Dragon Ball: What Happened To Trunks After Returning To The Future

What became of Future Trunks after he returned to his proper place in the timeline in Dragon Ball Z? The future version of Vegeta and Bulma’s son played a key role in the Cell Saga. Following Cell’s death at the hands of Gohan, Trunks – his purpose in the present having been fulfilled – went back to the future and wasn’t seen again in Dragon Ball Z.

It was revealed in the anime that the half-Saiyan hailed from a time where the Z-Warriors had all been killed; a future in which Goku died of a heart virus, and most of the main characters were killed by the evil creations of classic Dragon Ball villain Doctor Gero, Android 17, and Android 18. Supposedly, the only survivors of the androids’ assault on Goku’s friends were young Trunks and an adult Gohan, who worked together to keep what was left of the world safe from the two killer androids. Eventually, Gohan fell to them as well, and Trunks, knowing they couldn’t be beaten, traveled back to the present to warn Goku and the Z-Warriors of their fates. Once Trunks succeeded in helping them, he went back to the future, which had become an alternate timeline.

Future Trunks never returned in Dragon Ball Z, but the events of Dragon Ball Super revisited the character and revealed what happened to him through flashbacks. It was explained that with the power Trunks acquired from fighting and training alongside the Z-Warriors, he finally accomplished what he could never before and managed to kill both Androids 17 and 18. After that, Trunks became the self-appointed protector of the Earth. Even though he didn’t have the support of the other Z-Warriors, he was able to keep the planet safe from the arrival of Majin Buu. In the main timeline, the Earth was temporarily destroyed and the heroes nearly lost to Buu, but Trunks didn’t experience the same problems that they had. He did what Goku, Gohan, and Vegeta failed to do by killing Dabura and Babidi before Buu could be unleashed.

Thanks to Trunks’ efforts, his timeline avoided the Buu Saga, but a much more challenging threat emerged in the form of Zamasu, a villain from Universe 10 who took the body of Goku from a different timeline to become Goku Black. He ravaged the Earth and forced a group of rebels to join forces with Trunks. While with them, Trunks forced a close friendship with an adult Mai, a former member of the Pilaf Gang. Unfortunately, Trunks didn’t make enough gains in his training to overcome Goku Black in the time gap between the Cell Saga and Dragon Ball Super. He did, however, acquire the Super Saiyan 2 transformation, but didn’t go further than that until he reunited with Goku and Vegeta again in Dragon Ball Super.

After going back to the present for more help, Trunks reunited with them and attained their aid in his quest to save his world from Zamasu. Due to his determination to defeat his opponent, Trunks became the first character to reach the Super Saiyan Rage form, which gave him the strength to rival Zamasu’s divine energy. Later, Grand Zeno obliterated this timeline in order to be rid of Zamasu forever. Though it’s now gone for good, both Trunks and Mai were preserved and allowed to live in a new timeline where Zamasu’s attack never happened. What comes next for Trunks has yet to be revealed, but it’s always possible that a new villain will lead him back to the Z-Warriors in another installment.

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