Did Gero Build #17 And #18 Only For Cell To Complete?

[Let's Go Fearless!]

I was reading some stuff over Kanzenshuu where Herms posted the entire characters dictionary stuff from Daizenshuu and found this.

Artificial Human No.17
An artificial human created by Doctor Gero
History:He used to be a human.
First Appearance: chapter 349
Special Characteristics: An artificial human who is a modified human boy. Equipped with an eternal energy engine, he never tires out. Though he likes to fight, he always thinks of battles as games. His power is on par with Piccolo after Piccolo merged with God, but like No.18, the original purpose for which he was created was as food to allow Cell to reach his perfect form.Also, the No.17 and No.18 in the future where the adult Trunks came from are somewhat inferior in power, but are cruel and inhumane. (Daizenshuu 2, p.176/Daizenshuu 4, p.160)
Techniques:Barrier, etc
Battles: He faced off against first-form Cell, but was caught off guard and absorbed.
Anime: The inhumane artificial humans are depicted in “Resistance to Despair!! The Remaining Super Warriors, Gohan and Trunks”. (Daizenshuu 6, p.170)

I've always thought that Gero modified them to destroy Goku but once Gero knew that they're failure creation, he decided to build Cell. What do you guys think?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

He likely wanted them to fulfill both plans, but to be absorbed by Cell was their initial goal.

Unless we're talking about GT wherein Gero wanted #17 to be stronger than Shello 2

 

[Evil Vegeta]

I always assumed Gero just wanted to create the Ultimate Android with the abilities of the strongest warriors no matter what. He has no loyalty to the twins, so even if they were obedient, another one of his creations appearing and absorbing them to become even more powerful would just be another experiment in the end.

 

[withheldforprivacy]

He also built them to use them as sex dolls.

 

[Boo Brand Milk]

Other than bad writing, 17 and 18 were meant to take over Earth while Cell was made to take over the universe.

 

[Evil Vegeta]

That makes the most sense.

Piccolo did say the rest of the galaxy was in danger since Cell had the cells of Freeza and King Cold. The Androids were only confined to Earth.

 

[Let's Go Fearless!]

Why would Gero go that far? After all, his only revenge was to kill Goku right?

 

[Evil Vegeta]

Well, Gero still released the Androids into the world after Goku had been dead in the future.

 

[Let's Go Fearless!]

Well Earth is understandable given that a lot of people wants to rule the Earth but the entire universe or galaxy? Just makes Gero a truly mad scientist.

 

[Evil Vegeta]

Since the Androids would've most likely killed off most life on the planet in 20 yrs, Gero would've probably thought there wouldn't be much to do on the world when Cell awakened. If Cell absorbed the Androids, he'd probably just destroy the Earth since there would be nothing left to do. Naturally Cell would be in space looking for stuff to do, which would lead to destruction throughout the universe.

Cell did say his original goal was to kill Goku, but it seems unlikely that Goku and both Androids would've been around in 20 yrs. Goku would've either destroyed the Androids or they would've done him in. It's almost impossible to imagine a timeline where Goku and the Androids would all live for 20 yrs until Cell awakened.