Is there a nen user that could've defeated Meruem (the king)?

Question

During the Chimera Ant arc of HxH, we witness the awesome battle between Meruem or the chimera ant king, and

Isaac Netero.

At the end,

Netero is defeated by the king's might (some may argue that Netero still won with the hidden bomb, but in essence and for this post, I am going to conclude that Meruem defeated Netero).

If

Netero

could not defeat Meruem, is there a nen user in the HxH universe that could? Perhaps someone from the main cast, such as Gon, Killua, Kurapika, etc., a lesser character, such as Ging, Kite, Illumi, etc., or maybe a character that was only briefly mentioned and not fully developed?

Answer 1

Just from the point of the show, it is clear that the only character with a chance of beating Meruem in 1v1 is....

Adult Gon
Pitou admitted that the insane power up may even challenge Meruem and thus sacrificed herself.
You should find this reddit pretty interesting. Reddit: Adult Gon vs Meruem

Other characters with a chance/broken abilities are:

1. Chrollo Lucifer: The leader of phantom troupe with a most broken ability. There is no limit to the power of Chrollo and hence he will be the first in this list. Given the right circumstances and planning, he is sure to make an impact.

2. Zeno Zoldyck: At least as powerful as Netero, the head of master assassins Zoldyck is surely VERY powerful and capable of standing up to Meruem.

However once, Meruem absorbed Pouf and Youpi, I doubt anyone could have beaten him in the HxH universe.

From another answer,

When it comes to a fight between Nen users, pure power doesn't mean everything. One may have an ability than can overpower a type of opponent.

Other then the anime, there have been host of new characters recently shown for the dark continent arc that can have an impact.

There are indications Maha Zoldyck is more powerful than Zeno or Netero. He definitely was at some point but is Zeno's grandfather. Like many other characters we don't actually have enough data to say. – kaine
I didn't remember Maha from the show. Haven't read the manga before the HxH_2011, I couldn't honestly comment on it, since Maha does not appear during the Yorkshin arc in the 2011 anime. However Wikia makes an interesting comment on him and he may well defeat Meruem if he was on his peak

Maha is the only known Enhancer in the Zoldyck family. In his youth he was incredibly powerful, to the point that Isaac Netero, once considered the strongest fighter in the world, received praise just for surviving a fight against him: he was, in fact, the only person that far to challenge Maha and live to tell the tale. It is unknown if his strength has waned with old age.

Answer 2

Why is everyone neglecting Hisoka while still considering Chrollo? Also, no one has mentioned Ging who as Kite said is the strongest Hunter in the HxH universe as far as he knows. While Something was doing her thing, everyone but Ging was freaking out. He knew, understood, and did not fear that power.

I think while Meruem is something unusual and powerful, his ability to learn was exceptional but he could still lose, that is something that was so significant with Komugi. She was insignificant in every way except Gungi. The king was an excellent fighter, but he wasn't very experience. So here is my list for people who could potentially beat him:

• Chrollo: Not enough information is given since we don't know all of his spells, still he could have something in that book stronger than Kurapika's chain that would work against ants.

• Hisoka: We know very little about his powers. Other than that where he may lack in power, he is a genius and smarter than the average bear. His dodgeball battle with Razor where he did very little, it was assumed he couldn't throw the ball but no one even asked. It served as a checkpoint for him to see where Killua and Gon were in their training. When Gon was knocked out, he said "he wanted total victory, right Gon?" while using his sticky gum to LAUNCH the ball back at Razor and sticking it to his arm. He could've done this at any point and single-handedly won the game. While I'm unsure of whether he could beat Meruem since we haven't seen his limits tested, it's safe to assume he'd stand a better chance than people are giving him.

Now people I think have a high chance of beating Meruem:

• Zeno: do you need an explanation? He said Netero was stronger than him, but Netero said that Knov and Morel were probably stronger than he was. You can't go based on what is said specifically, but rather what is shown.

• Gon: Pitou said so before he even transformed. Everyone else covered the rest.

• Ging: this is pretty self-explanatory, we don't have enough information as we literally have no idea what he can do. However, he basically made it clear nothing was left for them on their world. Realizing the significance of Meruem being there, had he seen him as an actual threat, he probably would have shown up, he knew how it was going to go through, so he was like fuck it. If the anime/manga ever continues and shows his progress going into the New World I think you guys will see he -- of all people -- deserves recognition. While being a shit father as an individual, he is clearly a fucking monster. He is the only one I would bet my money on to win without much of an issue.

