After seeing sirtakuya777's topic in which he asks about our favorite characters, I decided my post would be better suited as its own analysis thread in order to properly explain my reasoning. I am fond of many of our heroes and antiheroes, I enjoy their redemptive arcs and struggles with identity as much as any other Dragon Ball fan, however, I am of the opinion that one character's story outshines them all: Mirai Trunks, AKA Future Trunks in the West.
I expect all of us are familiar with his story, but allow me to reiterate for the sake of completeness. Mirai Trunks is the half-Saiyan child borne from the union of Vegeta and Bulma. He made his dramatic entrance after the close of the Namek Saga to do away with Freeza once and for all, shocking both character and audience with his capacity to transform into a Super Saiyan. He displayed an uncanny knowledge of events yet to pass, leading the Earth's warriors to the landing site of Son Goku and refusing to answer any questions about who he is.
Once Goku did arrive, he would of course tell him of the dark future from which he had traveled to the past to prevent. This is the first point of his character which I find fascinating. In Dragon Ball, we are so used to conquering heroes always overcoming adversity. The world of Mirai Trunks is totally unlike this formula. Goku meets his death at the hands of an impersonal, mortal ill: the ravages of disease. It is arbitrary and cruel that such a noble and powerful man would be defeated by something so small, and this is only the beginning of this catastrophe.
Without Son Goku, the Artificial Humans cannot be stopped. The larger than life heroes of old are dead, hunted and slaughtered like dogs by their new opponents. The world Mirai Trunks grows up in is already devastated, the villains have triumphed and ruled for years with only Son Gohan left of the old guard to resist them. After Gohan dies, Trunks is all that's left to carry the hope of that world. He is a character whose stakes are greater than any before him. Goku has had to save the world before, but in this, he fought to maintain its current condition; Mirai Trunks and his mother must scrape and claw to steal peace back from the clutches of their invincible enemies. Their only recourse is to travel back in time, a direct confrontation is out of the question. After involving himself in the affairs of the present, Mirai Trunks takes yet another burden onto his shoulders.
Then there is his relationship with his father. Vegeta's coldness toward him evokes pity, anger, and sorrow all at once. The boy who never knew his father finally gets to meet him, only to be utterly rejected, scorned, and looked to as a threat to his dominance. Their frayed relationship and its evolution is an integral— and in my opinion, vastly underrated—part of the Artificial Humans saga.
Mirai Trunks's dark history, his troubled present, and his unwavering determination to do right in a world set against him are all reasons he is my favorite Dragon Ball character. I hope that with this brief analysis, others may come to understand the depth of this character as I do.
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Fate: An event that must happen no matter what. Nothing will happen without it. Many things can be imagined from what is seen.
"If You Wanna Get Out Alive... Run For Your Life!" 