IMPORTANT: I WILL NOT COUNT VOTES FROM THOSE WHO DO NOT VOTE FOR EACH FIGHT. ALSO IF I SEE OR NOTICE SOME SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY THAT ENTRY WILL BE DISQUALIFIED.
In this round in this thread we will have 4 characters, which means 2 fights.
FIRST FIGHT
Canute from Vinland Saga
VS
Dr Perry Cox from Scrubs
SECOND FIGHT
Zuko from Avatar
VS
Meruem from HxH
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Introduction
Meruem is a rather complex character who throughout the course of Hunter x Hunter's chimera arc struggles between human and animal. Therefore he is highly unpredictable and considered the wild card amidst the several other wild cards.
To explain his relevance to the chimera ant plot, Meruem is the king of the first mutated generation. He plays an integral role in the war between hunter and chimera, one that seems to flunctuate quite a bit.
He is an incredibly skilled Nen user with abilities that are a bit unexplored, although he is thought to be the most powerful chimera ant and he has strength that surpasses even Netero's combat skills.
Meruem was born to lead the current generation of chimera ants and has his own squad of elite protectors, respectively Neferpitou, Shaiapouf, and Menthuthuyoupi, listed in order of birth.
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Debut
To judge Meruem solely on first impressions would be an enormous underestimation of his character depth, but since it is important in identifying development, his personality as of early on also matters.
Initially Meruem has the persona of an aggressive, blatantly arrogant individual, though he is conscious of his own inexperience in the ways of the world. Honestly, at first I like any reasonable person did not like him all that much.
I mean, his just about first action after birth is to brutally kill a lovable penguin-esque chimera, then proceed to eat him. Talk about behavior issues.
Meruem has relatively no concern for life, chimera or human. He literally leaves his mother bleeding out on the ground, wow this macho baby I can't even. He seems almost like a ridiculously hyberbolized statement on youth, being apathetic, hot-headed, and just generally giving zero shits.
There is a certain defining trait to his ignorance, in that Meruem at his utmost ugliest of his person is at the very beginning of his character arc. This makes perfect sense as he was created to be the king, to rule over all other life forms, so it seems almost natural for him to be so uncaring until he is developed by his changing environment and lifestyle.
Overall Meruem's debut is really goddamn aggravating and rather generic. One could say that Togashi used the template for every raging shounen antagonist ever and called it a day.
Except Togashi's better than that, folks, and this is only the debut...
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Komugi's Effect
As we all know it was Meruem's relationship with Komugi that allowed him to progress. There are a few topics of interest to be discussed concerning what Komugi taught him as a person.
Strength
Meruem is one of the most powerful beings in the Hunter x Hunter universe. If he wanted, he could kill Komugi with a flick of his wrist. However, as he discovers, she possesses a different strength, one that surpasses his. She is a Nen specialist whose ability refers directly to the game of gungi, in which she is and will always be the victor. Her strength is one he will never defeat, no matter if he should kill her. Komugi represents the diversity of an individual's worth, something that Meruem would never have considered had he not met her.
Respect
Meruem once stated to Neferpitou that he respected her, as her stability was able to withstand one of his attacks. Although the respect he felt for his servant was less that and more acknowledgement of her strength, as Pitou was just that; a servant. Respect is fueled by a sense of equality in some shape or form, and is an ideal Meruem learnt from Komugi, since she was the first to rival his strength.
Concern
The concept of forsaking ones who are sick, weak, or dying is hardly unheard of to animalistic thought process and ritual; it was what motivated Meruem to ignore his dying mother and ruthlessly kill his penguin comrade that had disobeyed him. Ones who operate with this mindset generally have little to no care for others, like grossly hyperbolized animals.
Komugi is a delicate, fragile girl who in her screentime is injured twice - once by an aggressive bird and once fatally wounded by Zeno's attack on the palace. On both occasions Meruem acts radically out of character, exhibiting extreme, sincere concern for her.
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Other Developments
Meruem is hardly the only character in Hunter x Hunter's masterful chimera arc to endure some kind of progression. There are characters whose developments directly or indirectly relate to Meruem's.
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Gon Freecs; Switched Selves
Gon and Meruem begin as core opposites; Gon the amiable, carefree protagonist that is the driving force of HxH, and Meruem the typical violent antagonist with aspirations of conquering the world. Though, the brutality and mercilessness of war that the young boy experiences firsthand, darker than anything he has ever seen before, steadily transforms him into the unforgiving monster that kills Neferpitou in the flames of a vengeful rage.
