Cell (Dragon Ball)

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Cell
Japanese	セル
Romaji	Seru
Anime Name	Cell
Manga Name	Cell
Alternate Name(s)	Imperfect Cell Semi-Perfect Cell Perfect Cell Super Perfect Cell Jinzōningen #21 Android #21
First Appearance	Issue #30 (DBZ Issue #14)
Appears in
Race	Jinzōningen
Family Doctor Gero (creator) Android 8(brother) Android 16 (brother) Android 17 (brother) Android 18 (sister) Android 19 (brother) Cell Juniors (children) Goku (cloned from) Vegeta (cloned from) Piccolo (cloned from) Freeza (cloned from) King Cold (cloned from)
DB Character Listing - Category

Cell is a character in the manga Dragon Ball and the animes Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT. He is the creation of Doctor Gero, designed to have all the abilities of the greatest fighters known, including cells from Son Goku, Piccolo, Vegeta, Nappa, Freeza, and King Cold.^[1] Dr. Gero designed Cell to be his ultimate and most powerful creation.

Cell was designed to have the ability to absorb any biological mass by stabbing his victims with his tail. This process, called "bio extraction," drains all the organic mass out of the target from the inside out. This attack increases Cell's power, the exact amount depending on the victim's power level. Cell was designed to absorb Dr. Gero's other androids (Android 17 and Android 18) whole, integrating them into his systems. Each time he absorbs an android, he evolves into a more powerful being.^[2] All three of his forms are voiced by Dameon Clarke in the Funimation dub, by Dale Wilson in the alternate UK & Canadian dub, and by Norio Wakamoto in the original Japanese edition. In the video games Super Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2, he is again voiced by Dameon Clarke, who in BT2 is credited as "Dartanian Nickleback".

[edit] Personality

Cell's outlook towards his existence changes drastically throughout the saga. At first he is more single-minded, with all actions he takes done with the objective of benefitting his absorption of #17 and #18. He is unique among most villains of the show (and essentially against the stereotypical villain) in the fact that he is tactical; he acts with common sense, doesn't posture, and doesn't take any risk that would prove to hinder him later. For example, he always takes care of interrupting challengers as soon as they appear, and he retreats and/or takes extra actions (such as absorbing #17 during his fight with #16) if the situation is too dangerous or hinders him for too long. He also knows how to manipulate people (as seen by the conclusion of his fight with Vegeta) if that is the action he is forced to take, and is able to analyze an enemy's strengths and weaknesses quickly and exploit them. Because of these tactical skills Cell never really loses control of the saga until he faces Son Gohan.

In his Perfect Form, however, Cell no longer has a need for single-mindedness. As such, he decided to act on his Saiyan instincts (and perhaps those from Freeza), and instead sets out in search of challenges and entertainment. In this form Cell finds time to gloat, something he rarely did in his previous forms, and decides to entertain himself with the terror and destruction he creates. In search of the ultimate challenger -- a challenger as strong as himself -- he holds a tournament; yet when he is defeated by Gohan, he is overcome with rage and becomes desperate to stop himself from losing. This desperation, which comes more from Freeza than the Saiyans, proves that despite his want of a challenge, Cell still felt that he was invincible and never expected to lose. Indeed, his final words before Gohan's enormous Kamehameha destroys him are "I am perfect..." alluding to his belief that his "perfection" rendered him invulnerable.

In the manga, Cell is always referred to as an "it" (Piccolo once says: "we may have to defeat Cell itself"), while in the anime (and the Japanese versions of both) he is referred to as "he." He is likely described that way in the English manga to emphasize the fact that he is an artificial being.

[edit] Imperfect Cell

Imperfect Cell

When Cell was first awakened in his timeline, both Android #17 and #18 are not present, either deactivated (with a specially built remote control by Bulma, reminiscent of what Dr. Gero utilized to deactivate all his androids had they displayed a demeanor of insubordination) or destroyed by Trunks. In order to complete his evolution, he killed Trunks and stole his time machine, going back in time to the date set by Trunks in the "standard" timeline when both androids were still functional, sometime between the 3 years before the Androids arrived. In order to fit into the machine, Cell had to revert back to an egg.

