This page is for standard timeline Trunks. Please see Future Trunks for the alternate timeline version of the character.
Origin
Trunks is the son of Bulma and Vegeta, making him one half Saiyan. He was born before right before the androids awoke.
As a young boy he trained with his father and the other Saiyans and learned to become a Super Saiyan at an early age. He became best friends with Goten, Goku’s son. They trained and were to enter the World Martial Arts Tournament. To their dismay, a children competition had been started. Not wanting to fight other children, they stole the costume of another fighter and secretly fought as one in the adult tournament. When the Z Fighters left to face the threat of the evil Babidi, they were one of four contestants left.
They stole contestant Mighty Mask’s oufit and pretended to be one adult together. They fought in the tournament against Android 18 after the other two contestants in the Battle Royale were eliminated. Eventually, they had to turn Super Saiyan to combat her and she figured out their true identity. When it was revealed they were really two people, they were disqualified.
Trunks and Goten left and learned of the evil wizard from Videl, and their curiosity got the best of them. By the time they arrived to Babidi’s ship, they could find no one except the stone statues of Piccolo and Krillin. Trunks accidentally broke the statue of Piccolo. When Krillin was revived, he realized that he had killed Piccolo, but luckily for him Piccolo was able to regenerate. Unfortunately for all, Babidi had succeeded in resurrecting Majin Buu. Trunks wished to help his father fight the monster, but Vegeta would not allow it and knocked him and Goten out. Piccolo took them to the Lookout while Vegeta fought Buu alone. In an attempt to defeat him, Vegeta sacrificed himself in a massive explosion, but it was in vain and Buu was able to reform himself.
The only hope left for the Earth was now in Trunks and Goten. With Goku’s time on Earth running short, he taught them the Fusion technique in order for them to combine and become one powerful fighter. Piccolo continued their training and after a few tries they were able to perfect the technique and become Gotenks. They further enhanced their abilities in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber and even learned Super Saiyan 3.
They fought Buu inside the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, but did not reveal their true strength. Believing that they would not be able to defeat Buu, Piccolo destroyed the door and trapped them inside the chamber forever. Buu was able to tear a hole in the dimension and escape. Gotenks at full power was able to duplicate the feat, but it took a great deal of time. By the time they escaped, Buu had killed everyone they cared about.
Gohan arrived and had the upper hand against Buu and he retreated. Trunks and Goten were eventually absorbed by Majin Buu when he returned, giving him the power he needed to surpass Gohan. Trunks and the others absorbed by Buu were eventually rescued by Goku and Vegeta, only to die when Buu destroyed the Earth. Everyone would be wished back by the Dragon Balls after Buu’s defeat.
Alternate Realities
Dragon Ball GT
Black Star Dragon Ball Saga
Trunks goes on a journey with Goku and Pan in a space ship designed by Bulma. Later, a piece of the ship falls off and Goku, Trunks, and Pan are faced to crash land on the planet Immecka to get the parts needed to repair the ship. Groups of merchants swarm Trunks and the others and they have to go to the gold star hotel to hide from the swarms of sellers. They then realize they are being charged every second for everything in the hotel including the lights! They escape without paying and stumble upon the house of an old couple and their children. They talk about Don Kee the ruler of the planet and how he mistreats his rule, just then Don Kee’s men come and repossess the old couple’s house saying they where behind payment. Goku suggests that they go and fight Don Kee but the couple says that is impossible because of his grand army. On their way back to the ship Trunks drops the Dragon Radar and it is swallowed by the small robot T-2006 nicknamed Giru who says that he can’t give the radar back to them because it is already integrated into his system.
Meanwhile Goku notices the ship being dragged away by Don Kee’s men. He tries to use Instant Transmission to teleport them to the ship but after two failed attempts realizes that he can’t use it in his small body. They are forced to travel to Don Kee’s palace on foot to recover their ship. Pan decides that they will use a stealth operation to recover the ship and would only result to fighting as a last resort. After briefly sneaking around a large rock falls on Trunks’ head and Giru starts making noises that alarm the guards. The guards open fire on the group. Pan jumps in the carrying car while Goku moves the ship onto the car and Pan drives the ship out of the palace with Goku and Trunks. But while escaping, Don Kee’s henchmen Gale and Sheila fire a ki blast at Goku who reflects it back with ease towards Ledgic Don Kee’s right hand man who recognizes them as Saiyans.
