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Cell (Dragon Ball) facts for kids

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Cell
Dragon Ball character
Cosplay de Cell de Dragon Ball (Glénat) à Japan Expo 2014 (14712825853).jpg
First appearance Dragon Ball (manga): "The Mysterious Monster, Finally Appears!!"
Information
Relatives
  • Dr. Gero (creator)
  • Cell Juniors (offspring)

Cell (Japanese: セル, Seru) is a fictional character and second major villain in Dragon Ball Z.

He first appears in chapter #361 The Mysterious Monster, Finally Appears!! (謎の怪物、ついに出現!! Nazo no Kaibutsu, Tsui ni Shutsugen!!) first published in Weekly Shōnen Jump on March 2, 1992. Cell is an evil artificial life form, created using cells from several of the main characters in the series, that travels back in time so he can become the perfect warrior. In order to do this, he must absorb Androids #17 and #18.

Creation and conception

Norio Wakamoto
Norio Wakamoto has been Cell's Japanese voice actor in every single piece of Dragon Ball media.

After Kazuhiko Torishima, Toriyama's former editor during Dr. Slump and early Dragon Ball, expressed dissatisfaction with first Androids #19 and #20 and later Androids #17 and #18 as villains, Toriyama created Cell. Toriyama has expressed some kind of regret regarding the design of Cell, calling it tedious to draw all the little spots on his body. In addition, he did not initially plan for the character to be able to transform, but gave him this ability after his then-current editor Yū Kondō described Cell as "ugly." Toriyama intended for Cell's second form to last longer than it did; Kondō found the form to be silly and urged him to hasten the first appearance of the next transformation.

Norio Wakamoto is the Japanese voice of Cell and revealed that when he voiced the forms of Cell, the first form is monster-like, he used a raspy voice which he said was a pain. He toned it down for the second, and by the final form, he was able to perform comfortably.

In the English Funimation dub, Cell is voiced by Dameon Clarke. Clarke considers Cell one of his more "fun and entertaining" characters.

Abilities

Thanks to being genetically created with the DNA of the Z-Fighters, along with Frieza being spliced together; Cell has super strength, speed, agility, reflexes, the ability to fly with the ability to generate energy from his very being called ki, generate energy blasts, absorb energy blasts, absorb energy and control energy along with telepathy, telekinesis, knows how to use the special attacks they use and during his fight with Goku also learned how to use instant transmission or in other words teleport.

Physical Appearance

In his "Imperfect" form, Cell walks fully upright on two legs (unlike his "larval" form). His facial features have not yet fully complete and he still retains an orifice-like mouth rather than normal human-like features seen in later forms. The two sections of his head go off in a V-shape. Cell has orange color parts near his abdominal area and the back of his head. He has two wings which are both green with black spots. He has three fingers in the manga, but five fingers and three toes (just as similar as Frieza and King Cold) in the anime. He has a tail like Frieza and King Cold, but also has a stinger on the end of it. He has black sections as well near his abdominal area, in the middle between the two sections on his head, and even the black part of the opposite side of his tail. He even has visible veins in both of his arms, legs, and even some in the joints in his upper body. His eyes are pink (blue in the manga colored pages) with thin reptilian slits.

In his "Semi-Perfect" form, Cell's wings disappear, and he becomes much more humanoid, he also becomes quite a bit more muscular. While the nose is not yet fully formed, he now has an actual mouth. The two sections of his head now go straight into the air. In this form, he is taller. His tail is longer and slightly thicker than before, and comes from his back, as well as becoming orange and black. His voice is deeper than his first form. The back of his head and the black section on his forehead are now formed together as a ball in between the two sections on his head. His lips are now the color pink, and the black sections above his lips look like a mustache (but it's part of his skin). He now has light blue eyes in this form (a result of absorbing Android 17). He even has boot-like feet in this form and metal-like plates all around both of his ankles. He has the same shape of ears as Frieza's, except that his have an orange line that goes down to the chin and to both sides of the ears. His wings retreat completely into his back. In his self-destruction form, Semi-Perfect Cell bloats himself, his belly greatly expanding in size. He also claimed that his bloated appearance was unstable, and that a single touch may set him off when dissuading Gohan from trying to stop him.

In his "Perfect" form, Cell becomes much more humanoid and more intelligent, complete with both a fully-formed nose and mouth. His tail is retracted and now used to create Cell Jr's. He is also smaller than in his previous form. His wings have grown back and now are shaded black. His body is colored light-green with black spots and has black plates located on his shoulders and chest, and the plates on his ankles are now shaded black. His skin is now pale all in his face, neck and hands, he now has purple lines in both sides of his cheeks, similar to Frieza in his first three forms, and the orange line across his ears and chin is now changed into a yellow color. His eyes are now pink, and his blue veins are now purple. 

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Cell (personaje de Dragon Ball) para niños

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