Dragon Ball Z: why did Cell need to absorb 17 and 18?

Cell's absorption ability is very interesting, because when you break it down, becoming perfect was sort of his destiny, his purpose, but really his fate. My argument is that absorbing Androids 17 and 18 was never only about power for Cell. It was a duty he needed to carry out to become his true self.

This piece covers Cell's absorption specifically. Majin Buu's absorption has enough backstory of its own to stand apart, so I'm leaving it out here.

Cell's mysterious introduction hid his absorption plan

When Cell was first introduced, he was played up as a big mystery, and that introduction is one of my favorite aspects of the Cell saga. Kami talks about sensing a strange evil in the air. Then comes the egg, then the time machine, and these mysteries unravel one by one.

Finally Piccolo, after fusing with Kami, or absorbing Kami, meets up with Cell and we learn who he is. Cell's mystery dies almost right away, because he reveals his entire plan and his backstory. What's interesting is that we learn very early on that Cell has this strange absorption ability, and it's central to his master plan, his prime directive and his mission, which was to become perfect.

Cell is a biomechanical creation of Dr. Gero

Cell is different from the other androids. Unlike Androids 17 and 18, he was not originally a human. He also isn't a completely mechanical, artificial creation the way 16 and 19 were. Cell is a biomechanical hybrid, created biogenetically, which makes him a test tube baby made by Dr. Gero.

We witness him absorbing people in the series, in one of the most disgusting and repulsive scenes in Dragon Ball Z, and in some ways one of the most horrifying. Yet it's only later that we find out his true directive is to absorb 17 and 18.

What the Daizenshuu guidebook says about Cell's absorption

The first time Cell absorbs anybody is in chapter 361 of the manga. Daizenshuu 4, the Dragon Ball guidebook, covers the technique on page 62. It describes it as "a technique where you absorb particular beings making them into your own power."

The guidebook says the first person to use this technique was first form Cell, who powered up by absorbing the life energy of the citizens of Ginger Town. In Cell's case, he absorbs people's energy through the needle shaped portion at the end of his tail. The guidebook then goes on to discuss Majin Buu's absorption, which is a separate subject.

Why Cell only absorbs humans, and why 17 and 18 changed his body

Cell has to be at least partially human, or partially mortal, because he was genetically manufactured in a laboratory using the cells of fighters like Goku, Vegeta and Frieza. We never see him absorbing animals. There's no scene of Cell draining cattle in the middle of nowhere. He only absorbs humans, and eventually 17 and 18.

He absorbs enough people to increase his power, because every human has ki inside them, even though their ki is nowhere near the level of a fighter like Goku. With 17 and 18, though, there's something special. As imperfect Cell absorbs humans, he doesn't physically change, even though he gets stronger. With each android, it's different. Absorbing 17 turns him into second form Cell, and once he has both 17 and 18 inside him, he becomes Perfect Cell.

Dr. Gero may have built Cell as a plan against 17 and 18

That might leave some people scratching their heads, but it seems like this was part of Dr. Gero's grand plan from the beginning. It's almost as if he knew, subconsciously, that there was a high probability 17 and 18 would betray him, which is what they did. It's almost like he expected it.

That's probably because, unlike 16 and 19, who are programmable characters, 17 and 18 were originally humans, Lapis and Lazuli, as Toriyama revealed later on. They were independent delinquents, and Dr. Gero knew they hated taking orders. In the end, 17 killed him point blank.

I've always felt that while Dr. Gero was enhancing 17 and 18's bodies, he was also working on Cell behind the scenes as a plan B or even a plan C. Plan A would have been 19 and 20. Plan B would most likely have been 17, 16 and 18, or maybe not even 16, depending on how you look at it, since the future timeline is different. Plan C would have been Cell.

I also feel he created Cell as his way to get revenge not only on Goku but also on 17 and 18, because he kind of knew it would happen. It is a theory, but it makes sense to me because 17 and 18 are the key. That means there has to be some kind of biomechanical, genetic connection between Cell, 17 and 18, beyond Cell having the powers of the Z Fighters, Frieza and King Cold. Whatever that connection is, it had to be created in the laboratory before 17 and 18 were finished, and even before Cell was.

Androids 17 and 18 are still alive inside Cell

It's worth adding that 17 and 18 are still alive inside Cell. They're in a strange kind of suspended animation. They're prisoners who can't move, but they're alive and can hear and sense certain things, even outside of Cell. That makes the whole thing even creepier when you think about it.

Cell's power jump only makes sense if 17 and 18 were meant to be part of him

Cell's power is without question out of this world, especially when he first appears. But it wouldn't make much logical sense for absorbing 17 and 18 to make him so powerful. Vegeta totally dominates second form Cell. Then, once Cell absorbs 18, Vegeta loses to one elbow drop to the back of his spine.

So why would Cell become that powerful? There has to be a connection, something like what happened with Kami and Piccolo. It's not exactly the same, but there's some deeper connection between these characters, to the point where it's almost as if Cell needed them in order to become his true self. His entire purpose is to become perfect. Goku and Vegeta's cells made him hungry for battle and hungry for power, but beyond that, for lack of a better term, it became instinctual, almost as if 17 and 18 were always meant to be part of Cell's perfect body.

That might not be directly stated, but you have to read through the subtleties of Dragon Ball to understand that perspective. It even comes up in Dragon Ball Z episode 90. Most of that episode is filler, but there are flashbacks that tease what I'm describing. "This is not just something i pull out of thin air it's there in the series."

So absorbing 17 and 18 was not just about power for Cell. It was a duty he needed to fulfill to become his true self. From there, after training, fighting Goku and Gohan, and dying, he came back as Super Perfect Cell and grew stronger and stronger. He had the perfect body, and he also had the cells of Goku, Vegeta and the others, so he could get stronger through training and through coming near death.

Cell absorbing Goku in Dragon Ball GT didn't change his body

In Dragon Ball GT, Cell absorbs Goku. Some people will say GT doesn't really count, but think about what happens. When Cell absorbs Goku, he senses an incredible leap in power, yet he does not physically change.

The only characters who physically changed Cell were 17 and 18, because they were part of who he was.

Cell's nucleus works like a learning computer

Cell's nucleus is the home base of all his knowledge, which is a combination of technology and actual cellular manipulation. I also feel it's a supercomputer, a neural net learning computer, like Arnold said in Terminator 2, something that can learn and adapt.

That's why Cell was able to return to his perfect body, with an upgrade, after he blew himself up. It's also why, when he's in hell, we see him in his perfect body again rather than the original version of Cell, even though that's only anime filler and not in the manga. He learned to adapt, and that became who he was: his perfect form.