Contrastively, the honor and nobility of Komugi awakens Meruem. He gradually ascends from his throne as king of primitive animals to an intellectual and open-minded way of thought. As Gon becomes an animal, Meruem is humanized.
Their mental changes can be encapsulated into their own respective reactions to Komugi's near-death experience. Being an innocent girl who was roped into the situation, there was no reason for her to die to the hunters. In fact, as defenders of the human race, it was natural for the hunters to have every desire to save her before she was victimized.
Meruem reacts to Komugi's injury with love and care. He carries her, gently, before demanding Neferpitou to heal her with more sincerity than he had ever shown before. Meanwhile Gon makes a dangerous agreement with the guard, telling Pitou that she had increasing less and less time to save the critically wounded Komugi, simply because of his selfish need to restore Kaito. Hopefully I don't need to interpret that one.
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Neferpitou; Mirror Image
Neferpitou has always been alike her king - loyal to her purpose, excitable only when battling one of rivalling strength. Living only for Meruem, existing for that sole reason, his developments were reflected in her own actions.
Pitou has always had a crass and unsympathetic persona, much like the rest of the guard who find Meruem's affiliation with Komugi to be an unneeded distraction. Though, loyalty is a complex ideal, one that the others never truly understood.
There is allegiance to a concept, in this case the concept of king, and there is devotion to an individual, which was practiced only by Neferpitou after her revolutionary changes. When Meruem developed not as a king but as an individual with his own purpose beyond world dominance she began to view him and her loyalty not as vague regulations but as individual, personal entities.
This in turn broadened Pitou's mind and understanding and lead to her emotional response when Komugi is wounded. While Meruem contains himself and proceeds efficiently, Pitou completely decomposes and tears drip from her gaping eyes. The raw feeling that was so unlike anything she had felt as a bloodthirsty machine left her vulnerable against her king's sorrow and caused her visceral reaction.
The following sequence in which Pitou passionately defends Komugi from Gon is vehement and maternal in nature, her frame poised over the girl akin to a mother cat. Her determined desperation shows her in her most basic person, and like Meruem not a far cry away from the loose idea of human.
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In Love and Death
Meruem and Komugi meet their ends in the chimera ant arc finale. Unlike one would assume, however, they die in peace and satisfaction, away from the violence and hatred of war.
Komugi is a blind human who knows nothing of Meruem's true appearance, nor cares to know. The unconditional love exhibited by both parties is astounding, even when their bodies are slowly collapsing from radiation poisoning.
Meruem is a drastically different person from who he originally was. He bows to Palm, a half-chimera hybrid for whom he would have never considered as his equal. He attempts to negotiate with Netero instead of resorting to battle, proposing a compromise to their opposing ideals. He even chooses to spend his final moments with a human of no strategic worth to him, Komugi, reliving their grandest gungi matches while dying in her arms.
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Meruem is no longer simply a king, nor a rudimentary antagonist. He is a human in the body of an animal, who may have one day ruled with the utmost nobility and respect.
And that, my friends, is my analysis on the character development of Hunter x Hunter's incredible Meruem.
In this round in this thread we will have 4 characters, which means 2 fights.
FIRST FIGHT
Canute from Vinland Saga
Canute as far as a side character goes, has by far the best growth I've witnessed in any given series. First, let's just a moment to appreciate his character design and evolution.
My man went from "may I please spend some time with your daughter" to "your wife calls me Daddy too"
Introduced in the brutal unforgiving world of Vinland Saga, Canute came of as a very docile and soft spoken man. A quiet, subservient and feminine man who was often the butt of crude humor, the second son of the King of Denmark seemed to be cannon fodder and a means to an end.
However, what was supposed to be a pawn in the grand scheme of things quickly transformed into a powerhouse who formed an unlikely comradeship with his captors, survived the strongest of battalions chasing him, and grew into a person dominant enough to usurp his father and lead his country to far greater heights.
Somewhat of a "foil" to the main character Thorfinn, Canute was a man who initially hated fighting and violence, but came to understand his position as royalty and understood War was a necessity on his path to building a utopia in Denmark. He awakened massively to his responsibility through the death of his father figure/ bodyguard, understanding the meaning of what makes all men equal, and what value life truly holds.
