Dragon Ball: Jiren / Characters

Jiren (ジレン)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/card_1013480_character.png

^{Click here to see him as a child}

^{Click here to see him with hidden power awakened}

Voiced by (Japanese): Eiji Hanawa
Voiced by (English): Patrick Seitz, Nazeeh Tarsha (young), Terri Doty (child)
Voiced by (Latin American Spanish): Juan Carlos Tinoco

"Might makes right and might alone! Without strength, we have nothing! If I don’t win, then all my effort, all I’ve struggled to achieve, all of it will have been pointless. I'll lose everything, just like I did before... and I absolutely refuse to go through that again! I cannot! I WILL NOT!"

The Ace of the Pride Troopers, Jiren is the strongest member of Universe 11's team, even stronger than the universe's God of Destruction, Belmod, and is possibly the strongest mortal in the multiverse. He participates in the Tournament of Power for the purpose of obtaining a wish from the Super Dragon Balls.

Jiren's characterization has a drastic difference between mediums, with his two versions being quite different from the other, to the point that details from both versions contradict themselves.

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A-D

The Ace: Jiren is both an enormously powerful mortal potentially stronger than his God of Destruction and a widely respected superhero who has saved his universe many times. Throughout the tournament he basically serves as a barrier for Goku and the others, with even Goku's Ultra Instinct not being enough to beat him.
Adaptational Badass: A Downplayed version, since his strength is essentially the same in both versions, but in the manga Jiren never gets knocked down and nearly eliminated by Ultra Instinct Goku like he does in the anime. He just straight-up beats him. Nor does the context of the scene try to downplay his victory as happened in the anime (where Jiren expressed shame about having to rely on Goku's stamina running out to beat him); Belmod and his Pride Trooper teammates outright declare him the victor, and no one objects. That said, like the anime, beating UI Goku still costed him most of his power.
- In Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, this trope is zig zagged. According to Vegeta, Jiren's power isn't that different from Vegeta himself or Goku, but his mind and body are relaxed until the moment he strikes, making his attacks save stamina, unpredictable, and more powerful. So while Jiren is far weaker there, he's a much better fighter.
Adaptational Nice Guy:
- Granted, he is a superhero but from what we have seen in the anime, he is an Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy who does not hesitate to show other fighters just how strong he is and doesn't seem to show his care for other people in general like his fellow comrades. In the manga, however, his first appearance has him save the Pride Troopers and the other people from a monster that is currently attacking the planet and holds on a conversation with Top as he needs to keep the civilians safe at first. He also initially didn't want to participate in the Tournament of Power because he doesn't want to lead the other universes to erasure and only joins after Belmod promises him the use of the Dragon Balls and to be able to immediately withdraw from the tournament if anything happens in Universe 11. He has also yet to show his Hope Crusher habit that leads to his constant Kick the Dog moments against 17, Goku, and Vegeta. When Android 17 "sacrifices" himself, he notably laments the outcome ends up declaring that he's not pleased with the outcome and doesn't want to witness such acts, as opposed to telling Goku and Vegeta that they should be grateful his sacrifice saved their "weak selves". Likewise, in Xenoverse 2, he's actually more like Top personality-wise, constantly going on about justice being served (as opposed to being The Stoic for the most part in Super).
- However, he does display Jerkass tendencies. When Kefla starts destroying the Pride Troopers and almost defeats Dyspo and Kahseral, Goku suggests Jiren to "help his allies", but Jiren considers it "unnecessary" and even gives the two a cold glare just as Kefla is about to defeat them. It's only Kefla's sudden shift of focus to Jiren and Goku that ultimately saves the two. Just like in the anime, when both Top and Dyspo are at risk of being knocked out, he does nothing, and allows it, though without reprimanding or insulting his teammates. It should be noted that Top and Dyspo were explicitly too weak to do anything at that point in the manga, even jump, so Jiren letting them be eliminated comes off as justified, he's just kind of a dick about it.
- When Android 17 sacrifices himself, Jiren just tells them that he's quite unhappy that it had to come to that and that, even then, it did nothing. In the anime he rubbed their faces in it, displayed no remorse, and called 17 pathetic.
- In the manga, Jiren doesn't try to murder the audience out of spite while fighting UI Goku.
- Given that, past his introduction, all the manga does is excise gratuitous dog-kicking moments instead of actually changing any plot points, it's likely that it's more a case of Adaptational Villainy on the anime's part (similar to what was done with Beerus). Generally the plot points in Toriyama's outline are shared between versions, and he's acknowledged that Toei has to add a lot of their own content to turn it into a full-length show (the manga by comparison is much more barebones and closely supervised by Toriyama).
Adaptational Wimp: His future counterpart portrayal in Xenoverse 2 is significantly less impressive, with Jiren getting brainwashed by Dabura and beaten by the Time Patroller in combat. Making this jarring is that he is canonically the strongest character featured in the Infinite History DLC that isn't Whis or Vados, yet he's treated as simply a lackey to Goku Black and Zamasu. It's possible for Krillin, Yamcha, and Tien to beat him, and he isn't even involved with Goku awakening Ultra Instinct either. Unlike other examples, however, this is acknowledged in-game, with Hit stating this alternate version is nothing compared to the real deal.
All for Nothing: In the anime. Even if he had won the Tournament of Power and used the Super Dragon Balls for his wish, his wish would have been considered so selfish that it would leave the Zenos no choice but to destroy Universe 11, meaning he would have doomed his universe alongside the other 7. The manga never gives that condition to begin with, so even had he followed through with his wish instead of changing it at the last second like 17, he'd have been fine. In a variation however, Belmod reminds Jiren that Gicchin doesn't even want to be revived, which Jiren begrudgingly acknowledges.
All-Powerful Bystander: He usually sits on the sidelines until there is an enemy that is powerful enough to require him to step in. His first instance was to stop Kale's rampage and Maji Kayo from taking out Dyspo. He later does so for Goku and Hit. Once he beats Goku and rings out Hit, he declares he is no longer needed and goes back to meditating. According to the manga, he wasn't even interested in fighting in the Tournament of Power since he didn't like the idea of the destruction of the other universes. He only did because Belmod promised him the use of the Super Dragon Balls.
Almighty Janitor: He's just another member of the Pride Troopers when it comes to rank. That said, not only is he stronger than Top (the leader of the Pride Troopers, and a contender for a potential God of Destruction), he possibly even outclasses the Gods of Destruction in power. And that's before he breaks his limits within the tournament and gets even stronger.
Always Someone Better: In the end, he is this to Goku, as even with the unlocking of the Ultra Instinct transformation Goku in the end can't truly defeat Jiren. In the anime, Goku does manage to overwhelm and momentarily best him after a long and even fight but the effort causes his body to break down before he can land the finishing blow, whereas Jiren was still able to to fight Frieza and Android 17 afterwards. In the manga it's even less ambiguous, as Jiren more or less straight-up bests Ultra Instinct Goku, and Belmod even simply declares Jiren the victor. What's more, Goku cannot consciously use Ultra Instinct afterwards in either the Broly or Moro story arcs, meaning that the gap between him and Jiren remains very wide for the time being.
And Your Little Dog, Too!: In the anime. During the final leg of the Tournament of Power, Jiren ends up furious over Goku's constant remarks about The Power of Friendship and outright attempts to murder Goku's friends and loved ones in the stands. Goku deflects the blast, and is so outraged at Jiren for doing something that underhanded that he beats him into the ground.
Anti-Hero: He's outwardly (though also stoically) smug and not exactly warm or friendly like many traditional superheroes, yet he's selfless and he focuses entirely on justice. He also seems to get offended when Hit says he has honor. He also doesn't consider the Pride Troopers or Belmod as friends and treats them like tools, despite them obviously caring about him. He doesn't even assist Dyspo and Kahseral against Kefla, saying that helping out his allies is "unnecessary".
Arc Symbol: Once he start's to let loose, he's strongly associated with fire. His ki is red, and takes the appearance of magma, a sun, and crackling fire.
Arc Villain: He is the main antagonist of the Universe Survival arc, as the Zenos are ultimately revealed to have staged the tournament as a Secret Test of Character. Plus, Jiren wasn't the nicest of guys in the first place. He was the ultimate obstacle Universe 7 had to overcome.
Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy:
- He's very assured of his strength and won't mince words about opponents being beneath him or wasting his time. He's even willing to sit back and let his teammates deal with the small-fry.
- His reaction to Vegeta ringing out Top is to insult his old friend and teammate's efforts, saying he expected better, although in this case he is mainly angered by how Top sacrificed his values for power. That being said, when Goku calls him out on this, Jiren kicks him into a wall.
Authority Equals Asskicking: Subverted. He's explicitly stronger than Top and even in the same tier as actual Gods of Destruction, maybe even stronger, but still subordinate to him in the Pride Troopers.
Awesomeness by Analysis: After only observing the incomplete Ultra Instinct twice, once from their battle and again against Kefla, Jiren is more than capable of matching Goku's third usage of it after he overcomes his initial surprise, even overcoming the very same finishing move Goku used on Kefla. In the manga he's capable of adapting to UI's speed and move pattern after fighting against it for some time, to the point that he manages to actually catch UI Goku's leg and later to land a clean hit with his punch to defeat Goku.
Ax-Crazy: While he did not qualify as this at first, as he kept extremely good control over himself, when Ultra Instinct Goku starts to push him back at full power he becomes increasingly irrational and hysterical as his beliefs are pushed to the limit until eventually he decides to try and massacre Goku’s friends and family in the spectator stands both out of spite and out of a deranged desire to prove his ideals are better than Goku’s.
Badass Back: Jiren's "Power Impact" technique, a growing energy ball that captures and hurls his opponent away into the air, ends with him turning his back on his opponent before detonating his attack.
Badass Bystander: Despite being more powerful than all of the other members of his team combined, Jiren spends a majority of the tournament not fighting. He does not jump in until Kale goes berserk and has to be stopped. After dealing with her, he does not fight again until Maji Kayo nearly defeats Dyspo, although earlier, he was about to attack Ribbrianne before Vegeta beat him to it. He finally shows his prowess when he fights Goku. After defeating Goku and Hit, he goes right back to meditating since he believes he has beaten everyone he would be needed for, and erects a barrier around him, with Top stating Jiren will only battle those who break said barrier.
Batman Can Breathe in Space: According to the manga, he flew all the way to Planet Toware without the use of a spaceship, implying he can either survive in a vacuum like Frieza or hold his breath for a very long time.
Berserk Button: In the anime:
- A pretty subtle one, but Jiren is overprotective of his chance for a wish from the Super Dragon Balls. Vegeta's fight against him didn't make him react at all, but once Vegeta proclaimed that he will get the wish, Jiren was visibly pissed and decided to strike back. It's later revealed that the reason for this is that he wants to wish back his dead companions and family in the anime, and his master in the manga.
- He respects people who achieve strength while preserving their values, but he is disgusted by those who abandon their principles for power.
- Like Top, he reacts with genuine anger when 17 scorches his back and damages his uniform.
- Bringing up his Dark and Troubled Past is another sore spot for him. He tells Belmod to shut up after telling his story and later attacks 17 when he starts prodding.
- Being cornered by Goku reminded him of his previous failure in the past, and caused him to go berserk and awaken his hidden power.
- The Power of Friendship is also a big one for him, since it denies everything he's ever been, and he sees such a simple concept as trivializing his own past trauma. He fought for a noble cause and with his companions at his back as a child and it brought him nothing but death and terror. He was enraged enough to attack the spectator stand of Universe 7 with a blast, nearly killing Goku's defenseless friends and allies. He grows out of it later on, though.
- In the manga, he noticeably goes into Tranquil Fury mode when Vegeta insinuates that he's not a true warrior and never risked his life in a battle. As it turns out, there's a good reason for this.
Beware the Quiet Ones: Jiren stays quiet most of the time, and when he does speak, he speaks rather softly (though his voice is very deep), and his sentences are short and to the point. He's also one of the most powerful mortals in the multiverse (if not the most powerful), and is even stronger than Belmod, his own God of Destruction.
Beyond the Impossible:
- While Goku already boasts the feat of being able to move during a Time-Skip, Jiren does one better by managing to break out of a "Cage of Time" using raw power. Jiren is so strong that he manages to break free of time itself.
- He's able to shatter a Destructo Disc with his bare hands and without a scratch when Goku uses it against him. While other fighters learned to No-Sell Destructo Discs by using their Ki to disintegrate or redirect them, Jiren is the first being to actually be capable of physically touching one without injury since Perfect Cell.
- Unlike most Dragon Ball antagonists who quickly find themselves overpowered by a new power or transformation he is able to match and even overpower Goku when he's using Ultra Instinct from the start, being able of dodging or blocking most of Goku's blows despite the incredible and continuous increase in speed and strength. He later manages to tag Ultra Instinct Goku a few times, which is a huge feat given the incredible speed, agility and reflexes given by that state. In the manga he does even better by being able of adapting to Ultra Instinct enough to be able of grabbing Goku and of defeating him with one punch that knocked Goku of Ultra Instinct.
Big Bad: The closet thing to the Universal Survival Saga, though Top is the leader of the Pride Troopers and Team Universe 11, Jiren is the most powerful member among them.
Big "SHUT UP!": Tells Belmod this after Belmod reveals to everyone Jiren's Dark and Troubled Past. He also does this to 17 along with a beating after 17 tells him how stupid his motivation is.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: During their Last Stand, it is revealed that Jiren is nowhere as kindhearted and heroic as we were initially led to believe and cares nothing about the Pride Troopers, seeing them only as tools to use to get what he wants.
Black-and-White Insanity: Implied. He considers Hit's "assassins' pride" to be complete rubbish, and calls Vegeta's fighting style "impure".
Jiren: Your fists are arrogant. There isn't a speck of purity in the self-righteous way you fight!
Body Motifs: His eyes. Jiren has 2 tricks that are truly lethal tied to his eyes. One, he can create a force field with nothing more than a glare and the other is that he can hit you multiple times, while making it look like he never moved, once again via a glare. When he's about to blast someone away, the camera tends to zoom in on his face and his cold eyes, moreso than any other character.
Bond Villain Stupidity: Although he's not villainous, Jiren often doesn't bother to knock people off of the stage (such as Kale and Goku) even though he could easily do so because he doesn't consider them a threat. This comes back to bite Jiren at the last leg of the tournament when he nearly rings out Goku only for him to be saved by Frieza (who he neglected to ring out earlier) as well as 17 (who survived his self-destruction). Now Jiren has less than a minute to deal with three opponents. Before that, when he has Goku and Vegeta at his mercy, he decides to brutally pummel them just to crush their spirits and rub his power in their faces until he gets bored and decides to ring them out; this leads to Goku retriggering his Ultra Instinct form and handing Jiren his ass.
Boring, but Practical: Jiren's fighting style is a pretty standard set of punches and energy blasts. He lacks the technical fighting style of previous antagonists like Hit or Zamasu, being "strong, plain and simple". His most original technique come from his eyes, which can stop almost anything with sheer force alone.
Break the Cutie: Jiren as a child is positively adorable, and that precious youth was twisted in horrified screaming as he witnessed his home burned and family butchered.
Bring It:
- When Goku is charging the Spirit Bomb, he worries he might not have enough time to charge it against Jiren. Jiren, on the hand allows him to charge it.
  Goku: It's not enough. It'll take too long to gather the energy.
  Jiren: I'll wait.
  Goku: Eh?
  Jiren: I said I'll wait. That's your special attack, isn't it? Come with all your strength!
- Likewise, in his fight with Vegeta, he allows him to charge his Final Flash and makes no effort to dodge it, instead taking it head on.
  Vegeta: Jiren! After all you said to me, you're not going to try to dodge this, are you?!
  Jiren: Come.
