What exactly is the Rage Transformation used by Trunks?

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What exactly is the Rage Transformation used by Trunks?

Post by baconisbacc » Mon Jun 14, 2021 5:44 am

Trunks' Rage Boost Transformation has always perplexed me. What exactly is this power? Other than the fact that it is a random power up given to make Trunks more important in this Arc, i just wanted to discuss what exactly this power is, from a series point of view.

One particular Theory I have heard is that this power is the full, controlled version of Super Saiyan 3. Goku's overflowing luscious locks are symbolic of his Ki overflowing, resulting in a Powerful, yet unsustainable form. Trunks however has mastered this form, giving him much better Control and Stability.

This is but a theory I heard a while back, so please let me know if you have any ideas!
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Re: What exactly is the Rage Transformation used by Trunks?

Post by SupremeKai25 » Mon Jun 14, 2021 6:23 am

It was really just an asspull form given to Trunks so that he could stand a semblance of a chance against Black and Zamasu (the arc was named "Future Trunks arc" after all). I mean I guess you could try to find an in-universe reason but it could be anything and nothing at the same time. People (in the story) refer to Trunks' new state by calling it like "The power of his rage!!", which is extremely ambiguous and generic, then a videogame called the form like "Super Saiyan Rage". So it's really just Trunks unleashing his rage or something. Maybe his training with Vegeta had something to do with it, it could be that his body was somehow infused or adapted to the SSB energy when he fought Vegeta, hence why a layer of his aura is blue, but again this is pure headcanon. The writers never bothered to explain what this form is and where it comes from.

The problem with your theory is that it doesn't explain the blue layer of aura. Why would there be blue if it's related to SS3?

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Re: What exactly is the Rage Transformation used by Trunks?

Post by baconisbacc » Mon Jun 14, 2021 7:22 am

SupremeKai25 wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 6:23 am It was really just an asspull form given to Trunks so that he could stand a semblance of a chance against Black and Zamasu (the arc was named "Future Trunks arc" after all). I mean I guess you could try to find an in-universe reason but it could be anything and nothing at the same time. People (in the story) refer to Trunks' new state by calling it like "The power of his rage!!", which is extremely ambiguous and generic, then a videogame called the form like "Super Saiyan Rage". So it's really just Trunks unleashing his rage or something. Maybe his training with Vegeta had something to do with it, it could be that his body was somehow infused or adapted to the SSB energy when he fought Vegeta, hence why a layer of his aura is blue, but again this is pure headcanon. The writers never bothered to explain what this form is and where it comes from.

The problem with your theory is that it doesn't explain the blue layer of aura. Why would there be blue if it's related to SS3?
Fair enough, I agree that the form was an asspull, I was just trying to find some meaning for it in universe

Also yeah, the Theory I mentioned does kinda fall flat due to the aura, hell I've seen people compare to the LSSJ forms in that it is born from anger and that the pupils vanish, but yeah, it's all headcanon in the end :|
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Re: What exactly is the Rage Transformation used by Trunks?

Post by Koitsukai » Mon Jun 14, 2021 7:27 am

The writers never bothered explaining it or giving us enough hints for us to come up with a compelling theory on our own.

The blue in Trunks' hair makes one think if it isn't some sort of pre-state of SSB, but he hasn't god ki, and the anime never really paid that much attention to Trunks' training with Shin, you know, in order to justify the god ki and all.

The mastered SS3 theory doesn't work for me because it would've been much better to just give him SS3 and say he has fully mastered the form without having to change the actual appearence of SS3.

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Re: What exactly is the Rage Transformation used by Trunks?

Post by SupremeKai25 » Mon Jun 14, 2021 7:35 am

baconisbacc wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 7:22 am
SupremeKai25 wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 6:23 am It was really just an asspull form given to Trunks so that he could stand a semblance of a chance against Black and Zamasu (the arc was named "Future Trunks arc" after all). I mean I guess you could try to find an in-universe reason but it could be anything and nothing at the same time. People (in the story) refer to Trunks' new state by calling it like "The power of his rage!!", which is extremely ambiguous and generic, then a videogame called the form like "Super Saiyan Rage". So it's really just Trunks unleashing his rage or something. Maybe his training with Vegeta had something to do with it, it could be that his body was somehow infused or adapted to the SSB energy when he fought Vegeta, hence why a layer of his aura is blue, but again this is pure headcanon. The writers never bothered to explain what this form is and where it comes from.

