Towards the end of Dragon Ball Z, the series took a generational shift from main characters Goku and Vegeta to focus on their Super Saiyan sons Gohan, Goten and Trunks. While Goku and Vegeta would eventually return to the spotlight themselves as the story continued, Goten and Trunks in particular would form a fan-favorite friendship and friendly rivalry as they both began to develop their own incredible fighting abilities. However, while Goten might be a naturally gifted Super Saiyan, Trunks will always hold the upper hand between the two, no matter how much Goten trains to be Goku's worthy heir.

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Anime Kid Trunks with the Dragon Radar and the Dragon Balls

Trunks is the son of Vegeta and Bulma, the CEO of Capsule Corporation, one of the biggest, most successful companies on Earth in the Dragon Ball world. Born approximately one year later was Goten, the second son of Goku and Chi-Chi, raised in relative seclusion on Mount Paozo by his mother and older brother Gohan after his father was killed during the Cell Games. As human-Saiyan hybrids, both boys displayed an incredible aptitude for martial arts and vast combat strength, able to transform into Super Saiyans much earlier than either of their fathers. As soon as both boys could walk, they were trained extensively, with Chi-Chi training Goten and Vegeta training Trunks.

The two boys would quickly become firm friends, much more amicable than their respective fathers' dynamic, though they would similarly compete to see who between them was stronger. The only time Goten and Trunks seriously came to blows with one another was during the Junior Division of the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament. Confronting one another in the final round of the competition, Goten and Trunks seemed pretty evenly matched, even after the fight escalated and both boys transformed into Super Saiyans. Ultimately, Trunks emerged victorious — by ringing out Goten after lying and saying he wouldn't use both hands in the fight. However, he did buy Goten new toys after being crowned the Junior Division champion, squashing whatever tension that might've caused.

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Goten and Trunks become Super Saiyans in Dragon Ball Z

The fact of the matter is, no matter how hard Goten trains, even if he does eventually surpass Trunks' combat strength, the young Super Saiyan will still come up short of his best friend in the ultimate contest: the game of life. Just as Vegeta is the Prince of all Saiyans, Trunks is a very different kind of prince on Earth: the son of the world's richest woman and the heir apparent of the Capsule Corporation. With Goku more focused on training than providing for his family, Goten's family struggles exponentially more financially, with Goku requesting funds from Bulma and Hercule over the course of Dragon Ball Super to help make ends meet when his career as a radish farmer fails to take off like Chi-Chi hoped.

Goten certainly has his own potential to live up to and become every inch the martial arts hero that his father and older brother are. But, in life, being able to punch otherworldly villains to pieces pales in comparison to the pure power of money and influence. That said, there is something to admirable about the scrappy, self-made underdog that Goten embodies. Just as Goku, a low-ranking Saiyan warrior, triumphed over the elite Prince Vegeta, Goten is largely uninterested in the material world and has already shown signs that he could potentially grow up to be the strongest in his family. So while Trunks will always have an unfair advantage over his best friend, it's on a metric that Goten fortunately doesn't really care for.

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