How do you explain plot holes within Dragon Ball?

[Piccolo Daimao]

No, he's not that dumb.

Or was he? He met Piccolo, Piccolo said that he is not Piccolo (because he had merged with Kami), and Cell believed him and had no idea he was a Namekian!

Yes, because Piccolo (who, at the time, wasn't referring to himself as Piccolo anymore) told him so and Cell had no reason to believe otherwise, especially with his increased strength and the possibility that, like #16, he sensed something else within him or an entirely new ki that "proved" it.

[DBZGTKOSDH]

Yes, because Piccolo (who, at the time, wasn't referring to himself as Piccolo anymore) told him so and Cell had no reason to believe otherwise

He had the face of Piccolo and he clearly was a Namekian. Cell had his cells, and he couldn't recognize his face & race?

[Fin]

Yes, because Piccolo (who, at the time, wasn't referring to himself as Piccolo anymore) told him so and Cell had no reason to believe otherwise

He had the face of Piccolo and he clearly was a Namekian. Cell had his cells, and he couldn't recognize his face & race?

Why should sharing his cells allow him to recognise him?

[DBZGTKOSDH]

Why should sharing his cells allow him to recognise him?

Because, according to Dragon Ball biology, if someone has the cells of another person, he has their memories, techniques and power. Just look at Cell or Bio-Broli.

[Fin]

For some reason I was thinking that Toriyama's writing suggested a distinction between having their memories and knowing their techniques, but after a quick skim of the first scene with Cell I see that his recognition of Kurilin was implied to come as a result of his lineage. (Or if you don't interpret the scene that way, it suggests that Cell viewed some of Gero's footage of the group, so he should know Piccolo from there.)

[Piccolo Daimao]

Yes, because Piccolo (who, at the time, wasn't referring to himself as Piccolo anymore) told him so and Cell had no reason to believe otherwise

He had the face of Piccolo and he clearly was a Namekian. Cell had his cells, and he couldn't recognize his face & race?

When he powered up against #17, #16 immediately piped up, "That's not Piccolo!" Presumably, his ki's now completely different from both Piccolo and God. Also, you know, Piccolo flat-out says that he's not Piccolo, and why would he lie?

Besides, Dr. Gero never tracked them beyond Namek, so the only Namekian that Cell would've "seen" is Piccolo himself. But anyway, I don't think he had no idea that he was a Namekian, since he later admits his goof of forgetting that Piccolo could regenerate, or letting his arrogance get the better of him when Piccolo, after having the energy sucked out of his arm, dupes him into telling his backstory.

[Bussani]

No, he's not that dumb.

I don't think it's a question of being dumb. How's he meant to know how time travel works when nobody's ever explained it to him?

Why should sharing his cells allow him to recognise him?

Because, according to Dragon Ball biology, if someone has the cells of another person, he has their memories, techniques and power. Just look at Cell or Bio-Broli.

I think the manga's a lot vaguer about whether he has their memories and techniques or not. The only technique he ever uses in the manga is the Kamehameha which, let's be honest, isn't hard to learn at that point. All of his knowledge could have been given to him by the same computer that told him about #17 and #18. But that said, it is pretty likely that Toriyama just intended him to have their memories; it's a pretty standard trope.

[Kendamu]

The plot holes in Dragonball can easily be summed up as hiccups in the timeline caused by time travel.

[Fox666]

I think the manga's a lot vaguer about whether he has their memories and techniques or not. The only technique he ever uses in the manga is the Kamehameha which, let's be honest, isn't hard to learn at that point. All of his knowledge could have been given to him by the same computer that told him about #17 and #18. But that said, it is pretty likely that Toriyama just intended him to have their memories; it's a pretty standard trope.

At least the Daizenshuu says this: Because he was created from the genetic information of the Earth's major warriors, he acquired their individual abilities.

[Piccolo Daimao]

No, he's not that dumb.

I don't think it's a question of being dumb. How's he meant to know how time travel works when nobody's ever explained it to him?

Doesn't take a genius to know even the simplest of things. I can't be bothered to explain it now; it's so obvious.

[Bussani]

Doesn't take a genius to know even the simplest of things. I can't be bothered to explain it now; it's so obvious.

