Hunter X Hunter/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


A list of characters who have appeared in the Hunter X Hunter anime and manga. Warning! Spoilers ahead!

Main Characters

Gon Freecss

Gon Freecss is the main protagonist of Hunter X Hunter, a twelve year old boy left in the care of his aunt raised to believe his parents died in an accident when he was just a baby. He later learns that is not the case when he is rescued by a stranger named Kaito. Kaito turns out to be a hunter and student of Ging Freecss, a world-renowned hunter and Gon's apparently dead father. This meeting steered something inside of him and ever since meeting Ging has been a lifetime goal. He seeks to meet his absent father, Ging, and follow in his footsteps, driving to take The Hunter's Exam and obtain a hunter's license, and so his quest begins…

  • Ambiguous Innocence: Gon's a rather interesting case… he's described and portrayed as this innocent and hopelessly simple boy through and through, but the absence of a sense of right and wrong has been commented on.
    • It's more like he doesn't judge people. He has his own sense of right and wrong, but it doesn't seem to apply to other people. At least, not all the time.
  • Animal Motifs: Often compared to a dog.
  • Anime Hair: What's it made of, wires?
  • Badass Adorable
  • Beware the Nice Ones
  • Berserker Tears
  • Butt Monkey
  • Chaste Hero: Subverted: Gon is actually very knowledgeable about women and their feelings, having dated many "cougars": older women who are into younger men who came to his home island, before he left to take the Hunter Exam. Killua is actually horrified to learn how much more experience Gon has with women than he does
  • Cheerful Child
  • Clipped Wing Angel: In his "Gon-san" (Adult Gon) form, his power skyrockets to the point of rivaling the Chimera Ant King, but ultimately nearly kills him because of the immense strain it gives to his body.
  • Determinator: Oh, boy, is he ever… in his first official fight in the Hunter Exam, it's a curbstomp battle with Gon being trashed around like a body dummy. He's told to give up several times as killing is strictly forbidden if you want to pass and even if he loses this match, he still has a chance to past… three hours of being beat senseless did nothing. And almost being impaled by a blade and having his arm broken only seemed to strengthen his resolve. His opponent is literally forced to forfeit in order to avoid killing him.
    • Also of note is the Bomb Devil fight, which he wins in spite of having his hand blown off.
  • Expy: Possibly of (young) Goku.
  • Friend to All Living Things
  • The Fool
  • Generation Xerox: Of Ging, or at least it's heading this way.
  • The Hero
  • Heterosexual Life Partners: With Killua.
  • Improbable Weapon User: Used a fishing pole before he started relying on his nen.
  • Junko Takeuchi: Before The Other Darrin took effect in the 2011 reramp.
  • Kid Hero
  • Lightning Bruiser
  • Megaton Punch: His signature move.
  • The Messiah: He had his opponent get healed, that said opponent was a Complete Monster who was trying to kill him before he decided to do that.
  • The Nose Knows: His uncanny sense of smell has been displayed since the very beginning.
  • Parental Abandonment: He's raised by his aunt.
  • Phrase Catcher: "He's dangerous", referring not to his combat abilities, but to his Ambiguous Innocence.
  • Pint-Sized Powerhouse: At least before he releases his Super Mode.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red to Killua's Blue.
  • Super Mode: His "adult" form, which he unlocks during the middle of the Chimera Ant Arc. He's stated to being as strong as Meryem in this form, who at the time was the strongest character in the manga.
  • The Pollyanna: Until he finds out Kite's dead.
  • Theme Naming: His nen attacks are named after Rock-Paper-Scissors.

Killua Zaoldyeck

The heir to the Zaoldyeck family, Killua decided he didn't want to be an assassin anymore, so he ran away. However he wasn't sure of what he really did want to do, so he took the Hunter Exam as a way to entertain himself. That's where he met Gon. At first he's distant and unattached, but it's hard to stick around Gon without warming up to him. He's generally fun-loving and a tease, although he doesn't seem to know when to stop, whether it's gambling or making fun of someone. He tends to be much more logical than Gon, making them a good pair. But you don't want to piss him off.


Kurapika

Speaking of not wanting to piss someone off, you really don't want to piss Kurapika off, either. He's cold and intelligent, at least when you first meet him. He listens to Honor Before Reason, which makes him go head to head with Leorio rather often. He's practically a walking encyclopedia, and it shows. Five years ago the members of the Kuruta clan were wiped out, all but Kurapika. They were killed only for their scarlet eyes, which he is now bent on getting back, all 32 pairs. He also intends to inflict justice on those who did it, the Phantom Troupe/Genei Ryodan.

