thread on the reception of chrollopika vs komugi x meruem (i'm personally ambivalent on both ships)

before I begin: the purpose of this thread isn't to dictate whether or not you are "allowed" to ship these. This thread is purely an analysis; I'm not interested in discourse.

An initial disclaimer: both Meruem and Chrollo committed reprehensible crimes against humanity. They are villains. Their actions are never justified or at all glorified in the manga. I think most of us are in agreement that their actions were fucked up.

Chrollo and Meruem both commit genocide. There is no avoiding that fundamental aspect of their characters.

Personality-wise, they mirror each other a lot. Chrollo and Meruem consider themselves dissociated from humanity. They understand empathy to be a weakness (ie Chrollo wanting Pakunoda to sacrifice him for the good of the troupe).

Chrollo lacks the understanding of himself and his emotions. This is integral to his character. Meruem faces this same struggle, but Komugi's empathy ultimately helps him accept and embrace his humanity.

Meruem and Komugi's relationship is based on his desire to commit mass extinction of the human race. He actively tries to kill Komugi and completely annihilate all humans.

Chrollo doesn't have this same vendetta towards the Kurta. He views them as an easy cash grab. He commits these atrocities not because he has an agenda against the Kurta, nor because he has some desire to conquer: he sees them as a commodity.

When Chrollo meets Kurapika, he really has no vested interest to kill him. He's ambivalent towards his survival.

Neither Chrollo nor Meruem really value human life. But only Meruem makes it his mission to 'finish the job'.

Meruem grows as a character because he has Komugi. Komugi is quite literally blind to the atrocities he's committed against her and thousands of other humans. She only sees the beauty of his soul. She shows him how fragility is special.

Kurapika is the complete opposite of Komugi. He's rightfully fixated on the slaughter of his people, and it takes Pakunoda's sacrifice for him to even consider the Spiders capable of empathy.

Chrollo still hasn't completed his arc as a character. He still doesn't understand the value of human life. He doesn't have a Komugi who's willfully blind to his actions. Meruem was only able to reach that "redemption" through Komugi.

I end this thread with an open-ended question: Meruem and Chrollo both commit abhorrent acts against Komugi and Kurapika, and Meruem takes it a step further by actively trying to harm Komugi. Why, then, is there a disparity in the reception of these ships and characters?