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“ | Who am I? Why am I here? A king with no name. A borrowed castle. My subjects are mindless drones. If this is the mandate of Heaven I have been given... I fear... I fear nothing... except the tedium that it will bring!!! | „ |
~ Meruem |
“ | These humans are definitely foolish creatures. Think as hard as those weak brains of yours can manage. Do you ever listen to the cries of mercy coming from the pigs and cows you slaughter? | „ |
~ Meruem to Ming Jok-ik's dancers when they begged for mercy. |
“ | I have learned what power is for. To protect the weak who deserve to live. Never to oppress the defeated. I will not fight you. | „ |
~ Meruem to Isaac Netero. |
Meruem, also known as the King, is the main antagonist of the Chimera Ant arc in the manga/anime series Hunter × Hunter. He is the most powerful offspring of the Chimera Ant Queen, and the King of the Chimera Ants.
At first, he was a heavily ruthless and cruel being, but after meeting and spending time with a human woman, Komugi, he later develops into intro a mature and honorable leader, ironically becoming more humane than the heroes he was opposing against. This change in heart resulted in him yearning to build a world where humans and Chimera Ants coexist.
He was voiced by Kouki Uchiyama (who also voiced Daryl Yan, Tomura Shigaraki, Rui, Melzargard, Macbeth/Midnight, and Lucifer) in Japanese and Max Mittelman (who also voiced Shirou Kotomine in Fate/Apocrypha, Lex Luthor and Atomic Skull in My Adventures with Superman, Rhino in Ultimate Spider-Man, Troy Calypso in Borderlands 3, Damon Riccitiello in No More Heroes III and Governor Grotton in Star Wars: The Bad Batch) in English.
Personality[]
“ | Don't make me repeat myself. | „ |
~ Meruem whenever questioning someone. |
Meruem is initially seen as a cruel, violent, menacing, intimidating, ruthless, and aggressive leader. The Chimera Ant Queen's intention to give birth to a perfect offspring is reflected in Meruem's mentality, with him being haughty and contemptuous towards all. He speaks in an extremely persuasive and eloquent manner and has refined tastes for one of his species. He considers himself superior to all other forms of life and feels no concern for his dying mother after his birth. Meruem is also very merciless and inconsiderate, killing and cannibalizing any Chimera Ant he deems as disrespectful and vituperative. However, he still held respect towards the strong, complimenting Neferpitou for surviving an attack that had killed many without much damage at all.
As the story progresses, Meruem starts to grudgingly respect Komugi, a human woman. As they spend time together, he grows to care for Komugi and eventually even love her. From there on, Meruem begins to question the differences between the Chimera Ants and mankind. He battles with his identity as a half-human and half-insect, questioning the nature of violence and strength as true power.
He is quite adept and learns things at an impressively astonishing rate, being capable of mastering any form seen of board games in just ten matches and defeating world champions with ease. Meruem displays a code of honor during his matches and disapproves of winning unfairly, as demonstrated when he rips off his left arm after placing a bet with Komugi to scare her and disrupt her game and even allows her to rest so that she can be at the best of her ability as he sees no point in winning otherwise.
“ | Your society has "international borders"... partitions dividing the world into little boxes. To the right side of the border, children starve to death. To the left, the idle dregs of mankind feast on excess. It is sheer madness. I will destroy all borders. I can give you, if not perfect equality, a world without unjust want!! | „ |
~ Meruem's viewpoint on humanity to Isaac Netero. |
After his time with Komugi, he becomes much more mature, honorable, and less prone to violence. A prime instance of this is when he goes with Isaac Netero to fight him, but he reveals to the Hunter that he has no intention of fighting and actually wants to talk. This demonstrates a transition from his more bloodthirsty and merciless side, and even when Netero attacks him twice, he refuses to fight back, only choosing to engage in battle when Netero reveals that he knows Meruem's name and will reveal it if Meruem defeats him.
At first, Meruem viewed humans as nothing more than food that would only be useful as cattle. However, he eventually began to respect humans, viewing the amazing potential they had and the honorable nature even weaker humans had, Komugi being the prime example of that belief. Meruem also became committed to changing human society, viewing the inequality of classes as absolute madness, and was determined to eliminate the system and the concept of inequality from the world. Perhaps most noble of Meruem is his belief of the purpose of power. After spending time with Komugi, he came to believe that power was meant to protect the weak who deserve to live, and it shouldn't be used to torment the defeated.
After a brief loss of memory, Meruem seems to become much more respectful and closer to his subordinates after being fed a part of them when he is dying, as he can feel things they can feel and can easily discern if they are hiding something from him. At the same time, he can sense their loyalty to him, causing him to put their loyalty to the test before considering punishment. He values their honesty, even in the face of their miscalculations or mistakes.