My man went from "may I please spend some time with your daughter" to "your wife calls me Daddy too"
Introduced in the brutal unforgiving world of Vinland Saga, Canute came of as a very docile and soft spoken man. A quiet, subservient and feminine man who was often the butt of crude humor, the second son of the King of Denmark seemed to be cannon fodder and a means to an end.
However, what was supposed to be a pawn in the grand scheme of things quickly transformed into a powerhouse who formed an unlikely comradeship with his captors, survived the strongest of battalions chasing him, and grew into a person dominant enough to usurp his father and lead his country to far greater heights.
Somewhat of a "foil" to the main character Thorfinn, Canute was a man who initially hated fighting and violence, but came to understand his position as royalty and understood War was a necessity on his path to building a utopia in Denmark. He awakened massively to his responsibility through the death of his father figure/ bodyguard, understanding the meaning of what makes all men equal, and what value life truly holds.
VS
Dr Perry Cox from Scrubs
Dr Perry Cox is a tragic individual who appears heartless, cruel, sadistic, intimidating etc at first but over time, you realise, Perry is a good man with a big heart who lives with a lot of pain and regret.
He comes across as very abrasive, cynical/jaded and just done with life and people. A Broken Bird type character. He's very wise and competent but it didn't come for free, he had major mistakes in the past and it cost him and he secretly yearns to prevent others repeating his mistakes.
He had problems with alcoholism and his own self esteem, often picking on sensitive, kinder, more innocent and big hearted/eyed characters like JD and Elliott who he would call various deragatory nicknames, especially "Barbie".
He also comes across as trusting of no one and he is like a military seargent of the medical industry/hospital where he works at. As the series goes on, he does grow though, he does change for the better. Other characters suffer cursed Flanderisation but he gets it the least.
John C. McGinley is an an amazing actor and it shows in Scrubs, especially like with One Piece, when the writers suddenly get serious, emotional and stop joking around and being so casual.
In fact Scrubs has a wonderful absurdity and humour to it reminiscient of Oda's and thus One Piece's style.
He also gets called out by female characters he picks on over time and he gets reality checks from others, despite being the biggest, most famous dispenser of them in the series.
He tends to screw himself over and has serious issues going back to childhood abuse but especially JD who is like the Luffy of the series sees the fading and once burning bright goodness in Perry and tries to reinvigorate it.
There's this unspoken, weird masculine but also vulnerable bond between them, almost like a father and son and it's wonderful.
He actually manages to fix things with his ex-wife and becomes a father of a child with her which thaws his heart and brings out his inner gentleness again. Both of them undergo some major improvements as people after becoming parents, like a lot of or at least some people IRL.
He also no matter how depressed/cynical/jaded he gets, cannot ignore someone who needs help, someone in distress. No matter how bad things get, he never gives up, he never loses sight of who he is and he comes back stronger for it over time through the series.
There are such amazing, emotionally stunning and powerful scenes in Scrubs including with him especially too. He is such an fantastically written and acted characterthat also bounces off a brilliant cast and writing in general too. Scrubs is genuinely a masterpiece, it's made me so laugh so many times beyond count but also made me cry multiple times and left an unforgettable impression on me. Perry is one of those reasons especially.
There's so much more I could say about him but I've said so much already too, so I'll conclude with these and hope I've done enough for him!:
One last thing actually:
There's this amazingly tragic, profound and unforgettable storyline with his best friend and ex-wifes brother who is played by the one and only legend BRENDAN FRASER too! It's Season 3, Episode 14 and it's called "My Screw Up" and if there is only maybe one episide I could recommend of Scrubs or at least Dr Cox, it's this one.
The less you know the absolute better, it's a completely bittersweet to heartbreaker of an episode. To this day, it floors me with the quality of the writing and acting especially. Scrubs also had a very profound, beautiful use of licensed music and such which also worked for this episode. If anyone likes the game Life is Strange, I swear Scrubs inspired it, it's such a similar vibe.
He comes across as very abrasive, cynical/jaded and just done with life and people. A Broken Bird type character. He's very wise and competent but it didn't come for free, he had major mistakes in the past and it cost him and he secretly yearns to prevent others repeating his mistakes.
He had problems with alcoholism and his own self esteem, often picking on sensitive, kinder, more innocent and big hearted/eyed characters like JD and Elliott who he would call various deragatory nicknames, especially "Barbie".
