Why did Kuririn refuse to deactivate #18?

[Mr. Piccolo]

Why did Kuririn refuse to deactivate Android #18? I have come across two major lines of thought about his decision.

1. Kuririn fell in love with #18 after she kissed him on cheek. If I recall correctly, Kuririn does flashback to the kiss when he is contemplating whether or not to deactivate #18, so the kiss does seem to have a lot to do with his decision. This particular school of thought, though, maintains that Kuririn smashed the controller entirely because of his romantic infatuation with #18.

2. Kuririn genuinely felt bad for #18 and saw her as a victim of Dr. Gero. This line of thought downplays the romantic angle and instead concentrates on Kuririn’s humane feelings toward the cyborgs as victims of Dr. Gero and his view that they were not essentially evil. Kuririn refused to deactivate #18 because he saw her as a relatively innocent person caught in the mess created by Dr. Gero.

So which line of thought is more compelling? Would Kuririn have smashed the controller if #17 was the last to be absorbed? Or was Kuririn’s decision mostly about his romantic feelings for #18 based on her looks and the kiss?

[Kamiccolo9]

He was thinking with a different part of his anatomy than his brain.

[Mr. Piccolo]

He was thinking with a different part of his anatomy than his brain.

Yes, that is what I always thought. So, if it had been #17 do you think he would have deactivated him? I think Kuririn did have some sympathy for #17, but he would have deactivated #17 while saying "please forgive me" or something along those lines. With #18, though, his romantic infatuation with her pushed him over the edge so that he could not bring himself to deactivate her.

[Gyt Kaliba]

You'll get no argument from me that Kuririn didn't destroy the remote because he had a raging bo - ...er...'feelings fest' for Android 18. That...really...can't be denied. But hey, in a story where our real lead lets people live simply because he wants a good fight, this is hardly really that damning of a thing.

That said though, would Kuririn have done the same if it had been #17 that was the last one standing? Hmm...honestly, I'd like to think he would have, just for different reasons. Possibly #17 would have been more talkative than #18 at that point and it would have appealed to Kuririn how 'human' they really were. Or maybe in this case it would have just been Cell found them a few moments earlier and was able to absorb him before Kuririn could use the remote - no matter what, we were going to see Perfect Cell, that much is clear.

[RandomGuy96]

Because he's a moron and was thinking with his dick.

Which, incidentally, is the same reason Vegeta helped Cell absorb her.

If it was 17, he wouldn't have done the same, because 17 didn't have tits.

[Mr. Piccolo]

You'll get no argument from me that Kuririn didn't destroy the remote because he had a raging bo - ...er...'feelings fest' for Android 18. That...really...can't be denied. But hey, in a story where our real lead lets people live simply because he wants a good fight, this is hardly really that damning of a thing.

I agree. I don't see it as a bad thing either. It makes Kuririn and the story more interesting. I would also add that Kuririn's irrational decisions are more relatable, which makes sense as he is a human Earthling.

[RandomGuy96]

Letting #18 get absorbed by Cell because he can't get a girl and wants to fuck her...

FTFY.

EDIT: You can't just go and edit out half your post. Now this just looks silly.

[Mr. Piccolo]

Letting #18 get absorbed by Cell because he can't get a girl and wants to fuck her...

FTFY.

EDIT: You can't just go and edit out half your post. Now this just looks silly.

Yes, I caught my mistake too late, I did not see your post. I was writing that from a story perspective, Kuririn's irrational decision which led to #18 getting absorbed was more understandable from a human perspective than Vegeta's. I would agree with you that he probably would have went ahead and deactivated #17. Sorry for the mix up.

[GogetaSSJ2]

Because he's a moron and was thinking with his dick.

Which, incidentally, is the same reason Vegeta helped Cell absorb her.

If it was 17, he wouldn't have done the same, because 17 didn't have tits.

Most logical explanation yet

[IDreamtIWasABee]

It's both. His sympathy for 18 as a helpless, abducted adolescent real-doll is why Krillin had a crush/romantic infatuation/whatever working in dangerous synergy with his hard-on.

Because he's a moron and was thinking with his dick.

Which, incidentally, is the same reason Vegeta helped Cell absorb her.

My answer's romantic, but this one's poetic.

[Kid Buu]

Because he's a moron and was thinking with his dick.

Which, incidentally, is the same reason Vegeta helped Cell absorb her.

If it was 17, he wouldn't have done the same, because 17 didn't have tits.

Agreed. This is the arc where Krillin, Vegeta, & Gohan went from my favorite characters to meh.

[KentalSSJ6]

His penis wouldn't let him.

[hleV]

He didn't believe they were evil enough to be shutdown.

[RocktheDragon]

I feel that the answer combines a few of the solutions offered in this thread: 1) He was infatuated/in love with #18, 2) He felt bad for #18 and thought their was more to them/her than just being pure evil.

[petronka101]

I feel is a combination of both. He felt attracted to her primarily because of her good looks but then as they started to interact with each other his attraction intensified and became something deeper when he realized that maybe Eighteen wasn't a bad person (cybor or whatever) after all.

By the moment he has to make the decision to not deactivate Eighteen, I believe he refuses to do it because he sees something special in Eighteen, something no one else is willing to see but him. Maybe he was blinded by love, granted but I'm sure that he wasn't thinking "The world or getting laid with a hot chick?".

For me, the scene that probes this point is when Kuririn asks Shenlong to remove the bombs from both Eighteen and Seventeen AFTER she had rejected him. He says that if Eighteen doesn't love him back, that's very sad but he wants her to be happy and he thinks that Seventeen will make her happy . If Kuririn had refused to deactive Eighteen because he was expecting to get laid, he wouldn't have been so gracious about it. Trust me, a guy who thinks with that other part of his anatomy would've never done something like that after being rejected.

I'm not saying that he wasn't thinking about hooking up with Eighteen at all. Years of training with Kame Sennin must've left a mark on the little guy. BUT that thought wasn't the MAIN driving force behind his decision.

Edit: To add a little more to my point. It was a 50-50 thing. If it had been Seventeen he probably would've ended up deactivating him, just the same as if Eighteen hadn't shown any redeeming qualities. Remove any element of the equation and the result would've been different.

[ChiChiFan]

Because she's attractive. I doubt he would've saved 17 or have second thoughts.

[GogetaSSJ2]

Because he's a moron and was thinking with his dick.

Which, incidentally, is the same reason Vegeta helped Cell absorb her.

If it was 17, he wouldn't have done the same, because 17 didn't have tits.

Why did Toriyama write it so 17 got absorbed 1st? Did he leave 18 alive a little longer to introduce that sub plot?

[DBZAOTA482]

Kuririn was pussy-whipped; a long-term condition which makes a human male drawn in by the lure of a female's vagina.

But on a serious note I do think Kuririn did have some genuine sympathy for the cyborg (definitely if going by the anime). After all, he did want her to be happy with #17.

[penguintruth]

Forgive the crudeness, but he was obviously just desperate for hot robo-poon.

And who isn't these days?