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Template:DB Character Android #18 (Jinzō'ningen #18, also known as Cyborg #18, Artificial Human #18, or simply 18 and C-18 in the Spanish dub to everyone after the Cell Games Saga.) is a fictional character in the manga Dragon Ball (US only: Dragon Ball Z) and the anime Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT.^[1] Her seiyū is Miki Itou. In the FUNimation dub she is voiced by Meredith McCoy.

History

Template:Spoilers Android-18 is a cybernetic human, modified by the scientist named Dr. Gero. She is often referred to in the original Japanese as a jinzō'ningen, which literally translates as "artificial human" (jinzō-ningen), thus "android, robot". However, she is not entirely an android because, in a conversation with Android-16, she refers to both herself and her "twin brother" Android-17 as having been "constructed from a human base". It is implied in the manga that they were originally runaways heavily fitted with cybernetics. Whether or not this "fitting" was consensual is unknown, but it is implied that it wasn't considering that they both show a disdainful disrespect toward Dr. Gero. (In fact, both of their Dragon Library pages in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 says for a fact Gero took them against their will.) In the anime it's mildly implied that they may actually be Gero's children when, at the 24th Tenka'ichi Budōkai, she was asked about her name she says "[her] father was pretty dull". However, she is able to biologically function as a human does, given the fact that she produces a child right before the Buu Saga. 18's original human name is never revealed.

It is never explained why Androids 17 and 18 were created, but it has been suggested that 17 and 18 were tools to be used by Gero's ultimate creation named Cell. Cell was supposed to absorb them into his fully biological body and become the "perfect" warrior. He achieved this, absorbing 18 shortly after doing the same to 17. 17 and 18 were actually just made to kill Goku and the Z-warriors if they fail Cell were to absorb them and finish the job.

Beauty and the Monk

When Kuririn first meets 18 he is very attracted to her, even though at the time she is heartless and wants to kill the Z Fighters. 18 is too artificial to age, so she looks the same at the end of Dragon Ball Z as she did during her first appearance (although she has cut her hair).

On the highway, after she and her brother nearly kill the Z fighters, she kisses the terrified Kuririn on the cheek after he tries to persuade them not to go after Goku. This is when Kuririn starts to fall in love with her. After Cell arrives, Kuririn refuses to use a back up destruction remote on her, which would have destroyed her, cutting short Cell's relentless quest for ultimate power. Because of this, Cell eventually absorbs her and reaches his ultimate power, but Cell becomes overpowered by Son Gohan, and regurgitates 18. When Cell is defeated, Kuririn wishes for 18 and 17 to be turned into full humans. The Dragon is unable to do this because of the unfathomable differences in power between him and the duo, so he wishes instead for their self destruct devices to be removed. Kuririn pursues 18 and he and 18 eventually have a child together, a daughter named Marron.

To clear up the heavily espoused misconception that 18 is a pure android and therefore could not have a child, Kuririn went on to explain to Goku (and, in essence, to all confused fans) during the Tenkaichi Budokai in the Buu Saga that 18 was originally human but that Dr. Gero just "remodeled her a little bit". 18's destructive personality fades quite a bit after the Cell Saga and is accepted as a member of the core group of characters--particularly after she and Kuririn marry and have a daughter. But even though by observing her, you can tell that she is a loving mother, she sometimes displays that frightening unpredictable nature towards others, particularly towards Muten-Rôshi.

File:Dbz17gang.jpg

#18 with her twin brother #17 and #16 to her left.

Alternate Timeline

No. 18 and No. 17's counterparts in Future Trunks' alternate timeline are murderous sociopaths who are responsible for the deaths of billions of innocents. Trunks destroys them with his new power when he returns home, after years of their devastating the planet. Even when the main-timeline versions of 17 and 18 were first introduced as antagonists, they were never as malicious as their alternate reality selves. For unknown reasons, the main versions are also stronger than the ones Mirai Trunks knows. However, Piccolo suggests that it is because Trunks has changed the present by traveling back in time and that this has caused many things to change.

