Alternate Timelines in Dragon Ball

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There are seven known timelines within the main Dragon Ball story, one of which has been destroyed by the Omni-King. Each timeline is a complete alternate reality containing the total number of universes; there are twelve universes in the main timeline of the story, but the number of universes may differ from timeline to timeline depending on whether the Omni-King has destroyed any of them. In the destroyed timeline, the Omni-King destroyed all of the universes at once.

Time Rings and Paradox Overview

The Time Rings at the beginning of the Future Trunks arc.

The Time Rings at the end of the Future Trunks arc.

Alternate timelines are created as a paradox-avoiding mechanism that is triggered when history is changed. While infinite worlds along the lines of multiverse theory might theoretically exist, the finite number of timelines created—or perhaps accessed—by time travel are represented by Time Rings.

ゴワス：時の指輪だ。その名のとおり時間を自由に移動できる指輪だよ。（…）ただし未来だけだ。未来に行きそして元の世界に戻るのみ。
ザマス：時間をさかのぼり過去には…。
ゴワス：それは不可能だ。できたとしても厳しく禁じられている。歴史を変えてしまうのは常に危険が付きまとう。箱の中にあった色違いの指輪を覚えておるな？あれらは歴史を変えて別の世界ができてしまったために生まれたものだ。歴史…別の世界を…。上の段の指輪は数年前に１つ増えたばかりでなまた別の世界をつくった者がいるようで。まったくどこのバカ者の仕業やら。

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Gowasu: The time rings. As their name suggests, these are rings that allow one to freely move through time. (...) However, only into the future. We can only go into the future and then return to this world.
Zamasu: What about turning back time and going into the past?
Gowasu: That is impossible. And even if we could, it's strictly prohibited. The altering of history is always fraught with danger. You remember the off-colored rings inside the box, yes? (...) Those came about because of a change in history prompting the creation of another world. A new ring was added to the top row just a few years ago. Apparently, someone created another world. For mercy's sake, what kind of idiot would do such a thing?
— Dragon Ball Super Episode 54

Gowasu implies that traveling to the future is not restricted because the future has not yet been written; visits to the future are hypothetical, while the past is already part of the time-traveler; the paradox is within the time-traveler himself.

Gowasu also implies that the Time Rings are incapable of time-travel to the past. And even if it were possible, as it is with a time machine, it is strictly forbidden because these paradoxes create alternate timelines and complicate the established order of existence. When Gowasu and Zamasu travel to Planet Babari's future, they do not encounter anything that has contributed to their lived experience, even in the most indirect way. There is no paradox; the "future" they visit is like a computer model based on events as they stand before the visit occurs.

Furthermore, the word "future" can be ambiguous in Dragon Ball. "Future Trunks" comes from the future, but since his past shaped who he is as a person, his visit to that past creates a paradox. He visits Earth before he was born, meeting his father and mother and risking his own existence and drastically changing the course of events. Trunks's "future" is not just a model to the people of the new timeline—it is represented by a real person whose lived experience adds value to their lives—but his future is not their future.

Despite the ambiguity, the Time Rings can be used to travel to alternate "futures" that are connected to the home timeline in some way. This is how Goku Black traveled to Future Trunks's timeline in Dragon Ball Super.

Timelines

The seven timelines are detailed below in the order that they were created.

Cell's Timeline

Cell kills Future Trunks in the original timeline.

Main article: Cell's timeline

Cell's timeline is presumed to be the original timeline. Future Trunks's timeline splits from this timeline after Trunks encounters Cell in an alternate version of the past (Goku Black's timeline) and then returns home.

