Chest-up shot of Jiren, smooth pale gray head and big black eyes, in his red and black bodysuit, against a sky of dark clouds

Jiren: The Strongest of Universe 11's Pride Troopers

CharacterDragon Ball SuperTournament of Power

Jiren is the Universe 11 warrior who serves as Goku's main opponent in the Tournament of Power, in Dragon Ball Super. A member of the Pride Troopers, he captures criminals without killing them and believes in nothing but strength; in the arena, he eliminates Hit and Vegeta and pushes Goku all the way to Ultra Instinct, before falling out of the arena along with Goku and Frieza. Here's a look back at his universe, at his tournament, which the anime and the manga tell differently, at his past, his creation and his voice actors.

Silent, massive, often motionless in the anime: Jiren is the opponent Goku can't manage to eliminate on his own. Here's the story of this Universe 11 hero, in both its anime and manga versions.

Contents

Jiren, Universe 11 warrior and Pride Trooper

Jiren, nicknamed Haiiro no Jiren (“Jiren the Gray”) in Japanese, is a Universe 11 warrior who takes part in the Tournament of Power in Dragon Ball Super. He belongs to the Pride Troopers, a team of extremely powerful heroes led by Toppo, which operates under the authority of Belmod (Vermoud in Funimation's English dub), his universe's God of Destruction.

He's a tall humanoid with a massively muscular build: his big, smooth head recalls that of the “gray” aliens of folklore; he has gray skin and big, round black eyes. He wears the Pride Troopers' uniform: a skintight red bodysuit, black at the collar and on the legs, with white gloves and boots.

Devoted to justice, Jiren never kills the criminals he defeats: he captures them. In the manga (chapter 30), he floors Choki, a crab monster, with a single blow and locks him in a capsule. Earlier, at the end of chapter 29 and the start of chapter 30, Toppo had explained to Goku that Jiren, stronger than Toppo himself and stronger than Belmod, nonetheless had no desire to become a God of Destruction.

Still in chapter 30, after capturing Choki, Jiren at first refuses to take part in the tournament: he doesn't want to save his universe at the cost of erasing all the others. Belmod wins him over by bringing up a wish that could be granted. In the anime, his true first appearance comes in episode 85, which aired in Japan on April 9, 2017, where we discover him deep in meditation.

Jiren, the tallest, at the center of a group of warriors in red and black uniforms with white gloves and boots, alongside a clown and a female angel
In the anime, Jiren (center) among Universe 11's Pride Troopers in their red and black uniforms, including Toppo in the left foreground; the clown is Belmod, their God of Destruction.

👟 The Pride Troopers' uniform is finished off with white boots; to step into a pair in the saga's colors yourself, check out our Dragon Ball shoes, including sneakers featuring Jiren.

The Tournament of Power in the anime

In the anime, when Kale goes berserk as a Legendary Super Saiyan, Jiren knocks her out with a single Power Impact, his signature technique. His first big duel with Goku takes up a special episode that combines episodes 109 and 110: Jiren lets Goku charge up a Spirit Bomb, curious to see his trump card, and it's after getting caught in the blast of his own attack that Goku reaches the “Sign” of Ultra Instinct for the first time.

Hit then takes him on alone and freezes him for a moment; Jiren breaks free and knocks him out of the arena. Feeling he has beaten the two opponents he was needed for, he leaves the rest to Toppo and Dyspo and goes back to meditating, until Goku breaks through to a new level of Ultra Instinct.

Vegeta, who has been watching him closely, lands a blow that leaves him stunned; when Vegeta eliminates Toppo, Jiren calls his leader “pathetic.” Outmatched by Goku, he even commits an unfair act: he aims a Power Impact at Universe 7's stands, and Goku has to deflect the shot. Later, when he seems broken in the face of Frieza and Android 17, it's Toppo's encouragement that gets him back on his feet.

In the final episode, which aired on March 25, 2018, Goku and Frieza join forces to push him out of the arena and fall along with him: Android 17, the last one standing, wins the tournament. Jiren then understands the power of trust; once the universes are restored by Android 17's wish, he and Toppo promise each other they'll beat Goku and his team next time.

Jiren sitting cross-legged in a red aura among green rocks, between Dyspo, arms crossed, and Toppo in the foreground
In the anime, feeling he has beaten the opponents he was needed for, Jiren leaves the rest to Dyspo and Toppo and goes back to meditating.

🧘 In the anime, Jiren sits right down on the arena floor to meditate while the tournament goes on around him; to meditate more comfortably than he does, dress up the cushions in your quiet corner with our Dragon Ball cushion covers.

What Toyotarou's manga changes

In the manga, Jiren takes a far more active part in the tournament. In chapter 35, Hit slows him down and pushes him back to the edge of the arena; but Jiren was holding back: he suddenly speeds up and punches him out of the arena. Unlike in the anime, Goku never uses the Spirit Bomb against him: when their fight resumes, he tries brute force, and Jiren criticizes him for making the same mistake as Kale as a Legendary Super Saiyan, that of relying on a power that destroys the body and can't be controlled.

