Artificial Human No. 18
From Dragon Ball Encyclopedia, the ''Dragon Ball'' wiki
"Whoever owns these clothes should have their optic sensors adjusted. They are obviously malfunctioning."
— Artificial Human No. 18 in "Time Chamber"
Artificial Human No. 18 (人造 人間 十八号, Jinzō Ningen Jūhachi-Gō; FUNimation "Android No. 18") is Doctor Gero's eighteenth Artificial Human creation and designed to serve his vendetta against Son Goku. While her interests do not deviate from this expectation, No. 18's curiosity to activate Artificial Human No. 16 in spite of Doctor Gero's orders not to lead Artificial Human No. 17 to take it upon himself to murder Doctor Gero. She later becomes the wife of Krillin and the mother of their daughter, Marron. She also unofficially joins the Z Warriors. Although she does not take part in any battles against Majin Buu, she does fight in Dragon Ball GT.
Contents
Personality
Initially cool and confident, No. 18's sarcastic humor later becomes the most striking trait of her personality. One example of her sarcasm is demonstrated when she is asked if her real name is legitimately "No. 18", to which she responds, "My father was pretty dull." Shortly before this conversation at the Tenkaichi Tournament, Goku takes notice of her assembly with the Z Warriors, leading to the retort, "Look, he noticed. How cute."
No. 18's birth name is never revealed, and following her allegiance to the Z Warriors after the defeat of Super Perfect Cell, she is referred to as simply "18".
Biography
Early life
No. 18 is the second Artificial Human designed by Gero to be created by fitting a Human with cybernetics. As a mortal woman, she and her unnamed brother (the eventual Android 17) were runaways whom Gero kidnapped and conducted experiments on, resulting in their transformation into cyborgs. However, her ability to reproduce was not impeded by these experiments, as evidenced by her giving birth to a healthy daughter, Marron. Gero's blueprints for No. 17 in FUNimation dub of the Imperfect Cell Saga suggest otherwise, however, instead citing that No. 17 and No. 18 "are made up of organic substances padded after human cells", though every single reference outside of this, including a clarification statement in the World Tournament Saga within the same dub, agrees with the canon assessment of No. 17 and No. 18.
Dragon Ball Z
Activation and combating Cell
When Dr. Gero arrives at his laboratory (after he and Android 19 failed to combat the Z Warriors, with 19 getting killed by Vegeta), he activates No. 17 and No. 18. There is another android yet to be activated. No. 17 and No. 18 want to activate him but Dr. Gero refuses. No. 17 punches Gero's chest and kicks his head off and squashes it. They eventually activate him and pursue their quest to find Goku. Android 18 fights Super Saiyan Vegeta. Android 18 eventually gains the upper hand and breaks his arm. The others try to help but are easily defeated. The androids approach Krillin but have no interest in killing him. Krillin tries to persuade them to drop their search for Goku. 18 is attracted to him and goes over to kiss the terrified Krillin on the cheek before continuing their quest to find Goku. This is when Krillin starts to fall in love with No. 18.
A few days later, the androids arrive at Master Roshi's island to find Goku. Piccolo decides to take his place and leads the androids to a island near Master Roshi's house. When Imperfect Cell arrives and interrupts the fight between Piccolo and No. 17. He absorbs No. 17 and becomes Semi-Perfect Cell. Android 18 and an injured Android 16 hide on an island and watch the battle between Cell and Vegeta. Krillin finds their location on the island but refuses to engage her self-destruct device, which would have destroyed her, in spite of the serious threat that could result in Cell's perfection posed by 18 being alive. Because of this, Semi-Perfect Cell eventually absorbs her and reaches his ultimate power. Perfect Cell becomes overpowered by Gohan (as a Super Saiyan 2) during the Cell Games, and regurgitates Android 18. Krillin immediately comes to her side and tends to her for the duration of the battle. After Super Perfect Cell is defeated at Gohan's hand, Android 18 is taken to The Lookout where she is healed by Dende. While there she figures out out that Krillin has a crush on her after Gohan yelled to everyone resulting in Krillin hitting him on the head leaving #18 surprised and slightly flattered. Krillin uses the Dragon Balls to make a wish to Shenron that Android 18 and Android 17 would be restored their complete humanity, but when Shenron is unable to grant his request, Krillin takes the opportunity to wish for the self-destruct devices within 18 and 17 be removed. Android 18 thanks him and leaves The Lookout.
Joining the Z Warriors, being a wife, and motherhood
Seven years later, No. 18 married Kuririn and had a daughter named Marron. Gohan told No. 18 and Kuririn that Goku will return to earth to enter the 25th Tenkaichi Tournament. No. 18 convinced Kuririn to enter to win the prize money. Later, No. 18 was matched against Mister Satan. Not interested in the fame that came with becoming the World Martial Arts Champion (and in addition, prevailing over Satan, who was generally believed by people of Satan City to be the strongest man in the world), No. 18 allowed Satan to defeat her and retain his somewhat misappropriated title provided that he reimbursed her an amount of money twice the prize money that he would be receiving as tournament champion.
