No. 17 (Dragon Ball): Difference between revisions

Template:DB Character Android #17 (Also known as Jinzōningen #17, Cyborg #17, and Artificial Human #17) is a fictional character from the Japanese manga Dragon Ball and anime Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT. He is a black-haired cyborg modified by Doctor Gero.

He is referred to in the original Japanese as an artificial human (Jinzōningen), which is translated as 'cyborg'/'android'/'robot'; he is not a robot nor an android, and it is implied in the manga he and his sister were originally runaway humans that were kidnapped by Dr.Gero and heavily fitted with cybernetics. As such, he is, in English, correctly a cyborg. Future Trunks also confirms this by using the word cyborg in the original version of the anime when describing to Goku about what the pair are that will ruin the future.

No. 17 is a notable character in the Dragon Ball series due to his very back-and-forth moral standing. He starts out appearing to be a powerful villain, but is revealed to be little else besides a rebel without a cause. When he is wished back to life, he lives a life of peace on his own. However, he is brought back in GT as a super villain when people in Hell take control of his mind, and is killed for his heinous crimes. Yet even when the villains take control of his mind, he still maintains some of the love in his heart, especially for his twin sister. This is in contrast to his alternate self from Trunks' future, where he is a sociopathic killer who cares for no one but himself and his sister.

No. 17's strongest trait is most certainly his sense of self. He refuses to bow down to the will of his evil creator Dr. Gero (or later, Dr. Myū), and fights a futile battle with Cell to assert his identity and his pride. He has guns, but rarely uses them, due to the fact that firearms would be useless in combat against opponents such as saiyans or Cell. He is seen with a holstered gun in Dragon Ball Z: Budōkai 3.

His seiyū is Shigeru Nakahara. In the FUNimation dub, he is voiced by Chuck Huber.

Dragon Ball Z

File:Dbz17gang.jpg

#17 at left with #16 and his twin sister #18.

Androids Saga

Android 17 and his twin sister Android 18 are awakened by their creator, Dr. Gero, when he is pressed into a corner by the Z Fighters, who he discovers to be much stronger than expected. It is revealed that this is not the first time Dr. Gero has attempted to utilize the twin cyborgs; his fear of them quickly becomes obvious and is fully realized when Android 17 impales then decapitates him. Abandoning Gero's plans for them, Android 17 and Android 18 awaken Android 16 and decide to find Son Goku and fight him just for fun. They are confronted by Vegeta, Future Trunks, Tenshinhan and Piccolo and defeat all four with extreme ease. However, the twins let them live, one of many examples that set them apart from their future timeline counterparts, especially since at the same time Future Trunks notes that they are much stronger than in his timeline.

Imperfect Cell Saga

Later, #17 fought Piccolo after he had fused with Kami, giving him extraordinary powers. They were roughly equal in power, except for the fact that #17 would never run out of energy and Piccolo could become drained of his. The match was interrupted by Cell, who was looking to absorb #17 and #18 to reach his perfect form. While Piccolo tried to aid in the battle against Cell, he was quickly tossed aside, and #17 struggled in vain to defend himself from being absorbed. All seemed lost until #16 stepped in to fight Cell. #16 was able to hold off Cell for a time, repeatedly surprising it with intensely powerful attacks such as the "Hell's Flash" beam cannons. However, this sudden turning of tables created an overconfidence in #17, who lingered at the battle site, where the wounded but still-living Cell surprised him and quickly absorbed him.

Cell Games Saga

No. 17 was killed along with Cell during either Cell's self-destruction or Cell's actual death at the hands of Gohan, but was revived after the Z Warriors used the Dragon Balls to bring back the people killed by Cell. He also had the self-destruct device in his body removed by Kuririn in another wish made true with the Dragon Balls. He never makes contact with the main cast again for the rest of Dragon Ball Z, content to live life on his own.

It should be noted that though the group had initially given up on the idea that 17 could actually be alive when they failed to sense him or figure in any way that he was alive after making the wish that actually did bring him back, the most likely reason that nobody could detect him at all is the fact that an even semi-mechanical being (such as Gero's androids and cyborgs, including 17) has no actual (or at least traceable) ki signature and thus cannot be sensed by even the most highly trained organic being.

Future Timeline

In a dark future timeline of Dragon Ball Z, #17 and #18 have ravaged the planet Earth within an inch of its life, and much of human civilization is destroyed. Following their release, they killed Dr. Gero (as in the "fixed" timeline that Dragon Ball Z follows) and then proceeded to kill anything they encountered for "points", including all of the Z Fighters except Gohan. As the years pass, it becomes painfully obvious that Gohan and Trunks are the only martial artists left capable of fighting the twins. However, no concieveable advantage arises for them and Gohan is eventually killed. In one timeline, Trunks shuts them down with a remote control, and is killed by Cell, who travels to a similar past timeline to seek out the twins; and in another, he destroys them through pure power, then destroys Cell as well.

