Jiren was possibly one of the, if not the, most interesting fighters introduced in Dragon Ball Super. A powerful warrior and member of the Pride Troopers — a red-and-black-garbed team of heroes hailing from Universe 11 — Jiren first appears during the Universal Survival Saga.
When Zeno — the almighty deity who oversees all of the multiverse — declares a Tournament of Power to be held, fighters from across the multiverse are summoned to partake. The stakes? Oh, just a little bit of, y’know, your entire universe’s existence on the line. No big deal.
While Goku and Vegeta represented Universe 7, the Pride Troopers rolled on up to rep Universe 11. While Jiren did not lead his team, it was eventually revealed that he was its strongest member. It was also revealed that he was stronger than his universe’s god of destruction. To put things into perspective, that would be like if Goku was stronger than Beerus.
While Jiren didn’t win the Tournament of Power, we’ll get more into that later, he still displayed an absurd level of power and ability that fans haven’t seen before. And that’s saying something considering this is freaking Dragon Ball!
So, while we got to see Jiren battle the likes of Goku and Vegeta, it might be fun to ponder other thrilling hypothetical match-ups for Universe 11’s all-star combatant. Jiren vs. Krillin would be a barnburner. Jiren vs. Yamcha would sell out countless intergalactic pay-per-views.
No, but for real, let’s dive into how Broly vs. Jiren would pan out. Regardless of who you think wins this hypothetical match-up, all Dragon Ball fans can agree that this would be an absolute delight to watch.
Broly and Jiren are both masters at adapting, but the Pride Trooper is on another level
When Akira Toriyama first brought Broly into the Dragon Ball canon in 2018, fans quickly learned that this colossal Saiyan fighter would be just as deadly and fierce as his earlier non-canon iterations.
One of the most significant factors that made this new Broly such a threat was his ability to quickly rise in strength, especially when dealing with a much more powerful opponent. Case in point: when Broly first battles Vegeta in Dragon Ball Super: Broly, the former immediately struggles with the latter’s experience and speed, especially when Vegeta turns Super Saiyan. However, to Vegeta’s surprise, Broly was swiftly able to adapt despite never before encountering a Super Saiyan.
This makes Broly an absolute nightmare to deal with for any character in the Dragon Ball universe. This is portrayed terrifically when Dragon Ball Super: Broly ends with Vegeta and Goku having to fuse into Gogeta in order to seal the victory over their fearsome foe. Since then, we have not seen an opponent stand up to
However, while this makes Broly a colossal force, fans have seen someone else who can adapt to his opponent’s greatest strengths with far greater ease. Enter Jiren.
Without going into exhaustive detail regarding Jiren’s story arc during the Universal Survival Saga, let’s dissect just how the Pride Trooper was able to withstand so many different Super Saiyan forms. From Super Saiyan 1 to Super Saiyan Blue, it didn’t matter what Goku and Vegeta threw at Jiren. He was able to assess all of those forms and react accordingly. Heck, even when Goku went through all of his Ultra Instinct forms, Jiren was still able to match his opponent’s new abilities for the most part, especially since Goku had trouble maintaining the technique. And let’s not forget that Jiren’s “loss” at the Tournament of Power has a huge mega asterisk next to it because of Frieza and Android 17’s involvement. (C’mon, Goku fans; you can’t seriously count that as a complete victory!)
Even more incredible is that Jiren is not going through forms and transformations like his Saiyan opponents. While the likes of Goku, Vegeta, and Broly increase strength via their Super Saiyan transformations, Jiren simply kicks butt the way he is. His Limit Breaker state. It took Goku unlocking Ultra Instinct to garner an actual reaction from the Pride Trooper. This is really crazy to think about when you consider that every character in Dragon Ball relies on some type of transformation. We just got Orange Piccolo for crying out loud!
Simply put, Jiren has greater control and discipline
Broly is a monstrous foe. Should he be allowed to enter Super Saiyan Full Power state — that final form when his hair gets all fabulous and green — he likely stomps most opponents he comes across. Maybe even Jiren.
However, we still have to give the edge to Jiren. If the Universe 11 fighter attacks Broly without holding back from the very start while the Saiyan is still in his base form, then Broly won’t be able to do much. Remember, Goku was quickly astonished by Jiren’s speed early in their fight. If Jiren catches Broly off guard in the opening moments of a fight, then legendary or not, Broly is screwed.
And the argument can be made that we haven’t seen everything Jiren can truly do. The Tournament of Power thrust a few rules on him that handicapped his performance, with the two main ones being no flight and no killing. It’s downright terrifying to imagine what Jiren might have done had those rules not been present.
In conclusion, Broly might be considered the strongest out there, and his rampages might be unstoppable, but against Jiren, the Saiyan is dealing with a more experienced opponent who is faster, has a better mind for tactics and strategy, and doesn’t need to rely on transformations. All of this added up makes for a really bad combination for everyone’s favorite forever angry Saiyan.
While the power scaling in Dragon Ball is always shifting and completely impossible to truly keep track of, overall, it seems like Jiren is simply the wrong opponent for Broly. Should these two ever duke it out, put most of your chips on Universe 11. But, if you want to feel extra safe, maybe stash a couple of chips to the side for Broly. After all, this is Dragon Ball, and these Saiyans are wildly unpredictable. Just ask Frieza!