Hmm, I suppose this section is really all about why I personally like 18 and what she means to me. There are many obvious reasons why I like her, probably the same reasons most people initially like her. For starters, she is the toughest female alive on earth (Pan is a chump and a quarter saiyan so she doesn't count.) She single-handedly defeated Vejita, who was about one of, if not the toughest Z fighter at the time of their battle (I think surpassed by only Piccolo, who had just fused together with Kami and become a "supa namekk'seijin" <-badass super namek), and not only did she beat him but she dislocated his arm. She isn't like Bulma, Launch or ChiChi, all of whom tend to have excessively annoying, overbearing personality traits. She's an easy-going, no-nonsense kind of lady, to put it simply. Well, that and a total badass, but I think we're all already aware of that. However, my fascination with her began before I even knew what she looked like.

The obsession begins...
It started because I was looking for a character to role-play online about six or seven years ago. I had been involved in Sailor Moon RPGs for a while, but since most of the "action" seemed to be going on in the Dragonball Z rooms (and nobody would acknowledge my Kino Makoto character), I decided to look for a character from Dragonball Z to play. Bulma was...hmm, all right, and ChiChi was definitely lame, I knew that right off the bat. So I went searching on the web. Lo and behold, I found a site with a short, uber brief description of all the characters in Dragonball and Dragonball Z. Scrolling further down the list, I found "Cyborg 18." She sounded interesting enough. A cyborg in Dragonball Z? The description told that she was a female, cyborg, and ended up marrying Krillin. I tried to picture this in my head, but failed horribly. But I had found my character! A cyborg is definitely cool, and Krillin is pretty cute, so what the hell? I imagined some very mechanical looking creature at first, but when I saw her picture I was surprised. She was blond and very normal looking and that intrigued me. The more I read about her, the more excited I became. She was an ass-kicker! She had endless energy and could fly and shoot energy blasts like everyone else. This was an excellent choice.

That's where my obsession began, just sort of infatuated with her sheer power and capabilities. Over time, I became more knowledgeable about her and just what she could do. I role-played her, at first, with a lot of cheese (read: really lame storylines), but as things progressed, I started to actually take the character seriously and develop her in more complex storylines. The depth of her character that I continued to discover through my role-playing was simply wonderful. I was reading more fanfics, finding more pictures, feverishly buying fansub tape after fansub tape of the Cyborg Saga. Number 18 was, lame as it sounds, a big part of my life. I liked her character so much. She was strong, independent, physically powerful and beautiful (she's considered to be, but sometimes her drawings are a bit iffy, I know). She had an attitude that could command respect or simply be content with hanging out in the background. And I hadn't even touched on her oft-unsung softer side...

Depth...
Number 18 has always been a very enigmatic entity to me. Her character is exposed just enough in the show so you can understand the basic gist of her personality, and yet there is so much left for the reader/viewer to interpret. It's possible to see only one side of her (the nonchalant, former delinquent fighter) and miss the others (the caring mother and wife, the sister, the reluctant hero). There is a wonderful depth in her character. She's human, but augmented and without ki, with only her brother to look at as an equal. One can only wonder what her feelings are to not know her past, taken away by a mad scientist. How does she feel about becoming a "good guy," to find out that she is liked? To separate from her brother to marry and start a family? There's lots of good stuff to toy with for those of us with big imaginations...and all those fan fiction writers and doujinshi artists already have a splendid selection to sort through. With this much of her character to explore, it's hard not to like her.

Role-playing & Fan Fiction...
As said above, I've spent a lot of time role-playing Number 18. As mentioned above, I've spent quite a bit of time role-playing Number 18. Over the years, I've discovered the many facets of her extraordinary character. I think she's great, to put it simply. There's an endless amount of mystery and unknown history to toy with, and an endless amount of fan-fictions and role-players that call on that. I've seen her portrayed as a vicious killer that cared only about herself and what fun she could have next. I've seen people portray her as a devote wife and mother, albeit a cynical one at times. I've seen people portray her as a woman solely, jealously devoted to her brother; as Trunks' only kindred spirit; as an angsty loner; as the new hero. My own alternate universe Eighteen has even managed to find herself on a planet full of saiyans, mated to New Vejitasei's emperor (the exploits of which shall be detailed in my SUPER AWESOME FANFICTION READ RIGHT NOW: CM:Index). The possibilities with her character are endless. If someone wanted to role-play her or write a fan-fic, there are endless scenarios and storylines to throw her into, that wouldn't even be related to Dragonball. She is a human, a cyborg, a fighter, a sister...how can you not dig it??

