TVTropes Now available in the app store!
Open

Follow TV Tropes

Following

Dragon Ball Z Abridged

Go To

TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#14901: Nov 2nd 2015 at 12:43:00 PM

Few things in Dragon Ball were planned in advance, but the Android Saga is something special in that regard due to the changes made in an attempt to appease a friend of Toriyama's that didn't particularly like anything in it.

Oddly enough, the end result causes 13, 14, and 15 to make perfect sense, in a way; the additions of 16, 17, 18, and Cell to the story effectively reduce Dr. Gero's character to blind gibberish, so why not have three more defective Androids waiting in the wings? It makes about as much sense as converting himself into the weakest model of Android he's ever designed.

Also, to be fair, they weren't that strong (super 13 aside). They kinda got their ass kicked as soon as they all turned into Supersayajin. A better question is why Gero even bother having 14 and 15 around, if he could have just used his parts to make Super 13.

Same reason he didn't just build 17 and 18's necessary components into Cell so that he could awaken in his Perfect Form. Dr. Gero's character makes no sense.

That is, however, a good point about their powers. The characters have not even entered the Room of Spirit and Time yet, evidenced by Gohan's appearance and lack of Super Saiyan abilities as well as Trunks not having traded out his jacket and sword for a Saiyan battle suit and longer hair - the look he continues to wear until the Cell Games. As a consequence of dealing with pre-Cell battle powers, these androids are sorely underwhelming.

17 and 18 are powerful enough to make short work of the Super Saiyans, but once Goku, Trunks, and Vegeta transformed here, they made short work of their adversaries. 13, 14, and 15 seem to be roughly on par with 19 and 20.

edited 2nd Nov '15 12:46:33 PM by TobiasDrake

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#14902: Nov 2nd 2015 at 12:45:48 PM

I think Gero is just dumb

Oh really when?
TropayXion The i. one. from HEART Since: Jul, 2011 Relationship Status: Complex: I'm real, they are imaginary
The i. one.
#14903: Nov 2nd 2015 at 12:46:18 PM

Cell was clearly just an expansion pack. Perfectly explains needing older androids to work. Probably. I guess not.

TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#14904: Nov 2nd 2015 at 12:50:06 PM

Well, the thing about Cell that does make sense is that he was an abandoned project that the computer kept building after Gero gave up on it. Gero recognized the amount of time it would take to complete and went, "F*ck that noise, I want to murder Son Goku NOW!" This explains why it takes so long for him to awaken - a decade and a half after Gero has unveiled his androids means that either Goku will already be dead and there will be no reason for Cell to exist, or 17 and 18 will already have been destroyed and Cell can never achieve Perfection. It makes no sense to plan for that, but as a dumbf*ck computer doing what it was told to do instead of what its creator wanted it to do, the logic works out fine.

But it still doesn't answer the question of why Perfection would even be a thing he needs to achieve at all. If he's absorbing the mechanical components of 17 and 18, why not build those into him? If he's absorbing the organic components, Cell's unique physiology means you can build those into him too.

But I digress. I don't want to embark on another "Why the Cell Saga sucks Oozaru Balls" rant. Super Android 13 was awesome and hilarious and TFS did a fantastic job with it.

edited 2nd Nov '15 12:52:01 PM by TobiasDrake

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
EchoingSilence Since: Jun, 2013
#14905: Nov 2nd 2015 at 12:55:33 PM

Let it be said that just because you are smart you can't lack common sense.

Plus from the looks of it, 13, 14, and 15 were prototypes to 18 and 17. So it makes sense they weren't used.

dRoy Professional Writer & Amateur Scholar from Most likely from my study Since: May, 2010 Relationship Status: I'm just high on the world
Professional Writer & Amateur Scholar
#14906: Nov 2nd 2015 at 12:55:35 PM

Vegeta screaming for 10 minutes.

IS it just me or is there something...twistedly soothing about this sound?

