Was Cell's core really a plothole?

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Darkprince410
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Re: Was Cell's core really a plothole?

Post by Darkprince410 » Fri Jan 04, 2019 1:45 pm

Muffin Man wrote:
PFM18 wrote:
Muffin Man wrote:The simplest and most logical resolution between what we see and what Cell says is that the nucleus is inside Super Perfect Cell's head but not inside Perfect Cell's head. Maybe the lack of Android 17 and 18 caused Super Perfect Cell to regenerate with an altered internal physiology.
I don't see that as a logical resolution, I see no reason why his core's location would have changed. And no, he didn't lose 17, he only lost 18.

It's just a plot hole. Plain and simple.

Cell states that the nucleus necessary for regeneration is located in his head, present tense. He never says that it was always in his head. Earlier we saw his head get destroyed, yet he regenerated, meaning his nucleus must not have been destroyed. Therefore, the only possible explanation is that his nucleus wasn't in his head at that particular time. It doesn't matter if that's an intuitive explanation. If it's the only possible explanation, then that's the best one to go with.
That gets into a series of other issues though if you go with that. Why would it suddenly relocate its position for no discernible reason? He simply regenerated back into his Perfect form, with no indication that he made any other physiological changes beyond the lack of #18 within him. Furthermore, there's no explanation for him to suddenly know that the nucleus is now in his head if it was before in an entirely different spot. We see no evidence of him having such exact knowledge of his inner physiology to be able to realize that something has moved locations on him.

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Re: Was Cell's core really a plothole?

Post by supersaiyangodgogeta » Fri Jan 04, 2019 2:42 pm

If Cell regenerated from the Kamehameha then the nucleus wasn't destroyed. It's that simple. Cell's upper half was destroyed except for the nucleus.

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Re: Was Cell's core really a plothole?

Post by PFM18 » Fri Jan 04, 2019 3:23 pm

supersaiyangodgogeta wrote:If Cell regenerated from the Kamehameha then the nucleus wasn't destroyed. It's that simple. Cell's upper half was destroyed except for the nucleus.
That makes no sense. The upper half way destroyed and it was supposedly in his head. If it was destroyed, then so was his nucleus. It would be completely ridiculous for his entire upper half to be disintegrated but his core is magically not destroy despite being part of that upper half. If his core stayed intact, then his upper half was not destroyed.

It's very simply just a plot hole

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Re: Was Cell's core really a plothole?

Post by MisterGuyMan » Fri Jan 04, 2019 3:57 pm

After RoF, I file this apparent inconsistency as a synergistic combination of Piccolo and Frieza's powers. Piccolo can regenerate parts of his body unless he's dead. Frieza can stay alive even if he's cut up into tiny pieces. So even if the core is destroyed, Cell is still alive.

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Re: Was Cell's core really a plothole?

Post by WittyUsername » Fri Jan 04, 2019 4:07 pm

It definitely qualifies as a plot hole that’s the result of Toriyama making things up as he goes along.

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Re: Was Cell's core really a plothole?

Post by Cursed Lemon » Fri Jan 04, 2019 8:44 pm

If the audience has to invent explanations to have something make even a modicum of sense, yes it's a plot hole.
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Re: Was Cell's core really a plothole?

Post by Cold Skin » Sat Jan 05, 2019 2:17 pm

Yes, it is basically a plothole, although I think it's one you don't notice right away when you discover the story, it doesn't shock or prevent from enjoying the story.

My guess is that in the end, Cell shortens the explanation about how his core must stay intact to regenerate his whole body when there's absolutely nothing left from it. Otherwise, any part of the body (or maybe a good chunk of the body) is enough to regenerate the rest AND regenerate the core that's been destroyed too.

However, since Cell is talking about his recent case of being completely blown up, he reduces the explanation to "as long as my core is there, I can regenerate" without explaining what everybody has already seen: that any other part of his body - or a massive part of it - will do too even if the core has been destroyed. He just talks about the case of having his whole body destroyed, in which case, the core is necessary to save the day. Like "yeah, well, as long as my core is intact, it acts like a full-fledged part of my body despite being so tiny and will still recreate the rest".

This does remain a plothole initially, this kind of far-fetched explanation is what WE can come up with after observing and imagining what could possibly explain this. Plus, Piccolo also states the same explanation in the Boo arc, which again gives a sense that the head is essential for regeneration, so it does strengthen Cell's plothole.
We just have to go with the fact that "well, apparently, having half of your body left will do too, even if the head and the core were destroyed" and that's all we can do, just observe and conclude that Cell's explanation is apparently not all that there is to it.

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Re: Was Cell's core really a plothole?

Post by Muffin Man » Sun Jan 06, 2019 11:53 am

Darkprince410 wrote:
Muffin Man wrote:
PFM18 wrote:
I don't see that as a logical resolution, I see no reason why his core's location would have changed. And no, he didn't lose 17, he only lost 18.

It's just a plot hole. Plain and simple.

Cell states that the nucleus necessary for regeneration is located in his head, present tense. He never says that it was always in his head. Earlier we saw his head get destroyed, yet he regenerated, meaning his nucleus must not have been destroyed. Therefore, the only possible explanation is that his nucleus wasn't in his head at that particular time. It doesn't matter if that's an intuitive explanation. If it's the only possible explanation, then that's the best one to go with.
That gets into a series of other issues though if you go with that. Why would it suddenly relocate its position for no discernible reason? He simply regenerated back into his Perfect form, with no indication that he made any other physiological changes beyond the lack of #18 within him. Furthermore, there's no explanation for him to suddenly know that the nucleus is now in his head if it was before in an entirely different spot. We see no evidence of him having such exact knowledge of his inner physiology to be able to realize that something has moved locations on him.
So, like I said, imagine this story wasn't fiction. Imagine you are looking through a magic box and see all this stuff happen in real life in some other universe. What would you assume the explanation is, in that case?

Is there any evidence that he doesn't have an exact knowledge of his inner biology? Why does he need a reason, beyond being a weird bio-android monster bug? Is there any reason his internal biology couldn't have changed? If 18 was in him before, and isn't now, something about his insides must be different. If Cell were to show up in DB Super and say "my nucleus used to be in my stomach before I regenerated into my current form", would that actually contradict anything?

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Re: Was Cell's core really a plothole?

Post by TobyS » Sun Jan 06, 2019 12:02 pm

I can't believe Toriyama forgot on this one, it was so recent to the event...

It's obviously a case of “I can regenerate as long as a significant portion of my mass remains OR from this tiny core” because that's what actually happens in the story.
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Re: Was Cell's core really a plothole?

Post by Waluigiman » Mon Jan 07, 2019 1:42 pm

I don't know, maybe Cell isn't a true expert about himself as I don't think he tested himself to see if he can do everything or maybe he just gave a fake weakness for some reason.

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