He also comes across as trusting of no one and he is like a military seargent of the medical industry/hospital where he works at. As the series goes on, he does grow though, he does change for the better. Other characters suffer cursed Flanderisation but he gets it the least.
John C. McGinley is an an amazing actor and it shows in Scrubs, especially like with One Piece, when the writers suddenly get serious, emotional and stop joking around and being so casual.
In fact Scrubs has a wonderful absurdity and humour to it reminiscient of Oda's and thus One Piece's style.
He also gets called out by female characters he picks on over time and he gets reality checks from others, despite being the biggest, most famous dispenser of them in the series.
He tends to screw himself over and has serious issues going back to childhood abuse but especially JD who is like the Luffy of the series sees the fading and once burning bright goodness in Perry and tries to reinvigorate it.
There's this unspoken, weird masculine but also vulnerable bond between them, almost like a father and son and it's wonderful.
He actually manages to fix things with his ex-wife and becomes a father of a child with her which thaws his heart and brings out his inner gentleness again. Both of them undergo some major improvements as people after becoming parents, like a lot of or at least some people IRL.
He also no matter how depressed/cynical/jaded he gets, cannot ignore someone who needs help, someone in distress. No matter how bad things get, he never gives up, he never loses sight of who he is and he comes back stronger for it over time through the series.
There are such amazing, emotionally stunning and powerful scenes in Scrubs including with him especially too. He is such an fantastically written and acted characterthat also bounces off a brilliant cast and writing in general too. Scrubs is genuinely a masterpiece, it's made me so laugh so many times beyond count but also made me cry multiple times and left an unforgettable impression on me. Perry is one of those reasons especially.
There's so much more I could say about him but I've said so much already too, so I'll conclude with these and hope I've done enough for him!:
One last thing actually:
There's this amazingly tragic, profound and unforgettable storyline with his best friend and ex-wifes brother who is played by the one and only legend BRENDAN FRASER too! It's Season 3, Episode 14 and it's called "My Screw Up" and if there is only maybe one episide I could recommend of Scrubs or at least Dr Cox, it's this one.
The less you know the absolute better, it's a completely bittersweet to heartbreaker of an episode. To this day, it floors me with the quality of the writing and acting especially. Scrubs also had a very profound, beautiful use of licensed music and such which also worked for this episode. If anyone likes the game Life is Strange, I swear Scrubs inspired it, it's such a similar vibe.
SECOND FIGHT
Zuko from Avatar
Zuko is introduced in episode 1 with the single minded goal of capturing Aang, and the show's intention at first is to portray Zuko as a clear villain and antagonist. All Zuko does for the first few episodes is say "gotta capture aang! gotta capture aang! gotta capture aang!" over and over again. You could go as far as to say that Aang is living rent free in Zuko's head. So yeah, first impression is that Zuko is another generic and bland villain.
We then learn that Zuko is a far more nuanced character. We discover that the reason he's chasing the Avatar is because he was banished for caring about the lives of his country men, which shows that Zuko isn't the one dimensional villain that we thought we was in episode 1. This shows that all Zuko wants deep down isn't to capture the Avatar, but that he simply wants his father love and he desperately wants to go home.
Zuko getting banished and getting his scar!
The ironic thing is that Zuko has an uncle who loves him and treats him like his own son, but he's so obsessed with getting his father's love and approval that he turns a blind eye to his uncle's love. Zuko is so obsessed with winning his father's respect that he goes so far as to betray his nation and commits treason by setting the Avatar free after some Fire Nation soliders capture him. This is where Zuko starts to blur the line and where the viewer starts to question is Zuko is really an antagonist and villain. Zuko is fighting the bad guys from his nation in order to free the main character. Even if Zuko is only doing this just to capture Aang himself, you can't help but feel there's more to Zuko"s character.
Zuko saving Aang and betraying his nation!
The rest of Season 1 is Zuko constantly trying to capture Aang and constantly catching Ls so let's skip that and fast forward to Season 2. Season 2 gets more interesting for Zuko's character development since now Zuko's father has sent Zuko's sister to capture Zuko and his uncle. So now Zuko is being hunted after by his own countrymen, the same countrymen that he tried saving in the first place which led to his banishment.
Zuko being declared a fugitive/traitor and being hunted down!
