"Well, I… love people!"
—Imperfect Cell, played by MasakoX
What If Cell Turned Good? is a Dragon Ball What If? fanfic by Lawrence Simpson aka MasakoX of Team Four Star fame as part of his Dragon Ball Discussion series of Youtube videos. This particular topic started on June 12, 2018.
As the title suggests, he explores his interpretation of an alternate version of the Cell Saga where Cell of the present day was found by Krillin and Trunks, and instead of killing him, they had Bulma reprogram him for the capacity of doing good, renaming him Android 21 (not to be confused by Android 21 from Dragon Ball Fighter Z as Bulma was unaware of her). As of Part 18, the story has gone from an alternate version of the Buu Saga of Dragon Ball Z all the way to events set after the Universal Survival Saga of Dragon Ball Super.
You can find the playlist for it here
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See also Masako X - Dragon Ball What-If which explores other possibilities in the Dragon Ball verse.
What If Cell Turned Good? has the following tropes:
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: The central conflicts of Android 21's character that despite being a heroic character, 17 and 18 despise him because of the actions of the original Cell, and he's aware that he's made to drink people. The twins make it clear they want nothing to do with him despite his intention to bond with them, and he suffers a Heroic BSoD after drinking Dabura. And when Dabura takes over his body as Perfect Dabura, he suffers from a massive existential crisis because of how he was created. It takes 17 and 18 to accept him for who he is rather than who they saw him as to finally snap him out of it.
- Adaptational Badass:
- Needless to say, Android 21 is far more powerful than his embryonic canon self who was killed without doing anything. He even manages to far eclipse the original Cell in strength, even with Dabura removed. Perfect 21, with Dabura absorbed, took Vegito's place in beating around Super Buu Gohan Absorbed and removing Piccolo, Goten, Trunks and Good Buu.
- Dabura sticks around far longer due to being inside 21's head, becoming a part of the Big Bad Ensemble, and when this scheme finally pays off, he becomes far stronger than his canon self ever was and the Final Boss of the Buu Saga.
- Videl is far stronger than in canon because of the dojo Android 21 built for them resparking her love of training. As a result, she's grown strong enough that she's part of the Tournament of Power team. She even gets a few eliminations.
- Because of the new information about Yardratian techniques from the Moro arc, Jimizu is a much more dangerous competitor, and easily takes out Buu after using Forced Spirit Fission to remove Buu's absorbed energy.
- Adaptational Name Change: Justified in-universe and Masako himself. Rather than giving Cell his original name to avoid possible backlash, Bulma decides to rename him as "Android 21". MasakoX himself justifies it as Bulma being unaware of the actual Android 21 from Dragon Ball Fighter Z.
- Alternate Self: Android 21 is the main timeline Cell, reprogrammed to be good, rather than the Cell who came from the alternate future and was the Big Bad of the Cell Saga.
- Anti-Anti-Christ: "Cell was supposed to be the ultimate creature of destruction, nowadays, it's the ultimate creature of hugs and goofing off like he was a little child"
- Ascended Extra:
- Android 17 is present for this version and plays a role.
- Dabura survives Buu's escape, and 21 devours him, but his soul sticks around in 21's head as part of a Big Bad Ensemble and ultimately possessing him fully to become Perfect Dabura as the Final Boss of the arc. It turns out at least a remnant of him remains inside him and resurfaces when 21 uses it again.
- Videl largely stayed out of things in canon, but here thanks to 21 being a family friend and encouraging it, she's much stronger and ultimately takes part in the Tournament of Power.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: 21 uses his ability to withstand immense amounts of damage to tank Hit's attacks until he figures out the Time Skip ability. He surrenders because he's not powerful enough to beat him, but was being a team player and passes the info onto his team.
- Berserk Button: 21 tapping into Dabura's power causes Jiren to go berserk due to reminding him of the demon that killed his loved ones.
- Berserker Tears: Android 18, of all people, starts crying as she's fighting Android 21 in the World Martial Arts Tournament, unleashing all her rage towards Cell on Android 21.
