Cell

**Cell** (セル '**Seru'**) is the ultimate creation of Dr. Gero, who came from a future timeline, designed to possess all the abilities of the greatest fighters to have ever inhabited or visited Earth; the result was a "perfect warrior", possessing numerous favorable genetic traits and special abilities. He was one of the few Red Ribbon Androids not directly completed by Dr. Gero; he was completed by Dr. Gero's Supercomputer. He is the main antagonist of the Imperfect Cell Saga, Perfect Cell Saga, and Cell Games Saga.

## Appearance

In his Imperfect form, unlike his larval form, Cell walks fully upright on two legs. His facial features have not yet fully developed, and he still retains an orifice-like mouth (which generally obscures four sharp teeth, as revealed in "Silent Warrior"), rather than traditional human-like features seen in later forms. The two sections of his head shoot off in a V-shape resembling a boomerang-shape, rather than nearly straight upward, as in the next two forms. Cell is later shown using the power he absorbed from his victims by having a golden aurawith the appearance of wailing souls. Cell has orange color parts near his abdominal area, the back of his head, and even near his groin area. He has two wings which are both emerald green with black spots. He has an emerald green and lime green mix all over his exoskeleton (including head, arms, legs, tail and hands) along 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 has a stinger included at 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 azure 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-like slits.

In his Semi-Perfect form after absorbing Android 17, Cell's wings disappear, and he becomes much more humanoid, he also becomes quite a bit more muscular. His exoskeleton is still emerald green and lime green with black spots from his previous form, but now has black plates on the arms and legs and the black spots on his hands are completely gone. While the nose is not yet fully formed (as it is in the next stage), he now has an actual mouth. The two jutting sections of his head now go straight into the air. In this form, he is at his 2nd largest (next to his Power weighted form) with his height being one and a half times that of Vegeta. His tail is longer and slightly thicker than before, and protrudes from his back, as well as becoming segmented orange and black instead of emerald green and black from his previous form. His voice is deeper than his previous 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 (except it is part of his skin). He now has light blue eyes in this form (a direct 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 regress 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.

Cell becomes much more humanoid in his Perfect form after absorbing Android 18, complete with both a fully-formed nose and mouth. His tail is retracted and now used for the creation of Cell Jrs, although it is shown in various media that he can still extend it from his back and absorb other people (as seen in *Dragon Ball GT* and *Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai*). Along with his previous two forms, Cell can transform into a Super Saiyan. He is also smaller than in his previous form, being roughly about Piccolo's height, although this still means he towers over characters like Goku and Vegeta. His wings have grown back and now are shaded black. His exoskeleton (including the abdominal area and arms) is now colored light-green with dark green 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. He also retains the boot-like feet from his previous form. 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. In his Super Perfect state, Cell's appearance is identical to his Perfect form. Nonetheless, his power increases exponentially. His aura crackles with surges of blue electricity, much like a Super Saiyan 2. In the video game *Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2*, Super Perfect Cell's intense energy flow makes his carapace glow a lighter shade of green.

## Personality

— "Save the World"

Cell has an original personality, with various other characters' personality traits added in; Gero's computer redesigned the weak aspects of the original personality, adding in the personalities of various different characters to make him the perfect weapon.[2] Throughout the Androids Arc, Cell's personality changes drastically with each transformation. At first, Cell's desire to complete his evolution by absorbing both Android 17 and Android 18 is what fuels him in his imperfect form. Upon reaching his final form, his eagerness to test the limits of his newfound power is what defines his character. Cell is unique among most villains of the series in that he is quite sophisticated. Because of his genetic composition from other warriors, he is able to psychologically manipulate those warriors and exploit their weaknesses to his advantage. He also found the Dragon Balls' reviving ability to be a nuisance, as evidenced by his relief when he learned that the Dragon Balls were rendered inert due to Piccolo and Kami's fusion.

Initially, Cell is completely single-minded in the pursuit of his goals and is very cautious, sneaky, cunning, and calculating in achieving his main goal of perfection. Upon reaching his first transformation, he becomes far more brash and impulsive in his actions, relying less on strategy and more on brute force, often becoming clouded and losing his ability to think rationally when things don't go his way. Upon reaching perfection, 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 (as well as some of his psychopathy), and the Saiyan lust for battle. He is also shown to be calm and genuinely polite in this Perfect form. 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 newfound 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. But when he is outmatched he quickly becomes desperate and makes mistakes. Ironically, the arrogant trait Vegeta displayed to allow Cell to achieve his perfect form was the same trait Cell used to force Gohan to awaken his hidden powers, which led to his own downfall, almost directly emulating Vegeta.

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 (though the English manga does occasionally refer to him as "he").

As Imperfect Cell, Cell is completely single-minded in the pursuit of his goals to complete his evolution, as he is extremely eager to discover what attaining perfection would feel like. His desire is to absorb both Android 17 and Android 18. Imperfect Cell is very cautious, sneaky, cunning, and calculating; he does not chase after the Androids directly, since he knows he cannot beat them before he absorbs enough human energy. Although obsessed with attaining perfection, Cell was willing to temporarily put aside his plans to absorb 17 and 18 if it meant that he had to deal any possible threat to his plans, as seen how he chose to dispatch Piccolo and attempted to do so with 16 rather than immediately going after 17 and 18.

