Meruem

Meruem is a chracter from the HunterxHunter anime and manga.

Meruem was the most powerful offspring of the Chimera Ant Queen. He was known as the "King" of the Chimera Ants, and served as the main antagonist of the Chimera Ant arc.

Appearance
Meruem had a rather humanoid build for an Ant. He was muscular and toned, despite his relatively small frame as compared to his servants. He had two long antennae on his ears, and a large shell-like armor over his head that resembled a helmet. There were dark pigmented areas on his arms, legs, chest, and head. Meruem was always barefoot. He possessed a powerful tail equipped with a stinger that served as his weapon. Both his hands and feet had only four digits each.

Personality
Meruem was initially a cruel and violent leader. The Queen's intention to give birth to a perfect offspring was reflected in Meruem's haughty mentality. He considered himself superior to all other forms of life and felt no concern for his dying mother after his birth. Meruem was merciless, killing and cannibalizing any Chimera Ant he deemed to be disrespectful, although he still held respect towards the strong, complimenting Neferpitou for emerging relatively unscathed from an attack that had killed many. He showed no empathy towards humans and viewed them as nothing other than a food source, killing and devouring a child not long after his birth and subsequent departure from the Chimera Ants' nest, only to spit out the child's flesh and calling it disgusting compared to the sensations he occasionally experienced while in his mother's womb.

Later on, however, Meruem began to grudgingly respect a human girl named Komugi, eventually even growing to care for her deeply. With this change in heart, Meruem started to question the differences between Ants and mankind and battled with his identity as half-human and half-insect, questioning the nature of violence and strength as true power. After his interactions with Komugi and his fight against Netero, Meruem began to see humans as incredible beings with immense potential through their tenacity in breaking their own limits. Because of this change in perspective, Meruem no longer considered farming humans for food and instead suggested the co-existence of humans and Ants, with humans being selected and controlled for quality.

Meruem's defining trait was his pride. From his birth to his death, Meruem exhibited a strong confidence in himself and conviction in his actions. Because of his pride and confidence in his abilities, he displayed a code of honor as when he tried to defeat Komugi by shaking her resolve. Believing that all humans would succumb to fear or desire he challenged her with the conditions that should she win he would give her anything in his power, but her failure would mean one of her limbs cut off. Contrary to his assumptions she displayed neither fear nor greed, even asking that if she was to fail, instead of losing a limb, to take her head; and as an apology for thinking so low of her, he tore off his own arm and kept his word when Komugi told him to allow for his arm to be treated by not killing her outright, and instead letting the game to decide her fate.

He was quite adept and learnt things at an astonishing rate, being capable of mastering any form seen of board games in just ten matches and defeated world champions with ease. After a brief loss of memory he seemed to become much more respectful and closer to his subordinates after being fed a part of them when he was dying, as he could feel things they can feel, and tell easily if they were hiding something or not from him; at the same time he could sense their loyalty to him, causing him to put their loyalty to the test before considering to punish them, even more so if they answered truthfully despite doing so may inquire admitting to a miscalculation.

Despite his extreme arrogance and superiority complex, he felt fear for the first time when Netero was on the verge of committing suicide with the Miniature Rose. Moments before he succumbed to the poison, he admitted to Palm Siberia that humanity had won and he was willing to accept his defeat. His desire to fulfill his last wish was so strong that he was willing to kneel before Palm.

Abilities
Despite being a newborn, Meruem is the most powerful character to be introduced in the series thus far, as well as the one with the highest learning ability. Born as the ultimate biological weapon, his tremendous physical prowess is only matched by an unparalleled intellect, both of which seem to place him well above the realm of human possibility. As the King of the Chimera Ants, his power exceeds even that of the Royal Guards, and he can increase it even further by consuming Nen users. He fought Isaac Netero, formerly considered the strongest Nen user in the world, who retained a fearsome level of power even in his old age, while trying not to kill him, a condition Meruem likened to playing chess without a rook and bishop, and won their physical confrontation. After the absorption of most of Shaiapouf's and Menthuthuyoupi's bodies, Knuckle believed that military power at the state level would be necessary to match him. As the king of a colony of Chimera Ants, Meruem has authority over the Royal Guards and the ability to procreate with females from different species.

Unfathomable Strength: As soon as he was born, Meruem already possessed enough strength to blow off the heads of several Squadron Leaders with a single tail strike for each, as well as to punch a hole into the nest with enough force that the whole construction shook. By stabbing his tail into the outer wall of the nest, he was able to launch himself high into the air. His tail is so powerful that it allowed him to injure all three Royal Guards, albeit only lightly, although he failed to kill Neferpitou and held back on at least one other occasion. He was able to effortlessly sever Netero's left arm and right leg, as well as, more remarkably, his own left arm in spite of the outstanding durability of his body. With the aid of Ren, he managed to push back two of the hands of Netero's 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva.

