Cell: Dr. Gero's Perfect Creature

He carries within him the cells of several of the saga's greatest fighters and dreams of just one thing: becoming perfect. Cell gave Dragon Ball Z a memorable arc, with a tournament announced live to the entire world and an ending that saw Gohan take over from his father. Here's the story of Dr. Gero's creature, from his egg all the way to Cell Max.

Dr. Gero's creation from another future

Cell's cells, collected by a tiny spy robot, come from five fighters: Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Frieza and King Cold. Dr. Gero didn't finish the creature himself: the scientist abandoned the project, and it was his computer that completed it.

The Cell of Dragon Ball Z comes from an alternate future where he reached his imperfect form, but where Android 17 and Android 18 had already been eliminated by that timeline's Future Trunks. To be able to complete his evolution, he kills that Trunks and steals his time machine.

Too big for the machine, he has to regress to an egg to fit inside. Once in the past, he buries himself and grows underground until he regains his adult form, then emerges from the ground and molts. Bulma, Future Trunks and Gohan later find the abandoned machine, along with the empty eggshell and the molted skin.

In the main timeline, Future Trunks and Krillin find Gero's underground lab and destroy the Cell that is still an embryo. Too late: the one from the future is already on the loose.

🧩 Cell brings together the cells of five fighters in a single body; to bring scattered pieces together into a single picture yourself, check out our Dragon Ball puzzles.

From imperfect form to perfect form

Cell appears in chapter 361 of the manga, published on February 16, 1992, then in episode 141 of Dragon Ball Z, which aired in Japan on May 27, 1992. In his imperfect form, he has beetle wings and a long tail ending in a stinger. He uses this stinger to feed: all the organic matter of his victims is sucked out, and only their clothes are left behind.

To grow stronger, he kills and absorbs thousands of people. He has also mastered several of Goku's techniques, including the Kamehameha and the Solar Flare, a blinding flash. Facing Piccolo, fused with Kami, and then Trunks and Krillin, who arrive as reinforcements, he escapes thanks to that flash and hides his energy.

Taking advantage of a moment when Android 17 lets his guard down, Cell absorbs him by surprise and reaches his semi-perfect form: his wings disappear and he takes on a much more humanoid look. Outclassed by Vegeta, he flatters the Saiyan's pride, and Vegeta lets him absorb Android 18 to get an opponent worthy of him.

Cell thus reaches his perfect form, the goal of his entire evolution.

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The Cell Games, a tournament announced to the whole world

After getting the upper hand over Vegeta and then Future Trunks, Cell spares the latter so he can hold a tournament, the Cell Games, meant to show off his power to the entire planet. He gives his opponents only ten days to prepare. Conquest doesn't interest him, and neither does his original mission of killing Goku: he's looking for entertainment, especially by spreading terror.

He builds the arena using telekinesis, then interrupts a live broadcast to announce the tournament. The rules are simple: giving up or touching down outside the ring means a loss, and killing your opponent is effectively allowed. Cell takes on every challenger alone, one after another.

Goku fights him, then gives up, names Gohan as his successor and even gives Cell a Senzu Bean. To push Gohan to his breaking point, Cell spawns seven miniature replicas of himself, the Cell Jr.s, and sets them loose on the Z Fighters.

It's when Cell kills Android 16 that Gohan snaps and transforms into Super Saiyan 2. Overpowered, Cell spits out Android 18 and reverts to his semi-perfect form.

🟩 Cell carves his own ring out of a block of rock all by himself; to mark out your own play area, roll out one of our Dragon Ball rugs.

Self-destruction, comeback and defeat by Gohan

Cornered, Cell inflates himself to self-destruct and take the Earth with him. Goku teleports with him to King Kai's planet, where the explosion claims Goku, King Kai himself and his monkey Bubbles. But Cell survives: according to his own explanation in the manga, a core of cells in his head allows him to fully regenerate as long as that core remains intact.

He returns in a “super perfect” form, wrapped in an aura crackling with lightning, and kills Future Trunks with a beam that pierces his chest, much like Frieza's Death Beam.

