Cell (Japanese: セル, Seru) is a fictional character and second major villain in Dragon Ball Z.

He first appears in chapter #361 The Mysterious Monster, Finally Appears!! (謎の怪物、ついに出現!! Nazo no Kaibutsu, Tsui ni Shutsugen!!) first published in Weekly Shōnen Jump on March 2, 1992. Cell is an evil artificial life form, created using cells from several of the main characters in the series, that travels back in time so he can become the perfect warrior. In order to do this, he must absorb Androids #17 and #18.

Physical Appearance 
In his "Imperfect" form, Cell walks fully upright on two legs (unlike his "larval" form). His facial features have not yet fully complete and he still retains an orifice-like mouth rather than normal human-like features seen in later forms. The two sections of his head go off in a V-shape. Cell has orange color parts near his abdominal area, the back of his head, and even near the area where gentials would be found. He has two wings which are both green with black spots.He has three fingers in the manga, but five fingers and three toes (just as similar as Frieza and King Cold) in the anime. He has a tail like Frieza and King Cold, but also has a stinger on the end of it. He has black sections as well near his abdominal area, in the middle between the two sections on his head, and even the black part of the opposite side of his tail. He even has visible veins in both of his arms, legs, and even some in the joints in his upper body. His eyes are pink (blue in the manga colored pages) with thin reptilian slits.

In his "Semi-Perfect" form, Cell's wings disappear, and he becomes much more humanoid, he also becomes quite a bit more muscular. While the nose is not yet fully formed, he now has an actual mouth. The two sections of his head now go straight into the air. In this form, he is taller. His tail is longer and slightly thicker than before, and comes from his back, as well as becoming orange and black. His voice is deeper than his first form. The back of his head and the black section on his forehead are now formed together as a ball in between the two sections on his head. His lips are now the color pink, and the black sections above his lips look like a mustache (but it's part of his skin). He now has light blue eyes in this form (a result of absorbing Android 17). He even has boot-like feet in this form and metal-like plates all around both of his ankles. He has the same shape of ears as Frieza's, except that his have an orange line that goes down to the chin and to both sides of the ears. His wings retreat completely into his back. In his self-destruction form, Semi-Perfect Cell bloats himself, his belly greatly expanding in size. He also claimed that his bloated appearance was unstable, and that a single touch may set him off when dissuading Gohan from trying to stop him.

In his "Perfect" form, Cell becomes much more humanoid and more intelligent, complete with both a fully-formed nose and mouth. His tail is retracted and now used to create Cell Jr's. He is also smaller than in his previous form. His wings have grown back and now are shaded black. His body is colored light-green with black spots and has black plates located on his shoulders and chest, and the plates on his ankles as well as the previously orange section near his groin are now shaded black. His skin is now pale all in his face, neck and hands, he now has purple lines in both sides of his cheeks, similar to Frieza in his first three forms, and the orange line across his ears and chin is now changed into a yellow color. His eyes are now pink, and his blue veins are now purple. 
 
Dragon Ball characters
Fictional characters introduced in 1992