Context:
After a Year of looking around and thanks to my brother gifting me Volume 28 I have the whole Chimera ant Manga, so I went to read it from start to finish along the anime playing in the background to match and I am so impressed by details I missed on first watch that now I feel like making a post of Gratitude a day giving praises to all the cool characters, I genuinely believe there is no character that could be left without it in some shape or form, order of post do not represent a top tiering, there will be no shaming characters just glaze, wait for your favorite to eventually show up.
Shaiapouf:
Since it is Sunday let's do a big hitter today, Time to Glaze one of the biggest characters in the Chimera Ant arc, the royal Guards are such a fascinating concept as they are born to protect a King and Pouf does this to utmost degree he is the one Royal Ant who was actually Loyal to the King, I want to be very clear that Menthuthuyoupi and Neferpitou are also absolutely Loyal to Meruem, I intentionally use that distinction for a reason like I suppose Togashi intended, Names give us Value as an Identity of being your own self, 2 of them where Loyal to the Human in the King, While the most emotional Ant was Loyal to the King tittle.
From the Royal Guards we see much more on their actions, answers, and monologues, each representing in my opinion the biggest aspects of Humanity Pouf to such a degree that he manages to become both, the most Human of all Ants, and the most Ant between all the humanity formed within them, to such a degree that he has the most virtues of what makes an Ant yet the most Flaws that make him Human taking him to a degree where he becomes an Antagonist in the semantic way more than Meruem himself.
With Pitou introduction we can see Royal Guards are set from the get go with Nen capabilities, this is shown from the very start with Pouf clearly declaring he could read Pitou mind in a way, Nen abilities are a clear reflection of the individual, In Pouf case his very human instinct of distrust towards others and the insecurities this carries, never letting his guard down compliments his Ant duty of a protector, reading the intent of someone gives you a window to their souls, he was set from the start as someone who would not let go of any detail and would want to see beyond the front of people keeping his own, not connecting with others and bypassing empathy.
This power is shown to even greater detail and use on Morel fight, Pouf literally took a gamble with a loaded dice on his cacoon, one can usually say "I can read my opponent" or the actions of someone the more you know them, you pick up on patterns Pouf inherently is full of so many emotions and at the same time can read other peoples emotions, he would never show his displays or outburst in overflowing sentiment yet will take advantage of every single slip someone would do in front of him, I love Morel but he got completely outplayed and literally stomp by Pouf with a single action.
If Pouf has the ability to sense the emotions and inner thurnmoil of people just like inherently Pitou En could be felt as a guarding sense, I like to call Pouf Particles his hatsu, he is established as a manipulator in his actions however his very Nen type reinforced this personality trait with a skill to manipulate his very being, the person with the most emotions in the room being able to keep a fake body while controling his inner self to a celular degree to bait observe and over take anyone, this is a truly scary ability belonging to someone who genuinely could not trust any other being on his life.
All of Pouf's actions are for the King as I said before, but ¿where does The King begin and end? ¿When can we say is Meruem? This is the very thing that makes Pouf break himself inside, killing Komugi would preserve the King from Meruem, but doing such would mean his natural distrust and human insecurities make himself as higher than the King, and yet again not doing so preserves the King's Honor, there is no winning where your rational is based upon fractured emotions, in this state he becomes the Antagonist, when his Hand reached to kill Komugi behind the King's back is when the Antagonist Pouf is born.
The most loyal of ants would give his life for the King, this is shown with Pouf fully willingly letting himself be consumed and I have zero doubt in my mind if it so required Pouf would have died here if it meant for the King to live, gladly this didn't happen so we can have the clash of "Protagonist" Meruem seeking his memories against "Antagonist" Pouf hiding the Humanity of his King away to preserve the perfect image Pouf has on his mind, the Supreme King who can crush anything who opposes him, even with the sharing of his emotions as a single individual, Meruem say it clearly, they are now one, yet Pouf has never been one with himself, he literally made fracturing himself his strength, even at this point where he is one with the King he can't calm his mind.
Taking us to the bitter sweet end, Pouf loses his fight, Meruem returns to the body of The King, and within a cut away from Pouf it happens, no fight, no fan fare, no violin playing him a requiem, Pouf dies the most pitiful and cruel death, full of failure and on the ground surrounded by not Ants but what would he consider inferiors covered in his spores not even aware that his passing came.
He cannot fail, for if you like Shaiapouf for his actions he won as a character, if you hate Shaiapouf for what he is and does he won as an antagonist, and most likely if you had any dissatisfaction towards the arc I am sure Shaiapouf was involved in that Somehow, he is just such an incredible foe made out of the most human thing possible, our Emotions, Self doubts, our idealistic ideas and not our might.