The Mysterious Merus!!

[ssj3kakarot]

Alright, after chapter 52, there are 3 cliffhangers, Piccolo ( bc we all wanna see The Demon King get some shine), Vegeta for obvious reasons, and mainly Goku and Merus.

What are everyone's thoughts about Merus?

I've heard some thoughts that he is an Angel, if so then he is retired...maybe he's from a destroyed universe and wanted to kick it here? And he needs to hide his power because he doesn't want to be found by his siblings? I don't think he is the real villain.

I know Dragon ball isn't always the most well thought out story but this thing about Merus bothers me. Lets assume he isn't some diety-type person hiding for whatever reasons. Lets pretend he is just some person that knows and possibly has attained UI. This guy who is part of the Galactic Patrol just sits around and does nothing when he is literally one of the most formidable people in the universe, and his job is to protect it?

But why does he want his true power hidden? From who?

Thoughts on all of this?

[Hugo Boss]

I think he is definitely an angel, or at least a fallen angel, giving how is assumed the knowledge of Ultra Instinct is so restrict. Maybe, like Zamas, his original position doesn’t allow him to interfere in mortal subjects, so he has to disguise himself. If his power is so great, his presence could be felt by the Gods and he could be compulsorily retired from his job.

[Block88]

Merus could be angel but we have to wait
So far his skin,hair,eyelashes etc are different from the angels we’ve seen. So he could be something else or a fallen angel at the least.

[ssj3kakarot]

I'm not sold that he is or isn't an angelic host, however......

If he isn't, then I hope they do justice to his backstory. Where did he get this knowledge of UI, can he use UI? Why is he concealing his power even in the face of someone like Moro, when thats his job as Galctic Patrol? Was he ordered to conceal? Is he hiding? WTF is going on!

[Lord Beerus]

I talked about this in the manga thread and I stand by that opinion:

I really don't want Merus to be Angel or to have some kind of mystical or unique background. I just want him to be a capable member of the Galactic Patrol because he worked hard to strive to that standard.

Dragon Ball has relied too fucking much on gimmicky backgrounds to how character are as powerful as they are, that part of what made me appreciate Jiren to a degree is that he didn't have any biological advantage. He wasn't born from a particular race, or had artificially inserted upgrade or even trained under the best martial artist in the universe. He just worked hard for the majority of his life in the raw confines of combat and martial arts and reaped the rewards for it to become so absurdly strong that everyone feared and/or respected for it.

To place a cheap reasoning like Merus being an Angel or shit like that would only add to the Gary Stu-esque subtext of Merus' character that's been creeping in since a few chapters ago.

Just let Merus be himself, he doesn't need to be anymore special than already he is to prove a superficial point.

[Lionel]

I think I agree with "Lord Beerus". It would be refreshing to see someone like Merus from U7 who got to where they were with persistent toiling and a shrewdly efficient regimen. I admit, it's awfully coincidental how Merus not only has knowledge of Ultra Instinct but seems to resemble angels with his facial features. We know Toriyama isn't above recycling physical qualities though. Merus could just be like Roshi in that he managed to glean for himself an improvised version of UI that, while it's not as good as the actual thing, can still provide an impressive edge in a fight.

[Tai Lung]

the idea that merus is an angel that nobody knows ... is so similar to a fanfic that it hurts ...

I'd rather he was just someone strong from another universe, that's why nobody knew him before ... that he achieved his level based on simple training

[ssj3kakarot]

I'm not saying I want him to be an Angel. However I think the more people that have gotten catastrophically strong solely by training, like Jiren, the more it diminishes the strides that the Z team has gone through. No, Goku and company aren't the only people allowed to be super strong, but it just takes away at all the really amazing moments, in my opinion. Take Hit and Jiren though, i think they were very well done. An assassin from a different universe who's over 1000 years old, heck yeah! Why wouldn't he be epic enough to tango with blue goku? Jiren, is a freak of nature among the multiverse, there are even rumors about him that the Angels now about. Why wouldn't he be Beef-Cake Supreme? But theres been no build up with Merus as far as his backstory, no hints of lore, etc. Maybe we will get that, who knows. But so far he's been able to speed blitz a post Broly Goku/Vegeta, and is gonna train Goku. I'm just curious as to what makes this guy qualified.