Continuously reading, studying, and (hopefully) growing.
AdricDePsycho Rock on, Gold Dust Woman from Never Going Back Again Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Rock on, Gold Dust Woman
#14907: Nov 2nd 2015 at 1:26:34 PM

I'm gonna guess that Giro was pretty lacking in common sense. Dude somehow put his own brain in a robot body, how did he figure that out?

He might just be an idiot savant or something. Emphasis on idiot.

Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?
BaconManiac5000 Since: Nov, 2013 Relationship Status: Baby don't hurt me!
#14908: Nov 2nd 2015 at 1:37:18 PM

Highly defective and annoying, that's why. 15 has a drinking problem, 14 can't talk, and 13 is racist and has a obsession with trucker hats.

I don't think 13 was racist, was he?

Also, is it just me, or does he sound exactly like the Engineer from TF 2?

what do you mean I didn't win, I ate more wet t-shirts than anyone else
KarkatTheDalek Not as angry as the name would suggest. from Somwhere in Time/Space Since: Mar, 2012 Relationship Status: You're a beautiful woman, probably
Not as angry as the name would suggest.
#14909: Nov 2nd 2015 at 1:38:14 PM

[up] Well, he called Piccolo "boy", so...

Oh God! Natural light!
AdricDePsycho Rock on, Gold Dust Woman from Never Going Back Again Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Rock on, Gold Dust Woman
#14910: Nov 2nd 2015 at 1:38:38 PM

[up][up] Depends I guess. The term "boy" can be seen as a bit of a slur if used derogatively.

edited 2nd Nov '15 1:38:48 PM by AdricDePsycho

Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?
BaconManiac5000 Since: Nov, 2013 Relationship Status: Baby don't hurt me!
#14911: Nov 2nd 2015 at 1:44:38 PM

Oh yeah.....

Still, he did call Vegeta out for being racist.

what do you mean I didn't win, I ate more wet t-shirts than anyone else
SonOfSharknado Love is Love is Love Since: Oct, 2013 Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
Love is Love is Love
#14912: Nov 2nd 2015 at 1:46:56 PM

Or it was just condescending.

My various fanfics.
BaconManiac5000 Since: Nov, 2013 Relationship Status: Baby don't hurt me!
#14913: Nov 2nd 2015 at 1:47:33 PM

Also, I love the callback when Goku was whistling "Mahna mahna" while charging up the Spirit Bomb.

what do you mean I didn't win, I ate more wet t-shirts than anyone else
LOLypop1224 ...what am I even DOING here? Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
...what am I even DOING here?
#14914: Nov 2nd 2015 at 1:48:02 PM

I think we all reached the conclusion that Gero is a massive idiot.

But if we need to come up with an explanation...maybe the point is 17 and 18 have to be alive and functional for Cell to properly use their parts. It makes sense. While he flat-out killed the humans he absorbed, 17 and 18 were still alive in Cell until he spat out one and self-destructed, killing the other.

The *Legendary* Super Saiyan is motivated by a crying infant! He is a literal giant f***ing baby!
Eriorguez Since: Jun, 2009
#14915: Nov 2nd 2015 at 1:58:45 PM

They work as organs for Cell, maybe?

BaconManiac5000 Since: Nov, 2013 Relationship Status: Baby don't hurt me!
#14916: Nov 2nd 2015 at 1:59:11 PM

Also, the funky 70's music for 15 was a nice touch.

"Piccolo, help!" -BOOM- "Holy crap, that actually worked!"

edited 2nd Nov '15 2:30:43 PM by BaconManiac5000

what do you mean I didn't win, I ate more wet t-shirts than anyone else
Watchtower Since: Jul, 2010
#14917: Nov 2nd 2015 at 2:49:13 PM

I think the better question is: Where's Eighter in all this? tongue

Anomalocaris20 from Sagittarius A* Since: Sep, 2010 Relationship Status: Love blinded me (with science!)
#14918: Nov 2nd 2015 at 3:01:39 PM

What happened to Androids 1-7 and 8-12?

