Trunks (トランクス, Torankusu) is a character featured in the anime series Dragon Ball Z. He is the eldest son of Vegeta and Bulma . Growing up in a different timeline from his futuristic counterpart, (Future Trunks) this incarnation of Trunks was raised under the influence of his father, a Saiyan prince, and trained from a young age to become a powerful warrior . ⚔
He was also an important fighter in the battle against the feared Majin Boo , and this enthusiasm among fans of the saga made Akira Toriyama , creator of Dragon Ball, aware of his importance within the saga. 📺
Now, before going any further in the guide for this character, you must understand and keep in mind that Dragonball has 3 different timelines (see 5 if we include those of Dragon Ball Super!) , all of which played a relevant role in Trunks' story. Find out now who this mysterious character really is! 🤗
WHO IS TRUNKS?
Trunks was born in the year 766 of the Dragon Ball universe. He is the result of a union between Vegeta, the very famous Saiyan Prince , and Bulma, a former friend of Goku. Technically, this also makes him the Prince of the Saiyans and 3rd in line to the throne behind his father, Vegeta and his uncle, Tarble. 👨👨👦👦
His birth did not really succeed in bringing Vegeta and Bulma together, Vegeta preferring to continue training to be able to defeat the androids rather than raising his son. As a result, until Cell 's death , he was mainly raised by Bulma and her family. After the Cell arc, Vegeta took a more active role in Trunks' education, often training with him and motivating him to excel ever more strongly. 🦾
TRUNKS PERSONALITY
Due to his early life in a peaceful era, this Trunks turned out to be completely different from his future counterpart, Future Trunks. As such, he is very spoiled and mischievous. Despite this, he has redeeming qualities, such as fighting to protect his loved ones. 🥰
However, he has indeed inherited his father's brash ego, he barely takes his opponents seriously (perhaps with the exception of Goten) and shares his low opinion of them. He also inherited Vegeta's pride on an almost subconscious level, which was demonstrated when he fell while trying to walk small and didn't even cry, which is very rare for most babies. He is also very intellectual like his mother, from the age of 8. 👶🏻
Trunks often looks up at Vegeta and wants his approval, and frowns whenever the latter doesn't spend time with him, such as going to the amusement park. He also has a close relationship with Son Goten , Son Goku's son. They are best friends and are always seen together during their youth, whether fighting or playing. 🎲
Trunks also developed a rather arrogant character, wanting to fight opponents who were always stronger than him despite warnings about their power. This character trait will also be accentuated during the fusion between Goten and Trunks, giving the famous Gotenks . 💥
TRUNKS APPEARANCE
Trunks' most notable physical traits come from his maternal side. Trunks therefore inherited Bulma's purple hair and blue eyes from his grandfather, Dr. Brief. He looks sullen but confident, facial features assertive and Vegeta's complexion. 👀
When he transforms into a Super Saiyan , his eyes turn green without pupils, his hair turns blonde and it bristles like all Saiyans. He wears a dark green gi, with an orange belt and bracelets. As for his shoes, he is often seen with golden boots.
If you want to know more about the secrets of this character , then don't hesitate to read our article bringing together the 10 Best Secrets about Trunks in the Dragon Ball saga ! 🤗
TRUNKS IN DRAGON BALL Z
SAGA CELL
Trunks was therefore born two years after the arrival of Trunks from the Future in DBZ . His counterpart appeared to warn the Z-Fighters of the imminent threat of the androids, who have already exterminated a good part of the earth through his best friend Gohan in his alternate reality. Despite this announcement, the Z-Warriors had to be patient to prepare for their arrival. Vegeta was therefore not very present during this period in his son's education. 🍼
The day the androids arrive, Bulma will introduce Trunks to Goku's entire team. They will then face Dr. Gero's creations, C-19 and C-20 and Piccolo will reveal the identity of Future Trunks as his son's future counterpart to Vegeta and then to Bulma, who will be relieved to know that Trunks would not grow up not by looking like his father. Later in the story, after Cell's defeat, Trunks learns to walk, and Vegeta begins to take a more active role in his education. 📚
SAGA MAJIN BOO
7 years after Cell's defeat during the Cell Games , Trunks will play a more important role in the story of DBZ. At this time he was 8 years old and incredibly strong for his age, due to the drastic training his father put him through in the gravity room. He will even prove to be a little more powerful than Goten, his best friend and son of Goku . 👨👦
During the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament (Tenkaichi Budokai) , Trunks is dismayed to be sent to the junior division and easily makes it to the grand finals. He becomes the new junior champion by defeating his best friend Sangoten , Goku's second son. When he stands against Mr. Satan, just one light tap will be enough to throw Mr. Satan out of the ring, allowing Trunks to win the match. However, the crowd believes that Mr. Satan did it deliberately to be nice to Trunks.