Now, I know Dragonball has to always come up with bigger and faster opponents because thats what its all about. So in order to do so, and not devalue what the Z team has done through years of training, I feel that the opponents need to have some sort of unique background. If everyone of Goku's opponent is stronger because they train harder, and GOku and Vegeta train their asses off, then it seems kinda lame, ya know.

Just hope they do the story good, is all. I'm all about building on the story, and not diminishing or devaluing the things before it.

[Polyphase Avatron]

IIRC in the manga, Master Roshi was able to achieve a sort of pseudo Ultra Instinct against Jiren, which wasn't as good as the real thing. Could that be the same ability Merus was using?

[dbs fanboy]

Tbh the only thing i don't like about Merus is how this guy who can hold his own against Goku did not intervene when, you know, Freeza and the saiyans were conquering and destroying planets?
I mean, seeing how there are only like 28 inhabited worlds in U7 it just seems stupid for him to have being standing up doing nothing, while all that destruction was spreading throught the universe so i just need some explanation for that.

Maybe Merus is just a regular guy from a different universe ,who trained and gained knowledge over the years, for whatever reason came to U7 and he's hiding so that the deities don't notice his presence (he could have come to U7 fleeing from them). Maybe Freeza knew about him and made a deal so that he left his empire alone.Just give me something.

If he's just a dude who got that strong by training and didn't have any of backstory explaining everything it would be pretty stupid to me.

[Polyphase Avatron]

If he's just a dude who got that strong by training and didn't have any of backstory explaining everything it would be pretty stupid to me.

Doesn't that basically describe Jiren though?

[dbs fanboy]

If he's just a dude who got that strong by training and didn't have any of backstory explaining everything it would be pretty stupid to me.

Doesn't that basically describe Jiren though?

Jiren actually annoyed me a lot because of this (specially the "lol i'm stronger than time part") but tbh Merus would still be worse.
With Jiren at least we can get the explanation of "well, different universe, different circumstances" but with Merus being from universe 7 (and being this strong without any explanation as to why he didn't do anything during Freeza's rampage) we can't do the same.

[shadd21]

So um..

[GodVegetto91]

I talked about this in the manga thread and I stand by that opinion:

I really don't want Merus to be Angel or to have some kind of mystical or unique background. I just want him to be a capable member of the Galactic Patrol because he worked hard to strive to that standard.

Dragon Ball has relied too fucking much on gimmicky backgrounds to how character are as powerful as they are, that part of what made me appreciate Jiren to a degree is that he didn't have any biological advantage. He wasn't born from a particular race, or had artificially inserted upgrade or even trained under the best martial artist in the universe. He just worked hard for the majority of his life in the raw confines of combat and martial arts and reaped the rewards for it to become so absurdly strong that everyone feared and/or respected for it.

To place a cheap reasoning like Merus being an Angel or shit like that would only add to the Gary Stu-esque subtext of Merus' character that's been creeping in since a few chapters ago.

Just let Merus be himself, he doesn't need to be anymore special than already he is to prove a superficial point.

Funny, coming from the guy called “Lord Beerus”. If there is ANY character in dragon ball who owes most of his strength to his title/job/background/identity etc etc. Than it’s Lord Beerus!

Why?

Because he’s a God of Destruction!

[batistabus]

My based-on-almost-nothing guess is that Merus is a son of the Great Priest who has been sent to live among humans as part of his training before he becomes a full-fledged angel.

My even crazier guess is that he will be Whis' replacement as Universe 7's angel and that Whis will take over for the retiring Great Priest.

[shadd21]

Honestly, Meerus being an Angel or GoD would actually make him unique as a character, Meerus seems to care a lot about the well being of mortals of Universe 7 which contrasts the tipical GoD or Angel who tend to be apathetic towards mortals.

[Tai Lung]

If he's just a dude who got that strong by training and didn't have any of backstory explaining everything it would be pretty stupid to me.