As the stress of Zuko being hunted down as a traitor and fugitive gets to him, we see Zuko slowly and slowly go further to the dark side. He starts robbing people all day everyday, constantly disrespects his uncle, and just acts more and more unpleasant. Eventually his sister Azula needs his help and she offers Zuko a way to return home, as long as Zuko helps her capture the avatar and their uncle. In other words, Zuko has to choose between returning home and getting his father's love, or standing by the uncle who lived with him in exile when he had nobody else. Zuko decides to betray his uncle and side with his sister, the same sister that was trying to capture him all throughout season 2 lmao. Zuko's lowest and most shameful point by far.
Zuko betraying his uncle! Boo!!! *throws tomato at Zuko*
So Season 3 starts and Zuko finally faces his father. His father praises him, he got a girlfriend off-panel, the citizens of the Fire Nation all praise his return. Zuko finally got everything he wanted.
Zuko returning home and everyone cheering for him!
And yet despite getting everything he's finally wanted, Zuko is still not happy. The guilt of his uncle rotting in prison while he's living the 10/10 rich life gets to him. Eventually Zuko realizes that he doesn't need his father's love and approval, and that the Fire Nation is an evil and tyrannical nation that has caused countless amount of death and destruction. Zuko then decides to confront his father and tell him all of this. Zuko's father is proud of him after hearing all of this and tells Zuko he leave the Fire Nation in peace. Just kidding, Zuko's fathers first reaction is to murder Zuko after hearing this. Zuko's sister also tries killing Zuko after hearing this.
Zuko's crazy father trying to kill him!
Zuko's crazy sister trying to kill him!
Zuko then joins Aang's group and becomes Aang's firebending teacher. In other words, Zuko goes from a villain and an antagonist to now becoming a good guy and one of the protagonists. Zuko ends up teaching Aang firebending quite well and he manages to integrate himself with the main characters quite well, going on 1 on 1 trips with Aang, Katara, and Sokka, (sorry Toph lmao).
Eventually though, Zuko challenges his sister to a duel to determine who the next Fire Lord will be. Azula loses the deal and Zuko becomes the new Fire Lord and the 100 year war is finally over.
Zuko's sister getting her ass kicked!
Zuko becoming the new Fire Lord!
Zuko's character development is phenomenal and it was beautiful watching him start off as a villain and antagonist and slowly turning into a protagonist and good guy over 3 seasons.
We then learn that Zuko is a far more nuanced character. We discover that the reason he's chasing the Avatar is because he was banished for caring about the lives of his country men, which shows that Zuko isn't the one dimensional villain that we thought we was in episode 1. This shows that all Zuko wants deep down isn't to capture the Avatar, but that he simply wants his father love and he desperately wants to go home.
Zuko getting banished and getting his scar!
The ironic thing is that Zuko has an uncle who loves him and treats him like his own son, but he's so obsessed with getting his father's love and approval that he turns a blind eye to his uncle's love. Zuko is so obsessed with winning his father's respect that he goes so far as to betray his nation and commits treason by setting the Avatar free after some Fire Nation soliders capture him. This is where Zuko starts to blur the line and where the viewer starts to question is Zuko is really an antagonist and villain. Zuko is fighting the bad guys from his nation in order to free the main character. Even if Zuko is only doing this just to capture Aang himself, you can't help but feel there's more to Zuko"s character.
Zuko saving Aang and betraying his nation!
The rest of Season 1 is Zuko constantly trying to capture Aang and constantly catching Ls so let's skip that and fast forward to Season 2. Season 2 gets more interesting for Zuko's character development since now Zuko's father has sent Zuko's sister to capture Zuko and his uncle. So now Zuko is being hunted after by his own countrymen, the same countrymen that he tried saving in the first place which led to his banishment.
Zuko being declared a fugitive/traitor and being hunted down!
As the stress of Zuko being hunted down as a traitor and fugitive gets to him, we see Zuko slowly and slowly go further to the dark side. He starts robbing people all day everyday, constantly disrespects his uncle, and just acts more and more unpleasant. Eventually his sister Azula needs his help and she offers Zuko a way to return home, as long as Zuko helps her capture the avatar and their uncle. In other words, Zuko has to choose between returning home and getting his father's love, or standing by the uncle who lived with him in exile when he had nobody else. Zuko decides to betray his uncle and side with his sister, the same sister that was trying to capture him all throughout season 2 lmao. Zuko's lowest and most shameful point by far.
