With the next arc of Dragon Ball Super about to begin next month, and with creator Akira Toriyama dropping the name of the new arc's main enemy, fans around the world have been abuzz about the real identity of the enigmatic villain, the character Toriyama announced as Black Goku.

Considering that Dragon Ball Super already delved into the concept of parallel universes and that the gods of space and time have already been introduced, the creators of the ongoing series have raised the bar for themselves. After all, how could a story be improved after introducing characters that could literally wipe out universes in the blink of an eye?

One way to do this, of course, is to involve a character that has been loved by fans for years and turn the character on its head. DC has already done this in Injustice: Gods Among Us, a game which featured Superman as the main villain. We all know how awesome the game's story turned out to be.

Though details about Black Goku are unsurprisingly very scarce, numerous fans have been putting some theories forward. While some were outlandish and almost nonsensical, such as Black Goku being of African descent, there is one that seems very plausible.

This theory involves going way back to the events of Dragon Ball Z, after the defeat of Cell. It should be noted that Future Trunks only stayed for a very short time after the supervillain's defeat. Thus, when he came back to the future, there is a chance that he might have figured out a way to bring the dead Z-fighters back to life using the series' trademark Dragon Balls.

Considering that Trunks couldn't have used Earth's dragon balls, he might have used the ones from Piccolo's home planet, Namek, to resurrect the Z-fighters. Eventually, the resurrected Goku might have been found by Babidi, who was then  trying to bring Majin Buu back to life. Using his manipulation sorcery, Babidi might have managed to cast the spell on Goku.

Of course, due to Goku's sheer amount of power, he might have gotten out of control, killing the newly-resurrected Majin Buu. Plus, due to Babidi's magic, his old Saiyan persona, which is more aggressive than the Goku we all know and love, awakened. Augmented by Babidi's spell, Goku then turned dark; hence, earning him the moniker of Back Goku.

Over the course of time, Goku becomes the ruler of the Earth, with the Z-fighters at his side. Eventually, Trunks and the other fighters decided to overthrow him, but their attempt failed, ultimately forcing Trunks to travel through time again.

Due to Black Goku's power, he probably would be able to travel through time as well, bringing the battle of the future into the present.

Of course, this theory is but speculation. However, it does raise a number of valid points and connects a number of events that Toriyama has already confirmed.

Either way, the new arc of Dragon Ball Super is looking to be pretty epic.