You cannot firmly grasp the true form of Squidward's technique!
AdricDePsycho Rock on, Gold Dust Woman from Never Going Back Again Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Rock on, Gold Dust Woman
#14919: Nov 2nd 2015 at 3:08:35 PM

[up] I think they all were poorly made prototypes from when the Red Ribbon Army existed.

Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?
WillKeaton from Alberta, Canada Since: Jun, 2010
#14920: Nov 2nd 2015 at 3:13:45 PM

Apparently Android 9 was a rebuilt Commander Red. At least according to Dragonball online.

The credits for the movie list two different narrators, but I only remember the one guy with the deep southern drawl talking when people got the tar beat out of them. Where was the other?

AdricDePsycho Rock on, Gold Dust Woman from Never Going Back Again Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Rock on, Gold Dust Woman
#14921: Nov 2nd 2015 at 3:21:50 PM

[up] There were two guys narrating in a southern drawl. One of them was Chris Sabat.

Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?
Watchtower Since: Jul, 2010
#14922: Nov 2nd 2015 at 3:53:19 PM

[up] Wait a sec....

*rewatches*

Shit, that is Sabat. He's the second credit, right? Cause that's a damn good alias right there. tongue

AdricDePsycho Rock on, Gold Dust Woman from Never Going Back Again Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Rock on, Gold Dust Woman
#14923: Nov 2nd 2015 at 4:17:41 PM

[up] He used that alias in another video. I think he voiced that scrub that couldn't handle a glass of Raspberry Schnaps.

Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?
Heatth (X-Troper) Relationship Status: In Spades with myself
#14924: Nov 2nd 2015 at 4:57:51 PM

The same could really have been said for Cell in regards to creating 17 and 18. The Android Saga really wasn't planned out in advance.

The thing is, Cell was still not done by the time Android Saga came around, and Gero was long dead by the time he was finally finished. There was never a point where Gero had both Cell and the Androids. But Gero, obviously, already had 13, 14 and 15 at hands at one time. Why not combine them then?

But it still doesn't answer the question of why Perfection would even be a thing he needs to achieve at all. If he's absorbing the mechanical components of 17 and 18, why not build those into him? If he's absorbing the organic components, Cell's unique physiology means you can build those into him too.

Maybe Lapis and Lazuli have a super special DNA and whatever that made them both super suited for being cyborgs as well as being part of Cell? That way Gero could either have his Androids 17 and 18 or a built in Perfect Cell. As you said, Gero was in a hurry so he chose the quicker option.

(of course, the real answer is that DBZ is not particularly well planned and the movies even less so, but that cuts all of the fun)

What happened to Androids 1-7 and 8-12?

I don't know about most of them, but #8 is living happy after ever in some arctic village. If I am not mistaken, he had a cameo in the Buu saga climax and everything ((trying to) give his ki to Goku).

edited 2nd Nov '15 5:04:07 PM by Heatth

LOLypop1224 ...what am I even DOING here? Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
...what am I even DOING here?
#14925: Nov 2nd 2015 at 5:16:47 PM

Chris Sabat was in the first Bardock special, as the Saiyans who were sending Goku to Earth, and they were mispronouncing Earth as "Ee-arth".

He also did a country cover of "Cat Loves Food" in one of the Season 3 episodes.

Appule (the guy who couldn't handle Raspberry Schnapps) was voiced by Mike La Brie, aka Vegetto EX, aka one of the guys who founded Kanzenshuu.com. I think it's a sort of Kanzenshuu in-joke that he's a big Appule fan.

I'm sure Saiga knows the full story.

And now I'm realising I know way too much about this internet parody.

edited 2nd Nov '15 5:17:32 PM by LOLypop1224

The *Legendary* Super Saiyan is motivated by a crying infant! He is a literal giant f***ing baby!

Total posts: 40,340
Top