seventeen year old capable of transforming into the Super Saiyan state, who appears and singlehandedly kills Frieza and his father, King Cold. Upon Goku's return from Planet Namek, Trunks confides in Goku his tragic story. As told in the stand-alone manga side story and chapters #419 and 420, Trunks has traveled from twenty years in the future where the world is in constant ruin due to the terror of the two androids #17 and #18 which were created by Doctor Gero, the former chief scientist of the Red Ribbon Army. By this time, Goku has succumbed to an unknown heart virus and everyone, with the exception of Gohan, has fallen at the hands of the artificial humans. Trunks has been living with Bulma and secretly training with Gohan. After an unsuccessful ambush, Gohan is murdered by the Androids. When Trunks finds the body, he becomes engulfed in rage and sadness, awakening his Super Saiyan transformation. After Gohan's death, Trunks assumes the mantle of Earth's sole protector against the artificial humans for the next three years until Bulma finishes her time machine. Once he informs Goku of the events to come, Trunks gives Goku a special medicine and returns to his own time. Trunks returns to help in the present day battle against the artificial humans, only to learn that his actions only affected the present timeline with a new future while his own timeline remains unaffected. With the appearance of Cell from another alternate timeline, Trunks trains with Vegeta in the Room of Spirit and Time. After Vegeta's defeat, Trunks fights Cell in his newly gained Perfect form before conceding once learning his new Super Saiyan form proves to be ineffective. He later participates in Cell's martial arts tournament, where he is killed by Cell. After Trunks is revived by the Dragon Balls following Cell's defeat, he returns to his own timeline to defeat both the Androids and later the Cell of his time. A few years later, Trunks is accosted by the Supreme Kai of Universe 7, whom he helps in defeating Babidi and Dabura in order to prevent the revival of Majin Buu. Years later, having reached Super Saiyan 2, Trunks encounters a new enemy known as Goku Black, who slaughters the Earth's residents as the Saiyan helps the survivors defend themselves, before attempting to recruit Goku and Vegeta from the present timeline. During Goku and Goku Black's