However, despite his usually cautious and savvy nature, Imperfect Cell could still be seen to be somewhat arrogant, seen by how he openly revealed his plans to Piccolo when under the impression that he had won.

After he achieves his Semi-Perfect form, Cell no longer cares about absorbing other creatures, and becomes obsessed with finding Android 18 to complete his quest for perfection. He also becomes slightly more arrogant because of his power increase, as well as rash and impatient. His arrogance is short-lived though; he is easily outclassed by Vegeta's Super Saiyan Second Grade form. After finding that his Semi-Perfect form is no match for his opponent, Cell convinces Vegeta to allow him to absorb Android 18 to attain the Perfect Form (which he is able to do as he appeals to Vegeta's ego and the natural Saiyan drive to fight stronger opponents, both of which Cell is aware of, as he possesses Vegeta's cells). He is also prone to tantrums when things don't go his way.

According to his bios in *Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2* and *Budokai Tenkaichi 3*, in his new form, he seems to feel that he is the most powerful living specimen on the planet, and it is suggested that this arrogant attitude may have been influenced by Vegeta's genes (meaning Vegeta's cells may become more prominent while in this form, which seems to be supported by the fact he uses at least two of Vegeta's signature moves in this form, albeit only in the anime: Galick Gun and a modified Big Bang Attack). It may also be due to his absorption of Android 17 and the genes of Frieza, both of whom are very egotistical and intolerant of the idea of anyone being better than themselves. To further support the notion of his superiority, Android 16, who barely survives his brief encounter with this form of Cell, thinks to himself that there should be no one in the universeready to challenge him at this point (and that it is odd how he is still so obsessed with achieving completion), until this preconception is shattered by Cell's embarrassment against the self-proclaimed "Super Vegeta".

After absorbing No. 18 and becoming perfect, Cell becomes significantly more arrogant in this form, due to the massive increase in power. After attaining the perfect form he had long desired, Cell admitted to Trunks that he had found himself with no other purpose, even killing Goku, which was Dr. Gero's intended purpose for Cell, did not seem to satisfy him. Thus, he saw his Cell Games as the opportunity to discover a new purpose; to test his new-found power. This could also be attributed by his own vanity.

In this form, Cell gains Frieza's polite mannerisms (though without the snide sarcasm) and sadistic personality, relishing in seeing people terrified, as he admitted to Future Trunks when he revealed his intention for the Cell Games. This was further shown in the anime, while waiting for the Cell Games, he chose to terrorize the people of Earth simply for his own amusement.

Much like Goku, Cell seems to take on a carefree and laid-back attitude, not losing any form of his composure until he was faced with the prospect of a being stronger than him. Cell has adopted Goku's, as well as Vegeta's, desire to battle strong opponents, which was another purpose of the Cell Games. The fact that prior to facing Super Saiyan 2 Gohan, Cell still chose to hold back his full power, Cell was willing to handicap himself in order to challenge his own limits. Despite this, however, if Cell finds that his opponents were not adequate challenges, he would not hesitate to finish the battle quickly or discontinue it, reflecting his arrogance. Before fighting Gohan, Cell saw Goku as the only worthy opponent and displayed excitement when fighting him. Cell even expressed discontent and outrage when Goku had decided to forfeit his battle against Cell.

After coming back in his Super Perfect form, the huge influx of power causes his already inflated ego to increase dramatically. He becomes notably more deranged, frequently shouting and exhibiting bizarre facial ticks at random intervals (although this may be largely due to his rage over being humiliated by Gohan). In addition, the intro narration for *Cell Returns* has the narrator referring to Cell as a "demented demon". Cell also became more hotheaded and rash, seen by how he immediately chose to risk destroying the entire solar system simply to defeat Gohan.

After returning from his brush with death, Cell saw himself as true perfection, believing himself to be immortal, as he was unable to die (save for the unlikely possibility of dying in battle). Oddly, despite having every intention of destroying the planet, he was heard thinking "That's the spirit" when Gohan's challenges Cell to a Kamehameha duel (although this was likely because he wanted the latter to give it his all as a means to prove Cell's own superiority). Even as he was slowly destroyed by Gohan's final attack, Cell could not comprehend why he was defeated, exclaiming that he was perfection itself. When in the throes of defeat, Cell seems to almost lose his sanity. Screaming in rage and confusion as he believes no one can defeat "perfection" (or himself). These traits show that Cell most likely has inherited some of Frieza's mental illness and insanity (also matching his psychotic and sadistic traits).