After the tournament, she went with the others to look for the Dragon Ballss. She later took refuge from Super Boo in the Heavenly Realm. A day later, Super Boo found the tower and allows them to live for a short time. While on Kami's Lookout Super Buu uses his Human Extinction Attack to kill everyone on earth. When Super Boo escaped the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, No. 18 was killed along with her family by Super Boo, who turned her into chocolate and are her (interestingly making this the second time that she was ingested by a super-villain in Dragon Ball Z).
Her life was restored through a wish from Polunga and she later supplied Goku with her energy to fuel a Genki Dama in an effort to defeat Kid Boo. Though peace had returned, No. 18 still maintained a cool and distant attitude toward Goku (as she was originally "created" to kill him), but she still could not resist smiling when Goku returned and had a tearful reunion with his family, showing a softer side to her personality. She was later seen at a party at Bulma's house.
End of Dragon Ball Z
10 years later, she attended the 28th Tenkaichi Tournament with her family and the other Z Warriors.
Dragon Ball GT
Possession and the return of No. 17
Years later, in her first appearance in Dragon Ball GT, No. 18 was a servant of Baby. During the battle between Goku (as a Super Saiyan 4) and Vegeta Baby, she, along with Kuririn and Marron, were caught in the destruction of Satan City by Baby's Super Galick Gun. All of them appeared to have avoided the blast. She was cured with the Sacred Water. She had to later go to New Planet Plant before Planet Earth exploded because of the wish by Baby to restore his home planet. Afterwards, she attended a party at Bulma Brief's House.
Some months later, No. 18 later appears in the city with her family, until No. 17 attacks. No. 17 attempts to control her, however, Kuririn intervenes, pointing out that 18 is now married and has a child. He also reminds No. 17 that he killed Dr. Gero himself, but No. 17's Machine Mutant counterpart, Hell Fighter No. 17, contacts him and regains control, causing him to kill Kuririn. Kuririn's death brings No. 18 back to reality causing her to attack her own brother. Seeing what he's done, No. 17 then targets Marron so he can gain full control of No. 18, but No. 18 defends her from No. 17's energy wave, leaving her in a critical condition. No. 17 flies off to merge with Hell Fighter No. 17, and No. 18 crawls over to Kuririn, taking his hand as she appears to die with him. Later, No. 18 reappears and in an attempt to avenge her husband's death, she joins Goku in the struggle against Super No. 17, leading to the super-android's self-emancipation by force from Dr. Mu and eventually his death.
In her last appearance in the anime, No. 18 is seen at the Capsule Corporation accompanied by Bulma, Son Chichi, Son Videl, and Marron (her daughter). There is some debate as to whether or not Android 18 and her brother are still alive 100 years after the events of Dragon Ball GT (particularly during the time of the 64th Tenkaichi Tournament and the events of Dragon Ball GT: A Hero's Legacy). While Dr. Gero states that the process of reconfiguring the siblings into cyborgs has made the two immortal,[1][2] this is contradicted by A Hero's Legacy where it is narrated that Son Pan was the only character remaining from the generation of the original Z Warriors.
Films
No. 18 appeared in Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks, Dragon Ball Z: Super Android 13!, Dragon Ball Z: Bio-Broly, Dragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!, and Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods.
Video games
No. 18 makes her first playable appearance in a Dragon Ball video game spin-off in Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden. She has since featured in a number of video games, which are Dragon Ball Z: Buyū Retsuden, Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden 3, Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22, Dragon Ball Z 2: Super Battle, Dragon Ball Z: Legendary Super Warriors, all six installments of the Budokai series, Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors, all three installments of the Budokai Tenkaichi video game series, Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors 2, Super Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit, Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World, Dragon Ball: Raging Blast, and Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2. It is shown in the video game Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai when No. 18 uses the Dragon Balls that she wishes for her humanity to be restored, a wish which Shenron cannot grant. She goes on to wish for Krillin to become an android, although Shenron cannot grant this wish either. She eventually settles on having the "terminate Goku" program installed into her erased, which Shenron does grant.
Power
As an android, Android 18 is extremely powerful, able to easily overpower even the typical Super Saiyan. This is first demonstrated when she fights Super Saiyan Vegeta during the highway sequence, and is able to break his arm with a single kick and walk away almost completely unscathed, except her clothes which have been burned by Vegeta's ki attacks. Her replacement clothing is what visually separates Android 18 from her future timeline counterpart. No. 18 has also shown that she can hold her own against two Super Saiyans simultaneously, when both Trunks and Goten, who in Dragon Ball Z disguise themselves as Mighty Mask to fight in the adult division of the World Martial Arts Tournament, continue trying to fight her even after she exposes them. Android 18 is also purported to be the strongest female character in the series. Some might argue that this respect goes to Pan or Oceanus Shenron, however, Pan fails to achieve even the power of a typical Super Saiyan by the conclusion of Dragon Ball GT (although it is unclear, if she becomes stronger during the 100 years that pass in the series' final episode) and Oceanus was defeated by base-form Goku in the anime.
