Grandmaster Meio is the major antagonist of the Strider series. He first appears in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 as an assist card in Heroes and Heralds Mode and later as an NPC character in the Story Mode of Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite.
Background[]
Grandmaster Meio is a mysterious being with nearly godlike powers. No information about him is known at all, and there are rumors he's not even human. Having appeared one day on Earth in the year 2042, Meio waged war against the world and conquered it in 5 years, establishing his own worldwide dictatorship centered in the Kazakh Federation. Performing twisted experiments on Earth's life and gaining the power to create any lifeform he desires, Meio's ultimate goal is to achieve godhood by eliminating the entirety of the Earth's life in order to repopulate the planet with a race of his own making.
In the year 2048, however, the Striders are requested his elimination and they assign the mission to their best agent: Strider Hiryu. Fighting against the armies loyal to the Grandmaster, as well as powerful machines and hired bounty hunters, Hiryu eventually reaches Meio on his personal station the Third Moon and eliminates him, completing his mission.
Meio's plans, however, would continue ahead and 2000 years later the Earth ended up populated by humans of his creation. Meio would be brought back to the world by the effort of traitorous Strider Hien, who also helped in the extermination of the Striders. Hiryu, a Strider carrying the same codename of the one who defeated Meio, rises against him following the and finally eliminates Meio for good after a long, arduos quest.
Role in Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite[]
Following the Convergence, Grandmaster Meio became the "Imperator" of Knowmoon, a massive space station created from the fusion of his own station (The Third Moon) and the Knowhere. He also managed to obtain the Power Stone, which he uses to provide power to the entire super-station, installing it in its Gravitron Core. At some point he allied himself with Ultron Sigma over their shared desire to eradicate all life on Earth. As part of their plans, Meio repurposed the Gravitron Cores into powerful biological bombs capable of spreading the Sigma Virus on a planetary scale, allowimg them to infect entire worlds and reshape all life therein into Ultron Sigma's image.
At some point before the start of the story Grandmaster Meio managed to capture Zero and rewrite his core routines, turning him into a loyal enforcer calling himself "Oblivion". After Thanos reveals the location of each Stone, a team formed by X, Rocket Raccoon, Captain Marvel, Nova, Gamora and Hiryu travel to Knowmoon in order to reclaim the Power Stone. While X and Rocket restore Zero back to normal, Marvel and Nova are eventually confronted by Meio, who sends a group of Ultron Drones to fight them. He's, however, then flanked by Hiryu and Gamora, having infiltrated the station earlier. After mocking Hiryu and proclaiming Death has no dominion over him, Meio attacks the two warriors, but finds himself struck by their combined attack, seemingly killing him for the moment. Rocket later secured the stone, but the Gravitron Core is still ejected towards Earth.
Battle[]
Grandmaster Meio is featured as part of the Story Mode as an NPC character, and serves as a stage hazard during the third and final battle in the Knowmoon chapter. The battle has the player using Captain Marvel and Nova against a team of 6 Ultron Drones, while Grandmaster Meio floats in the background performing attacks against them. Meio can either shoot a slow, multi-hitting homing orb of energy at the player character, send a purple surge of electricity which rises from the ground as a pillar of energy or teleport around if moved off-screen.
Quotes[]
- "I will build my teams upon your shattered bodies." (before battle)
- "I shall grant you eternal peace...upon death" (when using Giant Tracker Orb)
- "All worlds must bow before us!"
- "Die, children of the old gods!" (when using Lightning Strike)
- "Hehehehehe, submit to the ultimate power!"
- "I have evolved far beyond your pathetic existence"
- "I will watch you writhe in anguish" (when using Teleport)
- "Prepare to stand against my magnificence!"
- "I have transcended beyond death"
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Meio's primary ability as a Heroes and Heralds card is to restore the player's life or health bar. This may be a nod to Meio's life-creating powers in the Strider series.
- One of Meio's lines in Infinite ("Die, children of the old gods!") is adapted from one of his most memorable lines in the original Strider for Arcades: "All Sons of Old Gods, Die!".