Did you guys know this? (Androids 17 and 18)

[Kendamu]

I'm waiting for Toriyama to reveal the names of #17 and #18 to be like... Scott and Jessica or something.

It'll probably be something with a bit more of a pun to it. With Mark (Mr. Satan) actually being Maaku (akuma = "devil; demon; fiend; Satan; evil spirit"*) and all.


*http://jisho.org/words?jap=akuma&eng=&dict=edict

[Herms]

Hmmm...that makes me wonder what sort of pun Toriyama would use for their names.

[A-dono]

I always found it odd that #18 never revealed her real name to Kuririn, even though he's her husband.

I mean, if she hated Gero for turning her into a cyborg, why would she want people to continually use the designation he gave her? It's kind of demeaning to be constantly referred to as a number in a product line of mechanical mutants built by a sociopathic scientist when you think about it.

[NeptuneKai]

I always found it odd that #18 never revealed her real name to Kuririn, even though he's her husband.

I mean, if she hated Gero for turning her into a cyborg, why would she want people to continually use the designation he gave her? It's kind of demeaning to be constantly referred to as a number in a product line of mechanical mutants built by a sociopathic scientist when you think about it.

Then again if I was a wanted notorious member of a street gang maybe going by a number wouldn't be so bad.

( They were in a street gang weren't they? Or am I not remembering stuff correctly?)

[chibi_goten]

They were in a street gang weren't they? Or am I not remembering stuff correctly?)

I haven't seen any note of them being in a street gang anywhere, that's new to me! It's not mentioned anywhere in the series at least, maybe it was in an interview or the Daizenshuu or something?

[NeptuneKai]

They were in a street gang weren't they? Or am I not remembering stuff correctly?)

I haven't seen any note of them being in a street gang anywhere, that's new to me! It's not mentioned anywhere in the series at least, maybe it was in an interview or the Daizenshuu or something?

I could have sworn I heard that before...maybe my Gamefaqs rumor days are coming back to haunt me.

[chibi_goten]

I could have sworn I heard that before...maybe my Gamefaqs rumor days are coming back to haunt me.

Possibly hehe. I'm going to go look into it now, you've got me curious! Maybe they were part of, ' The Bridge Bike Gang ''!

Edit:

Nah, couldn't find anything ''official'', maybe you read it on some notes or something? I just got that they were runaways that Gero took in. With their personality traits, it's fitting that they'd run away and try to make it on their own.

[Herms]

Here's Toriyama's comment on their background, from Daizenshuu 7:

How did #17 and #18 become androids?

Ye~ah, before those two became androids they were notorious delinquents. Dr. Gero was looking for fresh material for his experiments and they met by chance; he then kidnapped them and restructured them [into androids]. Because Gero had kidnapped them against their will, they resented him, which is why they were insubordinate.

[Rocketman]

I'm waiting for Toriyama to reveal the names of #17 and #18 to be like... Scott and Jessica or something.

Well, considering this...

Here's Toriyama's comment on their background, from Daizenshuu 7:

Ye~ah, before those two became androids they were notorious delinquents.

Bonnie and Clyde?

[The Tori-bot]

Ye~ah, before those two became androids they were notorious delinquents.

Bonnie and Clyde?

That would be kinda icky, considering they're twins.

[Rocketman]

That would be kinda icky, considering they're twins.

And Jesse James was a dude.

[The Tori-bot]

That would be kinda icky, considering they're twins.

And Jesse James was a dude.

No, they're Team Rocket, dumbass.

[russ869]

Just goes to show how much more I need to study Japanese. I always interpreted Jinzouningen as kind of a vague term that the Japanese language and culture is known for.

Well, Jinzo-ningen is literally "manmade-human." That sounds a lot like "android" to me. But it is made pretty clear that 17-20 were not computerized robots. I used to think they were genetically engineered like Cell. I guess Toriyama's going by the logic that if a cyborg Freeza is supposed to be stronger than normal Freeza, it makes since for the next Dragonball villains to be cyborgs since we didn't really get to see cyborg Freeza fight much at all.

[A-dono]

Here's Toriyama's comment on their background, from Daizenshuu 7:

How did #17 and #18 become androids?

Ye~ah, before those two became androids they were notorious delinquents. Dr. Gero was looking for fresh material for his experiments and they met by chance; he then kidnapped them and restructured them [into androids]. Because Gero had kidnapped them against their will, they resented him, which is why they were insubordinate.

Interesting. Though calling them delinquents isn't very specific. Were they considered delinquents because they cut school and keyed people's cars or were they bosozoku who were wanted for petty crimes?

Eh, I guess it doesn't matter since Toriyama probably wasn't thinking that in depth when he came up with their back story.

[DragonBalllKaiHD]

Interesting. Though calling them delinquents isn't very specific. Were they considered delinquents because they cut school and keyed people's cars or were they bosozoku who were wanted for petty crimes?

Eh, I guess it doesn't matter since Toriyama probably wasn't thinking that in depth when he came up with their back story.

Considering what we saw in Trunks special, you can pretty bet that they did commit the crimes when they were human.

[Bussani]

Just goes to show how much more I need to study Japanese. I always interpreted Jinzouningen as kind of a vague term that the Japanese language and culture is known for.

Well, Jinzo-ningen is literally "manmade-human." That sounds a lot like "android" to me. But it is made pretty clear that 17-20 were not computerized robots. I used to think they were genetically engineered like Cell. I guess Toriyama's going by the logic that if a cyborg Freeza is supposed to be stronger than normal Freeza, it makes since for the next Dragonball villains to be cyborgs since we didn't really get to see cyborg Freeza fight much at all.

If I remember from Herms' previous posts, Android is a pretty acceptable translation for Jinzoningen, which is a very broad term itself.

And then I always end up mentioning that android means humanoid robot, but robot itself is a very broad term too, not necessarily meaning 'metal computer man'. The first time the term robot was used, it referred to artificially created organic workers. I think the current definition of a robot is anything man-made that can be programmed to perform a task autonomously.

Even though they're what most people would now call cyborgs, I wouldn't be surprised if Gero simply thought of them as robots he created for a specific job. The human twins were probably just parts to him.

[Amigo Ten]

Just goes to show how much more I need to study Japanese. I always interpreted Jinzouningen as kind of a vague term that the Japanese language and culture is known for.

Well, Jinzo-ningen is literally "manmade-human." That sounds a lot like "android" to me. But it is made pretty clear that 17-20 were not computerized robots. I used to think they were genetically engineered like Cell. I guess Toriyama's going by the logic that if a cyborg Freeza is supposed to be stronger than normal Freeza, it makes since for the next Dragonball villains to be cyborgs since we didn't really get to see cyborg Freeza fight much at all.

#19 was a totally artificial model though.

[A-dono]

Lets not forget that Cell also identified himself as a 'jinzoningen' when he first appeared, which is just really convoluted (especially in the dub where he calls himself an android). Did Cell even have mechanical parts in him?

Considering what we saw in Trunks special, you can pretty bet that they did commit the crimes when they were human.

Yeah, they definitely have the dress and demeanor of thugs. Wouldn't be surprised if their 'chance' meeting with Dr. Gero was them attempting to rob a supposedly defenseless old man.

[alakazam^]

I wonder how he was able to kidnap them, though.

[Kaboom]

I wonder how he was able to kidnap them, though.

They were punk kids, he was a super-genius who probably already had a few earlier Androids at his beck and call. Probably not hard at all.