Cell

Cell
“ There is no secret purpose. I simply want to get as much out of this planet as I can before I destroy it. I have proven that I am unstoppable. Neither you or your friends are any threat to me now. „ ― Cell “ There is no secret purpose. I simply want to get as much out of this planet as I can before I destroy it. I have proven that I am unstoppable. Neither you or your friends are any threat to me now. „ ― Cell “ There is no secret purpose. I simply want to get as much out of this planet as I can before I destroy it. I have proven that I am unstoppable. Neither you or your friends are any threat to me now. „ ― Cell “ There is no secret purpose. I simply want to get as much out of this planet as I can before I destroy it. I have proven that I am unstoppable. Neither you or your friends are any threat to me now. „ ― Cell
Vital statistics
Names	Cell, Seru,
Gender	Male
Race	Bio-Android (contains Saiyan, Namekian, Frieza Race, Earthling and several other life-forms' cells)
Occupation	Martial Artist
Origin	Dragon Ball Manga Chapter 360: "Kami-sama and the Demon King Become One" (神かみと大だい魔ま王おうの融ゆう合ごう Kami to Daimaō no Yūgō, lit. "The Union of God and the Great Demon King")
Alignment	Evil
Age	6 (30 counting years spent developing)
Created By	Akira Toriyama
Height	{{{height}}}
Weight	{{{weight}}}

Cell (セル Seru) is the ultimate creation of Dr. Gero, designed via cell recombination using the genetics of the greatest fighters that the remote tracking device could find on Earth. The result was a "perfect warrior", possessing numerous favorable genetic traits and special abilities from Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Frieza and King Cold. However, to reach his perfect form and full power, Cell must absorb Gero's other biomechanical creations; the Androids, 17 and 18.

Originally hailing from the future of an alternate Trunks in which he killed the Androids, Cell killed his timeline's Trunks and used his Time Machine to travel to the past to absorb this timeline's Androids so that he can reach perfection and fight and kill as he pleases. He arrives in the main Dragon Ball timeline around four years prior to the emergence of the Androids, and devolves into his larval state to hide underground and await their appearance.

He was one of the few Red Ribbon Androids not directly completed by Dr. Gero, instead being completed by Dr. Gero's Supercomputer in an alternate timeline. He is the main antagonist of the Imperfect Cell, Perfect Cell, and Cell Games Sagas.

Appearance

As a being with several transformations, Cell's appearance varies depending on the form he is in.

In his larval form, Cell resembles a large four-legged cicada with long, V-shaped horns on its head and a face similar to that of the remote tracking device.

In his Imperfect form, Cell has transitioned to walking upright and has a humanoid shape, but retains many insectoid features from his previous form, including his horns, beak-like mouth, three-toed feet, five-fingered hands (three-fingered in the manga) and segmented armor. His eyes feature slitted pupils with no visible irises and pale pink sclera (pale blue in the manga). In this form, he has sprouted wings similar to those of a beetle, along with a long tail affixed to the middle of his back that ends with a "stinger" used to absorb other life forms.

In Semi-Perfect form, obtained after absorbing Android 17, Cell's wings disappear, and he becomes more humanoid and muscular in appearance. His horns now point upward and form a crown shape, and his face, though possessing a comically large-lipped mouth and lacking a nose, has taken the general shape of a human face. His pupils become round with pale blue irises (red in the manga) and white sclera. Cell's feet lose their toes and instead resemble shoes, though his tail remains much the same as it was in his Imperfect form.

Cell becomes fully humanoid in his Perfect form gained from absorbing Android 18, complete with a normal nose and mouth. His irises become pink (they stay red in the manga). His tail has been completely retracted, only the stinger remaining. This form is somewhat shorter and lighter than the previous one, being 7 feet in height. His wings have grown back, but he retains the shoe-like feet and upward-pointing horns from Semi-Perfect form. Purple stripes now run down each side of his face, similar to those of Frieza in his first three forms.

While Perfect, Cell can take on a Super Saiyan Third Grade and Power Stressed form, each similar to his base Perfect form but with grossly enlarged muscles and, in the Power Stressed state, greater size.

Cell also possesses a Super Perfect State, identical in appearance to his Perfect form, but with the added electrified aura of a Super Saiyan 2.

Personality

"You fool! Don't you realize yet you're up against the perfect weapon?!" — "Save the World"

Cell has an original personality engineered by Gero's computer to combine the character traits of his genetic constituents which would be most useful for a perfect weapon. Because his genetic composition includes DNA from Goku, Vegeta, and Piccolo, he is aware of their weaknesses and is therefore able to exploit them in battle. However, Cell's overall personality changes drastically with each transformation.

Initially, Cell is completely single-minded in the pursuit of his goals and is very cautious, sneaky, cunning, knowledgeable, and calculating in achieving his main goal of perfection. Upon reaching his first transformation, he becomes far more brash and impulsive in his actions, relying less on strategy and more on brute force, often becoming clouded and losing his ability to think rationally when things don't go his way. However, he does retain at least some degree of a strategic mind, as he got the idea to exploit Vegeta's arrogant desire for a challenge to manipulate him into allowing him to absorb 18. Upon reaching perfection, Cell displays a number of traits shared by those whose cells he possesses; Piccolo's cunning, Vegeta's pride, Goku's laid-back disposition, Frieza's smugness (as well as some of his psychopathy), and the Saiyan lust for battle. In this form, he is also shown to be very calm and genuinely polite, albeit arrogant, until he loses the upper hand in combat. Ironically, the arrogance Vegeta displayed to allow Cell to achieve his perfect form was the same that Cell used to force Gohan to awaken his hidden powers, leading him, as it had led Vegeta, to his own downfall. Another of Cell's most distinguishable traits in this form is his uninhibited vanity, which he shamelessly displays by launching the Cell Games, a tournament organized solely to show off his newfound power. It's also obvious during Cell's confrontation with Gohan when he affirms his true purpose: the annihilation of anything he considers imperfect--everyone and everything but himself. When he is outmatched, however, he quickly becomes desperate and loses his rational approach, making several critical mistakes.

