Since the introduction of Android 18 during the Android/Cell Saga of Dragon Ball Z, the character has been one of many iconic faces in the franchise. Powerful enough to injure Super Saiyan Vegeta in her earlier days, Dragon Ball Super has somewhat addressed the issue of her lack of involvement in subsequent major battles in Dragon Ball Z.

Now that she's a mother and a wife, it seems that her role in the Dragon Ball story is solely that, however, Dragon Ball Super gives her a few moments to shine, but she isn't nearly as involved in the battles of the franchise after the Cell Saga. Is Android 18 underutilized in the current Dragon Ball narrative?

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Just How Strong Is Android 18?

A Harbinger of Destruction

Androids 17 and 18 were created by Dr. Gero, a scientist who was once heavily involved with the Red Ribbon Army that was fully decimated by Goku when he was a child. “Created” might not be the right word, as the two were once known as the twin siblings Lapis and Lazuli, delinquents kidnapped and turned into cyborgs by the scientist. Since the decimation of the Red Ribbon Army, Gero has committed his life to creating various Androids with the purpose of killing Goku; and this includes himself as Android 20. After he and Android 19 fail to kill Goku, Dr Gero heads back to his laboratory to activate the twins, whom he had shelved because they could not be controlled. They soon prove Gero's fears right as they kill him and escape the lab together with their older brother, Android 16. At the time of their introduction, 17 and 18 were revealed to be the actual Androids that completely ruined the Future Trunks timeline; the ones who killed every last Z-Fighter after Goku had succumbed to a viral heart disease.

While Android 19 got completely embarrassed by Super Saiyan Vegeta, Gero had no means of knowing about the Super Saiyan transformation because his spy drones were not present on Namek, meaning that even though he couldn't quite fathom the strength that would eventually define Goku's journey in Dragon Ball Z, he managed to create not one, not two, but three contingency plans capable of completing the task. 18 toyed with Vegeta and even broke his arm with a single kick, making her vastly stronger than Gero or 19. The fact that the future known by Trunks was partly decimated by 18 makes her one of the deadliest characters in the series at that point, but a lot of the time, the twins overwhelm their enemies with ruthless team tactics. Despite this incredible power, both 17 and 18 have remained relatively uninvolved in the major battles that have taken place since the defeat of Cell.

She Wasn't Called Upon to Fight Buu

She Died Trying to Lead Everyone to Safety

Despite the fact that Android 18 was in full fighting condition by the time the evil wizard Babidi showed up, she was only involved in small fights on the World Tournament stage. She could have been a major boost to the fighting forces against Babidi, Demon King Dabura, and even Majin Buu at various points. The fact that the Androids have perpetual energy generators installed in them would have been invaluable against a literal demon. At that point, Majin Buu was the strongest threat they had ever faced, and he was sealed away for thousands of years. The somewhat innocent Buu was only childlike in his mannerisms because he absorbed a Kai who had tried to defeat him a very long time ago, and so, when this childish Buu separated from the pure evil in himself, the evil half reabsorbed the other – creating Super Buu.

This was an even worse threat, and at this point, all the Z-fighters had gathered on Kami's Lookout in order to battle him there. With higher intelligence, Buu was only interested in fighting the strong, so he was actually somewhat open to negotiating the location of the final bout. However, Buu would go on to absorb various warriors, and ultimately went on to absorb everyone – including Android 18. However, unlike Gohan, or even Goten and Trunks, 18 never got a 1-on-1 fight against the demon because she was turned into a bar of chocolate shortly after Krillin. It seemed that all Android 18 was seen as being good for in the fight against Buu was trying to lead everyone towards safety deeper within the Lookout. Even when Kid Buu destroyed the Earth and went rampaging in Otherworld, where Krillin had the misfortune of facing him again, in death, Android 18 was nowhere to be seen.

The Trauma of Absorption

Fight? Flight? Freeze

An interesting piece of subtext that has shown up a few times in Dragon Ball Super is Android 18's trauma from being absorbed by Cell after Vegeta selfishly allowed the bio-Android to achieve his "Perfect" form. The "fight or flight" response, as it is commonly called, refers to the mechanism in which stress or danger unleashes a torrent of hormones from the adrenal glands situated above the kidneys which do various things like redirect blood flow to the extremities and away from unnecessary parts like the digestive system, in turn enabling a more effective reaction – whether it is to fight the threat or flee. However, most people don't realize that there is a third response, which is to freeze in the face of danger and be unable to escape or fight, like a deer in headlights. When faced with the threat of being consumed or otherwise enveloped by a bigger creature, it triggers Android 18 trauma from the Cell absorption – a situation in which she was completely powerless – and causes her to seize up or panic.

This was seen during the Tournament of Power, when Goku saves her from being eaten alive by the gigantic Anilasa, an amalgamation of several Universe 3 Warriors. When the giant grabbed her, 18 screamed in panic, and it dropped her into its mouth from quite a substantial height, one from which she easily would've been able to navigate flying away or teleporting, but she resigned. During the film version of the Super Hero arc, 18's clear terror at the premise that someone made another Cell is more evidence of this trauma. This could explain why she may have retreated from fighting on a personal level, but the entire premise of Super Hero being about the Red Ribbon Army could have been a great chance to bring Android 18 back as a consistent combatant. Long story short, Android 18 should have far greater significance to the overall outcome of battles and entire arcs than she has for the most part; however the Tournament of Power was a good way to start reintroducing her as a combatant.

Dragon Ball Z (1989)

Dragon Ball Z is a Japanese anime series produced by Toei Animation and a sequel to the 1986 Dragon Ball series. It continues the adventures of Son Goku as an adult while also paralleling the life of his son Gohan. Son Goku typically defends the Earth from villains like Vegeta, Frieza, Cell, and Majin Buu. The series is followed by Dragon Ball GT and then Dragon Ball Super.

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