  • Adaptation Dye Job: Eye variation. His eyes (when not in Red Eyes, Take Warning mode, obviously), are stated to be brown in the manga. They went from turquoise to dark blue to blue again in the first anime. In the second anime, they're a slightly brownish grey. He also wears black contact lenses in the York Shin arc.
  • Ambiguous Gender: While the English-speaking side of the fandom has by and large decided that he's definitely male, the Japanese-speaking side seems pretty evenly split on the matter of Kurapika's gender. Pronoun Trouble is probably to blame for the difference.
  • Badass Bookworm
  • Berserk Button: Anything related to the Phantom Troupe will set him off.
  • Bishonen
  • Cross-Dressing Voices: Both animes give him this, as to add to his looks.
  • Dual-Wielding: (Before being Chained by Fashion).
  • Death Glare : Even without using his family assets, he's really fond of this trope. Just look at the above image.
  • Dude Looks Like a Lady: So much that he's successfully disguised himself as a woman at least twice so far in the series. Leorio even mentions at the beginning how Kurapika could easily pass off as a woman. Kuroro thought he was a girl, too, especially with that pink pencil skirt...
    • Even American Shonen Jump couldn't determine Kurapika's gender.
    • German volume prints gave him female personal pronouns at first. Later volumes corrected that.
    • Pointed out canonically by Leorio when he's thinking about a surefire bet that he could win. "Maybe I should bet if I'm a man or a woman... No, that'd be too obvious... But that'd work a lot better with Kurapika!"
  • Expy: Possibly of Kurama.
  • Four Is Death : One of his major motifs. Number 404 in the Exam, having four known chains, being born at April 4 (4/4)...
  • Guile Hero
  • Hair of Gold
  • Ho Yay (With Leorio)
  • Last of His Kind (Thus his purpose is revenge.)
  • Long Bus Trip (We haven't seen him since before the Chimera Ant arc)
    • He was very recently mentioned on chapter 320, as being absent from the Hunter Association Chairman Election.
    • Well, we only get a bit of him in the splash pages here and there, and there was even one little drawing with both Leorio and Kurapika with puppy dog eyes asking when will they show up in the series again... you just gotta feel sorry for them...
    • He does come back in Chapter 339, but is seen actually being deliberate of his absence by ignoring any calls from Leorio. Hopefully he gets a bigger role in the following arc
  • The Mole: Joins the Mafia to hunt down flesh merchants and find the eyes of his clan. He intends to bring them all down. His boss, needless to say, does not know this.
  • Necessary Drawback
  • Post Dramatic Stress Disorder
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Blue to Leorio's Red.
  • Revenge Before Reason (To an extent.) Averted somewhat where he gives up a chance at revenge to save his friends.
  • Roaring Rampage of Revenge
  • The Smart Guy
  • Sugar and Ice Personality: Appears cold and distant to others, due to his focus on avenging his clan. However, he shows his warmer side towards Gon, Killua, Leorio, and Melody.
  • Super Mode: Emperor Time, where his eyes glow red and gives him an immense increase in power and durability.
  • Survival Mantra: (In the anime, the Kuruta Prayer.)
  • Took a Level in Badass: (In the six-month gap after the Zaoldyeck Arc. The anime makes it even better.)
  • Yuki Kaida

Leorio Paladiknight

Leorio may be a money-pinching cheapskate at times. That's certainly how we're introduced to him; he explains that his only reason for becoming a Hunter is so he can become rich. But the reason he wants to be rich? He wants to become a doctor, and open up a free hospital. The only problem was that he didn't have enough money to take the entrance exam, so instead, he took the Hunter Exam. While he loses his temper often and can be quite childish, he's a good and kind-hearted man. He's highly emotional, often acting on impulse.


Hisoka

Hisoka is the main antagonist throughout the series. There is only one story arc where he has yet to show up, and that's because he's off preying on someone else. He's a brilliant fighter and a psychotic murderer who would kill dead people if science would let him, but otherwise is only interested in the living, though they don't stay alive for very long after catching Hisoka's attention. He's particularly interested in Gon and Killua, to an unsettling degree; the main reason he hasn't killed them yet is because he wants them to grow stronger before doing so. He was a member of the Genei Ryodan for a time, but he only joined so he could fight Chrollo, a confrontation he hasn't been able to arrange just yet.

His power consists in making his aura adhesive and elastic like gum, or putting it on thin surfaces to change their appearance. As lame as it sounds, the former turns out to be deadly in combat, and the latter gives him impossibly effective forgery skills.


Allies

Senritsu

A woman who became disfigured after hearing the flute solo for the Song of the Devil. She gained the ability to use nen as a result and entered and passed the Hunter Exams. She now works as a Musical Hunter, gathering pieces of the song to destroy it after her friend was killed and horribly dismembered listening to the whole thing. She became one of Neon's bodyguards to try to get closer to the song but was disbanded when Neon's Mafia family ran out of funds. Her nen ability is used mainly to hear heartbeats of other people. She can read their emotions and state of mind through it.

Biscuit Krueger

A little girl Gon and Killua meet once they enter Greed Island. She becomes their trainer during the arc, helping to refine their nen and helping them in their search for Gon's father while seeking her own goal. She comes back into play during the Chimera Ant arc training them further.


The Genei Ryodan

Introduced as "the most horrible group of criminals in all history". A group of 13 thieves who specialize in very difficult targets. But unlike most other thieves, they generally don't rely on subtle strategy or minuted actions; perpetually reenacting the Gordian Knot parable, they prefer to resort to brute force. Loads and loads of brute force. Which is why they get such a reputation: they are less famous for what they steal than for the hundreds of people they kill in the process. In fact, as they already steal all the common objects they need on a daily basis, they have very little interest in the luxury items they target, and seem to chose them mostly because they know these items will be heavily guarded, and indeed most of the members seem to be in specifically for the carnage.

They have a peculiar organisation, being villainous True Companions of Übermenschen (this doesn't go without the occasional internal frictions, though they have strict rules about settling those), and while they have a leader, the survival of individual members (including the leader) is not a priority: the survival of the group as the whole is. If a member dies, he simply gets replaced.

Several of the members come from Meteor City, officially a gigantic landfill, less officially an autonomous city inhabited by millions of Unpersons, even less officially a Mafia-subsidized breeding-ground for anonymous hitmen.

Is often referred to as "The Spider", because of the 12 legged spider tattoos that mark their membership.

  • Animal Motifs: Spidaaaaaas
  • Ape Shall Never Kill Ape: While they don't necessarily hold themselves as being morally superior, they place zero value on the lives of outsiders, hypocritically place value on each other's lives to varying degrees, and are forbidden to seriously attack one another. This could also be applied on a larger scale to Meteor City itself.
  • But for Me It Was Tuesday
  • Being Watched: No matter how good the watcher is, they can always tell if they are.
  • Card-Carrying Villain: They make little effort to hide their identity, because they really don't need to.
  • Blood Knight - Complete Monster: At best and at worst, respectively. Killing is a normal part of their lifestyle, after all.
  • The Dreaded
  • Faking the Dead: All of them.
  • Freudian Excuse: Fridge Brilliance version: All citizens of Meteor City have either been discarded and left to die there, or are descended from people who have. Since the world has already demonstrated it doesn't care about their lives, why should they care about the lives of the people who threw them away?
  • Immune to Bullets: Even the weakest of them is.
  • Limited Wardrobe: Some of them.
  • Moral Myopia: If you aren't a part of their little group, then you can just die painfully.
  • Nietzsche Wannabe / Social Darwinist: they act like they adhere to these principles, but don't actually bother to put much philosophical justification behind these acts (the leader outright states that he never really thought about his own motive).
  • Person of Mass Destruction / One-Man Army / Ubermensch: Being one is required to be a member.
  • Quirky Miniboss Squad: More like Quirky Dragon Squad, really.
  • Rule Number One: Serious quarrels between members are prohibited and must be settled by flipping a coin (they even have special coins with a spider printed on them, just for this situation).
  • Rule of Symbolism: Spiders and inverted crosses as recurring motifs.
  • Sliding Scale of Libertarianism and Authoritarianism: Heavily discussed, all the paradox of the Genei Ryodan is how a bunch of extremely individualist Übermenschen who completely ignore the laws, morals and conventions of society and only care about themselves are nonetheless brought to cooperate in total submission to a collective, hierarchic entity.
    • To be fair, He's very lenient. And I think it's more like they don't want somebody else telling them who to follow. Nobody was forced into the group, they chose to follow Chrollo. They trust him, and frankly He seems to be a good leader. The Genei Ryodan are so interesting because they are really a bunch of friends, not unlike the Protagonist's, who just have a different agenda and viewpoint.
  • Thirteen Is Unlucky
  • True Companions
  • Unperson: Those who come from Meteor city, at least.