As Imperfect Cell, Cell is completely single-minded in the pursuit of his goals to complete his evolution, as he is extremely eager to discover what attaining perfection would feel like. His desire is to absorb both Android 17 and Android 18. Imperfect Cell is very cautious, sneaky, cunning, and calculating; he does not chase down the Androids directly since he knows he cannot beat them before he absorbs enough human energy. Although obsessed with attaining perfection, Cell was willing to temporarily put aside his plans to absorb 17 and 18 if it meant that he had to deal any possible threat to his plans, as seen how he chose to dispatch Piccolo and attempted to do so with 16 rather than immediately going after 17 and 18.

However, despite his usually cautious and savvy nature, Imperfect Cell could still be seen to be somewhat arrogant and narcissistic, seen by how he openly revealed his plans to Piccolo when under the impression that he had won when he really did not.

After he achieves his Semi-Perfect form, Cell no longer cares about absorbing other creatures, and becomes obsessed with finding Android 18 to complete his quest for perfection. He also becomes slightly more arrogant and narcissistic because of his power increase, as well as rash and impatient. His arrogance is short-lived though; he is easily outclassed by Vegeta's Super Saiyan Second Grade form. After finding that his Semi-Perfect form is no match for his opponent, Cell convinces Vegeta to allow him to absorb Android 18 to attain the Perfect Form (which he is able to do as he appeals to Vegeta's ego and the natural Saiyan drive to fight stronger opponents, both of which Cell is aware of, as he possesses Vegeta's cells). He is also prone to tantrums when things don't go his way. This is best evidenced when he was unable to find Android 18 and proceeded to blow up several islands in an attempt to force her to come out, not caring if his energy blasts resulted in her destruction if she tried to continue hunker down.

According to his bios in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 and Budokai Tenkaichi 3, in his new form, he seems to feel that he is the most powerful living specimen on the planet, and it is suggested that this arrogant attitude may have been influenced by Vegeta's genes (meaning Vegeta's cells may become more prominent while in this form, which seems to be supported by the fact he uses at least two of Vegeta's signature moves in this form, albeit only in the anime: Galick Gun and a modified Big Bang Attack). It may also be due to his absorption of Android 17 and the genes of Frieza, both of whom are very egotistical, arrogant, narcissistic, and intolerant of the idea of anyone being better than themselves. To further support the notion of his superiority, Android 16, who barely survives his brief encounter with this form of Cell, thinks to himself that there should be no one in the universe ready to challenge him at this point (and that it is odd how he is still so obsessed with achieving completion), until this preconception is shattered by Cell's embarrassment against the self-proclaimed "Super Vegeta".

After absorbing No. 18 and becoming perfect, Cell becomes significantly more arrogant and narcissistic in this form, due to the massive increase in power. After attaining the perfect form he had long desired, Cell admitted to Trunks that he had found himself with no other purpose, even killing Goku, which was Dr. Gero's intended purpose for Cell, did not seem to satisfy him. Thus, he saw his Cell Games as the opportunity to discover a new purpose; to test his new-found power. This could also be attributed by his own vanity.

In this form, Cell gains Frieza's polite mannerisms (though without the snide sarcasm) and ruthlessly sadistic personality, relishing in seeing people terrified, as he admitted to Future Trunks when he revealed his intention for the Cell Games. This was further shown in the anime, while waiting for the Cell Games, he chose to terrorize the people of Earth simply for his own amusement. Akira Toriyama himself surmised that the concept behind the Cell Games may have been influenced by King Piccolo's cells which makes sense as King Piccolo also enjoyed terrorizing the people of Earth in a similar manner and both broadcasted their evil intentions on television just to instill fear into Earth's population. Thus he possesses the villainous traits from King Piccolo, Vegeta, and Frieza.

Much like Goku, Cell seems to take on a carefree and laid-back attitude, not losing any form of his composure until he was faced with the prospect of a being stronger than him. Cell has adopted Goku's, as well as Vegeta's, desire to battle strong opponents, which was another purpose of the Cell Games. The fact that prior to facing Super Saiyan 2 Gohan, Cell still chose to hold back his full power, Cell was willing to handicap himself in order to challenge his own limits. Despite this, however, if Cell finds that his opponents were not adequate challenges, he would not hesitate to finish the battle quickly or discontinue it, reflecting his arrogance. Before fighting Gohan, Cell saw Goku as the only worthy opponent and displayed excitement when fighting him. Cell even expressed discontent and outrage when Goku had decided to forfeit his battle against Cell.

After coming back in his Super Perfect form, the huge influx of power causes his already inflated ego to increase dramatically. He becomes notably more deranged, frequently shouting and exhibiting bizarre facial ticks at random intervals (although this may be largely due to his rage over being humiliated by Gohan). In addition, the intro narration for "Cell Returns" has the narrator referring to Cell as a "demented demon". Cell also became more hotheaded and rash, seen by how he immediately chose to risk destroying the entire solar system simply to defeat Gohan.

After returning from his brush with death, Cell saw himself as true perfection, believing himself to be immortal, as he was unable to die (save for the unlikely possibility of dying in battle). Oddly, despite having every intention of destroying the planet, he was heard thinking "That's the spirit" when Gohan's challenges Cell to a Kamehameha duel (although this was likely because he wanted the latter to give it his all as a means to prove Cell's own superiority). Even as he was slowly destroyed by Gohan's final attack, Cell could not comprehend why he was defeated, exclaiming that he was perfection itself. When in the throes of defeat, Cell seems to almost lose his sanity. Screaming in rage and confusion as he believes no one can defeat "perfection" (or himself). These traits show that Cell most likely has inherited some of Frieza's psychotic and sadistic traits.

As King Piccolo had previously also enjoyed himself by taking over the world as if it were a game and tried to rule the world through fear, Akira Toriyama wondered in an interview if Cell's similar way of doing things is from the influence of his Piccolo cells.

Owing to his being created by Gero, his brain also has a memory databank that contains detailed information of all the known members of the Red Ribbon Army. This is implied if the Future Warrior was training under Cell and approaches him while dressed up as General Blue, where he goes through the records in his brain and relays everything he knows about the deceased Red Ribbon general, and expressing disbelief at the claim of him being killed by a tongue. In addition, although he fully acknowledges Gero's intended purpose of him being meant to avenge the Red Ribbon Army, his personal views on the matter varied between sources. In FighterZ, he was shown to have no actual care for Gero's goal of restoring the Army or avenging it, mostly due to his narcissism. However, in Atsumare! Gokū Wārudo, he was shown to be fully dedicated to completing this goal, even explicitly stating he intends to avenge the Red Ribbon Army by fighting Goku.

