Cell As The Main Villain?

[Let's Go Fearless!]

Do you feel that he has that type of aura where he feels like a true villain that is a threat to the universe like Freeza and Boo? I don't feel that he has and he strike me as Goku's normal enemy that'd all. What about you?

 

[Fantastische Hure]

I can't say how I felt when I was younger. I might have said yes, then but now I'd say...he was creepy at first when he was in his Imperfect state. Later-on he just kind-of turned into an Evil Goku almost and didn't even look all that creepy anymore, just more reminiscent of Freeza.

 

[withheldforprivacy]

-The only villain without a single gag moment.
-The only villain Goku never bit.

AT respects Cell.

 

[Fantastische Hure]

-The only villain without a single gag moment.
-The only villain Goku never bit.

AT respects Cell.

Yeah, I like that about Cell. If Gohan never gets to be on top like he was before, then I really appreciate it that Cell can be left as Gohan's win instead of reviving him.

 

[Void]

Cell vs. Mr. Satan was a gag moment, boy.

 

[withheldforprivacy]

Cell vs. Mr. Satan was a gag moment, boy.

Not for Cell.

 

[Let's Go Fearless!]

So what? It makes Cell a 1 dimensional villain aka the generic villain lol. At least Freeza and Boo has their personalities.

 

[Victorious]

Well he only lasted a few weeks..and was only on Earth...unlike Buu and Freeza who lasted centuries [Buu possibly millions of years] and spread terror throughout the galaxy [in Buu's case the Universe].

However, yeah he seemed like a super villain. Firstly he's a mix of some of the greatest villains in the DB universe [Piccolo/Vegeta/Freeza] with the main Character..Goku. How can you top that? He's a genetically engineered super soldier. Not to mention the whole fact that he has no hype prior to showing up out of nowhere was what made him so different. I mean for the first 30 episodes or so of the new saga..we think it's the Androids that are the ones to be worried about..but Cell shows up from an Alternate Future and changes all that. He steals the show and takes the world with him.

I kind of like the fact we don't know much about him...and he has no reputation prior to showing up.

 

[Tapion]

So what? It makes Cell a 1 dimensional villain aka the generic villain lol. At least Freeza and Boo has their personalities.

No, it makes Cell the serious villain who is definitely not laughable. Generic villains are the polar opposite, because they are always coming up with poor plans and being laughed at(Robotnik/Eggman from Sonic comes to mind)

 

[Captain Cadaver]

As a concept, he works better than Boo, as the idea of a combination of the Z-Senshi and their foes as the ultimate threat seems fitting as a potential endgame opponent (and infinitely better executed than the Evil Dragons were as that concept). In terms of overall execution, he does feel to be a missed opportunity in many ways, as it would've been nice to see Cell have existential pondering given his origin to add more depth, even if it were as basic as Anime Mewtwo. Shame Toriyama's writing style is too simplistic for him to add much psychological themes to the plot.
Putting that aside and focusing on Cell compared to Freeza and Boo, he's better than the latter, given Boo's regeneration and absorption made him just feel like Cell 2.0 outside of Fat Boo's development. Whilst Cell's personality being influenced by others is a unique feature that could offer him greater complexity than other DB characters if given better writing, his overall execution makes it seem derivative in comparison to Freeza. His schtik of being the Z-Senshi's power used against them wasn't given enough thematic prominance to offer him the same link to the cast as Freeza did with Vegeta and Goku either.

To summarise, Freeza > Cell > Boo