Goku and the others escape but Trunks says they have to go back into town for more more parts due to Pan’s “reckless driving”. Once they reach the town everyone hides and Trunks finds the three of them on Immecka’s most wanted list. While running from Don Kee’s men they fall into the house of a nice old couple who offer them food after realizing Goku and company mean no harm. They say that Don Kee made it a law that no one is allowed to own a ship so that no one would escape the planet including the old couple. Pan gets fed up and convinces Goku and Trunks to go face Don Kee head on. They turn themselves in to the police and get brought to the palace
Once there Goku, Trunks and Pan incapacitate Gale, Sheila, and all of Don Kee’s guards. Then Goku blasts his way into Don Kee’s throne-room. Don Kee sicks Ledgic on the fighters after capturing Pan in an energy chamber. Ledgic says that he will fight Goku but for his own satisfaction. After a short fight Goku defeats Ledgic and they take down Don Kee and make him give everyone free rent and give them back their ships free of charge. Plus Don Kee gives them the parts they need for free and they leave Immecka.
They then land on an unnamed planet where everything is larger than life. They finds the Four Star Ball in the tooth of a giant and they go to the next planet. On planet Gelbo they find the Six Star Ball in the hair of the princess of the village, Leing. Trunks asks for the ball but her fiance’ Doma said that they where in a large problem already. The amphibian creature Zoonama was threatening the village with earthquakes and volcanoes if they didn’t give him Leing. Goku decides that he would help them out in exchange for the Dragon Ball and they agree. Pan comes up with the idea to disguise Trunks as Leing. Zoonama comes and takes Trunks to his lair. Trunks gets Zoonama tipsy and Goku arrives with Pan and Doma. Doma slices off Zoonama’s left whisker with a huge pair of scissors and as he cuts off the left one Zoonama awakens in a drunken rage. He begins to wiggle his whiskers and an earthquake begins to come but stops soon after while Zoonama continues to wiggle his whisker. Pan realizes that he can’t cause earthquakes only predict them but now he is so tipsy that he didn’t realize that the quake was over. Suddenly a really big earthquake erupts and Goku and the others leave the cavern with Zoonama. Goku then stops the huge volcano with a Kamehameha wave saving the city and winning the Dragon Ball. Just as he goes to get the ball the mysterious Para brothers arrive and take it.
Trunks then jumps in the ship with Pan and Goku and they chase after the Para brothers. The brothers trick them onto the asteroid of Beehay inhabited by huge bloodthirsty worm-like creatures called Mouma. The Para brothers escape and fly to the planet Luud. They go to Cardinal Mutchy Mutchy who tells them that they have failed and that Trunks has another Dragon Ball on his ship that they failed to get and they must go retrieve it. They travel back to find Goku and the others and they get hypnotized by the Para brothers until they are saved by the hungry Mouma. Pan goes aboard Para’s ship to find the Dragon Ball that they stole. She accidentally activates the auto-pilot and is brought to Luud. There she is captured and turned into a doll for the evil lord Dolltaki. Goku shows up with Trunks and kills Cardinal Mutchy Mutchy who reveals that he is actually two parts the body and the whip which transforms into Mutchie and fights Goku. Trunks finishes Mutchie off with Flash Bang and saves Goku from his whip arms.
Then Dolltaki turns everyone except for Trunks, Himself, Goku, and Pan into dolls and feeds them to the machine deity Luud. Dolltaki then awakens Luud who takes him and Pan inside of Luud’s body to gain their energy. While Luud fights Goku and Trunks Pan forces Dolltaki to tell her the weakness of the seemingly invincible Luud. Dolltaki reveals that Goku must strike the outside of Luud’s mechanical heart while Pan strikes the inside at the exact same time. After multiple tries Goku and Pan finally succeed and destroyed Luud freeing all of the people. Trunks then takes back his Dragon Ball and they leave the planet.
Super Android 17 Saga
A year later, Trunks observes the 30th World Martial Arts Tournament, due to the fact that it was too late for him to compete.
A month later, Trunks is ambushed by a brainwashed Android #17. Trunks joins up with Goten, Majuub, Pan, Gohan and Vegeta to fight countless villains who have escaped from Hell. Trunks, then joins the fight against Super 17 but is unable to defeat him even with the help of Gohan, Goten, Majuub, and his father.
Shadow Dragon Saga
Later against Syn Shenron he tries to restore Goku’s energy once again along with Goten and Gohan. After the dragon transforms into Omega Shenron and Super Saiyan 4 Vegeta suggests he and Goku fuse to defeat him, Trunks along with Gohan, Goten and Majuub tries to hold of Omega long enough for Goku and Vegeta to fuse. They are successful and Goku and Vegeta form Gogeta.
Later on when Goku is presumed dead by Omega Shenron, Vegeta decides the earth’s best bet is for him to try and defeat Omega Shenron while everyone else escapes. Before sending them off, Vegeta requests that Goten, Gohan, Trunks continue the fight if he fails. The three half-Saiyans say goodbye to their families and decide to go back to help Vegeta in the fight but they are all easily defeated. However they do succeed in distracting Omega long enough for Goku to charge his Universal Spirit Bomb which destroys the Shadow Dragon.
Trunks is last seen telling Pan that the Dragon Balls will come back after the Earthlings have proven they can take care of themselves without them.