Chrollo Lucilfer (Kuroro Lucifer)

The leader of the Genei Ryodan, a mysterious, very intelligent and dangerous man. He has the ability to steal the nen powers of others.

Machi

One of the founding members of the Genei Ryodan. She's able to give her aura the form of a thread, which she then uses variously for fighting, keeping track of people or objects, Vertical Kidnapping, using corpses as puppets, and healing important wounds (read: severed limbs) with great efficiency. Hisoka seems to like her a lot, much to her displeasure.

Uvogin

There's The Brute. There's the Implacable Man. And then, there's Uvogin, the Anthropomorphic Personification of brute force. He can stop an anti-tank rocket with his bare hand, hit back with the force of a small missile, and takes lot of pleasure in smashing his opponents to bits, literally. One of the founding members. Also the first member of the Genei Ryodan to be killed by Kurapika.

Feitan

A rather unpleasant fellow, initially introduced as the Torture Technician of the group, much later revealed to be also one of its top fighters. A sadistic, self-centered jerk with little patience, who respects only force and has yet to show any redeeming human quality. One of the founding members of the Genei Ryodan.


Nobunaga Hazama

One of the founding members of the Genei Ryodan, Nobunaga dresses and acts like a Toshiro Mifune's Samurai character. He was more than just best friend with Uvogin, and consequently didn't take the later's death too well. He seems to see Gon as a Replacement Goldfish, but Gon isn't too happy about that.


Pakunoda

Not a very good fighter by the Genei Ryodan's standards, Pakunoda is in for her extremely useful ability to read the memory of people she touches. She's outwardly calm and confident, but seems to be more caring than she's willing to admit. One of the founding members.

Pakunoda: What do I ask them?
Chrollo: I want to know what they're hiding.

Franklin

The seventh and last founding member of the Genei Ryodan, Franklin is an intimidating looking giant, and has the ability to fire powerfull Nen bullets from his fingers, at machine-gun rate. He eally enjoys himself in battle, but has a more subdued and friendly personality the rest of the time.

Shizuku

Shizuku is 19 years old, though she seems much younger mentally. She's quite absent minded and very forgetful, and also considered rather weak in terms of fighting abilities in the Genei Ryodan (even though for most people outside of it she's a dangerously empowered little girl). However, she has an interesting Nen ability: she can materialize a cartoonish looking, seemingly sentient vacuum cleaner named Deme-chan (or Blinky in some translations), essentialy a weapon that sucks combined with a Bag of Holding, as it can suck up almost anything, regardless of its size, with an apparently infinite storage capacity.

Shalnark

Shalnark is a young man and one of the original Meteor City inhabitants. He is kind of a distant fellow, both in his approach to life and in the way he fights. He is always thinking about something somewhere; this is how he was able to deduce Greed Island's nature. His weapon is a cell phone: By sticking an antenna on somebody, he can control his or her movements, and also dialogue through texting. Naturally, he sits back in a safe area while doing this. By sticking an antenna onto himself, he gets greatly increased strength and speed, but he can control his movements only by inputting them into his phone, he can't remember what happened, and he's rendered unable to move for days. Shalnark serves as the technical expert of the organization; when there is a problem with electronics, the other members turn to him.

  • Can You Hear Me Now?
  • Dissonant Serenity: His reaction to one of his People Puppets, who he had been forcing to shoot at Mafia members, being shot to pieces? "Aw, he broke." See "Perpetual Smiler", below.
  • Evil Genius
  • People Puppets: He even thinks of them as being "toys".
  • Perpetual Smiler: In the manga, to arguably creepy effect.
  • Super Mode: By putting an antenna in himself, he can power himself up enough to easily kill a Chimera Ant, but to the cost of short term memory loss and pains for two to three days afterwards

Phinks

An ordinary looking guy, at least in his normal clothes, which resemble a jogging outfit. Phinks is often seen in his pharaoh-like headdress, used for ceremonial purposes in his country of origin. He is easily excitable and seems downright euphoric when he kills a nen fighter. His ability is a wind-up punch: He can charge up an arm by spinning it; each full circle will increase the power of the subsequent punch, with a limit of 16 circles. He used this punch to kill the top bodyguard in Kurapika's group. Phinks accompanied Feitan into Greed Island and went on a killing spree. Not much else is known about him.

Cortopi

Cortopi is a short, small fellow with a childlike voice and maybe demeanor too. His hair is so long, it normally covers his entire body and goes down to the ankles, making him resemble Cousin It from The Addams Family. When he needs to express himself, he parts his hair to reveal an eye. Cortopi is a quiet fellow, with no speaking lines except for one scene. He is subservient, rarely acting on something without orders from someone else. Cortopi can duplicate anything he makes physical contact with and copies every last detail. The Spider organization normally sells off the counterfeit or to throw off pursuers. While Cortopi can make clones of people, they will be limp, lifeless bodies. He also cannot duplicate items infused with nen, as he discovered trying to duplicate a Greed Island card. Cortopi is physically the weakest of the group. While he has endured one of Pakunoda's bullets to the head, he has not shown any combat capability.