His English voice varies between forms. In his imperfect form, he has a rasping, slightly sadistic voice. In his semi-perfect form, he speaks in a somewhat more brutal manner with a slightly haughty tone. In his perfect form and beyond, he is depicted as speaking with a posh English accent to emphasize his excessively arrogant nature.

Biography

Background

The version of Cell that plays a large role in Dragon Ball Z hails from an alternate future timeline where he has already evolved to his Imperfect form. Unfortunately for him, neither Future Android 17 nor Future Android 18 are present, having already been taken out by his version of Future Trunks. In order to complete his evolution, Cell kills Future Trunks and steals his Time Machine, going back in time to the date set by Future Trunks in the "standard" timeline when both Androids are still functional, sometime around four years prior to the Androids' arrival. In order to fit into the time machine, Cell had to revert to an egg, (or in the dub, his larval state).

Once he arrived in the past, Cell burrowed underground where he would remain for four years until he could grow back to his adult, humanoid self. Once this metamorphosis was completed, Cell emerged from the ground and molted his skin. Even though he had evolved into his mature, Imperfect form, Cell still feared that he did not have the power he needed to forcibly absorb the Androids. To increase his strength, his first actions were to exterminate several towns, absorbing the human inhabitants within.

Unbeknownst to Cell, Kami had witnessed his arrival into the present and grew to fear that he would become an even greater threat to the Earth than the Androids.

After the Z Fighters were defeated by the Androids and decided to evacuate a sick Goku, Bulma tells Future Trunks that she received evidence of a second Time Machine in a forest by Gingertown. When she, Trunks, and Gohan go to investigate, they find Cell's abandoned Time Machine and his leftover egg and molted skin.

Dragon Ball Z

Cell Saga

"I'm going to absorb you next!" — Imperfect Cell to Piccolo in "I Am Your Brother! The Monster with Goku's Energy!"

After completing his feeding on the humans in Ginger Town, Cell is confronted by Piccolo. Piccolo calls Cell a freak of nature, but Cell's ki shocks him. The Richest man in Gingertown, being held by Cell, begs Piccolo for help, offering him whatever he wants. Piccolo tells Cell to let the man go, and that life has value, even a worthless one like that man's. Cell seemingly complies by dropping the man, who starts to crawl towards Piccolo. Cell, however, stabs the man in the back with his tail and absorbs him, shocking Piccolo. Cell then looks at Piccolo and tells him that he is next, calling him by name. Piccolo, stunned, asks how Cell knows his name and who he is. Cell then powers up, surprising Piccolo again, and tells Piccolo that he is his brother (although Cell does not know at this point that Piccolo fused with Kami). Piccolo again asks Cell who he is, demanding to be told everything. Cell asks why Piccolo would need to know that while inside of his stomach. Piccolo says that he would prefer to know who his opponent is before killing them, but he will make Cell an exception. Cell scoffs at this. Piccolo tells Cell that he doesn't know how he knows of the name Piccolo, and powers up. He then tells Cell that he unfortunately has the wrong person, which confuses Cell. Piccolo says that it was convenient that Cell killed all of the residents already, as now he does not have to hold back. He then hits Cell with a massive Ki Blast.

After a brief struggle where he easily beats around the creature, Piccolo asks Cell if that was all he has got and says he expected him to be more powerful. Cell says that Piccolo is not a bad fighter, but that he is not yet in his Perfect form. Piccolo asks if that is why he is attacking people, and Cell confirms that he is absorbing human energy to power himself up. Piccolo then angrily demands to know who sent him in the time machine, and Cell reveals that he sent himself, after reverting to his egg form due to the machine's small size. Cell says that he is surprised Piccolo knows about the time machine, but says that he will not know his next move. Cell then begins to charge a Kamehameha, shocking Piccolo when he recognizes the stance. Cell unleashes his blast, and Piccolo is surprised to see that it is indeed a Kamehameha. He manages to dodge, leaping into the air. Cell, however, ambushes Piccolo and grabs him from behind, pinning his arms and legs. Cell says that he has him now, and stabs Piccolo in the arm with his tail. He manages to suck energy from Piccolo's arm before the Namekian headbutts him and escapes. Piccolo's left arm, however, becomes withered and useless. Cell (now mistakenly confident in victory) explains who he is to Piccolo.

After hearing the story of his creation and his plan to absorb the Androids, Piccolo reveals that he tricked Cell to give him the information while he took the time he needed to regenerate his arm and allow him to continue fighting. Piccolo tells Cell that even though he gained more energy from his arm, increasing his strength, he is still beyond the Bio-Android's capabilities, and Piccolo prepares to finish this fight quickly. Cell, admiring Piccolo's intellect and tactics, praises the Namekian, surprised himself he had fallen for Piccolo's folly. Piccolo however, states this tactic came from the mind of Kami. From this information, Cell comes to the conclusion that Kami and Piccolo have become one being once again, explaining Piccolo's power, which has kept him slightly above Cell's abilities. Cell, however, also concludes that due to this fusion the Dragon Balls have now become stone and unusable, thus, nobody can be revived from the dead, a tactic which works well in Cell's favor. Before Piccolo and Cell can fight again, Future Trunks and Krillin arrive at the scene. Future Trunks' presence in the past surprises Cell, as he deduces this is another timeline's version of him. Krillin asks why can he feel Goku's familiar ki coming from the monster, something Piccolo says he will explain later, after they have successfully destroyed the creature.

Realizing that he is outnumbered, Cell decides to retreat and absorb more victims, and then finally absorb Androids 17 and 18. Piccolo calls Cell's idea a joke, remembering the mediocre Kamehameha Cell had fired before, something Piccolo states was a sign of Cell's limit of power, and thus, has no chance of escaping from Piccolo's much increased speed. Krillin also becomes shocked that Cell can use the legendary Kamehameha wave. Cell replies to Krillin by stating that not only can he use the Kamehameha, he knows all of Goku's techniques, including the Spirit Bomb. Shocked that Cell knows his name, Krillin thinks that Goku will be even more shocked than he is when he is informed of this. With this, Cell deduces that Goku has not died of his heart disease and is still alive, which makes him excited at the thought of fighting him. Cell, now with a full plan of escape, shouts that he will absorb Androids 17 and 18 and achieve his perfect form, stating that Piccolo must get stronger if he wants any chance of stopping him. Cell, now done with his threat, raises his hands and performs a Solar Flare, blinding his foes with a blast of bright light, making his escape and suppresses his energy to prevent them from finding him.

