Android 16

Android 16 (人造人間16号, Jinzōningen Jū Roku-go) makes his debut in "Goku's Assassin", the 134th episode of Dragon Ball Z, which premiered on April 8, 1992. He makes his first manga appearance in "#17, #18... #16?", the 350th chapter of Dragon Ball manga, issued on June 10, 1992. Dr. Gero's sixteenth creation, Android 16 was initially designed to serve Gero's vendetta against Goku, who overthrew the Red Ribbon Army as a child, but was later deemed unfit for activation, possibly as a result of malfunctioning in the same vein as Android 8.

Android 16 bears many qualities unique to his android series, which spans between models 16 through 18. He is the only model of the three to be entirely synthetic, which until the development of androids 17 and 18 was the norm for Gero's projects. This fact is unprecedented to Android 17, who was previously under the impression that "Dr. Gero did not have the technology to create an android from nothing," and wonders "why he went back to cybernetics" (when in actuality 17 and 18 are the first 'cybernetic-fitted human' androids to be seen in the Dragon Ball franchise). Having not been created from a human base might explain why Android 16 is the strongest of his series, as he has virtually no human attributes to hinder him (even 18 is quick to acknowledge that 16 is "fundamentally different from [her and 17]"). He is also the tallest android of both his series and the production line as a whole, towering at over double the height of Android 18.