Android 18

In Dragon Ball

Prior to their introductions and present in both timelines, Androids #17 and #18 were converted into androids by Dr. Gero with the intent of murdering Goku. In the main timeline, Android 18 is activated by Dr. Gero along with Android 17 after he returns to his laboratory following his unsuccessful attempt to defeat Goku's allies. After Gero is killed by Android 17, Android 18 activates Android 16 following surviving a blast meant to kill her from Trunks and the three begin their quest to find and kill Goku. When they encounter Vegeta, Android 18 decides to fight him and easily bests him in battle, receiving only damages to her clothing and breaking his arm. When Trunks, Tenshinhan and Piccolo become involved, she and Android 17 easily defeat the trio. Before leaving to continue her quest, she kisses Kuririn on the cheek. The androids go to Goku's home and do not discover him there, leading them to journey to Kame-Sennin's house, but they do not find him there either due to his having departed not long before. 18 watches Android 17's battle against Piccolo, at one point becoming impatient and offering her assistance to her brother's decline, until Cell arrives, who reveals his intent to absorb the pair. Piccolo is dispatched by Cell and Android 17 is absorbed, Android 18 nearly being convinced to be absorbed as well by Cell's impersonation of Android 17 until he mistakenly mischaracterizes him. Androids 18 and 16 are given time to escape thanks to Tenshinhan holding Cell back. She and Android 16 hide on an island after this, where she refuses to leave his side and watches Vegeta's fight against Cell before Kuririn approaches her with a remote to turn her off. He destroys it, realizing his love for her, and Android 18 is soon afterwards absorbed by Cell who blinds everyone with Solar Flare (太陽拳, Taiyōken), allowing him to reach his final form. For the next ten days, until the Cell Games tournament that Cell sets up following his disillusion with the strength of both Vegeta and Trunks, 18 remains trapped and unconscious inside of his body. However, a strong blow from Gohan causes him to regurgitate her. After Gohan defeats Cell, she is healed and declines Kuririn's advances for the time-being, despite him using the Dragon Balls to have her self-destruct device removed.

In the alternate-timeline, Androids #18 and #17 are mass murderers whereas the main timeline versions of the pair never killed innocents. They are identical in appearance to the versions of the two in the present timeline, Android 18 wearing the ensemble she wore in the main timeline upon her activation by Dr. Gero. Within the months of their release, shortly after the death of Goku, they kill their timeline's versions of Piccolo, Vegeta, Krillin, Yamcha, Tien and Yajirobe, Gohan managing to escape. Several years later, they kill Gohan and then nearly kill Trunks three years later when he confronts the pair during one of their killing sprees. When Trunks returns from the past, now vastly stronger than he was in their previous encounter as a result of his training, she shows interest in finally ending his life after he confronts her and Android 17, but is killed by him instead.

Seven years later, she has married Kuririn and has a daughter with him named Marron (マーロン, Māron). She convinces Kuririn to participate in the 25th Tenka'ichi Budōkai for the money along with her. Thanks to a lack of interest in being exposed as super-powered, she disguises her strength in hitting the Punching Machine, hitting it lightly and thereby altering who she is matched to fight. During the competition, she competes against Goten and Trunks when the pair enter the competition as Mighty Mask (マイティマスク, Maiti Masuku), having stolen the identity of another competitor. After the duo reveal themselves by transforming into Super Saiyans, Android 18 wins the match by default, advancing to the next round against Mr. Satan, who she outclasses in strength, but throws the fight nonetheless after she secretly arranged to have the prize money shared with him so as not to ruin his reputation. After Majin Boo is released, thanks to the energy used by both Goku and Vegeta while the two fought, Android 18 joins the others in searching for the Dragon Balls to resurrect everyone killed by Vegeta and resides at Dende's while taking refuge. After Boo finds them the following day, kills the majority of people on Earth and escapes the Room of Spirit and Time, leaving Gotenks and Piccolo inside, Android 18 is killed alongside her daughter when they are simultaneously turned into chocolate, being eaten by him afterward. She is later brought back to life and gives energy to Goku's Genki-dama, successfully destroying Majin Boo. Ten years later, 18 is last seen attending another Tenkaichi Budōkai.

