Exploring the Identities of Future Trunks and Kid Trunks in Dragon Ball
Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball saga has a few timelines and characters that can confuse a lot of new fans. Two such characters are Future Trunks and Kid Trunks, who some people are still confused about. Even though their name suggests that they are the same person, there is a bit of a nuance about their characters.
As you all might know, Trunks is the son of Vegeta and Bulma and has blue hair. Kid Trunks and Future Trunks, despite technically being the same person, are two different characters from two different timelines in the story. Here is what differentiates them.
Who is Future Trunks?
As his name suggests, Future Trunks is another version of Trunks from the future. He comes from a timeline in which Goku died of a heart virus and the world was destroyed by Android 17 and 18. The world could not deal with this threat without Goku and all of the Z fighters died. An older Gohan, who was the only survivor of the Z fighters trained him in battle. Unfortunately, Gohan was killed in a battle against the Androids which prompted Trunks to unlock Super Saiyan, but he still was not able to defeat the enemies.
His mother Bulma then came up with a plan to send Trunks back in time to help his friends avoid the threat altogether, which kickstarted the events of the Cell Saga. Future Trunks was able to help them defeat Cell and went back to his timeline to deal with the remaining threats. However, he came back once again in Dragon Ball Super to deal with Goku Black. This once again started a chain of events that led Zeno to destroy Future Trunks’ original timeline. This forced him to move to a different timeline with his girlfriend Mai.
Who is Kid Trunks?
You can say that by birth, Future Trunks and Kid Trunks were the exact same person born to the exact same parents under the exact same circumstances. However, unlike Future’s timeline, Kid Trunks’ timeline was not filled with destruction as the Z fighters were able to fight off the enemies thanks to Goku being alive. Unlike Future, Kid Trunks grew up with both his parents Vegeta and Bulma and had a much more normal childhood and upbringing. Kid Trunks grew up surrounded by not only his family but also the other Z fighters and he had a lot of people to look up to.
Despite being the same person, Future Trunks and Kid Trunks are different characters
What stands out to the audience while seeing the story of Future Trunks and Kid Trunks play out is how much of an effect can one’s upbringing have on their personality. Since he grew up in a more sheltered and wholesome environment, Kid Trunks is pretty outspoken, although some of his father’s arrogance shines through his personality. But all in all, he is a pretty normal child.
On the other hand, growing up in an almost completely destroyed world with all of the Z fighters dead turned Future Trunks into a very stoic person who often struggles to express himself. Even though they grow up to look exactly the same, Future and Kid’s personalities and lives are different in every way possible. That is why, even though they look identical and are technically the same person, for all intents and purposes, Kid Trunks and Future Trunks are two different people.
ALSO READ: Who Is Yamcha In Dragon Ball? Character Origin Explored