Much to the shock of the Royal Guards, Meruem even starts show respect for Komugi and concern for Komugi's well being. The world champion for the game is Komugi, a seemingly dimwitted blind girl However, as Meruem played against her, he found himself unable to disrupt her flow, while at the same time, the challenge of playing against Meruem caused Komugi's skills to increase. The final game Meruem learns is Gungi, a fictional shogi-like board game invented by East Gorteau. After defeating the best player for each game, Meruem proceeded to kill them, as they were of no further use to him. Simply by reading the rule books, Meruem was able to master any game in under ten matches, simultaneously learning from his opponents while disrupting the 'flow' of their play style. Meruem was seen killing and eating other chimera ants, something no other chimera ant had ever done.Īfter reaching East Gorteau and putting his plans into motion, Meruem took an interest in various board games, and gathered various champion-level players to his palace. He considered himself superior to all other forms of life and felt no concern for his dying mother after his 'birth.' Meruem was also merciless, instantly killing any chimera ant he considered disrespectful. The Queen's intention to give birth to a perfect offspring is reflected in Meruem's mentality. Meruem's initial personality, when he his first shown in the story, is that of arrogance. Soon after this occurs, the Hunters Netero, Morau, Knuckle, Shoot, Killua, and Gon attack the palace, with the intention of separating the Royal Guards from Meruem and assassinating him. This plan is temporarily disrupted by Killua, who assassinates a number of 'selectors', but a backup plan is soon implemented East Gorteau is put under martial law, and the population undergo selection in their own homes, though this slows down the process considerably, and only 500,000 people are processed, with 5,000 predicted survivors. Meruem's eventual 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 will use to conquer the world. This however, is a ruse, designed to create a situation where entire towns and villages could be secretly abducted for a 'selection', the forcible awakening of nen, without their disappearance being noticed. Meruem then uses Jol-ik's corpse as a puppet to order East Gorteau's population of approximately five million to gather simultaneously in the capital city for a national rally. He descends on the Republic of East Gorteau and takes over over the country by killing its dictator, Ming Jol-ik. Shortly after his birth, Meruem leaves the hive and NGL with the Royal Guards, in search of a place to start his kingdom. Meruem is first seen when he violently rips through the womb of the chimera ant Queen from the inside, ready to emerge into the world and unwilling to wait for a natural birth.

Chimera ant queen