Answer 3

I guess in my mind, it depends on what you mean by "defeated." If you are assuming a actual 1v1 fight, very few likely have a chance. Those that might have a chance would be as follows:

1. Adult Killua: The story has not gotten that far yet, but it's assumed he has very similar potential to Adult Gon. With his Godspeed/Lightning abilities, his highly logical/tactical combat measures, and his incredible physical strength, he might have the tools to overpower Meruem. (Assuming Meruem stayed only as strong as we saw him in the anime/manga). I believe being able to constantly stunlock an opponent nearly forever with his kind of combat skills absolutely gives him a chance. (He might even have MORE Nen abilities in the future as well.)

2. Adult Gon: As Arcane stated in his answer, this is pretty accurate. Also why Pitou decided Gon must be taken out.

3. Chrollo Lucifer: While Chrollo has a nice toolkit, I really don't believe that as he is now, he stands a chance against Meruem. If he could learn a LOT more abilities, and gain a lot more power? Maybe, but even then, how does he compensate for the speed and strength disparity being a Specialist? He would absolutely have to surprise him.

4. Shalnark: Assuming that super strong aura doesn't negate abilities on its own, AND assuming that Shalnark could surprise Meruem somehow, AND that he lands his dart. Then yes, Shalark could win, simply because he could then simply have Meruem tear himself apart. I still somehow find this scenario unlikely though.

5. Maha Zoldyck: As the only enhancer in the Zoldyck clan, and able to fight Netero to a standstill in the past, he's very strong. But he's also very very old now, and it's unlikely he could do it is his current state. When he was at his prime? Possibly, but the same could be said for Netero as well.

6. Zeno Zoldyck: The official power charts, and just observation in the anime as well, seem to conclude that he would not be able to beat Meruem. Zeno is strong sure, and his battle experience is very high, however, even he admitted Chrollo would take him in a serious fight. Given these facts, it seems unlikely he could defeat Meruem in any capacity.

7. Unknown Random Nen User: Given that the series doesn't cover ALL nen users in the world, it's possible that there is someone out there who COULD do it, even if we don't know who they are (This answer is here merely for the sake of completeness).

NOW, that said.... If you are talking outside of battle? Then there is someone who can do this easily.

Alluka Zoldyck: She's essentially the strongest Nen user in the series, and possibly the strongest character in that world period. As long as she's not surprised, Alluka/Something could simply let Killua use her power in command form to kill Meruem, and there's nothing he could do about it. Her power is simply too much for a normal person to overcome, it's essentially a wish/cosmic scale as far as we were shown. ONLY if Meruem knew of this, and could surprise her could he come out victorious. She wins in basically any other scenario.

In a way, this also makes the further story a little lame concerning Killua seeing as that he has full control of this power, he's essentially invincible now. The both of them could even restore Gon's Nen if they so chose. She's basically a demi-goddess without battle powers as far as I'm concerned. I understand the author wrote himself into a corner and Alluka was the solution, but it also could harm the impact of future works if the answer to any one of Kilua's or Gon's problem is: "Alluka could fix that in a second."

Answer 4

Throughout the hunter series, there are people who are speculated to be god-class in power. Meruem himself is of course one such being. Alluka is another obvious example. I can list a few others in this category to give you a gist. In my view, only with power of such a class can one defeat the ant king.

Don Freecs (the grandfather of Ging) is one character who can be ascribed such a power level. He is strong enough to live in the dark continent permanently; constantly charting and mapping the area and writing books about the species and wonders found there. Mind you, the dark continent is where the chimera ants originate from. The continent contains creatures so deadly that they make the chimera ants seem like insignificant mere miniature ants by comparison; thus for a nen user to be powerful enough to choose to dwell there, then he must be a good contender to fight and defeat Meruem.

Kite's new identity as Meruem's sister, gives her the immense nen capabilities of a chimera ant Princess, effectively placing him in the god class category capable of fighting an ant king.

Eventhough it is unconfirmed, there is reason to believe that the sonata of darkness which deformed Melody, was not written by the devil himself but was in fact written by a nen user whose power is so vile that it could easily be referred to as devilish. A being of such power could also be a good contender against Meruem.

