One of the most tragic characters in the Dragon Ball franchise is Future Gohan, the son of Goku and Chi-Chi from the alternate future where Androids 17 and 18 nearly eradicated humanity. In this reality, Goku succumbed to a fatal heart virus while most of the Z Fighters were brutally wiped out by the androids, with the Gohan of this timeline killed after mentoring Vegeta and Bulma’s son Trunks. However, although Future Gohan met his untimely end during Dragon Ball Z, the character is poised to make his return in Super Dragon Ball Heroes.
Super Dragon Ball Heroes is a non-canonical anime series based on the popular Dragon Ball tabletop and video games of the same name. The series follows different timelines and parallel universes of familiar Dragon Ball characters coming together for new adventures, often led by the powerful Xeno Trunks, who protects the space-time continuum as part of the Time Patrol working for the time god Chronoa. This premise has everything from the non-canonical anime films and Dragon Ball GT to the recent elements introduced in Dragon Ball Super coming together for the ultimate Dragon Ball jam session -- and as the Time Patrol takes on a new threat to reality, Trunks faces a familiar face from his past with a sinister twist.
The latest storyline of Super Dragon Ball Heroes debuts Aios, the Supreme Kai of Time -- an omnipotent deity overseeing the entire space-time continuum employing the Time Patrol. Aios preceded Chronoa in her role as Supreme Kai of Time and decides to hold an epic martial arts tournament, dubbed the Super Space-Time Tournament, where twelve teams of seven fighters will each battle one another to determine which timeline reigns overall. Wearing a mask to conceal his identity, one of Xeno Trunks’ opponents appears to be a version of Future Gohan, plucked from the timeline just prior to his death.
More than just possessing the Super Saiyan power of his alternate future counterpart, this version of Future Gohan has been upgraded by Aios, along with the rest of her warriors, to be powered by an unnatural dark energy. This upgrade makes Future Gohan more than a match for Xeno Trunks, while his former protege is transformed into a Super Saiyan God, with their skirmish interrupted by Aios herself. In service to Aios, Future Gohan is completely committed to her cause in selecting which timelines to permanently erase from existence.
.jpeg?q=50&fit=crop&w=750&dpr=1.5)
Future Gohan has had other appearances outside of DBZ before, including flashback sequences providing more background for the character in Dragon Ball Super. In the 2007 video game Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai - Another Road, the game’s non-canonical story had Majin Buu emerge in Future Trunks’ timeline, prompting this timeline's Elder Kai to resurrect Future Gothan for help. Following his resurrection, Future Gohan had his full potential unlocked by the Elder Kai to grow significantly stronger, and he helped the Z Fighters destroy the Majin Buu of this timeline along with a whole host of formidable enemies.
Despite his relatively brief role in the franchise, Future Gohan has earned more than his fair share of fans over the years. With Super Dragon Ball Heroes, audiences will get to see the character in an entirely new way, now corrupted and twisted as he faces off against the Time Patrol for the fate of their timeline. Future Gohan taught Future Trunks everything he knew, and although this may not be the same Gohan that Xeno Trunks befriended, this dynamic has just received a sinister change.