Summary
- Frieza and Perfect Cell are beloved Dragon Ball villains due to their infectious personalities and smug attitudes.
- Perfect Cell's return to the series is possible, offering an opportunity for fan service and new story beats.
- Reintroducing Perfect Cell could be seamless with the current direction of Dragon Ball Super, enticing fans with his potential comeback.
When going down the list of Dragon Ball villains, the ranking tends to look the same for most fans. One of the biggest criticisms that the series faces as a whole is that many of the villains are one-note, in the sense that they are pure evil and only look to spread destruction over all else. While such a concept works for a power fantasy such as Dragon Ball, it's understandable why many have a problem with this.
This is precisely why villains such as Frieza and Perfect Cell are so beloved. Of course, they are just as evil and destructive, but the difference here lies in their infectious personality and attitude, which has endeared them so much to fans that they're widely considered among the greatest villains in anime. Perfect Cell, particularly, is one of the best characters that Dragon Ball has ever conceived, so let's see how he can be brought back to the series.
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How Perfect Cell Can Be Brought Back To Dragon Ball
The Return of the Beloved Villain
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First Appearance |
Dragon Ball Z, Episode 141, "The Reunion" |
|---|---|
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Latest Appearance |
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero |
When asking fans about who they think the greatest villain in the Dragon Ball franchise is, the majority of their answers will either give it to Frieza or Perfect Cell. As stated earlier, these two make far more sense than their contemporaries due to their smug attitudes and superior sense of self, which sets them apart from the rather one-note and samey villains that the series is known for.
Cell was first introduced as a minor antagonist in the Android Saga who was initially far removed from the battles of the main story, quietly increasing his strength so that he could eventually fight the heroes. Upon defeating powerful characters and absorbing the Androids, he would eventually unlock his strongest form, which came to be known as Perfect Cell. This form was so powerful that no one could defeat him, forcing Gohan to unlock a brand-new transformation called Super Saiyan 2 to destroy the villain for good.
You see, I'm perfect, my strength is perfect, and with that I shall bring equally perfect destruction through the rest of the universe!
From then, the villain was gone from the franchise until 2018, when he was brought back with the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero film. However, this version of Cell wasn't the one that fans had come to love, since it was a hulking and mindless beast with no capacity for reason, as he only sought to destroy. Although fans had been expecting the character's return for quite some time, most were left disappointed with Cell Max because it had nothing that fans liked about the character.
Still, the story remains ripe with the opportunity to bring back this beloved character. Ever since the start of Super, the franchise has done a lot of good for those interested in fan service, in terms of bringing back old characters. Frieza is one of these lucky few, and his return has been nothing short of incredible. As such, Perfect Cell can be brought back as well, since Super Hero showed that it's possible to recreate the Android.
However, this time, his intelligence and memories could play a key role once he has returned, since that is what endeared him to fans in the first place. Similarly to Cell Max, this returned version of Perfect Cell can be made just as powerful either by bio-engineering, like what the Red Ribbon Army did, or just through him even going through training. While it seems far-fetched, Perfect Cell was even originally manufactured with parts of Frieza's DNA, so it could give him monstrous strength and potential like the Galactic Tyrant has.
Frieza was able to close the gap between himself and Super Saiyan Blue with just 4 months of training, so such potential also exists within a theoretical 'Golden Cell' or 'Perfect Cell Max'. So, through this, Perfect Cell could easily be brought into the current fold of things since power scaling shouldn't really be an issue for him, a hint of which could be seen with Cell Max's performance against the Z-Fighters.
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Should Cell Be Brought Back Into The Dragon Ball Franchise?
A Question That Many Fans Have Been Asking
For some fans, a huge criticism of Dragon Ball Super is the fact that there is a lot of fan service within it, while to others, it's not that big of an issue. Reintroducing Perfect Cell into the series would undoubtedly be one of the biggest instances of this, but it would still be a great part of the story. This character is one of the most beloved by fans, and the way Super tells its story sets up his return to the franchise quite well.
The question now becomes one of how much the story needs it. When the Granolah arc wrapped up, the franchise was heading in a great direction, with the story exploring new aspects and introducing amazing and well-written characters, which opened the door for brand-new story beats. Many think reintroducing old concepts or characters for fan service will take away from this direction, but in the case of Cell Max, this may be a good thing.
You should consider it an honor to be part of me. I am the strongest in the universe.
Knowing the nature of the series and where the story is headed, Perfect Cell's reintroduction would work with it seamlessly. Whether he's reintroduced through the multiverse or just brought back in Universe 7 at the strongest level, both could work if handled correctly, and this return to the franchise would be met with open arms by most fans of the series due to how beloved this character truly is.
Dragon Ball Super can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
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Dragon Ball Super
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- 2015 - 2018