• Parent Timeline: None. Presumed to be the original timeline.
• Children: The "unseen timeline", Goku Black's timeline and Future Trunks's timeline.
• Inception Paradox: No known paradox.
• Split Point: None. Presumed to be the original timeline.
• Story Arc: Dragon Ball Chapter 1 (Dragon Ball Episode 1)–Dragon Ball Chapter 329 (Dragon Ball Z Episode 107); Dragon Ball Extra Chapter (Dragon Ball Z TV Special 2)
• Events: Goku dies of the heart virus. The Artificial Humans, No. 17 and No. 18, wreak havoc on the world. The original version of Future Trunks uses the time machine to go to the past, creating the "unseen timeline", where he discovers how to neutralize the artificial humans, but learns nothing about Cell. After neutralizing the artificial humans, Trunks is preparing to return to the "unseen timeline" when Cell kills him, stealing the time machine so that he can try to find a world where 17 and 18 are still alive.

Universe 12 Timeline

Gowasu explains alternate universes to Zamasu.

Universe 12 was the first to discover time travel, and the alternate timeline created by humans in that universe is likely the reason that it is forbidden to travel to the past. This timeline is only mentioned in the Dragon Ball Super manga.

Long ago, there was a human civilization in Universe 12 that possessed highly sophisticated technology. They invented a device that could send a person back in time. Such a thing was assumed impossible, but they somehow managed it and changed history. These [Time Rings] are for the new parallel worlds that emerged because of that mistake.
— Gowasu, Dragon Ball Super Chapter 17

It is unknown whether all of the timelines of Dragon Ball branch from this alternate timeline or the original timeline.

• Parent Timeline: The original timeline (presumed to be Cell's timeline).
• Children: No known children. Divine laws were created to discourage further time travel.
• Inception Paradox: Someone in Universe 12 travels to the past. Details unknown.
• Split Point: "Long ago" (かつて katsute).
• Story Arc: None.
• Events: Unknown.

The "Unseen" Timeline

This timeline has never been depicted or directly described, since the version of Trunks who went there was killed. The existence of this timeline is only implied in the main story. If the original Future Trunks neutralized the artificial humans in Cell's timeline, but was not prepared for Cell, then there must be a timeline where Trunks learned how to neutralize them but did not encounter Cell (since Cell had not yet stolen his time machine). The timeline was officially recognized in Daizenshuu 7.

In [Cell's timeline], at the point in time when Cell is born, No. 17 and No. 18 do not exist. For that reason, Cell heads for the past, but what happened to No. 17 and No. 18? The truth is, Trunks, who obtained blueprints for the functional shutdown controllers in the past, returned to the future and used that to defeat No. 17 and No. 18! When it comes down to that, there must be a history where Trunks is absent at the time of the Cell Game. That is [the "unseen timeline"]. Whatever kind of future happened after that is of endless interest.

It is unclear whether the writers of the Daizenshuu text realized that the time-traveling Cell could not have been present in that timeline, and should not have appeared until roughly Age 788.

• Parent Timeline: Cell's timeline.
• Children: Goku Black's timeline (indirect).
• Inception Paradox: Trunks travels to his own past, presumably to give Goku the heart medicine.
• Split Point: Age 764.
• Story Arc: None.
• Events: Trunks learns how to neutralize the artificial humans without encountering Cell.

Goku Black's Timeline

Main article: Goku Black's timeline

The timeline where Goku Black originates is the main timeline of the story from Cell arc and the Majin Boo arc up through the Future Trunks arc of Dragon Ball Super. In this timeline, Zamasu steals Goku's body and then kills him, along with Chi-Chi and Goten, before traveling to Future Trunks's timeline.

• Parent Timeline: Cell's timeline, the "Unseen" timeline.
• Children: New Main Timeline.
• Inception Paradox: Cell travels to his own past, but crosses paths with the time-traveling Future Trunks, who appears in this new timeline to give Goku the heart medicine just as he did in the "Unseen" timeline.
• Split Point: Age 763. Cell arrives about one year before Trunks.
• Story Arc: Dragon Ball Chapter 329 (Dragon Ball Z Episode 108)–Dragon Ball Super Episode 48 (Dragon Ball Super Chapter 15)
• Events: Trunks defeats Freeza and King Cold on Earth. Goku survives the heart virus. Gohan defeats Cell. Goku wins the God of Destruction Selection Tournament. Some time in the next few years, Zamasu steals his body and escapes to Trunks's timeline after killing Chi-Chi and Goten.

