Hunter X Hunter/Characters
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.
- Now it's Han Megumi.
- 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.
- Abusive Parents / Evil Matriarch / Knight Templar Big Brother: And how!
- Acquired Poison Immunity: Killua is immune to virtually all forms of poison due to his family's Training from Hell, and is seen happily downing five cans of laxative-laced juice before the Hunter Exam starts.
- Animal Motifs: Often compared to a cat (even appears as one in Super-Deformed context).
- Anti-Hero: Type III
- Badass Adorable
- Badass Family
- Black Sheep
- Career Killer: Formerly.
- Cowardly Lion: He becomes this when facing an opponent whose level he is unsure of compared to his own (with a tendency to underestimate himself). It's at first explained as the result of his brother Illumi's training. But it's later revealed to be hardwired into him by a nen-powered needle Illumi had put in his head. Removing it allowed Killua to instantly take a serious level in Badass.
- Creepy Child
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: In the 2011 anime. Madhouse's design for him looks more feminine than Togashi's or Nippon Animation's.
- Expy: Possibly of Hiei (mostly in the original anime).
- The Gambling Addict: His main flaw, mostly Played for Laughs (considering it's Gon who has to stop him from going too far)…
- Heterosexual Life Partners: With Gon, though on Killua's side it borders on being Ho Yay at times.
- Hitman with a Heart: Though he doesn't really get a heart until he quits being a hitman.
- It Runs in The Family
- Kanako Mitsuhashi
- And now, it's Mariya Ise for the 2011 remake.
- Killer Yoyo
- The Lancer
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse
- Psychotic Smirk: Did this quite often when he killed earlier in the series.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Blue to Gon's Red.
- Shock and Awe: Thanks to his acquired electricity immunity, he is able to transform his aura into electricity, and uses it not only as a weapon on others, but also on himself as a reflex enhancer.
- Sprouting Ears: In the first anime.
- Sweet Tooth: He tends to be munching on something. Also, he used his winnings from his first time in the Celestial Tower supposedly on a lot of cakes.
- Training from Hell
- Tyke Bomb
- White-Haired Pretty Boy
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
- Sawashiro Miyuki in the 2011 remake.
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.
- Awesome McCoolname: Paladiknight.
- Badass Normal: Despite not knowing how to use Nen, Leorio is way stronger and capable than the average human, including people bigger and bulkier than him. He even earns Hisoka's approval, who decides to spare his life out of respect for his courage.
- Badass Abnormal: As of chapter 325, he's picked up the Nen ability that lets him transmit his punches through the floor.
- The Big Guy
- Combat Medic
- Chivalrous Pervert
- Cool Shades
- Expy: Possibly of Kazuma Kuwabara.
- Genius Bruiser
- Hot-Blooded
- Ho Yay (With Kurapika)
- Hozumi Gouda
- Keiji Fujiwara in the 2011 remake.
- Jerkass Facade
- Long Bus Trip (we haven't seen him since before the Chimera Ant arc)
- 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.
- Returns in chapter 325 with a nen ability.
- The Medic
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red to Kurapika's Blue.
- Sharp-Dressed Man
- Sunglasses at Night
- Took a Level in Badass: In the Phantom Troupe Arc, he could barely use his Nen, and then he went on a Long Bus Trip. When he came back, he actually knocked Gon's father, of all people, out of his chair at long distance.
- And now he's one of two remaining candidates for President of the Hunter's Association, and actually has a chance of winning.
- Younger Than They Look (Nineteen, to Gon's surprise.)
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.
- Batman Gambit: using his nen-powered forgery skills, he pulls a successful one on Chrollo, of all people.
- Every one of his fights involve this in same way. He baits and manipulates opponents until they unwittingly fall into his pace, and then he kills them in one move.
- Bishonen: Just look at him when he doesn't have his typical clown getup.
- Blood Knight: Hisoka kills people because he likes to, but sometimes kills because he needs to. Early in the series, Gon is able to easily track him just from the bloodlust he emits, and even bases his window of opportunity around when Hisoka can't resist killing the next person he meets.
- Combat Sadomasochist: See "Sex Is Violence" below.
- Consummate Liar
- Death Dealer
- Depraved Homosexual / Depraved Bisexual: Depending on your interpretation.
- The Dreaded
- Even Evil Has Standards: Even a violent sociopath like him is creeped out by Illumi's "brotherly affection" for Killua.