Broken Ace: On the outside he's The Stoic ultimate World's Strongest Man, but on the inside he's full of grief over his Dark and Troubled Past that still haunts him to this day, resulting in an unhealthy obsession with strength to the point of disregarding his new companions. In a possible downplay of this tropes, he has a willingness to pick on those weaker than himself (like Vegeta) if it's necessary, but there are some subtle indications that he resents having to do so. His preconception that becoming stronger for yourself over others gets challenged when Goku's combination of Ultra Instinct and the Heroic Willpower he draws for fighting for his friends' sake starts to overtake him, and initially he does not handle this well at all.
The Brute: He serves this role in the Pride Troopers.
The Bully: At the end of the day, for all his overwhelming power, Jiren is a bully, albeit one that happened to focus most of his efforts on villainous individuals. Unlike his fellow Pride Troopers, Jiren doesn't do it in the name of justice; his sole ambition is to get stronger so that he can cover up his pain and insecurity from losing his parents and friends, and exercise that power on those weaker than him, crushing their hopes and making them feel helpless in the same way it happened to him.
The Cape: Jiren's manga personality is closer to that of a classic superhero. He's more concerned with saving civilians than learning about Goku, and initially refused to the enter the tournament of power because it would mean the death of 7 other universes.
Catchphrase: "Owari da." ("It's over." "You're finished." "This is the end.") Ironically, most of the time he uses this catchphrase, it's usually not over yet.
Challenge Seeker: He will only get serious if there is a potential threat that can challenge him, otherwise he will show no interest and will refuse to fight seriously. He even allows Goku to charge his Spirit Bomb to full power just for him to get the challenge. Likewise, in his fight with Vegeta, he allows him to charge his Final Flash and makes no effort to dodge it, instead taking it head on.
Character Development: After being beaten by Goku and then him and Frieza, Jiren finally sees what a jerk he's been and starts opening and becoming nicer, wishing for a friendly rematch with Goku along Top and his team.
Character Tic: Whenever he beats, or at least thinks he has, an opponent using an energy attack, he has a habit of turning away and doing a Badass Armfold.
Jiren: It's over.
Character Shilling: His "friends" attempt to defend his character to Universe 7's cast through his sad backstory, but Jiren himself doesn't care and treats the Pride Troopers and Belmod like garbage anyway. It eventually gets through to him.
Charles Atlas Superpower: It's unknown how or why Jiren is so monstrously powerful, but his strength is implied to be natural. The flashbacks shown during Belmod's explanation of his past reveal that Jiren simply trained hard all his life.
Clothing Damage: In episode 127, 17 manages to sneak up behind Jiren and scorch his back, damaging his costume. Like Top, Jiren doesn't take it well. In episode 130, after Goku starts wailing on him with his Ultra Instinct, Jiren releases all of his hidden power which causes his Pride Trooper costume to be torn off from his shirt and his legs up to his knees.
Cold-Blooded Torture: What he decides to do to Goku and Vegeta, in order to rub his power and their helplessness in their faces, using them as his personal punching bags until he gets bored and decides to ring them out. He beats Vegeta to a pulp, to the point Goku is horrified to watch, and then pummels Goku so badly that Master Roshi averts his eyes.
Combat Pragmatist: Surprisingly enough for a guy who likes taking challenges head on, he's not above this. See Playing Possum for more details. Justified given his backstory.
- In the Manga, when Hit has him locked in a Time Lag, he lets Hit knock him close enough to the edge just to speed up his attack and turn the tables on him.
The Comically Serious: Unlike his sworn allies, he doesn't really take part in the Sentai poses; at most, he just stands with his arms crossed, not looking at anything. This makes sense because he doesn't even like the Pride Troopers. They just formed around him and he uses them when necessary.
Composite Character: In Xenoverse 2, while he's himself, generally, he shares Top's incredible sense of justice.
Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Jiren firmly contrasts his predecessor antagonists. Previous antagonists were all straight out evil, while Jiren is solidly a Hero Antagonist, and in the manga, arguably more heroic than the protagonists. While most villains serve as Evil Counterparts to Goku, Jiren is a Shadow Archetype with a very similar upbringing but gone down a more darker path. He also contrasts the hamminess of previous villains, tending to be The Stoic who rarely speaks. Additionally, Jiren earned his power through a lifetime of battle, Training from Hell, and being pals with his universe's gods (partly due to his aforementioned adventures and heroism). Previous villains were mostly either born powerful (King Piccolo, Vegeta, Frieza, Cell, Buu) or gained most of their power by stealing it in various ways (Ginyu, Gero, Babidi, Zamasu), causing them all to be arrogant and to look down on the very idea of training.
Crazy-Prepared: When the battle between Goku and Kefla finally catches Jiren's attention, Jiren was actually carefully observing the battle in case if Goku activated his Ultra Instinct again. That's because the first time he was fighting against Ultra Instinct Goku, he was caught a bit off guard, despite still fighting evenly. This time around, Jiren was prepared for Goku's tactics, and even countered the same exact Kamehameha he used to finish Kefla off.
Crutch Character: In the manga, Top bemoans that the Pride Troopers are entirely dependent on his strength to carry them. Ordinarily this wouldn't be the case, presumably, but this is a tournament where the Pride Troopers' second-best (Top himself) is barely a match for the second-stringers of Universe 7. The anime even makes this a defining factor of the team; the Pride Troopers weren't gathered to fight evil, they all decided to follow Jiren's strength, creating a group that fights evil after joining him.
Curb-Stomp Battle: Basically, this is Jiren's specialty. It doesn't matter who you are, how strong you are, how many people you have, or whatever attack you can throw at him, Jiren is simply an overwhelming force of nature. Doubly so when you consider that all of his battles, with the sole exception of his clash with UI Goku at the end, are fought with a tiny scrap of his true power.
- He's able to take down Super Saiyan Berserk Kale with one energy blast in the anime, reverting her back to normal form. Kale had just stood up to a Kamehameha from Super Saiyan Blue Goku and kept on going, showing just how powerful Jiren is.
- His anime-only fight against Maji-Kayo is similarly one-sided. The sheer force of his punch is enough to throw his enemy out of the ring and reduce him to a small blob.
- His fight with Frieza. Though Frieza managed to catch Jiren off guard with a kick to the head, he never stood a chance, even as Golden Frieza as Jiren halts his attack with one hand. In the manga it's even worse as Frieza is effectively knocked out of his golden form with one held-back punch. Jiren would've then ejected him from the ring with a light chop if 17 hadn't blown himself up as a distraction.
- The anime drags them out, but his fights with Hit, SSBKK Goku, and SSBE Vegeta are each over after 2-3 hits and some No Selling in the manga, despite Jiren being nowhere near his full power. Roshi goes down in one light chop after the shock of his dodging technique wears off, though that's hardly surprising.
- A manga-only example: he defeats the giant monster that was restraining Dyspo and Top with a single blow, then shrinks it and puts it into a capsule.
- In Heroes, he literally obliterates Kamioren by bull rushing into it in a similar manner to the aforementioned monster.
Curb Stomp Cushion:
- His first fight with Goku in the anime. He easily thrashes Goku - while the latter is using the Super Saiyan Blue / Kaio-ken X20 combo - across the battlefield, but Goku did manage to (barely) keep up with him, get a small hit in, and his Kaio-ken boosted Kamehameha actually gave Jiren a minor Oh, Crap!. Of course, during all this Jiren never bothers to get really serious. Goku seems to have made it even when he gains his new form, but at this point Jiren uses more of his power and simply pushes him back, whereafter the form gives out. In the manga this never happens and Goku just gets flattened prior to obtaining Ultra Instinct. Even his pseudo Kaio-ken doesn't help.
- In both the anime and manga Hit actually manages to almost knock him out of bounds and use his time manipulation powers to paralyze Jiren, with Jiren having to put serious effort into escaping. In the anime specifically, he also fights Jiren solo for a while and lasts a decent bit, with Jiren being forced to take the offensive.
- In both the anime and manga, SSBE Vegeta lands a solid kick on Jiren (which budges him, if nothing else) and makes him uncork more of his power to stomp him. Though Jiren was absolutely holding back at that point, it's still the first time he seems to use any effort at all besides breaking out of Hit's time skip.
Cynicism Catalyst: The brutal murder of his entire family, followed by the same happening to the comrades he later formed, soured Jiren's feelings about "justice", now believing that the only justice comes from power.
Dark and Troubled Past: When he was a child, his parents were murdered and his village was destroyed by a monster, after being adopted by an old man, he became motivated to become a strong fighter. After years of training with his master and others, the same monster reappeared, though Jiren believed he and the friends he made would stood a chance, most of them, including his master were killed. Soon, he became convinced that strength was all that he needed to ensure victory.
Defeat Means Friendship: After being defeated by Goku, both in a one-on-one fight and due to Goku’s trust in his teammates, Jiren begins to open up to both Goku and everyone around him. He respects Goku for his strength and showing him his old view of strength was wrong, and looks forward to getting stronger so he can fight Goku again, and begins to open up to his teammates and see them as friends instead of tools.
Death Glare: Appears to be fixed on his face and he has it directly aimed at Goku. Rabanra from Universe 2 tried to attack him, only to think better of it when Jiren glared at him. In fact, during much of the Tournament of Power, there is always a close-up of his cold eyes, and some of his powers involve looking at the opponent and then striking him with some sort of eye beams. His glare is powerful enough to stop a full power Final Flash.
Depending on the Writer: Jiren's characterization, like Goku Black and Beerus, has a drastic difference between mediums, with his two versions being quite different from the other to the point that details from both versions contradict themselves. The only consistent element is that he is a superhero on the job, but his heroic deeds don't stop him from being a jerk to everyone.
- In the anime, Jiren is presented as an Anti-Hero with a low tolerance for weaklings, merely standing on the sidelines as The Dreaded figure, not even helping his comrades with the exception of Dyspo. He is very mysterious and wants a wish from the Super Dragon Balls. While he is a member of a superhero team and is stated to have performed great acts of heroism, during the Tournament of Power he is hardly heroic, and he later makes it clear he does not truly value the Pride Troopers as friends. It's also shown that Jiren doesn't have the strict Thou Shall Not Kill rule his manga counterpart does, as he tried to out-right attack Goku's friends out of spite.
- In the manga, Jiren is presented as a superhero, very aloof but with a strict Thou Shall Not Kill rule, disinterested in entering the Tournament of Power if that will cause the destruction of other universes. He however changes his mind when Belmod offers him the wish from the Super Dragon Balls, but even then he will return to his universe if there are problems. He has a more direct participation in the Tournament, helping Dyspo and knocking others fighters aside.
- Jiren's Xenoverse 2 characterization presents him as a man with very little tolerance for evil, something the anime never hints at (in fact, Jiren sounds like a Composite Character, combining elements of Top)^note. He is brainwashed by Dabura to help Goku Black and Zamasu in a mission but he himself is not evil. His voice clips also sound more encouraging with likes like "Faster! Now is not the time to falter!" and "Do you need my help?"
- How strong he is is also this trope. The manga and (specially) the anime put emphasis on him being stronger than Goku and Vegeta. But under Toriyama, in Super Hero, Vegeta says that while Jiren was overwhelmingly strong, his power wasn't that different from Vegeta's or Goku's own, and that he was fully relaxed while fighting until the moment he strikes, making his attacks save stamina, unpredictable and more powerful. Essentially he's about as strong as Goku and Vegeta but is a better fighter.
Determinator: Even once Hit placed him in a Time Lock, he just looked down for a moment and slowly pushed himself towards Hit before breaking out of the Time Lock to knock Hit out of the ring.
Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: In the anime, he rudely tells Belmod to shut up when the God of Destruction starts talking about his tragic past. He's probably the only mortal in the multiverse who could get away with doing so.
Didn't See That Coming: The return of Goku's Ultra Instinct in their Final Battle clearly caught him by surprise. He's seen wide eyed in shock as his punch misses and Goku disappears then reappears behind him. Followed by Goku dodging all of his attacks and delivering a powerful punch that causes him pain.
Didn't Think This Through:
- Only taking Kale out of her Berserker Form as opposed to KO-ing her ended up hurting the Pride Troopers quite a bit. When the division led by Kahseral decide to single out Kale and Caulifla (both were at a disadvantage at the time) after Android 18 took Tupper out, Kale ends up gaining a controlled Super Saiyan form, and the two proceed to take the entire division outside of Cocotte out (who is taken out by 18 not too long afterward). If he had ringed Kale out, Caulifla would've been done for by the "wimps" she dismissed.
- Similarly, he only took Goku out after his Ultra Instinct form wore out. Jiren seems confident that Goku won't achieve such a form again, and just meditates while letting Top and Dyspo take care of the rest. Although Goku at this point would fall easily to Top and Dyspo, it's only a matter of time until he achieves his Ultra Instinct form again and challenge Jiren again. To make matters worse, powerhouses like Vegeta, Frieza and Gohan are still fully healthy and could give Dyspo and Top plenty of trouble, and sure enough, Frieza and Gohan end up eliminating Dyspo (even if it results in Gohan performing a non-lethal Heroic Sacrifice that takes him out too) and Vegeta eliminates Top.
- When brought to the last fighter of his universe, he largely focuses on taking out Goku and Vegeta, but mostly ignores Android 17 and Frieza. This allows both of them to get the drop on him, and even though he isn't fazed by it, he still allows the two time to breath and try and rest a moment. Later, his focus on eliminating Goku and Vegeta allows 17 the chance to sacrifice himself to save them, giving the two some more time to recover.
- While all of the above are easily handled by saying that this is Jiren, and he knew he could easily rise above any problems he chose to leave lingering around, his climactic battle shows him well and truly making a foresight-deprived blunder. Whilst in battle with Ultra Instinct Goku, the strongest Saiyan proclaims that the power he fights with now is not just his own, but created by him and all his companions, and Jiren just can't bring him down. Jiren's resolve is beginning to crack, but he feels that if he admits Goku's right, everything he's been and struggled for will mean nothing, so he decides to respond in kind by imposing his viewpoint of how fleeting bonds are upon Goku, by attacking the Universe 7 audience. Goku proceeds to become furious beyond all imagination and caves Jiren's face in. The "strongest man" had no Plan Bs.
Disproportionate Retribution: In the anime, during their climactic battle Goku breaks the hard truth to him about how he’s winning because of his friends' belief in him. Jiren's response to his worldview being questioned is to shot a Ki blast at the stands, all to attempt to prove Goku wrong.
Dragon with an Agenda: Episode 127 revealed he had been using the Pride Troopers all along to further his own goals and it is very heavily hinted that he wishes to use the Super Dragon Balls to bring back his dead friends and family.
Dramatically Missing the Point: In the manga. As Belmod reveals, Jiren's master Gicchin never acknowledged him as an official successor before he was killed. The dejected Jiren assumed this was because he wasn't strong enough, and so he forsook all attachments to become the strongest mortal in the multiverse. In actuality, the reason Gicchin doubted Jiren was not because of his strength, but because he was concerned that Jiren couldn't work with others or rely on anyone but himself, an essential attribute for a martial artist and superhero; that's why he urged him to join the Pride Troopers. He didn't tell him his intention because he wanted Jiren to learn the lesson himself, but he died before his plan could come to fruition. Essentially, Gicchin's act and subsequent death taught Jiren the exact opposite lesson he intended... all while Jiren continues to go down the wrong path seeking his approval.
The Dreaded: When he first appeared, his energy was strong enough to warn Goku, Vegeta, and Cabba of his immense power. His very presence is enough to scare off weaker fighters. Once he decides to face off against Goku, he unleashes an aura powerful enough to scare Beerus, and make Goku sweat. After his fight with Goku, all of the fighters know how powerful he is and know to avoid him. The fact that Frieza, the same Frieza who would sooner destroy a planet than admit that someone's stronger than he is, openly admits that he doesn't want to mess with the guy is a testament to how terrifying Jiren is.
Frieza: My, my. It looks like quite the monster is on the move.
Dub-Induced Plot Hole: In the Funimation dub, Jiren's quote about how strength is the only thing that matter is altered into him declaring that "I trust nobody, not even dragons". Even ignoring the fact that the line has a drastically different meaning than the original version, Jiren has never even heard of the wish-granting Shenron prior to the Tournament of Power not to mention that the reason why he even participates in the first place is because he wants to fulfill his own wish from it.

