The Dragon Ball Z Alternate Timeline Theory

cell from the timeline where he kills trunks and goes to the main timeline, never went to the history of trunks timeline. he went straight to the main timeline and future trunks kills the cell form his timeline that grew out the lab from dr gero

my dbz goat

I finally got it

This video is very close to what I believe is correct. There are so many terrible confusing timeline theories that make no sense. This one makes the least amount of assumptions, the biggest one being Cell getting killed by the 17 and 18 in HoT without the Z fighters ever being aware of him. Everything else tracks perfectly to what's said in the series except Cell mentioning that Trunks' cells were not needed when he came to earth. This leads me to believe you have the top two timelines flipped the wrong way. Here's how I see it:

TL1 - Goku kills Mecha Frieza, dies of heart attack, androids show up and wreck shit, Trunks goes back in time creating TL2
TL2 - Trunks kills Mecha Frieza, warns Z warriors, goes back to TL1
TL1 - Trunks waits a year, goes back to TL2 to help fight Androids
TL2 - Trunks and Z fighters are all killed except Gohan, baby Trunks is born, Gohan is killed by androids, they know going back in time to warn the Z fighters won't work because they still lost, so instead they focus on finding Gero's lab, once they do, Bulma builds a remote which Trunks uses to shut the androids down, then the time machine is built so he can go back in time to destroy Gero's lab before the androids are born (and before Mecha Frieza shows up to avoid mucking up the timeline even more and let Goku handle it), before he can go back, Cell kills him and takes the time machine back, creating TL3 (HoT timeline)
TL3 - Cell burrows underground, Goku kills Mecha Frieza, dies of heart attack, androids show up and wreck shit, Cell awakens, finds androids, they kill Cell without Trunks ever having met him, Trunks then goes back in time creating TL4 (official series timeline)
TL4 - Cell is already burrowed underground since Trunks didn't go back in time far enough, Trunks kills Mecha Frieza, warns Z warriors, goes back to TL3
TL3 - Trunks waits a year, goes back to TL4 to help fight androids
TL4 - Trunks helps with android fight, Cell finishes molting, absorbs the androids, Gohan SSJ2 defeats Cell, Trunks returns to TL3
TL3 - Trunks after training in the time chamber, easily kills the androids and Cell when he shows up


So Goku killed Mecha Frieza in TL1 and TL3, but Trunks killed Mecha Frieza in TL2 and TL4, filling that plothole.

Here are the ultimate outcomes of each timeline:
TL1 (bad ending) - Trunks never returns, time machine is gone, Cell shows up, absorbs the androids, becomes perfect, destroys the universe (or wakes up Buu and then Buu destroys the universe)
TL2 (sad ending) - Trunks is dead, Cell and time machine are gone, Androids are shut down, Earth continues to rebuild with the Z fighters all gone
TL3 (good ending) - Cell and androids are gone, Trunks and Bulma help Earth rebuild, Trunks being the cautious type continues to train and kill Babidi and Dabura before Buu can be awoken
TL4 (best ending) - Cell and androids are killed (18 lives on and marries Krillin), and then the Buu arc we see in the series happens

I love this, but the problem I have with this is the following...

For Cell to come up with his idea to ambush Trunks and steal his time machine, Trunks MUST make both trips to the past first and split the timeline. So when Cell goes back to an earlier point than Trunks, he's just further splitting the timeline Trunks has already split. This prevents the plot-holes you've mentioned from happening.

Because the New Timeline Trunks creates doesn't just exist without a past, it's more like two lines running parallel to each other, unlike how most people write out a timeline split.

bro this is the worst explaining and over complicating and trash visuals.

its crazy how this video is almost 10 years old. man time flys. this brought back alot of memories rewatching some of your old videos.

