Dragon Ball Z: Everything That Happened Differently in Future Trunks' Timeline (2024)

Future Trunks is one of Dragon Ball Z's most fascinating characters because his arrival totally transforms fans' understanding of the Dragon Ball universe. Much like how the arrival of Raditz introduced the idea of aliens and space travel to Dragon Ball's story, the arrival of Future Trunks introduced the concept of time travel, showing that in the world of Dragon Ball, time and history could be manipulated and changed by those who had the means to do so, a detail that opened up a whole new world of adventures for Goku and his friends. However, Dragon Ball has always played fast and loose with its time travel rules, often leaving fans wondering just how different each timeline is.

Future Trunks' timeline (referred to as History 2 in most Daizenshuu guidebooks) is the same as the core timeline until Age 764. In Future Trunk's timeline, Goku uses Instant Transmission to head back to Earth, allowing him to kill Frieza and King Cold. With the tyrant dead, three years of peace followed. During this time, the Z-Fighters didn't train and thus didn't improve their skills. Alas, this peace was shattered when Goku suddenly died of the Heart Virus in Age 766. As this was a natural death, Goku couldn't be resurrected with the Dragon Balls, leaving the Z-Fighters without their most capable fighter and guiding light.

Future Trunks' Timeline Splits Due To Goku

Goku Surviving Warps History

Six months after this tragedy, the Androids appear. The Z-Fighters, who had become complacent due to the peace they lived through, were taken by surprise and quickly slaughtered by Android 17 and Android 18. It should be noted that, unlike in the main timeline, Android 19 and Android 20 are not involved in this conflict.

On May 12, Age 767, Android 18 killed Piccolo and Tien Shinhan. On the same day, Android 17 took out Vegeta and Yamcha. Soon after, the Androids team up to take out Krillin and Chiaotzu, utterly decimating the Earth's defense force. Even worse, the death of Piccolo meant that Kami also perished, rendering the Dragon Balls unusable, meaning that the dead could not be wished back to life.

Only a handful of Dragon Ball's core cast survived the Androids' rampage (though quite a few of them were not confirmed alive until Dragon Ball Super returned to Future Trunks' timeline). Master Roshi, Puar, and Oolong survived because they were on Roshi's island. Similarly, Chi-Chi and the Ox-King survived as they were at their mountain home, mourning Goku's death at the time the Androids attacked. Yajirobe also survived the event, as he was saved by Korin, who remained in his tower the entire time.

The Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks anime special is set 13 years after the initial slaughter, in Age 780. The special explains that witnessing his friends' deaths allowed Gohan to transform into Super Saiyan. Due to this power, he is the only one able to stand toe-to-toe with the Androids. Alas, even this power isn't enough to take them down, meaning Trunk's version of Dragon World is post-apocalyptic. To try and remedy this, Gohan has taken the 14-year-old Trunks under his wing and is teaching him how to fight, hoping he will turn the tide against the Android menace.

However, things quickly go wrong for the pair. First, they confront the Androids in the Super World amusement park. While Gohan can hold off Android 17, when Android 18 joins the fight, he gets overpowered quickly. Trunks tries to help but is nearly killed by Android 18, forcing Gohan to dive in to save his life. The pair hide in the debris in an attempt to escape, but the Androids attempt to flush them out by bombing the park. The pair survive and escape, but Gohan loses an arm in the blast, severely limiting his fighting power.

A little while later, Gohan and Trunks hear that the Androids are attacking Pepper Town. Gohan prepares to go out and fight the Androids once more. Trunks begs to come along, but Gohan opts to knock his student out and go into battle alone. Alas, this turns out to be a terrible decision, as the weakened Gohan is killed by Android 17 and Android 18's Accel Dance technique. After regaining consciousness, Trunks searches the city and finds Gohan's body. The rage he feels allows Trunks to finally transform into a Super Saiyan, giving him a massive power boost.

After this, the story jumps forward three years to Age 783. Trunks goes to Bulma's lab and finds her working on a time machine. While Trunks thinks he can beat the Androids, Bulma reminds him that Gohan couldn't, despite his training. When Trunks hears that the Androids are attacking Bridgetown, he flies off to confront them, only to discover that Bulma's earlier statement was correct, as he quickly gets beaten within an inch of his life. This beating makes Trunks realize that traveling back in time is the only option. So he waits for Bulma's time machine to be ready (in Age 784) and then jets off to the past, carrying the medicine Goku will need to survive the heart virus.

