Though she's Bulma and Vegeta's daughter, her eyes, hair color, and skin color are all just like her mother's, and she hasn't inherited any of her father's distinguishing characteristics. It seems that instead of Goku and Goten, who are like two peas in a pod, the opposite phenomenon occurred here. Personality-wise, she is a precocious girl who has a bit of impishness to her.
Bulla's character description from Daizenshuu 7, one of the official Dragon Ball guide books.
Some days Bulla didn't know whether or not she liked this world of peace she grew up in as she carelessly meandered through the streets of West City on her way home from school. Bulla could easily fly home in a few seconds but she always chose to walk home to allow herself more time for herself and to let her thoughts drift. Trunks always had bedtime stories of wizards, gods, and time travel for her, it made the occasional criminal she encountered laughable. The biggest drama in her life at the moment was her ex-boyfriend dating again-and she didn't even care!
Most people wouldn't let their sixteen year old daughters go out and about unsupervised throughout the city, but Bulla's parents had nothing to worry about. Anyone who could actually hurt her had the complete trust of her parents, well her mother at least, maybe not her father, but did he even trust anyone? While Bulla would stop the occasional mugger terrorizing young women, she never experienced the incredible adventures and adversaries her friends and family had faced before she was born. According to her dad, every one of her family members and family's long time friends had died at least once, even Pan! She was sure she would probably prefer the monotony of everyday life when confronted with the reality of universal destruction but when you can go anywhere in the world in eighty seconds, life on Earth didn't hold much wonder.
It was Friday and Bulla had just gotten out of school, the whole weekend ahead of her, and what was she doing? Moping! All because nothing exciting was happening. Her stomach growled, interrupting her from her thoughts. Luckily, she was nearly home, and there was a gallon of ice cream calling her name. It was strange though, she could feel more than the usual energies clustered together in her house. Were they having a party? That meant more food. Good. That also meant there would be people around. Hmmm, not so good. Her mom's friends-her dad would never admit to having any-didn't usually get together unannounced. Was there a party and she was so caught up in her teenage angst, she didn't notice?
Making her way toward the familiar energy signatures, Bulla wasn't prepared for what she stumbled upon in her living room. First, she noticed her brother trying and failing to hold in his laughter, almost choking in the process, and Marron of all people-she'd have to ask Trunks about that later-clapping him on the back. Then she looked toward her dad who was threatening a smile next to her mom who looked definitely unamused. All their attention was on Goku, What's he doing here? Bulla wondered, and the boy slumped next to him. She couldn't see the boy's face but her entrance must have shifted the attention in the room toward her because he looked up directly at her. Her blue eyes met his warm yet familiar black ones. They stared at each other for a few moments. While she assessed the stranger in her home, he looked at her a taken back like she grew a second head. Okay then, just going to ignore you.
Still his energy felt exactly like Goten's, maybe it wasn't as strong, but it was that familiar presence that often lingered about her home during her younger years. Bulla took in his appearance, he was cute, she noted, and she was slightly embarrassed that was the first thing she noticed. He had shaggy black hair, olive skin, and boyish good looks, in fact, when she scrutinized him he looked just like Goku and Goten. In odd situations like this Bulla looked toward her parents wordlessly for some explanation. The threat of her father's smile was gone now as he frowned at the boy next to Goku. Since no one was saying anything, Bulla decided to break the silence.
"Hi mom, dad, Trunks." she greeted her family casually, pretending nothing was out of the ordinary. Playing it cool like she wasn't dying to know the identity of the strange boy with Goten's looks and energy, she walked up to Marron, her old babysitter whom she looked to like a big sister. Bulla hadn't seen her in awhile and felt like she needed to greet her friend with a hug. "Hey Marron." she smiled and was received warmly by the older girl.
