meruem

The chimera ant King, Meruem, is the most powerful offspring of the chimera ant Queen. Meruem makes his first appearance by violently ripping through the womb of the chimera ant Queen from the inside, eager to enter the world and unwilling to wait for a natural birth. Shortly after his birth, Meruem leaves the hive and NGL with his Royal Guards in search of a place to establish his kingdom. He descends upon the Republic of East Gorteau and takes control of the country by assassinating its dictator, Ming Jol-ik. Meruem then uses Jol-ik's corpse as a puppet to order the nation's approximately five million inhabitants to gather in the capital city for a national rally. However, this is a ruse designed to secretly abduct entire towns and villages for a "selection," forcibly awakening their nen without anyone noticing their disappearance. Meruem’s ultimate plan was to take the one percent of the population that would survive such an awakening and turn them into soldiers for an army he would use to conquer the world. This plan is temporarily disrupted by Killua, who assassinates several "selectors." A backup plan is soon implemented, placing East Gorteau under martial law and conducting selections in people's homes, though this slows down the process considerably, with only 500,000 people processed and 5,000 predicted survivors. Soon after, Hunters including Netero, Morau, Knuckle, Shoot, Killua, and Gon attack the palace intending to separate the Royal Guards from Meruem and assassinate him. Initially, Meruem displays arrogance. Reflecting the Queen’s intention to give birth to a perfect offspring, Meruem considers himself superior to all other forms of life and shows no concern for his dying mother after his "birth." He is merciless, instantly killing any chimera ant he deems disrespectful, even eating other chimera ants, something no other chimera ant had ever done. After reaching East Gorteau and implementing his plans, Meruem develops an interest in various board games and gathers champion-level players to his palace. By reading the rulebooks, Meruem masters any game within ten matches, learning from his opponents while disrupting their play style. After defeating the best player for each game, Meruem proceeds to kill them, as they are of no further use to him. The final game Meruem learns is Gungi, a fictional shogi-like board game invented in East Gorteau. The world champion for the game is Komugi, a seemingly dimwitted blind girl. However, as Meruem plays against her, he finds himself unable to disrupt her flow, and the challenge causes Komugi’s skills to improve. To the shock of the Royal Guards, Meruem starts showing respect for Komugi and concern for her well-being. In one instance, Meruem rips off his left arm as an apology for asking her to bet her left arm on a game, to which she replied that she always bets her life. In another instance, after watching Komugi's nen awaken, Meruem momentarily decides that his power of "violence" is the strongest type of strength, rendering Komugi’s abilities meaningless. However, moments later, when he sees Komugi attacked by a large bird of prey, he cannot bring himself to do anything except protect her, ultimately unable to understand his own emotions toward her. This leaves Meruem in a contemplative state, questioning the purpose of his existence. As of chapter 290 of the manga, Meruem prepares to battle Netero, who attacks his castle to assassinate him. Before the battle, Komugi is gravely injured by a nen ability meant to cause confusion within the palace, and Meruem orders Nefelpitou to save her life. This scene suggests he has learned what it means to care for someone else’s well-being. He and Netero then travel to a remote location used for military weapons testing so they can fight without restraint. However, in a surprising twist, Meruem refuses to fight the Hunter. Through a brief conversation, Meruem reveals that he realizes he should use his power to protect the weak, seeing from Komugi that there are humans who deserve to live, including Netero. He expresses a desire to remake the world so that everyone is so equal that the term "equality" becomes obsolete. Netero recognizes that Meruem is dangerously caught between his Ant instincts and his humanity, with either facet potentially winning out. Knowing he has a mission to carry out, Netero suddenly assaults Meruem with a devastating attack. Meruem possesses a nen ability that allows him to absorb the raw aura of nen-users he has killed by devouring their brains, adding their aura to his own and increasing his power. His fighting ability is such that even Netero, chairman of the Hunter committee, expresses doubt about defeating him. (Source: Wikipedia)