Alternate timeline

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Alternate timelines exist to the main timeline.

Alternate timelines

Alternate timelines were created due to time travel via Time Machines. One did not have to directly interfere with a given timeline to make it branch off into an alternate timeline. Various random changes were made to a given timeline when one simply arrived in it. For example, Artificial Human No. 19 and Artificial Human No. 20 were the first Artificial Humans to show up in the main timeline despite any explanation. Future Artificial Human No. 17 and Future Artificial Human No. 18 were also inexplicably stronger in the main timeline than Future Trunks Brief remembered from his timeline. Therefore, even if a time traveler followed a "look but don't touch" policy, they risked changing history.

Storyline #1 was the main timeline. In that storyline, Future Trunks and Future Cell arrived from an alternate timeline future. Storyline #2 was the timeline where Future Trunks originated. In that storyline, Future No. 17 and Future No. 18 were the first and only Artificial Humans to show up. Future Son Goku had died of a Heart Virus and the Artificial Humans had then killed all of the Z Warriors except Future Trunks. Future Bulma Brief created a Time Machine for Future Trunks in order for him to go to the past and prevent Future Goku from dying, to warn the Z Warriors about the Artificial Human threat, and to find a way to stop the Artificial Humans in his timeline (either a way to deactivate the Artificial Humans or a way to destroy them, maybe even taking Future Goku back with him). Storyline #3 was the true timeline where Future Cell originated. In that storyline, he could not absorb the Artificial Humans because Future Trunks had killed them. Therefore, he killed Future Trunks and stole the Time Machine in order to go back in time and absorb the Artificial Humans when they were alive. Storyline #4 was the timeline where another Future Trunks originated. In that storyline, Future Trunks went back in time and destroyed (probably due to the blue prints) Artificial Human No. 17 and Artificial Human No. 18 from storyline 4 and later storyline 3.

Table

An unknown number of alternate timelines exist due to Dragon Ball Online, where a Jikan Kaio has tasked Time Patrol Trunks Brief to help in the increasing number of alternate timelines being created.

Shown below is a map and a table of the specific timelines and their specific events. A number besides a character's name indicates which timeline they originated. A character's name without a number is from the timeline in which the description is under.

Before Age is the Dragon Ball equivalent of B.C., or B.C.E.
Age is the Dragon Ball equivalent of A.D., or C.E.

Storyline #1

This is the main timeline and ultimately leads to the Majin Buu story arc (and finally the Shadow Dragon Saga). It is possible that storyline #4 also leads to a similar arc, one where Goku never died in the first place. There are two time travelers who interfere with this timeline: Trunks from storyline #2 and Future Cell from storyline #3.

Cell³'s travel to the past and Future Trunks'² trip to the past create this timeline, which "replaces" storyline #4.