If anyone of Netero's power level (for instance, anyone in the legendary seirin group) uses a nen restriction (ie: takes a leaf from Gon's book) during battle, that individual should then be powerful enough to defeat the ant king.

Maha Zoldyck in his prime was an assassin like we have never seen before. There was almost no method of death dealing in the grim reaper's arsenal that Maha could not dish out. He would be the only guy I would tip to be capable of 'dwelling successfully' in the dark continent (aside Don Freecs of course); indeed, "god-class" was not out of his purview. However, given that Netero 'survived' a battle with Maha, the ant king would most likely survive him too. They could be equal in combat, but I doubt Maha could dish out a true defeat.

There are abilities in the hunter universe that could instantly make one a god-level combatant. In fact, I believe Killua even mentioned one in the greed island arc when he stated that the combination of risky dice and fickle genie could make an individual quite powerful. It would be akin, or the same effect as someone who wished for Alluka to grant them a power/ability/strength capable of defeating the ant king.

Answer 5

I will just clarify:

• Hisoka doesn't have the firepower to beat Meruem.

• Chrollo doesn't as well, although considering his ability he can use Sphinx's Cyclotron and some of his friends abilities to aid him, and he will need to set up an environment where he can win. However, in a straight up 1v1 no planning? He gets wrecked.

No other Hunter has displayed Meruem like powers even Gon.

So the answer is no, none have shown as of yet at least.

Answer 6

Throughout the hunter series, there are people who are speculated to be god-class in power. Meruem himself is, of course, one such being. Alluka is another obvious example. I can list a few others in this category to give you a gist. In my view, only with the power of such a class can one defeat the ant king. Don Freecs is one character who can be ascribed such a power level. He is strong enough to live in the dark continent permanently; constantly charting and mapping the area and writing books about the species and wonders found there. Mind you, the dark continent is where the chimaera ants originate from. The continent contains creatures so deadly that they make the chimaera ants seem like insignificant mere miniature ants by comparison; thus for nen user to be powerful enough to choose to dwell there, then he must be a good contender to fight and defeat Meruem.

Kite's new identity as Meruem's sister, gives her the immense new capabilities of a chimaera ant Princess, effectively placing him in the god class category capable of fighting an ant king. Even though it is unconfirmed, there is the reason to believe that the sonata of darkness which deformed Melody, was not written by the devil himself but was in fact written by nen user whose power is so vile that it could easily be referred to as devilish. A being of such power could also be a good contender against Meruem. If anyone of Netero's power level (for instance, anyone in the legendary seirin group) uses a nen restriction (ie: takes a leaf from Gon's book) during battle, that individual should then be powerful enough to defeat the ant king. Maha Zoldyck in his prime was an assassin like we have never seen before. There was almost no method of death-dealing in the grim reaper's arsenal that Maha could not dish out. He would be the only guy I would tip to be capable of 'dwelling successfully' in the dark continent (aside from Don Freecs of course); indeed, "god-class" was not out of his purview. However, given that Netero 'survived' a battle with Maha, the ant king would most likely survive him too. They could be equal in combat, but I doubt Maha could dish out a true defeat. There are abilities in the hunter universe that could instantly make one a god-level combatant. In fact, I believe Killua even mentioned one in the greed island arc when he stated that the combination of risky dice and fickle genie could make an individual quite powerful. It would be akin, or the same effect as someone who wished for Alluka to grant them a power/ability/strength capable of defeating the ant king.

Answer 7

The other answers may be theoretically correct (adult Gon and Nanika are the most promising, though Nanika's status as a nen user is unclear and thus may be disqualified), however there is one Nen user who we know was capable of seemingly trivially defeating Meruem.

I am speaking, of course, of Komugi.

Conflicts in Hunter x Hunter need not be based on combat. Certainly it is a common setting for it but we have also had dodgeball games, jogs, arm wrestling, and so on. When Meruem challenged the national masters of various board games, the stakes were clearly life and death and it is clear that the other masters were defeated.

Komugi was also definitely a nen user, as we see her gain the ability to perceive nen and she developed powers related to Gungi. That many of her victories took place without the use of Nen is irrelevant as the question does not require the person to use nen for their victory, merely to have the ability.