Cell's Biggest Manga Plot Hole

[Bagginses]

I always thought it is a plothole in that moment when Cell self-destructs and his ''nucleus cell'' which he explictly says is inside his head survives, and he is able to regenerate back into Perfect Cell, stronger than never before at that. Yet eleven chapters back (I'm talking about the manga here, do not take the anime into consideration at all) Goku blows the entire top half of Cell's body, including his head. Therefore he should have died then. That has ALWAYS seemed to me as one of the biggest, perhaps THE BIGGEST, plothole in the manga.

But a Japanese friend of mine who is a long-time fan of the manga (he isn't really a big fan of the anime) always said to me that this wasn't a plothole. His argument is simple: he argued that if Cell self-destructed himself in a huge explosion, and the nucleus didn't ''die'' with him, then how could a mere Kamehameha do the job?

Does that argument makes sense to any of you? Can anyone here find a flaw with it?

[LuckyCat]

But a Japanese frined of mine who is a long-time fan of the manga (he isn't really a big fan of the anime) always said to me that this wasn't a plothole. His argument is simple: he argued that if Cell self-destructed himself in a huge explosion, and the nucleus didn't ''die'' with him, then how could a mere Kamehameha do the job?

Does that argument makes sense to any of you? Can anyone here find a flaw with it?

It makes sense, and I've accepted it as the "canon" explanation. I mean, it's the explanation I'd expect Toriyama to give, and - it works. The only thing weird about this reasoning is that it appears Cell revived from regenerating from his lower body. So there should've been some sort of explanation as to why his surviving head nucleus needed to go connect with his lower body and regenerate. Maybe Cell was efficiently using his leftover bio-product? I don't know.

[rereboy]

I always thought it is a plothole in that moment when Cell self-destructs and his ''nucleus cell'' which he explictly says is inside his head survives, and he is able to regenerate back into Perfect Cell, stronger than never before at that. Yet eleven chapters back (I'm talking about the manga here, do not take the anime into consideration at all)) Goku blows the entire top half of Cell's body, including his head. Therefore he should have died then. That has ALWAYS seemed to me as one of the biggest, perhaps THE BIGGEST, plothole in the manga.

But a Japanese frined of mine who is a long-time fan of the manga (he isn't really a big fan of the anime) always said to me that this wasn't a plothole. His argument is simple: he argued that if Cell self-destructed himself in a huge explosion, and the nucleus didn't ''die'' with him, then how could a mere Kamehameha do the job?

So, so it that way doesn't make it plot hole/contradiction.

Does that argument makes sense to any of you? Can anyone here find a flaw with it?

That argument doesn't make sense. It's perfectly possible for a more powerful explosion, in the right circumstances, to not destroy something that a smaller explosion, in other circumstances, could destroy.

The main problem with Cell's regeneration is that we don't know enough about it. For example, Cell stated that he has a nucleus and that he can always regenerate as long as that it remains intact, but does that mean that if someone attacked him with a death beam, targeting his nucleus, and destroyed it without hardly damaging anything else, Cell would be unable to regenerate and he would die right there? What we are told isn't very clear on that.

Maybe, as long as most of Cell remains (like it happened with Goku's Kamehameha), he can still come back even if his nucleus is damaged. Meaning that the nucleus would only be important if most of him got destroyed. If that is the case, that would explain why Cell lost power with Goku's Kamehameha and not with other regenerations.

[dbgtFO]

So there should've been some sort of explanation as to why his surviving head nucleus needed to go connect with his lower body and regenerate.

Indeed, that's all that's really lacking for this not to be understood as a plothole.

[Cetra]

I always thought it is a plothole in that moment when Cell self-destructs and his ''nucleus cell'' which he explictly says is inside his head survives, and he is able to regenerate back into Perfect Cell, stronger than never before at that. Yet eleven chapters back (I'm talking about the manga here, do not take the anime into consideration at all)) Goku blows the entire top half of Cell's body, including his head. Therefore he should have died then. That has ALWAYS seemed to me as one of the biggest, perhaps THE BIGGEST, plothole in the manga.

But a Japanese frined of mine who is a long-time fan of the manga (he isn't really a big fan of the anime) always said to me that this wasn't a plothole. His argument is simple: he argued that if Cell self-destructed himself in a huge explosion, and the nucleus didn't ''die'' with him, then how could a mere Kamehameha do the job?

So, so it that way doesn't make it plot hole/contradiction.

Does that argument makes sense to any of you? Can anyone here find a flaw with it?

That argument doesn't make sense. It's perfectly possible for a more powerful explosion, in the right circumstances, to not destroy something that a smaller explosion, in other circumstances, could destroy.

The main problem with Cell's regeneration is that we don't know enough about it. For example, Cell stated that he has a nucleus and that he can always regenerate as long as that it remains intact, but does that mean that if someone attacked him with a death beam, targeting his nucleus, and destroyed it without hardly damaging anything else, Cell would be unable to regenerate and he would die right there? What we are told isn't very clear on that.

Maybe, as long as most of Cell remains (like it happened with Goku's Kamehameha), he can still come back even if his nucleus is damaged. Meaning that the nucleus would only be important if most of him got destroyed. If that is the case, that would explain why Cell lost power with Goku's Kamehameha and not with other regenerations.

I think if either the core is destroyed or Cell has gotten a deadly hit that, let's say makes it unable for his cells to reproduce genetic material even with the core intact, he can die (or if he just falls unconscious before being able to regnerate). Kinda like Piccolo died from Nappa or almost from Freeza and Cell. Of course obviously Namekian regeneration is very strong and gives them an incredibly active consciousness in the first place. But seeing how even Freeza and Cooler are conscious after being only pieces that is really nothing special in this show. Anyway, the way it ism Cell has caused a plothole. Maybe it could be explained away but unofficially it does not really work.

[generalred3]

Maybe Cell is like one of the Toguro Brothers from Yu Yu Hakusho. He was able to move his vital organs around his body to avoid killing blows. Maybe Cell is able to move his Nucleus around his body? And he moved it to the lower half of the body to save himself when Goku blew his upper body off. Lol idk.

[Son_Gohan]

My theory is that just like how Cell didn't anticipate reviving into his Perfect form without #18 due to an evolution in the Saiyans' ability; the regenerative capabilities he inherited from Piccolo had also evolved beyond the limits of the originator's. So while he is simply parroting what Dr. Gero's computer told him, his body could have improved upon the cells he acquired in a way unbeknownst to himself. I'm assuming Cell had a second nucleus in his gut, that would've allowed him to regenerate after Goku's Kamehameha, because in real life we also have a second brain there known as the enteric nervous system or in Daoist terms the "Dantian". It's very similar in a way because they say that's where the first, original cell formed and divided during the conception of the human fetus.

[Polyphase Avatron]

It could be like Elder Toguro from Yu Yu Hakusho, where his vital organs (or nucleus in this case) can move around inside his body so you don't know exactly where they are at any given time. It could have just started in his head.