My theory on why Present Androids > Future Androids...

[Super Saiyan Turlast x4]

Some actually think there's no difference mainly because of #17's whole "I didn't even use half my power" quote to Future Gohan, and assume the Androids would've likely held back against Trunks as well. I like the idea of Gero suppressing their powers a bit more before utilizing them for world domination.

[Saiga]

Some actually think there's no difference mainly because of #17's whole "I didn't even use half my power" quote to Future Gohan, and assume the Androids would've likely held back against Trunks as well. I like the idea of Gero suppressing their powers a bit more before utilizing them for world domination.

I used to think the same thing, but the guidebooks say there was a difference and I like to stick to them where it's not outright contradictory. Although lately I've been moving further away from them as they seem a lot less reliable than I first thought.

I do like the second theory, though, since it is said in the series that Gero had suppressed 18's power compared to 17 to make her easier to control. Given that 17 and 18 were deactivated in the main timeline, it's possible he was planning on working on them more before re-activating him, and in the future timeline he was able to do so. This would also explain them being more evil, as their humanity would be "toned down" the more Gero improves his control.

[dbgtFO]

I do like the second theory, though, since it is said in the series that Gero had suppressed 18's power compared to 17 to make her easier to control. Given that 17 and 18 were deactivated in the main timeline, it's possible he was planning on working on them more before re-activating him, and in the future timeline he was able to do so. This would also explain them being more evil, as their humanity would be "toned down" the more Gero improves his control.

That's what I think besides the part about them being more evil.

If Goku and co. didn't know about #19 & #20's attack on that Southern Island, Dr. Gero would have completed his field test of #19 and himself, before going back to his lab and suppressing the powers of #17 & #18 and releasing them on the World.
That's what I think happened in the unaltered timelines.

[Jackal puFF]

So less humanity equals less power? I don't know about that... Why wouldn't it be the other way around?

[Rockman X]

I think they just ran out of energy in the future... i'd assume they run on some sort of iron man like battery which will deplete over time if they kept using it like crazy(which they kinda did) and with no dr-gero to repair them they just became weak but at that point all of the Z-warriors were dead.

And as far as future androids being more "Evil" i think they're just went batshit crazy after like 10 years of power trip.

[Gonstead]

I think they just ran out of energy in the future... i'd assume they run on some sort of iron man like battery which will deplete over time if they kept using it like crazy(which they kinda did) and with no dr-gero to repair them they just became weak but at that point all of the Z-warriors were dead.

And as far as future androids being more "Evil" i think they're just went batshit crazy after like 10 years of power trip.

Unless its just some dumb fan canon stuff, wasn't it said somewhere that they ran on infinite energy reactors built into them?

[rereboy]

I think they just ran out of energy in the future... i'd assume they run on some sort of iron man like battery which will deplete over time if they kept using it like crazy(which they kinda did) and with no dr-gero to repair them they just became weak but at that point all of the Z-warriors were dead.

And as far as future androids being more "Evil" i think they're just went batshit crazy after like 10 years of power trip.

Unless its just some dumb fan canon stuff, wasn't it said somewhere that they ran on infinite energy reactors built into them?

Their components might be able to produce infinite energy but that doesn't mean that the components themselves don't degrade at all over time without maintenance. Everything gets old, even machines and people. So, unless their components are, somehow, immune to the passage of time and not degradable, they will eventually start to degrade and become less efficient.

[Jackal puFF]

That would make sense actually. Their insides degrading and getting worn out. Plus they were constantly fighting with Gohan. Makes you think though wouldn't they try to repair themselves after each fight?

[Rockman X]

Unless its just some dumb fan canon stuff, wasn't it said somewhere that they ran on infinite energy reactors built into them?

They had some sort of fixed nuclear power supply but they could slowly deteriorate over time as they cannot power up like others... even our universe isn't infinite how the hell can C-17&18's power supply be infinite?