Cell (Dragon Ball)

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Cell
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Japanese	セル
Romaji	Seru
Anime Name	Cell
Manga Name	Cell
Alternate Name(s)	Imperfect Cell Semi-Perfect Cell Perfect Cell Super Perfect Cell
Canon to	Original Manga
First Appearance	Issue #30 (DBZ Issue #14)
Appears in	Template:Appears in:DBZ, DBGT
Race	Bio Android
Family Connections Doctor Gero (creator) Android 16 (brother) Android 17 (brother) Android 18 (sister) Android 19 (brother) Cell Juniors (children)
DB Character Listing - Category

Cell is a fictional character in the manga Dragon Ball/Dragon Ball Z and the animes Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT. He is the product of Doctor Gero's creative mind, designed to have all the abilities of the greatest fighters known, including cells from Son Goku, Piccolo, Vegeta, Freeza, and King ColdTemplate:Ref.

Dr. Gero designed Cell 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 beingTemplate:Ref.

Contents 1 Imperfect Cell 2 Semi-Perfect Cell 3 Perfect Cell 4 The Cell Games 5 Non-manga canon 5.1 Anime filler 5.2 Dragon Ball GT 5.3 Video games 6 Special abilities 7 Notes 8 See also 9 External links

Imperfect Cell

When Cell was first awakened in his timeline, both Android 17 and Android 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 kills Trunks and steal his time machine, going back in time to the date set by Trunks in the "standard" timeline when both androids were still functional. 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. His first actions were then to exterminate several towns, absorbing the human inhabitants within. After completing his feeding on the humans in Ginger Town, Cell was confronted by Piccolo and a battle between them began. Though Cell was surprised at Piccolo's level of power, not knowing of his merger with Nail and Kami, he still managed to best him with a Kamehameha followed by a quick sneak attack where he was able to latch unto Piccolo and sting him in the arm, rendering the limb useless. Thinking that Piccolo was beaten, he explained to the Namekian who he was, and how and why he had come back in time. Piccolo, having feigned his weakness to get Cell to talk, then regenerated his arm and revealed that he had merged with Kami. At this time 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 Taiyoken to temporarily blind his opponents and escape.

Image:Cell Rears Back.jpg 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 normal (current/this) 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; with a few quick blows he had managed to knock him down and was preparing to absorb him when Piccolo suddenly kicked 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. Cell quickly repelled the attack and knocked 17 back down when Piccolo again assaulted him; this time though, Cell was prepared and was able to counter, sending Piccolo reeling. In desperation, Piccolo used his Gekiretsukodan, destroying the island they were fighting on; Cell managed to avoid being damaged by the attack and again countered, this time seemingly killing Piccolo by snapping his neck and blasting a hole through his side.

With Piccolo out of the way, Cell was able to attack 17 again, quickly bringing him down with a swift punch and elbow. He had almost absorbed him when Android 16 got involved, landing a fierce punch that sent him reeling. 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. He and 16 then proceeded to charge each other and Cell managed to stab 16 in the neck; a futile attack as 16 was fully robotic and could not therefore be absorbed. In retaliation 16 used Cell's tail to slam him into the ground and then ripped it off, thinking it would prevent Cell from being able to absorb the other androids. Cell regenerated his tail though and the battle between the two continued. Android 16 pulled off a powerful combination of attacks, throwing Cell under the ground and then blasting the area, leaving Cell injured. Android 17, wanting to finish Cell off himself, remained on the island during the battle. Cell used this opportunity to burst out of the ground directly behind 17 and quickly absorbed him, evolving into Semi-Perfect Cell.

Semi-Perfect Cell

Image:Semi-perfect cell.jpg 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 himself (using the Instantaneous Movement technique), an unconscious Tien and a barely alive Piccolo back to 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.

Perfect Cell

Image:Prefect cell.jpg Kuririn was enraged by Android 18's absorption and immediately attacked Cell.Template:Ref 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 takes the full brunt of the shot, vaporizing his entire upper left torso. Though Vegeta thought he was victorious, Cell proved otherwiseTemplate:Ref; 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, and now stronger due in part to his saiyan blood. 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, by Cell's admittance, was significantly stronger; 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 has 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 it to be 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.