Cell³ arrives from the future from the Time Machine he stole from Future Trunks Brief³ in an egg form because he couldn't fit. He hatches and burrows underground to develop.
Freeza and his father, King Cold, invade Planet Earth to get revenge on Goku and to also destroy Planet Earth. They are killed by Future Trunks² who appears from the future. Future Trunks then meets Goku when he arrives on the planet and gives him the heart antidote/medicine, from 20 years in the future; he also warns the Z Fighters about the androids, who will arrive in three years, before returning back to his timeline.
In the next few years the Z Fighters go into intense training, Trunks¹ is born to Vegeta and Bulma as their first child.
Dr. Gero (Android 20) and Android 19 battle the Z Fighters. Goku, who didn't take Trunks' medicine/antidote, becomes sick during his fight with Android 19. Vegeta arrives and takes over, destroying 19, and Goku is taken home and given his medicine. Dr. Gero flees.
Future Trunks² arrives back to this timeline and finds the destroyed Android 19, a robot he's never seen before. He begins to realize that this timeline is starting to branch off considerably from his.
Dr. Gero escapes back to his lab and awakens Androids 17 and 18 who then proceed to kill him. They go on to activate Android 16.
The Z Fighters are defeated by 17 and 18, but none are killed.
Future Trunks³' time machine from storyline #3 (used by Cell³) is found, along with Cell's shed skin.
Cell³, now fully grown, starts razing cities and absorbing the people to raise his power.
Piccolo fuses with Kami and battles against Cell³. Cell tells Piccolo about who he is, why he's here, and how he got to this timeline. Cell escapes after Future Trunks² and Krillin arrive on the scene to aid Piccolo.
Piccolo hunts for Cell³ while Future Trunks² and Krillin go to Gero's underground lab to destroy Cell¹ while he's still gestating. While there, Future Trunks² finds blueprints for the androids which he gives to Krillin to take to Bulma.
To become stronger, Vegeta and Future Trunks² train in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.
Piccolo, unable to find Cell, is confronted by the androids. He decides to attempt to destroy them in order to prevent Cell from absorbing them and becoming stronger.
During Piccolo's battle against Android 17, Bulma contacts Krillin telling him that she's created an emergency shutdown device based on Gero's blueprints. It has a range of 10 meters so Krillin rushes to intercept her and obtain the control device to deactivate and destroy the androids. Cell³ detects Piccolo's raised ki and deduces that he's battling an android; Cell rushes to the scene to absorb the androids and complete his development.
Cell³ interrupts Piccolo and 17's fight, quickly dispatching Piccolo and nearly absorbing 17 before Android 16 intervenes. Cell and 16 fight relatively evenly, but in the end Cell manages a surprise attack that allows him to absorb 17 and become Semi-Perfect Cell. Cell proceeds to easily deal critical damage to Android 16 and is going to absorb 18 but is halted temporarily by Tien Shinhan, allowing 16 and 18 to escape. Goku quickly arrives on the scene and rescues Piccolo and Tien before retreating again.
Vegeta and Trunks emerge from the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, letting Goku and Gohan enter. Vegeta battles against Cell and is clearly dominant in the fight. While they are fighting Krillin approaches Android 18 with the shutdown device, but is captivated by the beautiful android and destroys the remote. Vegeta quickly becomes arrogant with his power and gives Cell leave to absorb 18 to attain his perfect form.
Cell finds 18 and finally absorbs her, becoming Perfect Cell; he then goes on to defeat Vegeta and Trunks. Cell decides to hold a tournament, the Cell Games, in ten days to test his new abilities.
Goku and Gohan emerge from the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. Trunks, Vegeta and Piccolo all use the room before the tournament starts. Goku recruits Dende to serve as the Earth's new guardian and reactivate the Dragon Balls.
The Cell Games start and Goku fights with Perfect Cell. Goku eventually forfeits the match and chooses his son Gohan fight instead.
Gohan fights Perfect Cell and, after eventually being provoked into transforming into the Super Saiyan 2 stage, delivers a fierce set of hits to Cell, causing him to regurgitate Android 18 and transform back into his Semi-Perfect state.
Semi-Perfect Cell attempts to destroy the Earth by self-destruction, but Goku sacrifices himself to teleport Semi-Perfect Cell from the Earth to King Kai's planet. Cell explodes, killing Goku and the kai. Cell's regenerative organ miraculously remains intact, allowing him to regrow himself. Cell returns to Earth, stronger than ever and kills Future Trunks², but is defeated for good by Gohan.
Future Trunks² is revived by a wish made to Shenron, and returns to his timeline.
The rest of Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT happens.

Storyline #2

This is the timeline belonging to Future Trunks and depicted in a few chapters of the manga. The first part of this timeline, common to storyline #3, is also depicted in the TV special, The History of Trunks. In this one, Future Trunks goes back in time to storyline #1 and returns with enough power to kill both the androids and Cell.

This timeline can be seen as the "improved" version of storyline #3, which was the "first version" of the timeline for Future Trunks³. Thanks to Cell³'s trip to the past in storyline #3, this timeline and storyline #1 were created. In order to defeat Cell³ in storyline #1, Future Trunks increased his power and was able to destroy the Cell from this timeline when he went back to his future in this timeline.

Frieza and King Cold invade Earth and are defeated by Goku.
Goku dies from heart disease, Trunks is born.
Dr. Gero activates Androids 17 and 18. They kill him and then proceed to kill all of the other Z Fighters except for Gohan. Gohan becomes a Super Saiyan.
Over a course of thirteen years Gohan challenges the androids alone but can't defeat them.
Gohan trains Trunks, but is eventually killed by the androids. Trunks attempts to avenge Gohan but is badly beaten.
Bulma builds a time machine to send Trunks to the past with the hopes of finding a way to destroy the androids. Trunks takes medicine to cure Goku's heart condition with him.
Trunks goes back in time to storyline #1. He returns after killing Frieza¹, giving Goku the medicine, and warning the Z Fighters about the androids.
Trunks goes back in time again to help the Z Fighters in storyline #1 to combat the androids, and later Cell³.
Trunks returns from storyline #1 more powerful as a result of his battles and training while there. He quickly finds and kills androids 17 and 18 with little effort.
Trunks kills the newly emerged Cell, knowing about Cell's plan to kill him and go back in time (see storyline #3).
Earth slowly rebuilds its cities as peace comes to its inhabitants.

This timeline is continued in Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai: Another Road.

Storyline #3

This timeline follows the same path as storyline #2, but diverges on Future Trunks' second return from the past as in this timeline, Future Trunks returned with the android blueprints from storyline #4, not the massive powerup from storyline #1. The androids were destroyed, but Future Trunks wasn't powerful enough to combat Cell. Cell ended up killing Future Trunks and using his time machine to go back in time to find the androids, thus creating eventually storyline #1 and storyline #2.

This can be seen as the "original" timeline, as no time traveller arrives to this timeline from a different future. It is also the worst-case scenario timeline and the best-case, as even Trunks ends up dead in the end, but the threat of the Androids and Cell are gone (also, without Android 17, the events of the Super Android 17 saga could have never taken place), Babidi never showed up in the first place, and without Piccolo being alive the events of the Baby Saga and the Shadow Dragon saga also could have never taken place. This timeline can be seen as the first "version" of storyline #2.