The problem with your theory is that it doesn't explain the blue layer of aura. Why would there be blue if it's related to SS3?
Fair enough, I agree that the form was an asspull, I was just trying to find some meaning for it in universe

Also yeah, the Theory I mentioned does kinda fall flat due to the aura, hell I've seen people compare to the LSSJ forms in that it is born from anger and that the pupils vanish, but yeah, it's all headcanon in the end :|
All these theories would be good if the blue aura wasn't there, that's why the form is stupid and no one knows what it is after like 5 years since the end of the Future Trunks arc. If the blue aura wasn't there then sure you can just say it's a form similar to what Broly got, maybe Trunks is another legendary prodigy like Broly (it wouldn't be the first retcon introduced in Super), but the blue aura remains unexplained.

That's why people theorize it might have something to do with Trunks training with SSB Vegeta, but that was never stated in-universe.

The funny thing is that it's not even the worst asspull in the arc, there's an even bigger asspull, which was the Spirit Bomb Trunks created. Pretty sure you need to learn the Spirit Bomb after training rigorously under King Kai, which Trunks never did. You don't just create a Spirit Bomb subconsciously or because you really want it.

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Re: What exactly is the Rage Transformation used by Trunks?

Post by TobyS » Mon Jun 14, 2021 11:54 am

Disregard that Frank it's Toei bullshit
Yamcha almost certainly did not cheat on Bulma:
He was afraid of Women, Bulma was the flirty one.
Yamcha wanted to get married (it was his gonna be his wish)
He suggested they settle down in the Trunks saga.
Alternate future Trunks is not a reliable source.
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Re: What exactly is the Rage Transformation used by Trunks?

Post by Mad Swami » Mon Jun 14, 2021 1:06 pm

It's just a dumb form to make Trunks fans happy that he wasn't left in the dust tbh.

BUT since you asked for some sort of explanation the only real one I got is that it is like a natural version of potential unleashed. Just all of his mite brought to the forefront through a transformation. That's the best thing it could be. If you are wondering about the blue aura, well it could just be like the sparks of electricity from SSJ forms just put to the next level.

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Re: What exactly is the Rage Transformation used by Trunks?

Post by Koitsukai » Mon Jun 14, 2021 1:48 pm

Mad Swami wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 1:06 pm It's just a dumb form to make Trunks fans happy that he wasn't left in the dust tbh.

BUT since you asked for some sort of explanation the only real one I got is that it is like a natural version of potential unleashed. Just all of his mite brought to the forefront through a transformation. That's the best thing it could be. If you are wondering about the blue aura, well it could just be like the sparks of electricity from SSJ forms just put to the next level.
Oh yeah, I also thought it was Trunks reaching the level Gohan accessed in the Buu arc on his own (not the power level, because he is much stronger, but the kind of limits that were broken) but for SS2 instead of just in base. His "potential" placed him in the SSB vecinity, just like Gohan's.

The blue stuff is really impossible to pinpoint what they were going for. You could say it's like a non-god ki SSB but nothing backs that up. I still can't believe they never even tried to explain it, not in-universe but the writers. Some interview saying oh yeah, that's just sparks or that's a hint to the genki dama he later created.
IIRC, the blue is only when he powers up at first, when he fights Black and Zamasu at the same time (when Mai shoots Black's cup of tea) there's no blue, just SS2. I don't remember that fight that well, though.

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Re: What exactly is the Rage Transformation used by Trunks?

Post by SSJgogeto » Mon Jun 14, 2021 2:06 pm

I saw this theory once and I really like it:

Rage is a mix of these three things:

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Re: What exactly is the Rage Transformation used by Trunks?