- Big Bad Ensemble: Dabura manages to promote himself to a main antagonist after 21 consumes him, his spirit sticking around and trying to be The Corrupter to him. After Perfect 21 kills Buu, he succeeds, becoming Perfect Dabura and the Final Boss of the arc.
- Brought Down to Badass: 21 is much weaker after Dabura's power (and influence) are removed, but is still very strong, even getting God ki. Though it turns out that he still has it, he's just reluctant to use it.
- Came Back Strong: Dabura manages to possess Perfect 21, becoming Perfect Dabura, who is not only way stronger than he originally was, but even stronger than Buu, and was able to put up a good fight against Vegito.
- Central Theme: Acceptance. The Z-Warriors learn to accept Android 21 as one of their own despite being their own version of Cell in their timeline, Android 17 and 18 learns to accept 21 for he is, and 21 learns how to accept his own nature. While it make sound unintentional for MasakoX to give a theme to his story, the entirety of the What-If has the characters, including 21 himself, learn to accept him and treat him as his own person.
- The Corrupter: Dabura attempts to be this to 21 after being consumed by 21 and his soul remaining inside him. He later succeeds by hijacking his body after he has become perfect.
- Creepy Good: 21 has the same insectoid appearance and creepy voice as Imperfect Cell, but he is firmly on the side of good.
- Cuddle Bug: Android 21 is like this. Quite literally.
- Curb-Stomp Battle:
- The battle between the Universe 9 assassins goes even worse than in canon, due to 21 being there.
- Jimizu removes Buu's absorbed energy, leaving him easily able to be taken out by Brianne de Chateau and Kakunsa.
- Death by Adaptation: After becoming perfect, Android 21 not only saves Gohan, Trunks, Goten, Piccolo, and Fat Buu, but he immediately goes for the kill when Super Buu reduces into Kid Buu.
- Demoted to Extra: Because 21 is the focus main protagonist of this What-If, Goku and Vegeta play out the equivalent Buu Saga as normal, but the story doesn't focus on them. However, they regain their preeminence during later sagas, just like they were in canon.
- Didn't See That Coming: Just before the Tournament of Power, Gohan has a moment of this when he sees Freeza, 21 and Buu together as a team with the Z fighters defending the universe.
- Doppelgänger Gets Same Sentiment: 17 and 18 behave this way towards 21, acting like he's the same as the original Cell and mistreating him for it. While inside of 21 after allowing him to absorb them and become Perfect to face Super Buu Gohan Absorbed, they finally see his true self and accept him.
- Dragon Ascendant: Dabura manages to join the Big Bad Ensemble by trying to corrupt 21 from within. He ultimately possesses him after Buu's defeat, becoming Perfect Dabura and the final threat of the arc.
- Enemy Within: Dabura becomes this after being absorbed by Imperfect 21. The evil that manifests in Part 15, implied to be some remnant of Dabura or the original Cell, turns out to be partially Dabura's essence, but also his own inner evil potential. Mito and Chondra both manage to snap him out of it, before Jiren almost kills him.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Imperfect 21 is offended that Semi-Perfect 21 thought he would even think about hurting Mito and Condria.
- Evil Counterpart: 21 uses the Nameless Namekian technique to split himself into his good half, which takes the form of his Semi-Perfect state and the evil half which resembles the Imperfect form, albeit with demon ki and some small physical differences.
- Ultimately averted. Imperfect 21 is fully aware of their problems and issues, pointing out that it isn't healthy for them to keep trying to repress and ignore it. He never does anything truly villainous, and ultimately helps 21 work out some of his issues before fusing back together.
- Fighting from the Inside: Android 21 attempts to regain control over his body from Dabura, with no avail, causing the poor bug man to suffer an existential crisis until 18 tells him to communicate with Piccolo using telepathy to contact Krillin.
- For Want Of A Nail: Goku forgets the talisman for the Evil Containment Wave, but Android 21's children notice this and sneak on board the time machine with it. This results in Future Zamasu being sealed away and Black killed by Future Trunks without Zen-O having to destroy the timeline.
- Friend to All Children: Android 21, towards Goten, Trunks and Marron.