In Toriyama's films and Dragon Ball Super

Android 18 appears in four Dragon Ball Z films; she briefly appears at the beginning of the seventh; In the eleventh, Android 18 tries to retrieve money from Mr. Satan that he owed her from their deal that she would lose the tournament so she would not publicly upstage him, later fighting against Bio-Broly along with Kuririn, Goten and Trunks and saves civilians from being killed by him; in the fourteenth, Android 18 is present at Bulma's birthday party, attempting to fight Beerus following him being enraged by Boo taking his pudding, but being defeated with a single strike to the neck; in the fifteenth, she shaves Kuririn's head before he goes off to fight a resurrected Freeza, being killed after Freeza destroys the planet but having her death undone when the timeline is reversed. After the events of the last two films, she informs Kuririn of a supposed space picnic, leading to his investigation into the matter and she later travels off Earth to watch the tournament between the fighters from her universe and those of Universe 7. After Trunks returns from the future, he discovers Android 18 and Kuririn's marriage, meeting 18 again and preparing to engage her before she greets him. Android 18 later wants to get a gift for Kuririn and unsuccessfully tries using the Dragon Balls. Android 18 scolds Kuririn for being injured by a bullet while he is reluctant to train with Goku, him later citing her as a factor in his choice to resume training.

Creation and conception

Android #18, along with Android #17, were conceived after Akira Toriyama's former editor Kazuhiko Torishima expressed disapproval with Androids #19 and #20 as villains. Following their introduction into the series, Torishima soon afterward became dissatisfied with her and #17 as well, resulting in the creation of Cell. Toriyama stated that he was pleased with Android #18 because she was a type of girl he had not drawn before, and that he liked her slanted eyes. In 2014, he revealed her real name was Lazuli (ラズリ, Razuri). Yūsuke Watanabe, who wrote the screenplay for the film Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, had originally written the film to take place at Android #18 and Kuririn's wedding, but Akira Toriyama wrote it to take place at Bulma's birthday party. Watanabe thought Toriyama made the change because he wanted fans to imagine the wedding for themselves. In promotional material for Battle of Gods, Toriyama drew her with purple hair.

Design

Android #18, at the time of her introduction, has shoulder length blonde hair, retaining it for most of the series and Dragon Ball Super. Her hairstyle is shown to have changed ten years after the defeat of Majin Boo, becoming shorter. She has this same hairstyle in Dragon Ball GT.

Android #18 is introduced wearing a denim jacket and skirt, dark blue leggings, brown boots and a black shirt with black and white sleeves. After arriving at Goku's home, she gains a new outfit, first seen when she is depicted going through his wife Chi-Chi's closet; a white short sleeve shirt underneath a black vest, a pair of blue green jeans, black gloves with a ring on the left arm and black flats with orange socks. It is never stated where the outfit originated for nor where she acquired it. During the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament, she wears a black shirt with black and white sleeves, blue jeans, and black flats with orange socks. In Battle of Gods, her clothing changes again; she wears a black shirt with purple sleeves, light blue jeans, a pearl necklace with a thunder pendant embedded on it and black flats with white socks. Her attire remains mostly unchanged for the sequel Resurrection 'F' apart from her no longer wearing the necklace and wearing blue boots. In Dragon Ball GT, Android 18 is shown with two different outfits. The first is a red long sleeve turtleneck with black pants and red high heels with earrings. The second is a purple blazer with a pink undershirt and matching pants alongside the same red heels and earrings from earlier.