— Super Perfect Cell in "The Horror Won't End"

Cell is composed of cells from Goku, Piccolo, Vegeta, Frieza, King Cold, and according to the manga title page, a number of other lifeforms (in the FUNimation dub, it is also stated that he has cells from Krillin and Gohan). Strangely, most sources fail to include King Cold as one of his genetic donors, including the anime on some occasions. He also possesses the information on Nappa, Raditz, Chiaotzu, Tien Shinhan, Yamcha, and Future Trunks which were collected by Dr. Gero's remote tracking device and stored in the Super Computer. Cell is therefore able to use their attacks (ex. Kamehameha, Regeneration etc.). His genetic composition is very much a part of his character. It is also implied that, when using these attacks, he often changes his genetic code so he can match the genetic source of his attacks, as when he is going to fire the Kamehameha at Piccolo, Gohan and Vegeta sense Goku in the distance, with the former being near Goku at the time. In his Imperfect Form, he is clever, calculating, and single-minded about achieving his Perfect Form. In his Semi-Perfect Form, he is a little more arrogant. In his Perfect and Super Perfect forms, he is extremely arrogant; he becomes very smug and he believes that every other living creature is inferior to him, and is shown to be very polite until he loses his temper. Upon meeting Piccolo for the first time in Gingertown, Cell tells Piccolo that the computer programmed some genetic traits to be more dominant than others. He bears a strong resemblance to Frieza in all of his forms, such as his tail and the talon-like feet of his first form, and his face while in his perfect form. His feet in his Perfect form are a type of Bio Suit shoes worn by Frieza's race. His head-piece in his Perfect Form is a Namekian trait,[3] so it is likely a recessive trait obtained from Piccolo's cells. He can also revert a few stages at will if necessary, as evidenced when Cell reverts from his Imperfect form to his Larval form in order to use Trunks' Time Machine.

Cell is designed 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 is also 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 being, however he cannot absorb completely mechanical Androids such as Android 16.

Upon assimilating both Android 17 and Android 18, he gains the ability to asexually reproduce, creating blue, child versions of himself, called "Cell Juniors".

He is also able to change his voice to one of his other forms at will, as Perfect Cell uses his Imperfect form's voice during his announcement of the Cell Games in "The Doomsday Broadcast" when explaining that he is the "creature from Nicky Town". He is also able to manipulate his voice into someone he's absorbed. This is demonstrated when Semi-Perfect Cell changeed his voice to 17's to try to convince 18 to merge with the Bio-Android.[4]

In *Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2*, Perfect Cell is shown to retain his fondness for absorbing people, though he reason for doing so is not to increase his power but for his own enjoyment. To alleviate his boredom he offers to train the Future Warrior (Xenoverse 2), though threatens he will absorb them should they fail or refuse. While training the Future Warrior, Cell is impressed by the Warrior's growth and even finds that he enjoys teaching and training others, to the point he even suggests he might take on more students. Presumably this trait may come from Piccolo and/or Goku. If the Future Warrior manages to bond fully with both Cell and Frieza a special event occurs where Cell encounters 1st form Frieza for the first time. Though he and Frieza are allies in the anime filler and *Dragon Ball GT*, during this meeting in *Xenoverse 2* Cell is shown to look down on Frieza during this meeting as he contributes his loss during the Cell Games to Frieza's Cells due to Frieza's loss to the Saiyans (Goku and Future Trunks), showing that Perfect Cell seems to blame his faults on others who's DNA he possesses such as Frieza. In return Frieza is show to dislike Cell's smug and arrogant attitude towards him which ironically is a trait that comes from Frieza himself.

However, when Imperfect Cell fights Frieza in *Xenoverse* there is a special dialog where Frieza is intrigued by Cell and asks who he is. Cell states that he guesses he should thank him for "supplying" his DNA, even calling it an act of generosity in the English localization.

If Perfect Cell fights with Cell Junior it will act disrespectful towards him angering Cell causing him to state "*How dare you! How dare you act that way towards your father...! You are nothing but a miserable failure.*" showing that he does not like being disrespected by his children.

## Power

Manga and Anime
In his Imperfect Form, Cell has the power of his genetic materials at the time their DNA had been collected.[7] Before traveling back to the past, Cell was easily able to kill the Future Trunks (base form) of his timeline. However even after absorbing fifteen thousand humans, he was no match for Piccolo (who had newly fused with Kami) despite Piccolo wearing weighted clothing (Piccolo with weighted clothing was stated to be equal to Android 17 by Android 16). According to Piccolo, Imperfect Cell at this point was stronger than Android 18 and by extension Super Saiyan Vegeta. Krillin also noted that Imperfect Cell was stronger than Frieza, wondering if this fact scared Goku, to which Goku stated both that it did and that he was excited by Imperfect Cell's power.

After absorbing at least six hundred thousand humans, coupled with energy previously absorbed from Piccolo, he was able to outclass both Android 17 and Piccolo, even withstanding the latter's most powerful attack without any visible damage. According to Android 16, Imperfect Cell's power was equal to his own, which is confirmed when both were able to fight evenly.

In his Semi-Perfect form his power increased to the point that he far surpassed Android 16. In addition, he was also able to withstand repeated Neo Tri-Beams from Tien Shinhan. However he was severely outclassed by Vegeta in his 2nd Grade Super Saiyan form. He shows that he possesses some power reserves when he powers up against Vegeta, but he is still inferior to his opponent even at full power. In the anime was also beaten by Super Saiyan Future Trunks during their brief battle.

