Strength of Goten and Trunks

[Legendary Saiya-Jin]

Is there really anything that definitively proves they were anywhere near Android 18 besides that tournament fight as Might Mask where she was most obviously holding back infinitely against what she thought was a human?

[Kaboom]

Trunks' bio in Daizenshuu #7 character guide says...

"He and Goten then participated in the Adult Division as Mighty Mask, demonstrating strength on par with No. 18's, until she managed to see through their disguise."

Though it's a little vague as to which state of their power it's referring to. Due in part to the reasons you mentioned, I prefer to suppose that they're quite a good deal weaker than her in base but then way stronger than her as Super Saiyans, which sort of "averages out" to being on-par with her overall. A good middle ground.

[Pantalones]

I always figured they were around #18's level in Super Saiyan, and obviously a lot weaker than her in base (but still way, WAY stronger than what she was expecting from ordinary human fighters like everyone else in the tournament.) It's also possible that they were a bit stronger than her in Super Saiyan (like around #17's level or so), or even significantly stronger than her (like #16 or Imperfect Cell level... but still not even close to, say, Semi-Perfect Cell.) I guess it's also possible that they were more like Cell Saga Vegeta or Trunks in power (like when Vegeta was kicking around Semi-Perfect Cell.)
I can't see them being much stronger than that, though... it would just be kind of absurd if these 7-8 year old kids were magically strong enough to match the Cell Games characters or something. Being 7-8 years old and getting Super Saiyan just through play-fighting is already more than enough for the "these kids got absurdly strong without any real training" effect.

In any case, the kids were definitely weaker than #18 in their base forms... they needed Super Saiyan just to get enough raw power to overcome the combination of the power gap between them and the awkwardness of fighting together inside the same costume. (I don't think even the adult Saiyans could ever get anywhere near her in their base forms, unless you assume that their base powers skyrocketed and the Super Saiyan multiplier dropped to a fraction of the original 50x.)

[Legendary Saiya-Jin]

I don't understand how they could be so naturally strong when Mirai Trunks struggled to match his mentor Gohan who was weaker than the Androids.

[mattymoron]

I don't understand how they could be so naturally strong when Mirai Trunks struggled to match his mentor Gohan who was weaker than the Androids.

Because in the main timeline, Vegeta had, presumably, achieved Super Saiyan while training for the Androids BEFORE Trunks was conceived. In the future, this was not the case.

[DBZGTKOSDH]

Judging from their aura's, and Goten displaying the "round eyes" at once, I would say that they are upgraded into Super Saiyan Full Power (which gives very big gains through training, seeing how strong Goku & Gohan became through their training), which explains why Trunks is stronger than Future Trunks.

As for how strong they are, I have them around #16's level.

I don't understand how they could be so naturally strong when Mirai Trunks struggled to match his mentor Gohan who was weaker than the Androids.

Because in the main timeline, Vegeta had, presumably, achieved Super Saiyan while training for the Androids BEFORE Trunks was conceived. In the future, this was not the case.

Why would Trunks be a Super Saiyan because Vegeta was as well? It doesn't make any sense. And also, if Vegeta fucked Bulma at a different time than in the future, Trunks wouldn't be identical to Future Trunks.

[Marco Polo]

Why would Trunks be a Super Saiyan because Vegeta was as well? It doesn't make any sense.

It makes sense to me. It's a theory that's as good as any other. It's not like real-world human biology applies to DB.

[Mystic Gohan]

The base Boys fought admirably against Android 18 in there base state, even with the restrictive suit on. Not to mention, the Daizenshuu says that they fought on par. In base, I say the Goten and Trunks are similar in power to Android 18.

In there SSjin state, Goten is shown sparring evenly with Gohan. I do not believe Goten rivals Gohan, because he does think Gohan is amazing and all. I'd say that he is approaching Gohan's level, and is certainly above Piccolo. And Trunks a little bit stronger than Goten of course.

