Cell is the bio-android created by Dr. Gero's computer, the last and most ambitious Red Ribbon Army project for revenge on Goku. He appears in chapter 361 of the manga, in February 1992, and he is the villain who forces Gohan, still a child, to become the hero of the saga.
Who he is
Cell is an artificial being built by combining the DNA of the strongest fighters in the universe: Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Frieza and Frieza's father, King Cold. That gives him all of their gifts. He regenerates like a Namekian, grows stronger after nearly dying like a Saiyan and knows their techniques.
The Cell who confronts the heroes comes from the future. In Trunks's timeline he awakens after the androids have already been destroyed, kills Trunks, steals his time machine and travels a few years back in the form of an egg. His goal is to absorb Android 17 and Android 18 and become a perfect being.
Toriyama created him after his former editor Kazuhiko Torishima said he was unhappy with the androids as villains. The author later admitted he regretted all the little spots on Cell's body, which were tedious to draw.
His story across the series
- Dragon Ball Z: from a cicada-like larva he moults into his imperfect form and spreads terror by draining thousands of people through his tail. Absorbing Android 17 makes him semi-perfect; then Vegeta, out of pride, lets him absorb Android 18 and Cell reaches his perfect form. Instead of destroying Earth straight away, he stages a tournament, the Cell Games. Goku forfeits and hands over to Gohan; when Cell tries to self-destruct, Goku teleports with him to King Kai's planet and dies. Cell regenerates anyway, kills Trunks and is finally wiped out by Gohan's Kamehameha, with his father's spirit backing him. In the future, that timeline's Cell is dispatched by Trunks.
- Dragon Ball Super: the original Cell does not return, but in the 2022 film Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero the revived Red Ribbon Army uses his blueprints to build Cell Max, which lacks the ability to regenerate.
- Dragon Ball GT: he shows up in Hell alongside Frieza.
Powers, techniques and transformations
| Form | How he gets it |
|---|---|
| Larva | Born in Dr. Gero's underground lab |
| Imperfect form | After moulting; absorbs humans |
| Semi-Perfect | Absorbs Android 17 |
| Perfect | Absorbs Android 18 |
| Super Perfect | Regenerates after self-destructing, stronger than before |
Thanks to his DNA he knows the techniques of the fighters he was made from, such as the Kamehameha and the Solar Flare, and after regenerating he also uses Goku's Instant Transmission. He has telepathy and telekinesis and can spawn small copies of himself, the Cell Juniors.
Relationships
- Gohan is the opponent Cell deliberately provokes to unleash his hidden power, and the one who destroys him.
- Goku is the warrior Cell wants to beat, and who sacrifices himself to contain his explosion.
- Vegeta clears his path to perfection just for the thrill of facing him at full strength.
- Trunks from the future is his first victim and, in his own timeline, his executioner.
Why he is iconic: our take
Cell is a different kind of villain from Frieza: he does not want an empire, he wants a test. He is vain, theatrical and convinced of his own perfection, and he turns the end of the world into a televised show. That hunger for a good fight makes him a twisted mirror of the Saiyans.
His saga is also the one that introduces time travel and alternate timelines, an idea Super would revisit with Goku Black. The Cell Games remain one of Dragon Ball's high points because they shift the centre of the story from Goku to his son.
Did you know? Norio Wakamoto has said he changed his voice for each form: raspy and monstrous at first, softer for the second, until the perfect form let him perform comfortably.
Trivia
- His name is simply the English word cell, a direct nod to how he was made.
- The Cell Games borrow the format of the World Martial Arts Tournament, but with a ring Cell builds himself and the fate of Earth at stake.
- In Funimation's English dub he is voiced by Dameon Clarke, who based Perfect Cell on Terence Stamp's General Zod in Superman II.