9 year later people still find this video so helpful 😂

A while after watching this i was looking for a similar video breaking down the timelines of the Goku Black arc and i have concluded that it’s impossible for Goku Black to exist. He only comes into existence because Trunks travels back in time, tells them about Black who then shows up and battles Goku before getting dragged Back to the Future. Goku then meets Zamasu for the first time which gives him the idea of stealing his body and Black is born. In other words Trunks comes back to tell them about someone who can’t possibly exist in his timeline, and by doing so creates that same someone, who now magically does exist in his timeline even though it’s not possible as in Trunks timeline Goku died of the heart virus.
It only makes sense in the manga where Zamasu sees Goku on Godtube (can’t believe that’s actually a thing🤦🏻‍♂️) and that’s where he gets his idea and his plans begin. In the anime it’s literally impossible for Goku Black to exist.
Would love to hear your take on this

Qaaman you ain't getting the hype you deserve 😢 you are a true fan 🎉

I'm struggling to follow along on how there are four timelines. This didn't make sense. Also Goku didn't take the heart medicine that trunks gave him because he felt fine. It wasn't until Goku was fighting android 19 that the heart virus kicked in and THEN they gave Goku the heart medicine. I'm still only seeing 3 timelines. The History of Trunks timeline is the original timeline. Then after trunks give heart medicine to goku he goes back. Now when he comes back to assist the Z fighters there is another timeline where cell kills trunks and goes to the main timeline. So there are 3 timelines. Not four. The history of trunks timeline, main timeline and the unseen timeline. This video was really confusing to follow along. Its stated by trunks after the cell saga that he went back and obliterated the androids for gohan and then kills cell. Why are we assuming he kills the androids with the self distruct mechanism? Thats what im confused about. The plot hole is cell killing trunks. Thats what doesn't make sense. If trunks killed the androids after the cell saga then what trunks got killed by cell? Wouldn't cell killing trunks creat a new timeline and not the fact he went back to the main timeline?

Maybe... Cell pressed... TWO whole buttons! AND moved the machine time set some year prior-er.

If Bulma was so smart, why didn't she take some of Gohan's ahem genetic material for birth more saiyans as a contingency plan aside from the time machine. When he comes of age that is. Or just take some of his blood when he is young and work with that.

I'd like to think that the unseen timeline was the original android saga Akira Toryama had in mind where 19 and 20 were the only 2 Androids.

Yo update this man it’s been YEARS plus the voice here makes it hard to watch

That would also explain why would Cell be extra careful in the dbz timelime. Once he realizes he's sharing a timeline with future trunks, he would know he had failed at least once already. Of course he got careless when he achieved his perfect form as his objective had been already accomplished.

Plot Twist. The Unseen Timeline is the Timeline GT takes place in.

so the unanswered plothole is on how Celk from the original timeline talk about not inheriting future trunks dna to piccolo when they met in main timeline.

What's crazy is. fives Cells. So you can go back in time and there are three of you. Lets say. You gone back in time there is the past you and the present you. You stay in the past train do what ever for ten years. Then you go back ten years ago there will be three of you. The original, the one that trained for ten years and present you that went back in time the second time.

So normal time travel you go back in time. You do something and it changes the future that once was. You go back to the present and see what has changed. Only one timeline. Makes sense.
But in DBZ time travel LMAO
When you go back in time. You unable to go back in time on your timeline. You make an alterative/new timeline . So when you back to present no matter what you've done when going back in time. Nothing has changed. But you have made a second timeline where things are different.

Like the TFS saga said, "Multiverse Theory's a Bitch."

You're wrong on rule #2 trunks does NOT and cannot go back to his original timeline, he now goes back to the future of the new timeline he created.

Cell is killed by Frieza, in the yellow timeline (HoT timeline). Green/yellow Friezas attack earth, and start blowing stuff up. Frieza unknowingly blasts the location of larval cell while doing this. In yellow timeline, Larval Cell and the broken time machine are destroyed. In the green timeline they are not there in the first place because neither cell nor trunks have been born. Chaos on Earth alerts green/yellow Goku to Frieza's presence -- Goku uses instant transmission to travel to Earth, and defeats Frieza.

Therefore the yellow timeline is basically the same as the green timeline.