Powers and Abilities[]
“ | I was born as the King of Ants, the crowning glory of life. All of your kind evolved solely to produce me. I am the culmination of generations of their unhesitating service. You are one of many, and no king. I hold in my hands the future of my species. Of course you could never win!! The ecology of the Chimera Ant is focused on the endpoint of all evolution... on me. Humanity, with its messy diversity... its individuals... never had a chance. | „ |
~ Meruem |
Meruem is considered to be one of the most powerful characters in the Hunter x Hunter series so far. Even before his absorption of Youpi and Pouf, Meruem is already extremely powerful. He easily withstands thousands of attacks launched at him by Isaac Netero, one of the most powerful human fighters in the world, without suffering a single scratch. Furthermore, Netero's Zero Hand, which uses up all of his aura in an intensified blast, could barely give him cuts and bruises. He can muster sufficient strength to easily decapitate a squadron leader or leap at considerable distance. After absorbing Shaiapouf and Menthuthuyoupi, Meruem becomes even more powerful that it was believed that his strength rivals that of a nation's military.
- Immeasurable Strength: Meruem's physical strength is inconceivable, as he is able to use one powerful strike with his tail to kill several other Chimera Ants. He is also able to shatter a massive wall inside the Queen's nest with only one punch. He rips off Netero's left arm and right leg easily, and even rips off his own arm with similar ease. After absorbing Menthuthuyoupi and Shaiapouf, Meruem could knock out Knuckle and Meleoron with a tap on the shoulder. However, it is possible that this was accomplished through the use of Nen.
- Immeasurable Speed and Reflexes: Meruem can rip off limbs and obliterate entire bodies in less than an instant. He can move at extremely fast speeds when fighting Netero, despite Netero landing multiple strikes upon him. After absorbing Menthuthuyoupi and Shaiapouf, he gained the ability to fly, allowing him to move at super-sonic speeds in mere seconds.
- Immeasurable Durability: Meruem is extremely durable, as he is able to take thousands of incredibly-powerful super-sonic blows from Netero without suffering even a single scratch. He is also able to take on Netero's most powerful move, the Zero Hand, which launches Netero's entire aura upon his opponent and he only receives cuts and bruises. He survives the ultra-powerful explosion of the Old Man's Rose that was released after Netero's death and despite his body being nearly destroyed in the process, he remains alive after the fatal attack.
- Immeasurable Agility: Meruem is able to move from angle to angle deftly. His agility is phenomenal, being able to detect Knuckle and Meleoron and knock them out with great swiftness before they could even react at all after his reawakening.
- Immense Pain Tolerance: Meruem survives Netero's Zero Hand with hardly any displays of pain.
- Extraordinary Intelligence: Meruem has extraordinary intelligence, being able to learn and master nearly anything he comes across by simply reading the rule book and playing a few games. He also uses his intelligence for Gungi in his battle against Netero and eventually succeeds by doing so. Also, seeing as how he epitomizes the meaning of a melting pot, his intelligence is far beyond the likes of even the most intelligent of humans. Meruem is capable of learning of his opponent's "rhythm" and the "bias" that guides them, allowing him to turn it against them and defeat them.
- Enhanced Perception: The time that Meruem spent playing Gungi with Komugi greatly bolstered his skills in perception and gave him supernatural foresight, as he can disrupt the flow or "rhythm" of his opponents efficiently. He was able to detect the Extermination Team in the palace, learn of Shaiapouf's ulterior motive, and even detect Palm Siberia hiding in the closet.
- Excellent Strategist: He can create quick and effective means to defeat Netero during his intense battle and found a way to elude through Netero's powerful defenses and was able to severely injure Netero in the process.
- Proficient in hand-to-hand combat: Meruem relies almost entirely on swift single blows bare-handed, including his deadly tail. He is able to decapitate anything in an instant and rip off limbs with little effort.
- Leadership: As the King of the Chimera Ants, Meruem holds absolute authority towards the lower-ranking Chimera Ants.
- Nen: Like most Chimera Ants, Meruem is born with the ability to utilize Nen; his immense amounts of Men aura surpassed the Royal Guards. He is an Emission type Nen user. By consuming other Nen users - Shaiapouf and Menthuthuyoupi - Meruem can effectively boost his own aura.
Trivia[]
- Meruem's name means the "light that illuminates all."
- Meruem takes inspiration from numerous Dragon Ball characters. He somewhat resembles Frieza in terms of appearance and personality. Moreover, Meruem share similarities to Cell; both characters are born as the ultimate bioweapon looking for a purpose in their vast powers and were nearly killed by a massive explosion, only to become more powerful. They also look similar: having long tails and human-insect like appearances. Meruem's relationship with Komugi is also similar to Majin Buu's relationship with Mr. Satan.
- Meruem abandoning his desire to rule over humanity and eating them for sustenance after meeting Komugi is similar to Raizen from Togashi's other work, Yu Yu Hakusho, as both characters feast on humans until they met a human woman in their lives.
- Many fans have noted the parallel between Meruem and Gon Freecss; where Meruem, who started off as a powerful and ruthless becoming more humane as the story progresses while Gon, who started off as a kind-hearted and noble child, is consumed with rage and a desire for vengeance, undergoing a dark transformation that has made him more monstrous even as far as threatening Neferpitou to kill Komugi if they disobeyed his demands.
External Links[]
- Meruem on the Magnificent Baddie Wiki
- Meruem on the Hunter x Hunter Wiki
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