Why were the Present Androids different from the future androids?

[Ultimate Cell]

[mention]Captain Cadaver[/mention] Why was the future androids much more different than the present? Not just in terms of strength but in personality aswell?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Well, the meta answer would be Toriyama taking a hyperbolic take on the butterfly effect and just using "because time travel" for any excuse he wanted.
As far as an in-universe answer, best excuse I'd think of would be that being unleashed earlier might have caused some signal in their circuitry to heighten their killer instincts whilst malfunctioning their infinite energy amount.

 

[GreatSaiyaman123]

Personality wise it just seems like a character progression. Almost 20 years (Do these guys not age?) with nothing to do after finding out the sole reason they were turned into Cyborgs died from a heart attack.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Personality wise it just seems like a character progression. Almost 20 years (Do these guys not age?) with nothing to do after finding out the sole reason they were turned into Cyborgs died from a heart attack.

Except what's presented to us through their actions and supplementary material makes it clear they were this way since they first awoke. Also, killing Goku was just a game to them because they had nothing better to do, so it definitely wouldn't act as some existential crisis that changed their outlook.

 

[GreatSaiyaman123]

killing Goku was just a game to them because they had nothing better to do, so it definitely wouldn't act as some existential crisis that changed their outlook.

Maybe not at first, but they are clearly reckless and don't care about colateral damage they may cause. Killing Goku is a game to them, but what's next? Both times we see the twins in the future, they are playing games and even see Trunks as a toy.

 

[Boo Brand Milk]

Imho they're not. If Goku dies in the present they commit genocide for fun.

 

[withheldforprivacy]

Personality wise it just seems like a character progression. Almost 20 years (Do these guys not age?) with nothing to do after finding out the sole reason they were turned into Cyborgs died from a heart attack.

Except what's presented to us through their actions and supplementary material makes it clear they were this way since they first awoke. Also, killing Goku was just a game to them because they had nothing better to do, so it definitely wouldn't act as some existential crisis that changed their outlook.

Who says they were not like that when they first awoke in the present timeline too? Maybe they got soft because of having an enemy in common with the Z Fighters (Cell), just like Vegeta got soft because of having an enemy in common with the Z Fighters (Freeza).

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Who says they were not like that when they first awoke in the present timeline too? Maybe they got soft because of having an enemy in common with the Z Fighters (Cell), just like Vegeta got soft because of having an enemy in common with the Z Fighters (Freeza).

We're literally told several times how different their personalities are to the ones Trunks knows. They didn't even know Cell for a good while so if they were exactly the same as their future selves, they'd have definitely killed the multiple humans they encountered rather than sparing them (something #16 explicitly brings up as a reason for helping them).

Moreover, it took until the end of the Cell Arc for Vegeta to get "soft". He was very much an opportunist looking out for himself throughout the entirety of Namek and was unconcerned with the lives of his family until Trunks' death, his goal of killing Goku remaining the same.

 

[Pocket-Gog~]

It's because the bomb turned them evil.

 

[withheldforprivacy]

Is it ever stated that the Alternate Androids killed the Z Fighters the same day they woke up? Trunks just said, 'In a battle that will take place in 3 years...'

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Trunks clearly informed them of what date the Artificial Humans would attack, so there's no reason to assume they didn't do so upon being released when absolutely no source supports this and nearly every source covering the events (the anime, TV Special and Super extra chapter) point to the contrary.

 

[Let's Go Fearless!]

Butterfly effect is the only explanation here.

 

[withheldforprivacy]

I theorize that, since in that timeline Goku died soon after he returned from Yardrat, Dr Gero destroyed Sixteen, whose sole purpose was to kill Goku, so he had more time to devote to 17/18. To make them more obedient, he suppressed their power and removed their inhibitions.