He then convinces Goten to secretly compete in the adult division disguised as Mighty Mask , but Android 18 realizes this and blows their cover with a Destructo Disk during the match, disqualifying them and the boys flee to avoid getting into trouble . 🍃
Shortly after Trunks learns about Majin Boo through Videl, he and Goten fly onto the battlefield and find Piccolo and Krillin turned to stone by Dabra . Trunks will also accidentally break Piccolo. After Krillin returns to normal, Trunks thinks he killed Piccolo and asks Goten to keep it a secret. He is then shocked to see that Piccolo is alive moments before Vegeta shows up to fight Majin Buu. 💥
Trunks quickly realizes that Vegeta cannot win, and he will then try to help his father fight the monster. As Majin Boo torments Vegeta, Trunks rushes in and saves him. Vegeta orders Trunks to escape for his own safety but Trunks wants to stay and help his father fight Majin Boo, but he and Goten will be knocked out by Vegeta. The boys are then taken to the lookout to take shelter from this powerful adversary. When they wake up, the boys learn that Vegeta and Gohan are dead. Goku tells them about the Fusion Dance to defeat Majin Buu but Trunks has doubts. 🕺🏻
Babidi announces to the world that if Goten, Trunks and Piccolo don't come out of hiding, they will destroy more cities. Goku will order Trunks to rush to Capsule Corporation to obtain the Radar Dragon. Goku will also at this time intercept Babidi and Majin Boo following Trunks and transform into Super Saiyan 3. Then, Goku will show them the Fusion Dance and, only in the anime, the SSJ3 form . However, Goku's time on Earth is over and he will leave Piccolo to teach the boys the rest of the Dance. Piccolo and Krillin then take charge of teaching fusion dance to the boys. 👯♂️
At the time of the merge , Trunks and Goten 's first attempt fails due to Trunks' mistake with his fingers. Their second attempt also fails when their index fingers do not touch, much to Piccolo's frustration at the failed attempts. The third attempt succeeds in creating Gotenks , who then rushes to fight Majin Boo but is quickly defeated. After some training, they merge again but due to Gotenks wasting time playing, they defuse before fighting Majin Buu, with the fusion only lasting half an hour. ⌚
When Super Boo arrived 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 actually give them 6 hours of training in the room. ⏳Later, Super Boo and Piccolo enter, but as Gotenks, they are not strong enough to beat him. When Gotenks pretended to be tired and low on energy, Piccolo destroyed the entrance to the chamber, but Super Boo escaped and ate the remaining Z-Fighters. 🍬
Gotenks will escape using his Super Saiyan 3 form and fight the pink villain again. When Super Boo asks Gotenks for a rematch, he tricks them and absorbs them to become stronger. But after being freed from Super Boo by Goku and the still deceased Vegeta, Trunks is killed along with Goten, Piccolo and Gohan when Kid Buu uses the Planet Burst attack and destroys 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 his friends return to Kami-Sama's palace, soon joined by Vegeta, Goku, Mr. Buu, Dende and Mr. Satan. 🏯
TRUNKS & GOTEN: AN UNFAILING FRIENDSHIP
During Trunks' early childhood, Goten proved to be a very good friend, on whom he could count in the future. And this is not trivial on Toriyama's part. Indeed, Goten being Goku's son, this reminds us of the tough friendship that has developed between him and Vegeta over the years. During childhood, they tackle numerous fighting games and each test their power. These trainings serve to considerably increase their strength, significantly compared to other Human-Saiyan hybrids seen at this age. 👊🏻
FUSION DANCE BETWEEN TRUNKS AND GOTEN
In DBZ, one of the most interesting, but barely used, forms of fusion is that of the Fusion Dance, performed by Goten and Trunks giving the odious and haughty character Gotenks . In the anime, he can be seen fighting powerful opponents and reaching Super Saiyan 2 and 3 forms to compete against the most vicious ones. But we must not forget that in Dragon Ball, most fusions have a very short duration and this therefore directly impacts the duration of the fight. ⌚
HOW LONG DOES THE FUSION DANCE LAST?
