So one of the main arguments against Solar System Cell, and this would prevent Star level Cell too, is the notion that he was either overestimating himself, lying, bluffing, or what he said was hyperbole.
I have spent time reading the Cell Saga, and here is what I gathered
He does not overestimate himself, he actually usually underestimates the enemy. He was not overestimating himself when he said this:
You could claim here he is bluffing, but then why do other people who oppose like Cell agree he within reason should win? It's as if Cell is confident and honest about his power and simply doesn't realize the potential of his enemy, seeing them beneath him.
Going by his dialogue with Vegeta, Cell is very confident in his power. He is 50% towards perfection and so far has shown no proof of opposition. As far as he knows there is no means other than a zenkai which would let Vegeta beat Cell before he can absorb #18. This is his mindset all the time, he doesn't overestimate himself, he underestimates his opposition's ability to surpass him because why would they? He is literally all of them combined. He is perfect
It can be admitted that Cell does bluff and lie sometimes; one cannot deny that. However, why does he lie? The answer is that he has only lied to get the androids and become perfect, this is stressed during his first appearance:
He will play dirty when he believes he is in a rough spot and is potentially in harm's way. In other cases, he actually can be quite respectful:
And when he goaded and teased Gohan throughout their battle, was that just pure arrogance? It was partly arrogance, but even Cell realized Gohan had potential. It is just again he believes that level of potential isn't enough; he is underestimating Gohan's full potential.
So he simply wanted bring Gohan to his full potential. He wanted what he would consider a fun and exhilarating fight and underestimated the full capabilities of Gohan. Once he had Gohan injured, he had no use for him anymore. Furthermore, as I noted bluffing and lying would be the type of thing Cell would do when he is in a tight spot. However he had already seemingly won and reduced Gohan to a broken demoralized state. Cell had no reason to bluff. Cell had no more use of this planet, or the entire solar system. Cell is that type of person to just get rid of it at this point, as he said himself:
The only thing holding back Cell from just destroying everything in a heartbeat is he still sees potential thrill in fighting the Z-Fighters. Without that, Earth means nothing to him. When he says it's time for him to destroy Earth or the Solar System, it's because he has no worth of any of it anymore. He has no reason to lie. As far as he is concerned he has won.
So he never lied or bluffed for no reason. It was always to make him gain an advantage. Cell more often than not underestimates his opponents, he is not an utterly overly arrogant character that overestimates himself. That is why he ended up losing to Gohan. He gives respect to his opponents when they deserve it, and mocks them with insults when not. He does not care if the Earth destroyed it, the only reason it is still around is due to the potential of the Z fighters being a good fight for him
What would this all add to? He was not lying when he said he will destroy the solar system, as it is against his character for him to lie at that moment. You could argue he didn't have the power to destroy the solar system from an out-of-verse analysis due to the lack of feats in the Boo Saga to corroborate it except the (comparatively) underwhelming feat of Boo destroying only Earth, but beyond that he was at the very least true to his word.
Lastly, what was the Cell Saga about? It was about Gohan surpassing his father and being the hero in the end of the day. Cell was this unstoppable menace that now had the power to destroy the Solar System, he does not have Goku to really help him. He does not have the Z-fighters to help. He himself has to man up and take the challenge and win. Now, if this whole premise revolved around a big lie, or hyperbole, or misinterpretation, that would really ruin the theme of the entire saga, and just make Gohan and Cell look like an utter joke.
I have spent time reading the Cell Saga, and here is what I gathered
He does not overestimate himself, he actually usually underestimates the enemy. He was not overestimating himself when he said this:
You could claim here he is bluffing, but then why do other people who oppose like Cell agree he within reason should win? It's as if Cell is confident and honest about his power and simply doesn't realize the potential of his enemy, seeing them beneath him.
Going by his dialogue with Vegeta, Cell is very confident in his power. He is 50% towards perfection and so far has shown no proof of opposition. As far as he knows there is no means other than a zenkai which would let Vegeta beat Cell before he can absorb #18. This is his mindset all the time, he doesn't overestimate himself, he underestimates his opposition's ability to surpass him because why would they? He is literally all of them combined. He is perfect
It can be admitted that Cell does bluff and lie sometimes; one cannot deny that. However, why does he lie? The answer is that he has only lied to get the androids and become perfect, this is stressed during his first appearance:
He will play dirty when he believes he is in a rough spot and is potentially in harm's way. In other cases, he actually can be quite respectful:
And when he goaded and teased Gohan throughout their battle, was that just pure arrogance? It was partly arrogance, but even Cell realized Gohan had potential. It is just again he believes that level of potential isn't enough; he is underestimating Gohan's full potential.
So he simply wanted bring Gohan to his full potential. He wanted what he would consider a fun and exhilarating fight and underestimated the full capabilities of Gohan. Once he had Gohan injured, he had no use for him anymore. Furthermore, as I noted bluffing and lying would be the type of thing Cell would do when he is in a tight spot. However he had already seemingly won and reduced Gohan to a broken demoralized state. Cell had no reason to bluff. Cell had no more use of this planet, or the entire solar system. Cell is that type of person to just get rid of it at this point, as he said himself:
The only thing holding back Cell from just destroying everything in a heartbeat is he still sees potential thrill in fighting the Z-Fighters. Without that, Earth means nothing to him. When he says it's time for him to destroy Earth or the Solar System, it's because he has no worth of any of it anymore. He has no reason to lie. As far as he is concerned he has won.
So he never lied or bluffed for no reason. It was always to make him gain an advantage. Cell more often than not underestimates his opponents, he is not an utterly overly arrogant character that overestimates himself. That is why he ended up losing to Gohan. He gives respect to his opponents when they deserve it, and mocks them with insults when not. He does not care if the Earth destroyed it, the only reason it is still around is due to the potential of the Z fighters being a good fight for him
What would this all add to? He was not lying when he said he will destroy the solar system, as it is against his character for him to lie at that moment. You could argue he didn't have the power to destroy the solar system from an out-of-verse analysis due to the lack of feats in the Boo Saga to corroborate it except the (comparatively) underwhelming feat of Boo destroying only Earth, but beyond that he was at the very least true to his word.
Lastly, what was the Cell Saga about? It was about Gohan surpassing his father and being the hero in the end of the day. Cell was this unstoppable menace that now had the power to destroy the Solar System, he does not have Goku to really help him. He does not have the Z-fighters to help. He himself has to man up and take the challenge and win. Now, if this whole premise revolved around a big lie, or hyperbole, or misinterpretation, that would really ruin the theme of the entire saga, and just make Gohan and Cell look like an utter joke.
