History Characters / DragonBallCell

* WouldHitAGirl: His Imperfect Form had no problem absorbing them, nor did his Semi-Perfect form have any qualms about hitting and absorbing Android 18.

[[Characters/DragonBallOriginalSeriesVillains Original Series Villains]] ([[Characters/DragonBallRedRibbonArmy Red Ribbon Army]] ['''Cell''']) | [[Characters/DragonBallZVillains DBZ Villains]] ([[Characters/DragonBallFriezasEmpire Frieza's Empire]] [[[Characters/DragonBallFrieza Freeza/Frieza]] [[[Characters/DragonBallFriezaTropesAToH A to H]], [[Characters/DragonBallFriezaTropesIToY T to Y]]], [[Characters/DragonBallCooler Cooler/Coola]]], [[Characters/DragonBallMajinBuu Majin Buu]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallZMovieVillains DBZ Movie Villains]] ([[Characters/DragonBallBroly Broly]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallGTVillains GT Villains]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSuperVillains DBS Villains]] ([[Characters/DragonBallGokuBlack Goku Black]], [[Characters/DragonBallZamasu Zamasu/Zamas]] [[[Characters/DragonBallFusedZamasu Fused Zamasu/Zamas]]])-]]]]]

[[Characters/DragonBallOriginalSeriesVillains Original Series Villains]] ([[Characters/DragonBallRedRibbonArmy Red Ribbon Army]] [[[Characters/DragonBallDrGero Dr. Gero/Android 20]], '''Cell'''], [[Characters/DragonBallDemonKingPiccolo Demon King Piccolo]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallZVillains DBZ Villains]] ([[Characters/DragonBallFriezasEmpire Frieza's Empire]] [[[Characters/DragonBallFrieza Freeza/Frieza]] [[[Characters/DragonBallFriezaTropesAToH A to H]], [[Characters/DragonBallFriezaTropesIToY T to Y]]], [[Characters/DragonBallCooler Cooler/Coola]]], [[Characters/DragonBallMajinBuu Majin Buu]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallZMovieVillains DBZ Movie Villains]] ([[Characters/DragonBallBroly Broly]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallGTVillains GT Villains]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSuperVillains DBS Villains]] ([[Characters/DragonBallFrost Frost]], [[Characters/DragonBallGokuBlack Goku Black]], [[Characters/DragonBallZamasu Zamasu/Zamas]] [[[Characters/DragonBallFusedZamasu Fused Zamasu/Zamas]]], [[Characters/DragonBallMoro Moro]])-]]]]]

** Before that, he had taken one as Semi-Perfect Cell. Until latching onto a strategy to manipulate Vegeta, which Vegeta was the one to actually initiate by showing curiosity in how strong Cell would be in his completed form, Semi-Perfect Cell's M.O was purely brute strength and screaming threats...a far cry from the craftiness Imperfect Cell had shown. The one time he attempted a scheme beforehand - using Android 17's voice to fool Android 18 into letting herself be absorbed by him - he botched it by referring to Dr. Gero as "Master", something 17 would obviously never say.

** Before that, he had taken one as Semi-Perfect Cell. Until latching onto a strategy to manipulate Vegeta, which Vegeta was the one to actually initiate by showing curiosity in how strong Cell would be in his completed form, Semi-Perfect Cell's M.O was purely brute strength and screaming threats...a far cry from the craftiness Imperfect Cell had shown.

* AdaptationalBadass: While his final BeamOWar with Gohan ended the same way in the anime as it did in the manga, it took a lot more effort in the former. In the manga, a surprise shot from Vegeta in his base form alone was enough for Gohan to overpower Cell's Kamehameha. In the anime, Piccolo and the human Z Fighters were the first to jump in to attack Cell while he's still in his beam struggle with Gohan, only for him to simply fling them away by flaring up his aura. Afterward, it took Vegeta in his Super Saiyan form to turn the tables.

* AchievementsInIgnorance: When he blew himself up, Cell did ''[[NoOneCouldSurviveThat not]]'' [[NoOneCouldSurviveThat expect to survive]], much less regenerate FromASingleCell and [[CameBackStrong become even stronger]] thanks to his Saiyan DNA, and appears genuinely amazed that he managed to come back.