  • Cloning Blues: His Nen ability can clone anything he touches with his left hand, but the clones survive for only 24 hours.
  • Enemy-Detecting Radar: Of a type. He can determine the location of any of his copies, or, in the case of the fake buildings, when someone enters them. Poor Squala unwittingly carries around the fake Scarlet Eyes, which leads the Genei Ryodan right to him.
  • Peek-a-Bangs
  • The Quiet One: Speaks seemingly only about business, and only when he has to.
  • Spam Attack: Not an attack per se, but he can create quite a few copies of anything he clones. He makes a small city of fake hideouts.

Bonorenolf

Bonorenolf comes from the Gyudondond Tribe, where villagers chosen to do battle will have holes punctured throughout their bodies. This allows them to become living woodwind instruments, making music by dancing. The tribe has a unique nen application where they infuse the air or the melody, allowing them to summon things to fight on their behalf. Bonorenolf is normally wrapped up in bandages from head to toe; he will remove those bandages when he has to fight. His known summons are Prologue, a masked jungle warrior, and Jupiter, a round boulder with planet Jupiter's pattern on it. (Whether this refers to Gustav Holst's "Planet Suite" is unknown.) Bonorenolf believes himself as a noble warrior and speaks in a formal, polite manner, even when insulting someone. He was most recently called back to Meteor City to help defeat the Chimera Ants that had set up a hive there.

Greed Island

Genthru

The Big Bad of the Greed Island Arc, known as "The Bomber". First appears as a generous veteran willing to aid others to collectively beat the game. His real goal however is to clear the game solo (actually with a couple of accomplices) by any means necessary, presumably for the large cash reward, as he appears in Battera's castle when he leaves the game (Battera was offering a massive reward for finishing the game). A ruthless, cold-blooded killer, he executes anyone who interferes with his goal. He treats everyone but his two subordinates as expendable and kills often for no reason but convenience or to further his plans. He has two Nen abilities: After explaining his ability and its conditions (including how to deactivate it), he can place a time bomb on someone, which is almost impossible to remove. Should anyone try to disactivate it, he can also create smaller explosions, burning and blasting anything he grabs with his hands.

  • Arrogant Kung Fu Guy: To Gon, who he outclasses completely in fighting skills. This comes back to bite him in the butt, when Gon uses his arrogance to lure him into a trap.
  • Big Bad
  • The Chessmaster: Steals cards through trickery, which, due to his use of Greed Island's Applied Phlebotinum, even worked when the opponent knew something was up.
  • A Father to His Men: He rolls the Risky Dice, which could kill him, to show his solidarity with his comrades.
  • Kick the Dog: Detonating the bombs on his former comrades after using them to blackmail them into giving him their cards. Made worse because he laughs about it.
  • Mad Bomber: Obviously
  • Manipulative Bastard: He is part of a group gathering spell cards, which will be used to steal cards from other players and complete the game. This group seeks out those with few fighting abilities, who would therefore be willing to team up (thus dividing the reward). All Genthru has to do is wait, covertly placing bombs on the others. His fighting skills prevent anyone from touching him and deactivating them, and he uses the threat of the bombs to take all the cards for himself.
  • Why Am I Ticking?


Razor

A muscle-bound man who first appears to banish the Genei Ryodan members who were trespassing on Greed Island. Just seeing him is enough to make Phinks stop the others from attacking, though they outnumber him six to one. Using a spell card, he sends them out of the game, while inviting them to come back and challenge him legitimately. Then, he casually destroys their boat with Nen. He later appears as the guardian of "Plot of Beach", a card needed to clear the game. All the main characters need to do to get it is to beat Razor's group in sporting events... really lethal sporting events. Razor is a death row convict, captured and hired under contract by Ging Freecs to be a game master. His group are also death row convicts who he presumably hired. His name was the basis for the R in Greed Island's name. He can create and throw balls of Nen, treating them like volleyballs.

  • Badass Scares off the Genei Ryodan.
  • Bad Boss: Justified somewhat. Uses Nen to blow apart the head of a convict who first revealed that Greed Island was a real place and then tried to start a mutiny. Gon, thinking that the convict was Razor's friend, thinks that Razor is this.
  • Defeat Means Friendship: In a way. He remarks that Ging, after catching him, redeemed him. Ging believed in Razor enough to entrust him with the mission of one day fighting Gon.
  • Dodgeball Is Hell: Up to Eleven. By encasing a dodgeball with Nen, his throws are strong enough to deal grievous injury to anyone unfortunate enough to get hit.
  • Freudian Excuse: Flashbacks show him being beaten and told that he is worthless.
  • Sadist Teacher: He looks and acts like an Affably Evil gym teacher. Justified in that he is trying to make Gon stronger. See Training from Hell below.
  • Training from Hell: On Ging's orders, delivers this to Gon.

The Chimera Ants

Chimera Ants in General

The Chimera Ant is a top-level quarantined creature due to its dangers to other species. Chimera Ants are normally male (though either there are rare female Chimera Ants too or there is a continuity error), but they can copulate with a female of any species and endow her with the abilities of a Chimera Ant Queen: Anything a queen consumes will incorporate its DNA into the queen's offspring; she will then give birth to BiologicalMashups of random things she's eaten. Such offspring will receive the best physical advantages of everything it's based on. For instance, a Chimera Ant that's part human will have human intelligence and the ability to speak.

Oh, and by the way, they're human-sized.

For the specific queen that begins this story arc, see below.


Chimera Ant Queen

One day, a dying Chimera Ant Queen washed up on short in the country of Neo Green Life, a place with an agrarian culture and no weapons, off limits to everyone except those with special permission. She had enough strength to create a few offspring and made a small hive nearby. Said offspring was able to slaughter the locals and create havoc. However, the inhabitants of this country would rather stick with tradition than call for outside help, at least publicly. By the time an investigation team could enter Neo Green Life, the Queen had already consumed nen-powered humans and recovered from her injuries (but not completely), and the team had its hands full with her offspring. When it came time, the Queen gave birth to the King, who killed her immediately. Afterwards, some of the ant commanders left her now-massive hive and set up their own empires in other countries.

