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"Creating a machine that could travel across space and time is a mortal sin, a crime against the laws of nature. Because of what you did, this resulting cataclysm could bring an end to reality as we know it! So, if you ever wanna atone for this, Trunks, you're gonna work for me!"
— Chronoa confronting Future Trunks on his use of the Time Machine

The Time Machine (タイムマシン 'Taimu Mashin') is a machine built by Bulma in Future Trunks' alternate timeline, that could be used to go to the future or to the past. The word "Hope!!" is written on the side of the machine, emphasizing that it was hope for their world.

Overview[]

Creation and concept[]

The Time Machine was equipped with airplane functions too. At first, the series author Akira Toriyama was thinking of adding in vehicle elements to the Time Machine, like a plane. But in the end, it was only ever used as a Time Machine.[9] The idea of an airplane-like Time Machine was ultimately used for the Epoch in the hit Squaresoft RPG Chrono Trigger.

Functioning[]

When traveling back in time, the Time Machine creates a new timeline that branches off from its original one at the moment in time where the Time Machine arrived. Thus it is not possible to "change" the past, in the sense that one's present will change. Any change done in the past will be reflected in a new timeline. However, when traveling back to the future, the Time Machine will go back to its original timeline.

According to Future Trunks, the Time Machine uses up a lot of chronal energy, so it can carry barely enough power for two trips in time. Thus, it is generally used to travel in time, and then to go back to the present. Recharging the machine takes a lot of time, too. It seems that the only way to recharge it is in Future Trunks' own time. Dragon Ball Z: Sagas, six Time Machine turbines have to be collected before Future Trunks can travel to the past. There is no ladder, so only people who can fly are able to ride it.[9] In the PSP game Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai - Another Road, Future Trunks says they have continued developing the Time Machine since his last time travel and they have made one that can carry multiple people.

Using a Time Machine is ultimately a violation of the laws of the universe, as revealed in the computer game Dragon Ball Online and the manga Jaco the Galactic Patrolman. It is explained in Dragon Ball Online that a deity called the Lord of Time (aka the Supreme Kai of Time) watches over the flow of time from the cosmos and gave Trunks a stern warning for his actions, and it is mentioned in Jaco the Galactic Patrolman that the Galactic Patrol can punish this kind of crime. It is mentioned by Whis that traveling through time into the past or future is a serious offense.

In Dragon Ball: Xenoverse, it is revealed that Future Bulma was the first person in the history of the universe to create a Time Machine, and Future Trunks' use of it resulted in the first time distortion in the history of the universe. As a result of disrupting the natural order of the universe caused by the creation and use of their Time Machine by Future Trunks and the Bio-Android Cell, Chronoa outlawed the use of Time Machines to prevent further alterations to history. However, she chose not to undo the changes to history caused by Future Trunks' and Cell's use of the Time Machine, due to understanding Trunks' noble reasons behind his actions and the fact the history didn't turn out for the worse, as well as Cell's destruction at the hands of Super Saiyan 2 Gohan's via the Father-Son Kamehameha during the climax of the Cell Games. Despite the fact that Future Trunks had not broken the law, as it was enacted due to his and his mother's actions, Chronoa tricked Future Trunks' into becoming her assistant by telling him "What you did is a mortal sin and making Time Machines is a crime! Work under me if you want to be forgiven!". Future Trunks seriously believed her statement to be true, causing him to agree to work for her as her faithful assistant as a means of atonement for his "mortal sin" of creating and using the Time Machine, unaware of the deception on Chronoa's part.

After creating Toki Toki City and the Time Patrol in Age 850, Future Trunks has the revived Capsule Corporationfrom his time to create newer Time Machines supervised by Chronoa to prevent more timelines from being created. These Time Machines are used by the Time Patrol to use in order to track down the time fragments created as a side effect of time distortions, as part of Parallel Quests. These Time Machines were constructed and redesigned using Chronoa's in-depth knowledge of the nature of space time, and as a result do not create alternate timelines as the first Time Machine built by Future Bulma did. The Time Patrol have their Time Machines docked at Toki Toki City's Time Machine Station.

The time machine is apparently very energy consuming as Future Bulma stated it took eight months to charge enough energy for a round trip 20 years into the past. Although it could do due to Bulma's lab being destroyed as she stated she could have made the machine better, implying she could have also charged it more efficiently as present Bulma was able to prepare Tapion for trip 1,000 years into the past in a short period of time.

Uses[]

Dragon Ball Z[]

Future Trunks uses the Time Machine to go to the past to warn the Z Fighters about the androids. Because of the way the machine works, Future Trunks' timeline did not change at all (see alternate timeline for more details). Future Trunks went back not to change his history, but to learn of any weaknesses the androids may have; that way, he could return to his time and manage to defeat the androids there. Future Trunks used the machine again to go back and help the Z Fighters when the androids made their appearance.

In one of the alternate timelines, after Future Trunks returns from his second trip to the past and his deactivation of Future Android 17 and Future Android 18, Cell killed him and stole the Time Machine. He did it in order to go back in time to absorb the androids in a moment in time where they still existed. This essentially creates four timelines; the fourth one, which is never seen, involves Future Trunks going back, but, instead of training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, he finds the blueprints to the Androids. Bulma later crafts a remote control that deactivates them and leaves them helpless, and Future Trunks takes that controller back to his time to destroy the androids. Since he did not train in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Future Trunks was not strong enough to kill Cell, leading to Cell killing him and taking the Time Machine, thus creating the Cell Saga.

