Cell, also known as The Perfect Lifeform is one of the two secondary antagonists (alongside Kid Buu) in the Dragon Ball franchise, being the main antagonist of the Cell Saga, the second of the three major sagas of Dragon Ball Z and a posthumous antagonist in the Majin Buu Saga and the movie Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.
The most powerful of the Androids created by Dr. Gero, Cell sees himself as above all living creatures, with his only life goal being to increase his own power and murder everyone else in the universe in order to display it. He's the archenemy of Gohan and arguably the most personal foe the hybrid saiyan has ever faced.
He was voiced by Norio Wakamoto in Japanese and Dameon Clarke in English, as well as by the late Dale Wilson.
What Makes Him a Base Breaking Character?[]
What Do People Like About Him?[]
- His Perfect Cell form is iconic and easily recognizable.
- Norio Wakamoto's voicing in the original Japanese dub has been praised for sounding sophisticated and intimidating. His voicing in the English and Spanish dubs is also tipically considered good.
- His battle against Goku in the Cell Games is considered one of the best in the series by many, especially for its choreography and high-quality animation in some segments.
- He has an immense impact on Gohan by killing the noble Android 16, indirectly killing Goku and in general by destroying Gohan's innocence forever.
- His killing of Goku and comeback as Super Perfect Cell, followed by his murder of Trunks and crippling of Gohan are often considered to be some of the most shocking moments in the franchise, cementing him as an almost unstoppable force of evil that many loved to see conclusively destroyed.
- Like most of Dragon Ball Z he's remembered with nostalgia by those who watched the show as children and had a good time watching his battles with the Z Fighters.
- Some fans were disappointed at his lack of appearances in Dragon Ball Super, considering the character underutilized compared to Frieza and Buu.
- He has inspired many parodies and memes over the years, like the famous "Shoop Da Whoop" meme, "Cell Dorado", "Cell sintió el verdadero terror" (Cell is truly afraid), and "Perfect Cell playing Basketball". Along with some villains with fandoms of their own like Meruem from Hunter X Hunter and Turbo Mecha Sonic from Super Mario Bros Z.
- Another example is the song "Perfect Cell Theme Remix" which has gathered over 20 Million views on Youtube despite being fanmade and never appearing on the show proper.
What Do People Hate About Him?[]
- Detractors think his personality is flat and his goal of causing boundless destruction is too generic even by the standards of the franchise, lacking Frieza's business mindset and Majin Buu's comedy.
- He has been considered an inferior successor to Frieza, mainly because of his less interesting backstory with little personal connection to the main characters (at least until he fights Gohan), with some believing that the final antagonist should have always been Frieza and the show was just running on fumes afterwards.
- He has also been called unoriginal due to copying the techniques of many previous villains and having few, if any of his own. This makes it harder for him to be discussed without comparisons to other villains of the story.
- His decision to hold a Martial Arts Tournament instead of simply destroying Earth when he could has been called bad writing, contrived, and also a sign that Akira Toriyama was running out of ideas.
- Him slowly torturing Gohan in their battle instead of killing him outright was seen as very stupid in hindsight, this coming from a Saga where many fan-favorite characters like Vegeta and Krillin had been the victim of Idiot Ball. This led many to question whether Cell was actually intelligent or his success hinged solely on his enemies acting stupid.
- He was also one of the parts in the extremely controversial "Goku gives Cell a Senzu Bean" plot point, which to this day many fans consider as the most nonsensical thing Goku has ever done, further detracting from Cell's merits as a competent villain.
- He's often brought up in Dragon Ball power-scaling debates due to his explosive claim of being able to destroy the Solar System in one blast, fanning the flames of endless disagreements in the Dragon Ball and Shonen fandoms over whether he really could do this or not.
- His iteration in Dragon Ball Abridged was well-liked by some who appreciated the more quotable and flamboyant personality he had in this parody. However this also brought negative comparisons to the original character, who in contrast was seen as one-dimensional.
- Ironically a few of the people who liked his original personality have come to dislike his portrayal in recent games like Dragon Ball Sparkling Zero, where he leans towards the less serious and more sarcastic, expressing that the character was fine and the changes made him worse, also blaming the Dragon Ball Abridged fandom for it.
- Overall he's criticized for the perceived decline in quality his saga brought to the franchise, with him being partly responsible for it, and for not living up to the enormous standards previously set by Frieza as a main antagonist. While the parodies and memes around him have made him less divisive, the discussion around his impact on the story is still far from settled, with the serious opinions on him still being surprisingly marked.
Trivia[]
- The reason for Cell's lack of appearances in modern Dragon Ball is reportedly not from his Base Breaking status, but from the difficulty that Japanese animators have to animate him in 2D.
External Links[]
- Cell on the Villains Wiki
- Cell on the Pure Evil Wiki