Zuko betraying his uncle! Boo!!! *throws tomato at Zuko*
So Season 3 starts and Zuko finally faces his father. His father praises him, he got a girlfriend off-panel, the citizens of the Fire Nation all praise his return. Zuko finally got everything he wanted.
Zuko returning home and everyone cheering for him!
And yet despite getting everything he's finally wanted, Zuko is still not happy. The guilt of his uncle rotting in prison while he's living the 10/10 rich life gets to him. Eventually Zuko realizes that he doesn't need his father's love and approval, and that the Fire Nation is an evil and tyrannical nation that has caused countless amount of death and destruction. Zuko then decides to confront his father and tell him all of this. Zuko's father is proud of him after hearing all of this and tells Zuko he leave the Fire Nation in peace. Just kidding, Zuko's fathers first reaction is to murder Zuko after hearing this. Zuko's sister also tries killing Zuko after hearing this.
Zuko's crazy father trying to kill him!
Zuko's crazy sister trying to kill him!
Zuko then joins Aang's group and becomes Aang's firebending teacher. In other words, Zuko goes from a villain and an antagonist to now becoming a good guy and one of the protagonists. Zuko ends up teaching Aang firebending quite well and he manages to integrate himself with the main characters quite well, going on 1 on 1 trips with Aang, Katara, and Sokka, (sorry Toph lmao).
Eventually though, Zuko challenges his sister to a duel to determine who the next Fire Lord will be. Azula loses the deal and Zuko becomes the new Fire Lord and the 100 year war is finally over.
Zuko's sister getting her ass kicked!
Zuko becoming the new Fire Lord!
Zuko's character development is phenomenal and it was beautiful watching him start off as a villain and antagonist and slowly turning into a protagonist and good guy over 3 seasons.
VS
Meruem from HxH
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Introduction
Meruem is a rather complex character who throughout the course of Hunter x Hunter's chimera arc struggles between human and animal. Therefore he is highly unpredictable and considered the wild card amidst the several other wild cards.
To explain his relevance to the chimera ant plot, Meruem is the king of the first mutated generation. He plays an integral role in the war between hunter and chimera, one that seems to flunctuate quite a bit.
He is an incredibly skilled Nen user with abilities that are a bit unexplored, although he is thought to be the most powerful chimera ant and he has strength that surpasses even Netero's combat skills.
Meruem was born to lead the current generation of chimera ants and has his own squad of elite protectors, respectively Neferpitou, Shaiapouf, and Menthuthuyoupi, listed in order of birth.
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Debut
To judge Meruem solely on first impressions would be an enormous underestimation of his character depth, but since it is important in identifying development, his personality as of early on also matters.
Initially Meruem has the persona of an aggressive, blatantly arrogant individual, though he is conscious of his own inexperience in the ways of the world. Honestly, at first I like any reasonable person did not like him all that much.
I mean, his just about first action after birth is to brutally kill a lovable penguin-esque chimera, then proceed to eat him. Talk about behavior issues.
Meruem has relatively no concern for life, chimera or human. He literally leaves his mother bleeding out on the ground, wow this macho baby I can't even. He seems almost like a ridiculously hyberbolized statement on youth, being apathetic, hot-headed, and just generally giving zero shits.
There is a certain defining trait to his ignorance, in that Meruem at his utmost ugliest of his person is at the very beginning of his character arc. This makes perfect sense as he was created to be the king, to rule over all other life forms, so it seems almost natural for him to be so uncaring until he is developed by his changing environment and lifestyle.
Overall Meruem's debut is really goddamn aggravating and rather generic. One could say that Togashi used the template for every raging shounen antagonist ever and called it a day.
Except Togashi's better than that, folks, and this is only the debut...
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Komugi's Effect
As we all know it was Meruem's relationship with Komugi that allowed him to progress. There are a few topics of interest to be discussed concerning what Komugi taught him as a person.
Strength
Meruem is one of the most powerful beings in the Hunter x Hunter universe. If he wanted, he could kill Komugi with a flick of his wrist. However, as he discovers, she possesses a different strength, one that surpasses his. She is a Nen specialist whose ability refers directly to the game of gungi, in which she is and will always be the victor. Her strength is one he will never defeat, no matter if he should kill her. Komugi represents the diversity of an individual's worth, something that Meruem would never have considered had he not met her.
Respect
Meruem once stated to Neferpitou that he respected her, as her stability was able to withstand one of his attacks. Although the respect he felt for his servant was less that and more acknowledgement of her strength, as Pitou was just that; a servant. Respect is fueled by a sense of equality in some shape or form, and is an ideal Meruem learnt from Komugi, since she was the first to rival his strength.