- Fusion Dance:
- In addition to Gotenks, Androids 17 and 18 learn to fuse, becoming Android 17.5. It turns out that the latter fusion is very unique, as having a double infinite energy source means no matter how much energy they use or power up their 30 minute time limit doesn't change, and they can refuse into 17.5 immediately upon it ending.
- At the end of four, faced with Super Buu Gotenks Absorbed and outmatched, 17 and 18 agree to join 21 to let him become Perfect to give them a chance against Buu. Unlike the first time, as it's willing on their part, they're present and giving him advice the entire time. He drank Dabura earlier, who manages to hijack his body and turn him into Perfect Dabura.
- To fight Perfect Dabura, Goku and Vegeta fuse with the Potaras to become Vegito.
- During the fight with Broly, Goku and Vegeta fuse into Gogeta to fight him while Freeza and 21 hold him off. When a second Broly shows up, 21 and Freeza fuse to become Celeeza.
- Godzilla Threshold: Faced with Super Buu Gohan Absorbed, 17 and 18 allow 21 to absorb them and become Perfect 21.
- Half the Man He Used to Be: 21 manages to telepathically contact Piccolo from inside Perfect Dabura, hatching a plan for Krillin to bisect Perfect Dabura with a Destructo Disk while he's distracted. While Dabura regenerates, 21, 17, and 18 jumped into the other half, allowing 21 to regenerate and everyone to obliterate Dabura.
- Heel–Face Turn: Subverted: despite the title, Cell doesn't actually turn good. Instead, Bulma reprograms the infant Cell in Gero's sub lab to be capable of becoming good.
- Hell on Earth: After possessing Perfect 21, the now Perfect Dabura's endgame is to bring the Demon Realm to Earth since Babidi is no longer controlling him and make it his new kingdom.
- Hijacked by Ganon: After Perfect 21 kills Buu, Dabura makes his move and possesses him, becoming the Final Boss of the arc.
- In Name Only: As mentioned above in Heel–Face Turn, this is not a story about Cell (as seen in Dragon Ball Canon) turning good. This is about the Cell from this universe, which was never activated, being raised as a good person by the main cast, renamed as Android 21.
- Because Bulma didn't know about the existence of the FighterZ Android of the same name, this timeline's Cell is also known as Android 21.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: As in canon, the Dragon Balls are used to erase all memory of Buu so he can live in peace, but with the added wish of erasing all memory of Perfect Cell so the now Perfect 21 can likewise not be shackled with the sins of his alternate self.
- Manchild: Android 21 is like this, due to being raised with Goten and Trunks like a normal person rather than being grown in a test tube with Gero's grudge shoved in his head. This is even more pronounced after achieving his Perfect form and his first instinct is to hug Goku upon seeing him.
- Monster Progenitor: 21 eventually becomes lonely, being the only being in existence like himself, especially upon realizing he's likely immortal or at least very long lived. As a result, he eventually decides to spawn two Cell Juniors named Mito and Chondra to raise as his children and thus begins his own species.
- My God, What Have I Done?: 21 is forced to absorb Dabura to save himself while holding him off to protect West City, and feels extremely guilty over resorting to it. He especially comes to regret this after Dabura possesses him and becomes the final threat of the arc.
- Nice Guy: Even after achieving his Perfect form, Perfect 21's personality doesn't change compared to his canon Smug Super evil alternate timeline self.
- No-Sell: Frost's poison needle has no effect on 21 due to his Freeza race genes.
- The Obi-Wan: Piccolo fills in this role to help 21 how to fight and control his Blood Knight urges. Later 18 guides 21 in defeating Majin Buu after absorbing them (with the twins' consent).
- Ontological Inertia: Despite 17 and 18 being brought back to existence, 21 still retains his Perfect 21 form.
- Parental Substitute: At Bulma and Gohan's behest, Piccolo becomes the one to raise and mentor 21, even giving him an outfit via Clothes Beam.
- Raise Him Right This Time: What the Z-Fighters decide to do with the infant Cell rather than destroy it with the lab.
- Redeeming Replacement: Essentially the idea the Z-Fighters had with the larval Cell: reprogram it and raise it to be a good person.