Once in the past, he hid underground for three years until he could grow back to his adult, humanoid self. When he completed his transformation, his first actions were to exterminate several towns, absorbing the human inhabitants within. After completing his feeding on the humans in Ginger Town, Cell was confronted by Piccolo. After a brief struggle and explaining who he was, Trunks and Kuririn showed up. Trunks' presence in the past was a surprise to Cell, as was the fact that Goku hadn't died of his heart disease and was still alive. Outnumbered, Cell quickly used the Taiyōken to temporarily blind his opponents and escape.

Cell decided to use a hit-and-run strategy at this point, hiding from the Z Fighters while going from town to town absorbing humans and gaining the power he needs to be able to take on the androids. Piccolo and Tenshinhan worked on tracking him while Trunks and Kuririn killed the current (main) timeline's Cell while still in his infancy. Eventually, after absorbing several tens of thousands of humans, Cell detected a large ki; knowing that this had to be Piccolo he deduced that the only thing that could make him fight so hard would be the Androids. Cell wasted no time and quickly headed to the area; as he figured, he found Piccolo and Android 17 engaged in battle.

Cell interrupted the fight and attacked Android 17. As Cell was preparing to absorb 17, Piccolo attacked him, freeing 17 from his grasp. When 17 learned what Cell had planned, he dismissed the threat, thinking that he was much more powerful then Cell could ever be, and attacked. After knocking away 17, he fought and beat Piccolo. With Piccolo out of the way, Cell was able to attack 17 again. He had almost absorbed him when Android 16 got involved. Android #16 then stated according to his calculations he was just equivalent to Cell in both strength and speed, and portended that he'd be the one to kill Cell. After a struggle, 16 had injured Cell, but before he could finish him off, Android 17 interrupted because he wanted to finish Cell off himself. Cell used this opportunity to burst out of the ground directly behind 17 and quickly absorbed him, evolving into Semi-Perfect Cell.

[edit] Semi-Perfect Cell

Semi-Perfect Cell

Android #16, knowing that he was now well outmatched, attempted to flee with 18, but Cell easily intercepted them. In a display of his new power he took a direct hit from 16 without injury and then easily blasted the android. Cell turned to 18, but she threatened to self-destruct before joining him. In an attempt to pacify her, he pretended to be Android #17 and told her how wonderful it was to be part of Cell and fulfilling "the great" Dr. Gero's vision; Android #16, still functional but badly damaged warned her of the ploy, something she already knew since 17 despised Dr. Gero. When his plan failed, Cell prepared to attempt to absorb 18 by force regardless, thinking that he was fast enough to prevent her from destroying herself. He was prevented by Tenshinhan though, who used his Shin Kikoho attack several times to stall Cell. Though Cell did not take any significant damage from the assault, it managed to hold him at bay long enough for 16 and 18 to make their escape. Though Tenshinhan was exhausted nigh to the point of death (and soon fell unconscious), Cell decided to kill him anyway as retribution; before he could fire though, Goku intervened and teleported to their location using Shunkan Idō. Cell, wanting to fight Goku, flew towards him when he grabbed Piccolo. Before Cell could make contact, Goku used Shunkan Idō again, carrying an unconscious Tien and a barely alive Piccolo back to safety at Kami's Lookout.

Without anyone to oppose him, Cell continued his search for Android #18. He had begun to destroy islands where Android #18 could be taking shelter when Vegeta approached and challenged him. Cell was soon shocked to discover that Vegeta was significantly more powerful than his new body, as the fight was entirely one sided. Even after powering up, he was unable to injure the Saiyan, who now called himself Super Vegeta. Knowing that he was incapable of defeating Vegeta in a physical battle, Cell appealed to Vegeta's ego, stating that if he were in his perfect body he would be a much better challenge. Vegeta, wanting a stronger opponent, agreed to Cell's proposition. When Trunks refused to allow it, Cell called on Vegeta to remove him as an obstacle while he went after the recently discovered Android #18. Cell charged the Android with Trunks in hot pursuit until Vegeta kicked Trunks out of the way. Trunks retaliated by quickly blasting Vegeta and going after Cell again, but Cell was ready and used the Taiyoken to temporarily blind everyone long enough for him to absorb 18. Cell then put up an impenetrable barrier while he evolved yet again, this time to Perfect Cell.