As Cell runs through a woodland area, he chuckles at his own getaway, admiring his opponents stupidity. Cell now states that he must avoid the Dragon Team until he has absorbed enough energy from humans to increase his power higher than Piccolo and the Androids, and then, he will have an easy time absorbing them. Cell's only fear is the Shut Down Remote, which his enemies can use to deactivate the androids and then easily destroy them. However, Cell remembers that Piccolo said Gero's laboratory was destroyed, so the remote was most likely destroyed with it as well. Cell remembers another city nearby, and prepares to have his next meal. Cell, however, notices Vegeta flying nearby, and makes sure to hide behind a tall tree trunk. Surprised Vegeta has not suffered his fate to the hands of the androids yet and that his power is greater than he had expected, realizing how different the timeline is with all the z-fighters alive, Cell decides to pick up the pace and make sure he absorbs more civilians as quickly as possible. In the anime, as Cell approaches Nicky Town, he encounters a bus full of Battle Ball Team players. Their bus is stopped by Cell as he simply stands in the middle of the road and ponders his next step. As Cell is blocking their route and ignoring the manager honking the horn, the entire Battle Ball team climbs out of the bus and takes him on. After catching a glimpse of Vegeta flying, Cell easily defeats and absorbs them.

Realizing that he is still far below his enemies' power levels, Cell decides to use a hit-and-run strategy at this point, hiding from the Dragon Team while going from town to town (including Nicky Town, Basil Airport, and Chazke Village) absorbing humans and gaining the power he needs to be able to take on the Androids. Piccolo and Tien work on tracking him while Future Trunks and Krillin kill the current (main) timeline's Cell while still in his infancy. In the anime, he attacks two people at Basil Airport during his feeding, However, Cell encounters Krillin who rescues them. After a lengthy battle, Cell defeats Krillin and nearly absorbs him, although he is forced to let him live when seeing Piccolo and Tien zeroing in on his location. He escapes and hides from the pursuers by suppressing his power while taunting his foes.

This becomes a continuing factor, as the Z-Fighters obtained an aircraft that would allow them to mask their energy and not alert Cell. However, when Yamcha, Tien, Piccolo, and Krillin arrive in a town, Cell had anticipated their strategy and hid while gloating over his achievements.

Eventually, after absorbing several tens of thousands of humans, Cell detects a large ki; knowing that this has to be Piccolo, he deduces that the only thing that could make him fight so hard would be the Androids. Gleeful at the opportunity to finally absorb 17 and 18 transform to a stronger state, Cell wastes no time and quickly heads toward the area.

As expected, he finds Piccolo and Android 17 engaged in battle. The battle ends in a draw, since the androids and Piccolo focus on Cell. Standing on a hill, Cell happily states that this day has been delayed for far too long, but now is the time where he can finally absorb Android 17 and Android 18, and achieve the completion he has desired since his creation. Cell also notices Android 16, gazing emotionlessly towards him. Judging from the Red Ribbon mark on his chest, Cell assumes with confidence that 16 is a fellow creation of Dr. Gero and that he must be a older model than the others, and weak enough to safely ignore. As Cell descends from the higher rocky formation of the island, he begins to charge his ki, which completely decimates the entire rocky mountain area of the island. At this point, his power has far surpassed the weakened Piccolo and Android 17's, and without any precautions, he approaches 17. Piccolo stands frightful and stiff, as Cell simply walks past the astounded Namekian to absorb Android 17 first. Before Cell can proceed with an attack, Piccolo demands to know how many victims Cell has just absorbed. Cell chuckles, and states that they are not victims, but part of something more amazing than anything they will ever achieve in their lifetimes.

As the monster prepares to absorb the Android, Piccolo attacks him, freeing Android 17 from his grasp. Cell then watches as Piccolo informs the androids of what he is and what he has planned to do with them. Cell carries on Piccolo's explanation and tells 17 that the power unlocked from the absorption will be beyond comparison, and that Dr. Gero's dreams of creating the ultimate super-being will be fulfilled. 17 denies this, stating that he is Gero's ultimate creation and he won't join with him. Cell replies that the absorption will be carried out, with or without 17's permission. Android 17 prepares to fight, however, finally speaking, Android 16 orders 17 to retreat because Cell is far beyond both him and Piccolo. 16 explains that if Cell obtains his perfect form, killing Goku won't satsify him and he'll destroy the entire universe. Now surprised Android 16 is actually speaking, Android 17 is disappointed that the first thing he speaks about is cowardice. 17 dismisses the warning, thinking that he is much more powerful than Cell could ever be, and attacks. After knocking away Android 17, Cell fights and easily beats the weakened Piccolo, even managing to shrug off the Namekian's Light Grenade. After brutally breaking his neck and blasting a hole through Piccolo's side and tossing him into the sea, Cell is able to attack 17 again.

Cell defeats Android 17 easily and is about to absorb him when Android 16 becomes involved. Android 16 states that according to his calculations, he is just equivalent to Cell in both strength and speed, and portends that he will be the one to kill Cell. Cell and Android 16 clash with each other with the Bio Impact and Machine Impact rush attacks respectively, however, Cell catches Android 16 off guard and sticks his stinger right into his neck. Cell laughs and says that he cannot win, before attempting to absorb his bio-energy, however, 16's inorganic nature prevents him from absorbing any energy. 16 smiles and takes the stinger out of his neck, before tossing Cell into the ground by the tail. 16 steps on Cell's tail and literally tears it off of his body. Android 16 says that this will prevent him from absorbing 17 and 18. However, Cell simply regenerates his tail and gloats about the partial Namekian DNA he received from Piccolo. Android 16 realizes that he must destroy Cell completely so he will not achieve his perfect form, and attempts to kick him, only to be knocked back when Cell counters with two punches. 16 then launches his fist at Cell in retaliation and resorts to using arguably his most powerful technique, Hell's Flash, which forces Cell underground and scorches the island.