"It's great to see you." Marron said genialy. Any chance for further pleasantries was undercut by the awkwardness in the room. Bulla had to at least acknowledge Goku, whom she had only seen a handful of times in her entire life, and whoever that boy was. Bulla briefly entertained the thought he was Goku's hitherto illegitimate son that he begat on one of the Universe 6 Saiyan women. She may not have considered Pan's grandpa a friend or even an authority figure-the guy was a real goofball-but even she knew he was terrified of his wife and woefully innocent. It would probably never occur to him to be adulterous.
"Hello Goku." Bulla nodded towards the older Saiyan. She turned towards the boy with him and extended her hand which he accepted eagerly, beaming at her. Wow, he really did a 180. "I'm Bulla." she introduced herself. That seemed to surprise him because he immediately dropped her hand and instead pointed at her accusingly.
"You're Bulla?!" he shrieked gobsmacked. She didn't know whether or not to be offended by his reaction.
"Yes, I'm Bulla." she said slowly, thinking maybe this guy was on Goku's level mentally, "What have you heard?" she asked slightly suspicious. Were they all talking about her before she entered the room? Is that why everyone was quiet right as she walked in? She couldn't ponder it much more as Trunks finally let go of the laughs he was holding in.
"This-is-too-good." Trunks managed to wheeze out even as Marron stared at him disapprovingly.
"What's going on?" Bulla asked nonplussed. Trunks wouldn't be the one to answer her as he was still trying to get his laughter under control, Marron looked at her sympathetically but looked just as confused as Bulla felt, Goku looked like he was thinking-Bulla hoped he wouldn't hurt himself-while her dad just fixed the strange boy with a hard glare as said boy still looked open mouthed at Bulla. Definitely going to ignore you.
Luckily her mother, Bulma, took the reins. "Bulla, honey," she began, "this is Goten." she stated matter-of-factly. Bulla wasn't the most observant person when it came to things unrelated her interests, but she definitely remembered Goten being older with a stupid slanted haircut. While they didn't necessarily see each other often, she was pretty sure Goten knew who she was. Maybe Goten was the one with an illegitimate child-also named Goten apparently, ooh his mom was going to kill him. Maybe that's why Trunks was in hysterics. He and Goten always seemed to revel in the misery of the other.
"Should I call you Goten Jr. so as to confuse you with the other Goten? He might not be around much longer, ChiChi is definitely going to kill him once she finds out he's had a secret love child." she joked and heard her father let out a bark of laughter at that.
Her mother hmphed, "Bulla, you don't understand." she said calmly, "This IS Goten, the Goten you know," she paused, "well the Goten you knew."
None of this was making any sense, then Trunks spoke up, "He made a wish on the dragon balls." Then it clicked for Bulla. No way.
"What? Really? Why?" Bulla asked surprised and stared back at the boy who was apparently her brother's best friend having realized he had just aged himself down. Then she remembered what she was thinking earlier, Ew! She screamed internally. I thought Pan's Uncle Goten was cute! No one must ever know. She resolved.
"Those are questions we all want to know the answer to." Her mother said pointedly looking at Goku, "That Goten is a kid again thanks to the dragon balls is pretty much all we've gotten out of Goten and Goku so far, they only got here a little bit before you did." her mother explained to Bulla calmly-that was so unlike her Bulla thought. Bulma then turned to the two Sons vexed, "How did it happen exactly? He can't have really meant to gather the dragon balls for that!" Ah, there's my mom.
Unsure if she was even supposed to be there-after all, she was pretty sure even ChiChi didn't know at this point or else she's be in their living room in hysterics-Bulla took advantage of the uncertainty of the situation and parked herself on a chair far from the center of the room. Right now, Bulla was more of a mind with Trunks; the day just got infinitely more interesting. From the way these things usually went, Bulla expected a harassed looking Gohan to fly in with a wildly thrashing and yelling ChiChi any moment now. It's like that woman had a sixth sense for her husband's shenanigans.