[edit] Perfect Cell

Perfect Cell

Kuririn was enraged by Android #18's absorption and immediately attacked Cell.^[3] However, Cell barely registered the hit, and he "lightly" kicked Kuririn away, nearly killing him. Vegeta, unimpressed by the display, was eager to resume the battle, which Cell obliged. Cell merely toyed with Vegeta at the beginning, absorbing his attacks without any sign of damage; when he did strike back, the kick he delivered blew Vegeta away, smashing him into a rock formation. Vegeta then challenged Cell to take his next attack head on without dodging it and fired his ultimate attack, the Final Flash. Cell nearly takes the full brunt of the shot, vaporizing his entire upper left torso. Though Vegeta thought he was victorious, Cell proved otherwise;^[4] his cells from Freeza allowed him to survive and function with virtually any wound and those of Piccolo allowed him to regenerate from damage instantly. Almost immediately following the attack Cell regrew the destroyed area and was back. Vegeta now attacked in desperation, firing off dozens of Ki bolts, but Cell simply walked through it and with one swift combination of attacks incapacitated the Saiyan.

With Vegeta out of the picture, Trunks was free to fully power up without worrying about injuring his father's pride. He soon reached full power, and was apparently stronger than Cell; the downside was that the increased muscle mass drained his stamina quickly and made Trunks significantly slower as well: he could not land any hits on Cell. Cell chided Trunks, stating that simple brute force is worthless and quickly demonstrated that he too could increase his muscle size if he desired. At this point Trunks forfeited the match and was willing to allow Cell to kill him. Cell considered it, but decided not to after realizing how much more powerful Vegeta and Trunks had become in just a few days, and that Goku would be challenging him soon. He instead decided to hold a tournament in ten days, taking all challengers since he saw it would be a good way to test his new power. He also admits to Trunks that he has no interest in conquest--just entertainment, primarily through the fear of others.

Cell spent the next morning creating the arena where he would hold his tournament, the Cell Games, and then makes a live television broadcast of it to the world. He stated that he would take on as many challengers as there are and, if he is able to go through them all, he will then exterminate all life on the Earth. While at the arena waiting for the day of the competition to arrive Goku arrived briefly to check Cell's power level and they engaged in small talk. This is then followed by an attack by the Earth's army, but this proves hopeless as Cell, with a single gesture, destroys them all with a form of psychokinesis.

[edit] The Cell Games

Unexpectedly, the first challenger to arrive at the Cell Games was the relatively weak human Mr. Satan (winner of a Tenkaichi Budokai the Z-fighters did not enter) and challenged the android himself along with his students. Cell proves to be far superior to them as expected, and they are quickly disposed of. Vegeta is the first to arrive of the Z Fighters, and is soon followed by the rest.

Goku was the first Z warrior to challenge Cell: and after a bit of sparring as a warm up, Goku increases his Ki to maximum, which astounds the rest of the Z warriors. However, surprisingly, Goku's son Gohan expects more power from his father. After another bit of sparring, Cell forms a Kamehameha which threatened to destroy the Earth until Goku diverts it away from the Earth, and then returning to the ring using his Shunkan Idō, only to surprise Cell with an attack. Cell attacks with a flurry of ki blasts. After much fighting, Goku reaches his limit and nearly falls from the ring. Cell, being tired of being confined to a small area, destroys the ring and announces that the entire Earth is the ring now. Goku, desperate to end the conflict, forms a Chou Kamehameha while in the sky and makes Cell believe that he will fire the Chou Kamehameha, and risk the existence of the Earth in order to defeat Cell. Goku teleports at the last moment in a close proximity of Cell, and shoots the Kamehameha, blowing off Cell's head and upper body. Although Cell was able to regenerate from the attack due to Piccolo's regenerative ability, it left both him and Goku significantly weakened. Goku, with his power dropping fast from the massive blast, announced that he was forfeiting the match, and then asks Gohan to take his place because he knew that Gohan had no trouble following the fight between him and Cell. As the Z warriors watch in awe, Goku reveals to everyone that Gohan is the only one able to beat Cell. Wanting the fight to be fair, he gives Cell a Senzu Bean in order to recover from his energy loss.