When I hear ____, I think of her...
This is probably the lamest section of "speculations" (as if the other parts weren't utter cheese). In fact, I think I titled this section wrongly, but till I think of a different name it stays. But I digress...

Being such an obsessive fan (haughty laugh here), there are about a bajillion things that remind me of Number 18. Maybe the most obvious is the actual number "eighteen." When I hear it, I am reminded of her. If someone says the number, I perk up to see what they're talking about. It's my personal lucky number, and every 18th day of the month is my lucky day. I'm forever in search of one of those lame sports number t-shirts with "#18" on it. Women with bob-length haircuts parted to the side always grab my attention, blond hair or not, and usually if there's a reserved female badass in a game, book, or sci-fi series, I can't help but compare her to 18, in SOME way. Yes, I'm really this lame.

There's lots more that I'm probably forgetting, but oh well. Are you like this at all with Number 18? If so, maybe you should check out the contest page of this site for an award...or something like that.

And last but not least
Pet peeves...
These aren't pet peeves about Number 18, it's about the people that like her. I might get flamed for the things I'm about to say, but this is the speculations page and I just have some things to get out of my system. Now, with that said, let's get on with it...

Yes, Number 18 is a great character, and though she is not the most popular, she does have a fantastic international fanbase. There are some things, however, that just really get on my nerves to see. Most notably, in fan-fictions and with some role-players, there is the notion that Eighteen is ONLY a rude bitch, a gold-digger, really snotty, or just a terrible combination of all these things. Sure, 18 prefers to keep to herself, sure she is a little demanding with Krillin, and sure she threw that fight with Mr. Satan for money...but that doesn't mean she is just that one way ALL the time. Granted, portraying 18 in such a shallow light is justifiable, because we do catch undertones of it in the series. But if you write a story or start to role play her as such, give her some depth! Don't just use that information as a basis on how to portray her! If she's a loner in your story, how come? If she's a snotty bitch, how come? Certainly not just because and you saw it in the show! Please my cyborg loving friends, just...give some thought to your efforts before you go through with them. ~_~;

As for other things that get on my nerves, there's still a few. Like some of the Number 18 cosplayers I've seen. Now, her costumes are pretty simple. There's a few key details here and there, like the Red Ribbon logo, the orange socks, et cetera. I don't really care about those things. I'm not going to whine if someone's costume isn't accurate one hundred pa-sen-to! (I mean, I've been cosplaying her for years now and MY costumes aren't even 100% accurate.) The ONE THING that I do care about is her hair. It is very clear that 18 has her hair pushed behind one ear (her left, to be exact), and for some reason, I can't help but feel my shoulders rise when I see an 18 cosplayer without her hair pushed back. It's not as though in some pictures she doesn't have her hair back and some pictures she does. It's behind her ear alllll the time. In fact, when it falls out of place, she pushes it back. So how can you ignore the hair? I know, I know... It's kind of difficult, if you have a wig, to prevent your natural hair from peeking out when you push the wig behind your ear... so I guess some people leave it hang to prevent that. But still, you've got to show off that gold hoop earring somehow!

Lastly, my greatest pet peeve is the whole android thing. There is a whole section about that on this website, so I will keep it short here. To sum it all up, Number 18 is so clearly not an android. There's proof that she is a cyborg, and there is a big difference between "cyborg" and "android." I couldn't stand it when the Cyborg Saga got dubbed and the announcer would keep saying describing the twins with those horrible, alliterated titles like "mechanical monsters" and "synthetic psychos." Cute and all, but makes me wanna kill myself.