E-M

Early-Bird Cameo:
- Seen in the Genkai Toppa × Survivor opening fighting Goku as an equal even before he's formally introduced in the show. Likewise, he appears as a boss fight in Dragon Ball Heroes.
- Subverted in the series proper. The cloaked figure standing next to Belmod in the Zeno Expo appears to have originally meant to be Jiren, but if the production team replaced him with Top as a last minute decision or originally planned as a space they can fill as needed is a mystery.
Establishing Character Moment: Both versions perfectly demonstrates his status as The Ace of Universe 11:
- His first appearance has him on a planet, completely alone while merely meditating. Since the same episode shows Top and the other troopers as superheroes as a team, this quite subtly shows his indifferent attitude to his team.
- In the anime, when Goku meets him, his first action is to teleport behind Goku and to tell him to get lost, and when Liquiir speeds up the reconstruction of the arena, he doesn't even move a muscle as he has already sensed the blocks. Everyone else from Universe 7 has to dodge at least one.
- The manga introduces Jiren by saving the rest of the Pride Troopers from a monster they were having problem with, and eliminating him with one punch, but also putting him inside some sort of capsule, well showing his status as The Ace and establishing his heroic personality.
Everyone Has Standards: He expresses shock when Goku is left incapacitated due to the physical toll Ultra Instinct has left on him, and when Belmod tells him to knock Goku off of the stage, he hesitates for a moment, then tells Goku that he would rather not end the battle this way, but he has no other choice.
- In the manga, Jiren's not happy that Android 17 killed himself to knock him off and achieved nothing. Though that doesn't quite stop him from bragging about his strength.
Jiren: One of your allies is dead and gone. This does not please me. Nothing you do will change anything, so I'd rather not witness such acts.
Evil Is Petty: In the anime. When Goku calls him out on how being an Ineffectual Loner does nothing for anyone, and how he gained his Heroic Resolve from his True Companions, Jiren goes ballistic beyond all reason and attempts to murder Goku’s friends and family out of nothing more than spite.
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: While not evil, Jiren can't understand why Vegeta continues to keep fighting despite knowing full well he can't win; Vegeta simply retorts that explaining where his strength comes from to an emotionless monster like Jiren would be a complete waste of time. Later, he doesn't understand why Team Universe 7 puts so much faith in Goku. Having been abandoned by his fellow students, Jiren feels that trust is meaningless. Even later when Top thanks Jiren for his efforts, despite losing, Jiren can't help but ask why he's thanking him, considering he treated them all like trash throughout the entire tournament.
Face Death with Dignity: When it becomes clear he stands no chance against Ultra Instinct Goku, who has beaten him down to the ground, he tells Goku to get done with eliminating him while closing his eyes and awaiting his fate. He lucks out in Goku's Ultra Instinct timing out just at that moment.
Fatal Flaw:
- Being unable to let go of the past. This is made more explicit in the manga.
- Pride. Jiren is not boastful about it, but he is clearly proud of his own strength, believing that Might Makes Right and only giving attention to those who interest him - which means only Goku. He finds everyone else a annoying gnat not worth the attention. This attitude makes him a liability on a tournament where the winner is chosen by the number of participants on the arena, and by the final minutes he's alone while Universe 7 has roughly 4 participants still left.
The Fettered: We haven't got a great deal of insight into his own fetters, but he has shown a great deal of respect for the fetters of others. Top abandoning his ideals for power earned Jiren's quite bluntly stated contempt, whereas Vegeta demonstrating dedication to his ideals causes Jiren to openly praise him (which is pretty much the first time he's done that for anyone).
Final Boss: Jiren is the final threat that Universe 7 takes on in the Tournament of Power.
Finishing Move: His "Power Impact" move seems to be this, as he's used this to take out Kale, Goku, Hit, and Vegeta. He incapacitated all four of them with the move, although Hit was the only one actually knocked off the stage.
Foil:
- To Goku. Both lost their families at a young age and were left alone until they gained friends and started training under a master, both strive to get stronger and are heroes and the strongest mortals and The Aces for their respective universes. In addition, they were both offered the position of their respective universes' next God of Destruction and turned it down due to a lack of interest. There are quite a few differences between them, however:
  - Jiren is very serious and fights For Great Justice, is a full time hero, and only enters the fray when he deems it to be necessary. Goku is an immature thrill-seeker who mainly fights for the thrill of it, helping others and saving the world only if they really need his help and in his immediate vicinity (note Jiren running out to save a random planet in his manga introduction vs Goku being entirely ignorant of Frieza's rampages in the Broly film), and will at times prioritize his desires for a good fight over the safety of others, leading to the endangering of lives. This is particularly emphasized by both of their reactions to being informed of the tournament of power in the manga: Jiren is reluctant to compete, and says that he'll only do so on the condition that he get to freely leave if a crisis in Universe 11 that endangers innocents requires his intervention. Goku is ecstatic about the tournament and doesn't spare a thought to helping anyone. Related to the above, Goku has a bad habit of letting his guard down. Jiren is untouchable even when he's meditating and is virtually impossible to take by surprise.
  - Jiren's friends gathered around him because of his strength, but he considers them impersonal associates, at best; since Jiren is disillusioned with the concept of trust and doesn't care about his friends at all. Goku's friends gathered not only because of his strength, but also an odd personal magnetism, and he truly cares about his friends and treats them like family.
  - More specifically, Goku draws Heroic Willpower from the trust and belief his friends have in him, while Jiren sees personal ties as a liability, specifically weaknesses to be shunned, and raw strength as a reliable absolute and acceptable replacement. Jiren has a specific wish in mind for the Super Dragon Balls, while Goku has no idea what to wish for.
- Ultimately, Jiren and Goku's personal contradictions stand in direct contrast to one another, especially in the manga where Jiren is more heroic. Jiren is incomprehensibly powerful (stronger than his God of Destruction) and has set goals for his strength which are tied to protecting others, but which also lead to a selfish and backward-looking desire to right the tragedies of his past (the wish he'd reluctantly sell out the other universes for). Jiren's pursuit of justice manifests in a wish that would have, for its selfishness, left all the universes destroyed, despite his lifetime of selfless heroism. This runs in direct opposition to Goku, who is much weaker than Jiren, still chasing the tail of his God of Destruction, and all-avarice in his basic conduct, but so ambivalent toward anything not involving his own fun or training that he'll mindlessly give up just about anything else to help others. Goku doesn't fight for others, while Jiren very much does, yet Goku continuously draws others toward them and morally betters them while Jiren pushes them away. Goku relies on finding and utilizing those stronger than him while Jiren's past experiences and unmatched strength leave him dismissing the same thought. Jiren has not recovered from his master's death despite knowing deep down that Gicchin wouldn't want to be brought back, while Goku learned early on to accept the death of his master, Son Gohan, resulting in the weaker but upwardly motivated, forward-looking Goku having the superior life experience. Finally, Goku has no use for his strength beyond personal challenge, but it is exactly this narrow-mindedness that allows him to do things like use his wishes to save total strangers, or to inspire former enemies to do so.
- He's also one to Hit. Both serve as The Ace of their universes, have serious demeanors, are similar in size and build, and have reputations for achieving the impossible. However Jiren is a hero in his universe, while Hit is an assassin, meaning they have opposite ideologies since Jiren saves lives while Hit takes them. Further contrasts can be seen with their relationship with Goku despite both of them being rivals to the Saiyan. Hit came to respect Goku and sees him as a Friendly Enemy who he is willing to team up with, while Jiren refuses to see Goku as anything but a menace albeit one who was a Worthy Opponent. Also while Hit proves to be an assassin with a good heart underneath as he is shown to respect and care for his comrades, Jiren is later revealed to be an asshole in superhero's clothing who doesn't care for his comrades despite his role as a Pride Trooper.
- Also seems to be one to Frieza. Both had possessed reputations as the strongest beings of their respective universes, both were hyped to be impossibly strong during their respective arcs, both fought against Goku and overpowered both his Kaio-ken state (with an outsider even commenting that Goku was already using the highest level possible) and a spirit bomb, triggering a new, legendary transformation within him, and both can survive in the vacuum of space. The main difference is that Jiren seems to be a paragon of justice, whereas Frieza is reviled as the most evil being in the universe even by the other Gods of Destruction. Additionally, while the advent of Super Saiyan was enough to defeat Frieza, the advent of Ultra Instinct was not enough to defeat Jiren. To top it all off, his name, being a pun on the word "stove," is the direct opposite of Frieza's own name pun — "freezer," of course.
- After learning his backstory, Jiren has become a foil to Vegeta. Both lost their families to an unstoppable force of pure malice that they've been striving to destroy at any cost. A difference being that Jiren initially believed he could find strength in numbers, while Vegeta was willing to be the last Saiyan standing so long as his race outlived Frieza. Jiren had humble beginnings while Vegeta was born into royalty. Jiren became the revered poster boy for his team, while Vegeta was for a long while a tag-along that the other fighters put up with. Jiren grew to lose respect for his partner Top, while Vegeta had a grudging respect for Goku that eventually became a friendly rivalry.
Freak Out: In the anime. When pushed back by Ultra Instinct Goku, Jiren remembers the trauma of how powerless he was when his friends and master where killed and promptly goes ballistic, actually trying to kill the people in the spectator stands just to disprove Goku's point of how friends make one powerful. In the manga, while he does lose his cool, he stays focused on the battle and beats UI Goku fair and square (partly by the latter running out of energy). He doesn't enter a mental breakdown and never tries to kill the audience.
Freudian Excuse: Of the How We Got Here variant, regarding his obsession with power. Jiren's young life consisted of having it cruelly beaten over his head that nothing beyond power will ever be consequential. His family? Power can take that away. His master and friends; ooh, power can take that away from him too. Having lost everything he ever valued twice over to such a thing, Jiren decided then that he'd be powerful — more powerful than anyone.
From Nobody to Nightmare: Hero version. He was just an ordinary child until an evil entity murdered his parents and his teacher and fellow students. That child would then grow up to become the strongest mortal ever.
God Job: It's revealed that Jiren was the original choice to succeed Belmod as the Universe 11 God of Destruction; the only reason Top was chosen instead is because Jiren didn't want the job.
Good Is Not Nice: Is clearly on the side of good, but he is anything but kind, being a loner who rarely shows any level of respect to others. Anime Jiren eventually has a Freak Out that almost pushes him to flat-out villainy, capable of mindless outbursts of rage that will make Super Buu proud. To the point that he tried to kill Goku's friends in a fit of mental breakdown.
Good Old Fisticuffs: Jiren's fighting style focuses heavily on punches. How it stands out from that of other characters is the emphasis of the raw force of his punches. He was able to ring out Maji Kayo just from the wind of a single punch, and focusing his ki into his fists and throwing a punch is enough to throw a ki "blast" strong enough to intimidate Goku into dropping SSB.
