Dr. Gero becoming Android 20 was a shocking twist that I didn’t expect in the anime Dragon Ball Z. But since he was never really shown in the original Dragon Ball anime, we honestly had no idea what this guy was supposed to look like anyway. Interestingly, Akira Toriyama originally intended for him to be one of the Androids that terrorized Trunks in his future timeline, but that plan changed because Toriyama’s assistant thought it was a terrible idea, or something along those lines.

I also find it hilarious that the first Z Fighter to run into him was Yamcha, who immediately gets destroyed — though luckily, he had a Senzu Bean, which somehow managed to fix a hole in his stomach of all things.

Dr. Gero also had a strange strategy regarding Goku. Instead of attacking him directly, he let Android 19 fight Goku in a fairly even one-on-one match, rather than a 2-vs-1 situation.

After Vegeta shows up and humiliates Android 19, Dr. Gero goes into hiding, and it turns out even Piccolo was strong enough to potentially defeat him.

Eventually, everyone discovers that Android 20 was really Dr. Gero himself — somehow, he managed to transplant his own brain into a robot body designed to look just like his original self. Even crazier, despite Earth’s seemingly primitive technology compared to the likes of Frieza’s empire, Gero was able to create a whole group of Androids and Cyborgs who were just as strong — or even stronger — than Frieza.

Dr. Gero retreats to his hidden laboratory and wakes up Android 17 and 18 — the real Androids responsible for destroying Earth in Future Trunks’ timeline.

Ironically, Dr. Gero is immediately killed by Android 17, seemingly just for the fun of it. Though to be fair, considering Dr. Gero kidnapped him and turned him into a monster, it’s probably safe to say 17 had his valid reasons.