The center of Dragon Ball Z introduced one of the franchise’s most popular characters: Future Trunks. Descended from a timeline destroyed by the Androids of the Red Ribbon Army, this human/Saiyan hybrid returns in an attempt to prevent history from repeating itself. This causes several differences, some of which involve heroes who were destined to die.
In the main timeline of the series, Piccolo becomes one again with Kami to defeat the Androids. Given how much more powerful it makes him, the merger raises the question of whether this combination happened in Future Trunks’ timeline. The answer is quite obvious and it actually reinforces the threat of the robot villains.
Piccolo died in the darkest Dragon Ball Z timeline
As mentioned, Future Trunks’ world was completely decimated by the arrival of Dr. Gero’s Androids, which struck when Earth was probably at its weakest. In that timeline, Goku had already died of a mysterious heart virus, leaving the Z Fighters without their strongest member and arguable leader. When Androids 17 and 18 showed up after that, they rushed to rip through the rest of the team. Next up was none other than Future Piccolo, who was killed by a power kick courtesy of Android 18. This speaks to both Android 18’s power level and Future Piccolo’s unexpected weakness.
During the “Android Saga”, the current Piccolo merged with Kami again, becoming the same being that was once the “Nameless Namekian”. This made him immensely powerful and able to fight against Dr. Gero – something his future counterpart could never have achieved. Since Future Piccolo performed so poorly in his fight against Android 18, many fans are wondering if he merged with Kami in his timeline. After all, the Dragon Balls were inert after his death, which is why Future Trunks couldn’t wish anyone back or even fly to the planet Namek to summon Porunga. Unfortunately, there were many discrepancies in that timeline for Piccolo, and his reunion never happened.
Kami and Piccolo never merged in the future timeline
In the world of Future Trunks, Piccolo and Kami have never been combined into one Namekian again. This is why Piccolo was so much weaker and unable to defeat androids who were themselves supposedly at a lower power level in that timeline. In this reality, the only Namekian Piccolo allied with was Nail, who died earlier fighting Frieza and his lackeys, the Ginyu Force. The reason the Dragon Balls became inert afterward was due to Piccolo’s still existing ties to Kami, with the death of one resulting in the death of the other. The fact that Piccolo survived long enough this time to fuse with Kami, not to mention the androids’ great strength, has to do with Future Trunks’ actions already changing that timeline for the better.
In the current timeline, Goku was thankfully cured of his debilitating heart virus, which already made things different from the world Future Trunks came from. That divergence alone was enough to cause numerous butterfly effects, including the presence of other Androids and the duo Future Trunks knew were so different. Likewise, Kami and Piccolo would become one Namekian again, with Dende brought to Earth to act in Kami’s stead. Unfortunately, his heroism didn’t make for a better world in his own timeline, with Future Trunks’ world unaffected by the “new” past. Add in the tragedy caused by the presence of the evil Goku Black, and that reality is something of a multiversal whip boy. The biggest reason it’s so bad is the lack of the Dragon Balls on Earth to wish people back, and that’s because of Piccolo’s untimely death beforehand.