Go Out with a Smile: As he's being erased, he hears out Goku's speech on how he's a Worthy Opponent and wanting to face him again, he gives off one last smile to his rival.
Graceful Loser: After being defeated by Goku and Frieza, he takes his loss well. Once 17 revives the defeated universes, he expresses a desire to fight Goku again.
The Greys: His design is inspired by this trope, like Jaco and the Tournament Presenter. He is even called "The Gray" as his Red Baron title.
Groin Attack: He suffers this during his first fight with Ultra Instinct Goku. The two are evenly matched until Goku does this to him, with Jiren having a clear look of pain on his face.
Hard Work Hardly Works: In a franchise infamous for naturally talented, yet less hard-working fighters being able to power through hard-working, yet naturally weaker warriors, he's one of the biggest aversions in the multiverse. He's possibly stronger than the Gods of Destruction, but went From Nobody to Nightmare, working up to those heights through sheer willpower and determination.
Hero Antagonist: Very literally. He's the biggest obstacle in the way of Universe 7 winning the Tournament of Power, being the most powerful fighter there. He's also a member of a team of superheroes, has saved his own universe countless times, and is overall a much more heroic character than Goku. The anime hits him with a dose of Sanity Slippage but he retains his heroic characterization in the manga.
Heroic Build: Compared with most of Dragon Ball Super fighters, this guy has a well-built figure. Combined with his uniform, and he looks exactly like the superhero he is supposed to be. Heck, it arguably qualifies as an aversion of Toriyama's usual habit of making the unassuming-looking fighters the most powerful ones.
Hero Killer: Subverted: He seems to indirectly kill 17, as the android is forced to self-destruct to prevent Jiren's massive energy attack from wiping out the rest of the downed Universe 7. However, it's later shown that 17 survived.
He Who Fights Monsters: Anime only. Jiren built his whole life on the notion that strength trumps the help of others, whether it be companionship or mentorship. When he starts to get overwhelmed by Goku drawing Heroic Willpower from The Power of Friendship, he sends a blast at the stands to reaffirm his own view. While the point was to emphasize that we, the audience, knew they were full of Goku's friends, they were also full of Jiren's own companions, the deities of the neutral universes, and the surviving angels. This action would have cost Jiren probably the entire tournament. While many of the Gods of destruction would have survived, it's not certain all of them would have, and it would have been a gross breach of decorum, were it not for Goku intercepting that blast.
Hey, You!: Jiren never really call other people by their name much and the few times he did at Top or Belmod, he does so without any honorifics which is incredibly rude particularly towards the latter. The fact that he addresses Goku by his name demonstrates Jiren's great interest in the Saiyan. In the manga, Vegeta comments sarcastically that he's flattered Jiren actually remembered his name.
Hidden Heart of Gold: The reason manga Jiren is so cold. Belmod notes in the final chapter of the Tournament of Power that he used his incredible power and sense of justice gifted to him by Gicchin to keep order in his universe, but never truly trusted anyone but himself to do so, and so took on all his burdens largely alone. As a result he acts aloof to keep people away. At the end of the arc he seems willing to shed it when Belmod calls him on it, specifically when he claims he only wanted to revive his dead master to impress him with his power.
Belmod: Don't play the stoic again, Jiren. Inheriting the mantle of justice wasn't the only reason you wanted to revive Gicchin, was it?
Jiren: ...
Hoist by His Own Petard: In the anime, Jiren is ultimately overcome by the three remaining Universe 7 fighters (Goku, Frieza, and Android 17) working in tandem and the two arch-enemies ultimately sacrificing themselves to toss Jiren out of bounds, leaving 17 (and U7) the Tournament of Power's sole survivor. If Jiren had actually committed his strength to helping his teammates, rather than just waiting around for the other teams to whittle themselves down in order to hoard the wish for himself, there would have been a real chance that his Universe could have won the tourney.
Honor Before Reason: Not that it matters but Jiren has loads of opportunities to simply eliminate everyone and seal the tournament's fate in his universe's favor, however, he is perfectly content to let everyone else handle things until someone powerful enough to reasonably challenge what he's put out at the time stands up to him. In fact, during their first battle, he tells Goku that he would wait patiently for Goku to gather all of the energy for his Spirit Bomb and not attack Goku until it's ready. Jiren tosses it back without a sweat. Belmod states that countering an opponent's strongest attacks without any apparent effort like this are part of Jiren's style. This is because every time he tried to protect something it all came out to nothing and he gains satisfaction by proving this futility to people weaker than him.
Hope Crusher: In the anime.
- His fighting style in a nutshell; let the enemy attack with their full power to no effect, then beat them down when they're demoralized afterwards to show the massive gap in power.
Khai: He takes his enemy's greatest attack and crushes it with overwhelming power.
Belmod: That's Jiren's style. Isn't it riveting?
- His brutal and completely unnecessary beating of Vegeta and Goku was just because he wanted to crush their spirits. They would've been erased if he just knocked them off the stage, but he felt that validating his ideals that opposed theirs was more important so he would make their end as painful as possible. This is after he insults them for needing 17 to sacrifice himself and mocks his death as meaningless.
- His assault on the stands is a culmination of this. He wants to show, as he "learned", that power trumps anything else, including friends and any power they bring, and the best demonstration he could muster was using his own power to crush them himself. Of course, this time it doesn't work.
- His manga version completely averts this: he just doesn't care. When Vegeta accuses him of toying with his enemies, he simply responds that he doesn't waste any of his actions.
Hypocrite: In the anime.
- To a degree. He calls Vegeta's fighting style "impure" due to Vegeta's arrogance. Jiren himself fights mostly for himself and for the concept of "strength". Also, Vegeta's pride and desire is fueled be the fact that he wants to protect Earth, while Jiren fights for himself. This is not the case with his manga version, who actually is heroic and fights specifically so no one would ever die because of his weakness.
- He is also angry at Android 17 when his Pride Trooper clothes ended up getting damaged, but given the fact that Jiren doesn't really care for his fellow comrades and hasn't done any heroic actions so far, he doesn't really deserve to wear such a heroic uniform let alone be upset over it. And then he goes and destroys it himself upon powering up to the maximum.
- He also tells Goku to not get cocky just because he's in a new form, when only a few episodes ago, he flashed a cocky smirk when he unleashed his full power.
- He rants at Goku that friends are nothing to fight for when Goku tells him his reasons for why he battles when his desire for strength came from the fact he lost his family and mentor to an evil villain. What's more he straight up tries to attack Goku's friends and son in the stands just to prove his point. Arguably becoming no better than the villain from his past.
I Am Not Left-Handed: Jiren turns this into an art form with how often an opponent starts to put the hurt on, only for Jiren to reveal he's got more power where that came from. His battle with Goku has him effortlessly counter everything Goku throws at him. In fact, it's not even until Goku uses his Super Saiyan Blue-Kaio Ken combo that Jiren can even be really bothered to move. Then Goku achieves a new form and starts turning the battle in his favor. Jiren then shows he was holding back the entire fight by not using his ki for anything other than simple energy blasts, showing off his Battle Aura and knocking Goku away with one attack.
I Fight for the Strongest Side!: The main reason he even hangs with the Pride Troopers at all is because they're strong. That being said, he still views them as a means to an end, though he grows out of this mindset by the end of the arc.
I Reject Your Reality: In the anime, when Goku breaks even with him thanks to his perfected Ultra Instinct state, he starts to have trouble even comprehending how Goku is able to keep fighting. Goku tells him that the secret to his strength is due to his True Companions in the stands. Jiren, unable to come to grips with this tries to kill them in a spiteful attempt to prove Goku wrong, and pays for it dearly.
Idiot Ball: Twice.
- The first time is when he knocks out a rampaging Kale, but decides not to ring her out. The result is Kale and Caulifla eliminating several members of Universe 11's team.
- The second time is when Goku is weakened in front of him after they just fought and Jiren decides to just leave him be (after acknowledging that Goku is one of the two threats to him, the other being Hit). As a result, Goku starts to regain his strength, little by little. What makes this extra weird, is that he eliminates Hit immediately afterwards, so for some reason he decides to leave one threat in the ring, but not the other.
- Turns out Jiren intentionally used this to his advantage, as he knew that the winning hero will be granted the Super Dragon Balls to wish for. He was counting on everyone to be eliminated, including his own team members, so that Jiren gets to make his wish to revive his family and friends.
Invincible Hero: Or "Invincible Hero Antagonist" in this case, as Jiren can take on the likes of Goku and Hit in his first few fights... until he's later revealed to be Not So Invincible After All.
Inexplicably Awesome: Jiren is a mortal, but he's explicitly stronger than Belmod. No explanation is given to how is he so powerful, but all evidence suggest he trained himself to reach that level of power. Nothing in the series ever implies Jiren has a racial talent like the Saiyans or that he is a mutant like Frieza - he just trained.
Irony:
- Goku's usage of Ultra Instinct is what drives Jiren to greater heights. The ironic part is that Ultra Instinct can only be achieved by Goku calming down and letting go of all of his inhibitions and fighting habits keeping him reaching his true, ultimate potential as a fighter, while Jiren's equivalent strength is brought out by exerting and straining his body harder than he's ever managed, becoming absolutely ferocious and screaming. The two directly parallel the opposites of one another as a result.
- Despite being Universe 11' trump card as the strongest of the strong, Jiren is a liability on a tournament based on teamwork by refusing to work with anyone or give attention to anyone who doesn't challenge him or his view. If he was on a tournament based on one on one combat, he would have won.
It's All About Me: When he was still a child, his entire family was killed by an evildoer, and then that same evildoer killed his teacher and several of his fellow students. So Jiren adopted a Might Makes Right attitude and treats his fellow Pride Troopers like garbage for their failure. 17 even calls him out on this attitude, using his friends as tools just to get what he wants and acting like whatever wish he plans to use the Super Dragon Balls for will erase his terrible past.
I Work Alone: After his teacher was murdered by the same evil entity that killed his parents, his fellow students abandoned him out of fear. This inspired him to never again rely on others. Even Top's pep talk is based on Jiren's I Work Alone mentality; even if he doesn't care for his teammates, Jiren can at least win the fight for his own pride.
Jade-Colored Glasses: After the murder of his teacher, friends and family, plus the subsequent abandonment of the remaining students, Jiren became a jaded Social Darwinist, mistaking it for justice.
Jerkass: Just because he's a Pride Trooper doesn't mean he believes in camaraderie: he's an Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy and a Social Darwinist who is not above mocking Top or using his fellow Pride Troopers as pawns for the sake of attaining more power.
Jerkass Realization: After being defeated by Goku, Frieza, and 17's teamwork, Jiren finally comes to realize what a jerk he's been. After 17 revives the erased universes, Jiren finally opens up to Top and admits that he's been bound by his past traumas that he cannot form attachments with anyone. Top rebuffs this by telling him that by fighting so hard to save Universe 11, he's formed a bond with his fellow Pride Troopers and now they'll fight as True Companions, a sentiment Jiren happily agrees with.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Downplayed, but Jiren's manga counterpart on the other hand, is far from being an Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy and a Social Darwinist like his anime counterpart, as seen when he bails out Top and the other Pride Troopers in his first appearance. He's also more traditionally heroic than in the anime, showing more concern with helping civilians and actively helping the pride troopers in the tournament of power. Anime Jiren eventually devolves into a pure Jerk with a Heart of Jerk when his battle with Goku hits its lowest point, although he rebounds from it after accepting his loss.
