‘Dragon Ball Super’: Who Was Jiren’s Master?

Dragon Ball Super has finally revealed the mysterious origin of Jiren, and the backstory for the all-powerful Pride Trooper from Universe 11 actually raises more questions than it answers!

Belmond’s account of Jiren’s tragic history raised two specific questions that the Dragon Ball Super is now buzzing about:

1. Who is the mysterious “evil-doer” that killed Jiren’s family and his master?
2. Who was the kindly master that trained little Jiren and set him on the path of acquiring unmatched strength to avenge his family?

We’ve already taken a dive into the question of the evil-doer looming over Jiren’s story – but what about this mysterious master?

While the identity of Jiren’s master may seem like a trite detail in what many fans see as an already generic origin story, there is actually some relevance to be found in the answer. Maybe not the answer of who Jiren’s master was, but rather, how he trained Jiren.

Throughout the Tournament of Power, we’ve seen Jiren using an odd meditative technique to unlock massive amounts of power that’s even greater than a God of Destruction’s Hakai. In this latest episode, Jiren revealed his full fiery aura, as well as some ridiculously powerful physical and ki attack abilities. Belmond’s origin story tells of the long obsession with strength that was Jiren’s motivation, but his technique could have major implications for the Z-Fighters’ (specifically Goku and Vegeta) next evolution.

Our recent breakdown of all the best ideas for the next Dragon Ball series had several story arcs directly related to Jiren’s mysterious quest in the Tournament of Power. There’s been a growing fan theory that Jiren not only entered the Tournament for an intensely personal wish, but to possibly locate other worthy allies to help him once again face this evil-doer that has tormented him for so long. That seems like a scenario that fits within Dragon Ball‘s tradition of turning foes into allies (Piccolo, Vegeta, Majin Buu, Freeza…), and a proper launchpad from the power limits of the Tournament of Power to a whole new cosmic threat.

All of this of course circles back to the question of who first gave Jiren the techniques that made him the strongest fighter in the multiverse – and what that master’s connection to this mysterious villain is. Why was the master always close by the evil-doer? What about Jiren made him believe he was worth the ultimate sacrifice? These question are probably not going to get answered by the time Dragon Ball Super ends with episode 131, so we have to hope they’re indeed seeds to be harvested in the next series.

Dragon Ball Super airs on Crunchyroll Saturday evenings at 7:15 p.m. CST. Adult Swim airs the English dub during its Toonami block Saturday evenings at 9:30 p.m, and is now available to stream on FunimationNOW and Amazon Video.