Originally posted by Zenwolf
Well....is he just an evil ***?Or is he a good justice do-gooder?
It seemed to go back and forth this episode
First it's
"Your friendships and trust can be erased!"
Then it's
"I did not want our showdown to end this way, strong warrior Goku. You will be remembered in my memories."
So.....does Jiren have a split personality or what?
Plus prior to this, he didn't seem to act like such a **** and even reprimanded Toppo for throwing away his sense of justice and what not..so...the hell?
Well he's both.
Jiren started his life as a happy kid, then his parents died. He trained to avenge them but he failed, his master died, more friends died, and the ones who lived turn his back on him because it was a lost cause. So he devotes himself to getting stronger so he doesn't have to experience that kind of pain again(which he says as much in this episode).
So we know he has a deep reliance on strength since a lack of strength caused him to lose a lot in his past and we know he has trust issues because his friends have turned their backs on him before. We also know he prefers to use his powers for good because he is a pride trooper. We also know that, at least with Toppo, that he isn't really hated among the pride troopers. Toppo isn't getting angry with Jiren or anything, he mostly just seems concerned for the guy.
So you have Goku, a fighter who keeps coming back no matter how many times Jiren knocks him down, and Goku starts to eventually win explicitly because people put faith in him. This understandably aggravates Jiren as the whole friendship and trust thing didn't help him at all in the past so it working now is basically an affront to everything Jiren has believed for the longest time. Jiren deep down does want comrades(because it seems his wish is to bring at least his parents and master back) but he shuns it because historically it hasn't worked out.
Goku frustrates him to the point that Jiren does the literal unthinkable and aims an attack at Goku's friends. This is a tragic moment because Jiren has become no different than the villain he once opposed, which is the furthest thing from what he wanted to be. So Goku pummels him and Jiren accepts defeat before Goku's body spasms and Jiren now struggles to accept a victory that his strength failed to earn him.
Jiren is a good person who is on a very bad path that will lead him to being a villain. The closest point of comparison is Tien who similarly struggled between his path to be an assassin and the joy he found in his battles with Roshi and Goku. Tien had Goku dead to rights but refused a victory because it was unearned. Jiren doesn't refuse it but that's clearly because the stakes at this point are way more extreme and he definitely doesn't like it. He's a touch more complex than Freeza or Cell in that way but this archetype is nothing new to anime(Younger Toguro from YYH being the premier example) but for Dragonball villains it's honestly something that isn't done often at all. Vegeta and Piccolo are good guys now but that's only after being defeated and forced to side with the good guys out of convenience. Jiren is a character the audience is supposed to feel conflicted about.
Mind you the anime is doing a good job of making this harder for everyone. Unlike the manga, where Jiren is portrayed as a more or less decent enough guy with a massive chip on his shoulder, anime Jiren comes across as way more of a prick. You can still read good into his actions, like how he hasn't eliminated all that many people because it dooms universes, but in the same vein one could say he doesn't because no one is worth his time. The anime has focused more on making him intimidating and has sawed off the good guy stuff that is there.
All that said I like Jiren. Like Zamasu he's a villain that has a flawed execution but like the edgy Kai he is also an example of Super trying something new with it's villains as far as DB goes.