Gohan challenged Cell, increasing his Ki to a point that rivaled even Goku's. Cell quickly launched a series of attacks on the young Super Saiyan, believing that he had finished Gohan when he had launched him through a mountain; he called on Goku to fight him once more. Goku points Gohan out to Cell, who emerges from the destroyed mountain practically unscathed. Gohan asks Cell to end the killing and tells him about his seemingly limitless dormant power that reveals itself whenever he goes berserk from rage. Cell is amused by this statement and decided to test it, attacking Gohan ruthlessly. When Cell fails to Get Gohan angry, he then decides to provoke Gohan by attacking the Z warriors and quickly swipes the Senzu Beans. Goku had not taken one before, leaving him weak and vulnerable to Cell. Android 16 launches a surprise attack on Cell, grabbing him and attempting self destruction. Kuririn informs Android 16 that his self destruction device was removed by Bulma when she and her father repaired him. Cell escaped from 16's grasp and proceeded to obliterate him with a single blast.

Two of the seven Cell Juniors

Cell then returned his attention on Gohan's friends and, instead of wasting energy and risking defeat by fighting them directly, he creates seven miniature versions of himself, which he calls the Cell Jr.'s. The Cell Jr.s, each nearly as strong as Cell himself, attack the Z Fighters, effortlessly beating all but Vegeta, Trunks and Piccolo. Gohan looks on in helpless despair, until the only part of 16 left in-tact (his head) reassures Gohan that sometimes words cannot reach people like Cell, and tells him to release his power to protect the Earth. Cell then crushes the head of Android 16. Finally pushed beyond his emotional limit, Gohan's inner power awakens, transforming him into a Super Saiyan 2.

Gohan snatched the stolen Senzu Beans from Cell, who could not see how Gohan had managed to do so. Gohan and then effortlessly annihilates the seven Cell Jr's. It is then revealed that Goku was aware of Gohan's superior abilities all along, and it is then realized by Piccolo that Goku used his own fight with Cell to give Gohan a preview of Cell's abilities, he never intended to beat Cell himself.

With the Z fighters out of harm's way, Gohan returns the Senzu Beans and then utterly dominates the evil android, severely injuring him with two simple hits, even after Cell increases his Ki to maximum. Attempting to make sense of this child's power that far exceeds his own, Cell fires a massive Kamehameha, knowing that if Gohan dodges it, it would destroy the Earth; to his surprise, Gohan easily counters it with a stronger Kamehameha, pushing the blast back and destroying a significant portion of Cell's body. Goku tells Gohan to finish Cell, but Gohan, still in a rage from his awakened power leaves Cell to suffer. As Goku predicted, Cell regenerates and out of frustration and rage, transforms into a state that maximizes power, just like the USSJ. Trunks makes note that it was the same mistake that Cell mocked him for when he had fought him as a USSJ. Gohan beats Cell so hard that he is forced to regurgitate Android 18, reverting back to his Semi-Perfect form. Left with no other options, Cell initiates his self-destruction sequence, pumping his body up with enough Ki to destroy the Earth. Gohan is unable to do anything, and Goku steps in. He teleports Cell to King Kai's planet where Cell explodes, killing all life on the planet, including Goku.

