Dragon Ball Z: Ranking The Transformations of Cell

One of the biggest villains to come out of the Dragon Ball Z series was easily the biological nightmare known as Cell, created by Dr. Gero to get revenge against Goku for the destruction of the Red Ribbon Army, and like other villains the antagonist had a number of transformations that we thought we’d take the opportunity to rank! With a number of power ups under his belt in both Dragon Ball Z and the spinoff of Dragon Ball Heroes, Cell left an impression on the Z Fighters but being the main impetus for Gohan reaching Super Saiyan 2!

What is your favorite Cell transformation? Do you think we’ll see him return in Dragon Ball Super one day? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of Dragon Ball!

Cell X

This one is a bit of a cheat, but we would be remiss if we didn’t mention the Dragon Ball Heroes transformation that saw Cell inheriting the power of a Dark Dragon Ball, transforming himself into “Cell X”. Growing in size and donning a giant thorax with multiple legs, Cell X is an abomination and is still one of the most terrifying things that the spinoff series created during it’s nearly decade long history!

Cell’s Larva Form

Obviously the least seen version of Cell, the villain’s “larva” state was simply a mean to an end to allow him to take his first form that would truly establish the antagonist that needed both Androids 17 and 18 in order to achieve “perfection”. Dr. Gero created Cell in combining the DNA of the likes of Goku, Vegeta, Freeza, and Piccolo to name a few, and this disturbing take on the antagonist was a nice window into the terror that awaited the Z Fighters.

Semi-Perfect Cell

Of the main forms of Cell, his “Semi-Perfect” form was definitely the lesser of the three as this bulky form was created following the absorbing of Android 18. While this process did give Cell a significant power boost, to this day it still looks more comical than anything else, especially considering that he was essentially used as a punching bag by Goku, Vegeta, and even Android 16 for a brief period of time.

Perfect Cell

This may come as a surprise to folks expecting this to be our number one spot, but we have some slight issues with the final form of Cell, aka Perfect Cell, that keeps it from being the top transformation of the Dragon Ball Z villain. Taking on a far more “human” appearance than his previous two transformations, Perfect Cell is what happens when the biological nightmare is able to absorb both Androids 17 and 18, and still makes for a striking visual for the biological experiment seeking revenge against the world.

Cell’s First Form

This may definitely shock folks who were expecting Perfect Cell to sit at the top of the heap when it came to the villain’s ton of transformations, but Cell’s First Form is the winner for us based on its menace and originality. Looking far more like an insect, when Cell first appeared, his creepy voice and insect appearance, and style of fighting, proved that this was a villain unlike anything we had seen before. Perfect Cell may be imposing, but this version of the Dragon Ball Z still left an impression and has such a striking appearance that we can’t help but list it as our number one transformation for Cell!