Android 16 advises 17 and 18 to leave, but 17 is convinced that even if 16 didn't kill Cell, it still proved that the three of them were unbeatable, fully sure that together, the whole world will soon be their playground (in Kai, 17 wants revenge on Cell for the beating Cell gave him earlier and decides he will finish Cell). Cell uses this opportunity to burst out of the ground directly behind Android 17 and, whilst sadistically laughing, he quickly absorbs 17 and evolves into his Semi-Perfect form. After Cell's absorption of Android 17, Android 16, knowing that he is now well outmatched, attempts to flee with Android 18, but Cell easily intercepts them, thanks to the added speed of Android 17.

In a display of his new power, he takes a direct hit from Android 16 without injury and then easily blasts the Android away, nearly destroying his head effortlessly. Cell turns to Android 18, but she threatens to self-destruct before joining him if he approaches, which will leave him unable to attain his complete form. In an attempt to pacify her, he pretends to be Android 17 by mimicking his voice (a trait probably gained from his absorption) and tells her how wonderful it is to be part of Cell and fulfilling "the great" Dr. Gero's vision. Android 16, still functional but badly damaged, warns her of the ploy, something she already knows since both she and Android 17 despised Dr. Gero, they would never compliment him.

When his plan fails, Cell prepares to attempt to absorb 18 by force regardless, knowing that he is fast enough to prevent her from destroying herself and more than capable of overpowering her. He is prevented by Tien however, who uses his Neo Tri-Beam attack several times to stall Cell, destroying much of the landscape and nearly killing himself. Though Cell does not take any significant damage from the assault, it manages to hold him at bay long enough for Android 16 and Android 18 to make their escape. Eventually, Tien is exhausted to the point of death (and soon falls unconscious). Cell insults Tien for stalling his plans and decides to finish him as retribution.

Before he execute the Triclops, Goku intervenes by teleporting to their location using Instant Transmission, meeting Cell for the first time. Shocked to finally meet Goku, Cell greets him as the Saiyan informs Cell that while he is not strong enough yet, he will fight him in one day and win. Cell laughs at this supposed cowardice, before he is amazed by Goku teleporting him and Tien near the sea. He is shocked to discover Piccolo survived his attack and regenerated, as he realized his careless mistake of not properly killing him. Just when Goku grabs Piccolo and makes plans to leave, Cell who eagerly wants to fight Goku, states that they will not fight another day, but now, and flies towards him. Cell prepares to attack, though Goku uses Instant Transmission again, whisking the unconscious Tien and a barely alive Piccolo back to safety at The Lookout before Cell's punch lands. Cell is in awe of Goku's ability to teleport, but dismisses it, saying that his priority now is to find 18.

Without anyone to oppose him, Cell continues his search for Android 18. After losing her in a group of islands, he threatens to destroy all the islands nearby unless 18 shows herself. When 18 does not answer under 16's orders, Cell proceeds to destroy the islands, one-by-one, in an attempt to flush the Android out. Having just completed his first year in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Vegeta approaches and challenges him. Cell is soon shocked to discover that Vegeta is significantly more powerful than his new body, as the fight is entirely one-sided. Even after powering up to full power, he is unable to injure the Saiyan, who now calls himself "Super Vegeta."

During their fight, Cell becomes incredibly frustrated as he cannot land a hit on the Saiyan Prince, and states if it was not for Vegeta's interference, he knows he would have achieved his perfect form by now and have crushed everyone in his path. With Vegeta keen on knowing more about how strong Cell's final form may be, Cell appeals to Vegeta's ego, stating that if he were in his Perfect body, he would be a much better challenge. Vegeta, wanting a stronger opponent, agrees to Cell's proposition. When Future Trunks refuses to allow it, Cell calls on Vegeta to remove him as an obstacle while he goes after the recently discovered Android 18. Cell charges the Android with Future Trunks (also in his 2nd Grade Super Saiyan form) in hot pursuit, until Vegeta kicks Future Trunks out of the way. Future Trunks retaliates by quickly blasting Vegeta, barely damaging him, but surprising him with the guts to attack his own father nonetheless, and going after Cell again, but Cell is ready and uses the Solar Flare to temporarily blind everyone long enough for him to absorb Android 18. Cell then puts up an impenetrable barrier while he evolves yet again, this time to Perfect Cell.

After Cell achieves his goal of becoming perfect, Krillin becomes enraged by Android 18's absorption and immediately attacks Cell, with Future Trunks assisting him in the original anime (In the manga and Dragon Ball Z Kai, Trunks instead warns Krillin not to attack Cell, who ignores him in his rage). However, Cell continues to admire his new body, completely ignoring Krillin and Future Trunks' assault, barely registering Krillin and Future Trunks' hits and takes Krillin's Destructo Disc attack to the neck with the disk breaking on impact, not even flinching. He then "lightly" kicks Krillin away, making Krillin fly across the island, leaving Krillin in a near-dead state. Vegeta, unimpressed by the display, is eager to resume their battle, which Cell obliges. The tables then turn since their last battle, and now Cell merely toys with Vegeta at the beginning, taking on his attacks without any sign of damage. Vegeta then delivers a powerful kick to Cell's head, with almost all of his energy converted towards the attack, but Cell is not affected in the slightest (his head turns only slightly from the attack), leaving Vegeta in a momentary state of shock and disbelief. When Cell strikes back, the kick he delivers blows Vegeta away, smashing him through several rock formations, after which Cell proceeds to mockingly thank him, outright stating that he would never have been able to reach his Perfect Form were it not for Vegeta's foolishness.

Android 16 briefly tries to step in and attack Cell from behind, but the Bio-Android hears him and warns him of what will happen if he carries out his attack. Vegeta then challenges Cell to take his next attack head on without dodging it and prepares his ultimate attack, the Final Flash. While Vegeta charges his deadly beam, Cell continues to stand calm and collected, smiling while Android 16 looks in disbelief. Cell, however, does become slightly concerned when Vegeta finally fires the attack. Cell takes the full brunt of the attack, vaporizing everything to the right side above his torso. Though Vegeta believes himself to be victorious, Cell proves otherwise; his cells from Frieza allow him to survive and function with virtually any wound and those of Piccolo allow him to regenerate from the damage instantly. Almost immediately following the attack, Cell regrows the destroyed area and is back to normal. Vegeta, now desperate, fires off dozens of Ki bolts, but Cell simply walks through it and with one swift combination of attacks, incapacitates the Saiyan.