Perfect Cell becomes far stronger still. He turns the tables on Vegeta claiming that he was still "warming up". However, despite his power it was said that being hit by Vegeta's Final Flash would obliterate him, and by his own admission his strength is inferior to Super Saiyan Third Grade Future Trunks. Although he is still able to beat Trunks due to the disadvantage of lowered speed that comes with the strength. He can also increase his muscle mass like Future Trunks, though he chooses not to. It is later revealed, however, that what Vegeta and Trunks went up against was only Cell's standby "warming up" power level - after witnessing Super Saiyan Full Power Goku powered up to the maximum, Cell powered up just enough to gain a slight advantage over him. In the anime Cell also displayed the ability to use Multi Form with all of his copies retaining full power instead of only having 1/4 of it. He also implied after faking a ring-out that while he was indeed suppressing his power as Goku was, he himself intended to gradually unveil his full power for the duration of the match. At that point, after being dealt a fair amount of damage he stated that if Goku were to take a Senzu bean he might win, but even that was a joke - as he still wasn't using the full extent of his powers. At the suppressed level he used against Goku, it was said that Android 16's self-destruct device could wipe him out. Perfect Cell's full power is only finally revealed once Cell decides to power up to combat Super Saiyan 2 Gohan - resulting in Cell's aura being altered from a white color to a gold color (in the manga). At this point he becomes much stronger than Goku or any other fighter other than Gohan, who still outclasses Cell grossly with his new found power.

In his power-weighted state while at full power Cell is physically stronger than before but his speed fails to match the might. Nonetheless, Power Weighted Perfect Cell is still outclassed by Super Saiyan 2 Gohan. While Future Trunks implies that Power Weighted Cell is stronger than Super Saiyan 2 Gohan in terms of brute strength in the anime dub, the manga and anime demonstrate that Cell's endurance does not increase enough to withstand Gohan's power, as he was able to cripple Cell with a single kick to the stomach (and in the case of the anime, stun Perfect Cell by smashing into his face just beforehand) and make him regurgitate Android 18.

In his Super Perfect form, Cell seems to be comparable in strength to Super Saiyan 2 Gohan.[8] Cell was also strong enough to defeat an angered Vegeta by merely slapping him away. In the manga, he also implies that he didn't even put his full power into the blast that crippled Gohan. Eventually Vegeta distracted Cell long enough for Gohan to overcome Cell's Solar Kamehameha with a Kamehameha. In this state, Cell's Kamehameha is said to be strong enough to wipe out the entire Solar System.

In the Super 17 Saga of *Dragon Ball GT*, Cell and Frieza are stated to have powered up after training in Hell for many years and confidently challenge Goku even after having witnessed him fight an opponent such as Kid Buu. Upon briefly absorbing Goku and achieving his "Overloaded" form, Cell's power briefly reaches even greater heights, though he loses it when Goku escapes him.

In *Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Dark Demon Realm Mission!*, when Cell is merged with a Dark Dragon Ball he becomes capable of defeating Super Saiyan 2 Gohan with just his Perfect Form, however he is easily beaten down by base Xeno Vegeta. After being turned into Cell-X by Putine, Cell-X proved strong enough to be uncontrollable and was stronger than Demon God Gravy and base Xeno Vegeks individually - though together they managed to destroy him. Despite his huge size, Cell-X had speed matching his power.

Video games
As the Time Patroller in *Dragon Ball Online* defeats Perfect Cell-X before heading back to the battle between Super Saiyan Goku and Full Power Frieza, it is possible that Cell-X possess power lower than Full Power Frieza (during the battle of Namek). However it is alternatively possible that Perfect Cell-X possess much greater power, as he is capable of holding his own against Pure Majins who possess power equal to that of Kid Buu. *Dragon Ball Heroes* indicates that Perfect Cell-X is more powerful than Perfect Cell, as he appears as a transformation for him in the game.

In *Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai*, Super Perfect Cell gains a huge boost in power after being brought back from death (enough to defeat Super Saiyan 3 Gotenks, when the latter does not fight seriously), but not as strong as Super Saiyan 2 Teen Gohan after being consumed by rage or Gotenks when the latter fights seriously.

When he appears at the Timespace Tournament in *Dragon Ball Fusions*, Cell has become strong enough that his Kamehameha is able to match that of Super Saiyan Goku's (who at this point was much stronger than he was at the Cell Games).

In *Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2*, due to being empowered by Towa's Dark Magic, Imperfect Cell's power after absorbing at least six hundred thousand humans was increased beyond to what it had been historically, making his power greater than Android 16's and in the unfixed altered timeline allowed Imperfect Cell to overpower both Android 17 and 18 allowing him to absorb both Androids at the same time, causing him to transform directly into his Perfect Form, skipping his Semi-Perfect form entirely. However, in the fixed timeline, Android 16 and the 2nd Future Warrior manage to overpower Dark Imperfect Cell, forcing him to absorb Android 17 restoring the proper timeline. It is implied that Towa increased Future Imperfect Cell's power in much the same way in both *Xenoverse* & *Xenoverse 2* allowing him to absorb both Future Android 17 and Future Android 18 to obtain his Perfect form before Future Trunks returned from the past in Age 785.