In chapter 39, Master Roshi dodges Jiren's blows in a way reminiscent of Ultra Instinct, before being eliminated by a light chop to the back of the neck. It's by watching him do it, and by remembering the words of his former masters, that Goku enters the “Sign” of Ultra Instinct.

In chapter 40, Jiren brushes aside Frieza and Android 17, but refuses to rescue Toppo and Dyspo, stuck outside the arena: he tells them to watch from the stands. In chapter 41, against mastered Ultra Instinct, his stamina ends up lasting longer than the transformation. In chapter 42, while Goku pins him from behind, Jiren deflects Frieza's Death Ball, but Frieza charges at them and all three fall out of the arena.

A tragic past, in two versions

In the anime, Jiren, still a child, comes home to find that his parents have been killed by a criminal. A man saves him and becomes his master; but when the criminal returns, many of Jiren's training companions die, his master too, and the survivors abandon him. He concludes that trust is worthless and no longer believes in anything but strength. This past is only revealed at the end of the tournament, by Belmod; in this version, Jiren admits he has a wish but never says what it is.

In the manga, it was his master Gicchin who pushed him to join the Pride Troopers, to teach him the value of teamwork, something Jiren didn't understand at the time; some time later, Gicchin was killed by a monster. In chapter 41, Jiren reveals his wish: to bring Gicchin back to life.

In chapter 42, Marcarita reminds Belmod that he was once Gicchin's friend. Now eliminated, Jiren will no longer be able to bring his master back, but he has finally understood his teaching and finds peace.

Young Jiren, bald head and big dark eyes, in a brown hooded cape, fist raised, behind a row of black silhouettes in the foreground
In the anime, Belmod only reveals Jiren's past at the end of the tournament: as a child, he lost his parents, killed by a criminal, before a man saved him and became his master.

Creation, voices and appearances after the tournament

According to Toei, Jiren was supposed to be more talkative, but Akira Toriyama rejected the idea: to him, Jiren was a silent character with a tragic past. Producer Satoru Takami says the personality first imagined for him was carried over to Toppo. For the manga, Jiren is drawn by Toyotarou, whose first draft Toriyama corrected by slimming down the lower body and emphasizing the upper body.

His name seems to come from the English word “range,” as in the cooking stove, rendered as “renji” in Japanese: the Pride Troopers' names are taken from kitchen appliances. In Japanese, Jiren is voiced by Eiji Hanawa; in Funimation's English dub of Dragon Ball Super, by Patrick Seitz.

In the movie Dragon Ball Super: Broly, Jiren makes a brief appearance, along with Toppo, Dyspo and Belmod, when Goku brings up the Tournament of Power. In Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, Vegeta, deep in meditation, explains to Goku that the power gap with Jiren may not have been all that big, in the usual sense of the term.

Jiren facing forward in a red and black bodysuit, with Toppo behind him, arms crossed, a clown and bunny-eared Dyspo, against a black background
Jiren's brief appearance in the movie Dragon Ball Super: Broly, with Toppo, Belmod and Dyspo behind him.
Figure of Jiren standing with arms crossed, in a red and black bodysuit, with long light-colored gloves and boots, on a plain black background

For fans of Jiren

Dragon Ball Figure - Jiren

Toriyama wanted a silent Jiren: find the strongest of the Pride Troopers, arms crossed in his red and black uniform, in this figure.

€51.90

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Jiren at a glance

Key fact Jiren
Japanese name ジレン Jiren; nickname Haiiro no Jiren, “Jiren the Gray”
Universe Universe 11, member of the Pride Troopers
First appearance Chapter 30 of the Dragon Ball Super manga; episode 85 of the anime, April 9, 2017
Signature technique Power Impact
Master Gicchin (manga)
Voices Eiji Hanawa (Japanese); Patrick Seitz (English)

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Who is Jiren?
    He's a Universe 11 warrior and a member of the Pride Troopers, whom Goku faces in the Tournament of Power in Dragon Ball Super.
  • Who beat Jiren?
    No opponent eliminates him single-handedly. In the anime, Goku and Frieza, backed by Android 17, push him out of the arena, falling along with him; in the manga, while Goku holds him back, Frieza charges at them and all three fall out of the arena. Android 17, the last one standing, wins.
  • What is Jiren's wish?
    In the manga, to bring back his master Gicchin, who was killed by a monster. In the anime, he admits he has a wish but never reveals it.
  • Why does Jiren believe only in strength?
    In the anime, his parents and then his master were killed by a criminal, and his surviving companions abandoned him: he concluded that trust was worthless.
  • Is Jiren a villain?
    No. He's a hero of justice in his universe who captures criminals without killing them; he's only Goku's opponent for the duration of the tournament.
  • Who voices Jiren?
    Eiji Hanawa in Japanese, and Patrick Seitz in Funimation's English dub of Dragon Ball Super.

⌚ In the manga, it's a device worn on the wrist that lets Jiren turn his opponents into capsules, like Choki; on yours, strap on one of our Dragon Ball watches instead.

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