Dat Sword

[Puto]

Nothing says that similar events to Movie 13 couldn't have happened in Trunks' timeline. In the Movie 13 we know, Trunks couldn't bring himself to kill Tapion when asked to, even if it meant saving the world. In a harsher world where the androids terrorise everyone, Trunks would probably act differently.

[Sshadow5001]

Well, he bought it. That's Toriyama's idea...... Well, you can go and buy yourself one sword too or pay visit to a Blacksmith.
It just amuses me, how characters in franchises need to get their things and stuff in some mysterious way.
Well, Zoro from One Piece came to armory shop and got himself some katanas.
So Trunks in simmilar idea came to Blacksmith and said: ''Hey man, I need some hard thing which can cut trough the metal.'' So no official explanation, but manga storyline is unknown.
He got it from Tapion, that's TOEI's anime storyline.

The sword can cut through Freeza, so it's not simply a sword.

Probably Bulma made it.

I'm guessing Trunks channeled some power into his sword swing.

[MCDaveG]

Well, that's true! I think that it's possible to let your Ki flow to a weapon to make it stronger. In simmilar fashion like Salzer have it's ki blade in the Movie 5.

[TheDevilsCorpse]

I'm guessing Trunks channeled some power into his sword swing.

In Gohan's "Groundbreaking Science", he wrote that the Katchin metal (that was used to test the Z-Sword) could, in fact, be cut, which caused many to become interested in learning swordplay. When Trunks and Goten learned about this, they got all fired up and decided that they'd start an awesome sword school of their own. This lead to the founding of the groundbreaking Kikoukenjutsu Sword School. Kikoukenjutsu, or "Spiritual Swordsmanship", revolves around elegant swordplay and infusing blades with ki to overpower opponents.

Anything Future Trunks can do, Trunks can do better...=P

[Nex Carnifex]

Its definitely not a normal iron sword, seeing as it cut frieza in half.

[Bussani]

Its definitely not a normal iron sword, seeing as it cut Freeza in half.

A skilled enough swordsman could cut Freeza in half with a piece of bamboo. In anime, at least...

[Rostir]

The fact that young Trunks never uses the sword in the series makes the event seem even more insignificant.

[Ringworm128]

Its definitely not a normal iron sword, seeing as it cut Freeza in half.

Its not the sword its Trunks Ki that cut Freeza. If it was just the sword King Cold could have cut Trunks like a hot knife though butter.

[Rostir]

Can't believe King Cold actually thought it was because of the sword alone.

[Ringworm128]

Can't believe King Cold actually thought it was because of the sword alone.

Well I used to think it was the sword alone.

[Silver Sinspawn]

Here's something I wanna know. Trunks had been using the sword for fuck knows how long, right? How come he never actually challenged the androids with it? I mean, clearly he didn't, otherwise, he would have known it wouldn't work to attack 18 with it.

[Silver Sinspawn]

Anything Future Trunks can do, Trunks can do better...=P

Except have a decent backstory. And not be an annoying little prick. And, y'know, manners? Also, saving the planet? Future Trunks saved the world from androids by warning Goku, the best Present Trunks ever did was turn Buu into a volleyball, and he needed Goten's help for that. Oh, also, surviving something that wiped out all of his friends.

[Herms]

Its not the sword its Trunks Ki that cut Freeza. If it was just the sword King Cold could have cut Trunks like a hot knife though butter.

I think the sword has to give Trunks some advantage, otherwise why bother using it in the first place?

Here's something I wanna know. Trunks had been using the sword for fuck knows how long, right? How come he never actually challenged the androids with it? I mean, clearly he didn't, otherwise, he would have known it wouldn't work to attack 18 with it.

The 17 and 18 in the present are supposed to be much stronger than the ones in the future, so maybe the sword had been more effective in Trunks' previous fights with the androids in his own time.

The fact that young Trunks never uses the sword in the series makes the event seem even more insignificant.

Well, the movie came out after the manga had already finished and the DBZ TV series was nearing its end, so there wasn't much of a way for them to include it. Still, I guess they could have bothered to work it into GT besides just showing it in the opening.

[Sshadow5001]

Trunks uses a sword because swords are cool

[Piccolo Daimao]

I think I remember that Kaboom had an explanation for this, along the lines of Tapion appearing in Future Trunks' timeline but, obviously, the events occuring differently than in the main timeline.

On why Trunks uses the sword in the first place, an in-universe explanation could be that, while you manipulate the ki into your sword anyway, you can use that manipulation to perform certain attacks that wouldn't be able to do with just your hands and feet.

Although the real reason is probably just that Toriyama thought swords were cool, and it would make for a cool entry to have some random teen jump in, turn into a Super Saiyan (when previously, only Goku was thought to be a Super Saiyan) and slice the main villain into pieces with a kick-ass sword.