Can Cell stretch his arms or turn giant like Piccolo can?

[Angelus]

He does have Piccolo's cells and we see Cell regen just like Piccolo.

[Kaboom]

Those sorts of things probably require specifically Namekian physiology.

[FoolsGil]

Sure. Why not? He can regen like a Namekian.

[Darkprince410]

As Kaboom said, it may be more complicated than just genetic materials and him having the ability to regenerate. Cell's anatomy isn't the same as a Namekian's, and therefore he may not have the proper anatomical features (proper musculature, connective tissues, etc) to be able to stretch his limbs out. Remember, Cell's anatomy is the end result of splicing Saiya-jin, Namekian, Freeza's race, and other organisms together, and while the ability to regenerate might be something easily incorporated into the genetic melting pot he created (after all, the concept of regeneration is something already being experimented on in the real world), the ability to stretch limbs might not be something that Gero could get to work based on the anatomy that resulted from the splicing.

[Twinbee_Mk_II]

Well see, funny thing about that, I think he might be able to, and I'll tell you why. Recall Cell's whole speech to Trunks about the failure of USSJ grade 3 to be useful in battle. Note that Cell shows us what he looks like when he uses grade 3. Now move forward to Cell fighting SSJ2 Gohan, and losing his cool, forcing him to attack him in a massively pumped up state. Most seem to treat this as his grade 3. I've always disagreed. Notice how absurdly large he becomes, down to a change in his facial structure. Notice how big he is next to Gohan? He's practically a giant. I always took this scene to be Cell not only trying to use mass to increase strength, but also tapping into his namek DNA and changing his size, making the same mistake Piccolo once made that "size = power advantage".



While animation styles can vary in the anime, the manga seems to cover the same distinct appearance difference. I continue to believe this was the case.

[Son_Gohan]

Well see, funny thing about that, I think he might be able to, and I'll tell you why. Recall Cell's whole speech to Trunks about the failure of USSJ grade 3 to be useful in battle. Note that Cell shows us what he looks like when he uses grade 3. Now move forward to Cell fighting SSJ2 Gohan, and losing his cool, forcing him to attack him in a massively pumped up state. Most seem to treat this as his grade 3. I've always disagreed. Notice how absurdly large he becomes, down to a change in his facial structure. Notice how big he is next to Gohan? He's practically a giant. I always took this scene to be Cell not only trying to use mass to increase strength, but also tapping into his namek DNA and changing his size, making the same mistake Piccolo once made that "size = power advantage".

That's how I interpreted his transformation against Gohan as a well. Although when Piccolo does it, he's explicitly stated to not have decreased in speed.

[hyperbeing1]

Well see, funny thing about that, I think he might be able to, and I'll tell you why. Recall Cell's whole speech to Trunks about the failure of USSJ grade 3 to be useful in battle. Note that Cell shows us what he looks like when he uses grade 3. Now move forward to Cell fighting SSJ2 Gohan, and losing his cool, forcing him to attack him in a massively pumped up state. Most seem to treat this as his grade 3. I've always disagreed. Notice how absurdly large he becomes, down to a change in his facial structure. Notice how big he is next to Gohan? He's practically a giant. I always took this scene to be Cell not only trying to use mass to increase strength, but also tapping into his namek DNA and changing his size, making the same mistake Piccolo once made that "size = power advantage".

That's how I interpreted his transformation against Gohan as a well. Although when Piccolo does it, he's explicitly stated to not have decreased in speed.

Could it be a mix of using the giant technique and the grade 3 technique.

[Herms]

Daizenshuu 4 refers to Piccolo's arm stretching and giant transformation as being Demon Clan techniques, which may mean normal Namekians might not be able to do them. In the manga he never uses them after the tournament, which you could take as a sign that he loses those abilities once he's no longer a demon. Although neither of those tricks worked very well against Goku, so arguably he just gave them up as useless. Also, while Piccolo is said to no longer be a demon by the time he kills Goku and Raditz, we don't know when exactly the switch occurs, and it probably makes at least as much sense as anything else to say that the original Piccolo (literally made out of evil) was the demon while Piccolo Mach Two (born from an egg like a regular Namekian) never was. Add to this that Piccolo stretches his arms in DBZ movie 5, and...don't we see Nail stretch his arms in the anime at one point? I know he does it in video games at least. On the flipside, Slug's got the giant transformation and arm-stretching in DBZ movie 4, and while I don't think he's ever flat-out labelled a demon, his minions call themselves members of the Demon Clan, and he's supposed to be a mutant Namekian born with a heart of pure evil, which is in the same general area as Piccolo's "evil made physically incarnate" origin. So...I've forgotten my point. Basically, there's some suggestion that the arm-stretching/giant stuff might be, if not exclusive, at least favored by evil demon Namekians in particular. Which I guess doesn't actually have much to do with the topic, now that I think about it.

Still, if we run with the idea that the arm-stretching/giant techniques are demon techniques, then the question is why? Well, we know Piccolo was born from the evil in Katatz Junior's heart...so he's literally made out of evil. And Akkuman had the power to make the evil in someone's heart expand and expand until it blew them to pieces. So apparently we have to accept that in DB, "evil" is not only a physical substance, but also fairly stretchy. And what else is said to be pure evil, and stretchy? That's right, Boo. Maybe for regular people, all the evil inside them is concentrated in their heart, like cholesterol. That's why someone like Katatz Junior can take the evil inside him and spit it out completely, while someone like Akkuman can make the evil in others expand until it kills them. It's all just sitting there in one spot. But for pure evil creatures like Piccolo, Boo, or Slug, they've got evil spread throughout their entire body. It probably permeates them down to a cellular level. And since evil is apparently stretchy, it makes their cells stretchy. So they can stretch their limbs, and become giants. OK, Boo never becomes a giant, but he changes his shape like silly puddy. And Luffy has a rubber body, which he can make gigantic. QED as far as I'm concerned.

OK, so that still really had nothing to do with whether Cell has those abilities or not.

[Saiga]

Hmm... Freeza's evil, and can stretch his tail.

The armour used by Freeza's forces must also be evil.

[RandomGuy96]

Janemba, who is made of pure evil, can also stretch his arms.

[Darkron2151]

Good Buu can still stretch.

[Regarder]

Possibly the stretching is really the same thing that allows him to regenerate and allows him to magically produce items as well. He can create more mass to restore his arm, so why can't he create more mass to add to his already existing arm? Then again, it always seemed to be more strenuous to do the former.