18 in the Buu Saga

Later in the series, #18 is paired with Mr. Satan in the Tenka-ichi Budōkai. She does not want the fame and attention of winning, so allows Mr. Satan to beat her and retain his somewhat misappropriated title of a great fighter, provided he pays her the prize money. The same day however, #18 gets killed, along with her family, by Majin Buu, who turns her into chocolate and eats her (this is the second time that she has been ingested by one of the DBZ villains). She is brought back to life with the Dragon Balls, and gives energy to Son Gokū to fuel his Genki Dama to defeat Majin-Buu. Though peace has returned, #18 still maintains a cool and distant attitude toward Goku, as she was originally created to kill him, but she still can't resist smiling when Goku returns and has a tearful reunion with his family, showing a softer side to her personality.

Dragon Ball GT

File:Gt18.jpg

#18 in Dragon Ball GT

18 gets possessed by Bebi, but she doesn't play an important role as any type of servant, so life simply carries on. She is cured with the Sacred Water, and later on she and Goku teamed up to defeat Super Hell Fighter #17, because #17 killed Kuririn, someone who both Goku and #18 loved and cared for.

Dragon Ball Movies

(#18 appears in the following Dragon Ball Movies and TV Specials:)

TV Special 2: Resistance to Despair!! The Remaining Super-Warriors, Gohan and Trunks (FUNimation's dub: The History of Trunks)
Movie 11: Super-Warrior Defeat!! I'm the One who'll Win (FUNimation's dub: Bio-Broly)

Power

As a cyborg, Android 18 is extremely powerful, she is able to easily overpower a basic Super Saiyan. This is first demonstrated to when she fights Super Saiyan Vegeta, she is able to severely injure him (going as far as to break his arm with one kick) and walk away almost completely unscathed save her clothes, burned off by one of Vegeta's ki attacks. She finds replacements soon afterward, resulting in her donning different clothing than her future counterpart does. She was also able hold her own when Goten and Trunks fought her, both as Super Saiyans. 18 is fitted with a device that gives her a continuous and virtually infinite energy supply. This prevents her from becoming exhausted while fighting, and augments her power enough to make her a formidable opponent even for any of the surviving Saiyans, strong enough to more than match up to a normal Super Saiyan, since - as was proven by the two aforementioned examples, moreso the former than the latter - the initial Super Saiyan state is imperfect and drains energy quickly, making it only a matter of time before the even match becomes a no chance affair.

However, it is noted that she is slightly weaker than Cell in his first form upon his absorption of countless humans and as a result she deeply fears Semi-Perfect Cell, who gets trounced by Super (Ascended SSJ) Vegeta, while Full-Power Super Saiyan Goku can go toe to toe and match up with Perfect Cell (who was, at the beginning of the Cell Games, not at full power). So in reality she can easily match up to an opponent with the power and control of a saiyan who recently reached the Super Saiyan form (in this case, Vegeta), but that's about as far as it goes.

Techniques and special abilities

Hikou: This is the ability to fly in the case of the Androids, without Ki. As the androids have no Ki of their own, they are unable to use Bukujujitsu.

Kienzan: The Kienzan (A.K.A. the Destructo-Disc) is a razor sharp disk of energy that can slice through nearly any opponent. This is her husband's (Kuririn's) signature technique.

(in the Budōkai games)

Power Blitz: An energy blast fired from the palm of the hand. This is her and 17's signature Death-Move in those games.

Energy Field: Energy is thrust out from the body in the form of a barriar with great force. A toned-down version is introduced as the Android Barrier in the Budokai Tenkaichi series.

Video games

Some of her appearances as a playable character include:

References

^ Android 18 profile

[1] Android 18 profile

[1]

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 [[Category:Fictional characters who can move at superhuman speeds]]