- Despite his arrogance and Social Darwinism in the anime, Jiren IS a member of an interplanetary peacekeeping force, showing that he does value justice and peace rather than using his strength to Rape, Pillage, and Burn the way characters like Frieza would. And while being the strongest Pride Trooper, he lacks the mentality that would make him a candidate for his universe's God of Destruction.
The Juggernaut: The consistent thing about Jiren in all of his fights is that he is a nigh-unstoppable force of nature.
- Once he and Goku finally throw down, Jiren demonstrates that he can take everything Goku's got as Goku's best attacks can barely budge him off the ground. It takes Goku going Super Saiyan God for Jiren to actively block his attacks and it takes Goku going Super Saiyan Blue for Jiren to finally start fighting back, but even then, Jiren still has a very clear advantage, even when Goku uses his Super Saiyan Blue Kaio-ken x20 combo. Goku then attempts to toss a Spirit Bomb at him only for Jiren to toss it back with little effort, and only when Goku uses his Super Saiyan Blue Kaio-ken combo again does Jiren even bother using both hands. It isn't until Goku involuntarily activates Ultra Instinct does he finally start to put a dent in Jiren, but once it wears off, Jiren reveals that he's been holding back and promptly blasts him away.
- During his fight with Hit, the assassin manages to trap Jiren in a Time Cage, keeping him frozen. Jiren, with some visible effort, powers through the Time Cage and eventually shatters it before blasting Hit away with Power Impact. As Shin lampshades, not even time itself is a match for Jiren's raw strength.
- In his fight with Vegeta, Vegeta tries to finish Jiren with the Final Flash and it seems to work, but Jiren is quickly revealed to be unharmed and blasts Vegeta away once again. Though he does admit that the blast stung a bit.
- In his rematch with Goku, Goku plants some mines in the ground created from his ki. After nearly ringing Jiren out with a Destructo Disc, Jiren gets back up and walks through the mines without a scratch on him.
- Then Jiren stops holding back as nothing that Goku, Vegeta or 17 do can do much more than give him pause for a second or two. He stops and overpowers a Super Saiyan Blue x20 Kaio-ken Kamehameha from Goku by uppercutting it, takes three simultaneous energy attacks from Goku, Vegeta and 17 hitting from all sides that he repels by flaring his Battle Aura, and stops Golden Frieza's head-on assault with only a glare.
Kick the Dog: He starts dishing out these towards the last legs of the Tournament of Power, after he becomes the last warrior of his universe in the tournament. All of them are exclusive to the anime.
- He calls Top pathetic after he gets eliminated. Goku even calls him out for it.
- He mocks Goku and Vegeta for being weaklings after 17 sacrifices himself to stop Jiren's attack. He also brushes off the sacrifice itself as "ridiculous".
- He knows that the Pride Troopers and even Belmod consider him a friend, but he treats them like pawns and is not hesitant to abandon them if it is necessary.
- Instead of immediately knocking off Goku and Vegeta immediately, he decides to brutally beat them to show them their own weakness before they are erased to validate his ideal of personal strength. It's particularly bad for Vegeta who couldn't even transform out of his base state, but kept getting back up and attacking anyway. Despite being able to eliminate him easily, he uses Vegeta as a living punching bag to the point where even Goku found it horrific to watch, and he was only eliminated after Jiren got bored. He does the same to Goku to the point where Master Roshi averted his eyes, but Goku was able to reach Ultra Instinct just before Jiren hit the finishing blow.
- In the anime, when Goku starts beating him back due to mastering Ultra Instinct and Jiren hears about how Goku's friendships give him strength, Jiren angrily tells Goku that such concepts are meaningless, before he attempts to flat out murder all of Goku's friends on the stands. This is even with his own "friends" sitting right next to Goku's in the line of fire in spectator seats.
Knight of Cerebus: Despite not being a straight up villain. Goku is for the first time in real danger after being defeated by Jiren, and the threats Universe 7's team go up against start to become much worse after Jiren's fight with Goku as well. When Jiren finally faces Universe 7 again, the fights with Top and Dyspo grow more serious and desperate. To say nothing of nearly causing 17's death, even if it happened indirectly.
Lack of Empathy: He cares nothing for his fellow Pride Troopers and treats them like crap, seeing them as nothing more than tools for him to achieve his goals. Vegeta himself lampshades it when he's enduring a brutal beating at Jiren's hands thanks to visions of Bulma, telling Jiren point-blank that he's an emotionless monster and explaining the source of his strength to him would be a waste of time.
Laser-Guided Karma: In the anime. He goes out of his way to flaunt his power and cruelly rub it in Universe 7's faces by torturing them in an attempt to make them accept his cynical worldview. This gives Goku time to reach Ultra Instinct once more, perfect the form and battle Jiren to a standstill, and after Jiren tries to kill Goku's friends because he can't accept the reality of Goku's friendship-enhanced strength, Goku proceeds to lose his shit and stomp him into the ground.
Large Ham: Contrary to his anime and manga counterpart, his Xenoverse counterpart's English voice is so hammy that many people have commented that it would be more appropriate on Top. (Most likely it was written when the anime staff were first starting work on the script for the ToP; they originally gave Jiren a boisterous personality before Toriyama corrected them, at which point they transferred those lines to Top instead.)
Late-Arrival Spoiler: Jiren's name was released prior to his debut through leaks. Part of his name was spotted on the screen in the new Dragon Ball Heroes mission livecast. The episode summary of episode 82 published by Shounen Jump left Jiren's name in there rather than replacing it with Top's name.
Last Stand: Alongside Top, Jiren is also the last trump card for Universe 11. Jiren proves he's stronger than Belmod and the other Gods of Destruction as well. Jiren hasn't even reached his breaking point yet, and that's considering that he's still taking attacks from Goku and Vegeta with absolutely no stride whatsoever. As of Top's defeat, Jiren is the absolute last obstacle for Universe 11 in the Tournament of Power left, and proceeds to unleash all of his hidden power. To the point that it became Universe 7's last stand against him.
Leitmotif: In the first half of the tournament, his theme was "Desperate Plan", however, in the second half, his leitmotif became "Unwinnable Battle. Averted, however, with the soundtrack "Jiren's theme", which was meant to reflect Jiren's original personality, but was given to Top and the Pride Troopers.
Levitating Lotus Position: He's introduced doing this as training. In the Tournament of Power, once he's defeated everyone he feels worth fighting, he does it again. His energy alone is enough to repel anyone that might attack him in this state.
Lightning Bruiser: Displays great speed on numerous occasions despite his beefy size, being capable of punching so fast that it can't be seen, but as spoken by both Goku and Hit, his punches are very heavy. To round it all out, it takes Goku going Super Saiyan God just to move Jiren and Ultra Instinct to hurt him.
Hit: So these are the punches that Goku withstood...they are quite heavy indeed!
Meditation Power Up: How he gets stronger throughout the tournament, considering he can't get any stronger physically.
Might Makes Right: In the anime. After losing his parents and later his teacher and fellow students to an evil entity, and the surviving students refusing to continue fighting because of the Evil-doer's strength, Jiren came to believe that strength was all that mattered in life and could give him everything he wants. He's also a subversion as he uses his power to fight evil instead of using it to plunder the universe for his own benefit.
Mind over Matter: An odd example. Jiren doesn't use telekinesis per se, but his energy control skills and the sheer force of his willpower is enough for a determined gaze to turn back powerful attacks, and even use it as a form of Eye Beams.
Mirror Character:
- Jiren and Goku prioritize their own fighting ability over working or relying on teammates. Jiren only participates in fights he deems worthy of him and otherwise leaves his teammates to take care of everything else; Goku instead ignores his team and fights whoever seems interesting at the time. This causes both of them to inadvertently harm their teams at times. During a brief conversation they had during a clash, Goku notices they both want to be stronger, although it's ambiguous if Goku is Comically Missing the Point, since Jiren's answer is cryptic.
  Goku: Wow! You're really strong, Jiren! My hands are tingling!
  Jiren: Son Goku, why do you seek to become stronger?
  Goku: Hehe, I don't know, I just want to!
  Jiren: I see. You don't know.
  Goku: You want to be stronger too, don't you?!
  Jiren: I seek that which lies beyond strength.
  Goku: Same here! I want to be stronger too!
- To Top. Top abandoned his ideals of justice and peace to become a God of Destruction, facing no other alternatives. Jiren similarly abandoned his childlike ideals and friendship the moment his teachers and friends were killed, and seek out power for power's sake. It was revealed that Jiren hardly cares for anyone else, not even Top or Belmod.
- To Frieza. Both are calm, collected and even smug when things are going their way, are both the Token Evil Teammate of their Tournament of Power team and are both rumored to be the strongest of their respective universes. However, when Goku proves that he can challenge them despite unleashing their full power, and even defeat them, they devolve into raving and raging warriors who do everything in their power to crush him. Both of them even bulk up upon unleashing their full power and get a few good shots in on Goku despite him being clearly stronger. Both attempt to Rage Quit when losing, Frieza by blowing up the Earth and Jiren by trying to destroy Goku's friends in the stands which results in a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown. They're both also determined to best the Saiyan.
Multiple-Choice Past: His backstory differs between the anime and manga; at the moment it's not known which one is more accurate to Toriyama's outline.
- In the manga, Jiren's family isn't mentioned, and the only person he truly cares about is his former master and presumed adoptive parent, Gicchin. Gicchin respected Jiren, but would not appoint him as a successor, something Jiren resented, because Jiren couldn't work with others. He had Jiren join the Pride Troopers, a preexisting organization, to fix this issue. However when Gicchin was killed by a monster, Jiren took the opposite lesson, thinking Gicchin just wanted him to become stronger, and forsook all personal attachments to make that so. He fights for justice and adopts a Thou Shalt Not Kill code because Gicchin taught him to do so and he wants to honor his master's legacy.
- In the anime, Jiren's family was killed by a monster. He was taken in by an unnamed master with a whole school of students, but said students and master were killed by the monster as well. Jiren challenging the monster as a teen only resulted in him losing the fight and being abandoned by his comrades. After this, Jiren became jaded and sought to pursue power alone because he became fully convinced that Might Makes Right. He only fights for justice incidentally and doesn't care about it at all, being willing to murder people out of spite when sufficiently angry. The Pride Troopers formed around him, awed by his strength.
My Greatest Failure:
- In the anime, after losing his family as a child and spending his life training to avenge them, Jiren's quest brought his adoptive teacher and nearly all the friends he'd gained on his journey to be slaughtered, and the few survivors all turned on him. This experience brought Jiren to decide that the only thing in life that matters in the end is power. He goes back to his kind personality though.
- In the manga, his failure to stop his master Gicchin from dying haunts him to the present day, though unlike in the anime there's no indication he ever faced the demon responsible for his master's death directly or was present.