Kid Buu Saga

File:Android 17 photo.jpg

Android 17's reappearance in the Buu Saga.

No. 17 is later seen in the manga and the Dragon Ball Z episode where Goku gathers energy to defeat Kid Buu. He raises his rifle to trick two hunters passing by into raising their hands into the air (they think that he's trying to rob them) and giving energy to Goku's Genki Dama. He then smiles and says, "You beat me to it," raising his hands up with them to give energy to Goku. In the original manga however, he merely raises his hands and his hands alone.

Considering the fact that he is alive at this time serves as a testament to his good soul: the wish that revived him was one that Vegeta had the Kaioshins and Namekians make asking for the good people on Earth to be revived when it was restored (Kid Buu had previously obliterated the planet with his massive ki ball, the Chikyuu Hokai no Ichigeki).

Dragon Ball GT

In Dragon Ball GT, he is telepathically brainwashed by and eventually merges with a machine mutant version of himself, created by Doctor Gero and Dr. Myū in Hell. Before he merges, he decides to ask #18 to join him, but the incident only leads to the death of Kuririn when he momentarily contradicts the machine mutant 17's voice getting in his head. #18 is horrified and attempts to fight #17, but he incapacitates her. He then finds his artificial self to become Super 17.

The super android then battles most of the Z Fighters, but defeats them all, including Uub and Vegeta, with relative ease, killing Dr. Gero once again in the process as Dr. Myu reveals he reprogrammed him to so that he could have full control. Before any good guys can be killed, Super #17 ends up fighting Son Goku, who would later be helped by #18. Her appearance helps the situation lead to the deaths of both Dr. Myu (who 18 turned 17 against by reminding him of his true nature) and Super #17 himself.

As is revealed after the end of the fight, the real #17 had given them the chance they needed to finish him and his evil copy off by taking control of the Super 17 body from the machine mutant and trying to power up as 18 was shooting energy waves at him instead of sticking with the absorption technique. This revealed to Goku that Super 17 could not move if he were to absorb energy, thus leaving him vulnerable to physical attacks. From there, Goku was able to go right through the chest of Super 17 with the Super Dragon Fist, rendering him unable to absorb the ensuing onslaught of Kamehamehas, finally killing him.

It is widely believed that the wish that Goku gave himself for at the end of GT, which had brought back to life all the good people that died in the battles from the Super #17 saga on through to the Evil Dragon Saga (FUNimation's dub: Shadow Dragon Saga) did revive #17, despite his fusion with the artificial version to become Super 17. Though we did not see any proof either way, evidence of his previous revivals points to him having a good soul.

Videogames

His list of appearances as a playable character includes:

• Dragon Ball Z: Budokai
• Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2
• Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3
• Dragon Ball Z: Indainaru Dragon Ball Densetsu
• Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi
• Dragon Ball Z: Legendary Super Warriors
• Super Dragon Ball Z
• Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2

He also appears (though only as an enemy) in the games Dragon Ball Z: Sagas and Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku 2.

Trivia

• If the fan conception is true and he was brought back to life at the end of Dragon Ball GT, then this would mean 17 was brought back to life three times, twice by Shenron, which would indeed break the rule established in DBZ continuity that Shenron lacks the power to bring anyone back to life more than once. (The same goes for Kuririn, who was actually seen alive right before the 100-year fast forward scene that ended GT, only making the belief about #17 stronger.) But since Goku gave his life for the final wish, who was indeed a powerful person, that wish would use an amount of energy equal in representing Goku's to keep the exchange fair, which would explain the "bending" of said rules. The three times are as follows:

1. At the end of the Cell saga when every victim of Cell was wished back. The wish was made to Shenron.
2. When Vegeta had the Nameks wish to Porunga that all the good people of Earth be brought back to life after the planet was restored. The wish was made to Porunga, the Namekian Dragon.
3. The wish at the end of GT to bring every good person back to life that died since the start of the Super 17 saga. This was the final wish ever made to Shenron.

• Versions of the outfit 17 wears when brainwashed by Hell Fighter #17 are used as his alternate costume in the original DBZ Budokai series of videogames (the first Budokai, Budokai 2, and Budokai 3).

• #17 is also a good car driver, as hinted near the end of the Android Saga and the Imperfect Cell Saga. He drove a pink van that says "Lucky Foods" that he stole from the two owners of the van who were drinking hot coffee.

• Android 17 was twice the strongest fighter in the Dragon Ball series.
  • The first was in the Android Saga before Piccolo had fused with Kami and Cell had absorbed a certain amount of bioextract from countless humans (though #16 is later revealed to be stronger than all of them when he steps in against Cell).
  • The second was in Dragon Ball GT as Super 17. He could only be defeated with the help of #18, who distracted him long enough for Goku to realize and take advantage of his defense holes and pierce him with the Ryu-Ken.