Despite the combat advantages entailed by being an android, No. 18 is inadept against even Cell's imperfect form post absorbing the max limit of Humans. When in his semi-perfect form, Cell is trounced by Vegeta (as a Ascended Super Saiyan), while Goku (as a Full Power Super Saiyan) ranks evenly against Perfect Cell without Cell using half of his potential. This helps to pinpoint No. 18's strength as easily matching up to an opponent with the power and control of an inexperienced Super Saiyan. This indicates that she could outmatch Freeza, Coola and King Cold, who were each overpowered by untrained Super Saiyans. In Dragon Ball Z: Bio Broly, it can be seen that No. 18 was no match for Bio Broly, which was reasonable as Bio Broly was the clone of a character much stronger than Imperfect Cell. Based on this, it can be assessed that No. 18 was stronger than an untrained Super Saiyan but weaker than a mastered one, she's slightly stronger than No. 17, but is substantially weaker than No. 16, Imperfect Cell post human absorption or any Super Saiyan transformation beyond the first.
Android 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. A skill which she shares with other android models is the ability to go undetected by ki signatures, as her power is substantiated by mechanics. Just like her brother, her cybernetic implants do not affect her ability to gain new skills and power levels through training, as shown by her ability to learn Krillin's signature attack and also her being able to match up to 2 Super Saiyans (Trunks and Goten) in the Buu saga. While she may have grown stronger throughout the events in Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT, and is supposedly slightly above her brother in terms of power as per their original programming, Android 17 has visibly outclassed her by quite a significant margin in Dragon Ball GT, seeing as how his ki blast overpowered hers in their brief fight.
Techniques
- Android Barrier – A technique where energy is thrust out from the body in the form of a barrier with great force. The barrier can be used to both defend against oncoming projectiles and to expand and damage its surroundings, although only the former appears in Dragon Ball Z.
- Energy Attack – The most basic form of energy wave used by androids.
- Energy Mine – One of No. 18's strong energy waves and ultimate attacks in Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors 2. She fires a concentrated, yellow sphere of energy, which after a few seconds results in an explosion inflicting heavy damage.
- Finger Beam – A barrage of narrow rays emitted from the index finger of its user, similar in execution to the Death Beam, which Future No. 17 and his sister use in The History of Trunks.
- Flight
- High-Pressure Energy Wave – A move similar in execution to the Masenko, which Future No. 18 uses against Future Trunks Brief in Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks. It gets its name from the video game Dragon Ball: Raging Blast.
- Kienzan – A powerful razor-sharp disk of ki capable of slicing through nearly any opponent. This is the signature technique of her husband, Kuririn, who more than likely taught it to her.
- Kiseki no Daburu Atakku – Kiseki no Daburu Atakku (奇跡 の ダブル アタック, Kiseki no Daburu Atakku; Literally meaning "Miracle's Double Attack")
- Power Blitz – A strong energy wave fired from the palm of her hand. It can be launched as a single energy wave, concentrated into a ball of Ki or volleyed in a rapid barrage of energy waves called the Infinity Bullet. No. 18 debuts this technique with the concentrated method, while struggling not to be absorbed by Cell. Future Android 18 uses the energy wave and Infinity Bullet methods many times before being killed by Future Trunks. This is the signature finishing move for No. 17 ans No. 18 in the Budokai video game series. It is named Photon Blitz in Supersonic Warriors 2.
- Sadistic 18 – A rush attack No. 18 uses in the Budokai Tenkaichi video game series and Dragon Ball: Raging Blast.
- So That's How it Has to Be! – A rush attack No. 18 uses in Dragon Ball: Raging Blast.
Voice actresses
- Japanese dub: Miki Itō
- Ocean Group dub: Enuka Okuma
- FUNimation dub: Meredith McCoy (Most media), Colleen Clinkenbeard (Shin Budokai and Raging Blast 2)
- Blue Water dub: Jennifer Bain (Dragon Ball GT)
- Latin American dub: Cristina Camargo
- Spanish dub: Ana Fernandez
- Catalan dub: Pilar Morales
- German dub: Diana Borgwardt
- Italian dub: Debora Magnaghi
- Portuguese dub: Cristina Cavalinhos (I and Dragon Ball GT), Fernanda Figueiredo (II)
Trivia
- When No. 18 defeats Vegeta, she becomes the first character to defeat a Super Saiyan, unless one includes Goku in his fight against Android 19, whose outcome was decided because of a Heart Disease Goku had.
- No. 17 and No. 18 were kidnapped by Gero and made into androids to serve his vendetta against Goku; it is very possible that it was this crime against them that made them hate Gero enough to kill him the first chance they got.
- In the Game Boy Advance game Supersonic Warriors, Android 18 is hinted to dislike driving solely because of Android 17's insistence in driving around aimlessly without anything better to do.
- In Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3, Chi-Chi says Android 18 is the elder twin.
References
- ↑ "The Androids Awake!"
- ↑ "Nightmare Comes True")
Dr. Gero: "Yes. Now I have eternal life like you."
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