* AchievementsInIgnorance: When he blew himself up, Cell did ''not'' expect to survive, much less regenerate FromASingleCell and [[CameBackStrong become even stronger]] thanks to his Saiyan DNA.

** Meta-example, but out of ''Z''s four primary {{Big Bad}}s, he gets by far the least attention in modern ''Dragon Ball'' media. Case in point: In ''Super'', Frieza is a recurring villain [[spoiler:in two arcs and a movie, being a TokenEvilTeammate in one]], Buu is a secondary character with a few focus episodes (and his evil form is referenced constantly), and Vegeta is, of course, the {{Deuteragonist}} after his HeelFaceTurn. Cell? He's barely lucky enough to get name-dropped a few times -- and by the end of ''Super'', he's the only ''Z'' villain who [[spoiler:isn't still alive in one form or another]]. Even in the ''Xenoverse'' video games, his arcs are fairly short compared to the ones featuring Frieza and even Buu, and he doesn't have any interaction with the God of Destruction, Beerus. The reason for this is actually a bit complex: His design has been noted by both Toriyama and Toei animators to be too complex for them, mostly for those spots of his, and they prefer to not bother since both Frieza and Buu have less detailed designs. While Cell is popular in the West, he is the least liked of the main villains in his native Japan (even while his own arc was running, a one-shot joke character [[http://dragonballworld.wikia.com/wiki/Dragon_Ball_Popularity_Polls was handily beating him in reader popularity polls]]), making him not that profitable, and lastly, Cell is the villain with least involvement with the series lore, with Frieza's galactic empire and personal relations to Goku and Vegeta, and the original evil Buu reincarnated as Goku's future successor Uub, and unlike Frieza, [[HatedByAll he doesn't have anyone that wants him back in-universe.]] ''[=FighterZ=]'' finally moves away from this, with Cell playing a major role in the story, and Super Hero gives him, or at least a bio android based on him, a role as one of the antagonists.
** His Semi-Perfect form gets less focus than his Imperfect and Perfect forms, mostly existing as a mid-way to his Perfect form. This is thanks to the ExecutiveMeddling revolving around him and the Androids; his editor thought his Semi-Perfect form "looked like a moron" and wanted Toriyama to just get to his Perfect form already. Ironically, Cell's Semi-Perfect design was Toriyama's favorite. [[spoiler:Much later on down the line, Semi-Perfect Cell would serve as the basis of [[{{Kaiju}} Cell MAX]]'s design, ironically being much more powerful than the original Cell ever was due to being a relevant threat to the heroes that warrants Ultra Instinct level power ups to stop.]]

* ChallengeSeeker: He deliberately spares the protagonists after becoming perfect and sets up the Cell Games just because he wants to have fun and test his newfound perfection. He admits it's probably due to the Saiyan DNA. This turns out, much like Vegeta, to be a FatalFlaw. Because he's so desperate for a challenging fight, he pushes Gohan to his RageBreakingPoint so he can give him a better challenge. Let's just say that he came to regret this decision.

[[Characters/DragonBallOriginalSeriesVillains Original Series Villains]] ([[Characters/DragonBallRedRibbonArmy Red Ribbon Army]] [[[Characters/DragonBallDrGero Dr. Gero/Android 20]], '''Cell'''], [[Characters/DragonBallDemonKingPiccolo Demon King Piccolo]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallZVillains DBZ Villains]] ([[Characters/DragonBallFriezasEmpire Frieza's Empire]] [[[Characters/DragonBallFrieza Freeza/Frieza]], [[Characters/DragonBallCooler Cooler/Coola]]], [[Characters/DragonBallMajinBuu Majin Buu]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallZMovieVillains DBZ Movie Villains]] ([[Characters/DragonBallBroly Broly]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallGTVillains GT Villains]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSuperVillains DBS Villains]] ([[Characters/DragonBallFrost Frost]], [[Characters/DragonBallGokuBlack Goku Black]], [[Characters/DragonBallZamasu Zamasu/Zamas]] [[[Characters/DragonBallFusedZamasu Fused Zamasu/Zamas]]], [[Characters/DragonBallMoro Moro]])-]]]]]