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In the Saiyan Saga (don't recall which episode, but I believe it was when he was with Nappa on another planet), Vegeta mentions that Saiyans who were born from humans and Saiyans are more powerful than pureborn Saiyans. This makes sense when you see moments of Gohan surpassing Goku in power level when he gets angry, such as when he fights with Garlic Jr. or Raditz.

Later, we see him being a teenager and surpassing Goku definitely by becoming SSJ2 first, but we don't see anything of this sort with Trunks. Trunks apparently surpasses Vegeta in a fight with Cell, but then we know Vegeta wasn't using the buff form because it makes you slow. And Gohan surpasses Trunks even more when he's 10 and Trunks is chronologically 19 or more (2 years in the time chamber). Later, Gohan doesn't train and Goku surpasses him, but then again when his hidden power is released he becomes the strongest character for a while again.

Gohan doesn't train much, but if he does he becomes the strongest. Why doesn't Trunks have this "hidden" power, or is able to surpass Vegeta when he gets enraged or after a hard training, as Gohan does with Goku? Trunks is also a descendant of a human and a Saiyan, so shouldn't he be much more powerful than what he is?

Edit: Now things have changed with the new Dragon Ball Super episodes where

Trunks can surpass Gohan, Vegeta and Goku in power when he gets angry, and it seems to have as much hidden power as Gohan. He also, when enraged, gets a new transformation no other Saiyan has obtained before.

Gao
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Pablo
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    Maybe because Bulma as she was young never really had any good fighting capabilites, but ChiChi on the other hand was kinda athletic and a fighter, whereas Bulma was more of the brain-type. – DaMachk Jul 21 '16 at 13:04
  • @damachk interesting. I thought also in the fact that Gohan was exposed to real brutal fighting since very young, with Garlic Jr, Raditz, Nappa, Vegeta, Freezer, etc. – Pablo Jul 21 '16 at 13:10
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    Yes, it could also be that, that he was taught to fight and use Chi at a very young age under Piccolo's mentorship, while afaik Gohan wasn't, but am not sure for Trunks. If you think about it, it could also be the "state of mind", that affects them. Trunks could be more prone to rational thinking, while gohan does his stuff emotionally and by the heart... – DaMachk Jul 21 '16 at 13:13
  • Plus the genes. We all know that Goku is more powerful than Vegeta. Though children of Goku are stronger than Vegeta's, Vegeta's children like Trunks is smarter than Goku's because in the side of Bulma, they are family of geeks. – rhavendc Aug 08 '16 at 09:53
  • well, they quite changed how powerful Trunks is recently in Dragon Ball Super. Now he can surpass Gohan, Vegeta and Goku when he gets angry – Pablo Nov 04 '16 at 14:22

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When you say Trunks, I'm assuming you are talking about Future Trunks. However, the answer really boils down to training. In the Android Saga, Future Trunks mentions that Androids 18 and 19 are much stronger than the ones in his timeline. Future Trunks never got the training of Goku, everyone was already dead, and training was virtually impossible, though he did get a little in. Potential for great strength, then achieving great strength are two different things. Had Trunks went through gravity training like Gohan and the Saiyans, he WOULD have been MUCH stronger. As it is, present Trunks only does gravity training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, and only for a little bit.

Another point to see is that present Trunks (kid version) is stronger than Frieza when Goku first fought him. His Super Saiyan form is already equal to if not stronger than Goku's power against Frieza in that fight, so he IS super strong. Everyone else is just that much stronger. This is the reason he never caught up to Gohan/Goku/Vegeta—they already achieved his strength (much later on), and KEPT GOING. If he had grown up fighting/training only, he would be one of the top fighters.

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  • well, they quite changed how powerful Trunks is recently in Dragon Ball Super. Now he can surpass Gohan, Vegeta and Goku when he gets angry – Pablo Nov 04 '16 at 14:06
  • To Pablo Trunks powers in Super anime are not canon with the manga. In the Manga Gohan is much stronger. The reason Trunks got so powerful in the anime is because Toei needed to milk the series so they had to make Trunks relevant but Toriyama on the otherhand knew Trunks was never meant to be powerful in such a way, the manga there is no Super Saiyan Rage or Spirit Bomb Sword but he did write Gohan being able to fight Kefla who is also stupidly powerful. – Planet LW Nov 04 '19 at 14:49