Green cell actually dies by stepping into the machine -- he enters the yellow timeline and is killed by Frieza. Many years later, Trunks intercepts Frieza when he travels back to save Goku. Amusingly, if green cell had looked at the spacetime coordinates & memorized Earth's history, he would know that he was burrowing into the Earth, in a place that was about to be destroyed by Frieza. He would know it because it was in the green timeline (his own).

If you take an omniscient causality timeline that spans all timelines: blue cell is killed first (by green Trunks in the blue lab); green:yellow Laval cell is killed second (by Frieza), red fetus cell is killed third (by Krillin in the red lab). The fourth cell to die is green:red perfect cell killed by Gohan, and the final cell is yellow cell killed by yellow Trunks who spent a year in the red time chamber.

You are correct that the exposition is wrong. Green cell is wrong about his origin -- his father-computer saw Goku kill Frieza. Red Piccolo is wrong about green Trunk's motivation.

Though we can be sure that the writers made a mistake, it is not technically a plot hole! Just confused characters.

Technically the only plot hole is the flashback to Trunks killing Frieza -- it should be a flashback to Goku killing Frieza.

The androids are weaker in the timelines where Goku dies of the heart disease, presumably because Gero loses his motivation to improve them.

What a nice explaination

Question: cell traveled 4 years in the past and Trunks traveled 3 years into the past. Both landed in the Main Timeline. How would that be possible if anyone who travels to the past creates a new timeline?

Here's my understanding of the timelines and how they connect.

Timeline 1 = The timeline we know. Everyone lives. Android 17 and 18 are reformed, both timeline 1 Cell and timeline 3 Cell are killed.

Timeline 2 = Everyone but Future Trunks is dead. The Androids are killed and timeline 2 Cell is killed and stopped from time travelling.

Timeline 3 = The timeline that's the furthest in the future. Everyone is dead, including Trunks at the hands of Timeline 3 Cell. Androids are killed by remote control. Timeline 3 Cell leaves this timeline and travels to timeline 1.

Timeline 4 = The unseen timeline. Everyone lives.
The Androids are defeated but it's possible that timeline 4 Cell hasn't been discovered yet.

Timeline 3 Cell broke the pattern because he somehow knew that timeline 3 Trunks had defeated the androids in the timeline he travelled to. Hence his decision to travel to timeline 1 instead of timeline 4.

The moral of the story, is that time travel is bad. Don't do it. Lol

A wise man once said
"Multiverse theory is a bitch"

I swear trunks killed cell in the hot timeline. Right after he returned from the main dbz timeline we saw he came killed the androids and then told bulma chill out because he knew cell was there.

Awesome informative video! Love it! Here is something I don't understand- Clearly the movies timeline is separate from the main timeline. In which timeline does the movies occur? I bet it's not the hot timeline which leaves us with the other two.

what happened to the original cell from timelines H.O.T. and main respectively? technically, there were 2 cells each from these timelines. The one came from original timeline who buried himself AGE 763, and the cell belongs originally from the respective timeline that was seen still inside the incubator at AGE 767 shown on the unseen timeline.

Think of the disparity in Zenkai boost between Future teen Trunks and future Adult Gohan... Smh

Steinsgate is where u go for the best most cohesive Time Travel stories. And it sucks tht Gohan's Zenkai boost abilities were broken for 13yrs after the Androids arrived.... Eff u Toriyamaaaaaaaaaa

My problem with the cell initiated timeline is why would Trunks travel to a point that would create a new timeline? According to cell, he didn’t choose that point in time, it was already pre programmed.

