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When Cell absorbed each android, did his power only increase by however strong that android was?

So lets say imperfect Cell's power=100 and android 18's power=50. After absorbing her, would Semi perfect Cell's power have been 150, or was his growth after absorbing each android implied to be exponential?

There really isn't a way to know. It never really says if I recall.

I've always thought of it as exponential growth, personally.

It's harder to tell how great the difference was between Imperfect Cell and Semi-Perfect Cell, because the latter didn't do a whole lot. Before absorbing #18 he was equal to #16 -- after absorbing #18, he was able to no-sell #16's attacks... But I suppose that could have technically been done if he would have *only* gained #18's power, as that extra boost still would have put him way above #16.

But Perfect Cell's growth definitely seemed exponential. As Semi-Perfect Cell he was getting absolutely stomped by ASS Vegeta. After absorbing #17, Perfect Cell was able to easily rape Vegeta(and Trunks) while greatly suppressing his power, and then a few days later was able to beat FPSS Goku and FPSS Gohan while still suppressing his power. #17's energy alone wouldn't have catapulted him like that, imo.

The reason he only wanted #17 and #18 was because of their Infinite Energy Reactors, which were two components Gero's supercomputer, that designed him, couldn't manufacture.

A better name for Perfect Cell would be Complete Cell because he was designed with those two missing components in mind. Think of it like your cell phone running on optimized power-saving mode: a lot of functionality is restricted, the processing is slower, the screen brightness is down, etc.

https://i.imgur.com/C9VqzNEm.jpg

Dragon Ball chapter 349, page 13 of 15.

Which is strange because Cell himself did not have infinite energy/stamina.

I thought cell was going all out against Goku? That's why he was so damaged after their fight and needed a sensu bean to recover?

Originally posted by Mendax
I thought cell was going all out against Goku? That's why he was so damaged after their fight and needed a sensu bean to recover?

Goku gave him a good fight, but Cell still held back his speed and power, as seen when he fought Gohan next.

You could argue he had a mini-zenkai, maybe.

Originally posted by Galan007
Which is strange because Cell himself did not have infinite energy/stamina.
They're just inexhaustible batteries with a finite output. If Cell burns through his stored energy reserves faster than he can recover them, then he'll eventually tire.

The idea is more so that Cell couldn't work at the full intended capacity before he absorbed #17 and #18. Maybe he was at 1% before he absorbed #17 and 10% after he absorbed #17. But it's not like he's simply adding their Power Levels to his own.

Or that's how I always saw it at the very least.

Originally posted by Astner
But it's not like he's simply adding their Power Levels to his own.



Same with with 17 fusing with Hell Fighter in GT.

Or Piccolo fusing with Nail or - better example - with Kami.

Originally posted by Mendax
I thought cell was going all out against Goku? That's why he was so damaged after their fight and needed a sensu bean to recover? Like Stilt said: Perfect Cell never used 100% power until he fought SS2 Gohan:
https://i.ibb.co/gPtFjYn/Dragon-Ball-Z-v19-010.jpg https://i.ibb.co/zVj1rRL/Dragon-Ball-Z-v19-011.jpg https://i.ibb.co/1rn1Pty/Dragon-Ball-Z-v19-015.jpg

He was suppressing his power prior to that because he wanted the fights to be more exciting(he does have Goku, Vegeta, and Freeza's cells, after all, so that kind of arrogant "logic" makes sense for him.)

But no, Cell was honestly a lot more powerful than FPSS Goku... To the point where even in his markedly depleted state(following Goku's warp-Kamehameha), Cell was still confident that he could beat Goku, even if Goku ate a senzu bean. In fact, Cell stated that even if Goku were back at full power, his chances of actually winning only increased "slightly"... Which would make their fight more fun/exciting for Cell(that's why he was literally goading Goku into eating a senzu, lol):
https://i.imgur.com/zJbiFYc.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/lMaLI2e.jpg
But obviously Cell wouldn't have been pushing for Goku to eat a senzu if he believed there was even a slight chance that Goku could actually beat him... And the fact that no one disagreed speaks volumes.

Hell, Trunks believed that it would still take ALL of the Z Fighters at FULL power to defeat Cell after he was depleted:
https://i.imgur.com/ygvZ7GU.jpg
IOW, it would have potentially taken FPSS Goku + FPSS Gohan + ASS Vegeta + ASS Trunks + Piccolo + Krillin + Tien + Yamcha to overcome a depleted Perfect Cell, lol.

Originally posted by Astner
They're just inexhaustible batteries with a finite output. If Cell burns through his stored energy reserves faster than he can recover them, then he'll eventually tire.

The idea is more so that Cell couldn't work at the full intended capacity before he absorbed #17 and #18. Maybe he was at 1% before he absorbed #17 and 10% after he absorbed #17. But it's not like he's simply adding their Power Levels to his own.

Or that's how I always saw it at the very least. I mean, Cell wasn't using the Androids' infinite energy reactors in any real capacity, imo, otherwise his energy would have never depleted... Because the IERs give the Androids truly infinite stamina -- whatever level they start at, that's where they stay indefinitely(regardless of the 'damage' they take), until they are destroyed(DBS really drove that point home.) The IERs are one of the best inventions in fiction, imo.

But kind of like you, I've always viewed the Androids as the 'keys' that simply opened the particular transformations that Gero had engineered into Cell -- that was their only real purpose. And once those 'doors' were open, the Androids were no longer required(as seen when Cell regenerated into his Super-Perfect form, even though #18 had been removed.)

IOW, the Androids themselves didn't increase Cell's power by 'stacking' their energy on top of his own. They simply unlocked his dormant transformations.

Originally posted by Galan007
IOW, the Androids themselves didn't increase Cell's power by 'stacking' their energy on top of his own. They simply unlocked his dormant transformations.

Originally posted by Galan007

But no, Cell was honestly a lot more powerful than FPSS Goku... To the point where even in his markedly depleted state(following Goku's warp-Kamehameha), Cell was still confident that he could beat Goku, even if Goku ate a senzu bean. . I mean, taking Cell's word for something like that is hard when he's partly Vegeta. And when Goku had no interest in winning the fight.

It's true that Cell was arrogant AF.

But I still don't see him trying to get Goku to eat a senzu bean and fight him again(while depleted) if he actually thought he might lose. He had just fought Goku at full power, after all, so he actually knew what he'd be up against.