Cell's Power level in his Perfect Form is listed as 900,000,000 in Scouter Battle Taikan Kamehameha. In a special mission in the game, it increases even higher to 1,079,956,055.

In *Dragon Ball FighterZ*, it is revealed that Cell has trained in Hell since his demise, and is far stronger than he was at the Cell Games. He believes that he could defeat Super Saiyan Goku and believed himself to be stronger than Gohan, who still hasn't reawaken his true powers yet. Though, he is noted by Android 21 to be far weaker than final form Frieza and wasn't a challenge for Android 21 on his own.

## Abilities

The **Larva**[9] is Cell's evolutionary stage. Cell's basic design was thought up by Dr. Gero as the ultimate artificial human while Gero was in a good mood due to successfully completing Android 19.[2] Cell's original, larval form floats in Dr. Gero's secret basement laboratory. In the present timeline, the Present Cell is killed by Future Trunks and Krillin when they discover the basement (which included some blueprints). In Future Trunks' timeline, Future Cell is alive, searching for the Androids, when Future Trunks returns from the present timeline, but gets killed by Future Trunks' Heat Dome Attack. In another alternate timeline, Cell grows to full-size, cracks out of the machine, turns from a larva into its imperfect form, kills Future Trunks in order to steal his Time Machine, reverts to his larval form, and travels back to the present timeline in order to absorb Android 17 and Android 18.

He burrows deep into the ground where he remains for four years, during which time he undergoes a slow, natural evolutionary process as he prepares to change into his imperfect form. Once ready, Cell emerges from the ground to shed his skin. This form's effectiveness in combat is never shown, but it was at the very least able to produce an energy blast strong enough to melt through the canopy of the time machine.

**Imperfect Form**

**Imperfect Cell** (不完全体セル '**Fukanzentai Seru'**) or **1st form Cell** (第ー形態セル '**Dai Ichi Keitai Seru'**) is Cell's mature form prior to his absorption of Android 17 and Android 18. The state is alternatively called **First Form**.

When Cell powers up to his maximum, he transforms into a Super Saiyan via his Saiyan cells, however due to lack of hair the only change is that he gains the Super Saiyan aura around himself.

In *Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2*, Perfect Cell is shown to be capable of creating an Imperfect copy of his Imperfect form when he creates one to assist in the Future Warrior's Training under him.[10]

**Semi-Perfect Form**

**Semi-Perfect Cell** (半完全体セル'**Hankanzentai Seru'**), or **Second Form** (第2形態 '**Dai Ni Keitai'**), is a form Cell achieved after absorbing Android 17, but before getting to Android 18 (though several video games show that Cell would still take this exact form no matter the order).[11][12] This form makes its debut on *Dragon Ball Z* episode 152 (137 in the edited version), "Say Goodbye, 17", which premiered on August 12, 1992. This form is called **#17 Absorption** in *Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3* and "**Nonperfect**" form in *Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II*.

**Self-Destruction Form**

Semi-Perfect Cell's **Self-destruction form**[13]is a transformation that Cell takes out of desperation in order to kill the Z Fighters along with the Earth. The explosion he releases when in this form is strong enough to reduce him to a single cell, and obliterate King Kai's planet along with everyone on it at the time.

**Perfect Form**

**Perfect Cell** (完全体セル '**Kanzentai Seru'**), also called **Cell: Perfect form**,[14] is the ultimate form of Cell, which he assumed after absorbing both Androids 17 and 18.

In this form, Cell often uses the Super Saiyan form while powered up and fighting, resulting in him gaining the form's golden aura,[15] and he rarely (if ever) displays his base power.

**Power Stressed**

The bulky Power Stressed form is the result Perfect Cell taking on the Super Saiyan Third Grade form.[15] It makes its debut in "Trunks Surpasses His Father!", the 386th chapter of the *Dragon Ball* manga, issued on August 11, 1992. It makes its first anime appearance in "The Cell Games", the 165th episode of *Dragon Ball Z* (150th in the 276-episode version), which premiered on November 18, 1992. Cell never actually fights in this form, and simply uses it to taunt Future Trunks - who thought that his Super Saiyan Third Grade form would be enough to beat Perfect Cell.

Cell takes this form for his meteor attack in *Dragon Ball Z: Hyper Dimension*.

**Power-Weighted**

The second time Perfect Cell takes on his Power Weighted form, he becomes much larger than before, presumably thanks to the presence of Piccolo's Namekian cells in his body.

This form is fully playable in this form in *Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Battlers, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai, Dragon Ball Heroes*, and *Dragon Ball: Zenkai Battle Royale*. The form also makes an appearance in the final battle of *Dragon Ball Z: Budokai* where it is named **Perfect Form (Power-Weighted)**, where Gohan must defeat Cell, despite the fact he should actually be in his Super Perfect form. In *Dragon Ball Xenoverse*, this form is referenced by the Z-Soul, **A power-based transformation...** which grants a large increase in attack and defense when *Ki* is at max, however movement speed is reduced and no guard can be made.