While Bulla never spent much time around the man, it was easy to tell when he was going to say something stupid. It was the tell-tale sign when her father's energy started slowly rising. Her dad would never admit to being friends with Goku but he certainly knew Goku's mannerisms and seemed the best at predicting the erratic Saiyan's behavior. Perhaps the strongest mortal in their universe put his hands behind his head and looked up trying to find his words. "He told the dragon he wished he was sixteen again!"
Her father who had been characteristically quiet this whole time, growled in frustration, energy abound. "We already knew that, idiot!" he said harshly, "But if that was his only wish, do we have the other two?"
"Oh no, on account of I used the first two." Her parents groaned.
"Why didn't you start out with that Goku?!" her mother said angrily. "You came in here in a panic talking about how ChiChi was going to kill you because Goten made himself younger with dragon balls. I thought we could wish him back to normal in a few months not a year! We'll never be able to hide this from ChiChi! She'll blame me too since I gave you the dragon radar!"
Bulla had to hold in her laughter lest she give herself away and they remember she was there. It amused her to no end how everyone was seemingly intimidated by a petite old lady armed with a frying pan so much so that her ultra-confident, I-don't-care-if-you're-a-god mother acted like a kid that just broke something and was trying to hide the evidence. Then again Bulla was never on the receiving end of ChiChi's ire, ChiChi had a soft spot for Bulla and always gave her the benefit of the doubt especially when she and Pan got into some mischief.
"Why would Goten make such a wish?" Bulma had calmed down, which disappointed Bulla, and wearily touched her brow, eyes downcast.
Goku looked toward Goten as if encouraging him to be the one to speak but Goten just sighed and threw his hands up, "The last thing I remember was going to bed the night before my birthday!" he said exasperated.
Her mother looked sympathetically at Goten and laid a hand on his shoulder in a gesture of comfort. "So you don't have any memories of the past thirteen years, do you?" Goten nodded. "Why don't you tell us what happened before Goten made the wish?" she addressed Goku.
"I finally remembered I was supposed to wish King Kai back to life-"
"Goku! He died almost thirty years ago!" Bulma interrupted.
Unfazed, Goku continued, "-so I started gathering the dragon balls, but I had to stop to eat a few times."
"Idiot." her father muttered.
"It didn't take me long. Goten musta saw the sky turn dark because he came to see what was goin' on. He asked me what I was gonna wish for, then I made the wishes-"
"If the first wish was to resurrect King Kai, what was the second one for?" Vegeta asked gruffly.
"I had to wish for a classic car for King Kai since I keep breaking his whenever I train on his planet."
"A wasted wish." her father humphed.
"Then Goten saw the car and was saying how much he liked it and then he said, 'I wish I was sixteen again and could take this car out.' Then Shenron said all the wishes were gone and the dragon balls scattered." Goku finished.
Bulla didn't even bother holding in her laughter and laughed along with Trunks. Even the normally empathetic Marron's lips turned up. Bulla didn't even care if they kicked her out after this; she got what she wanted, a little color to the otherwise mundane day. They could make her leave and continue the "adult conversations" she wasn't allowed to be involved in. All they would probably do is go to Namek and borrow their dragon balls, or her mom would make one of her kooky machines to age Goten up and restore his adult memories.
"Both of you are idiots. Like father like son." Vegeta said but not with his habitual harshness.
Marron, perhaps being the only reasonable character in the room, spoke up, "Uncle Goku, why don't you ask the Nameks if they will lend you their dragon balls? I'll admit it's a frivolous wish but I think they'll understand and let you use them."
Trunks was still smiling but no longer laughing hysterically, "As much as I would love to see Goten go through his awkward teen years again, Marron's right, the solution has been in front of us the whole time."
The only people in the room who didn't look relieved were Goku and Goten, the subject of the wish. "How would you feel about this, Goten?" Bulla asked. She hadn't planned on speaking up but she had to take pity on Goten who looked so miserable while others were deciding his fate. If she woke up this morning and everyone told her she was really thirty, she couldn't say she would jump at the chance to age herself up. Startled, the adults in the room focused their gazes back at her, as if they never thought to listen to Goten. Typical parents thinking they know what's best regardless of what we think.
