DBZGTKOSDH wrote:So, based on the manga (both the original & Super), I went & made a timeline briefly describing the events of Trunks' timeline, and Trunks' evolution of his battle power.
[spoiler]Age 764
Mecha Freeza & King Cold attack Earth. Goku returns & kills them. Goku later dies from a heart attack because of a virus.
Age 766
Trunks is born.
Age 767
Artificial Humans #17 & #18 begin their attack, killing Vegeta, Piccolo, Kuririn, Tenshinhan, Yamcha, and Chaozu. Gohan is the sole survivor. Pilaf, Shu, and Mai gather the Dragon Balls to wish for youth, and turn into babies as a result, and thus the Shenlong grands his final wish shortly before Piccolo & Kami die.
Age 780
Trunks has begun training with Gohan, but even though he has turned into a Super Saiyan, Gohan can easily handle him with one arm without turning into a Super Saiyan. Gohan, who is at around the same level as Goku was before he died, dies in a battle with the Artificial Humans.
Age 783
Bulma completes the Time Machine. Trunks, who has reached the same level that Gohan was before his death, goes to the past at Age 764. Trunks returns, and 8 months later, he goes back to Age 767. Trunks returns & kills the Artificial Humans, having obtained power on par with Vegeta's at the Cell Games through his training inside the Room of Spirit and Time for 2 days in the past.
Age 784
Trunks trains with Kaioshin & Kibito using the Z-Sword, and obtains power greater than Super Saiyan Gohan's from the Cell Games. Dabra & Babidi attempt to revive Boo. Super Saiyan Trunks doesn't stand a chance against Dabra, but after Kibito gets killed by Dabra, Trunks finally becomes a Super Saiyan 2 and overpowers Dabra. Kaioshin assists Trunks to kill Dabra & Babidi, but eventually dies from his injuries, which kills the Hakaishin Beerus. Goku Black chooses Trunks' timeline to attack because Beerus, the most troublesome Hakaishin, is dead in this world. Trunks isn't satisfied with the power Super Saiyan 2 gave him, so he keeps training hard for the next years.
Age 786
Trunks prepares to go back to the past in order to inform his friends that he defeated the Artificial Humans, but as he expected, Cell appears to kill him & steal his time machine. Trunks easily kills Cell.
Age 795
Goku Black attacks Earth in order to eliminate the humans, after having eliminated all the Kaioshin from all other universes which killed all the Hakaishin, and after having eliminated the humans from countless other planets. Trunks is unable to defeat Black.
Age 796
Trunks founds Bulma dead from Black's hands. Trunks has trained to his outmost limits from ever since he returned from the past, but still can't stand a chance against Black. Having enough energy for a one-way trip with the Time Machine, Trunks goes back to Age 779 of the parallel world to get help from his friends after Mai seemingly dies to help him escape. At this point, Super Saiyan 2 Trunks is almost as strong as Super Saiyan 3 Goku.[/spoiler]
For starters, there's no set date for the battle with Dabra. Using Bobbidi's statement of "over 10 years" as only 10 years put the event in AGE 784, which is the same year Bluma first finished up the time machine (and some other problems mentioned further below).
Which leads to the second point, Cell was defeated in AGE 788 (the only year ever actually mentioned in the manga). Thus, everything else extrapolated from that are off too.
Herms' timeline stuff:
[spoiler]
AGE 784
Bulma completes work on a time machine, which she hopes to use to save Earth from the androids. Though changing the past will merely create an alternate timeline and have no direct effect on their own world, Bulma hopes that by studying the androids in the past they may discover some weakness in them, or possibly they could bring Goku from the past into their own timeline and have him defeat the androids for them. If nothing else, Bulma wishes for there to be at least one peaceful timeline where the androids do not exist. She sends Trunks to Age 764, shortly before Goku returns to Earth from Namek, to warn him about the androids and give him medicine to cure the heart disease that led to his death in their own timeline. After Trunks returns, they begin waiting 8 months for the time machine to charge up enough energy for another round trip.
- [Ref: Bulma’s motives are explained in Chapter 357 and Trunks: the Story. The year number I’ve used is from Daizenshuu 7’s alternate timeline explanation page. In Chapter 334 Trunks says he came from roughly 20 years in the future, but in Trunks: the Story Bulma says he’ll go 17 years into the past. Meanwhile the Trunks TV Special has Bulma tell him to go 20 years into the past. The 8 months it takes the time machine to charge is from Trunks: the Story, though Chapter 419 seems to imply it needs 3 years to charge rather than 8 months. I’ve ignored this.]
AGE 785
Now that the time machine has stored enough energy for another round trip, Trunks departs for Age 767 to help Goku and co. confront the androids. After returning to his own timeline, Trunks uses the strength he gained training in the Room of Spirit and Time to easily defeat the androids there. Having learned about Cell in the past, Trunks begins waiting three years for Cell to show himself.
- [Ref: Year number is from Daizenshuu 7’s alternate timeline explanation page. Chapter 358 shows Cell as coming from 788, which Trunks says is 3 years further into the future than he himself came. Presumably during the 8 month charge time the year has changed from 784 to 785. In Chapter 363 Cell simply assumes the androids in his timeline were destroyed by Trunks.]