Voice actors

In the Japanese version of the entire Dragon Ball anime series and subsequent related media, Android 18 is voiced by Miki Itō. Android 18 is voiced by Enuka Okuma in the Westwood Media English dub of Dragon Ball Z and by Jennifer Bain in the Blue Water English dub of Dragon Ball GT. Android 18 is voiced by Meredith McCoy in the Funimation dub of Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT except for several video games (Raging Blast 2 and Battle of Z) since 2006 and Dragon Ball Z Kai, where she is voiced by Colleen Clinkenbeard. For an alternate English dub of the second TV special The History of Trunks produced by the AB Groupe in France for various European markets, Android 18 was voiced by Sharon Mann. In dubs foreign to both the original Japanese and English versions, Android 18 was first voiced by Cristina Camargo in the Latin America dub of Dragon Ball Z, then by Monica Villaseñor in the film Bio-Broly and the Majin Buu saga of Dragon Ball Z; by Lourdes Morán in Dragon Ball GT; and by Jocelyn Robles for a portion of Dragon Ball Z Kai. She is voiced by Ana Fernandez in the Spanish dub; by Pilar Morales in the Catalan dub; by Diana Borgwardt in the German dub; and by Debora Magnaghi in the Italian dub.

Abilities

Following her conversion into a cyborg, Android 18 possesses superhuman strength, durability, speed and reflexes. She also has the ability to fly. Thanks to her conversion into a cyborg, she has immortality and unlike the other characters in the series, has energy that is not detectable with Ki Sense, which causes them to not be directly found using the standard method of identifying a warrior and their strength.

In regards to her strength, upon her introduction, the main timeline version of Android 18 is shown to be able to defeat Vegeta and Trunks in their Super Saiyan forms, Piccolo and Tenshinhan, Trunks stating afterward that she is stronger than her counterpart in his timeline. This effectively makes her one of the stronger characters in the series at the time, Android 17 being said to be slightly stronger and Android 16 having more strength than both of them. Regardless, she still can easily overwhelm all of the heroes, as can her alternate timeline counterpart. However, her advantage in strength falters by the time she encounters Cell who in his first form, after absorbing a large portion of the human population and effectively increasing his power, fights on par with Android 16 and easily subdues both him and Android 18 in his second form. By the time seven years pass after Cell's defeat, Android 18 is now outclassed by Gohan, Vegeta and Piccolo, though still is stronger than the other characters. Since then, Android 18 has been easily bested by Boo and Beerus, though still is one of the most powerful characters on Earth.

She is capable of using the Power Blitz (パワーブリッツ, Pawā Burittsu), a sphere energy wave she fires after drawing back her hand which is either pink or blue in color as well as a rapid-fire variation called Infiniti Bullet (インフィニティバレット, Infiniti Barrette). Android 18 also possess High-Pressure Energy Wave (高圧縮エネルギー波, Koasshuku Enerugī-Ha). Android 18 after the defeat of Cell gains the ability to use the Kienzan (気円斬, lit. "Energy Disc Razor", renamed "Destructo Disc" in the English anime dub), an attack where she creates an electric floating disc by putting her hand in the air, it is also one of Kuririn's main techniques. Android 18 has several moves she performs with Android 17. Alongside him, she performs the Accel Dance (アクセルダンス, Akuseru Dansu), a move where the two cyborgs relentlessly beat an opponent before knocking them to the ground and following it up with firing their Photon Strike (フォトンストライク, Foton Sutorīku, renamed "Sadistic Dance" in the English anime dub). Another attack of the duo is Non-stop Violence (ノンストップバイオレンス, Non Sutoppu Baiorensu) where the pair simultaneously fire Photon Strike and High-Pressure Energy Wave.

Reception

Android 18 is a generally well-liked character, praised for her status as the sole female character to physically compete with the male cast for a time as well as her personality. In a 2004 poll among Japanese fans, Android 18 was voted the tenth most popular character in the series. Her relationship with Krillin has also been met with favorability among commentators. Sheldon Pearce of Complex dubbed her the "most compelling" of the androids and credited her with keeping Kuririn a relevant character after her introduction. David F. Smith of IGN believed the subplot of the relationship between Android 18 and Kuririn helped to keep the Cell arc "a little more interesting". Smith ranked the development of the relationship #6 on his list "Dragon Ball Z: Top 10 Plot Twists". However, Android 18's role in the franchise past the Cell storyline has been met with mixed reception. Android 18 was ranked #4 on Santiago Rashad's list "Top Ten Misused Dragon Ball Characters" who felt that she was underused barring two later films, Bio-Broly and Battle of Gods, and that she was possibly used less due to not being a Saiyan. Aaron Hubbard of Moviepilot observed her shift from fighter to mother and wife as "unjust" given that she had been a threat to the protagonists in her first appearances, though still thought highly of the character. Chris Homer of The Fandom Post felt Android 18's "getting in the spotlight" was one of the decent moments in the Super 17 storyline. Her role in Dragon Ball Super has also been criticized.

