Cell (Dragon Ball)

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Cell's three forms as seen in the anime; Imperfect (left), Semi-Perfect (right) and Perfect (middle). Dragon Ball chapter 361: "The Mysterious Monster, Finally Appears!!" First (1993) appearance Akira Toriyama Created by Japanese Norio Wakamoto[1][2] English Voiced by Dameon Clarke (Funimation)[3] Dale Wilson (Ocean)[4] Travis Willingham (Dragon Ball: Raging Blast and Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2) Profile Bio-organic android Species Doctor Gero (creator) Goku (partial template) Vegeta (partial template) Piccolo (partial template) Freeza (partial template) Relatives King Cold (partial template) Android #17 (assimilate) Android #18 (assimilate) Cell Juniors (offspring) Cell ( Seru?) is a fictional character in the Dragon Ball manga series created by Akira Toriyama. He makes his debut in chapter #361 The Mysterious Monster, Finally Appears!! (!! Nazo no Kaibutsu, Tsui ni Shutsugen!!?) first published in Weekly Shnen Jump on February 24, 1993.[5] Cell is an artificial life form created using cells from several of the main characters in the series. During the course of his appearance, he undergoes several transformations that require him to absorb Androids #17 and #18.

Contents

1 Creation and conception 2 Personality

3 Appearances o 3.1 Dragon Ball o 3.2 In other media 4 Reception 5 References

Creation and conception

After Kazuhiko Torishima, Toriyama's former editor during Dr. Slump and early Dragon Ball, expressed dissatisfaction with first Androids #19 and #20 and (later) Androids #17 and #18 as villains, Toriyama finally came up with Cell.[6][7] Toriyama has stated some kind of regret regarding the design of Cell, as it was tedious to draw all the little spots on his body.[7] In addition, he did not initially plan for the character to be able to transform, but give him this ability after his then-current editor Y Kond described Cell as "looking ugly".[6] Cell originally evolves from a cicada-like form into his Imperfect Cell ( Fukanzentai Seru?) form, which is still insect-like in appearance. Both his first form and his second Semi-Perfect Cell ( Hankanzentai Seru?) form have a long tail that ends in a stinger-like appendage and allows it to absorb other organisms. The tail recedes under his wings in his final Perfect Cell ( Kanzentai Seru?) form, although he uses it to spawn Cell Juniors ( Seru Junia?), minuscule childlike versions of himself.

Personality
Cell displays a number of traits shared by those whose cells he possesses; Piccolo's cunning, Vegeta's pride, Goku's laid-back disposition, Frieza's smugness, and the Saiyan lust for battle. He is also shown calm and genuinely polite in this Perfect form. Cell's personality changes drastically throughout the Androids Arc. He is unique among most villains of the series in that he is quite sophisticated. As his evolution proceeds, he can be observed as having a more patient and calculating approach towards his goals. Because of his genetic composition from other warriors, he is able to psychologically manipulate those warriors and exploit their weaknesses to his advantage. With each transformation, Cell's personality undergoes a drastic change. Initially, Cell is completely single-minded in pursuit of his goals and at first, Cell's desire was to complete his evolution by absorbing both Android 17 and Android 18 is what fuels him. Upon reaching his first transformation, he becomes far more brash and impulsive in his actions. Upon reaching his final form, which he thought was 'perfection', his eagerness to test the limits of his new-found power is what defines his character. Perhaps Cell's most distinguishable trait in this form is his uninhibited vanity, which he shamelessly puts on display by launching the Cell Games, a tournament organized for the sole purpose of showing off his new-found power. It can also be seen during Cell's confrontation with Gohan when he affirms his true purpose: the annihilation of anything he considers imperfect, a category in which he places everyone and everything but himself. In the English manga, Cell is referred to as "it", 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.

Appearances

Dragon Ball
Cell is an artificial life form created by Doctor Gero's computer from cells of different warriors, possessing the genetic information of the Saiyans (Goku and Vegeta), Piccolo, Freeza and King Cold in an underground complex below Gero's secret research laboratory. Cell's design is to evolve into the perfect being which can be achieved only by absorbing Androids #17 and #18. But in the alternate future he is from, the two Androids were deactivated. After he kills the Trunks from his timeline, Cell regresses into an egg while using Trunks's time machine to travel back four years before the Androids appeared.[8] After hatching and metamorphosis into an insect-like humanoid referred to as Imperfect Cell, Cell kills off various people and absorbs them to increase his power in preparation to absorb the Androids.[9] Though originally a match for the regular untrained Super Saiyan, Cell is unable to defeat Piccolo. After he manages to absorb the energy of more than 600,000 people, Cell defeats Piccolo before he finds and absorbs Android #17 to evolve into a large and more human-like form referred to as Semi-Perfect Cell. However, Cell quickly gets beaten by Vegeta. But after absorbing Android #18 regardless of interference, Cell assumes his more human-like Perfect Cell. After quickly defeating Vegeta, Cell fights Trunks but defeats him as well. Wanting to test his abilities and enjoying the fear he causes in others, Cell decides to hold his own fighting tournament known as the Cell Games to find a worthy opponent to face him intending to destroy Earth when he wins. In the first round, he fights Goku. Although Goku puts up a decent struggle, he quits upon realizing Cell is stronger than him. Cell is then pitted against Gohan to his surprise. Though Gohan puts up a good fight, Cell takes the upper hand quickly due to Gohan's general dislike of hurting others, no matter how evil they are. Gohan warns Cell that if he is pushed too far, he will lose control of his power and likely kill him with no remorse, but Cell decides to make Gohan angry by shattering Android 16 to pieces and setting a group of Cell Juniors on the rest of the fighters. Gohan's rage begins to swell, and when Cell mercilessly steps on Android #16's head, Gohan transforms into a Super Saiyan 2 and overwhelms the Cell Juniors and Cell himself who ultimately takes so much damage that he regurgitates #18 and reverts to his previous form. In desperation, Cell tries to self-destruct against the Earth, but Goku sacrifices himself to ensure that Cell self-destructs elsewhere. Cell, however, returns to his Perfect Form after realizing that the genetics of Saiyans and Namekians have made him nearly immortal with the ability to reach further perfection as he tries to destroy the world and find stronger opponents elsewhere in the universe. Luckily, Gohan, with Goku aiding in spirit, manages to destroy Cell once and for all after a climactic Kamehameha struggle. Once Trunks returns to his future timeline and destroys Androids #17 and #18, he is confronted by the Cell of his timeline, planning to kill Trunks and steal his time machine to travel to a time when the androids still exist. After asking questions about how Trunks knows about him, the two fight. Trunks quickly becomes a Super Saiyan and effortlessly defeats Cell, ending his reign of terror for good and finally bringing peace to his future.