- Fan Nickname: Pedoclown. It is not a hyperbole, but a completely accurate descriptor.
- Four Is Death: his number in the Genei Ryodan
- Foe Yay / Ho Yay: Pretty much the personification of it in this series.
- Hiroki Takahashi
- Daisuke Namikawa in the 2011 remake
- In Love with Your Carnage
- Jail Bait Wait: Or something like it. He's waiting for Gon and Killua (whom he refers to as "unripe fruits") to become stronger, so that they'll be able to put up a more arousing fight when he finally decides to "pick" them.
- Limited Wardrobe: Averted; while all his outfits are similar looking, he sports a different one per arc at least.
- Mood Swinger: He swings back and forth between Affably Evil and Faux Affably Evil, and sometimes falls into Ax Crazy territory.
- Monster Clown: AND HOLY SHIT HOW.
- Sex Is Violence: He gets very turned on when Gon starts utterly wailing on him in the Celestial Tower arc.
- Token Evil Teammate
- Wild Card: Quite literally regarding his Weapon of Choice.
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.
- Bald of Awesome
- Cool Big Sis (to Kurapica)
- Magic Music
- Super Senses (her sense of hearing is simply godly)
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.
- Akiko Kimura
- All Women Are Lustful: Likes reading porn magazines and gets googly-eyed when seeing Hisoka nude.
- Berserk Button: Don't call her real form a gorilla or she will make you regret it.
- Brawn Hilda: her true form
- Cute Bruiser: When she in her child-like form
- Older Than They Look
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse
- Sink or Swim Mentor: She was the one who trained Wing after all.
- Sleep Mode Size: Her current form. Her real form is much more massive and muscular but she hates it due to her appearance, one can't actually blame her.
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.
- Asskicking Equals Authority: the uncontested leader of a gang of Persons Of Mass Destruction…
- Awesomeness By Analysis
- Badass Longcoat
- Big Bad
- Brilliant but Lazy / Dismotivation / For the Evulz / The Hedonist: Chrollo's motivations are particularly difficult to define; when asked about them, he outright states that he doesn't know and never really thought about it, he just does what he does because he can; he's reluctant to fight at full capacity even when he could or should, he gets the Genei Ryodan to steal impossibly well protected objects only to get bored with them and sell them (even though he doesn't need the money), and sometimes steal them again later. And he wouldn't care if he were to die the next day.
- Creepy Cool Crosses
- Dangerously Genre Savvy
- Dissonant Serenity: Which freaks out Senritsu to the point of causing her a brief Heroic BSOD.
- Expy: Of Sensui
- Facial Markings
- Handsome In Mink
- I Am Not Left-Handed: for some reason he is generally reluctant to fight at full capacity, even with a Worthy Opponent.
- Mega Manning
- Pet the Dog: Subverted! At one point, during a sequence of massive carnage, he instructs the rest of the Spider to let an ambulance go unharmed. This looks like a Pet the Dog moment, because in the ambulance there is a girl he was discussing with before, and whom he knocked out before the main battle, being careful not to actually hurt her… but then you realise he did this because he stole her divination power, and for the stealing to remain effective, she needs to stay alive.
- Power Parasite: Specifically, a Power Sponge - stealing abilities is his only power; the victim is effectively Brought Down to Normal for the rest of his or her life and cannot even sense other people with powers. Chrollo has a tougher time than most to obtain these powers, as he needs to meet the person whose powers he's going to steal; Chrollo needs to hear the name of the power from said person and see it performed, so he can summon his book and transfer that power into it. Completing the transfer within 24 hours is essential, otherwise, his enemies will become immune to it. In addition, he needs to hold the book out in order to use these powers, leaving him open for an attack, but Chrollo's collected a number of powers from fighters stronger than him to compensate.
- The Strategist
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.
- Adaptation Dye Job: Has pink hair in the manga's official art, but has violet or dark blue hair in the anime.
- Bodyguard Crush / Sugar and Ice Personality: Possibly for Chrollo, as the only times she has displayed strong emotions were when talking about him.
- Combat Medic
- Dark Action Girl
- Emotionless Girl: When she's not talking about Chrollo
- Gut Feeling: Hers is particularly spot on. At one point she's very surprised to find out she was wrong… it later turns out she wasn't.
- Ninja
- People Puppets: In a particularly creepy way.