Post by Alruneia » Mon Jun 14, 2021 2:23 pm

There's no answer to this question that isn't almost pure headcanon, really. It's a Toei-only form, and Toei hasn't made much of an attempt to explain it, so all we can really do is try to analyse what happens and make guesses.
Trunks unlocked the form by getting really frustrated and mad at Goku Black and Zamasu, for what that's worth, so it could reasonably have a connection to saiyan anger boosts. Maybe it's something similar to Vegeta's "MY BULMA" moment except manifested as a separate transformation. If that is the case, then that helps explain why the Trunks form has such an enormous power-up. It doesn't fully cover it, though, I'd say, but I don't think anything can.
As for the blue inner aura, there's no way to find an "objective" explanation for that, but the way I personally looked at it was that that's actually just the blue sparks of electricity in SS2's aura but turned into a constant thing.
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Re: What exactly is the Rage Transformation used by Trunks?

Post by Hugo Boss » Mon Jun 14, 2021 2:37 pm

I think it has some connection to the form Trunks uses against Cell, as he bulks up just before acclimating to that state. Perhaps this is the completed version of that form.

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Re: What exactly is the Rage Transformation used by Trunks?

Post by BWri » Mon Jun 14, 2021 3:51 pm

The deeper we get into Super the more we see that Saiyans transformations are body mutations that allow them to access deep reserves of power that their bodies naturally can't handle. SSJ is no longer a static set of transformations but a fluid one based on the user's needs. I would have never assumed this pre-Super, but Super introduced these ideas with Vegeta, Trunks, Broly, Kale, and Goku, who all get custom divergences from the standard SSJ line.

All that said, I still like to refer to Trunks' form as Super Saiyan Demi-God for no other reason than it amuses me.
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Re: What exactly is the Rage Transformation used by Trunks?

Post by Desassina » Mon Jun 14, 2021 3:55 pm

I like to think that Trunks flared his power up and brought it under control with a calm blue aura inside in an equilibrium of sorts.

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Re: What exactly is the Rage Transformation used by Trunks?

Post by JulieYBM » Mon Jun 14, 2021 5:00 pm

The powers that be tend to not want to give explanations for these things, likely because they don't want to set precedent.

I just pretend that Ikari is his body instinctually reacting to Super Saiyan Blue users' prescience and trying to adapt to it.
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Re: What exactly is the Rage Transformation used by Trunks?

Post by ZodiacBeast » Mon Jun 14, 2021 11:03 pm

I like the idea of it being some sort of "completed/useful SSJ3" and wouldn't have minded Toei making it that, but I think Rage is simply Trunks' body adapting to the God Ki he's been encountering throughout the arc, Goku and Vegeta included. He needed a dramatic increase in power to fight a god(s), so his body obliged.

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Re: What exactly is the Rage Transformation used by Trunks?

Post by Peach » Fri Jun 18, 2021 12:20 am

It's just a mutation of Super Saiyan 2. Like how Broly has a mutation of Super Saiyan.

It almost seems like an imperfect blue form the way it has slight blue mixed in it. Like, he's able to jump to the god level of powerful and has some God ki in the form... But isn't in a state of tranquillity like his father or Goku.

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Re: What exactly is the Rage Transformation used by Trunks?

Post by Desassina » Fri Jun 18, 2021 6:49 am

Relating Trunks's transformation to Broly's mutation gave me an idea: what if Trunks kept the blue and yellow auras apart like anger and calm in equilibrium, while Broly mixed those colors by shifting his balance towards madness? All in all, Trunks's transformation can be best explained as the follow up to Goku's Super Kaioken Blue in terms of aesthetics: two colors in a double aura.

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Re: What exactly is the Rage Transformation used by Trunks?

Post by BWri » Fri Jun 18, 2021 12:26 pm

Peach wrote: Fri Jun 18, 2021 12:20 am It's just a mutation of Super Saiyan 2. Like how Broly has a mutation of Super Saiyan.
It almost seems like an imperfect blue form the way it has slight blue mixed in it. Like, he's able to jump to the god level of powerful and has some God ki in the form
... But isn't in a state of tranquillity like his father or Goku.
This is how I always thought of it. He had direct contact with godly fighters throughout the arc, so it makes sense he'd develop an incomplete god form to compensate. Thus, Super Saiyan Demi-God.

Perhaps his half-saiyan genetics played a role in it too, but then again, this form is likely most similar to Vegeta's mutation in Battle of Gods. Did Vegeta's mutated form ever get a name because Super Saiyan Rage would fit that too.
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