No one will ever replicate what JIREN did. He was literally an unstoppable force and immovable object. He was pure, absolute strength. Every technique, every trick and gimmick, every asspull, he was unfazed by. A spirit bomb by SSBKK Goku was easily repelled. Frozen in time? Who cares, he's like, stronger than time. Goku finally asspulls Ultra Instinct, and it does fucking nothing against a barely-even-trying Jiren. Unlocking new power doesn't help, fighting smart doesn't help, he facetanks beams, he beats people up by just looking at them. They unlock new powers, they team up to fight him together, it doesn't fucking matter. Nothing they do can reach his might. No antagonist has ever felt this far above what the protagonists could muster. He was truly a juggernaught.
Something occurred to me as I gazed upon the glorious aesthetics of this CHAD. He is just a ripped as fuck ayy. Nothing more nothing less. Obviously everyone can see that, and it's been criticized many times. What people failed to see however, was that therein lies the value. His simplistic, "boring" design was not an accident. It was a symbol. A symbol for his belief in absolute strength. You see, CHADren is unique among the many antagonists Goku faced in that he is simply strong. Nothing more, nothing less. He doesn't have weird gimmicks, he doesn't have fancy techniques that border on magic, his race doesn't have weird biological gifts, he doesn't have transformations. He's just fucking strong because he worked for it. And with that raw strength he surpasses everything, no gimmick works on him, no transformation helps, even freezing him in time doesn't defeat him.
Jiren the Gray. Amusing how this simple name inspires even TIME ITSELF to tremble in fear and fall to his might. Kachi Katchin, the STRONGEST MATERIAL IN THE KNOWN MULTIVERSE, which even the GRAND PRIEST HIMSELF claimed was indestructible, crumpled like fucking CARDBOARD beneath GODren's power. A technique that only the angels have mastered--a technique that escapes even the GoDs--was mere FODDER against ALMIGHTYren once he unleashed his true power.Why is this, you ask? Because DISCIPLINEDren knows the value of cultivating pure inner strength through intense meditation, studious adherence to the Warrior's Code, and the complete lack of ties and bonds to anything that will do ANYTHING but increase his strength. He's truly a momentous character, a quintessential testament to the overarching theme of Dragon Ball that has been oh so omnipresent since the series' humble beginnings.
I used to be an anti-Jiren like you guys. However, slowly and over time, my perspective of Jiren started to change as I watched him continuously annihilate everyone in the T.O.P. I contemplated for a bit, and started to ask myself what made him so fascinating as a character, a view I still have of him even after his backstory was revealed. Why does a characters backstory have to be convoluted for them to be a likeable anyways? Dragon Ball never had any complex backstories; perhaps one could argue that Jiren’s backstory wasn’t particularly unique amongst the other characters, but Jiren as a whole is more distinctive than the entire main cast combined. Take a good look at Dragon Ball Super, note the constant asspull powerups and gimmick transformations among the main cast and major antagonists; of course, Jiren and the Pride Troopers are the only exemptions. Now, take a good look at Jiren, a man that has achieved his unconquerable strength and wisdom through continuous HARD WORK, MEDITATION and has never once resorted to pathetic gimmicks. I have long accepted that Jiren is the best and that he’s also the STRONGEST character in the entire franchise. When will you accept it?
Consider the nuanced juxtaposition of Jiren's character. He strives for the upholding of justice, yet fears the inadequacy of his own philosophy strongly enough to discard his ideals in order to maintain quiescence with his beliefs, which are his sole motivation due to the trauma of loss. He is staunchly persistent in his personal goals, almost to a point of fault, as they force him to abandon close relationships and interpersonal ties, leading him to be surrounded by like-minded individuals - and yet, completely alone, crushed by the all-encompassing and solitary silence. This runs perpendicular with most modern depictions of heroes of justice, almost all of whom seek to garner rapport and camaraderie with their fellows. Yet Jiren's core beliefs parallel an impressive number of literary paragons. What a fascinating, thought-provoking character we've been graced with. No mortal man could have conceived of such an esoteric and compelling character. Sometimes I even wonder if he created himself through sheer force of will.
I feel like a huge reason people misunderstand Jiren's characterization and subsequently dismiss it as "bland", "boring", and "generic" is that they don't recognize the meticulously-crafted nuances that give him form. This isn't an insult; newcomers--also known as "casuals" to the more uncouth individuals--are unfamiliar with shonen tropes, and only regurgitate what they perceive as ultimate truths as a result of blind hearsay. Again, this is not meant as an insult: ignorance in and of itself is not an imperfection. It is only when that ignorance germinates and blossoms into WILLFUL ignorance that it becomes detrimental to one's continued existence as a worthwhile member of humanity. Jiren the Gray transcends the quintessential tropes of a shonen character who lost someone important to him/her and seeks to atone and rise above this tragedy. He does not cleave to his deceased master's teachings as if they are gospel merely because he was unable to safe him; he instead crafted his own ideals, virtues, and motivations in the way he saw as most advantageous in regards to accomplishing his ultimate goal: to utterly, WITHOUT FAIL, espouse his master's teachings. Jiren is not beholden to Gicchin's viewpoints or personal, individual ideals: he instead recognizes that his fallen master would want him to walk his own path, regardless of the possible and probable contradicting vectors their respective moral codes could cross. This, more than anything else, cements Jiren as his own character--indeed, his own man. He pulled himself up by his bootstraps, using his beloved master's demise not as a crutch, but as a singular motivation to reinforce HIS OWN beliefs, HIS OWN ways of life, while at the same time deftly weaving Gicchin's persona into his own mode of existence. Jiren is more than a character in a legendarily-influential shonen story that will never be surpassed. He is an ideal. A belief. A way of life. He is the summit.