Android 17 is the cyborg Dr. Gero built alongside his twin sister Android 18, and the first thing he does after waking up is kill his creator. He debuts in chapter 349 of the manga, in November 1991, as a cocky teenager who treats the hunt for Goku like a game. Decades later, in Dragon Ball Super, he becomes the last fighter standing in the Tournament of Power.
Who he is
Before he ended up in Gero's lab, 17 was a human boy named Lapis: Toriyama revealed it in 2014, along with his sister's name, Lazuli. His body remains largely organic, enhanced down to the cellular level and powered by a reactor that gives him infinite energy. His personality is that of a rebellious teen: childish, self-assured and allergic to orders.
Gero only wakes the twins up as a last resort. What the scientist never tells anyone is that their true purpose is to be absorbed by Cell. Like his sister, 17 exists because editor Kazuhiko Torishima was not convinced by Androids 19 and 20 as the arc's villains.
His story across the series
- Dragon Ball Z: activated by Gero together with 18, he smashes the remote that could shut him down and kills the scientist. With his sister and Android 16 he sets out to find Goku, beating several of his friends along the way. Cell absorbs him and becomes semi-perfect; 17 dies when the monster self-destructs and is brought back by the Dragon Balls. In Future Trunks' timeline, by contrast, he and 18 ravage Earth for years until Trunks destroys them.
- Dragon Ball GT: Dr. Gero and Dr. Myuu build a clone of him that tears open a passage between Earth and Hell. The real 17, manipulated, kills Krillin and merges with the clone into Super 17, who holds his own even against Super Saiyan 4 Goku. From inside the fusion, however, the original 17 telepathically tells Goku where to strike.
- Dragon Ball Super: we learn that he has started a family and works as a ranger on an island, protecting its animals from poachers. He agrees to join the Tournament of Power only if someone guards the island while he is gone. When Goku, Frieza and Jiren eliminate one another, he is the last one left in the ring: Universe 7 wins, and 17 uses the Super Dragon Balls to restore every universe that had been erased. Later he also defends Earth against Moro's army.
Powers and abilities
Android 17 flies, fires energy blasts and, above all, never gets tired, which makes him formidable in long fights. He can raise energy barriers to repel attacks. In Super he proves to be stronger than a Super Saiyan 2, despite never being anything more than an enhanced human.
| Version | Where | Fate |
|---|---|---|
| Present-day 17 | Android and Cell sagas (Z) | Absorbed by Cell, later revived |
| Future 17 | Trunks' timeline | Destroyed by Trunks |
| Super 17 | Dragon Ball GT | Defeated by Super Saiyan 4 Goku |
| Ranger 17 | Dragon Ball Super | Wins the Tournament of Power |
Relationships
- Android 18 is his twin: they always have each other's back, and in the Tournament of Power she sacrifices herself to keep him in the fight.
- Dr. Gero is the creator 17 eliminates without a second thought.
- Goku is the man he was built to kill and, years later, fights alongside.
- Krillin is his brother-in-law, even if in GT he ends up as 17's victim.
Why he matters: our take
Android 17 is the most striking example of a character rescued years after the fact. In the Cell saga he was mostly a charismatic villain with a cruel fate: absorbed, used up, forgotten. GT treats him as a tool of Gero, without much care. It is Super that finally gives him meaning: a man who chose a life away from fighting, protects defenseless creatures and wins the biggest tournament in the series without being a Saiyan.
His Tournament of Power victory is a bold choice. Instead of letting Goku triumph, the story rewards a fighter who wins through cool heads, strategy and selflessness, and his final wish closes the arc in the most generous way possible.
Did you know? Put the twins' human names together and you get the gemstone lapis lazuli: Lapis and Lazuli.
Trivia
- He is voiced by Shigeru Nakahara in all Japanese media.
- In Funimation's English dub he is voiced by Chuck Huber, who considers 17 his biggest role and has fondly described the character as a "giant jerk".
- In GT the fusion with his clone makes him the main villain of an entire story arc, the one named after Super 17.