Because of Cell's organ that allows regeneration is miraculously unharmed, he regenerates, surprisingly to his perfect form. The organ (known as the "Nucleus") had stored the memory of Cell's perfect power, and regenerated to that form despite the loss of Androids 17 and 18. Also due to his Saiyan trait of extreme power increase after healing from injury, he was much stronger then his original Perfect Form, his power was increased to the point that he was seen with lightning sparks in his aura much like Gohan's Super Saiyan 2 state. To top things off, he absorbed Goku's cells and learned Shunkan Idō; with all these improvements he now considered himself Super Perfect Cell (Ultimate Perfection in the Funimation dub).

Cell in his Super Perfect Form

Cell used the Shunkan-ido to return to Earth just moments after his seeming death, announcing his presence by killing Trunks with a single shot. Vegeta, shocked by the death of his son, launched a furious assault on Cell; it was in vain though, as Cell was unaffected by the attack and quickly slammed Vegeta aside. Cell then attempted to finish Vegeta off with a second ki blast, but Gohan intervened and took the full force of it himself, as a result, breaking his left arm. Cell wasted no time after this and fired a massive Kamehameha at Gohan, hoping to destroy Gohan along with the planet. Gohan, with spiritual assistance from Goku, launches a counter Kamehameha with his right arm.(^[5]) Cell's only advantage is his two usable arms, and seems to be overwhelming Gohan-- but then he's hit in the head by a surprise blast from Vegeta. This minor attack distracts Cell long enough for Gohan to release his absolute full power, overwhelming Cell, destroying him and ending his reign of terror.

Trunks, after being brought back to life with the Dragon Balls, then returned to his alternate time-line and destroys the androids, and then he destroys the imperfect version of Cell, bringing peace back to his era.

[edit] Non-manga

[edit] Anime filler

Though Cell was gone, he still caused trouble in the Afterlife after being sent to Hell by Enma Daiō and striking up a partnership with Freeza, King Cold and the deceased Ginyu soldiers Gurd, Reacoom, Butta, and Jheese. Here, he was defeated along with his friends by Goku and Pikkon, and ultimately sentenced to the Afterlife Prison. He and the others are later shown watching Goku's battle with Majin Buu on a TV set in Hell.

[edit] Dragon Ball GT

In Dragon Ball GT, Cell makes another brief appearance in Hell. He and Freeza team up to try and kill Goku, but Goku is far too strong for them, eventually defeating them and escaping. He was last seen frozen by the coldest ice from Hell, broken in pieces by Goku and arrested by the Oni.

[edit] Video games

Cell after absorbing Kuririn.

Cell has made an impact in many Dragon Ball Z video games, mostly as a boss or high-end playable character. Though sometimes featured in only his Perfect form, the more recent games in the Budokai series see Cell in his Imperfect, Semi-Perfect, Perfect and Super Perfect (after absorbing Goku's cells) states as well. In addition, in the original game his bulky form from when he battled Gohan was accessible as a boss fight only.

In Dragon Ball Z: Budokai, Cell also has a nightmare during his wait for the Cell Games to start. In this nightmare, Cell succeeds in absorbing #17, but accidentally absorbs Kuririn who pushes #18 out of the way in time, resulting in what would look like a fusion between a Cell Jr. and Kuririn: Cellin, now with a diminutive body with Kuririn's characteristics and orange colors. With his power level taking a drastic drop, Cell is not able to defeat already tired Yamcha before being decimated by Tenshinhan's Kikoho. Then Cell wakes up in a start, seeing that he is still standing in his Cell Games Ring during the middle of the night. Relieved, Cell mutters "I guess ten days is just too long to wait for the tournament," referring to the Cell Games.

In the game's sequel, Cell and Freeza can be put under Babidi's influence á la Vegeta or Dabura, becoming Majins.

In Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 cell makes an appearance along side Freeza in the Fusion Reborn movie saga, even though he was absent in the movie itself.

