Meruem

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. Shortly after his birth, Meruem leaves the hive and NGL with the Royal Guards, in search of a place to start his kingdom. He descends on the Republic of East Gorteau and takes over over the country by killing its dictator, Ming Jol-ik. 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. 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'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 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. Soon after this occurs, the Hunters Netero, Morel, Knuckle, Shoot, Killua, and Gon attack the palace, with the intention of separating the Royal Guards from Meruem and assassinating him.

Meruem's initial personality, when he his first shown in the story, is that of arrogance. The Queen's intention to give birth to a perfect offspring is reflected in Meruem's mentality. 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. Meruem was seen killing and eating other chimera ants, something no other chimera ant had ever done.