With Vegeta out of the picture, Future Trunks is free to fully power up without worrying about injuring his father's pride. He soon reaches the Super Saiyan Third Grade stage. When Cell finally sees Future Trunks' powers, he believes Future Trunks to be stronger than himself, although claims that Future Trunks still has no chance of winning. He explains that the downside of the increased muscle mass in this form drained Future Trunks' stamina quickly and made him significantly slower as well. This theory proves correct, as Cell easily dodges Future Trunks' punches and kicks, mocking Future Trunks while he does so.

Cell chides Future Trunks, stating that simple brute force is worthless and quickly demonstrates that he too can increase his muscle size if he desires by revealing that he is also able to increase his muscle size in the same manner as a 3rd Grade Super Saiyan and briefly assumes this buffed state to demonstrate the mistake Future Trunks made increasing his muscle mass without balancing his speed. At this point, Future Trunks loses all hope and allows Cell to kill him. Cell considers it but decides not to after realizing how much more powerful Vegeta and Future Trunks had become in just a few days, and that Goku would be challenging him soon. He instead decides to hold a tournament in ten days, to test his new power. He also admits to Future Trunks that he has no interest in conquest or even his original purpose of killing Goku, he wants just entertainment, primarily through the fear of others. Cell then leaves the island while Future Trunks stares in shock and confusion.

Using telekinesis, Cell spends the next morning creating the arena for his tournament, the Cell Games. He then interrupts a live news broadcast to inform everyone around the world about the games, and states that he would take on as many challengers as there are; if he is able to survive them all, then he will exterminate all life on the Earth. While Cell is at the arena waiting for the day of the competition to arrive, Goku arrives briefly through Instant Transmission to check Cell's power level and they engage in small talk. This is then followed by an attack by the Earth's army, but this proves hopeless as Cell, with a single gesture, destroys them all with a form of psychokinesis, also relocating beforehand to draw their fire specifically to avoid risking damage to the ring. During the ten day wait, Cell mostly stays at his ring and trains, sometimes stands perfectly still, meditating in silence. On the day of the Tournament, Mr. Satan attempts to fight Perfect Cell first, although he is easily knocked away with one flick of Cell's wrist and is disqualified. Throughout the entire tournament, he runs from the media covering the story, claiming that he is suffering from intense stomach pains and calls the techniques in the ring "tricks" or "illusions". Goku and Perfect Cell then begin to battle, although Cell wishes that Goku would of been the last opponent on the list, wanting to "save the best for last". In a heated display of power, technique, and ability, Goku seems to be able to keep up with the mechanically engineered monster. Perfect Cell pulls out all kinds of tricks, performing various moves such as the Special Beam Cannon and the Kamehameha wave. Cell also learns of Goku's Instant Transmission, which is how he was able to warp.

Goku and Perfect Cell battle for a while until Perfect Cell grows tired of being confined to the small ring, not wanting their match to stop due to one of them going out of bounds. Without much warning, Perfect Cell destroys the ring and makes the battle an all-out fight, just to make things more interesting for him, with no rules applied. Goku throws everything he can at Perfect Cell and suddenly flies into the air and charges a Kamehameha, which is directed towards the Earth, with Cell knowing if Goku launched the technique, he would decimate the entire planet and confidently believe he wouldn't fire. However, Cell becomes noticeably afraid as Goku powers up the energy blast, but Goku tricks him by performing Instant Transmission to teleport directly in front of Perfect Cell, and unleashes the blast on him. The entire top half of Perfect Cell is disintegrated. While some of the Z-Fighters are content, believing Cell has died, Krillin, Vegeta, and Future Trunks know otherwise, and indeed the other half of Perfect Cell jumps to its feet and regenerates. Goku and Cell continue their ongoing brutal struggle, with Goku firing dozens of ki blasts in a row, putting Cell in a tight spot, as he cannot escape. Cell manages to finally halt Goku's assault by using a Perfect Barrier, protecting himself from the blasts, and destroying quite a lot of the battlefield. Goku, knowing he's approaching his limit, forfeits the match to Cell, shocking both Cell and the other Z-Fighters. He reasons that only one person can defeat Cell, and reveals the fighter to be his son, Gohan. The Z-Fighters are shocked or furious (noticeably Vegeta and Piccolo) by this, even more so when Goku, believing that it wouldn't be a fair fight for Gohan to beat Cell while he isn't in full power, decided to give Cell a Senzu Bean. Cell is amused, believing the match will be fun, and he will get to make Goku suffer for his idiotic decision by torturing his only son.

It takes a while for the battle to commence between Gohan and Perfect Cell, and even longer for Gohan to get serious. Underestimating his opponent, Cell attacks Gohan directly, making him crash into a rock formation. Like most of the Z-Fighters, Cell at first believes the boy to be dead, but Gohan emerges with barely any injury, surprising Cell. As a Super Saiyan Full Power, he starts out somewhat better than Goku, and his increased speed manages to dodge most of Cell's attacks, but in the end, his efforts are no good, which noticeably worries the spectators (except Goku). As the battle continues, Gohan demands that Perfect Cell stop fighting, and he tells him that the power he could harness when he becomes enraged is beyond his control, which may lead to devastating results for Cell. However, Cell begins to laugh, as the story does not scare him, but it only fuels his desire to push Gohan to the limit, much to Gohan's horror.

Cell takes his time torturing the indecisive youth and traps in him in a Bear Hug, while taunting him to make him angry. As it becomes clear Gohan lacks the resolve to stop Cell and is willing to suffer rather than get angry, Goku and Piccolo attempt a futile last-ditch effort by ganging up on Cell. Just then, however, Cell drops Gohan to the ground. Noting that Gohan's own pain seemingly will not get him angry, a frustrated Cell promises to enlist the help of his friends and father instead. As Cell flies off towards the rest of the group, Gohan screams for him to stop. The Bio-Android swiftly swipes the bag of Senzu Beans from a frightened Krillin's hands. He says that the beans are annoying, and flies back to the battlefield. He says that the rest of the Dragon Team are not worth dirtying his own hands on. Gohan asks what he is up to, and Cell says that he will do anything to unlock Gohan's rage. Gohan says that he cannot control it himself, and Cell says that this is why his friends must suffer. As Goku rues not taking a Senzu Bean while he had the chance, Gohan charges at Cell. Cell kicks him into some nearby rubble and yells at him to get mad for real.