The Cell Games

Unexpectedly, the first challenger to arrive at the Cell Games was the relatively weak human Mr. Satan (relatively weak in contrast to humans such as Kuririn, Yamcha, and Tien, that is) who arrogantly boasted that Cell has no chance and taunted him. This was soon followed by the arrival of Vegeta, then a repaired Android 16, then the rest of the Z Fighters. Mr. Satan insisted on going first against Cell, and began the match with a demonstration of strength, shattering fourteen out of fifteen roof tiles in one stroke. Mr. Satan then launches a flurry of attacks against Cell, but they do nothing and Cell ignores it for a bit until he loses patience and swats Mr. Satan well out of the ring.

Image:Point Blank Kamehameha after Instant Transmission.jpg It was then Goku then stepped up to challenge Cell; they started of the battle fast and, after a bit of sparring, both agreed to start fighting seriously. Goku and Cell each charge up, both of them shocking all the other observers, save Goku's son Gohan, with their power. Goku then struck first, drawing blood from Cell and exciting him at the prospect of a good match. Cell retaliated with a Kamehameha which threatened to destroy the Earth until Goku leaps into the air, diverting it skywards; Goku dodges the attack with his Shunkanido (Instant Transmission) ability, appearing directly behind Cell and knocking him down. Cell then retaliates with a flurry of attacks and, amused by the fight, destroyed the arena so that no one can be disqualified by falling out of the ring; it was now a battle to submission or death. They continue the battle until Goku charged a Kamehameha of his own while above Cell. Cell initially doesn't believe Goku will fire as the blast would destroy the Earth; instead Goku teleports at the last second to appear directly in front of Cell and fires the blast at point-blank range, destroying Cell's entire upper torso. Although Cell was able to regenerate from the attackTemplate:Ref, it left both him and Goku significantly weakened. Goku soon after announced that he was giving up in order to let Gohan fight instead and gave Cell a Senzu bean in order to recover so the fight would be fair.

Gohan stepped up to challenge Cell, powering up to levels that Cell found surprising, but not threatening. Cell quickly launched a series of attacks on the young Saiyan ending by blasting him away into a rock formation; he called on Goku to fight him again until he saw Gohan emerge from the rocks virtually unscathed. Gohan asks Cell to end the fighting and tells him that he fears the repercussions if he gets angry; that he'll become immensely powerful and lose control. Cell is amused by this statement and decided to test it, attacking Gohan ruthlessly; though Gohan retaliates, he doesn't become angry. Cell continues pressing the assault, managing to grab Gohan in a bear hug and squeezing painfully. When that fails, he then decides to provoke Gohan by attacking his friends and quickly swipes the Senzu beans; Gohan protests this, but is brushed aside. At this point, Cell is grabbed from behind by Android 16 who grasps him tightly and attempts to activate his self-destruct mechanism; Kuririn then informs him that it was removed by Bulma and her father when they repaired him as they didn't trust such a device. Cell escaped from 16's grasp and proceeded to obliterate him with a single blast, leaving only his head intact which he punted away.

Image:Cell Jr.jpg Cell then returned his attention on Gohan's friends and, instead of attacking himself, created seven offspring, which looked like five-year old blue versions of himself, to do it for himTemplate:Ref. They soon attacked the Z Fighters savagely, quickly beating all but Vegeta and Trunks. Gohan looked on with despair until Android 16's head, thrown by Mr. Satan, reassures Gohan that fighting is alright when there are no other options. Cell then crushed what remained of Android 16, finally pushing Gohan to release his rage and unlock his massive power, powering him up to Super Saiyan 2.

Gohan first took the senzu back from Cell, then destroyed each of the Cell Juniors in one blowTemplate:Ref and gave the senzu to the Z Fighters. Cell, thinking that the fight is finally going to get interesting, powered up fully and attacked Gohan, but it had no effect. Gohan then struck Cell several times, causing him heavy damage. Attempting to take back the initiative, Cell lept in the air and fired a massive Kamehameha, knowing that if Gohan dodges it, it would destroy the Earth; to his surprise, Gohan easily countered it with another, larger, Kamehameha, pushing the blast back and destroying a significant portion of Cell's body. His father asks him to finish Cell now, as there's no telling what the creature might do out of desperation. But Gohan, wanting Cell to suffer, was in no rush to destroy him and allowed Cell to regenerate the damage. Cell grew furious and bulked up his muscles in an attempt to use brute force to defeat Gohan, the same mistake Trunks made against him earlier.Template:Ref Gohan easily evaded his initial attacks and countered with a kick so fierce that Cell vomited up Android 18 and reverted to his earlier, Semi-Perfect form.

Left with no other options, Cell pulled his final card and initiated his self-destruct. Blowing up like a giant balloon, he intended to suicide, but would take the Earth and all his opponents with him; he could also avoid direct defeat in this state, as the slightest attack would simply cause him to explode early. His plan was thwarted by Goku though, who used his Shunkan-ido to teleport himself and Cell to the planet of North Kaio.

