Akira Toriyama's perennially popular manga/anime franchise Dragon Ball became a generational story by the start of Dragon Ball Z, with Goku and his wife Chi-Chi welcoming a son in Gohan. Revealed to be a hybrid of Saiyan and human genetics, Gohan demonstrated an immense amount of combat power from an early age, shocking his father during a battle against the evil Raditz. Upon learning of Gohan's unmatched potential, Vegeta even considered whether half-blood saiyans may be the key to creating Super Saiyans, long before Goku reached the form for the first time.
While DBZ would introduce another human-Saiyan hybrid in Trunks -- the son of Vegeta and Bulma -- Gohan would always have a significant edge as the strongest mixed-race Super Saiyan in the franchise to date. Despite them having similar genetic backgrounds, there are some things about Gohan and his background that made him surpass both Trunks and his future timeline counterpart, and that's highly unlikely to ever change.
Updated by Brett Cardaro, April 24, 2024: The gap between Gohan and Trunks' power has increased substantially, especially by the end of the Super Hero arc in Dragon Ball Super. Taking into account both Gohan and Trunks' newest transformations, this article has been updated with more relevant information as to what makes Gohan stronger than Trunks.
Trunks' Path to Strength in DBZ and Super
Trunks Underwent a Number of Transformations Through the Years That Kept Him on Par With the Other Z Fighters
The future timeline's Trunks was trained by an adult Gohan to battle androids that had devastated Earth and killed most of the Z Fighters after Goku succumbed to a terminal heart virus. While this timeline's Trunks showed potential, it wasn't until he was a teenager and fueled by grief over Gohan's death that he would become a Super Saiyan for the first time. Still no match for the androids himself, Future Trunks traveled to the prime DBZ timeline to save Goku from the virus while training to become even stronger. Despite this, the prime timeline Gohan became a Super Saiyan 2 roughly around the same age as Future Trunks had achieved his base Super Saiyan form, with Gohan being the most powerful Z Fighter for a time.
Seeing the power of mixed-race Saiyans firsthand, the prime timeline Vegeta trained his Trunks ever since the boy could walk to one day become just as strong as Gohan as part of his obsessive quest to surpass Goku's legacy. While this Trunks was able to transform into a Super Saiyan years earlier than his divergent timeline counterpart, Gohan consistently outpaced him as he reached new power levels, as seen towards the end of DBZ into the sequel anime series Dragon Ball Super.
How Gohan's Power Differs From Trunks'
Gohan's Power is on Another Level From Almost Any Other Saiyan in the Series, Trunks Included
What is the reason behind this gap between Trunks and Gohan's ability? Is it time spent training, or does it come down to genetics -- factoring in their respective mothers, Bulma and Chi-Chi. After all, Chi-Chi's background included martial arts training, especially in Dragon Ball, while Bulma took up more technological pursuits. Even in the series' more comical moments where Chi-Chi's rage comes out, she's often shown as strong in her own right. Still, while their mothers undoubtedly contributed to Gohan and Trunks' growth and potential, there is a significant factor that edges Gohan ahead.
The biggest reason behind Gohan becoming stronger than Trunks is that he had two separate power boosts outside conventional training that gave him a crucial edge. While on Namek, Gohan and Krillin both had their latent powers awakened by the Namekian elder Guru to aid them in the fight against Frieza. Years later, as an adult, Gohan would undergo a lengthy process by the Elder Kai, which similarly raised his combat potential -- unlocking the Mystic Gohan form -- later dubbed "Ultimate Gohan" by Goten and Trunks -- that was initially depicted as being on par with Super Saiyan 3.
By the time of Dragon Ball Super, Gohan revealed to his father that his Mystic transformation was separate from the traditional Super Saiyan progression, with untold levels of power waiting to be discovered. Mystic Gohan was able to spar with Goku while the latter was transformed into a Super Saiyan Blue, showcasing just how much stronger Gohan had become since the end of DBZ. The extent of Gohan's power became even clearer during the Super Hero Saga, when Gohan achieved the Gohan Beast Form. This is a transformation entirely unique to Gohan, which is likely the result of his unique half-saiyan heritage and his Ultimate Gohan form being combined. In his Beast form, Gohan was confirmed as being able to overpower Ultra Instinct Goku, making him the strongest of the Z Fighters once again.
While Future Trunks has had his own power-up via his Super Saiyan Rage transformation during the fight with Zamasu, that's still a largely traditional form that has been reached by other warriors in the series. Specifically, the canonical version of Broly, as first shown in Dragon Ball Super: Broly, appears to tap into a similar form of SSJ, as does Universe 6's Kale. Despite this impressive power-up, Trunks still pales in comparison to Gohan Beast.
Few Have Potential Like Gohan, But Trunks May Be One of Them
Present Timeline Trunks is Younger and More Inexperienced Than Gohan
While Gohan's power far surpasses both Future and Kid Trunks, his edge over Kid Trunks specifically can be explained by two factors. The first is that Trunks has far less real combat experience. Gohan was fighting terrifying alien threats since he was even younger than Goten and Trunks were during the Buu Saga, and he rarely got a break from fighting until he was in his teens. Trunks, on the other hand, has seen numerous times of peace, and he has even been kept off the battlefield along with Goten, largely due to the influence of their mothers.
The other main reason Gohan is stronger than Kid Trunks is that he hasn't slacked off on his training. This contrasts with both Goten and Trunks, who have largely had the kind of childhood which Gohan lost to the constant battles he was forced to take part in. Since Trunks is still quite a bit younger than Gohan, though, it's not outside the realm of possibility that he could still catch up eventually. After all, he and Goten did put up a fairly decent fight against Gohan's first two forms, as seen in Dragon Ball Super Chapter 103. However, Gotenks would have stood little chance if Gohan transformed into Gohan Beast.
Trunks is still one of the most formidable Z Fighters in the franchise, reaching Super Saiyan 2 by his return in Dragon Ball Super and achieving the Super Saiyan Rage form in his duel against merged Zamasu, but Gohan remains significantly stronger. The two processes that boosted Gohan not only catapulted him above the other mixed-race Super Saiyans but set him on a completely different path to power altogether. With Gohan reaching new forms of power which even Goku can't match, it doesn't appear that Trunks will catch up to the older Saiyan anytime soon.