N-R

Nigh-Invulnerable: Nothing save for Ultra Instinct Goku has any known effect on Jiren, if anything even makes it past his force field he shrugs off attacks without batting an eye. Whis states that even a God of Destruction couldn't beat him, and that's before he goes full power.
Nerves of Steel: When Liquir starts flinging the final pieces of the stage around regardless of the presence of the fighters, Jiren doesn't even budge. He just calmly tracks their movements and knows he doesn't have to. Likewise, he doesn't fizzle after seeing Universe 9's destruction or Kale's rampage; he only looks at the situation with those cold eyes of his. Not even Goku surviving his own Spirit Bomb and reemerging with a new form fazes him. While his comrades are losing their cool, Jiren is the only one capable of tracking Goku's movements and calmly dodges.
Never Be Hurt Again: Jiren's past experiences taught him that the only thing a person can rely on is their own strength. For that reason, he doesn't let anyone get close, nor allow himself to care about anyone, because he could lose any of them in an instant. In the anime, when Goku tells him his strength comes from The Power of Friendship, Jiren loses it, and attempts to kill all of Goku's friends to teach him the same "lesson" that he learned.
Non-Indicative Name: "Jiren the Gray" is actually purple.◊
Nominal Hero: In the manga, he's a straight hero, albeit a cold one. But in the anime, he’s revealed to be this as his more darker traits shine through. Despite being one of the figureheads of the Pride Troopers, he’s so selfish and uncaring that he only sees his fellow team members as pawns to help him achieve his own ambitions, and is smug and cruel to the point of inflicting Cold-Blooded Torture on Goku and Vegeta out of needless sadism. But it’s when he really crosses the line and when he attempts to murder Goku’s friends out of spite that it becomes clear that calling him a hero is being very generous regarding him, if he can be called a hero at all.
No-Sell:
- In both the anime and manga, all of Goku's attacks up to Super Saiyan Blue Kaio-ken do nothing to him. His energy alone, just by existing, blocks base Goku's Kamehameha. In the anime he engages in Cherry Tapping by blocking all of SSG Goku's blows with one finger, stopping a Super Saiyan Blue x20 Kaio-ken Kamehameha from Goku by uppercutting it, deflecting three simultaneous energy attacks from Goku, Vegeta and 17 hitting from all sides by flaring his Battle Aura, and stopping Golden Frieza's head-on assault by lifting a single hand. In the manga he doesn't even bother with that level of effort and just lets SSB and SSBKK Goku punch and blast him all day to no effect.
- He powers through Hit's time skip with little effort, which in the words of anime Vados, makes him stronger than time.
- He later shrugs off nearly all of Super Saiyan Blue Evolved Vegeta's blows, and outright blocks his fully-charged Final Flash just by raising his arms. This is the same Vegeta that utterly trounced the God of Destruction candidate Top. The closest thing to damage happens in the manga when he gets a tiny scratch from Vegeta launching his whole body to knee Jiren in the face. This is all at his base level of power, not including his full, bulked-up power. He only uses that to fight UI Goku.
Not Bad: After tanking Vegeta's Final Flash, he takes the time to say it wasn't half-bad before blasting Vegeta.
Not So Above It All: While Jiren is usually The Quiet One, even he couldn't help himself from screaming back during his clash against Goku near the end of Episode 109.
- In chapter 41 of the manga, Vegeta mocks him for being so entrenched in the past that he'd use the omnipotence of the Super Dragon Balls solely to bring back his master so he can say he's proud of him.
Not So Similar: In the anime. As learn more about Jiren it becomes very clear the difference between him and Goku in how they perceive strength and fighting. Goku loves fighting for its own sake and never holds his power above everyone or thinks he’s superior to them and believes that fighting those that are hopelessly superior to one's self is the best way to live one's life and improve. Jiren believes strength is everything and fights purely to prove his superiority over everyone, and to prove the futility of fighting those stronger than yourself. Although Goku focuses on fighting and ignored Gohan’s strategy, he still has a plethora of moments of teamwork with his fellow teammates and helps his team throughout the tournament and fights only for them by the end. Jiren doesn’t seem to care, respect or even acknowledge anyone apart from Top and Dyspo. Or hardly anyone else at all. There’s also the fact that out of both of them, when the chips are down, Goku shows himself as a bona fide hero, while Jiren transforms into a violent lunatic.
Not So Invincible After All: While Jiren is an absolute monster when it comes to power and has more than enough skill to use it effectively, it has been shown that he isn't unbeatable, just really, really, really, REALLY hard to beat. This is more the case in the anime, as in the manga he No Sells literally everything prior to Ultra Instinct. Even SSBE Vegeta kicking him in the neck while he's off guard barely causes his head to budge.
- Goku entering Ultra-Instinct was enough to push Jiren back and brush his cheek with a punch. This was also the first time Jiren couldn't just one-shot an opponent.
- Hit successfully pushed Jiren to the edge of the ring and managed to keep him there with a Time Cage that actually took an effort to break out of. Subverted in the manga where Jiren reveals he was just pretending to be at a disadvantage so he could eliminate Hit more easily.
- Later on, Vegeta managed to see through Jiren's moves and actually managed to land a blow on Jiren's mid-section. Similarly, Android 17 manages to land a powerful Ki blast to his back when he wasn't paying attention, and Frieza was able to land a solid kick on him when his back was turned.
- His biggest moment is when Goku reawakens Ultra Instinct. He's shocked when Goku dodges the punch that should have ringed him out, gets visibly frustrated when Goku keeps dodging his attacks and ultimately doubles over in pain when Goku lands a gut punch.
- And that moment is topped when Goku masters Ultra Instinct. Jiren can't lay a finger on Goku and Goku sends him flying with a series of blows so fast we can't see it all while HAVING HIS BACK TURNED. Though he does briefly turn it around when he releases all his power at long last, even managing to overpower Goku at several points and stalemate him, his mistake of causing Goku to enter an Unstoppable Rage ends with Goku actually defeating Jiren, and Universe 7 would have won then and there if Goku's body didn't betray him at that moment. Again, averted in the manga; no amount of putting in extra effort helps against Jiren, Goku just flat-out loses and gets punched out of UI. That said, this is still the first time anyone managed to damage him.
Not So Stoic:
- Twice over, when he and Goku struggle to push the Spirit Bomb at one another, Jiren can't help but scream back at Goku, and when Hit says he has "assassin's pride", Jiren not only doesn't buy it, but he also seems angered by it, before ringing him out.
  Jiren: An assassin's pride? What rubbish!
- His instance is when Android 17 hears Belmod telling Jiren's sob story and keeps pressing the topic which angers Jiren after touching a nerve.
- Once Goku starts to master Ultra Instinct on his third try, Jiren actually smiles for once, impressed at the feat. Likely because now someone can fight on his level. As Jiren gets overwhelmed, he starts vocalizing far more than he ever has, and actively showing emotion including shock and surprise.
- Lampshaded by Frieza when Jiren is exhausted to his limits after being manhandled by Ultra Instinct Goku. Frieza notes that he's become far weaker (given that Frieza is now able to hold his own against Jiren, he's not wrong). Frieza uses this to pull a Break Them by Talking on Jiren to push him into the Despair Event Horizon and it damn near works!
Frieza: Oh? What happened to your usual poker face?
Jiren: Silence!
Frieza: Once shattered, strength and will are so fragile. I can almost hear your heart crying out. Afraid to become the weakling you once were.
Jiren:(visibly shaken, panics and starts punching Frieza) You said my strength was shattered? See for yourself if that's really true!
Frieza: (Frieza crushes Jiren between 2 boulders) You're getting too excited.
Oh, Crap!:
- It's minor, but he has a look of shock before SSB Goku fires a Kamehameha at him. He also has a brief one when Ultra Instinct Goku outmatches him in their Pummel Duel.
- And although not to the same extent, he's also visibly surprised when Hit successfully uses a Time Cage to paralyze him close to the edge of the ring.
- He also has two very visible ones against Vegeta when, Vegeta dodges his rapid fire fists and lands a clean blow and also like Cell before him, he realizes just how powerful Final Flash is before he gets hit by it. Jiren has an absolutely major one in episode 128 where Goku reawakens his Ultra Instinct when the latter is on the verge of being eliminated. Jiren desperately tries to land a hit on Goku and failing before getting punched in the stomach himself.
- This continues on into the following episode as Goku starts gaining more of a grasp on Ultra Instict, pushing back against Jiren's energy barrage and catching his energy ball with the power of a sun. To which after Goku appears behind Jiren before he realizes it, dissipates the ball and starts attacking back, walloping Jiren at speeds too fast to see.
One-Hit KO: All of his battles in the manga and some in the anime (e.g. Kale) are won in 1-2 hits, with the exception of Ultra Instinct Goku. Except in the manga, it might technically include even UI Goku- specifically, the first solid blow he lands knocks Goku out of the state, though it was noted that by blocking his blows earlier, Goku was already straining himself despite reducing any damage to an absolute bare minimum.
One-Man Army: Eliminates Maji Kayo, Hit, Vegeta, Frieza, and Goku during the tournament of power (He also eliminates Master Roshi in the manga). Contrast this to the other members of Universe 11 who fails to eliminate even a single opponent (unless one considers Gohan sacrificing himself to allow Frieza to eliminate both him and Dyspo in the anime). Ignoring eliminations, he's strong enough to where the combined efforts of Goku, Vegeta, 17, and Frieza cannot defeat him, and he blows them all away with ease.
One-Winged Angel:
- After Goku perfects Ultra Instinct and beats him silly, he throws a temper tantrum and breaks his limits to awaken his hidden power. His already-muscular frame bulks up enormously and he becomes much taller (noticeable when comparing the relative size of his head before and after the transformation). In the anime this is coincided with an Ultra Instinct-esque shirt rip & glowing aura (albeit, a red one instead of blue). It's enough that he's actually able to match and overpower Goku for a short time and ultimately outlast him in a Victory by Endurance.
- In the manga he actually Turns Red and bulks up again after the initial power-up, going from "full power" to "overclocked" after UI Goku proves able to block all his blows and strike hard in return. He looks the same, except his veins bulge out, his muscles get a bit bigger, and his aura gains lightning. He's even stronger than UI Goku by this point, exchanging blows with him for a while despite lacking the auto-dodge of UI and punching him out of UI, but it seems to put great strain on his body.
Orcus on His Throne: An heroic example. Despite being The Ace of the Universe 11, Jiren spends most of the time just sitting around or meditating, despite being powerful enough to easily wipe out all of the other teams if he actually felt like it. The few times he actually does fight, he defeats his opponents with little effort.
Overshadowed by Awesome: A special case in which Jiren overshadows everyone else. Top and Hit especially; the former is a God of Destruction candidate and leader of the Pride Troopers and the latter is Goku's (at the time) rival who had created new reality-warping techniques to win the tournament. They really don't live up to their hype standing next to him.
Perpetual Frowner: He doesn't seem to have any other expressions aside from his signature cold frown. Once he's reduced to the very last opponent in the entire tournament to Universe 7, he finally cracks a cocky grin as he gets ready to power up to face Goku, Vegeta and 17.
Person of Mass Destruction: Jiren may be the biggest example in the series save for Zeno. At his maximum level of power, Jiren's aura alone shakes the entirety of the World of Void and is able to match against the power of Ultra Instinct Goku (who at that point already surpassed Beerus)!
Pet the Dog:
- Despite his uncaring and selfish attitude when it comes to his comrades, when Dyspo is caught and is about to get his ears cut off by Maji Kayo, Jiren steps in and saves Dyspo from physical torture even though he could have just leave him to his brutal fate owing to his distrustful attitude.
- Right after he insults Top, he gives Universe 7 time to breathe and sincerely praises them for beating Top and attaining their levels of power without compromising their principles, before letting them see his real power.
- Right before he eliminates Vegeta, who refuses to stay down, Jiren openly acknowledges Vegeta's great pride.
- Just as he's about to take out an exhausted Goku in 130, he openly calls him "proud warrior Son Goku" and admits he wishes it could end differently and that he would live on after erasure in his memory. Despite being a smug and very condescending fighter with a brutal worldview, it seems Jiren took a genuine liking to Goku as an adversary.
- In the manga, he compliments 17's bravery when he self-destructs, and comments that he was pained to see him die. The anime turns this into a Kick the Dog moment instead and has him mocking his enemies' stupidity and weakness.
Physical God: According to Top, Jiren is stronger than him. If Top is a potential God of Destruction and able to match Goku in Super Saiyan Blue, Jiren is definitely this. Episode 100 makes it clear his reputation is well-earned when he stops a rampaging Kale easily, who had previously manhandled a suppressed Super Saiyan Blue Goku. Episodes 109/110 in the anime and chapter 30 in the manga confirm that Jiren is stronger than even Belmod, before he goes full power. Goku throws everything he has at Jiren (including a spirit bomb pushed by a Super Saiyan Blue Kaio-ken x20 in the anime and a pseudo-Kaio-ken stacked on top of his "Completed" Super Saiyan Blue in the manga) and none of it is enough to so much as budge the heavily suppressed Jiren. Even achieving a new form beyond Blue doesn't help, as Jiren simply Turns Red and regains the advantage. In fact the only reason Top is chosen as the God of Destruction candidate over Jiren was because Jiren wasn't interested and turned it down, much like Goku and Vegeta did.
Playing Possum: He pretends Vegeta's Final Flash knocked him out by laying face down in the dirt. Once Vegeta lowered his guard, he gets up and reveals he took no damage by surprise gut-punching Vegeta.
Playing with Fire: As Jiren unleashes his aura against Ultra Instinct Goku during the final showdown, it is represented by heat. In fact, this heat is strong enough to potentially kill the people in the stands as well, as shown when Khai was panicking about it. It even temporarily changed the arena into a temporary burnt setting for quite a moment too.
The Power of Friendship: Inverted to the point where it's the antithesis to Goku's. Having lost his family, his mentor and his friends, he believes that friendship is meaningless and strength alone is the only thing he can trust in.
The Power of Hate: His hatred for the evil being that killed everyone he loved, being his driving force, caused him to push himself to become the Mortal Beyond Gods. Likewise, rage towards Goku owning him, post-Perfected Ultra Instinct, is what pushes him to break his limits and awaken his hidden power.
Power Trio: In Super Dragon Ball Heroes he forms one with Goku and Hit as the three of them team up to fight Zamasu and later Hearts.
Purple Is Powerful: Has greyish-purple skin and is stronger than the Gods of Destruction, and possibly every other mortal in the multiverse.
Punch! Punch! Punch! Uh Oh...: SSBKK Goku, SSBE Vegeta, and Hit all get moments like this when they think they're making progress against Jiren. In each case he promptly shows how unaffected he was by their barrages and pounds them into the ground.
The Quiet One: Jiren does not speak much compared to everyone else. When he does speak, he talks rather softly (though his voice is very deep). His sentences are also usually short and concise.
Race Against the Clock: The rules of the Tournament of Power state that the universe with the most members left once time runs out is the winner. Since Jiren is the last member of Universe 11 still in the tournament the only way he and his universe can survive is if he eliminates Goku, Vegeta, Android 17 and Frieza all in 4 minutes. He fails.
Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: Can do this normally as basic punches, but, with one of his moves, shows that he is capable of doing this so fast, his opponent can't even see it coming, and no one who witnesses it has any idea of what just happened.
Red Baron: "Jiren the Gray".
Red and Black and Evil All Over: In the anime. He's a Sociopathic Hero who only values strength, and scoffs at stuff like friendship and trust. Not only is his costume red and black, in his full-power state, he has a red aura complimenting his black eyes. In the manga, this is more an example of Dark Is Not Evil, as he's more of a straight hero there.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Blue to Top's Red. He's also surprisingly Red to Goku's Blue.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: One of his most devastating attacks happens when his eyes flash a reddish-orange, and then his opponent is suddenly assailed by a barrage of red energy, making it seem as if he attacked them with some sort of eye beams, but it's revealed during his fight with Goku, that that's simply him using Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs so fast it merely looks like energy.
The Rival: The opening credits for the Universe Survival arc implied that he will be Goku's chief rival in the Tournament of Power. It took many episodes of build up, but it only confirmed it later.
Jiren: Saiyans... interesting beings.