Frieza and King Cold invade Earth and are defeated by Goku. It should be noted, however, that Cell mentioned to Piccolo that Dr. Gero's supercomputer would have copied Trunk's data had it not been for the fact that they already have more than enough Saiyan data to infuse Cell with. This would imply that either it was actually Future Trunks who had killed Frieza and King Cold in that timeline, which is a major inconsistency, or, rather, it could mean that the supercomputer observed Trunks as a baby. However, the anime flashback implies that it was when Trunks killed Frieza and King Cold. Also, in the same flashback, Cell mentioned that he was barely able to collect genetic information from Frieza before "He met his end at the hands of Trunks."
Goku dies from heart disease, Trunks is born.
Dr. Gero activates Androids 17 and 18. They kill him and then proceed to kill all of the other Z Fighters except for Gohan. Gohan becomes a Super Saiyan.
Over a course of thirteen years Gohan challanges the androids alone but can't defeat them.
Gohan trains Trunks, but is eventually killed by the androids. Trunks attempts to avenge Gohan but is badly beaten.
Bulma builds a time machine to send Trunks to the past with the hopes of finding a way to destroy the androids. Trunks takes medicine to cure Goku's heart condition with him.
Trunks goes back in time to storyline #4 (which is created because of this trip). He returns after killing Frieza⁴, giving Goku⁴ the medicine, and warning the Z-Fighters⁴ about the androids.
Trunks goes back in time again to help the Z-Fighters⁴ in storyline #4 to combat the androids.
Trunks returns from the past with blueprints for the androids. Bulma uses the blueprints to create a device which destroys or deactivates the androids.
Cell emerges and, realizing the androids are gone, decides to use Trunks' time machine to go back in time and find the androids in the past. Cell ambushes and kills Trunks, gets the time machine and goes to the year 763. This eventually creates storyline #1 and storyline #2. In storyline #1, Cell is destroyed by Super Saiyan 2 Gohan with help from the spirit of Goku.
Both Cell and the androids are gone, so Earth starts to rebuild itself.

Storyline #4

No characters from this timeline are ever seen. This is the timeline where Future Trunks³ originally went to from storyline #3, and it is what storyline #1 would have been if only Future Trunks³ had gone back in time, but not Cell³. This timeline can be seen as the first "version" of storyline #1.

As storyline #3 is the true timeline, storyline #4 is the first alternate timeline ever created by the first time travel ever done.

Frieza and his father, King Cold, invade Earth to get revenge on Goku. They are killed by Future Trunks³ who appears from the future. Future Trunks³ then meets Goku when he arrives on the planet and gives him the heart medicine; he also warns the Z Fighters about the androids, who will arrive in three years, before returning to his future.
Future Trunks³ returns to this timeline, and the Z Fighters find a way to defeat the androids (probably using their blueprints).
Future Trunks³ leaves back to storyline #3 to deactivate the future androids.

The events explained in the storyline #4 depend on the assumption that Future Trunks³ came to this timeline and somehow found the Android's blueprints there without Cell revealing the existence of the laboratory basement. It must be assumed that Future Trunks³ did not simply find a way to deactivate the Androids in his own timeline and was then coming back to let the Z Warriors know how before Cell stole his time machine, in order for this fourth unseen timeline to have any relevance.

Character summary

Character(s)	Timeline
Character(s)	1	2	3	4
Freeza and King Cold	Killed by Future Trunks²	Killed by Goku		Killed by Future Trunks³
Son Goku	See Goku	Died from heart virus		Likely lived thanks to antidote from Trunks³
Trunks Brief	See Trunks Brief	See Future Trunks Brief	Killed by Future Cell	Likely lived
Other Z Warriors	See respective biographies	Killed by androids		Likely lived since Goku lived and the Androids in that timeline didn't seek to kill the rest of the Z-fighters, like in the main timeline, and because the Androids were deactivated
Androids 17 and 18	Absorbed by Cell³ but eventually freed and reformed; see Android 17 and Android 18	Killed by Future Trunks in combat	Disabled and destroyed with device based on blueprints obtained by Trunks in storyline #4	Likely destroyed by device made based on blueprints
Cell	Killed as a fetus by Future Trunks² and Krillin	Killed by Trunks² in failed ambush	Killed by Gohan¹ in storyline #1	Likely killed by Future Trunks³ and Krillin as a fetus like in storyline #1, as the android's blueprints were next to him

Inconsistencies

There are several inconsistencies, plot holes, or unexplained events in the timelines described above. They include the following:

Cell³ traveled back in time to year 763, according to him, because that was the year that was programmed on the machine. But if Future Trunks³'s story is similar to Future Trunks²'/wiki/s story, he was about to use the machine to tell the Z-Fighters from storyline'catlinks' class='catlinks'>
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Alternate timeline

From Dragon Ball Encyclopedia, the ''Dragon Ball'' wiki

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