The Queen is not able to speak. Instead, she communicates telepathically with the other Chimera Ants, who all have this ability. In spite of being surrounded by powerful nen-powered ants, the Queen has no nen control and no fighting ability.

Chimera Ant King (Meruem)

The Queen's masterpiece and crowning achievement, the King is by far the strongest Chimera Ant she created and was born with the best traits of everything she had ever consumed, including intelligence off the charts. He began as completely ruthless, splatting even fellow ants' heads if they did so much as hesitate when he gave an order. The King moved to the neighboring country of East Gorteau, a brutal dictatorship not unlike North Korea, and immediately took charge there. The King has the ability to, upon death of a nen-powered individual, absorb his or her nen into himself, though it manifests as raw power rather than Mega Manning. Due to this, he has manipulated East Gorteau's entire population to be killed off except for those with nen control, whom he'll kill and consume himself.

Out of boredom, he called in champion players of various board games, such as chess, shogi, and go. He kept playing against them until he defeated them, then killed them off. However, he met his match in a blind girl named Komugi, East Gorteau's gungi champion. No matter how much he plays her, she curbstomps him every time. Having such a brilliant mind and no way to fend for herself, the King starts to feel sorry for her and also begins respecting humans and other creatures. The King's sympathy towards Komugi eventually grows into casual chatter and then outright affection for her, spurring Shaiapouf's envy. Netero is his first opponent in combat who gives him a good fight, though by then, he has become appreciative of talented people, Netero included, and would rather not fight. He is forced into it anyway and kills Netero. Netero's death, however, sets off a rose bomb and nearly kills Meryem, who is revived by his guards, but becomes afflicted with amnesia.

Neferpitou

The first of the Royal Guards to be introduced, direct assistant to the king and an incredible fighter in his own right. Neferpitou, called Pitou for short, is an extremely feminine cat boy. Like a cat, he loves to toy with his victims and is somewhat psychotic. His Nen ability comes in two varieties: a strange, horrific-looking nurse with the ability to heal injuries, and a clown-shaped puppetmaster that turns people into People Puppets. Said puppets can use their nen abilities, if they had them. After killing Kite, Neferpitou uses him as a training toy. Seeing his dead mentor like this creates a deep grudge in Gon. After Komugi becomes injured in one of Zeno's attacks, the King assigns Neferpitou to heal her. When Gon arrives at the East Gorteau palace, Neferpitou had not yet finished healing Komugi, but Gon allows him to finish first on the condition that Pitou return Kite to normal. The two then duel; Gon ultimately kills off Neferpitou. Of the three Royal Guards, he was the only one to retain his composure despite being the most psychotic under normal circumstances.


Shaiapouf

A Bishounen man who is mostly human and butterfly and the second of the Royal Guards to be introduced. Called Pouf for short. His defining characteristic is his obsession with making sure the King is safe and to follow his every order. Shaiapouf becomes incredibly edgy if he's separated from the King or becomes unable to finish a command from him. He cries waterfalls and plays the violin to relieve this frustration, making him something of a comic relief of the bunch. After gathering everyone in East Gorteau over to in front of the palace, Shaiapouf then used one of his nen abilities, a butterfly dust that hypnotizes everyone into a trance, to keep the crowd organized. Shaiapouf takes on Morau in one of the towers. Morau takes advantage of Shaiapouf's fanaticism towards the king and traps the both of them in a smoke wall he is unable to force through. However, he finds an opening and escapes with his other nen ability, which is to split himself into any number of smaller versions of himself; these fragments resemble a Puni Plush version of himself. He meets up with Menthuthuyoupi as he flees from Morau, finds the King, and allows the King to absorb himself into him, adding Shaiapouf's strength to his own. He then takes advantage of the king's bout of amnesia to try to kill Komugi

Menthuthuyoupi

The third and last of the Royal Guards to be introduced, Menthuthuyoupi, or Youpi for short, is mostly human and shark. He is the Dumb Muscle of the bunch and considerably less intelligent than Pitou or Pouf. Nevertheless, the sheer force of his attacks mor than makes up for his ineptitude at strategization. He doesn't do much untl the East Gorteau palace comes under direct attack, where he stands in a room getting bored. Knuckle, Meleoron, and Killua takes him on and attempt to kill him via attrition and Knuckle's ability. This is where he reveals his ability, rage-induced strength. The more frustrated and exasperated at his foes he becomes, the stronger and bulkier he gets. He gets so big and bulky that he unintentionally shifts forms once more into a weird horse-like creature with his face on the side. In this form, his rage goes from wild to calm, and he decides to no longer fight Knuckle and the others, choosing instead to just go straight to the King. He meets up with Shaiapouf on his way, finds the King, and allows the King to absorb himself into him, adding Menthuthuyoupi's strength to his own.

Meleoron, AKA Jail

A human-chameleon hybrid and one of the former commanders. He served loyally under the Queen but dislikes the King and decides to join up with Gon and the others to help bring him down. He has little combat ability on his own, but his nen ability allows him and anyone he's touching to turn invisible. Not just visibly either, but of all five senses, plus total undetectable nen cloaking. However, he can only do this while holding his breath. He helps his allies gather information about the King and the Royal Guards, then helps Knuckle and Killua fight Menthuthuyoupi by making the two of them appear to teleport around. He is currently hurt but not dead.

Colt

A hybrid of unclear animals who was once one of the top commanders of the Queen, serving one rank under the royal guards. Colt is one of the commanders who fled the hive in Neo Green Life after the King was born and decided to directly seek help from the extermination squad. He knows a lot of inside information about how the hive works, as well as the Royal Guards and their abilities. He has chosen to stay far away from the battle sites and thus hasn't been seen for some time. His nen ability is unknown.

