Summary
Villains are some of the most important and iconic parts of the entireDragon Ballfranchise. Throughout the run of this series, there have been many antagonists who have plagued the heroes that are so legendary and foundational to the genre that they are remembered as some of the greatest villains in the entire anime industry. Notable names such as Frieza and Perfect Cell come to mind.
Even to this day, antagonists seem to be something that theDragon Ballfranchise seems to do exceptionally well, as can be seen inSuper. However, many believe thatCell Max is perhaps the worst villainthat the franchise has ever unveiled, not only due to his own simplistic and brutish nature, but also the fact that the legacy of one of anime’s greatest characters was tarnished with his introduction. So, let’s see why this is.
Story Arc
Super Hero Arc
There is perhaps no anime franchise with villains as iconic as those inDragon Ball. From Frieza to Perfect Cell, this series has proven itself to be one of the best when itcomes to creating captivating antagoniststhat the heroes have to face at the end of an arc. What makes this even more interesting is the fact that these characters are often quite simple in terms of motivations.
This can be seen with the lack of complex goals that they wish to achieve, as they often seek to be evil just for the sake of being evil, offering a very clear role that the heroes have to fight against. Their backstories are rarely ever intricate and their motivations are mostly just to spread destruction and be evil. So, why are they remembered so fondly? The truth of this has to do with their personalities and charisma, since these characters are written in a way that fans can’t help but fall in love with them, as they steal just about every scene they are in.
This is precisely why Cell Max falls so flat as a captivating antagonist. Born as another Android created by the Red Ribbon Army to be used against the Z-Fighters, this villain proved to be little more than just another hulking brute with nothing but destruction on his mind who just happened to be stronger than any foe the heroes had ever faced before,forcing Gohan to unlock a further statein his power. At the base level, Cell Max represents the worst aspect of theDragon Ballformula and power scaling.
Although he isn’t the only villain in the series' history to be a destructive monster, he is the latest in the line of them, which goes down as a repetitive thing since this is a trope fans have gotten tired of seeing done so often. Buu was also like this, but his various transformations gave him a maniacal and fun personality that most people ended up loving. Kid Buu was the most feral of them all, but even his unique brand of villainy was incredibly captivating.
This is the purely evil, absolutely most powerful, ultimate Majin Buu!
Cell Max, however, is the exact opposite, since he never did anything to set himself apart from even the most basic of characters. He is just portrayed as a giant, hulking brute with no thought or reason who just wants to destroy, serving more as a means of Gohan unlocking a powerful new transformation that puts him on thesame level as Ultra Instinct Gokuthan anything else.
Many say that Cell Max was never even supposed to be the final villain ofSuper Hero, which was a role to be originally filled by the Red Ribbon Army. However, that still doesn’t track since Cell Max eventually served as the final antagonist of the movie/arc and didn’t go according to the Army’s designs, so whether the movie wanted to make the Red Ribbon Army and Magenta the main villains is ultimately irrelevant since the role ended up being filled by Cell Max anyway.
How Cell Max Takes Away From One Of The Series' Greatest Characters
The Original Cell Was Far Better
As if Cell Max’s simplistic nature wasn’t bad enough on its own, the worst part is that he is the one to carry the legacy of Perfect Cell, who is not only one of the franchise’s best villains, but remainsone of the greatest characters ofDragon Ball. Although Cell’s motivations were quite simple too, his charisma and personality were some of the most captivating in the entire franchise, which has made him perhaps the most beloved villain in the series alongside Frieza.
It’s clear that Cell Max was included within theSuper Heromovie as fan service, though it’s quite tragic thatSuper’siteration of Perfect Cell has been reduced to this. Ever since theResurrection Ffilm, fans had also been eagerly anticipating the return of Perfect Cell to the franchise somehow because of how amazing the character was, so when he was brought back as Cell Max, it didn’t sit right with anyone.