Cell did not die from his self-destruction though, as the small surviving nucleus in his head which enables his regeneratation was miraculously unharmed. Utilizing Freeza's ability to survive in any state, he was able to quickly grow back to his former self; his body, being newly built, was able to grow right away into its perfect form, despite the loss of Android 18. With his Saiyan heritage, Cell also underwent a massive powerup from the severe injury, to the point that he was seen with lightning in his aura much like Gohan's Super Saiyan 2 state. To top things off, he absorbed Goku's cells and learned Shunkan-ido; with all these improvements he now considered himself Super Perfect Cell.

Image:PerfectCell.jpg 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, causing severe damage to his 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 one hand and an enormous beam struggle ensues.Template:Ref Cell presses his advantage - and seems to be on the verge of winning - when he's hit in the head by a surprise blast from Vegeta; though it doesn't seem to do any real damage, it distracts him long enough for Gohan to release everything he has in one final burst, overwhelming Cell and utterly destroying him.

Trunks then returned to his alternate timeline and destroyed the androids. Three years later he was ready for Cell, knowing about the creatures plan to kill him and take his time machine to the past. He quickly pushed Cell out of the city to prevent damage and eradicated him, bringing peace back to his era.

Non-manga canon

Anime filler

Though Cell was gone, he still caused trouble in the Afterlife after being sent to the hell by King Yemma and striking up a partnership with Freeza, King Cold and the deceased Ginyu soldiers Guldo, Jeice, Burter and Recoome. 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.

Dragon Ball GT

In Dragonball GT, Cell makes a 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 Piccolo.

Video games

Image:Cell kuririn 2.jpgCell 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, and Super-Perfect (Power-Weighted) states as well. In addition, in the original game his USSJ form where he battles Gohan was accessible as a boss fight only.

In Dragonball 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 Cell and Kuririn: Cellin, now with a diminuitive body with Kuririn's characteristics and orange colours. With his power level taking a drastic drop, Cell is hardly able to defeat Yamcha before being decimated by the stronger Tien. 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 ala Vegeta or Dabura, becoming Majins.

When Cell uses the Genki Dama in the games, he states "Okay, planet. Give me that stupid energy!".

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 later.

Among the abilities Cell demonstrated are:

• Bukuu Jutsu: The ability to fly, taken from all of the samples.
• Genki Dama: The ability to gather ki from all living things into a massive energy ball. Taken from Goku. Cell never actually uses this ability, but states that he could use it if he wanted.
• Freeza Beam: A laser-like projectile which travels very quickly. Also known as Death Beam/Finger Beam. Taken from Freeza.
• Kamehameha: A powerful ki attack. Taken from Goku.
• Sai sei: The Namekian ability to regenerate damage to the body.
• Shunkan Ido: The ability to instantly teleport virtually anywhere. Taken from Goku, but only after his self destruction.
• Taiyoken: An extremely bright light which can blind opponents in near proximity. Taken from Goku.
• Psychokinesis: Cell can lift large objects into the air with his mind. Likely taken from Freeza.
• Zanzoken: The ability to move extremely fast over short distances, leaving an image behind. Taken from Goku and / or Piccolo.

Additionally, Cell has the Saiyans' ability to become more powerful after recovering from severe injuries. He also has Freeza's abilities to survive in any environment (including space), the most terrible of wounds, and change his form (demonstrated when he reverted to an egg form and potentially by his evolving body).

It can be safely assumed that Cell possesses all of Freeza's demonstrated techniques. With regards to Piccolo and the Saiyans, it is unknown how much of their abilities he can use: he is never shown with the ability to stretch his limbs, greatly enlarge his body size or use any of the Namekian's more magical abilities; it is also never shown if Cell can use his tail to transform by the light of the full moon in a manner similar to Saiyans.

In the anime, Cell uses several additional techniques, including Freeza's Kienzan, Tien's Shishin No Ken and Vegeta's Galick Gun. The Cell Juniors are also shown using Piccolo's Makankosappo, Kuririn's Kienzan, and Tien's Kikoho.

Notes

See also

• Dragonball Z: Androids timelines
• Jinzō'ningen (Dragon Ball)

External links

• Daizenshuu EX - In-depth info of Cell's appearances in the Dragon Ball universe and a guide to his various transformations (see "Transformation Guide" among others).es:Cell (Dragon Ball)

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