Finally, Android 16 decides to destroy Perfect Cell and himself with the Self Destruct Device in his body. He sneaks up on Cell and restrains him with a Bear Hug (similar to how Chiaotzu tried to kill Nappa by self-destructing), with the purpose of killing them both. Piccolo notes that his lack of ki let him get in undetected. To Android 16's surprise, Krillin informs that the bomb had been removed by Bulma when she re-programmed him earlier during repairs. Cell then gains the upper hand and destroys all of Android 16 but his head, which he kicks away from the battlefield. Cell calls 16 a failed experiment and claims that even if the bomb did blow up, he would most likely not be affected too much, despite his fearful look when he found out what Android 16 was intending to do. Looking at the others, Cell says that it is now their turn, and counts that there are seven of them. Using the Namekian's ability to reproduce asexually, Cell creates seven smaller blue versions of himself from his tail and christens them Cell Juniors. After they are born, Cell orders them to attack the Z-Fighters, but not kill them. As the Dragon Team prepares to fight, Cell says that they cannot win; even though the Cell Juniors are small, they are his children.

Despite their childish appearances and attitudes, the Cell Juniors easily clobber the Z-Fighters, being close to Perfect Cell's own power. Only Piccolo (in the anime), Vegeta and Future Trunks manage to hold them off for a while, but eventually, all of them are brutally defeated (even Goku, who was weakened from his fight with Perfect Cell). As Gohan watches these maniacal minions heartlessly beat his friends and father, he becomes angry, but it is still not enough.

Perfect Cell, noticing Gohan's anger, orders the Cell Juniors to kill everyone. At this point, Mr. Satan discovers the head of Android 16, which, surprisingly, can still talk. Android 16 pleads to Mr. Satan to take him near Gohan (throw him if he had to), for the sake of the world. Mr. Satan complies despite his fear, and the Android's head lands near Gohan.

Android 16 gives some advice and words of encouragement to Gohan, saying it is okay to fight sometimes to defend loved ones and to protect nature. Perfect Cell, overhearing this, claims that this was good advice and promptly crushes Android 16's head beneath his foot, wires and parts scattering across the battlefield as Gohan watches in shock. This is the breaking point for Gohan, and he finally snaps. This enrages Gohan to the very limits and pushed him to a new level, Super Saiyan 2, the Super Saiyan level ascended beyond a Super Saiyan (although it was not named at this point in the series). Looking towards Cell with hatred and contempt, Gohan slowly walks towards the confused android, who is astonished by Gohan's growth. Cell's cocky attitude returns though, and exclaims that things are interesting now. Gohan however, does not attack the android, but instead snatches the bag of Senzu Beans Cell had stolen from Krillin earlier, with Cell not quick enough to react. Gohan's first action is to mercilessly kill off the smaller Cell Juniors, which he defeats in a single hit each, before telling Trunks to give everyone a Senzu Bean.

The already astounded Z Warriors, with the exception of the satisfied Goku, are amazed as Gohan and Perfect Cell began to battle, with Gohan dominating the powerful Android. Even after Cell, to everyone's surprise and horror, powers up to maximum (a power deemed "unfathomable" by the Z Fighters, although Gohan was not impressed, bluntly asking him "is that all you've got?" to Cell's initial shock) and lands a hard blow to Gohan's face, Gohan is not affected in the slightest. With just two punches, Gohan almost incapacitates Cell completely, to the complete dismay of Cell, refusing to believe that he could have sustained that much damage. Perfect Cell knows he is no match for Gohan.

Gohan then begins dodging all of Cell's attacks, taunting him, with Cell continuing to not believe in this power Gohan sustains, refusing to be outdone by a child. He attempts to harm Gohan with several different attacks, first two destructo discs aimed at Gohan, to which he simply catches them and destroys them. He then uses one of Piccolo's signature attacks: The Special Beam Cannon, which Gohan simply deflects. He finally attempts to hit Gohan with a barrage of small amounts of ki, which do not even seem to reach Gohan or even land a blow on him. In fear at his inability to defeat Gohan, he flies high into the air, preparing a Kamehameha at full power to destroy the Earth. All of the Z fighters believe it to be the end, as they believe Gohan is unable to stop it, yet Gohan does not seem concerned at all and responds with his own Kamehameha, sending both Kamehameha's right back at Cell. Cell is unable to avoid it or stop it, and he is decimated by the attack. This almost destroys Cell, with his left arm and leg gone and the right area of his head destroyed. When Goku tells him to finish Cell off in his weakened state, Gohan tells Goku if he is joking, saying he wants to see Cell suffer much more. Both Goku and Piccolo are rather shocked at this statement, and Piccolo seriously wonders how much the anger has affected his thought process. Goku warns Cell that since he is backed into a corner, knowing he can't win, they have no idea what he would do now that he is desperate. Yet Gohan waits too long, allowing Cell to regenerate his lost limbs with Piccolo's regenerative cells.

In his anger, making the same mistake Future Trunks made earlier, he begins a 3rd Grade Super Saiyan-like transformation that reduces his speed drastically, making him unable to hit Gohan. Future Trunks notes this during the Cell Games, saying "it's making the same mistake he mocked me for!" Though his raw strength in this state dwarfs that of most of the Z Fighters, Gohan is still able to effortlessly cripple him in a single heavy kick to the stomach (a heavy hit to the head in the manga). The blow is enough to make Cell throw up, and in doing so, expelling Android 18 from his body.

Cell reverts to his Semi-Perfect form when he regurgitates Android 18. In filler, Gohan messes around with Cell in this form, scaring him into falling into a hole. Cell eventually gets so desperate, that he bloats up like a balloon and tries to blow himself up in an attempt to destroy the Earth, knowing he is well outmatched. With no other options, at the last second, Goku uses Instant Transmission to teleport Cell to King Kai's Planet where he, King Kai, Gregory, and Bubbles all die. With this, Cell technically fulfilled his purpose (as laid out by Dr. Gero), killing Goku.

Even after self-destructing at King Kai's planet, one single cell survives the explosion due to the fact that his design provided for such. Using the regenerative abilities he inherited from Piccolo, Cell is able to completely recover. His cells also retain a memory of his Perfect Form, allowing him to regenerate into that form again despite his loss of both the Androids at this point (Android 17 is also killed in the explosion of Cell's Semi-Perfect body). Due to his Saiyan trait of extreme power increase thanks to a Zenkai after healing from injury, he becomes much stronger than he previously is in his Perfect Form, even at full power or when buffed up. Apparently, Cell himself is previously unaware of this ability, as he is shocked that he is still alive. Only then does he fully grasp what Dr. Gero meant by the perfect being.