Cell has appeared as a playable character in:

• Super Butôden 2 (Super Famicom)
• Dragon Ball Z: Hyper Dimension (Super Famicom)
• Dragon Ball Z: Buyuu Retsuden (Sega Mega Drive)
• Dragon Ball Z: Legendary Super Warriors (GBC)
• Dragon Ball Z: Collectible Card Game (GBA)
• Dragon Ball Z: Super Sonic Warriors (GBA)
• Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu (GBA)
• Dragon Ball Z: Super Sonic Warriors 2 (DS)
• Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai (PSP)
• Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai - Another Road (PSP)
• Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22 (PS1)
• Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout (PS1)
• Dragon Ball Z: Budokai (PS2 & GCN)
• Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 (PS2 & GCN)
• Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 (PS2)
• Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi (PS2)
• Battle Stadium D.O.N (PS2 & GCN)
• Super Dragon Ball Z (PS2 & arcade)
• Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 (PS2 & WII)
• Earth's Special Forces, a Dragon Ball Z mod for Halflife

Cell appears as an enemy in:

• Dragon Ball Z: Sagas (PS2, GCN, and Xbox)
• Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II (GBA)

[edit] Special abilities

His absorption abilities aside, Cell does not possess any unique techniques of his own. Instead he has the abilities of those whose cells make up his body from the time when the samples were taken from them. Goku, Piccolo, Nappa and Vegeta had their cells taken during Vegeta's invasion of Earth, while Freeza and King Cold had theirs taken when they invaded during the Trunks Saga later.

Among the abilities Cell demonstrated are:

• Barrier: An impenetrable shield Cell places around himself to protect him from attacks. It was most likely taken from Android #17 after Cell absorbed him, though his special barrier could be a technique programmed directly by Gero.
• Bukujutsu: The ability to fly, taken from any of the cell samples.
• Chonoryoku: Cell can lift objects of large proportionate sizes into the air with his mind and controlling the use of his hand(s). Likely taken from Freeza.
• Freeza Beam: A laser-like projectile which travels very quickly. Also known as Death Beam/Finger Beam. Taken from Freeza.
• Genki Dama (Spirit Bomb): Cell never uses this technique, though he states that he can use it if he wished. This is likely a bluff, as one must be pure of heart to perform the attack(Cell is pure evil, however, that is a "purity of heart" in and of itself). This is Cell's ultimate attack in the Budokai video game series ("Alright, planet! Give me that stupid energy!")
• Kamehameha: A powerful ki wave attack and trademark technique of the Dragon Ball series. Taken from Goku.
• Kikoho Blast of rectangle shaped energy. Taken from Tenshinhan (Anime only.
• Mankankosappo A powerful thin beam of energy. Taken from Piccolo (Anime only).
• Sai Sei: The Namekian ability to regenerate damage to the body. Taken from Piccolo.
• Shunkan Idō (Instant Transmission): The ability to instantly teleport virtually anywhere. Taken from Goku after Cell's self destruction.
• Taiyōken (Solar Flare): An extremely bright light which can temporarily blind opponents in near proximity. Taken from Goku.
• Zanzōken (After Image): The ability to move extremely fast over short distances, leaving an image behind. Likely taken from any one of Goku, Piccolo, or Freeza.

• From his Saiyan samples, Cell has the ability to become more powerful after recovering from severe injuries. It is never shown (or implied) that he has their ability to transform into an Oozaru (he does not possess a Saiyan tail, a necessary component in the Oozaru transformation) or access the Super Saiyan states. (However his Perfect Form usually showed his aura similar to that of a Super Saiyan. A possible indication that his evolution upgrades his Saiyan cells, and his Super Perfect Form bears a striking resemblance to Super Saiyan 2, namely its constant aura and lightning sparking around its body).

• Cell has Freeza's capability of surviving in outer space), living through the most terrible of wounds, and to change his form (demonstrated when he reverted to an egg and potentially by his evolving body). He also gained Freeza's telekinesis.

• Though he has Piccolo's regenerative ability, Cell is never shown to use Piccolo's demonstrated body distorting abilities, such as extending his limbs to great lengths or growing his entire body to massive proportions. He also never shows any of the more magical abilities of Piccolo, such as creating objects out of thin air. It is likely that Cell's asexual reproductive capability in spawning the Cell Junior's is taken from Piccolo's Namekian physiology.

[edit] Notes

[edit] See also

• Dragon Ball alternate timelines
• Jinzō'ningen (Dragon Ball)