**Super Perfect Form**

**Super Perfect Cell** (超完全体セル '**Chō Kanzentai Seru'**), also called **Revived Cell**[13] (復活セル '**Fukkatsu Seru'**) is a version of Cell's perfect form after he receives Saiyan Power from his recovery after a botched self-destruction that takes the lives of Goku, King Kai, Bubbles and Gregory. Cell explains that as long as his mass that makes up his nucleous is not destroyed, his body can still regenerate. Despite Cell's loss of Android 18, Cell could regenerate straight to his perfect form, albeit differently from before. When Cell powers up like Gohan, he has the same aura of a Super Saiyan 2, and presumably is one, with the aura sparking with electricity.

Upon his arrival in Other World, Cell appears to return to his regular Perfect form. He does not use his Super Perfect form again except in the story of the PSP game *Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai*, where he escapes from Hell due to Janemba's influences and utilizes his Super Perfect form when fighting a strong opponent.

**Overloaded Form**

In *Dragon Ball GT*, while Cell and Frieza are fighting Goku in Hell, Cell actually absorbs Goku for a brief while, gaining all of his power. His appearance actually does change, becoming much more muscular and being surrounded by electricity, before Goku crawls out of Cell from his tail. The form is named **Cell, Overloaded** on one card in the *Dragon Ball Z Collectible Card Game*.

**Other forms**

**Cellin**
"*How could I be defeated by a weakling like Yamcha?!*"

— *Dragon Ball Z: Budokai***Cellin** (セルリン '**Serurin'**) is the product of Cell absorbing Krillin in a what-if scenario in *Dragon Ball Z: Budokai*. Cell has a nightmare during his wait for the Cell Games to start. In this nightmare, Cell succeeds in absorbing Android 17, but accidentally absorbs Krillin who pushes Android 18 out of the waybefore she could be absorbed, resulting in what would look like a fusionbetween a Cell Jr. and Krillin: Cellin. Cellin appears as Perfect Cell but has a diminutive body (around the size of a Cell Jr.), with Krillin's characteristics and his gi's orange color, even with the Turtle School symbol on his back and chest, Krillin's six marks on his head and even his spots as well as a clogged up voice. With his power level taking a drastic drop, Cell is barely able to defeat Yamcha and is destroyed with one shot from Tien Shinhan's Tri-Beam. Cell then wakes up startled, seeing that he is still standing in his Cell Games Arena, during the middle of the night, normal. Relieved, Cell mutters "I guess ten days is just too long to wait for the tournament," referring to the Cell Games.

**Fused with Dark Dragon Ball**

After the Dark Dragon Balls scatter through space and time, one of them merges with Cell.

Cell's appearance when merged with the Dark Dragon Ball slightly alters, with his eyes becoming blank, and the Dark Dragon Ball appearing on his chest, with black lines coming out of it. This version of Cell is known as **Xeno Cell**. Cell can further transform into Cell-X in this state.

**Majin Cell**

Cell appears in this form in *Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2* and *Dragon Ball Z 2 V*. He appears the same as in his Perfect state except with an M on his forehead and black lining around his eyes like with Vegeta when under the trance. In the story mode of *Budokai 2*, he and Frieza are revived and turned into Majinsby Babidi, and are once again beaten by Goku and the other Z Fighters. When Majin Buu kills Babidi, Cell and Frieza turn back to their old selves and do not remember anything of being controlled by Babidi, though they still continue to obstruct the heroes all the way to the ending chapter. Once beaten for the last time, they are absorbed by Super Buu. They eventually return to Hell once Super Buu is defeated.

**Villainous Mode**

In the finale of *Xenoverse* Démigra resurrects Super Perfect Cell and possesses him in order to have him fight the Future Warrior alongside Frieza and Kid Buu. He and Frieza are perfectly aware that they are being actively manipulated by Demigra, but they would rather have their revenge first and foremost, instead of breaking free of his control. When fought in game Cell also has Villainous Mode active, however when playable he lacks this additional form.

**Supervillain**

In *Xenoverse 2*, Perfect Cell is transformed by the dark magic of the Time Breakers. In this form his skin becomes a whiter color, his eyes glow dark pink and he gains the Time Breaker's broken infinity symbol on his forehead.

**Powered Up Form**

Cell attains this form at some point during *Dragon Ball GT* as shown during the *Dragon Ball GT (1997 live show)*. Frieza and Cell are looking for Goku, so Pan and Trunks trick them into thinking Goku is coming so they can flee. Cell and Frieza then begin searching for Goku once more.

**Cell-X**

After being resurrected by Towa, Cell was turned into **Cell-X**, this version of Cell was giant and spider-like in appearance. In *Dragon Ball Heroes* it is noted by Cell that his body is in extreme pain while transforming. After the transformation is complete, Future Trunks states that Cell-X possesses bottomless *ki*.

As more energy was collected for him he continued to get more powerful but was defeated by the Time Patrol in Age 1000. In this form Cell no longer likes to fight directly, instead spawning smaller Bio-Androids to do his work for him.