It's not obvious to me. How is it a simple thing? You wouldn't know time travel works the way it does in Dragon Ball if the story never told you. Especially not when Trunks himself had said before, "Don't tell my parents or I might not be born!"

[hleV]

Especially not when Trunks himself had said before, "Don't tell my parents or I might not be born!"

I wouldn't want to not be born in the past I traveled to neither.

[Bussani]

Especially not when Trunks himself had said before, "Don't tell my parents or I might not be born!"

I wouldn't want to not be born in the past I traveled to neither.

That's fair enough, but we're using that as an explanation for the line after how the time travel actually works was explained. If you were reading it for the first time, you wouldn't assume, "Well, time travel must make an alternate timeline that doesn't replace the original, so Trunks actually means this," would you? It's not something that's obvious. It could work Back to the Future style for all a first time reader knows, which has nothing to do with being dumb or smart.

[Nex Carnifex]

No, he's not that dumb.

I don't think it's a question of being dumb. How's he meant to know how time travel works when nobody's ever explained it to him?

Why should sharing his cells allow him to recognise him?

Because, according to Dragon Ball biology, if someone has the cells of another person, he has their memories, techniques and power. Just look at Cell or Bio-Broli.

I think the manga's a lot vaguer about whether he has their memories and techniques or not. The only technique he ever uses in the manga is the Kamehameha which, let's be honest, isn't hard to learn at that point. All of his knowledge could have been given to him by the same computer that told him about #17 and #18. But that said, it is pretty likely that Toriyama just intended him to have their memories; it's a pretty standard trope.

What about Piccolo's finger beam which he used to bust Gohan's shoulder?

[Piccolo Daimao]

Doesn't take a genius to know even the simplest of things. I can't be bothered to explain it now; it's so obvious.

It's not obvious to me. How is it a simple thing? You wouldn't know time travel works the way it does in Dragon Ball if the story never told you. Especially not when Trunks himself had said before, "Don't tell my parents or I might not be born!"

How could he mistake the unborn Cell in another timeline to literally be his already born self grown-up? Yeah, Cell doesn't know everything about time travel; that's why he was initially confused how Trunks was alive in that timeline, before deducing that he must've travelled back in the time machine. But this should be elementary.

[Bussani]

What about Piccolo's finger beam which he used to bust Gohan's shoulder?

Piccolo's finger beam? Isn't it just a generic ki blast from the fingertips?

Oh, there is one other technique he uses in the manga, though: Taiyo-ken. But when Piccolo questions him knowing it, Kuririn says, "Well, it's easy to do. Goku and I have both copied it."

How could he mistake the unborn Cell in another timeline to literally be his already born self grown-up?

Because he wouldn't know it was "another timeline"? No one told him, and it's not something that's obvious to assume. After all, in the majority of time travel fiction out there, the you in the past would be you. I'm sure most people reading Dragon Ball for the first time assumed the same up until Trunks explained how it worked.

[DoomieDoomie911]

I used to do the same thing, but just let it go. There's going to be plot holes in every series.

[Piccolo Daimao]

How could he mistake the unborn Cell in another timeline to literally be his already born self grown-up?

Because he wouldn't know it was "another timeline"? No one told him, and it's not something that's obvious to assume. After all, in the majority of time travel fiction out there, the you in the past would be you. I'm sure most people reading Dragon Ball for the first time assumed the same up until Trunks explained how it worked.

Maybe it might not have been another timeline, but he still got into a time machine and headed to the past, where his past self would still be growing and his present self would be the activated one. He was merely referring to the other Cell that would be completed in 24 years, since he himself was already completed (unless, how would he be activated to travel back anyway?).

[Bussani]

Well of course he's referring to the Cell that's still growing. I didn't mean to imply that he wasn't. It's a weird case of tense caused by time travel. Normally when talking about your past self you'd say something like, "I wouldn't be completed for twenty years after that," but since Cell is in the past he can get away with saying, "I won't be completed for another twenty years."

[Piccolo Daimao]

Well of course he's referring to the Cell that's still growing. I didn't mean to imply that he wasn't. It's a weird case of tense caused by time travel. Normally when talking about your past self you'd say something like, "I wouldn't be completed for twenty years after that," but since Cell is in the past he can get away with saying, "I won't be completed for another twenty years."

Ah, OK. We're on the same page now.