Over the decades, the Dragon Ball franchise has introduced the world to some of anime’s most legendary antagonists. However, it must be said that Dragon Ball Z‘s villains are probably the most iconic. (That’s definitely not my millennial nostalgia talking.)
Broly was and remains a colossal terror who just can’t be kept down. Frieza was always a menace — the galactic conqueror destroyed an entire planet and race of superpowered beings, for crying out loud! Buu was … okay, Buu was hit or miss. But still, Z boasted an incredible roster of awesome bad guys. However, not all of these villains hit the mark when it came to being scary.
Many of the antagonists in DBZ had their threatening nature rooted in brute force. Broly is scary because he’s big and strong; Frieza is a terrible foe because he has an army and wipes out entire populations before breakfast. In a series like Dragon Ball Z, where we are consistently shown villains who can destroy whole planets with little to no effort, it can become challenging to present a new antagonist that can bring out genuine fear in the viewer.
That’s what made the Androids unique when they first arrived in Dragon Ball Z — they were truly terrifying. They were robots with unlimited stamina and were programmed by a sadistic scientist.
The whole Android Saga was wrapped in this intense eeriness and foreboding shroud because of how it took Goku out of the equation. In Future Trunks’ timeline, the hero of all heroes dies of a virus, leaving Earth completely vulnerable. Goku is alive in the show’s timeline but remains sick throughout most of the Android arc. This leaves the supporting cast on their own to deal with Android 17 and 18. And just when fans think it can’t get any worse and that the heroes have enough on their plate to deal with, here comes Dragon Ball‘s most unnerving villain: Imperfect Cell.
Imperfect Cell brought immense horror to Dragon Ball
The Android Saga starts things off the way all story arcs in Dragon Ball begin: by establishing the power of the new antagonists. In this case, we see Android 17 and 18 murder everyone in Future Trunks’ timeline; we also see them put a beatdown on the heroes in the show’s timeline. (To this day, Android 18 kicking and breaking Vegeta’s arm remains one of the franchise’s most iconic images.)
When we start to truly feel the gravity of the Androids’ threat, a shadowy new foe begins lurking. In Dragon Ball Z Episode 140 — “Seized with Fear” — Future Trunks, Bulma, and Gohan discover the former’s own time machine, broken down and covered in moss. It’s strange because not only has it been used, but there’s also a large hatched egg inside the machine. There’s also a gooey and large bug shell not too far from the machine. The episode has a level of mystery never before seen in the Dragon Ball franchise. Throughout it, this overbearing feeling is pressed upon the characters and viewers: what the heck is going on?
Well, it turns out in the show’s timeline, the Androids should be the least of the characters’ worries. In fact, Androids 17 and 18 are simply tools for this new threat.
In a scene ripped straight out of a ’70s horror movie, we are officially introduced to Imperfect Cell when Piccolo is investigating the disappearance of an entire town. It is such a creepy moment; there are no signs of some big battle or conflict. There are just countless empty clothes lying around this empty suburban area.
Then, we meet our new villain: the incredibly well-drawn and insect-looking humanoid creature, Cell. We discover that this creature is not only from the future but hijacked a time machine in order to enter a period where Androids 17 and 18 were still kicking.
In his very first scene, we see an everyday Joe crawl and beg Piccolo for help, only for Cell to literally suck the bio-matter out of him with his disgusting tail. Nothing like this was ever shown before in DBZ. We’ve seen characters get chopped in half, we’ve seen Ki blasts rip straight through a character’s chest, but seeing a helpless civilian get the life sucked out of him has to be one of the darkest and sickest things portrayed in the Dragon Ball franchise.
What makes Cell’s introduction even more compelling is that technically, Piccolo was stronger when they first fought, meaning that there was a chance this terrible threat could have been eliminated for good. However, this version of Cell was so slippery (literally) and kept staying one step ahead of the Z-Fighters. This created a sense of urgency. The longer this cat-and-mouse game played out, the greater chance this version of Cell had to absorb the androids and grow more powerful. This forced timetable only made things much more interesting, especially since Goku was still out of the mix for the most part.
(It was also super strange to witness a villain use the heroes’ own moves against them! After all, Cell was genetically created using the DNA from our favorite characters. Not only was this creepy-crawler getting the jump on the heroes, but they were forced to contend with their own abilities too! Seeing Cell use the Kamehameha attack for the first time definitely has to be lauded as one of the most epic moments in Dragon Ball history.)
In the end, Piccolo and the heroes failed in preventing Cell from absorbing his “siblings.” This led to him becoming the ultimate version of himself in terms of power. However, as powerful as Cell became — stronger than Goku, in fact — his later versions simply were not as compelling as his original, Imperfect form.
Cell’s Semi-Perfect and Perfect forms proved to be generic compared to the original version
Overall, Imperfect Cell proved to be the most fascinating and diabolical version of the character. His next two forms reverted the character back to the standard destroyer we had already come across countless times.
Semi-Perfect Cell and Perfect Cell simply did not have that eerie edge. While Imperfect Cell brought shades of Ridley Scott’s Alien into the mix, his later forms were just superior fighters with even more linear goals. Semi-Perfect Cell only cared about absorbing Android 18, so he didn’t retain that creepy and shadowy presence his previous form did. Perfect Cell, well, he’s perfect. So, his story mainly just revolved around a worthy fighter being able to contend with him.
In the end, Imperfect Cell might have been the character’s weakest form, but he was still by far the most compelling and terrifying. Even to this day, as far as the Dragon Ball franchise has come, no villain has come close to bringing out the type of terror that Imperfect Cell did.
Broly can holler until his lungs burst. Frieza can turn into any type of gold he wants. Beerus can snap his fingers and wipe out a galaxy if he doesn’t like his eggs. However, nothing will be more blood-curdling than watching Imperfect Cell patrolling the streets, looking for new victims to eat.