Doesn't that basically describe Jiren though?

we have knowledge of the jiren's power ... by angels and gods

this is not the case merus has come out of nowhere technically

[wolflonnie]

If he's just a dude who got that strong by training and didn't have any of backstory explaining everything it would be pretty stupid to me.

Doesn't that basically describe Jiren though?

we have knowledge of the jiren's power ... by angels and gods

this is not the case merus has come out of nowhere technically

But it's not like the weirdness of his power hasn't been noticed in-story.

[BWri]

I talked about this in the manga thread and I stand by that opinion:

I really don't want Merus to be Angel or to have some kind of mystical or unique background. I just want him to be a capable member of the Galactic Patrol because he worked hard to strive to that standard.

Dragon Ball has relied too fucking much on gimmicky backgrounds to how character are as powerful as they are, that part of what made me appreciate Jiren to a degree is that he didn't have any biological advantage. He wasn't born from a particular race, or had artificially inserted upgrade or even trained under the best martial artist in the universe. He just worked hard for the majority of his life in the raw confines of combat and martial arts and reaped the rewards for it to become so absurdly strong that everyone feared and/or respected for it.

To place a cheap reasoning like Merus being an Angel or shit like that would only add to the Gary Stu-esque subtext of Merus' character that's been creeping in since a few chapters ago.

Just let Merus be himself, he doesn't need to be anymore special than already he is to prove a superficial point.

At the point in the story, when a character seemingly has limited knowledge of how to use ki, knowledge so limited that they cannot fly or shoot ki blasts from their own hands, they should not even be able to scratch characters such as Goku, Vegeta, and Moro. If hard work alone gets you there, Tenshinhan would have been a constant contender throughout the series. We've gone far beyond the point where hard work, grit, and determination alone get you anything in this verse. That's a part of why Roshi vs. Jiren was so ridiculous. Is it crazy for Roshi to be able to create a technique similar to Ultra Instinct to confound and counter his opponents? No. But is it ridiculous that someone like Jiren, whose speed and strength is legitimately or at least should be legitimately equal to or greater than a trillion Roshi's to be confounded and countered by Roshi using this technique? Hell yeah, it's ridiculous, because Roshi should be seemingly moving in slow motion in comparison, with speed and reflexes not even remotely close to the dynamo that is Jiren.

My point is basically, to accomplish power in the realm of those seen post Freeza, or at the very least, post Buu, you need to have some crazy biological or mystical hax, a stupid powerful gimmick, or favor/training from the gods + that hard work you mentioned. Anything short of that breaks the fiction for me, and hard at that. I just have a hard time believing that some unknown newcomer is going to be able to square up with SSJ3 Goku or hell, even a semi serious base Goku and make him work for it. That's just the corner DB has written itself into with its non-stop power escalation. Merus broke that for me, until I found out that he may be an angel or some other "special" type of fighter. "Special" could even be long-lived like Hit.

[BWri]

Tbh the only thing i don't like about Merus is how this guy who can hold his own against Goku did not intervene when, you know, Freeza and the saiyans were conquering and destroying planets?
I mean, seeing how there are only like 28 inhabited worlds in U7 it just seems stupid for him to have being standing up doing nothing, while all that destruction was spreading throught the universe so i just need some explanation for that.

Maybe Merus is just a regular guy from a different universe ,who trained and gained knowledge over the years, for whatever reason came to U7 and he's hiding so that the deities don't notice his presence (he could have come to U7 fleeing from them). Maybe Freeza knew about him and made a deal so that he left his empire alone.Just give me something.

If he's just a dude who got that strong by training and didn't have any of backstory explaining everything it would be pretty stupid to me.

Yup, you perfectly explained my whole dislike of this character for a very long time. And what's even better was you gave a simple fix to making him work ... by just giving a decent explanation of why he's so strong and why he didn't intervene to stop galactic threats such as Frieza and Buu. I like the deity angle, because it's at least something and it makes sense given his connection to the Room of Spirit and Time and UI as well as his divine sort of look. With just a simple explanation, I like the character now and am excited for the next chapter instead of dreading it.