It’s been over 30 years since Trunks first appeared in chapter 331 of the Weekly Shōnen Jump series Dragon Ball Z on July 2, 1991. The chapter was titled “The Young Boy of Mystery.”
Needless to say, Trunks’ sudden appearance in the story had quite the impact on the direction of the story. Though he was effortless able to take Frieza down, he warned of an even greater threat that would be presented in a few years’ time.
However, it turns out that this was all that Akira Toriyama had initially planned for in regards to Trunks’ backstory. An interview with Dragon Ball editors Kazuhiko Torishima, Yu Kondo, and Fuyuto Takeda revealed just how little Toriyama planned for Trunks.
“There was no long term plan for him to be the son of Vegeta and Bulma. It was only later that Toriyama made this connection and declared: ‘Okay, Bulma marries Vegeta.'”
“When Trunks first appeared, effortlessly wiping out Frieza, no one — not even Toriyama — had yet decided exactly who he was,” explained Enomis in a translation of what was said.
“There was no long term plan for him to be the son of Vegeta and Bulma. It was only later that Toriyama made this connection and declared: ‘Okay, Bulma marries Vegeta.'”
Funnily enough, this sudden reveal was enough to shock even Toriyama’s editors. Up until this point, Bulma had shown no romantic interest towards Vegeta, so the revelation felt like it came out of nowhere.
Of course, this had always been Toriyama’s style. He disliked overplanning, which often resulted in him making changes on the spot.
“Some suggested that the relationship should be explained in more detail, but Toriyama, in his usual spontaneous style, brushed it off with a casual ‘Eh, more or less.'”
Additionally, Toriyama made it one of his goals to surprise readers. At the same time, he preferred to keep his work as simple as possible. Toriyama was often asked by his editors what he planned to do after finishing the latest issue, but often didn’t have any plans to report then and there.
Regardless, when Toriyama revealed that Trunks would be the son of Vegeta and Bulma, his editors pushed for Toriyama to explore the relationship in more detail.
“Some suggested that the relationship should be explained in more detail, but Toriyama, in his usual spontaneous style, brushed it off with a casual ‘Eh, more or less.'”
With the connection to Bulma established, this would ultimately result in this character’s name becoming “Trunks.” This was due to how members of Bulma’s family were named based on words for undergarments — “bulma” means bloomers in Japanese, Dr. Briefs, Bikini, Tights, etc.
Essentially, Trunks’ name is in reference to a boy’s gym shorts, though the name has become so associated with the character at this point that most people probably don’t even recognize this as being a joke anymore.
It’s also interesting to note that Saiyan characters typically have names that are based on vegetables or other plant life. As a result, some fans speculate that Trunks’ name may also be based around a “tree trunk.”
However, Akira Toriyama has never confirmed whether or not this connection was intentional or not. More than likely, it was probably just a happy accident.
Unfortunately, we may never know with Toriyama’s unfortunate passing.
Source: Event Hubs