AGE 786
Cell completes his 24 years of development. However, the computer informs him that in order to reach his perfect form, he must absorb two specific life-forms: Androids No.17 and No.18. Cell begins looking for these androids.
- [Ref: The date is from Cell’s Daizenshuu 7 bio. Cell mentions his 24 years of development in Chapter 363, though counting from that year (767) would mean Cell only finishes development in 791, despite the fact that he’s supposed to have come from 788. It’s all a bit knotty, but basically Daizenshuu 7 tries to fix this by counting the 24 years as starting in 762, when the first (known) cells for Cell are collected. This leaves a two year gap between when his development completes and when he uses Trunks’ time machine, but I guess he just wandered around looking for 17+18 during that time. If Cell was in the lab for a year after Trunks returned from his second trip to the past, then it’s not clear why Trunks in Timeline II waited 3 years for Cell to show himself, rather than just going to destroy Cell in Gero’s laboratory right away. Well, whatever.]
AGE 788
In the three years since the androids’ destruction, reconstruction of Earth society has advanced considerably. Unable to find Androids No.17 and No.18, Cell learns of Trunks’ time machine and attempts to kill Trunks and steal it. However, thanks to his trip into the past Trunks knows Cell is coming, and uses the strength he gained training in the Room of Spirit and Time to easily destroy him.
- [Ref: These events are shown in DB Chapters 419-420 (DBZ 225-226). The date is from Daizenshuu 7’s alternate timeline explanation, and is based on Chapter 358 where Cell is said to have come from Age 788.]
[/spoiler]
Here's a tinkered with version of your timeline. The Boo battle has been placed after Trunks kills Cell. He's said to be going back into the past to tell everyone he defeated the robits, so I imagine the Dabra material has to come after, or he would have given everyone a heads up. That's just who Trunks is.
For everything else,... Nothing in the manga suggests that we've moved beyond AGE 779 (which I honestly prefer), but I added a two year range to account for the anime's presumed placement just to be safe.
[spoiler]
AGE 764
Mecha Freeza & King Cold attack Earth. Goku returns & kills them. Goku later dies from a heart attack because of a virus.
AGE 766
Trunks is born.
AGE 767
Artificial Humans #17 & #18 begin their attack, killing Vegeta, Piccolo, Kuririn, Tenshinhan, Yamcha, and Chaozu. Gohan is the sole survivor. Pilaf, Shu, and Mai gather the Dragon Balls to wish for youth, and turn into babies as a result, and thus the Shenlong grands his final wish shortly before Piccolo & Kami die.
AGE 780
Trunks has begun training with Gohan, but even though he has turned into a Super Saiyan, Gohan can easily handle him with one arm without turning into a Super Saiyan. Gohan, who is at around the same level as Goku was before he died, dies in a battle with the Artificial Humans.
AGE 784
Bulma completes work on a time machine. Trunks, who has reached the same level that Gohan was before his death, travels 20 years into the past, to AGE 764. Trunks returns after giving Goku his heart medicine and prepares for his return trip and 8 months later.
AGE 785
Now that the time machine has stored enough energy for another round trip, Trunks departs for AGE 767 to help Goku and company. Having obtained power on par with Vegeta's at the Cell Games through his training inside the Room of Spirit and Time for 2 days, Trunks returns & kills the Artificial Humans that plagued his timeline. Having learned about Cell in the past, Trunks begins waiting three years for Cell to show himself.
AGE 788
Trunks prepares to travel back to AGE 771 in order to inform his friends that he defeated the Artificial Humans, but as he expected, Cell appears to kill him & steal his time machine. Trunks easily kills Cell.
AGE 788-795
Trunks trains with Kaioshin & Kibito using the Z-Sword, and obtains power greater than Super Saiyan Gohan's from the Cell Games. Dabra & Babidi attempt to revive Boo. Super Saiyan Trunks doesn't stand a chance against Dabra, but after Kibito gets killed by Dabra, Trunks finally becomes a Super Saiyan 2 and overpowers Dabra. Kaioshin assists Trunks to kill Dabra & Babidi, but eventually dies from his injuries, which kills the Hakaishin Beerus. Goku Black chooses Trunks' timeline to attack because Beerus, the most troublesome Hakaishin, is dead in this world. Trunks isn't satisfied with the power Super Saiyan 2 gave him, so he keeps training hard for the next years.
AGE 795-797
Goku Black attacks Earth in order to eliminate the humans, after having eliminated all the Kaioshin from all other universes which killed all the Hakaishin, and after having eliminated the humans from countless other planets. Trunks is unable to defeat Black.
AGE 796-798
Trunks founds Bulma dead from Black's hands. Trunks has trained to his utmost limits from ever since he returned from the past, but still can't stand a chance against Black. Having enough energy for a one-way trip with the Time Machine, Trunks goes back to AGE 779-781 of the parallel world to get help from his friends after Mai seemingly dies to help him escape. At this point, Super Saiyan 2 Trunks is almost as strong as Super Saiyan 3 Goku.[/spoiler]
