Future Trunks is one of Dragon Ball’s most popular characters, despite playing a comparatively smaller role than other favorites like Goku, Vegeta, and Gohan. The time-traveling Saiyan made a great first impression on the fan base when he effortlessly cut the imposing Frieza in half. Trunks’ sword became his most defining feature, as no one in the series really incorporated weapons into their combat.
Though the sword was broken during Trunks’ first encounter with Androids 17 & 18 in the main timeline, it still stands as one of Dragon Ball’s most iconic weapons. By the time that Trunks returned in Super he had obtained a newer, stronger sword. The exact origins of the sword can get a little muddy given that it’s typically been covered in expansion material. Here’s a look at where and how Future Trunks got his sword.
Future Trunks’ Sword
The anime and manga series never really address how Future Trunks got his sword. All fans know is that the sword was given to Trunks sometime before he traveled in time. Given how comfortable he was with it in battle, it’s clear that Trunks has had the weapon for a good while.
Future Trunks uses the Dragon Balls to repair the sword in the arcade mode of Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai, claiming that it was given to him by someone close to him. This brings up two possibilities, though both theories have their holes.
Some fans think that Future Gohan gifted the sword to Future Trunks during the latter’s training. This does make sense, as the first time Future Trunks was seen wielding the blade was when he was fighting alongside Future Gohan. This is seemingly confirmed in the game Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors 2, when Future Trunks tells Gohan that it was his Future self that gifted him the weapon. But the series has always put out conflicting evidence as to the sword’s origins, and it’s hard to believe in the validity of anything from the games that don’t directly adapt the source material.
Some fans point to the sword Gohan received during his training with Piccolo as proof that he was the one who gave Trunks his blade, claiming that the two are the same. While this would be a very poetic answer, there isn’t anything directly stated or hinted at in the series that supports the theory. The most notable difference between the two swords is their appearances. Both Gohan’s Sword and Future Trunks’ Sword have distinctively different hilts, with Gohan’s looking more like a Roman gladius, and Future Trunks’ resembling a longsword.
The Brave Sword
Another prominent theory on the origin of Future Trunks’ sword comes from one of the films. At the end of Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon, Trunks is given the Brave Sword by Tapion. The two look incredibly similar, but it’s unlikely that they are the same weapon. In Dragon Ball: Raging Blast and Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z, Tapion is credited with having given Future Trunks the sword, but this again doesn’t hold up compared to the manga and anime.
Future Trunks and Trunks’ lives were very different thanks to the former traveling back in time. Just because something happened to Trunks in the prime timeline, that doesn’t mean something similar happened to Future Trunks. Like most of the Dragon Ball films, Wrath of the Dragon isn’t canon compared to the manga and anime adaptation. Though a grown Trunks does use the Brave Sword in GT, the TV-only series isn’t considered canon itself, making this just another fan theory.