S-Z

Sanity Slippage: He starts to suffer from this the more Goku keeps getting back up and attacking him, but he really loses it when Ultra Instinct Goku kicks his ass and tears all of his beliefs about strength to shreds. This leads to his attacking the spectators, where not only Goku's friends were sitting, but the rest of the Pride Troopers.
Save This Person, Save the World: Once Top is eliminated, he becomes the last man standing for Universe 11. If he is defeated, Universe 11 goes down with him.
Shadow Archetype:
- Like Goku, he's the World's Strongest Man, who lost his mentor figure at a young age, and has the goal of becoming stronger as his main drive for most things he does. Likewise, Jiren has no interest in turning into a God of Destruction, in fact already being stronger than that. The difference is that Goku and Jiren have different beliefs and lives. Goku was always surrounded by friends, grew into a Nice Guy, and believes in The Power of Friendship. Jiren, however, grew up mostly alone (sans his teacher), grew into a Sociopathic Hero, and became a Social Darwinist.
- It's more the other way around in the manga; Jiren is a much more heroic character than Goku, but the carefree fighter Goku has a loyal band of friends while the champion of justice Jiren is a cold loner. Especially ironic when we learn what Gicchin was trying to teach Jiren; Jiren possesses power surpassing the Gods of Destruction, which Goku has been trying to gain since Super started, but he lacks the ability to work in a team, which Goku has despite his comparative weakness. Despite Jiren devoting his whole life to making his master proud and succeeding in some respects, Goku actually embodies at least one aspect of Gicchin's ideal student where Jiren is distinctly lacking.
Shipless Faster-Than-Light Travel: Has some method of flying interstellar distance faster than his spaceship.
Shrink Ray: In the manga, Jiren's glove contains a small shrinking beam weapon that he uses to shrink down a monster after knocking it out. He then tosses the monster in a capsule and puts the capsule in his pocket, presumably to throw him into prison later.
Signature Move: He stands still and lets his opponent approach him, then his eyes flash as he unleashes a massive flurry of punches and kicks faster than the eye can see.
Slowly Slipping Into Evil: In the anime. Although Jiren is aloof and an Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy, he's still a hero who punishes evil at the start of the tournament and goes out of his way to save his teammates a few times. As he starts being pushed back and having his worldview disproven, Jiren becomes more and more frantic and furious until he remembers his past traumas and has a Freak Out. He then attacks the spectators in the stands just to spite Goku's belief in The Power of Friendship, sinking just as low as the monster that once killed his friends.
Smug Super:
- A far more restrained version than most examples, but it's there. After defeating Hit, Jiren decides to hang back and meditate, feeling that there's no one else worth fighting and confident that no one will dare attack him in this state. And his confidence is hardly unjustified as two warriors from Universe 3 attempted to attack him only to be repelled by his energy wall. As Top puts it, only someone powerful enough to shatter his energy wall will be worthy enough to face him.
- Jiren is so overpowered, he can fight full-power Goku and Vegeta simultaneously without even getting short of breath. It takes Goku nearly ringing him out with a well-placed Kienzan for him to make any kind of effort, and he doesn't bother powering up until he's completely out of teammates and outnumbered four to one.
- Once Jiren unleashes his full power, his arrogance goes through the roof and he starts throwing insults left and right, all while dominating Goku, Vegeta, and 17 in a three on one fight. He gets even smugger after 17 seemingly dies, and decides to torture Goku and Vegeta before eliminating them because he knows they are not a threat to him.
The Social Darwinist: In the anime . He is a superhero, and he believes "strength" is justice inspired by his tragic past, and his attitude toward weaklings is that they should be ignored. Belmod states that, despite this attitude, the Pride Troopers and himself were drawn by Jiren's thirst for strength and solitude. That's why he didn't help his comrades when they were having problems during the Tournament, and called Top "pathetic" for leaving his ideals for power and not even winning the fight. At the same time, however, this appears to be deconstructed, as, during the fight with Goku, he stated he wants to find "something beyond strength", implying he feels empty about this point of view. Android 17 called him on this, as from his point of view, he was merely using the Pride Troopers for his own ends.
Jiren: Strength is absolute. Strength forgives all. Even the past.
Sociopathic Hero: In the anime, he doesn't really care about his Pride Troopers teammates, he's cold and aloof, and has made more than one scathing remark about Android 17's Heroic Sacrifice to stop one of his attacks. Nonetheless, he's still a hero to Universe 11. This is otherwise averted in the Manga and presumably Xenoverse.
- Even moreso in episode 130 when he tries to Goku's friends when Goku proved that The Power of Friendship is a better source of power than being an Ineffectual Loner.
Sole Survivor: Ends up being this twice when an unnamed evil entity kills not only his parents, but his master and comrades. Each time, Jiren's the only survivor.
Some Kind of Force Field: Jiren's ki has strange barrier properties different from the barriers used by Android 17, who just so happened to come back for the Tournament Of Power, and Vegito, whose barrier was duplicated by Goku and Vegeta during the same tournament.
Sophisticated as Hell: Normally, he either speaks very formally or not at all. During his fight with Goku and Vegeta, however, he calls them "impudent bastards".
Sore Loser: In the anime, when Jiren finally loses his advantage and starts getting beaten by Goku, who is invoking The Power of Friendship, Jiren takes to launching an attack directly at the Universe 7 combatants in the stands in a fit of rage. He's probably lucky that Goku deflected it, as the Zenos likely would have erased him had the attack connected... or not, seeing that only outside interference is prohibited. Even Android 18 got off scott free after firing a warning shot at the Supreme Kai at one point.
Sour Outside, Sad Inside: Episode 127 reveals that underneath the mask of The Stoic Social Darwinist hides a man so wounded by the tragedies in his life that he became obsessed with strength as a means of attaining peace.
Spell My Name With An S: His name is an anagram of renji, which is just the English word range written in katakana and then romanized. Technically his name should be spelled "Geran."
The Stoic: He's extremely serious and straightforward, and rarely responds to anything going on around him with much more than a glare. His response to Top unleashing his full power as a God of Destruction and destroying the Tournament of Power's arena is to simply glance over and muse that Top finally got serious.
Surrounded by Idiots: In the manga, Jiren isn't actively malicious to his partners like in the anime, but is completely resigned to having to do everything by himself. He doesn't try to pretend otherwise, and plainly tells Top and Dyspo that they're too weak to be of any use when they try to get him to stop them from being ringed-out. It's this trope because he doesn't just consider his teammates weak, but incompetent as well. Considering Top held back his power against Vegeta for no real reason at first and Dyspo toyed with Cabba allowing him to be temporarily distracted by the much weaker Caulifla, which directly led to Kefla being created and beating him to a pulp, Jiren may have a point. Though Jiren's hardly one to talk.
Stealth Pun: As noted above, he's strongly associated with fire. His name is an anagram of 'renji'- Japanese for stove.
Story-Breaker Power: Remember way back, when it was rumored that there was a being out there even a God of Destruction couldn't defeat? Here he is. There's no trick. There's no gimmick. Jiren is simply powerful beyond imagination. He could have ended the tournament in moments if he was serious from the beginning. And only another power that the gods fear can hope to match him.
Supreme Kai Shin: This power feels different from anyone we ever faced before. He is strong. Plain and simple.
Whis: I dare say... like a God of Destruction. He is the one who reached that state. Perhaps even surpassed it. "There is a universe where lives a mortal even a god of destruction can't defeat." It appears the rumor is true.
- It's notable that Goku's Ultra Instinct, the only form able to contend with him, is abruptly stated to not be accessible at will anymore at the end of the Tournament of Power. Presumably because making Goku consistently as strong as Jiren and thus stronger than the Gods of Destruction would completely throw off the Fixed Relative Strength that had to be maintained with Beerus.
Strong as They Need to Be: Jiren's power in the anime heavily fluctuates depending on the situation or episode. In his first fight with Goku, he overpowered him easily but shows mild concern when Goku tries to blast him with a Kamehameha, only to right after deflect a Spirit Bomb back with little difficult. Later in his brief fight with Vegeta, Vegeta is able to pressure him and land several hits on him before Jiren counters and nearly knocks him out. From there he is mentioned as going "full out" or to be "taking them seriously" at several different moments. Until Goku gained Ultra Instinct, his power seemed to be just always stronger than the heroes, but never consistent.
Strong and Skilled: Not only does he possess a power even greater than a God of Destruction but he also displays extraordinarily high levels of control and technique with his power. Almost no move no matter how mundane is wasted. He even sees through Hit's dimensional powers despite not having seen them before. Really his only weakness is that his fighting style is very simplistic, which leaves him open at times, but he's so strong it doesn't really matter.
Vados: Usually a fighter is most vulnerable when finishing off another fighter. Jiren doesn't even have that weakness.
Superman Substitute: Heavily implied to be a Superman analogue (especially in the manga), but never outright confirmed by Word of God. Despite this, however, he shares many of Superman attributes (Heroic Build, Eye Beams, a strong sense of justice, and he is able to fly really fast through space without the use of oxygen) Unlike most Supermen, however, he is very stoic and serious, and his origin story takes more after Batman, and it ultimately turns out Jiren has a very different idea about Justice than either of those two.
Super Hero Origin: Has one that wouldn't be too out of place for Batman. He was an ordinary child who came home to find his village destroyed and his parents murdered by an evil entity. He was taken in by a man who became his mentor and taught him how to fight. The same evil entity would later murder his mentor and most of his fellow students, and Jiren's intentions to avenge his fallen comrades caused the remaining students to abandon him out of fear. The hardships in his life would cause him to develop an obsession with strength as a means of attaining peace, leading him to join the Pride Troopers and become the strongest being in Universe 11.
Superpower Lottery: Subverted. His power earned him the well-deserved reputation of the strongest mortal in the multiversal tournament. . . But he acquired that power through an ungodly amount of focus, to the complete dismissal of his mental health and social life. His backstory shows how he lost multiple times against one opponent even with the help of allies, so he likely wasn't born strong or with any particular talent. He doesn't have any of the truly alien abilities such as Saiyans' zenkai boosts and transformations or Hit's time skip, and his only real counter is to simply overpower their techniques with honed combat prowess.
Super-Speed: He moves with such speed that Goku can't perceive his movements. Jiren doesn't even leave behind the standard 'blur effect' when someone teleports; one moment he's there in front, back turned, and the next he's behind Goku. His fight with Hit shows that he can even keep up with Hit's Time Skip, something only Goku has managed to do. In the manga, it's revealed that during a mission to liberate the people of the planet Toware, he flew there without a spaceship because "it was faster that way". Top and Dyspo, by comparison, have to use the spaceship.
Survival Mantra: "Strength is justice. Strength is absolute."
Trauma Button: Being cornered in the anime, as it reminds him of when he was faced with "The Killer" and was powerless to stop it from taking everything he held dear. It's enough to throw him into a murderous frenzy.
Theme Naming: The Pride Troopers are apparently named after kitchen tools. His name "Jiren" is an anagram of "renji" ("stove").
Thou Shall Not Kill: According to Belmod, this is one of Jiren's principles. He absolutely refuses to kill people, even if they're evil. Subverted in the Anime, when he tries to murder Goku's friends in a fit of rage.
Token Evil Teammate: What he slowly becomes as things go downhill for him over the course of the tournament. Unlike his fellow Pride Troopers, Jiren cares far less about Justice then he does Power: the reason he sticks with them is because they're strong. Their principles of fighting evildoers is a fortunate little bonus: it allows him to vicariously take revenge on the one who killed his parents by crushing individuals of a similar mindset. As he gets more and more frantic, Jiren's actions become more and more deranged and cruel, culminating with him aiming a blast at the stands with the intent to kill or at least seriously injure Goku's friends, while his own Pride Trooper comrades are sitting in the same stands.
Took a Level in Jerkass: In the anime, he was already pretty aloof and arrogant, but when Android 17 sacrificed himself, Jiren only rubbed it in Vegeta's and Goku's face and pretty much scoffed at the notion that anyone would sacrifice themselves for "weaklings".
Took a Level in Kindness: Like so many before him, meeting Goku and seeing him and his teammates' faith in each other changes him for the better. After Frieza, 17, and Goku beautifully and flawlessly work together to defeat him, Jiren realizes he was wrong about trust and people and is even surprised at Top's last words of thanks. After being revived by 17’s wish, he converses with Top about wanting to meet and battle Goku again and admits to his inability to trust people. Top rejects this, pointing out how Jiren fought for everyone in the end and now they’re true comrades who together will face down Universe 7 again and win. Jiren calmly but happily agrees to this sentiment, vowing to stop living in the past and start forming friendships in the present. It’s not massive, but it seems Jiren is truly changing for better and finally allowing himself to believe in others and open up to his comrades and see them as friends.
Tranquil Fury: In the manga, Vegeta attacks him furiously with his new power-up, while monologuing that Jiren is probably an arrogant Orcus on His Throne who never earned his power, like Frieza's army, and has never risked his life in a true battle. After showing how complete his No-Sell of Vegeta's barrage was, Jiren calmly compliments Vegeta on his strength... and then gives him the most brutal No-Holds-Barred Beatdown he had given anyone at that point. Considering his backstory, he very much has fought life or death battles and does know what being a warrior is like, so it's pretty justified.