Fused with Dark Dragon BallIn *Super Dragon Ball Heroes*, Cell-X is actually a giant form of Xeno Cell (who is fused with a Dark Dragon Ball), as a consequence, he has a slightly different appearance from his original incarnation seen in *Dragon Ball Online*. Cell-X makes is introduced in the second mission of the original series (SDBH2).
## TMNT X Pokemon

Cell is one of the many villains you'll face throughout the game. He's one of the most powerful and most difficult on the difficulty scale.

## Trivia

All forms
* Cell was named after the English word for "cell" because he absorbs humans and transforms.[2] Insectsserved as the model for Cell's design. Besides his design, the way in which he hatches from an egg and sheds his skin as he grows was also based on insects.[2] Thus Cell very much resembles an insect in both in appearances and in the way he goes through different stages of metamorphosis.
* The series author Akira Toriyama mentions in an interview that drawing Cell's design is hard. He says that, picture-wise, the spots on his body were really tough; it was very tedious to draw them every time.[2]
* As King Piccolo had previously also enjoyed himself by taking over the world as if it were a game and tried to rule the world through fear, Akira Toriyama wondered in an interview if Cell's similar way of doing things is from the influence of his Piccolo cells.[2]
* Cell is unleashed in the Age 786 in his timeline and died in Age 767 in the main timeline (19 years before his alternate self would be unleashed into the world).
* All four forms of Cell had some sort of characteristic of the Z Fighters who challenge him in his personality. Imperfect Cell is sneaky and calculating like Piccolo, Semi-Perfect Cell is vain and arrogant like Vegeta, Perfect Cell was laid back and only wanted to fight powerful opponents like Goku, and Super Perfect Cell is hotheaded and cocky like Super Saiyan 2 Gohan.
* Cell repeats two fatal mistakes that are made by another Z Fighter fighting him: First, Cell tricks Vegeta into letting him become complete so he could see his true power; later, Cell attempts to unlock Gohan's hidden potential as well, eventually resulting in his death. Like Future Trunks, Cell powers up to his maximum and beefs up, which makes him stronger but slows him down so that he cannot land a single hit on Gohan. This leads to him being kicked in the stomach and regurgitating Android 18, reverting him to his Semi-Perfect form.
* This incarnation of Cell kills an incarnation of Future Trunks twice: first in his Imperfect form when he steals Future Trunks' Time Machine and second in his Super Perfect form when he kills Future Trunks during the Cell Games. Ironically, the latter Future Trunks also kills Cell twice: first alongside Krillin while Present Cell is in his larval form and second in his own time while Future Cell is in his Imperfect Form.
* In the *Budokai* games, even if Cell has reached his Semi-Perfect, Perfect, and Super Perfect forms, whenever he receives a powerful hit and screams in pain, he sounds just like Imperfect Cell. This is due to the fact that Cell's forms were each given their own distinct voice in the Funimation dub of *Dragon Ball Z*; in the Japanese version, Norio Wakamoto uses his natural speaking voice for all of Cell's forms, meaning that the *Budokai* development team had programmed the games to fit his voice rather than Dameon Clarke's (similarly to how adult Goku still retains some of kid Goku's sound clips in the English version of the games). This mistake continued on into the *Budokai Tenkaichi* series as well, as take-damage voice cuts were never recorded for those forms.
* In all of Cell's 'adult' forms, there is one area of his body that never changes, the black diamond area in the center of his chest, which is similar to Frieza's.
* Considering how Cell can transform back into his larval form at will, Cell's immortality claim could be true when considering the immortal jellyfish, a sea creature that reverts to younger stages of its life to reset its lifespan.
* In *Dragon Ball Super*, it is revealed that Bulma kept the Capsule containing Cell's Time Machine for research purposes, which later proves vital for the Z Fighters during the "Future" Trunks Saga after Blackdestroys Future Trunks' Time Machine. Using her Future counterparts notes, Bulma is able to repurpose Cell's Time Machine into a replacement for Future Trunks' original Time Machine, allowing Future Trunks, Goku, and Vegeta to travel to the future in order to stop the evil Black. This is quite ironic as Cell's Time Machine originally belonged to Future Trunks' deceased counterpart from Cell's Timeline.
* Cell's introduction was the result of a long debate between Akira Toriyama and his former editor Kazuhiko Torishima over the appeal of the villains that Toriyama was using for the Androids Arc. Toriyama had already created Androids 17 and 18 to replace Dr. Gero and 19, who Torishima described as "an old man and a China doll", only for Torishima to deride 17 and 18 as "a couple of brats". This led to the creation of Cell, who Torishima finally approved of.
* Of all three of Dragon Ball Z's main antagonists, Cell has the lowest body count. His kill count consists of only thousands of unnamed human (and virtually all of them off-camera). Meanwhile, Frieza and Majin Buu have killed billions on-camera.

Imperfect Cell
* His mouth in this form resembles that of an Arlian, except that his mouth opens when he talks.
* The first core form of Lavos from the video game *Chrono Trigger*resembles Cell in his Imperfect Form. The characters from this game were designed by Akira Toriyama.
* In the Nintendo DS game *Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans*, the enemies Sandman, Yorgan, and Failed Experiment are slightly modified and recolored versions of Imperfect Cell.
* In *Xenoverse 2*, it is shown that if Imperfect Cell absorbs both Android 17 and 18 at the same time, he will bypass his Semi-Perfect form and transform immediately into his Perfect form. However it is implied he must be stronger than Android 16 in order to subdue both Androids.