Helped by his father's spirit and a blast from Vegeta, Gohan wins a Kamehameha clash and destroys Cell's core, and Cell dies for good. This death takes place in chapter 416 of the manga and in episode 191 of Dragon Ball Z, which aired in Japan on June 30, 1993.

Yet it's Mr. Satan who takes credit for the victory and becomes a hero in the public's eyes. Three years later, Future Trunks, revived thanks to the Dragon Balls and back in his own era, faces the Cell of his own timeline, who was also trying to steal his time machine, and defeats him.

After his death: Hell, Super and Cell Max

The anime series extends his story: sent to Hell, Cell teams up with Frieza, King Cold and four deceased members of the Ginyu Force, before being defeated along with them by Goku and Pikkon. In Dragon Ball GT, a sequel exclusive to the anime, he once again joins forces with Frieza in Hell to kill Goku, who easily overpowers them.

In the Dragon Ball Super anime, Bulma kept Cell's time machine in a capsule; she repairs it to replace Future Trunks's machine, destroyed by Goku Black. A bonus chapter of the Dragon Ball Super manga also shows seven Cell Jr.s tamed by Android 17 on Monster Island: Android 17 talks about “fake” Cell Jr.s, but the narrator suggests they might be the real ones.

The movie Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero (2022) introduces Cell Max, an upgraded version created by Dr. Hedo, Gero's grandson, for the re-formed Red Ribbon Army. It's a red-armored variant of the semi-perfect form, lacking the original Cell's regeneration. Activated too early by Magenta, before his mind was complete, he's nothing but a raging monster. Gohan, in his new Beast form, destroys him with a Special Beam Cannon.

Creation, name and English voices

Akira Toriyama created Cell after Kazuhiko Torishima, his former editor, was dissatisfied with the androids as villains. He hadn't planned for Cell to transform: he gave him that power after his editor at the time, Yū Kondō, found the creature “ugly.” Toriyama wanted to keep the second form around longer, but Kondō found it ridiculous and pushed him to bring in the next one sooner.

His name comes from the English word “cell,” as in the biological cell. Toriyama regretted some of his design choices: drawing all the little spots on Cell's body was tedious.

In Japanese, Cell is voiced by Norio Wakamoto, who used a raspy voice for the first form, one that was tough to sustain. In English, Funimation's dub gives him the voice of Dameon Clarke in Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT and Dragon Ball Z Kai (where he's credited under a pseudonym), and Clarke also voices Cell Max in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. In the Ocean dub of Dragon Ball Z, Cell is voiced by Dale Wilson.

Cell at a glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who created Cell?
  In the story, Dr. Gero launched the project, but it was his computer that completed it, using cells from Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Frieza and King Cold. In real life, it was Akira Toriyama who came up with the character.
• Why does Cell want to absorb Android 17 and Android 18?
  It's the condition for reaching his perfect form, the goal of his entire evolution. He absorbs Android 17 by surprise, then Vegeta, out of pride, lets him absorb Android 18.
• What are the Cell Games?
  It's the tournament Cell organizes after reaching his perfect form, giving his opponents ten days to prepare. He takes on Earth's defenders alone, one after another; killing your opponent is effectively allowed.
• Who killed Cell?
  Gohan, as a Super Saiyan 2, who wins a Kamehameha clash and destroys the core of cells that allowed Cell to regenerate. Yet it's Mr. Satan who takes credit for the victory and is seen as a hero by the public.
• Is Cell Max really Cell?
  No. Cell Max is a new creature designed by Dr. Hedo, Gero's grandson, in the movie Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero (2022). It's a variant of the semi-perfect form, without the original Cell's regeneration.
• Who voices Cell in English?
  Dameon Clarke in Funimation's dub of Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT and Dragon Ball Z Kai, and Dale Wilson in the Ocean dub of Dragon Ball Z. In Japanese, it's Norio Wakamoto.

📒 Cell went from form to form, from imperfect to super perfect; to keep your cards in order, page after page, slip them into one of our Dragon Ball card binders.