Goten looked at her gratefully and addressed the others. "Can we not decide anything now? I know I'm supposed to be twenty-nine, but I don't even remember what my life was like." He nodded towards her parents, "Thank you for trying to help but I need to process all this first and I just want to go home." he said melancholic.
"That's not a bad idea." her mom said kindly, "Once you think things over and what you want to do, we'll be here to help you think up solutions."
Bulla was slightly disappointed she wouldn't get to see ChiChi go full tiger mom. Bulla swore she saw ChiChi's teeth turn into fangs one time when she was yelling at Goku, but looking at Goten, Bulla began to feel bad that she had been taking the situation lightly. Not that Bulla saw Goten often-he and Trunks didn't have much interest in playing with her when she was younger, and it suited her just fine since she always had Pan-but from Bulla's memories, she remembered teenage Goten being rather carefree and happy, even adult Goten was never seen as downtrodden as he looked now. The teenage Goten she observed now looked confused and worried. Bulla took pity on Goten and took the opportunity to quiet the sniggering Trunks. She strode over to her brother and bopped him on the head, "Don't be a jerk Trunks! Goten is your best friend, you should be more eager than anyone to help him out!" she said more fiercely than she intended.
Trunks looked properly chastened while Goten looked at her thunderstruck. Didn't think I could hit so hard, Goten? She thought. "You're right, Bulla." Trunks said resignedly while trying to soothe the spot Bulla made contact, "You didn't have to hit me so hard, damn." he mumbled to Bulla. "Sorry Goten. Whatever is going on, I'll help you through it man. I'll be more than happy " Trunks told him. Bulla couldn't help but feel smug that she was more mature and helpful than her older brother. Then Trunks spoke again, "I'll be more than happy to show you how much fun it is to be twenty-nine than sixteen." he winked at Goten.
Okay maybe she wasn't so much more mature than Trunks because she couldn't resist, "Damn Trunks, you didn't have to let Goten find out about your relationship this way. I think it would have been better in a more intimate setting, you know, without your family around." she said completely serious.
"What?! No!" Goten jumped out of his chair whitefaced. "I'm not gay!" he pleaded to Bulla. "At least I don't think so, are we Trunks?" Bulla almost felt bad as she saw Goten's panic stricken eyes land on Trunks.
It was Marron who intervened this time, "Bulla that was mean." she fixed Bulla with a disapproving stare. If it were Trunks or her parents she would have doubled down on her joke but she had always cared about Marron's approval, and she felt slightly ashamed but only slightly. "That was just one of Bulla's little jokes. She thinks she's funny. To my knowledge you and Trunks are not and have never been an item." she said reassuringly.
"Listen to Marron and not my bratty sister, bro," Trunks added putting his arm around his longtime best friend, "Not that I have anything against you, you're adorable but I think hooking up with you would be too much like incest."
Goten gave a weak smile to Marron and Trunks, and turned to his father. "I think it's best we go home, dad."
"I'll instant transmit us and we can talk to your mom." Goku said to Goten. Before anyone could register what was happening, Goku lifted Goten and put him on his shoulders.
"Dad?! What are you doing? Put me down!" a red faced Goten yelped.
Goku did as he was told but looked bemused, "But I always used to carry you on my shoulders and now that you're little again, I thought you'd like it."
Bulla noticed Goten briefly glance at her but he turned back to his father. "I'm sixteen not seven! I'm way too old for that now." he insisted. "As if I couldn't be humiliated any more today…" Goten mumbled.
"Aw, okay." Goku said disappointed, and with two fingers to his temple, he took himself and Goten from her family's living room.
I want to give a shout out to my homegirl Vagus who encouraged me to take the plunge and start my own fanfic, and I want to thank anyone who made it to the bottom of the page and is reading this blurb now because that means you read the whole chapter! I hope you'll stay for the whole journey.