Future Trunks's Timeline

Trunks lives long enough to defeat Dabra and Bobbidi.

The Time Ring representing this timeline self-destructs when the Omni-King destroys the timeline.

Main article: Future Trunks's timeline

The timeline commonly known as "Future Trunks's timeline" is the second version of that timeline. In the first (Cell's timeline), Future Trunks was killed by Cell.

• Parent Timeline: Cell's timeline, Goku Black's timeline.
• Children: New Future Timeline.
• Inception Paradox: Trunks returns home armed with knowledge of Cell—knowledge he gained in Goku Black's timeline—preventing his own death.
• Split Point: Age 785. Trunks says that Age 788 would have been three years after he departed to return to the past, so he is presumed to have returned home in Age 785.
• Story Arc: Dragon Ball Chapter 419–Dragon Ball Chapter 420 (Dragon Ball Z Episode 194); Dragon Ball Super Episode 47 (Dragon Ball Super Chapter 14)–Dragon Ball Super Episode 67 (Dragon Ball Super Chapter 26)
• Events: Future Trunks kills No. 17 and No. 18 after traveling to the past. Three years later, he kills Cell. Still later, he kills Dabra and Bobbidi. This battle leads to the death of Shin, which causes Beerus to die and Whis to be deactivated. Around this time, Goku Black arrives and, seeing that Beerus is dead, decides to stay. He teams up with the Zamasu native to Trunks's timeline and together they kill the rest of the Kaiōshin and Gods of Destruction. Zamasu uses the native Super Dragon Balls to wish for immortality, then destroys the balls. Later, Black attacks Earth, causing a resistance movement to form headed by Future Mai and Trunks, who develop a relationship during this time. After Black kills Bulma, Trunks uses the time machine to return to the "past" he had visited before, enlisting Goku and Vegeta to return to his timeline and fight Black. Black and Zamasu use the Potara to become Merged Zamasu. They are defeated by Trunks, but Zamasu's immortality allows him to somehow merge with the fabric of reality. Goku summons the Omni-King, who destroys Zamasu, in effect destroying the entire timeline. Later, Goku returns to the emptiness to take the Omni-King back to the New Main Timeline.

New Main Timeline

• Parent Timeline: Goku Black's timeline, Future Trunks's timeline.
• Children: New Future Timeline.
• The Paradox: Trunks travels to Black's past, leading to the death of Zamasu at the hands of Beerus.
• Split Point: Age 779 or 780.
• Story Arc: Dragon Ball Super Episode 48 (Dragon Ball Super Chapter 15)–Dragon Ball Chapter 519 (Dragon Ball Z Episode 291)
• Events: Zamasu is destroyed by Beerus. Universe 7 wins the Tournament of Power. Goku meets Oob at the 28th Tenka'ichi Budōkai.

New Future Timeline

• Parent Timeline: Future Trunks's timeline, New Main Timeline.
• Children: No known children.
• Inception Paradox: Whis travels to Future Trunks's past at some point before Shin and Beerus were killed (by Bobbidi and Dabra) to warn their counterparts in that timeline about the danger of Zamasu, thereby preventing the eventual destruction of the timeline.
• Split Point: Somewhere between Age 788 (when Trunks killed Cell) and Age 797 (when Trunks departed to visit Black's past).
• Story Arc: Future Trunks and Future Mai depart for their new timeline in Dragon Ball Super Episode 67 (Dragon Ball Super Episode 26).
• Events: This timeline is never seen, but Whis warns Trunks and Mai that they both already exist in that timeline. They decide they want to live there anyway.