Concern
The concept of forsaking ones who are sick, weak, or dying is hardly unheard of to animalistic thought process and ritual; it was what motivated Meruem to ignore his dying mother and ruthlessly kill his penguin comrade that had disobeyed him. Ones who operate with this mindset generally have little to no care for others, like grossly hyperbolized animals.
Komugi is a delicate, fragile girl who in her screentime is injured twice - once by an aggressive bird and once fatally wounded by Zeno's attack on the palace. On both occasions Meruem acts radically out of character, exhibiting extreme, sincere concern for her.
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Other Developments
Meruem is hardly the only character in Hunter x Hunter's masterful chimera arc to endure some kind of progression. There are characters whose developments directly or indirectly relate to Meruem's.
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Gon Freecs; Switched Selves
Gon and Meruem begin as core opposites; Gon the amiable, carefree protagonist that is the driving force of HxH, and Meruem the typical violent antagonist with aspirations of conquering the world. Though, the brutality and mercilessness of war that the young boy experiences firsthand, darker than anything he has ever seen before, steadily transforms him into the unforgiving monster that kills Neferpitou in the flames of a vengeful rage.
Contrastively, the honor and nobility of Komugi awakens Meruem. He gradually ascends from his throne as king of primitive animals to an intellectual and open-minded way of thought. As Gon becomes an animal, Meruem is humanized.
Their mental changes can be encapsulated into their own respective reactions to Komugi's near-death experience. Being an innocent girl who was roped into the situation, there was no reason for her to die to the hunters. In fact, as defenders of the human race, it was natural for the hunters to have every desire to save her before she was victimized.
Meruem reacts to Komugi's injury with love and care. He carries her, gently, before demanding Neferpitou to heal her with more sincerity than he had ever shown before. Meanwhile Gon makes a dangerous agreement with the guard, telling Pitou that she had increasing less and less time to save the critically wounded Komugi, simply because of his selfish need to restore Kaito. Hopefully I don't need to interpret that one.
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Neferpitou; Mirror Image
Neferpitou has always been alike her king - loyal to her purpose, excitable only when battling one of rivalling strength. Living only for Meruem, existing for that sole reason, his developments were reflected in her own actions.
Pitou has always had a crass and unsympathetic persona, much like the rest of the guard who find Meruem's affiliation with Komugi to be an unneeded distraction. Though, loyalty is a complex ideal, one that the others never truly understood.
There is allegiance to a concept, in this case the concept of king, and there is devotion to an individual, which was practiced only by Neferpitou after her revolutionary changes. When Meruem developed not as a king but as an individual with his own purpose beyond world dominance she began to view him and her loyalty not as vague regulations but as individual, personal entities.
This in turn broadened Pitou's mind and understanding and lead to her emotional response when Komugi is wounded. While Meruem contains himself and proceeds efficiently, Pitou completely decomposes and tears drip from her gaping eyes. The raw feeling that was so unlike anything she had felt as a bloodthirsty machine left her vulnerable against her king's sorrow and caused her visceral reaction.
The following sequence in which Pitou passionately defends Komugi from Gon is vehement and maternal in nature, her frame poised over the girl akin to a mother cat. Her determined desperation shows her in her most basic person, and like Meruem not a far cry away from the loose idea of human.
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In Love and Death
Meruem and Komugi meet their ends in the chimera ant arc finale. Unlike one would assume, however, they die in peace and satisfaction, away from the violence and hatred of war.
Komugi is a blind human who knows nothing of Meruem's true appearance, nor cares to know. The unconditional love exhibited by both parties is astounding, even when their bodies are slowly collapsing from radiation poisoning.
Meruem is a drastically different person from who he originally was. He bows to Palm, a half-chimera hybrid for whom he would have never considered as his equal. He attempts to negotiate with Netero instead of resorting to battle, proposing a compromise to their opposing ideals. He even chooses to spend his final moments with a human of no strategic worth to him, Komugi, reliving their grandest gungi matches while dying in her arms.
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Meruem is no longer simply a king, nor a rudimentary antagonist. He is a human in the body of an animal, who may have one day ruled with the utmost nobility and respect.
And that, my friends, is my analysis on the character development of Hunter x Hunter's incredible Meruem.
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