Semi-Perfect Cell
* Though his Semi-Perfect form is in between his Imperfect and Perfect/Super Perfect forms, the latter three of which all have wings, his Semi-Perfect form does not possess wings.
* Semi-Perfect Cell was introduced after Akira Toriyama's editor at the time, Yū Kondō, expressed dissatisfaction at Imperfect Cell's insectoid appearance; this led Toriyama to give Cell the ability to transform, and with it, the inception of Semi-Perfect Cell.[2]
* Semi-Perfect Cell is Akira Toriyama's favorite Android; he had actually planned on having him play a more active role, but was forced to bring him into his Perfect form earlier than anticipated after Yū Kondō complained that the Semi-Perfect form looked too silly.[2]
* Surprisingly enough, Semi-Perfect Cell is the inspiration of the meme "Shoop da Whoop," due to a furious scream of outrage he utters upon his defeat by Vegeta in his 2nd Grade Super Saiyan form. (Said scream was shown during the closing scenes of "Hour of Temptation.")

Perfect Cell/Super Perfect Cell
* In the manga and Japanese anime, there is a plot hole with regards to how Cell is able to regenerate. According to Cell, an organ inside his head allows him to regenerate, so long as that organ is not destroyed. Goku had previously destroyed Cell's entire upper body, head included, which should have prevented the evil Android from regenerating. This plot hole is not present in FUNimation's English dub of the anime, where Cell states that "every cell in his body has a life of its own", and that one survived, which allowed him to regenerate. This was also corrected in Dragon Ball Z Kai, as the scene where Goku blew his entire upper body was removed.
	+ In *Xenoverse 2*, the plot description for "*Father to Son - The Last Kamehameha*" states that "*a small amount of Cell's DNA survived*" when referring to how Cell survived his self-destruction.
* Another potential contradiction is that Cell receives Saiyan Power after his Unforgivable! self-destruction, though during the Frieza Saga Vegeta stated in both the manga and anime that one cannot receive Saiyan Power if the wound is self-inflicted. However it should be noted that Cell is an artificially created partial Saiyan life form meaning he may not have the same limitations as pure Saiyans or even partial Saiyans like Gohan and Trunks. It is possible that Dr. Gero's Supercomputer may have augmented Cell's genetic abilities such as Saiyan Power to remove such limitations or was the result of his unique combination of genetic abilities.
	+ Cell's Saiyan Power is the only time Vegeta's statement about Saiyan Power has seemingly been contradicted, as Goku receives a Saiyan Power after eating a Senzu Bean after injuring himself with a Bending Kamehameha during his Gravity Training while on his way to Namek in both the manga and anime. However it is likely that in Goku's case he received a Saiyan Power due to the extreme nature of the training putting him at near death and not injuries he received from his own attack. It should also be noted that this occurs before Vegeta reveals Saiyan Power cannot occur if the injury is self-inflicted.
* In *Dragon Ball Xenoverse*, if the Time Patroller speaks to Cell when he is a mentor, Cell will occasionally say "I want to travel time freely like you. No matter what period I go, I will always be the strongest. My time machine can't be used anymore. What a pity".
* In Dragon Ball Z 2: Super Battle, if Cell is defeated in Goku's story mode, Cell is given a Senzu bean in which Cell says he will come back and have his revenge. 7 years later, Cell is seen in a group photowith the rest of the Z Fighters.
* During his battle with Super Saiyan Third Grade Future Trunks in Ghosts from Tomorrow, Cell states that Dr. Gero's Supercomputer did not add Trunks' Cells to Cell after Future Trunks had killed Mecha Frieza as the computer had already collected enough Saiyan DNA implying that Future Trunks killed King Cold and Frieza in Cell's Timeline. However this makes little sense as Future Trunks traveled through time to save Goku and warn him of the Androids, killing Frieza and King Cold by mistake as he was unaware that Goku could use Instant Transmission to reach Earth in time to save it like Future Goku did in Trunks' timeline. Thus it would make little sense if Future Trunks had killed Frieza and Cold in Cell's Timeline as he would have warned everyone about the Androids, which would have likely made Cell's timeline more similar to main timeline had Frieza and Cold been killed by Future Trunks in Cell's Timeline. It should also be noted that Cell's timeline is basically an alternate version of Future Trunks' timeline though with Cell killing Future Trunks who was unaware of Cell's existence and stealing his Time Machine. Presumably, Cell who had arrived before Mecha Frieza and King Cold's deaths mistook Future Trunks' killing for Frieza and Cold for the event that occurred in his timeline and failed to realize it was actually Future Goku who had killed them in both his and Trunks' timelines, which makes sense as Dr. Gero admits having stopped recording Goku's battles after the Saiyan conflict, thus it is likely that the Supercomputer's drones only observed battles to collect DNA samples which would explain why Cell did not known about Future Goku's role as his DNA had presumably already been collected previously.