For Gotenks, the Fusion Dance typically lasts a little over half an hour, with several exceptions and inconsistencies throughout the saga. 🧬
TRUNK TRANSFORMATION
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 achieve and master. Much 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 was 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 causes the character's hair to stand up and take on a golden color. His eyes change from blue to bright emerald green. In this state, Trunks' power increases greatly and he is significantly stronger than his best friend, Goten . He also showed the ability to easily move in 450x Earth's gravity. Unlike his father, Trunks never seems to experience an increase in aggression, arrogance, and desire to fight. Instead, he retained his normal personality while being transformed. 🧬
TRUNKS TECHNIQUES
Due to his monstrous power from a young age and his Saiyan genes, Trunks has developed more than thirty techniques and skills that rival those of his father, Vegeta. Here are the most impressive:
FUSION DANCE
It is performed by doing a short series of poses performed by two characters of equal power levels and approximately equal height. To perform blending correctly, one must execute exposures in an image that is perfectly symmetrical to each other. The result is a superior being (here Gotenks) whose power is multiplied compared to that of the individual characters. If the dance is performed incorrectly, it will result in an obese or skinny character. 🥊
DOUBLE BUSTER
Trunks brings both arms to the side of his torso and shifts his ki. Then, he extends his arms forward and fires a wave of golden energy at the opponent, dealing a large amount of damage. 💥
BIG TREE CANNON
Trunks begins the attack by extending his arms to both sides of himself and forming two golden or blue energy spheres. Then, he brings his arms in front of him and extends his hands with his index fingers pointing outward like a child while pretending to use a gun, and fires a large wave of golden energy at the opponent, inflicting a large amount of damage.
KAMEHAMEA
We do not present her anymore. Trunks obviously masters the Kamehameha technique, and he will even use this skill with Goten to form a very powerful one. 🌠
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TRUNKS AND TRUNKS OF THE FUTURE
The differences between Future Trunks ' childhood and the original Trunks' childhood are huge, as his future counterpart had to watch everyone he loved get killed while he wasn't strong enough to fight against androids. Trunks' childhood as a child was joyful and without apparent worries, except for the absence of his father at the start of his education. He was also able to achieve the Super Saiyan form with ease, which is strange because Future Trunks could not transform into a Super Saiyan until Gohan died in his reality. 💀
The two Trunks cross paths when Trunks from the Future, a time traveler, visits his juvenile version of reality to warn that the androids were coming to destroy the planet. Without his intervention, the Z fighters would never have been as well prepared to fight them, so he is a very important character for the rest of the story. 🌟
ANECDOTES ABOUT TRUNKS
- Like most half-Saiyans (like Gohan for example) , Trunks has never been seen with a tail . Unlike the other examples, however, his lack of a tail is brought up during chapter 337 of the DBZ manga, where Krillin asked Bulma if she cut it off or not. 🐒
- Its name comes from a pun on boxers. 🥊
- Although he has long been recognized with lavender purple hair in both the anime and manga, Trunks' concept art in the 18th film Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods featured him with blue hair . It more closely matched his mother's hair color in the anime. His hair would later be shown blue in the Dragon Ball Super manga, alongside Future Trunks , simply creating even more inconsistencies with his hair color. 👱🏻♂️
