta asks everyone for energy. When Kid Buu is decimated, Trunks and friends return to Kami-Sama’s palace, soon joined by Vegeta, Goku, Mr. Buu, Dende and Mr. Satan. 🏯
TRUNKS & GOTEN: A FLAWLESS FRIENDSHIP
During the early days of Trunks’ childhood, Goten proved to be a very good friend, on whom he could rely in the future. And this is no mean feat on Toriyama’s part. Indeed, Goten being the son of Sangoku, it reminds us of the cowardly friendship that has developed between him and Vegeta over the years. During their childhood, they play numerous fighting games, each testing their strength. These training sessions serve to considerably increase their strength, and significantly so compared to the other Human-Saiyan hybrids we see at this age. 👊🏻
FUSION DANCE BETWEEN TRUNKS AND GOTEN
In DBZ, one of the most interesting, but barely used, forms of fusion is the Fusion Dance, performed by Goten and Trunks it gives the obnoxious and haughty character Gotenks. In the anime, we can see him fighting powerful opponents and attaining the Super Saiyan 2 and 3 forms to compete against the most vicious. But we mustn’t forget that in Dragon Ball, most fusions have a very short duration, and so this directly impacts the length of the fight. ⌚
HOW LONG DOES THE FUSION DANCE LAST?
For Gotenks, the Fusion Dance generally lasts just over half an hour, with several exceptions and inconsistencies throughout the saga. 🧬
TRANSFORMING TRUNKS
SUPER SAIYAN
Due to his DNA and therefore his possession of a large number of S cells in his body, the Super Saiyan form became much easier for Trunks to attain and master. Like his future counterpart, Trunks achieved the SSJ form at a relatively young age, in his case at the age of eight. His first use of the transformation in the series came during his training with his father Vegeta, and the man was amazed at how easily a child could transform. 🔥
The energy used in the transformation implies to the character that his hair stands up and takes on a golden color. His eyes change from blue to brilliant emerald green. In this state, Trunks’s power increases dramatically and he’s significantly stronger than his best friend, Goten. He has also shown the ability to move easily in 450x Earth’s gravity. Unlike his father, Trunks never seems to feel an increase in aggression, arrogance or the desire to fight. Instead, he has retained his normal personality while being transformed. 🧬
TECHNIQUES OF TRUNKS
Because of his monstrous power from an early age and his Saiyan genes, Trunks has developed over thirty techniques and skills that rival those of his father, Vegeta. Here are the most impressive:
FUSION DANCE
It’s performed by doing a short series of poses executed by two characters of equal power levels and roughly equal size. To perform the fusion correctly, poses must be executed in an image that is perfectly symmetrical with each other. The result is a higher being (in this case Gotenks) whose power is multiplied relative to that of the characters individually. If the dance is poorly executed, the result will be an obese or skinny character. 🥊
DOUBLE BUSTER
Trunks brings both arms to the side of his torso and changes his ki. Then he extends his arms forward and fires a wave of golden energy at the opponent, inflicting a large amount of damage. 💥
BIG TREE CANNON
Trunks begins the attack by extending his arms on both sides of himself and forms two golden or blue spheres of energy. Next, he brings his arms in front of him and holds out his hands with his index fingers pointing outwards like a child pretending to use a firearm, and fires a large wave of golden energy at the opponent, inflicting a large amount of damage.
KAMÉHAMÉA
She needs no introduction. Trunks has obviously mastered the Kaméhaméha technique, and he’ll even use this skill in Goten’s company to form a very powerful one. 🌠
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TRUNKS AND TRUNKS OF THE FUTURE
The differences between Trunks of the Future‘s childhood and the childhood of the original Trunks are huge, as his counterpart from the future had to watch everyone he loved get killed when he wasn’t strong enough to fight androids. Trunks’ childhood as a child on the other hand was happy and without apparent worries, apart from his father’s absence at the start of his education. He was also able to attain Super Saiyan form with ease, which is strange because Future Trunks couldn’t transform into a Super Saiyan until Gohan died in his reality. 💀
The two Trunks cross paths when time-traveling Future Trunks visits his juvenile version’s reality to warn that androids were coming to destroy the planet. Without his intervention, the Z fighters would never have prepared so well to fight them, so he’s a very important character for the rest of the story. 🌟
ANECDOTES ABOUT TRUNKS
- Like most half-Saiyan (like Gohan for example), Trunks has never been seen with a tail. Unlike the other examples, however, his lack of a tail is hinted at in chapter 337 of the DBZ manga, where Krilin asked Bulma whether or not she had cut it off. 🐒
- His name comes from a pun on boxers. 🥊
- Although he’s long been recognized with lavender-purple hair in both anime and manga, Trunks’ concept art in the 18th Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods movie presented him with blue hair. This more closely matched his mother’s hair color in the anime. His hair would later be shown in blue in the Dragon Ball Super manga, alongside Trunks from the future, simply creating even more inconsistencies with his hair color. 👱🏻♂️
🔥PRODUCTS OF THE MOMENT🔥