Unfathomable Speed and Reflexes: Meruem could move so swiftly mere moments after his birth that he could decapitate two Squadron Leaders without them or Colt managing to see him move. The Royal Guards seemed equally unable to react. In the brief instant that Netero and Zeno were distracted by Neferpitou's aura, Meruem managed to leisurely walk between the two of them undetected. By his own admission, the only time Netero's speed exceeded his own was during the latter's hand movements when activating 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva. In the last part of their duel, with both fighters' senses at their absolute sharpest, they exchanged well over a thousand of blows in under a minute: at the very least, this means that Meruem recovered his balance after being pushed back by Netero and launched a new offensive more than 16 times per second. However, Netero's hand motions were so fast that Meruem failed to see his first attack, and it was only thanks to the psychological phenomenon known as Spirit Echoes that he managed to barely keep up with them, until he finally managed to dodge a flawed counter. After absorbing Menthuthuyoupi and Shaiapouf, he became so fast that he reached and knocked out Meleoron and Knuckle immediately after his En registered them, giving them the impression he had teleported, and knocked them out without either of them being capable of reacting. He also gained the ability to fly, which increased his already supersonic movement speed to the point that Shaiapouf believed it to have quadrupled.

Unfathomable Agility: Meruem is able to move from angle to angle deftly, as seen from his fight with Isaac Netero, in which he repeatedly recovered his balance and leapt off vertical structures in fragments of a second after being blown away by strikes faster than sound.

Immense Stamina: Meruem defeated the shogi and Go champions of East Gorteau without resting between matches, and did not show the slightest hint of physical or mental fatigue even after playing Gungi with Komugi for three days straight. He was so engrossed in their games that he apparently ate nothing for six days, and still seemed unaffected.

Unfathomable Durability: Meruem is extremely durable. Netero's incredibly powerful supersonic attacks only inflicted minor injuries on him, and none at all after his first activation of Ren. He was able to take thousands of such blows without suffering even a single scratch, although it was said that he eventually began to feel a dull internal pain, hinting that he may have sustained some light internal damage before even Zero Hand was used. He was also able to take on Netero's most powerful move, Zero Hand, which launches Netero's entire aura upon his opponent and he only received cuts and bruises. He was able to survive the ultra-powerful explosion of the Poor Man's Rose that was released after Netero's death and despite his body being nearly destroyed in the process, he was still alive after the fatal attack.

Immense Pain Tolerance: Meruem ripped off his own arm without hesitation, barely flinching afterwards.

Immense Poison Resistance: Meruem was the last Chimera Ant to succumb to the poison of the Poor Man's Rose despite having been at the epicenter of the explosion, although it should be taken into account that Shaiapouf and Menthuthuyoupi had given a significant amount of their power to the King in order to save his life.

Supergenius-Level Intellect: Thanks to his astounding memory and analytical skills, Meruem mastered multiple board games just by reading the rule books, and defeated three national champions in only a few games, a time that decreased the more games he learned. He is capable of examining multiple scenarios in a matter of seconds. He excels at identifying his opponent's "rhythm", the unconscious bias that guides their choices, and at disrupting it or turning it against them, not only gaining insight in their thought process but also managing to exploit it for his benefit. Playing Gungi with Komugi elevated his pattern-recognition skills to an ability similar to precognition. It is thanks to this faculty that he was able to penetrate Netero's otherwise impregnable defense, even predicting what body parts he would be able to cut off in advance. Proficient Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Meruem relies entirely on bare-handed combat to kill his opponents. He often uses his tail, which can stretch to a length of a few meters to reach distant targets, and whose tip can be used to pierce them. With his formidable strength and speed, he aims for the vitals right away. By contrast, he was capable of knocking out Knuckle and Meleoron while moving at extreme speed without killing them, simply by hitting a sensitive area on their neck.
 * Chess Master: Meruem implied he defeated the East Gorteau national champion of chess in three days or less.
 * Shogi Master: Meruem was able to defeat the East Gorteau national champion of shogi in three days or less.
 * Go Master: Meruem was able to defeat the East Gorteau national champion of Go after playing only ten games.
 * Gungi Master: Over the course of six days, Meruem became so proficient at Gungi that competing against him caused the world champion to improve. However, despite playing hundreds of games, he was unable to defeat her even once.

Empathic Bond: After consuming Menthuthuyoupi and Shaiapouf, Meruem came to share an empathic bond with them that allowed him to detect their feelings in detail.

Nen
Meruem was born with the ability to use Nen and a vastly superhuman amount of aura, which exceeded even that of the Royal Guards. By feeding on Nen users, he increased the size of his aura even further. After consuming Shaiapouf and Menthuthuyoupi, his aura reserves and output became such that even the overly protective Royal Guards had to admit the King seemed invincible and capable of winning a Nen battle through the sheer quantity of one's aura. Upon sensing it, the Extermination Team members despaired, with Knuckle believing they would need the military power of a whole country to defeat the King.