So something like Gohan >> Trunks >= Goten

Gohan - 100
Trunks - 75
Goten - 70

[TheMightyOzaru]

Seeing as how I am near finished with my new power level list I guess Ill throw around power levels I made up for Goten and Trunks:
Android 18: 350,000,000
Goten: 23,000,000
SSJ Goten: 1,150,000,000
Trunks: 23,500,000
SSJ Trunks: 1,175,000,000

[Super Saiyan Turlast x4]

I see both of the kids being about equal to #18 and way stronger than her as Super Saiyans.

[dario03]

Theory I have for Trunks and Goten being so strong is that they simply pick up on the power of those around them. Basically like how a young child learns the language of the people that it is around. In addition to them being tail-less hybrids I think that them being so young is what lets them reach their level so easily because they just picked up on Vegeta's power while he was training (like how children learn language easier than adults). I think that is also why we can see very big jumps in power when the other Z fighters come across a powerful enemy or catch up to each other after one makes a large gain. They basically pick up on how the other persons power works and then naturally adapt their own to make gains. Could explain why Vegeta made such big gains after learning how to sense ki even though before that he was in constant battle and could of been getting zenkais all over the place but yet isn't that much stronger than when he was a child.

[Bando]

I rate #18 a bit stronger than or equal to base kids.

[Dabooyaka]

Somewhere around Super Vegeta Tier IMO.. probably weaker

[Saiga]

I have no problem with the boys being so strong. They appear to have "mastered" the Super Saiyan form, probably because they play fought so much with each other. That'd easily explain how they got strength so quickly compared to Future Trunks.

[Marco Polo]

Kid Goku learned to do the Kamehameha in, like, 5 minutes after watching it for the first time, even though it took Kame Sennin 50 years to be able to use it. So I don't see why kid Goten and kid Trunks learning to go SSJ after seeing Gohan and Vegeta perform the transformation is so difficult to accept.

[DBZGTKOSDH]

Kid Goku learned to do the Kamehameha in, like, 5 minutes after watching it for the first time, even though it took Kame Sennin 50 years to be able to use it. So I don't see why kid Goten and kid Trunks learning to go SSJ after seeing Gohan and Vegeta perform the transformation is so difficult to accept.

Super Saiyan is not a technique. Besides, the Daizenshuu confirmed the reason they can go Super Saiyan so easily:

The tailless second generation are super ultra child prodigies.
Saiyan genes have an extraordinarily good compatibility with Earthling blood. Because of this, when the two races are mixed together children with formidable power are born. Particularly, those Halflings born without tails hide an exceptional battle power. There are many things that they naturally master from a young age, such as the ordinarily arduous transformation into a Super Saiyan. In spite of having such an outstanding battle sense, they do not have a fondness for battle like a pure Saiyan. Instead, it seems that the violent temperament of the Saiyan has been relaxed through their Earthling blood.

[Undertaker]

Android 18=570,000,000
Base Goten=360,000,000
Base Trunks-380,000,000
SSjin Trunks=19,000,000,000
SSjin Goten=18,000,000,000

I have Base Goten ~ SSjin Vegeta (Androids Saga).

[Hugo Boss]

No. 18 was holding back against Mighty Mask, because she didn't want to kill her opponents. Though they had a great fight, Super Mighty Mask is weaker than SS Trunks because of the restrained movements, but equal in power when he fires ki blasts. No. 18 worried about Trunks' strenght and if she hadn't finished the match quickly, Trunks probably would injure her badly by firing a faster ki blast.

[Nazi Cola]

What does the Daizenshuu say here? That Trunks and No.18 fought evenly before he was discovered, correct?

Well, I think that supports exactly what happened in the manga.

Dead weight Goten + restrictive suit + only using upper body = Trunks ~/< No.18

[Draken]

What does the Daizenshuu say here? That Trunks and No.18 fought evenly before he was discovered, correct?

Well, I think that supports exactly what happened in the manga.

Dead weight Goten + restrictive suit + only using upper body = Trunks ~/< No.18

While 18 was severely restrained due to not wanting to kill a human fighter and being DQ'd, thus losing her prize money.