Android 18 was the visual inspiration for the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters character Blue Mary. Ronda Rousey said she wanted to be Android 18 when she was a child.

In other media

In a filler episode of Dragon Ball Z, Android 18 attends a party with her family. Android #18 is featured in the special Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!, being saved by Kuririn from having a building collapse on both her and her daughter after it was hit by Aka's Super Wahaha no Ha (スーパーワハハノ波, Supā Wahahanoha).

In the anime-only sequel, Dragon Ball GT, Android #18 falls under Baby's control when the latter takes over Earth, avoiding being killed by Baby despite being caught in a blast from his Super Galick Gun. She is freed of his control with the use of the Sacred Water, though has to abandon Earth the following year to avoid the planet's explosion thanks to a wish he made with the unstable Black Star Dragon Balls. Later she is nearly possessed by Android 17 to merge with him, but is helped out of his control by Kuririn, who is then killed. Android #18 tries to fight him, but is defeated and left for dead. Android 18 comes to Goku's aid when he is fighting Super 17, the combination of Android 17 and Hell Fighter 17, a clone of her brother, in retaliation to Kuririn's death which Goku was unaware of until she mentioned it. It is through her intervention that Goku is able to defeat him as she goads Super 17 to finish them both off and in doing so causes him to undergo an internal struggle that Goku exploits by attacking him during. After being assured that Kuririn would be resurrected with the Dragon Balls, Android 18 is last seen at Capsule Corporation.

Android 18 has made several appearances in music. Her voice actress Meredith McCoy recorded vocals for a theme song by Bruce Faulconer for Android 18, the track being named after her. The American soundtrack also had a 2003 release titled Dragonball Z American Soundtrack Best of Dragonball Z: Android 18, dedicated to the character. The band Seraphim has a song titled "Android 18", describing her mixture of human and machine. Android 18 is also referenced in the song "Blessing" by Chance the Rapper when the lyricist raps that he laughs when Kuririn mentions blonde hair.

Her first appearance in a Dragon Ball game was Dragon Ball Z III: Ressen Jinzōningen. She is a playable character in most Dragon Ball Z fighting games, including the Budokai series and Raging Blast series. Android 18 is the only playable android in both Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai and Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai - Another Road, having an original story in Shin Budokai where she defeats Freeza, who intended to kidnap her so she could assist him in his acquiring of the Dragon Balls on Namek and has her programming to terminate Goku erased after summoning Shenlong. In the 2010 arcade game Dragon Ball Heroes, after Super 17 is defeated by Android 18, Gohan, Vegeta and Goku, she is forcefully merged with her brother by Towa to power him up against the three Saiyans. In the 2015 game Dragon Ball Xenoverse, Android 18 can be a mentor to the player character and teach Power Blitz, Endless Shoot, Deadly Dance and Dual Destructo-Disc She explains her motives for helping out are only due to Supreme Kai of Time (Toki no Kaiōshin) having agreed to pay her in exchange for training the player. In the story mode, Android 18 is made stronger in the alternate timeline by Demigra, nearly killing Trunks before the player intervenes and defeats her. Her outfits are also available for customization. In the 2016 game Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, Android 17 charges Cell after his Villainous Mode allows him to defeat Piccolo and Android 16, causing him to fall back into Android 18 and knock both of them out, allowing Cell to absorb both. In addition to her role as a playable character, she has also served as a boss in other games.