Warning! This article contains spoilers for Dragon Ball Super chapter 88While the villains in the movie Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero were totally original creations, the latest Dragon Ball Super manga seems to indicate that they may have been influenced by Trunks–and his superhero alter-ego potentially proves it.
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero details the resurgence of the Red Ribbon Army decades after Goku decimated the fascist organization way back in classic Dragon Ball. Since the original Red Ribbon Army relied heavily on the use of combat Androids–most of which were created by Dr. Gero–this new faction felt they needed to do the same thing, and with someone directly related to the original scientist. The new Red Ribbon Army recruited Dr. Hero, the grandson of Dr. Gero, who was just as brilliant as his grandfather. With the Red Ribbon Army’s resources, Dr. Hedo was able to create the perfect Androids–though those creations may not have been as original as fans might think.
Dragon Ball Super chapter 88 by Akira Toriyama and Toyotarou is set not long before the events of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, and even lead directly into what happens in the film. In this chapter, it is revealed that Trunks and Goten have become superheroes in their own right–picking up the mantle left by the Great Saiyaman. Trunks secretly became known as Saiyaman X-1 and Goten was Saiyaman X-2. While the two mostly stopped violent crimes in their city, they became faced with a strange mystery involving what initially appeared to be the supernatural. Apparently, hordes of the undead were stealing robots and allegedly running a fairly successful sushi joint out of an abandoned convenience store. After some investigation, Trunks and Goten discovered that all these strange-sounding rumors were accurate–and they suited up to stop these Android zombies. The new Saiyaman-heroes infiltrated the villains’ lair and ripped them apart before leaving. A little while later, once the heroes were gone, Dr. Hedo (who was secretly behind the creation of these Android zombies) returned to this makeshift base of operations and quickly learned what happened there–vowing to rebuild his Androids even stronger.
Trunks May Have Given Dr. Hedo the Idea for Gamma 1 & 2
The two main antagonists throughout Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero (before they turned good and helped the Z-Fighters battle Cell Max) were Gamma 1 and Gamma 2–both of whom were Androids of Dr. Hedo’s original design on behalf of the Red Ribbon Army. What is interesting about these Androids, especially after reading this Dragon Ball Super chapter, is that their designs are nothing like what fans have seen from Dr. Hedo (or Dr. Gero) in the past. Gamma 1 and 2 have full-scale superhero costumes complete with capes and their respective numbers worn like symbols of their heroism on their outfits. Not only that, but their heads aren’t human-looking–instead, they’re almost like what a human head would look like with a helmet on, except that’s just their face. Essentially, Gamma 1 and 2 are a far-cry from the Android zombies seen in this chapter. So, what happened in between? Well, it may not be too big of a stretch to consider that Dr. Hedo was inspired by the very heroes who brought down his original creations: Saiyaman X-1 and X-2.
The costumes worn by Trunks and Goten are incredibly reminiscent of those given to Gamma 1 and 2, and the helmets/masks Trunks and Goten wear are a similar design and shape as the Gammas’ heads. Perhaps when Trunks and Goten destroyed Dr. Hedo’s original Android zombies, they gave Hedo the idea to make a new kind of Android–a superhero kind. While none of this has yet been confirmed, it is a definite possibility as Dragon Ball Super hints Trunks (and by extension, Goten) accidentally created the two villains of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.
Dragon Ball Super chapter 88 is available to read now.