- Like Brother and Sister: She's often seen in company of Nobunaga.
- Razor Floss: Though she doesn't actually use her thread in a Clean Cut way, preferring strangulation.
- Vertical Kidnapping
- You Gotta Have Blue Hair
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.
- Animal Motifs: Lion.
- Badass: How badass is he? Well, at one point he kills three highly trained and superpowered assassins while paralyzed from the neck down.
- Badass Boast / Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner: "My head and neck are all I need to kill you all." He wasn't lying.
- The Berserker / The Juggernaut: He manages to be both simultaneously.
- Blond Guys Are Evil
- Blood Knight: He has an interesting take on the issue, claiming that he feels nothing when he kills people most of the time, but that he loves killing people who came to him to avenge someone.
- The Brute
- Combat Pragmatist
- Defiant to the End: When trapped in Kurapica's lethal Nen chains, Uvogin utterly refuses to reply to his questions, fully knowing he would be killed. "Kill me... kill me, kill me... FUCK YOU!"
- Funny Afro: His hairstyle used to be this as shown in one flashback
- Hot-Blooded
- Ho Yay: With Nobunaga.
- Kiai: A weaponized version, no less; at one point he screams so loudly that his opponent's brain explodes inside his head.
- Killed Off for Real
- Large Ham
- Leeroy Jenkins: What he appears to be at first.
- Nemean Skinning: He wears the skin of what seems to be a bear.
- Nigh Invulnerability
- Rated "M" for Manly
- Sacrificial Lion
- Screaming Warrior
- Super Strength: In theory, all the members of the Genei Ryodan have Super Strength, but in practice, Uvogin cranks it Up to Eleven.
- Walking Shirtless Scene
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.
- Angrish: He doesn't lose the power of speech, but reverts to his mother language, Chinese.
- Disproportionate Retribution / No Kill Like Overkill: His answer to receiving a serious injury? Creating an uncontained, self-sustained, miniature fusion reaction (a very small star, basically), effectively turning the whole place into an absurdly powerful inferno for several minutes.
- Expy: Of Karasu at first, then of Hiei after some Art Evolution.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Mostly takes the form of Creepy Monotone / Tranquil Fury, but he sure gets angry easily.
- Heterosexual Life Partners: Most often hangs around with Phinks.
- Jerkass: Even by the Genei Ryodan's standards. In the course of the story, he has addressed exactly one sincere compliment to someone.
- The Napoleon: Officially 145 cm tall, he's the same size than 12 years old Gon. He doesn't seem to have a problem with it, but still has very bad temper.
- Parasol of Pain: Subverted, as his umbrella is just a convenient way to conceal his sword, then doubly-subverted when the umbrella is revealed to also hold a powerful projectile firing mechanism.
- Playing with Fire
- Torture Technician
- Unfortunate Implications: he's short, mean, sadistic, completely immoral… and Chinese.
- Yoko Ogai
- You Gotta Have Blue Hair
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.
- Avenging the Villain
- Butt Monkey: During the York New City arc, he is repeatedly prevented from fighting, often in slightly funny or humiliating ways.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: …but when he does get into battle, we suddenly understand why he's one of the first line fighters of the Spider.
- Everything's Better with Samurai
- Hair-Trigger Temper
- Hot-Blooded
- Ho Yay: With Uvogin
- Katanas Are Just Better
- Large Ham
- Manly Tears
- Revenge Before Reason
- Super Senses: He can uses the En within a 4 meters radius (allowing him to detect the exact position of any living creature in that space, no matter how well hidden it is).
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.
- Absolute Cleavage
- Awesome but Impractical: She can create Nen bullets holding any of the memories she read, or even her own, then fire them at someone's head to transmit those memories to that person. If a person receives his own memory, he becomes amnesiac. This would be all good if these bullets didn't keep the full destructive power of normal bullets. However, all the members of the Genei Ryodan are Immune to Bullets, so…
- Badass in a Nice Suit: Sans bra
- Blondes Are Evil
- Butter Face: A mild case. She isn't exactly ugly but her face is far from pretty.
- Cool Big Sis
- Generic Cuteness: Deliberately defied. Despite her knockout figure, her face is plain-looking at best.
- Gag Nose: Her face looks odd due to it
- Living Lie Detector: What she is in effect when she uses her power. Even without it, she seems to be very good at telling if someone is lying or not.