Ikalgo

An octopus and a former commander of the Chimera Ants, though he served under the King and prefers to call himself a squid. In charge of an underwater unit, he took on Killua using a set of nen abilities: He can see his immediate surroundings as a set of coordinates to snipe with, and he shoots fleas that drain the subject of their nen. If enough nen gets drained, the subject is depowered momentarily. Ikalgo is also able to climb into the body of a dead person and move them around as if he were that person, though his rifle will appear as a sniper-shaped growth. Inspired by Killua's bravery, he decides to join up with Gon and the others. He makes his way to the East Gorteau palace and sneaks into a basement area to try to rescue Palm. Unfortunately, he finds out Bloster, another commander, is in the basement with him and plays a game of cat and mouse with Bloster to dispose of him.

Leol

One of the commanders and the direct superior of Hina and Cheetu, among others. Part lion, part human, he has remained loyal to whoever is the current monarch of the Chimera Ants. He is somewhat annoyed at his subordinates' ditsiness and wishes they'd think things through. Leol will avoid a fight if he feels it unnecessary, which bothers the combat-hungry Cheetu to no end. Leol's nen ability takes the form of an iPod-like device. Leol must perform a good deed for a nen-powered individual and then let that individual know that he or she owes him. For the next 24 hours, Leol can then select that ability for use as if it were a song on the device. Leol steals a water-based ability from one of Morau's men and takes Morau on. Leol meets his end through oxygen deprivation, as Morau has removed all of the oxygen from the enclosed space they fought in.

Komugi

A blind girl who's the undefeated champion of gungi, a fictional board game. After the Chimera Ant King had beaten various East Gorteau champs at board games and killed them, he took in Komugi but was unable to beat her. Because she's blind, she's unable to recognize the Chimera Ant King as a monster and thinks of him as a Worthy Opponent gungi player. She unintentionally awoke the compassion inside the King, and as he continues to associate with her, he becomes friendlier. Komugi gets injured after Netero and Zeno attack the palace, and Neferpitou is assigned to use his healing powers to allow her to recover. During the confusion following Gon's fight with Pitou, Palm hides her.

  • Blind and the Beast: Blind to the king's beast
  • Dying Declaration of Love: The translator notes that her choice of words in one of her responses to the King as he's near death and she's also about to die is similar to a pledge of marriage from a bride.
  • Genius Ditz: or...
  • Idiot Savant: In Gungi
  • Inelegant Blubbering: Complete with snot coming out of her nose.
  • Morality Pet
  • Scheherazade Gambit: While the other game masters die pretty horribly, Komugi only survives because Meryem keeps losing to her and finds her interesting. She, however, doesn't know that she's competing for her life.
    • She does, though. Komugi plays every single game of competitive gungi with the resolve to die should she ever lose just once, and even that price is cheap in her eyes because she's essentially trading the life of a loser. It's part of what gains her the King's respect and admiration.
  • Stay with Me Until I Die: To the King. Which leads to them being..
  • Together in Death : She's also afflicted with the poison that kills the King, because she stays with him instead of leaving. Despite knowing the price.

Invasion Squad

The squad of hunters from the Association assembled and led by Netero to eliminate the Chimera Ants. Killua and Gon eventually become a part of them, but things go downhill from there.

Knuckle

One of Morau's trainees. He normally looks and acts like a street thug and is laughably incompetent at all things except fighting. However, Knuckle is easily a match for Gon, and when the chips are down, can strategize as well as anyone else. His nen ability is themed on bank interest: He attacks his target, lending him or her some of his strength. At the same time, a fairy appears next to the target and displays a number on its forehead. Every 10 seconds, the fairy will say that the target has accrued interest and increases the number. Once the number reaches or exceeds the limit for that individual (different between people), he or she is temporarily unable to use nen. Knuckle started out as Gon's sparring partner and seems to get stronger at roughly the same rate as Gon. Knuckle directly accompanies Gon and Killua, along with his partner Shoot, taking out Chimera Ants. Knuckle places an interest scheme on Cheetu, which freaks Cheetu out and impulsively retreats. Knuckle is the main opponent against Menthuthuyoupi. He turns invisible with Meleoron's help and punches Youpi, starting the interest. Knuckle then attempts to wear him out, and it almost works if not for Youpi's attempt at killing a weakened Morau, which causes Knuckle to lose control of the fairy.

Morau

A top operative in the extermination squad and works directly under Netero. He is a laid back old man. It's hard to make him angry or annoyed at anything, and when he enters combat, he will try to take the solution that requires the least amount of work. His nen ability is to create (tobacco) smoke that can form into any shape he wishes. They take a solid form and can allow him to do a variety of things, such as float or form ropes. The source of his smoke is his giant pipe he always carries with him; without it, he's limited to manipulating smoke he's already made by then. He fights Leol and easily wins by starving Leol of oxygen. Cheetu then traps Morau in a savannah and challenges Morau to play tag with him. Morau decides to frustrate Cheetu instead and caught him off guard, defeating Cheetu but not killing him. Morau then fights Shaiapouf and almost easily kills him, but Shaiapouf managed to run away, taking Morau's pipe with him. Morau encounters Knuckle fighting Menthuthuyoupi and uses his remaining cloud warriors to stall for time for Knuckle. Menthuthuyoupi noticed Morau and decides to kill him, but Knuckle calls off his interest fairy and lets Menthuthuyoupi go to allow Morau to survive.

Netero

12th Chairman of the Hunter Association, which administers the Hunter Exams once or twice per year. While he never fought during the exams, Hisoka feels uncomfortable around him, and Gon and Killua fails to catch a ball Netero holds in a friendly game.

Netero appears once more in the Chimera Ant arc as the head of the extermination team. He receives information on the King and the Royal Guards through Colt, finds Zeno, and arrives to fight the King directly. By this point, the King has amassed so much power that Netero is no match for him. Netero knows the King's real name (again, through Colt) and offers to tell it to him if he can defeat Netero. Netero dies fighting the King, but not before he can tell the King his real name.

Novu

A top operative in the extermination squad and works directly under Netero. He stays by Morau's side when not in an emergency, as his partner in the extermination. He is a man in a business suit, and he has a matching serious, no-nonsense personality to fit. His nen ability is to create portals into another dimension of his own creation. To someone who's unaware of his powers, he would appear to teleport. He uses this power to get into restricted, heavily guarded, or unknown areas and obtain information about the ants. He also allows others to use his dimension as a hideout or to allow people to brief others on what to do. He goes into hiding during Netero and Zeno's attack on the palace and sees some horrifying things.

