How strong was Super Perfect Cell?

[GreatSaiyaman123]

Cell comes back fully confident he could beat Gohan and sources like Daizenshuu 2 and the Dragon Books say he’s the strongest guy at that point. Gohan also whines about underestimating him after losing his arm, so apparently being off guard wasn’t that big a factor. Yet Gohan easily blows Cell away in the end? And Goku and Vegeta think more of Kid Gohan than they think of Cell?

 

[SSJ2]

Gohan is slightly stronger than Cell but close enough to be devastated by an attack he wasn't guarding against. His final rage boost that beat Cell brought him back to his full power imo, and that combined with Cell's distraction were enough for Cell to be vaporized by the KHH.

 

[GreatSaiyaman123]

Keeping it simple, neat. Not sure if one can destroy a rival that easily though. But Vegeta did completely erase Dodoria who’s ~90% of his power right? A similar gap might do the trick.

 

[Fantastische Hure]

according to some-one (raditz i think & that maybe was in daizenshuu as-well, i think) ki-related moves like khh need 1 to concentrate their energy i think, i think that's kind-of hard to concentrate ki, when vegeta kind-of distracted him or some-thing i think

 

[SSJ2]

Goku was going to kill Pure Boo at full power despite them being near equals. Cell's distraction made it possible.

 

[Hector]

SSJ2 Gohan (initial)<=SPC<<SSJ2 Gohan (full power)

 

[Victorious]

I'd say 94-97% of Gohan. Gohan overwhelming Cell so quickly at the end of the beam struggle because Vegeta distracted Cell.

I also dont believe Dodoria is over 90% of 24k Vegeta. 83% is a much better placing

 

[GreatSaiyaman123]

Gohan is used as a measure stick for quite a while in the Boo Saga, Cell is only mentioned when they discuss how fodder Dabra was. Even if Dabra turns out to be like, Pre Zenkai Cell level or whatever, I think SPC was still in Goku’s mind when he said that as a highball estimative.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Cell comes back fully confident he could beat Gohan and sources like Daizenshuu 2 and the Dragon Books say he’s the strongest guy at that point. Gohan also whines about underestimating him after losing his arm, so apparently being off guard wasn’t that big a factor. Yet Gohan easily blows Cell away in the end? And Goku and Vegeta think more of Kid Gohan than they think of Cell?

Daizenshuu 2 also states that Gohan summoned his greatest power when killing Cell, and the version of Gohan that killed Cell is what Vegeta references when disgusted at how much weaker SS2 Gohan was against Kibito, so there's nothing really wrong with the idea of SS2 CG Gohan (end of beam struggle) >/>> SPC > SS2 CG Gohan, particularly when both Vegeta and Goku make it very apparent they believe Gohan could become far stronger through rage in the Boo Arc.

As for how I think Cell compares, it depends what route you take for the Daizenshuu translation as it can either mean Cell is stronger or he simply reached his own peak. The only thing from the manga actively going against Cell's superiority is Goku being confident in Gohan still being able to kill Cell, but even that could be chalked up to Goku having confidence in his son's hidden power when considering the obvious damage done to him even not factoring in the yuuki and shouki loss. Either Cell is superior to Gohan before the end of the beam struggle or not that far behind him.