As the Chimera Ant Queen washes up on the shores of the "Known World" in Hunter x Hunter, she naturally decides to do what evolution has in store for her — produce more and more offspring, workers, soldiers, and warriors. Each of them helps in feeding her an improved quality of diet until she gives birth to the Royal Guard.
After a great deal of struggle, her successor, the Ant King bursts out of her abdomen, taking complete control of all the Chimera Ants created until that point. He initially shows himself as a vile monster, hellbent on causing havoc and suffering wherever he goes, not to mention performing some of the most horrible acts in the series. The fact that he changes later, however, doesn't alter the immorality of his earlier mistakes.
10 Killed His Own Mother & Only Cared About Himself
Meruem emerges from the "womb" far too early, which doesn't really make a difference, given how strong he is (but maybe he would have been more powerful had he completed the gestation period).
Regardless, his early arrival, being unpredicted, causes incredible harm to the Ant Queen, as he bursts out of her body with shameless force. This act is the reason behind his mother's death, but her son blankly orders his new minions to provide him with instant nourishment.
9 Massacred & Devoured Innocent Chimera Ants
One of the Ant Queen's assistants, Peggy, attempts to go to her aid, only to be murdered by the newborn Ant King. He then explicitly commands the others to take him to a less dingy location, and tells the Squadron Leader, Colt, to clean his tail.
Another Chimera Ant, Turtle, tries to ingratiate himself by offering to do the job, but his lord and master kills him immediately. Meruem considers the possibility of feeding on his dead servants, but their "flavor" is not at all to his liking.
8 Murdered & Consumed An Innocent Family
After the Royal Guard appears and generously offers him sustenance, he warily goes with them to whatever new location has been chosen for him. On the way to his future palace, he observes a small family going about their daily tasks, and decides to consume the two adults.
Their total inability to stop him from killing them provides him with his first perception of humanity: pathetic and worth nothing more than fodder. As with Peggy and Turtle, Meruem despises the taste of his new victims as well.
7 Impaled A Weeping Child & Decided She Tasted "Not Bad"
Neferpitou reveals that Meruem might enjoy the flavor of the brain, so "it would be best to make the kill without harming their heads." The first thing he does is cruelly impale a weeping girl using the hypodermic tip of his tail.
He consumes her cerebral matter, and for the first time offers a modicum of praise — "Not bad" (coming from him, at least.) Still, Meruem claims that the "rare" foodstuff, basically Nen-users, is his favorite choice of meal.
6 Attempted To Kill Neferpitou For Informing Him About Gyo
Neferpitou displays an unprecedented level of audacity in Meruem's eyes when they tell him that "there is a way to distinguish the rares from the chaff." They obviously mean the technique known as Gyo, which can identify the location of beings that possess varying degrees of aura.
The Ant King presumes that Neferpitou intended to correct him, so he tries to take their head off as well. It's almost like Meruem has nothing within him except disdain and arrogance.
5 Decided To Convert The Royal Palace Into A Meat Orchard
In the Royal Palace of the Republic of East Gorteau, Meruem runs around murdering and devouring the guards, especially delighted at finding one with the capacity for Nen.
He continues the bloodshed by ending the life of Ming Jol-ik, the dictator of the nation, following which he coldly mocks a group of innocent dancers by asking them if they had ever lent "an ear to cows or swine that begged for their lives." At this point, Meruem claims that he will convert the palace premises into what he calls a "meat orchard", which would also double as a "human processing plant."
4 Planned To Initiate The Selection & Force Innocent People Into ActivatingTheir Inherent Nen
Neferpitou puppeteers the dictator's dead body and commands the country's inhabitants to arrive at the palace as soon as possible. His plan here is to initiate the Selection, which is basically a Nazi-esque procedure to force innocent people into activating their inherent Nen, if possible.
Meruem intends to produce a sufficient quantity of nourishment for himself and his army, as well as create as many powerful combatants as he can. Thankfully, the timely presence of the Hunters pauses the Selection.
3 Responsible For The Deaths Of The Shogi & Go World Champions
While waiting for the citizens to arrive, Meruem decides to sharpen his strategic skills by trying out all the board games available. He starts off with Shogi, also known as Japanese chess, and effortlessly wins against the champion, almost instantaneously killing the poor man after he loses.
When it comes to Go, the Ant King defeats the previous title holder after just a few attempts, but the latter begs for another chance because he apparently feels sick. Unfortunately, he promptly commits suicide to avoid a worse fate.
2 Threatened Komugi With Dismemberment
Completely oblivious to Komugi's Gungi philosophy, Meruem tries to mess with her head — he tells her that she is welcome to everything her heart desires if she can beat him, but to sacrifice her left arm if she fails to do so. Instead, she offers something far more valuable, her life itself.
This throws the Ant King's certainty out of balance, so sure is he that Komugi would leap at the chance for power and glory. But even making her take this initial vow indicates that Meruem is, at that point, innately barbarous.
1 Ripped His Arm Out To Reflect His Own Disappointment
Strangely, when Komugi offers her own life in exchange for the arm that Meruem initially demands, the Ant King is stunned by her dedication to the game of Gungi (staking everything she has on the probability of victory.) For an inexplicable reason, he feels burdened by shame and guilt, but what does he do to resolve his feelings?
He tears his whole arm out, claiming that his response reflects his disappointment in himself as well as how apologetic he feels toward Komugi. Most people would have just used words.