Are Future Trunks and Kid Trunks the same person in Dragon Ball? Explained

Modified Jun 10, 2024 03:37 GMT

Dragon Ball and the question of how are Future Trunks and Kid Trunks the same person (Image via Toei Animations).

Some Dragon Ball fans often wonder how or if Future Trunks and Kid Trunks are the same person, although the answer is in their names. Future Trunks, as this moniker says, is the future version of Kid Trunks and they belong to different timelines, which is a plot point that gets more convoluted as the story progresses throughout the years.

The element of Future Trunks' timeline is one of the favorite plot points of the Dragon Ball fandom, which is proven by the character's timeless popularity. Furthermore, his differences with Kid Trunks also highlight how a person can grow and evolve in a very different manner when they are allowed to live in opposite environments.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author and not Sportskeeda as a whole.

Future Trunks' origin in Dragon Ball

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Future Trunks, as his nickname suggests, hailed from a future timeline that was destroyed by Android 17 and 18 as Goku died of a heart virus and the remaining fighters were not prepared to deal with this threat. He is Vegeta and Bulma's son and was trained by an older version of Gohan, who was the sole survivor of the Z Fighters in that timeline.

However, Trunks and Gohan were no match for the Androids and the latter died in a final battle. This allowed Trunks to finally unlock Super Saiyan but it still wasn't enough to challenge these enemies, so Bulma came up with a time machine so his son could go back into the past and aid his friends so they could avoid this threat, thus starting the Cell Saga.

While Trunks eventually helped them defeat Cell and came back to destroy the threats of his timeline, he returned in Super as he had to deal with a new enemy, which was Goku Black. This started a whole chain of events that led to the destruction of his timeline by Zeno, and Trunks was sent to a whole new timeline with his girlfriend Mai.

Kid Trunks' origins

Kid Trunks as seen in the Super anime (Image via Toei Animation)

On the other hand, Kid Trunks was born at the same exact time and under the exact same circumstances as his future counterpart. The biggest difference is that the Z Fighters did manage to deal with the Androids and Cell in his timeline, so he was able to grow up in an era of peace with his two parents, Vegeta and Bulma.

By the same token, since he was able to grow up mostly in peace and surrounded by the Z Fighters, Kid Trunks has not been exposed to combat the way the future one has. He doesn't hold the responsibility of taking care of the entire world and has been allowed to have a mostly normal childhood.

How they're different despite being "the same person"

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They are the same person as they are both Vegeta and Bulma's son who was born in a specific moment during Dragon Ball, which is shown by the fact they have the same name and look identical as they grow older. However, they are from different timelines, which is reflected by the way they are as people.

Future Trunks is a lot more stoic and often struggles with his own self-worth while Kid Trunks is very outspoken and even arrogant at times, showing the influence of his father Vegeta. However, for all intents and purposes, they are different characters in the series.

Final thoughts

Future Trunks and Kid Trunks are technically the same person in Dragon Ball but they just so happen to be from different timelines. This is a very significant distinction and is one that fans need to take into account when comparing their characters.

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Edited by Prem Deshpande