In order to fit inside the machine, Cell had to revert into his egg form, in which he barely had time to press the button to send him back to the preset time. After arriving to his destination, Cell burns a hole in the hatch and abandons the stolen Time Machine, which is later photographed by a Capsule Corporation satellite. Bulma shows the photograph to Future Trunks who decides they should check it out. They find the Time Machine and Cell's shed Cocoon. Future Trunks realizes it is same as his Time Machine (as it has the word "Hope!!" written on its side). Future Trunks presses a button capsulizing it and likely took it back with him to his timeline to prevent anyone from misusing it (or reverse-engineering its technology).

Video Game Appearances[]

The Time Machine appears in cutscenes of several video games. One is seen in the background of the Alternative Future battle stage in Dragon Ball Z 2: Super Battle. In Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3, in Dragon Universe, a Time Machine can be found and visited when playing as Goku after returning to Earth from Namek; Goku finds a Meta-Cooler at the site, and a battle ensues between the two. In Dragon Ball Z: Sagas, six Time Machine turbines have to be collected in the city before Future Trunks can travel to the past.

In the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 what-if scenario "Affectionate Android", Dr. Gero sends Android 16 back in time to kill a younger, weaker Goku.

In Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai - Another Road, Future Trunks saves a Time Machine that can carry multiple people from Future Dabura's attack on West City, and he uses it to travel back in time and bring the Z Fighters of the past in order to help him against Future Babidi and later Future Majin Buu. In the third promotional movie for Dragon Ball Heroes, the Saiyan Hero and the Saiyan Heroine use Time Machines to go back in time and attack Frieza's remaining soldiers while Super Saiyan Goku is fighting Frieza on Namek. Redesigned Time Machines appear in the computer game Dragon Ball Online, making them look similar to Frieza's spaceship. The game features Time Machine Missions where players travel back in time and take part in notable aspects of the Dragon Ball history. The game's main antagonist, Miira, also plans to use a Time Machine to go into the past and steal Goku's DNA.

In Dragon Ball: Xenoverse, Time Machines are created in newer models from the revived Capsule Corporation in Future Trunks' timeline and docked in the Time Machine Station of Toki Toki City. The Time Patrol makes use of these Time Machines, as well as the Scroll of Eternity, as their primary form of Time Travel. The Time Machines seem to be big enough for only a single person, but have power for multiple trips, and can even send items through time, such as Dragon Balls. The Time Machines used by the Time Patrol do not create alternate timelines, due to being altered by Chronoa so as to avoid such distortions and are thus sanction by her for use by the Time Patrol.[10]

In Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butōden, Future Trunks' Time Machine appears as a Z-Assist character (obtained as DLC via an update). When used the Time Machine will appear and reset cool down time for all Z-Assist characters, except for Shenron and itself.

"If you're wondering why we use a time machine to enter Parallel Quests, but scrolls for other quests, then let me tell you. It's because the history of Parallel Quests is different from the history that's stored in the Time Vault. It might be easier to understand if you think of it like a bunch of digressions and sidebars that have spun off from the main story. The long and short of it is that we can't access that history using the scrolls, on with a time machine."
— Skid's explaination of why the Time Patrol uses Time Machines for Parallel Quests in Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2

In Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, Time Patrol sanctioned Time Machine are still used by the Time Patrol to travel to timelines featured in Parallel Quests. Following the destruction of Toki Toki City, the Time Machine Station was rebuilt in Conton City. Unlike the Time Machine Station in Xenoverse, instead of docks for multiple time machines, a single time machine appears in the center of the station in Conton City surrounded by a protective cylindrical dome. Despite the reduction in the number of Time Machines used by the Time Patrol, this apparently does not reduce the either number of parallel quests or the number of Time Patrollers taking part in them. Like in Xenoverse, the Time Machine can transport objects such as Dragon Balls. However, in Xenoverse 2, the Time Machine appears outside Parallel Quests, as it is used to transport the Namekian Dragon Balls to safety in Guru's House Quests that take place in the Guru's House time rift anomaly. Namekian Time Patroller Skid explains the reason that Time Machines are used in Parallel Quests instead of the scrolls is cause the history in parallel quests is different than what is recorded in the scroll. He also explains that even when Time Patrollers like the Toki Toki City Hero fix a history change, there are slight imperfections in history, because the interventions where made by someone who never existed in the original unaltered timeline. As a result, these imperfections create tiny fluctuations in history and that is why the Time Patrol has Parallel Quests, so the Time Patrol can keep trying over and over again to fix history completely, but they only ever get a fraction closer to the correct version. Though these parallel timelines are mostly harmless, the Time Patrol has to keep an eye on them as they may attract the attention of time traveling criminals such as the Time Breakers and their allies.

Trivia[]

  • The Blue No. 15 Electro-Fluid is the fuel that operates the time machine.[11]

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Dragon Ball Z: Atsumare! Gokū Wārudo, 1992
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai - Another Road, 2007
  3. ↑ Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors 2, 2005
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors, 2004
  5. ↑ Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3, 2007
  6. ↑ Dragon Ball Online, 2010
  7. ↑ Dragon Ball: Xenoverse, 2015
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Dragon Ball Super Manga Chapter 26
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Dragon Ball Q&A" section, Dragon Ball Full Color Androids Saga volume 6, 2014
  10. ↑ Trunks' discussion of Parallel Quests
  11. ↑ Dragon Ball Super Manga Chapter 15
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