It should be noted that the manga version of this story, titled "Trunks The History - The Lone Warrior," differs from the anime version in a few ways. Most notably, Trunks achieves Super Saiyan form via training rather than first being triggered by the emotional upheaval caused by Gohan's death.

Future Trunks arrives in Age 764 and makes his main timeline debut in "The Coming of King Cold," the 330th chapter of the Dragon Ball manga, and "The Mysterious Youth," the 119th episode of Dragon Ball Z. Soon after arriving in the past, Future Trunks encounters Frieza and King Cold but quickly kills them both. This altered the flow of history as Goku, sensing Future Trunks' energy, decided to wait for his ship to fly to Earth rather than use Instant Transmission.

Wasting no time, Future Trunks quickly explains the situation to Goku, informing him of the Android threat and giving him the medicine to cure the Heart Virus when it starts before returning to his future. While Future Trunks tries to keep this secret, Piccolo overhears and tells the others, leading to them training as hard as they can for the upcoming battle, causing the two timelines to diverge heavily.

Future Trunks Returns And Saves The Day

Future Trunks Helps The Z-Fighters Take Out The Androids

After this, Future Trunks returns to his home timeline and remains there for a short while. In Age 785, Future Trunks once again travels to the past, arriving three years after his previous visit. However, he learns his advice wasn't heeded as the Androids were allowed to come online. Even worse, this past features Androids he's never seen before, and this timeline's versions of Android 17 and 18 are more powerful than the ones he battled in his future. Future Trunks remains in the past and helps the heroes from the main timeline stop the Android menace. He also stays during the Cell saga and helps the heroes defeat the Bio-Android.

After this, Future Trunks returns to Age 785 in his timeline, aiming to set things right. How this plays out would be seen in "Free the Future," Dragon Ball Z's 194th episode. When Future Trunks returns to his future, he reunites with Future Bulma and tells her what happened in the past. When Future Trunks hears that Android 17 and Android 18 are attacking Parsley City, he flies off and confronts them.

When Future Trunks finally tracks the Androids down, the pair start mocking him, reminding him that he failed to kill them the last time they fought. However, Future Trunks quickly dispatches both Androids due to his time training with the Z-Fighters and his uses of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. While this should be a happy moment for Future Trunks, he realizes he can't rest easily as he knows his timeline's version of Cell is waiting to emerge, so he sets about preparing for that battle.

The episode then jumps forward three years (Age 788) to show Future Trunks and Future Cell's showdown. Future Trunks tries to shake Future Cell by saying he's already killed the Androids, denying him his Perfect Form, though Future Cell presumes this is a bluff. But when Future Trunks restates the fact, Future Cell realizes he isn't bluffing and flies into a rage. Future Trunks and Future Cell fight for a while, but Future Cell can't get the upper hand. Eventually, Future Trunks unleashes his Heat Dome Attack, obliterating Cell and ending the Android threat.

How the Buu Saga plays out in Future Trunks' timeline differs depending on what information fans choose to believe. The Daizenshuu guidebooks note that Buu is never awakened in Future Trunks' timeline because, due to the Android's rampage, no one with enough energy to revive him was left alive. However, in Dragon Ball Super's "Future" Trunks saga, Future Trunks tells Goku that Dabura and Babidi did appear in his timeline, telling Goku that he killed both of them with help from his timeline's Supreme Kai.

Future Trunks' timeline is one of Dragon Ball Z's most fascinating concepts. Introducing time travel is always a risky move for a writer, as one wrong step can lead to you accidentally undoing previous world-building and removing all tension from future storylines, as readers presume that any problem can be resolved by changing history. However, the Android Saga and Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks create a fantastic alternative timeline that fits what viewers have seen previously while feeling different enough to make the story interesting.

• 

  Dragon Ball

  Dragon Ball tells the tale of a young warrior by the name of Son Goku, a young peculiar boy with a tail who embarks on a quest to become stronger and learns of the Dragon Balls, when, once all 7 are gathered, grant any wish of choice.

• 

  Dragon Ball Z

  With the help of the powerful Dragonballs, a team of fighters led by the saiyan warrior Goku defend the planet earth from extraterrestrial enemies.