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Cell
Dragon Ball character
Cell by Akira Toriyama
First appearance	Issue #30 (DBZ Issue #14)
Created by	Akira Toriyama
Voiced by	Norio Wakamoto Dale Wilson (English, Vancouver dub) Dameon Clarke (Funimation dub)
Profile
Aliases	Imperfect Cell Semi-Perfect Cell Perfect Cell Super Perfect Cell
Gender	Genderless
Known relatives	Dr. Gero (creator)[1] Cell Juniors (offsprings)[2] Son Goku (cloned from cells)[1] Vegeta (cloned from cells)[1] Piccolo (cloned from cells)[1] Freeza (cloned from cells)[1] King Cold (cloned from cells)[1]

Cell (セル, Seru^?) is a fictional supervillain from the Dragon Ball universe created by Akira Toriyama as an antagonist for the media franchise, which consists of a series of manga, anime, soundtracks, movies, television specials, video games, and other collectibles.

Its seiyū is Norio Wakamoto and he is voiced by Dameon Clarke in the Funimation dub and by Dale Wilson in the Canadian dub.

Creation and conception

Early concept art of Cell

Toriyama went through many different drawings before settling on the design he used in the Dragon Ball manga.^[3] Cell's appearance varies depending on which form it is in. It evolved from a cocoon-like form and its first form is insect-like in appearance. Both Cell's first and second forms have a tail that ends in a stinger-like appendage and allows it to absorb other organisms.^[4] Its final form has a tail, albeit it is unclear whether it is able to absorb organisms, all forms have spots.

Personality

Cell's demeanor changes substantially throughout its appearances in the series; initially it is single-minded in achieving its perfect form, even going as far to travel back in time.^[1] After absorbing #17, Cell's personality remains mostly the same save for the presence of a slightly more cocky behavior.

Plot overview

Cell is the ultimate creation of a fictional scientist named Dr. Gero, It is an artificial lifeform created from the cells of several characters from the series.^[1] and possessing genetic traits from Dragon Ball characters such as Piccolo and Freeza.^[1] Cell being an artificial lifeform was created genderless, therefore it cant be described as a he or a she. Cell's existence is first hinted at when Future Trunks, Son Gohan and Bulma discover Cell's shed skin.It is first seen when confronted by Piccolo, who learns of the creature's history, as well his goal of absorbing #17 and #18.^[1] After achieving its perfect form he labels himself the "perfect warrior".

After absorbing a sufficient amount of beings, Cell then found #17 and #18 and nearly absorbed #17, if not for #16 who was able to fight Cell one on one.^[5] It eventually manages to absorb #17 and changes into its second form.^[6] This second form would have absorbed #18 as well if Tenshinhan did not intervene. Tenshinhan is able to stall it long enough for #18 and #16 to escape. Cell gives chase to the two artificial humans and tries to flush them out of an island they were hiding in until Vegeta arrives to challenge Cell.^[7] Vegeta easily defeats Cell by utilizing his new Super Saiyan abilities. However, Vegeta, wanting to battle a more challenging opponent, assisted Cell in absorbing #18.^[8] In this new form Cell easily defeats Vegeta and Trunks (who comes to assist Vegeta).^[9] Instead of killing the pair, Cell abandons the battle and announces that it would revive the Tenkaichi Budokai, a martial arts tournament not held since the end of Dragon Ball.^[10]

Called the "Cell Games" the tournament would pit any fighters Earth could muster against Cell. Many of Earth's heroes enter the competition. The so called "World Champion Martial Artist" Hercule and his students are the first to fight Cell and the first to lose. The series main character, Son Goku, battles after Hercule. Though he had become very powerful from training in the Room of Spirit and Time, Goku is not powerful enough to defeat Cell. However, Goku's child, Gohan, is thought to have latent abilities greater than that of Cell's.^[11] However, Gohan looks to have no chance at defeating Cell until Cell destroys #16, filling Gohan with rage that transforms him into a Super Saiyan 2. Instead of losing gracefully, Cell decided to blow himself up, a feature that many of Doctor Gero's creations possessed.^[12] Before Cell could kill himself, Goku uses his Instant Transmission to transport Cell and himself to the planet of the North Kaio, saving Earth but killing Goku. However, Cell was able to regenerate and teleport back to Earth, and upon arrival killed Future Trunks. Gohan manages to destroy Cell with a one-handed (as his other arm was rendered useless during the fight) Kamehameha that obliterates the tyrant completely.^[13]

Cell also appears in Hell during filler episodes of Dragon Ball Z and makes a few appearances in Dragon Ball GT.

Abilities

Cell has a large range of different varying powers, that previous Z warriors have shown, this is due to the fact that it is essentially a combination of many different cells of many different beings that have travelled to been on Earth.

• All forms of Cell possess enhanced strength, superhuman reflexes, and can move at impossible speeds.^[14]
• Cell is vaguely seen with the power of flight at first,^[15] but it becomes apparent that it is able to do so after achieving his semi-perfect transformation.^[16]
• Cell has been shown to be able to do the Kamehameha, a powerful technique that it gained from the cells of Goku.^[17]
• After self destructing, Cell reformed with Goku's cells, this made him gain Goku's ability to use the Instant Transmission.^[18]
• With Freeza's untimely arrival on Earth, Cell was able to possess Freeza's cells. A key trait that Cell was able to use from Freeza was the ability to survive in the vacuum of space as well as the ability to use several of Freeza's other techniques.^[19]
• Due to its Saiyan cells, Cell is able to become much more powerful upon healing after a near-death experience.^[18]
• From Piccolo, Cell gained the ability to regenerate. Unlike Piccolo, Cell is able to regenerate from any cell, and can regenerate even if microscopic particles of it remain.^[18]
• In the manga and anime, Cell has mentioned it can make a Spirit Bomb if it felt like it^[20],the Spirit Bomb is a technique that only the pure of heart can use, Cell having the cells from Goku probably inherited the power to do a spirit bomb, however this was never confirmed in the manga or anime, the only time Cell has used Spirit Bomb was in the Dragon ball Z Budokai^[21] and Dragon ball z budokai 2^[22] games.

Aside from these abilities, Cell is able to absorb the life force of other organisms through its tail. This ability is used by stabbing the victim with the end of its tail.^[4] After absorbing life force, Cell becomes more powerful.^[23] Cell's first and second forms are capable of this ability. Cell's final form possesses a tail, but it is much shorter than his other forms, being barely a stump and does not demonstrate the ability to absorb other beings. Instead, it uses his tail to create smaller versions of himself called Cell Juniors.^[24]

Reception

Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.

Appearances in other media

Video games

Cell appears in various Dragon Ball video games. It is mostly a playable character in its final form, though newer games such as Budokai 3 Contains all of its Forms.

Biblography

• Dragon Ball Z manga, volume 15 — ISBN 978-1-59116-186-8
• Dragon Ball Z manga, volume 16 — ISBN 978-1-59116-328-2
• Dragon Ball Z manga, volume 17 — ISBN 978-1-59116-505-7
• Dragon Ball Z manga, volume 18 — ISBN 978-1-59116-637-5
• Dragon Ball Z manga, volume 19 — ISBN 978-1-59116-751-8

References

External links

• Guide to Cell's transformations at http://www.daizex.com/
• Profile at http://www.absoluteanime.com/