- Reformed, but Rejected: Androids 17 and 18 want nothing to do with Android 21 due to their history with the original Cell.
- Retcon:
- Several. At first, 21 tells Gohan and Piccolo that he drank Dabura right away, but it was changed so that he told no one and Dabura being absorbed was a surprise.
- Later, they expand on 21 and Black's initial confrontation, with it being changed to a full blown fight, with him fighting Black rather than Goku, rather than 21 shielding Mito and Condra and just talking to Black.
- Originally, 21 stayed back in the past when Vegeta, Goku and Future Trunks when back to the future, in case Black was able to go back in time again. It gets changed in episode 12 to 21 going along with them.
- Jimizu's Forced Spirit Fission against Buu was done before the specifics were actually known. Thus it was retconned from him doing it from a distance in the previous to him using Instant Transmission to hit him and use it that way.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Due to 21's children bringing the talisman, Future Zamasu is sealed away by Goku. After Black is killed, they give the urn to Gowasu to act as his jailer.
- Sharing a Body: Dabura's spirit hangs on when 21 absorbs him and becomes a devil on his shoulder, even if he doesn't have any real control over their body.
- Spared by the Adaptation:
- As Android 21 is the focus protagonist, Krillin and Trunks don't kill him, instead opting to have Bulma to alter his celluar makeup in order for him to be a more compassionate person than his future counterpart (though this process required Bulma to learn bio-engineering).
- Because Krillin did not suffer the same fate as in canon in the Buu Saga, he becomes integral in defeating Perfect Dabura by cutting him in half.
- Android 21 rescues Gohan, Trunks, Goten, and Piccolo, and then immediately defeats Majin Buu after turning into Kid Buu.
- Stone Wall: While Android 21 isn't anywhere near as strong Future Trunks in Super Saiyan Rage, he is able to help him fight Goku Black and Future Zamasu because he's so durable Future Zamasu can't deal much lasting damage to him. This allows him to essentially keep the fallen Kai busy and allow Trunks to focus on Black.
- Story-Breaker Power: Similar to the Broly What-If, when Android 21 achieves his Perfect form, he's able to kill Majin Buu after deliberately getting himself absorbed to rescue Piccolo, Gohan, and the boys, much to the exasperation of Goku and Vegeta who arrived on Earth when this happens. This turns for the worse with Dabura taking over his body, who is able to fight Vegito evenly and get the win by endurance alone.
- Superior Successor: 21 is far stronger than the original Cell, being on par with Perfect Cell in his Imperfect Form. When 17 and 18 allow him to absorb them to fight Super Buu Gohan Absorbed, his Perfect form is stronger than him and after Dabura takes over is able to fight Vegito evenly.
- Super Mode: 21 manages achieve his own variation of Golden Frieza combined with God Ki, called Bronze 21.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: In the cold open for Part 2, "Come on brother, sister, I just want to hug you! No drinking involved!" It's genuine, since this is 21.
- Theme Naming: 21's kids are named Mito and Condra, after mitochondria, parts of a cell.
- Truly Single Parent: 21 ultimately decides to start a family and, like the original Cell, spawns a son and daughter named Condra and Mita.
- Vegetarian Vampire: Android 21 has the same...eating requirements as the original Cell, but as it's shown Perfect Cell could get the full benefit of Senzu Beans, he's fed them instead. The hardest part about it appears to be getting Korin to let them grow the beans down on Earth instead of by him on top of the tower. He's forced to absorb Dabura to stop him from rampaging through West City, but goes berserk until Piccolo and Gohan can calm him down.
- Victory by Endurance: Perfect Dabura wins his fight with Vegito because he knows about the Potara time limit when used by mortals and thus, being way stronger than Super Buu and a fairly even match for him, runs out the time limit.
- You Shall Not Pass!: Android 21 holds off Dabura so Gohan can save civilians once their fight with him moves to the city. He's ultimate forced into a corner and forced to resort to absorption to defeat him.
- Younger Than They Look: Android 21 is technically 7 or 8 years old by the time of the Buu saga, but has the body and stature of a full-grown adult.