Jiren: You've fought back harder than any besides Son Goku in his ascended state a moment ago. Well done. I acknowledge you. However...
(Jiren does a Flash Step and punches Vegeta in the back of the head)
Jiren: Don't think for a even second that you can ever defeat me.
(cue Curb-Stomp Battle, which ends in Vegeta lying half-dead in a crater)
Jiren: To answer your earlier question: I put my life on the line in every battle I fight, so not even one percent of my actions are wasted. No matter how weak my opponent may be. That is how my master taught me.
- Unsurprisingly, he makes it clear that he isn't fond of Goku during their first meeting.
Jiren (Anime): Get lost.
Jiren (Manga): Begone. You're an eyesore. And I'd rather not waste my energy on you.
Unskilled, but Strong:
- Downplayed in that Jiren is both highly trained and very powerful, but the story makes a point that his fighting style is fairly basic when you really analyze it. Jiren tends to rely on simply flat out overpowering his enemies through sheer overwhelming power rather than actually trying to fight them directly like many other fighters do. While most people simply crumble before this, if a fighter is skilled enough to notice this, it makes him somewhat predictable and easier to fight. Hit, Vegeta, and Android 17 both landed hits on him by simply using his blunt form of fighting to strike at him when he wasn't expecting it, and Ultra Instinct Goku's ability to quickly dodge his attacks means he can land a solid hit on him. That said, Jiren's raw power is such that even if he does get hit, he almost always shrugs it off and simply counters with enough power to close the gap.
- In his final fight with a Ultra Instinct Goku, Jiren powers up and gets a boost due to experiencing the trauma that motivated him to become as strong as he is now. While in this form, he gains power on par with UI Goku, and his attacks are stronger and more chaotic, but at the same time, Jiren fights in such a ruthless manner that his attacks lack the finesse behind them and rely on raw power. This is what allows Goku to fight him still, as he is able to use his controlled state to counter Jiren.
Unstoppable Rage: In the anime. When a fully powered Ultra Instinct Goku pushes him back into a corner and is clearly winning the fight and explains to him that The Power of Friendship is the reason why Goku obtained strength enough to rival the gods, Jiren then became angry beyond measure due to him hating friendship and comradery, he then attempts to attack Goku's team out of sheer rage. He also got mad when Goku started challenging him in the manga, enough to scream in a rage and power up massively, but unlike in the anime he kept himself under control and won the old-fashioned way.
Used to Be a Sweet Kid: In his Super Hero Origin, he was once a cheerful kid until his village — along with his parents — was destroyed by an evil entity. And then the same evil entity appeared again and murdered his trainer and fellow students, turning him into a jaded Anti-Hero.
Victory by Endurance: Ultra Instinct Goku is the sole being in the multiverse besides Zeno and the Angels who can actually fight Jiren, and towards the end of the fight, even gains a decisive edge on the Pride Trooper. However, the strain of trying to keep up with Jiren in UI utterly wrecks Goku's body and causes him to drop out of the form before he can beat him, leaving Jiren the victor. Frieza and 17 have to jump in to keep Jiren from eliminating Goku right there. He does the same in the manga with less trouble (Goku never really gains the edge there); Whis refers to his and Goku's fight as a "war of attrition" and Beerus openly wonders which one will run out of juice first.
Villainous Breakdown: Though not a villain, Jiren's composure starts to fall apart once Ultra-Instinct Goku manages to deal major damage to him, resulting in him going berserk and unleashing everything he's got against Goku. And even then, as he's being beaten by Goku, and as he explains that his friends are his power, Jiren, who has based his entire philosophy on believing absolute power is everything and nothing else matters, is enraged that someone wielding The Power of Friendship is beating him. So much so, that he actually attempts to attack said friends with the intent to kill, or at the very least seriously harm them in order to prove how easily such power can be erased.
Jiren: ...Who cares about friendship?! Who cares about trust?! (as he remembers his past) To accept that would deny everything that I've been. I won't believe in such power. Such a thing...is easily erased!!
Villain Respect: Well, Hero Antagonist respect but he commends Vegeta for becoming so powerful without casting aside his ideals, unlike Top.
- He would later acknowledge Goku as a "proud warrior" for being able to best in him power, and vows to never forget him even after he ceases to exist.
Walking Shirtless Scene: The intensity of the final battle ends up ripping Jiren's top clothes, revealing that he is very muscular underneath. Near the conclusion of the final battle in the manga, Goku and Vegeta fire energy beams directly at Jiren who runs straight into them, causing his top clothes to blow off before reemerging from the blast topless and eliminating Vegeta.
"Well Done, Son" Guy: In the manga, it's revealed that despite all of his power, the one thing he actually desires is the full approval of his former master, Gicchin, who was killed by a monster. He intends to wish him back with the Super Dragon Balls so he can show him his new strength.
What the Hell, Hero?:
- Unleashes a brutal one towards Top. Despite being on good terms with him, when Top discarded all of his beliefs and ideals of justice for the sake of power, and still lost, Jiren was not happy that the leader of the group he fights for would essentially do something so stupid. He admonishes his leader, calling him pathetic and that he expected more from him, before praising Vegeta for not throwing who he was away.
- 17 later unleashes one towards Jiren for revealing he does not care for his own team and sees them all as garbage to be used to get whatever he wants in and out of the tournament.
When All You Have Is a Hammer…: Jiren's fighting style is noted to be very simple by characters. Its just that he has immense raw power behind each blow he throws out, which is why he is so dangerous. At various points when someone with a unique ability or technique tries to go at him, Jiren just uses his raw power to crush his opponent. Even his energy blasts are usually just simple blasts.
When He Smiles: It is very rare to see Jiren smile, and when he does it's a sign that something truly unanticipated has happened.
The Worf Effect:
- In an interesting play on the trope, Jiren's victory over Hit actually qualifies as one for Jiren. Sure, Jiren beat Hit with little contest, but Jiren had already beaten Goku (new Super Mode included) last episode, so no one expected Hit to win in-universe and out. The fact Hit managed to knock Jiren to the edge of the ring -with a crushed chest- and hold him there for a significant amount of time with a paralyzing technique marks the first time everyone in Universe 11 begins to seriously fear Jiren might actually lose. Even with Goku, Jiren was never actually pushed close to defeat.
- This is later played further when Vegeta manages to land a strong hit on Jiren (by launching his entire body for one powerful kick/knee depending on the version), which noticeably took Jiren by surprise and caused him to fall back onto the defensive. While he defeated Vegeta once he calmed down, this one is quite noticeable for making Vegeta the only person prior to UI Goku who actually did anything to base Jiren, even if it was Scratch Damage.
  Vegeta: You were faster and stronger when fighting Kakarot!
- He enacts this on Hit (who he defeats in one blow) and SSBE Vegeta. The latter is particularly notable in the manga. Vegeta defeats Top, who was a good match for CSSB Goku, by flaring his aura and nothing else, showing Vegeta is at a whole new level. He attacks Jiren aggressively, with The Worf Barrage of blows he musters only dealing one tiny cut. Jiren responds with a mere three hits which are so damaging that they force Vegeta back into base. To make matters worse, this wasn't even his full power; he goes One-Winged Angel at the end of chapter 40 and powers up further in the middle of chapter 41, showing that even his base, massively held back level is miles beyond everyone else.
Worf Had the Flu: By the end of the Universe Survival arc in the anime, Jiren was spent after fighting UI Goku (though unlike Goku, who had almost completely spent himself to the point of barely being able to move, Jiren is still able to crush powerful foes like 17 even in this state). He gets challenged by Frieza, whom he had already beaten a few episodes prior; he's still handily superior to the tyrant, but Frieza's toughness allows him to tank an exhausted Jiren's long enough to draw him into a trap by Android 17, which nearly costs him a chance at victory. Despite getting a second wind, Jiren is unable to overcome Goku, Frieza, and Android 17 working in tandem and gets tackled out of bounds by the two archenemies in their base forms.
World's Best Warrior: Jiren certainly qualifies as this for Universe 11, possibly for the whole multiverse barring the Angels and entities beyond, as he has grown so powerful that he has surpassed a God of Destruction in power, but is also an extremely skilled martial artist whose control of his power is excellent with him being able of using the exact quantity of energy to win which he generally does in one or two hits only, and of quickly adaptating to Hit's timeskip ability and Goku's UI with nothing but his analytical and martial skills. What's even more impressive is that he achieved all of these with nothing but his own training and experience, which is especially impressive in an universe where most powerful individuals are born strong, have adaptive abilities, transformations that make them stronger or other special abilities or went through divine training to be so powerful.
World's Strongest Man:
- Jiren might just be the strongest mortal in the multiverse, by far. Top even says even if he fails, Jiren would win. Even more so, he's stronger than Belmod who’s his universe’s God of Destruction. By extension, he's probably stronger the rest of the GoDs too. He's certainly by far the strongest mortal in the tournament, which has 8 of the 12 universes competing in it. And all of that before he exceeds his own limits within the tournament. Even when Goku gains his Mastered Ultra Instinct power-up, Jiren responds by activating his own eleventh hour power-up and matching Goku blow for blow, but was overwhelmed by Goku. In the anime, is only by Goku overclocking his UI after being enraged that anyone is finally able to actually overpower Jiren for a couple minutes before said overclocking causes Goku to damage his own body and exhaust his energy, dropping him right down to base form, leaving Jiren to dominate him again. In the manga he doesn't even get that far, instead being knocked out of UI the first time Jiren lands a solid blow. In the end, even after the damage Jiren had sustained both from Goku's attacks and overclocking himself to fight his UI, it takes several different eleventh hour power-ups plus the efforts of all the remaining U7 fighters to finally beat Jiren... and even then, only by the technicality of knocking him out of the ring. Goku says that he still would've slaughtered them all without that specific rule.
- It's implied that even in the anime, similar to Kefla vs UI Goku, Jiren was actually stronger than UI Goku the whole time, but towards the end he just wasn't able to keep up with UI's "auto-dodge" and "auto-attack" features. Whenever UI Goku and Jiren get into a direct power-struggle, for instance their two beam clashes, Jiren always overpowers Goku; their brief grapple also seemed even, despite Jiren being the more tired of the two at that point. This is more apparent in the manga where Jiren is so overwhelmingly powerful compared to UI Goku that even just blocking Jiren's blows takes a lot out of him. UI Goku even hits him off-guard with a fully charged Kamehameha, the same technique that would have killed Cell who was much stronger than Goku at the time, and Jiren just gets right back up.
- Further demonstrated in Heroes. In the Heroes anime, both Hit and Hearts label Jiren as "the strongest man in all the universes." In the Heroes manga, Jiren hits Kamioren so hard that the beast defuses instantly with its constituent parts both KO'd, despite Kamioren being strong enough to accidentally KO Super Saiyan 3 Cumber (who could hold his own against SSB Vegetto) and God of Destruction mode Top with a single casual swipe. Note that Jiren is still at a fraction of his power while doing this.^note Fu tells Cumber to run away because it would be pointless to even try to fight Jiren. To make this even more insane, Kamioren just fused with and been powered up by the "Universe Seed", an artifact capable of creating universes. Not only is he stronger than time, but he can shatter a multiversal creator god... by punching it. In the video game he is able to fight Hearts, Cumber and Fused Zamasu at the same time in his Limit Breaker state and of winning the fight, prompting Hearts to acknowledge that Jiren is worthy of being called the strongest in all the universes.
Worthy Opponent:
- Although he never openly acknowledges Goku or Hit as such (the closest to this is him saying Saiyans are "interesting"), he does admit that they are the only guys in the tournament he believes he would be required for and, after beating them, goes right back to meditating. After ringing out Hit, he doesn't even deem Goku worth fighting anymore, which absolutely infuriates Goku. Interestingly however this seems to change as after Goku attains UI once more he stops meditating. More importantly, when he and Goku fight again he seems legitimately interested in Goku’s reasons for fighting, and when Goku almost rings him out he is seriously surprised and finally starts using his real power in response.
  - In the manga, he considers Goku to be one due to him observing a major flaw in Hit's strategy. In fact, the two fight evenly (although Jiren isn't playing seriously at this point).
- He later recognizes Vegeta as one of these, actually calling him a warrior, which Belmod and Khai note is a pretty high compliment coming from Jiren. He does it again when Vegeta takes out Top.
- He finally genuinely congratulates the remaining Universe 7 fighters for defeating Top when he's the last opponent standing. In particular, he praises Goku and Vegeta for achieving the strength they have without compromising who they are as fighters and people.
- As Goku ascends to the true power of Ultra Instinct, Jiren smiles, happy to have an opponent who can demand so much from him and is clearly enjoying the thought of battling him. He gives the most respectful speech to Goku yet when he's about to blast him off the ring, calling him "proud warrior, Son Goku", telling him he wishes the fight could end another way, and that Goku will always live on in his memories.

"It's over."

— Jiren

Characters / Dragon Ball: Jiren

Jiren (ジレン)

Voiced by (Japanese): Eiji Hanawa
Voiced by (English): Patrick Seitz, Nazeeh Tarsha (young), Terri Doty (child)
Voiced by (Latin American Spanish): Juan Carlos Tinoco

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Characters / Dragon Ball: Jiren

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Jiren (ジレン)

Voiced by (Japanese): Eiji HanawaVoiced by (English): Patrick Seitz, Nazeeh Tarsha (young), Terri Doty (child)Voiced by (Latin American Spanish): Juan Carlos Tinoco

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Voiced by (Japanese): Eiji Hanawa
Voiced by (English): Patrick Seitz, Nazeeh Tarsha (young), Terri Doty (child)
Voiced by (Latin American Spanish): Juan Carlos Tinoco