Palm Siberia

One of Knuckles's partners and a trainee of Novu's. She first appears as a knife-crazy psychotic woman whom Gon and Killua constantly run from. However, she regains her composure, both behaviorally and appearance-wise, for Gon's date with her, which quickly goes awry. She went undercover as one of Bizef's prostitutes and sent to an underground facility, but escapes and attempts to spy on the King. Ikalgo follows her there but is slowed down considerably by Bloster, who coincidentally happened to be there. She winds up captured but not killed, rather turned into an chimaera ant hybrid. She awakens with some new abilities such as being able to detech where a person is with the newly made orb on her forehead able to turn her hair in armor and weapons. Pufu tries to manipulate her into killing Killua, but his words allow her to come to her senses and break free from Pufu's control. She currently helping the others.

Shoot

One of Knuckle's partners and a trainee of Morau's. Shoot is incredibly shy, as he is extremely self-conscious and worries others will think lowly of him. He is afraid to speak or maintain eye contact with anyone but Knuckle. He is Knuckle's equal in combat, however. His nen ability is a small floating cage and a bunch of floating hands. The hands are capable of powerful direct melee combat, but they can also warp a body part into the cage upon contact. Shoot neutralized Kite under Neferpitou's control in this way, by continuing to warp body parts until all of Kite was in that cage.


The Zaoldyecks

Zeno

Killua's grandfather and Silva's father. For someone his age, he is shown to be a formidable fighter with a sharp mind. His Nen abilities revolve around emitting aura in the form of a dragon.

Silva

Killua's father, who resembles David Bowie. Well, as seen in Labyrinth anyway. Silva is pleasant towards everyone in his family and presumably everyone he hasn't been assigned to assassinate. He forgives Killua for not wanting to follow the rest of the family, much to his wife's dismay. He accompanies his father Zeno to dispatch Chrollo, but Illumi killed the man who ordered the hit, and the two called off the fight. Silva's ability seems to be energy blasts of varying sizes, not unlike those seen in Dragonball Z.

  • Badass: Well, all the Zaoldyecks are this, but, hey, he killed a Genei Ryodan member. Although he'd rather not mess with them ever again...
  • Badass Long Hair
  • Doting Parent: No, really. Despite the dangers many of his children pose to the world, he sincerely loves them all.
  • Hot Dad: Killua's.

Kikyo

Killua's mother, who dresses in an elaborate Victorian dress and a sci-fi visor over her eyes. She also talks like a lady from that era. She feels upset that Killua has decided against following in his father's footsteps and becoming a professional assassin. Seemingly as compensation, she trains Kalluto to be subservient. This seems to have failed too, as Kalluto has joined the Spiders.

Illumi

The oldest of Killua's brothers, Illumi seems to personally know Hisoka and is on a roughly equal level of power as him. Illumi shows no emotion at all, though he's subservient to nobody except his clients. His abilities, both nen and normal, revolve around needles. He can stick needles into himself to change his appearance, and he can also stick needles into other people to control their movements or, if need be, to deflate them. Illumi planted a needle in Killua that functioned as a Power Limiter and gave him the impulse to back off from fights he wasn't sure he'd win. Killua noticed this during the Chimera Ants arc and removed the needle.

Milluki

The second-oldest of Killua's brothers. He is an otaku and perhaps a hikikomori, keeping hundreds of anime figurines in his room. He has demonstrated no fighting skill of his own, but he has a genius intellect and creates death traps and doomsday devices with it. He normally stays within the family's estate, torturing his younger brothers as part of their assassin training. Milluki is directly responsible for Killua's total Poison Immunity and near total resistance to electric shock. He is proud of what he builds and will call his family members at random times to tell them about his latest inventions. He visits York New City each year when the auctions arrive to try to buy Greed Island but has never been able to gather enough money to do it.

Kalluto

Killua's youngest brother (yes that's a boy, he just likes to look like a girl), who is first seen following Kikyo around. He is later revealed to have joined the Genei Ryodan to search for his "missing" brother (most likely Killua, now that Alluka's been revealed to have been locked up in a glorified safe the whole time) and assists in the attack on the Chimera Ants infesting Meteor City. Though outwardly appearing calm and quiet, rarely speaking at length to others, he hides a bloodthirsty side and a deep commitment to his goal. Even while recognizing his massive inferiority to other members of the Genei Ryodan, he renews his determination to find his brother, no matter how long and how hard he has to work. He is a Nen user who fights with paper.

  • Ax Crazy: Mentions, looking completely innocent, that he needs to get over his bad habit... of playing with his prey. In the background of the panel is a Chimera Ant splattered all over the ground.
  • Beware the Quiet Ones: Behind that calm and quiet exterior is a deadly assassin who can turn your body into minced meat by using confetti.
  • Creepy Child
  • Dude Looks Like a Lady
  • Improbable Weapon User: Fights with paper of all things, and can slice through steel cable with a paper fan and dismember a Chimera Ant with flying streams of confetti.
  • Killer Rabbit: Looks like a young girl wearing a kimono. Is a member of a family of Career Killers and can cut steel rope with paper.
  • Overshadowed by Awesome: Him versus the other members of the Genei Ryodan. His normally calm expression turns to horror when he realizes that he can barely see Feitan's speed... while the other members comment that Feitan is rusty and not moving well.
  • The Stoic: Appears to be this.