After he consumed part of the bodies of two of his Guards, Knuckle, upon witnessing his Ren, assumed that his power could rival the firepower of an entire nation. He could perform Gyo shortly after birth without receiving instructions. His Ren struck fear even in Netero's heart, and allowed Meruem to pry open the hands of 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva as well as to emerge from Third Hand completely unscathed, whereas Netero's First Hand had previously caused him to spit blood. This defensive application of Ren may imply he is capable of Ken.

The first time he used En, it covered an area much wider than the palace grounds and spread at the speed of light. Despite its vastness, his control over it is so refined that he was able to discern changes in the environment as small as fresh footprints. At first unbeknownst to him, his En transmutes part of his aura into photons that relay information to him. When, after only two uses, he became aware of this trait of his En, he was able to turn it into a Nen ability. The absorption of Shaiapouf and Menthuthuyoupi endowed him with variations of their Nen abilities, which he could activate successfully on the first try.

Meruem's Nen Abilities

 * Aura Synthesis - Meruem's initial ability gives him strength through consumption. His aura grows every time he devours a user of Nen, with their aura synthesizing to his own. When he consumed Menthuthuyoupi and Shaiapouf, he also obtained some of their Nen abilities. The amount of which he needs to consume one's body in order to achieve this is unknown, but it would seem that Meruem needs to absorb the vast majority of their body to be able to use their ability. Neferpitou suggested this is a Nen ability rather than (merely) a biological one.
 * Metamorphosis - After absorbing large parts of Shaiapouf and Menthuthuyoupi, he is able to use Menthuthuyoupi's ability to transform—including gaining wings to fly. This allows him to fly at a speed so great he could cover a distance that Menthuthuyoupi and Shaiapouf thought would take 15 minutes in a mere 5 minutes.
 * Rage Blast - After absorbing large parts of Shaiapouf and Menthuthuyoupi, he is able to use Menthuthuyoupi's ability to use "Rage" in a concentrated blast of aura. Its power is enough to destroy most of a barren rock that's size is comparable to that of a mountain.
 * Photon - By combining the abilities inherited from Shaiapouf and his own En, Meruem created his own version of Spiritual Message. It consists in turning his aura into microscopic particles akin to photons and either deploy them with his En in a flash or detach the photons from his body and spread them into the surrounding air. Each photon maintains his aura even if it is separated from Meruem's body. It also allows him to measure the shape, quality, emotion, and other informational content about the things the photons interact with; hence this ability most likely also entails Emission and Manipulation too. As stated by Welfin and Shaiapouf, he can detect everything, even lies. The precision of the information he can gather depends on the number of photons directed at the object of interest. It is also briefly shown that immediately after deploying the photons in a flash, Meruem can seemingly teleport to the close vicinity of any target of interest within the region affected. However, it is unclear whether it is really a part of this ability, or that Meruem simply catches up by covering extraordinary distances instantly with his immense physical strength.

Trivia

 * Meruem's name resembles the Arabic name "مريم", which can be romanized as either "Maryam" or "Meryem", and is equivalent to the English name "Mary".
 * The name's origin though uncertain, it's speculated to have been derivative of the Egyptian words "mry" ("beloved") or "mr" ("love"). It carries the undeniable love the Chimera Ant Queen has towards him.
 * In the Viz translation of Volume 21, the Chimera Ant Queen gives his name as "Meryem". This is amended to "Meruem" from their translation of Volume 28 and onwards. Some Japanese Hunter × Hunter goods and the extra book cover of the "Hunter × Hunter - Sôshû-hen - Treasure" Vol. 9 also feature this romanization of his name; other merch stamp an alternative, "Meeleem" (curiously a palindrome).
 * In Hunter × Hunter Battle Collection, Meruem is considered a Specialist.


 * Meruem shares traits with some of the main villains from the Dragon Ball series. Meruem's body vaguely resembles Frieza's with the purple color scheme (namely, the deltoids and shins). Meruem's appearance is also similar to Cell's (in particular his hands, tail & color scheme of green & purple). His characterization is possibly inspired by the villains of the Dragon Ball series as well. Like Frieza, he began as someone who was very arrogant in his power and had no problem in killing his subordinates along with the way he treats them. Like Cell, he wanted to have purpose in his power and learn his potential, as such he challenged those who were the mightiest in their field similarly to how Cell started the Cell Games. He was also born to be an ultimate being much like how Cell was born from the collection of the mightiest fighters. Meruem's relationship to Komugi is also reminiscent to Majin Buu's relationship to Mr. Satan. Buu's change of character started with a meeting with a blind person too, similar to Meruem's first meeting with Komugi.
 * In Togashi's other work, YuYu Hakusho, Raizen and his decision to not eat humans until death resemble the possible resulting character of Meruem had he continued to live with Komugi. Both Raizen and Meruem ate humans until they met the human female they each fell in love with.