A lot of people were surprised that Android 17 became the winner and sole survivor of the tournament of power.
However, the number one question throughout the entirety of the Arc is, How did Android 17 get so strong?
Was it lazy writing where they had some bad power scaling, making characters stronger than they should be?
Many fans did not imagine Android 17 would compete against people like Toppo and Jiren.

The Last Time We Saw Android 17
The last time that we saw Android 17 was actually in a state of combat against imperfect Cell way back in Dragon Ball Z several years ago.
So, is there an actual explanation as to why Andriod 17 got so strong? Specifically him besides just being kind of doing lazy writing and lazy scaling?
Well, there may have been a clue sprinkled around the entire Saga that might give us somewhat of an answer. That’s better than just saying lazy writing, which again might still be lazy writing.
I also like the fact that Dragon Ball Super Android 17 was a park ranger and had some children and got married.
That was all started by Toriyama before Dragon Ball Super had even come close to even starting.
He said that in an interview years ago. Same with the whole thing about 17 being slightly stronger than 18. That was also something rooted in interviews and whatnot guidebooks of the past.
Can Android Train and Get Stronger?
Can Android train to get stronger? Well, the answer is yes, that is from the mouths of Toriyama himself. He stated that the artificial humans Android 17 and 18 specifically those two that were created as genetically engineered humans.
They were humans first Lapis and Lazuli. They were enhanced with a biomechanical upgrade to make them stronger.
However, like other humans in Dragon Ball similar to Master Roshi and Krillin and Gohan is half-human.
They can train to make their bodies stronger. So remember to keep all of this in your head as we go through.
So, yes Android can train to get stronger. The first time that we saw Android 17 was in Dragon Ball super episodes 86 and 87.

That was when Android 17 fought Goku, specifically in episode 86, and forced Goku into turning into Super Saiyan blue.
That was absolutely Insane. What this really means is that somehow, Android 17 was able to surpass all of the Cell Saga and Majin Buu saga powers.
He went beyond Super Saiyan 2, SSj3, and even went beyond SSjGod.
If Dragon Ball Super Android 17 was not able to do that Goku would have never been forced into doing going SSjblue.
When we saw the fight in this episode it actually ended with Goku saying ‘well it looks like you weren’t going full power either.’
So, that isn’t even the peak of 17 power. however, no matter which way you slice it. 17 wound up becoming one of the most powerful members of universe 7.
It’s a little hard to swallow because well the last time that we saw 17 was actually in a fight like I said earlier way back in Dragon Ball Z episode 152.
Suddenly, we see him on the level of SSjblue, that is ridiculous mad lol. So, what could have happened? Well, we know that artificial human is otherwise known as Android or Cyborg.
We know that they don’t have Zenkai. They don’t get stronger when they come close to death or when they’re in a battle like the Saiyans do.
For Androids, That is not their formula to get stronger, but we do know that they can train though.
The only thing that logically makes any sense here is that 17 went through some of the most intense training.
Maybe in the whole history of Dragon Ball to be able to get that strength.
We know that at the end of the Cell Saga after Cell Was Defeated, they wish Shenron to resurrect those who were killed by Cell.
And Android 17 was reborn. That was actually shown in Toyotaro’s manga.
But it certainly did happen. Then we saw 17 make a real brief Cameo appearance in the Buu arc to give Goku some energy.
Like I said, during that time at some point we don’t know exactly when this happened.
He became a Park Ranger and he became a family man. that is the middle of the two in-between points I’m about to give you.
Dragon Ball Age 767
We know with absolute certainty that May 26th of age 767 is when the Cell games took to play.
Based on the Dragon Ball timeline that was released a few years ago that almost everybody forgot existed on the official Dragon Ball site.
And based on the original sort of Ages that were given to us, when the movie version we’re coming out.
We know that Dragon Ball Super begins with age 778, which is when the Battle of Gods actually took place.
However, yes there are a lot of discrepancies in the translation of these episodes and of the movie.
This was because originally we were told straight up that the Battle of God takes place in age 778 and Resurrection f is 779.
But more recently with Dragon Ball Super, it’s implied that the Battle of Gods happened just a few months after the death of Kid Buu.
However, that was actually seen by many Linguistics as a mistranslation in episode 1 of super.
What they actually said was that when the dragon wiped everybody’s memory at the end.
Which was six months after the death of Kid Buu, then after that sometimes picked up and that would end up being the Battle of Gods.
Well, based on every timeline that we’ve gotten from the official sources that time had passed was in fact for year age 778 with Resurrection F.
Dragon Ball Super Age 778
However, things get confusing because even though everything May line-up. There are some things that get a bit weird here because according to Dragon Ball Wiki.
They got their information from the Xenoverse 2 DLC pack. They claim that the Universe 6 Arc the Champa tournament also took place at age 779.
Now, there’s a major problem here. The main problem is that we know that Frieza uses three wishes in the television version of super when they summon the dragon.
So, as a result of that, the dragon could not be summoned for a year. But if you remember at the beginning of the Champa Arc, before the tournament even began. Bulma did summon the dragon a year and thus a year had to have passed.
So, in reality, the Champa arc cut is supposed to take place at age 780 and the Tournament of Power is supposed to be at age 781. Nonetheless, either somebody screwed up with the numbers and forgot that the dragon was summoned after the Frieza Saga a year after.
Or this is a big-time plot hole that somebody screwed upon. But we know for sure that no matter which way you slice it. whether it be a one-year discrepancy or not the time difference between age 767 and age 780 or 781.
It was is about 13 or 14-year-old gape. So Android 17 had 13 to 14 years to have trained his body to become stronger.
Who Did Android Train With?
Now. here’s where the whole thing falls apart. 17 had nobody to train with except for himself and the Animals. I don’t know Seventeen had no training Partners.
We never saw anything of 17 we don’t know what he actually did.
However, we supposed to believe that in those 14 years that 17 was able to LeapFrog people like Gohan, Vegeta, and even Golden Frieza from the resurrection F.
And also, he was able to compete with this Ssjblue Goku who by the way was not the same blue Goku that fought Golden Frieza.
This is blue Goku after training in the room of spirit and time, going through the universe 6 Arc.
This version of Super Saiyan Blue Goku was significantly more powerful than the one that fought Golden Frieza.
Unfortunately, that is the only explanation that makes sense from digging through all the documents that have come out. And from what the series have they told us.
They never said anything about 17 Discovery some kind of mystery MacGuffin or he found The Infinity Gauntlet at some point.
The only way he got this strong is through training. The problem is that this is an ongoing issue sort of with Dragon Ball as far as narrative power scaling goes.