The first plot hole, when cell mentioned Frieza and king cold in the flashback it was possible to have their genetic material extracted before their deaths by the spybots implying that Dr Gero had his super computer collecting genetic material from the fight however if that cell was from the from the future there was no way he would have knowledge about trunks at that time and the one who killed Frieza and king cold was supposed to be Goku cause he was the only one that got to two enemies and was more than powerful enough to take them out. Plus, trunks was born two years after that supposed invasion and was six months old before Goku died from the heart virus and turn one year old another six months before the androids start attacking. The flashback of frieza's demise at the hands of trunks was an error on Tori animation and I don't think the flashback was reflected in the manga. Other than that, it is accurate that Dr Gero was using his tech to watch battles occur on earth and use it to collect genetic material for cell in case the other two androids turn on the Dr as they did not fully destroyed the lab enable the super computer to continue working on cell till he was fully grown. As for cell who waited 25 years to ambush trunks to steal his time machine, cell has to acquire the amount of bio energy enough to battle the two androids as they are not easy to take down when they team up so cell would have to trick one of them to fight one on one and seize the he opportunity to absorb one of them when their guard is down leaving the other one at a disadvantage but the problem is that two thirds of the Earth's population have been wipe out by the androids so there is not much, second, cell would have a difficult time tracking the androids unless he sees energy explosion in that area if he's quick enough or energy from a fighter as Gohan and trunks were the only two fighting the androids so cell would have detected the energy from one of the two Saiyans but would not be able to get to the androids if he has to deal with Gohan or trunks so again, the trickery has to calculate in his plan so cell did not make a move and with Gohan dead prior to the three year gap before trunks time travel again, android detection difficult unless cell sees an explosion in that area. Cell that time travel to the past was to track down the androids because piccolo was fighting one of them and he collected more than enough bio energy in which he was able to take down the weary piccolo and took down 17 with no problem and eve though 16 got in the way cell ambush 17 and transform

I'm sitting here thinking, "Damn, what a nerd to have made a 43 minute video on Dragon Ball timelines."
But then I realize, I'm watching a 43 minute video on Dragon Ball timelines. Haha I'm a nerd too.

I forgot:
You may be right about Green trunks intentions
Maybe it was „good“ he disappeared
Like if he wanted to erase cyborgs existence even tho he already helped defeating them in the past, then this would be some sort of overkill
Gokus spirit wouldnt approve in any time 😂
Maybe even some god komplex developing there.. cell the unknown hero. Even to himself 😂
Like he always was dbz best mannered villian anyway

Well both did mistakes
Trunks killing frieeeza
Cell Telling trunks that he killed him

Maybe a line with trunks killing frieza always includes c16 suicide on cell.. one possibility what happened with yellow cell
And maybe our cell is blue cell, then is talking about being in the making already knowing about trunks existence (because trunks did kill frieza) wouldnt be a plot hole anymore..

Try explaining the time travel in Mark Walhberg's Planet Of The Apes.

Definitely the best DBZ timeline theory video I've come across yet. The only thing that kind of boggles me is how the main timeline was created, or rather why another alternate timeline wasn't created when Trunks returned to age 767 to help the Z fighters defeat the androids in both the unseen and main timelines. I just assumed that when an alternate timeline is created due to someone travelling to the past, then time travelling to any later points of that alternate timeline from the future wouldn't create a new one, but when Trunks creates the main timeline by going to the past (age 764) to warn the Z fighters about the androids, cell had already travelled to age 763, a year prior, so then not sure how the main timeline was created, since Trunks travelled to a later point in the past than cell. I know he technically changes events of the HoT timeline by going back to warn the Z fighters, so I guess technically that prompts a new timeline, so I guess the real question is why Trunks didn't create a new timeline when he travelled back a second time to help the Z fighters? Maybe I am just overthinking it, but it's really been bugging me lol.

Is nobody talking about how in the original timeline Mr Popo was one of the last fighters on earth.
Nobody can withstand the pecking order.

So there would be 2 cells in Trunks timeline then, it confused me. And would have 2 time machine.

Multiverse theory is a bitch.

Please tell me there's an updated version of this video that includes Super???

i’m not gonna lie i’ve watched this vid every night for like 3 weeks now. i learn something new each time and helps me sleep 😭 wake up and hear something new crazy how old this is. if we get a super-updated version this will be three hours long

Everybody keeps forgetting. Cell needed to absorb people to have energy to fight the z fighters. BUT SINCE ANDROID 17/18 DESTROYED ALMOST EVERYBODY HE COULDNT GET STRONG ENOUGH TO FIGHT THEM so he hid until he tried to go back in time and was ambushed by trunks

I’m getting nostalgia