Alluka/Nanika

  • Ambiguous Gender: Killua refers to Alluka as his sister while his brothers Milluki and Illumi call Alluka a boy.
    • It's pretty well-accepted that Alluka is a Transgender girl and her family is intentionally misgendering her.
  • Because You Were Nice to Me: Killua is the only family member who treats Alluka as family and a human being instead of a tool, a dangerous entity, or something to be controlled. Because of this, she's loving and affectionate to a fault around him, and it's almost stated outright that this is the reason some of Alluka's rules, like "Nobody may make 2 consecutive wishes", don't apply to him.
  • Cheerful Child: The Alluka that Killua knows.
  • Creepy Child: The black eyed Alluka.
  • Equivalent Exchange: In a twisted way. Any wish she grants does not require the one who made the wish to give something of equal value in return. Instead it is the person who she pesters next that must pay it. Failure to grant 4 pesters results in the person and their loved one dying. Depending on how great the wish is more people die depending on how much time they've spent with that person.
  • Jackass Genie: Though not, perhaps, by choice
    • May actually be a subversion. It turns out, Alluka's twisted form of Equivalent Exchange only applies when granting cruel or greedy wishes; if she's asked to heal something, she just gets tired.
  • Punny Name: Nanika translates to "what?"
  • Reality Warper
  • Split Personality: Alluka's nen powers manifest as another entity called Nanika. Both love Killua, and are aware of each other's presence. When one goes to sleep, the other manifests.
  • Super-Powered Evil Side: Averted. While Nanika's wishes can have nasty consequences, it's not from deliberate malice, and she doesn't give any pesterings if her previous wish wasn't greedy in nature.

The Zodiac

12 powerful hunters chosen by Netero to take over the Hunter Association in his absence, themed after the Chinese zodiac. All but Pariston and Ging changed their appearances, names, and personalities to match their zodiac character out of respect for Netero. These two eventually left the group.

Pariston Hill

Former Vice-chairman of the HA and Rat of the zodiac. Despised by most of the zodiac, but has a huge faction of supporters within the association. Claims to be an able negotiator and often mentions the need to save time and money, yet he's a master of needlessly complicating things. After winning the chairman election, he immediately gave the position to Cheadle before resigning from his role as Rat of the zodiac not long after. Presently he has been seen among a group of people led by Netero's possible son, Beyond. Their intention is to go to the Dark Continent, an area beyond the known world's map that has been marked as forbidden territory.

  • Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: That cheery smile of his never reaches his eyes, especially if he's been interrupted.
  • Corrupt Bureaucrat
  • Keet: Very upbeat.
  • Man Child: Treats everything like a game. But unlike Ging, who gets bored easily, he's relentless.
  • Manipulative Bastard
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: His name is obviously an anagram of Paris Hilton.
  • Obstructive Bureaucrat: He became Vice Chairman solely to be one of these.
  • The Sociopath: Seems to be this. Completely averted - he's actually heartbroken over Netero's death. The fact that playing the role of Obstructive Bureaucrat is what got Netero killed probably didn't... feel good to say the least.
    • Though there has yet to be a given reason for why he collected Chimrea Ant cocoons.
  • Stepford Smiler: He puts on an infuriating happy face for the entire election, only to break down in tears after it's all over. Apparently all his scheming was just his way of paying tribute to Netero.
  • Troll: Could challenge Hazama for the title of God of Trolls. He likes making things as needlessly complicated and drawn-out as possible, and making fun of his fellow Zodiacs. He wins the Chairman Election, only to immediately resign and appoint Cheadle, who was his most vocal detractor. In fact, he never even wanted to be Chairmain; he originally took up the position of vice just to "play" with Netero by causing him problems.

Ging Freecss

Legendary hunter, former Boar of the zodiac, Greed Island creator, Kaito's mentor, Gon's father. Double hunter on the level of triple hunters. Admired by Satotz for his pioneering archaeological work. Has been absent for most of the series but recently appeared to take part in the HA election.

After the election's end and meeting Gon, Ging resigned from his position as Boar of the zodiac.

  • Butt Monkey: Pretty much the entire Hunter organization is fed up with his crap by the end of the Election arc, and he can hardly open his mouth without getting shouted down.
  • Disappeared Dad: Left Gon in his cousin Mito's care to pursue his ambitions as a hunter.
  • Expy: Looks a lot like Yusuke Urameshi with stubble. It's even Lampshaded in a bonus comic.

Yusuke: What do you mean I'm in the wrong manga? I'll kill you! Who the hell is Ging?

  • Man Child: Talked enthusiastically about his game for hours with an ex-convict. Sometimes seems as self-centered as a little kid. Has a reputation for only thinking about his own entertainment.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: Appears short-sighted to other Zodiac members, yet predicted their entire meeting and got exactly what he wanted from it.
  • Perma-Stubble

Cheadle Yorkshire

Dog of the zodiac. Pariston said she's the most competent of them overall. She is intelligent, serious, and level-headed. Talks like this -> to others.

  • Break the Haughty: Famed for being the master of procedure among the Zodiac, but winds up totally humbled by the end of the election.
  • Meganekko
  • Out-Gambitted: She's hopelessly out of her depth against Pariston.

Kanzai

Tiger of the zodiac. Short-tempered and aggressive.

Piyon

Rabbit of the zodiac. Absent-minded, but with a sharp tongue.

Kurukku

The rooster. Very easily annoyed.

Others (Supporting Characters)

Here are some characters who are important enough to have their own entries, but don't belong to any of the major groups of characters above.

Neon Nostrade

The daughter of crime boss Light Nostrade, Neon is a teenage girl with a Nen ability to tell the future. Her father exploits this ability to rise in the ranks of the Mafia; Neon is aware of the leverage she has with her father and their relationship consists mainly of each trying to get as much out of the other as possible. In exchange for reading the futures of Mafia clients, Neon receives whatever she wants. Pouty and spoiled, Neon has a tendency to throw temper tantrums like a little girl. It is unknown how she discovered her Nen ability, but she has long had a fascination with fortune tellers. Currently she is unable to use her Nen ability because it was stolen by Chrollo Lucifer.

  • Fortune Teller
  • Hidden Depths: When talking to Chrollo, she reveals how she got her Nen ability and also discusses her beliefs about the afterlife. She also leaves Yorkshin quietly because her maid, Eliza, is heartbroken after her boyfriend Squala’s death.
  • Jerkass: Upon hearing of Dalzollene’s death, she cares little for anything but whether the items she wanted at the auction are safe.
  • Kick the Dog: Unintentional, but one can only imagine how Kurapika feels as Neon squeals over getting a pair of his kinsmen’s eyes.
  • Mafia Princess
  • Rose-Haired Girl
  • Nightmare Fetishist: She collects body parts.
  • Spoiled Brat: Up to Eleven.
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