Using Instant Transmission (acquired from Goku), Cell, having become Super Perfect Cell, returns to Earth, kills Future Trunks with the Full Power Death Beam, and explains how he survived. Enraged, Vegeta blindly rushes at him in his Super Saiyan form but is slapped aside. Cell attempts to kill Vegeta with a ki blast, but Gohan intercepts Cell's attack. Due to the sheer power of the attack and the fact that he is unable to actually defend against it, Gohan is left without the use of his left arm and his ki supply reduced to less than half. Cell then wickedly reveals that he has decided to destroy the Earth and then use the Instant Transmission his cells learned from Goku to teleport to various planets in order to destroy each one in the process. The whole situation crushes Gohan's will to fight, as he notes that Cell has a significant amount of power at his disposal, also saying that it was all his fault, since he was the one who didn't destroy Cell when he had the chance, which is what made Goku have to sacrifice himself in the first place. Vegeta feels guilty and disappointed in his inability to provide a lot of support in the final battle against Cell, then apologizing to Gohan, believing that Cell has already won. Gohan is surprised by his response, then realizes the reason he is apologizing because he knows they have lost.

Goku then telepathically communicates with Gohan with the support of King Kai. Goku ensures Gohan that he is alright and he is fine in Other World and he is with King Kai. Gohan apologizes for causing his death, but Goku tells him it is nothing to worry about, yet telling him to focus all of the energy he has on Cell. Gohan insists that he only has half the power he had originally, making it impossible to beat Cell, but Goku still insists that Gohan can beat him. Gohan then prepares a Kamehameha, much to Cell's delight that he will at least have some fun and competition when destroying the Z fighters and the solar system. Gohan desperately engages Cell in an Energy Clash at the behest of the late Goku. As the struggle commences, Gohan is seen losing ground, and Goku tells him that he has more energy than this. Gohan tells him that that is the limit of his energy and that he is still the weak crybaby that he has always been. Goku tells him that is not true, and that he needs to put more energy into his attack, and Gohan pushes forward, making the struggle at even odds again. At this point, the manga and anime take two slightly different approaches on the clash and, consequently, Super Perfect Cell's power. In the anime, Cell gains the upper hand several times, nearly overwhelming Gohan nonchalantly. The other fighters try to distract Cell by attacking him, but fail as Cell simply flares his aura and knocks them all back. However, they keep trying anyway despite this, which inspires the despondent Vegeta to re-enter the fray.

As he is about to finish off Gohan, Vegeta distracts Cell with a surprise blast to the side of his head, being much stronger than the others. Vegeta's blast does what the others failed to do. In the manga, while Cell still gains the upper hand, the only one to get involved is Vegeta, and he only needs to do this once. Regardless of the story, however, Gohan catches Cell momentarily off guard thanks to Vegeta, allowing Gohan to draw out all of his power to overwhelm Cell. Gohan produces a Father-Son Kamehameha that dispels Cell's Solar Kamehameha and engulfs the evil Bio-Android in the gigantic blast. Cell is left in complete disbelief over his loss and impending death, declaring himself to be the embodiment of perfection before his body is completely destroyed by Gohan's attack. All of his cells are incinerated by Gohan's Kamehameha, resulting in his death.

Great Saiyaman Saga

In anime filler, after Cell is killed by Gohan he is sent to Hell by King Yemma. Though in the Other World, Cell still causes trouble, striking up a partnership with Frieza, King Cold and the deceased Ginyu Force soldiers Guldo, Recoome, Burter, and Jeice. He is defeated along with his allies by Goku and Pikkon and ultimately sentenced to the Other World Prison. Frieza and Cell would occasionally train together in Hell.

Majin Buu Saga

Cell and the other deceased villains are shown watching Goku's battle with Kid Buu on a huge Crystal Ball while in Hell.

Dragon Ball Super

God of Destruction Beerus Saga

While image training in his family's radish field, in the manga Goku pictures Perfect Cell as the second opponent he faces (after 50% power Frieza). Cell attempts to attack Super Saiyan Goku with an energy wave, however, Goku stops him from firing it, and proceeds to fire several punches and kicks at Cell, who apparently dodges them, only for Goku to land a heavy blow to Cell's head, finishing him off. Goku then proceeds to fight an image of Kid Buu.

"Future" Trunks Saga

In the anime, when Goku and Krillin are training together and sent by Roshi to find a medicine called "Paradise Grass" they enter a strange forest to look for it, however, due to the nature of the forest they encounter a manifestation of Cell, and other enemies from the past, who attack them. Goku constantly destroys the illusion of Cell, who constantly comes back until Goku makes him and the other illusions disintegrate by focusing his ki to de-power them, as they were running off it.

Universe Survival Saga

In the manga, Cell appears battling Mr. Satan in a movie "re-creation" of Mr. Satan's battle with him. In one scene of the movie, Perfect Cell notes that Mr. Satan is stronger than him and cannot believe that such a being exists thus the re-creation does accurately portray Cell's arrogant personality even if it is historically inaccurate. Additionally Android 17 admits to Goku that he recognizes Goku by his voice which he heard from the time when he was still part of Cell's body as Android 17 never got the chance to meet Goku face to face.

In "Bonus Story 3", it is revealed that like their father, the Cell Juniors regenerated and weren't slain by Gohan as previously believed. However, Android 17 found and managed to tame them. As the Cell Juniors are effectively an endangered species of artificial lifeform due to their progenitor Cell's death, Android 17 allows them to live on Monster Island, with the Cell Juniors having become reformed as they protect the island from anyone they do not perceive to be a Ranger, as shown when they briefly attack Goten and Trunks, before noticing their Ranger Uniforms causing them to recognize the two as allies. Thus while Cell himself may be dead, he survived through the children he created during the Cell Games.

Dragon Ball GT

Super 17 Saga

Cell teams up with Frieza to try and kill Goku, but Goku easily dominates them. During the battle, Cell is able to absorb Goku through his tail and though he does gain more power, the victory is only momentarily, as Goku soon forces his way out of Cell's body. Within that brief time, Cell states that the power he had absorbed was nearly overwhelming. He is eventually defeated along with Frieza. Cell was last seen frozen by the coldest ice from Hell, broken in pieces by Goku, and arrested by the ogres.