- Sexy Secretary
- Stripperific
- Sugar and Ice Personality: Lampshaded by Senritsu, who notes that the only reason the hostage exchange was allowed to happen is because Pakunoda is much more caring and humane than the other members of the Genei Ryodan, even though she tries to keep a stoic facade.
- Telepathy: She can read the memory of people she touches; she has to ask a question to activate the memory, but said question can be very open, a detail Chrollo took advantage of at some point:
Pakunoda: What do I ask them?
Chrollo: I want to know what they're hiding.
- Vapor Wear
- Undying Loyalty: It costs her her life.
- Villainous Sacrifice: After having received a Judgement Chain from Kurapika, forbidding her to tell the other members of the Spider what happened to their leader, she fired six bullets containing her own memory at them, dying as soon as the bullets impacted, but thus managing to transmit all she had learnt about Kurapika.
- Woman in Black
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.
- Affably Evil
- Armor-Piercing Attack: His Nen bullets are powerful (and the size of a grapefruit).
- A-Team Firing: Haha, no; when his ability is introduced, he slaughters an entire room of several hundred people in 10 seconds.
- The Big Guy
- Body Horror / Fingore / Good Scars, Evil Scars: Among other things, he has large scars on the face, allong with visible suture around the mouth, Buddha-style elongated ears with bone piercings, and cut-off, detachable finger tips, linked with chains to the rest of the hand. He did all this himself to look more threatening, but because of how Nen works, this also made his Nen bullets stronger.
- Blood Knight
- The Brute
- Character Development: He was first introcuded as an easily irritated Jerkass, but because there were already several characters of this type in the Genei Ryodan, he was quickly reworked as a quieter, more sympathetic individual.
- Finger Gun: A literal example (Togashi seems to like this trope).
- Frankenstein's Monster: Seems to be a deliberate part of his look (flashbacks show him to have been more human looking once).
- Genius Bruiser
- Gentle Giant / Team Mom: The "gentle" part applies only inside the Genei Ryodan. Outside, it's different.
- The Grotesque: If the body modifications weren't enough, he also has disproportionately big hands and arms, which force him to lean forward like a gorilla when he walks.
- More Dakka: And how!
- No Kill Like Overkill
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.
- Bag of Holding
- Cloudcuckoolander
- Cute Bruiser
- The Ditz
- Drop the Hammer: Another way she can use Deme-Chan.
- Empathic Weapon: Deme-Chan, maybe.
- Genius Ditz: She occasionally has good hindsights and intuitions (like being able to instantly decipher the poetic code used in Chrollo's predictions).
- Grotesque Cute / Deconstruction: Shizuku is a sweet collection of cartoonish and Moe tropes that are played in a completely horrific way.
- Hammerspace: Deme-Chan is a recursion, not only does it contains a Hammerspace, but since it is made of Nen, it can itself disappear at will into a Hammerspace. And guess how Shizuku uses it when not vacuuming anything.
- I Am Not Left-Handed: Literally inverted, she lost a round of arm wrestling with Gon because she is left handed.
- Improbable Weapon User
- Meganekko
- Killer Rabbit: Both Shizuku and Deme-Chan.
- Little Miss Badass
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse
- Rummage Fail: Shizuku can retrieve the last thing Deme-Chan sucked up. Everything else is lost forever.
- Weapons That Suck
- Woman in Black
- You Fail Biology Forever: Shizuku herself; she only allows Deme-chan to suck up things that she doesn't consider to be alive, but that seems to only include animals visible to the naked eyes; blood, for instance, is ok (this is a plot point).
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.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Veins start bulging in his head pretty quickly.
- Hot-Blooded
- Megaton Punch: How strong it is depends on how much he rotates his arm though.
- Nice Hat: The Pharaoh headdress he's seen wearing a few times.
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.
- Berserk Button: Insult his tribe and he will destroy you.
- Body Horror
- Musical Assassin: His power is to create music through the holes in his body.
- Proud Warrior Race Guy: Really proud of his tribe, and since his Nen ability comes from their traditional way of war...
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.
- Biological Mashup
- Bug War: What they trigger.
- Extreme Omnivore
- Hive Caste System: Divided into ranks, with soldiers of higher ranks usually, but not always, being stronger and more intelligent than their subordinates. The Royal Guards and the King take this concept Up to Eleven, being born superior to anything else in the hive. Subverted in that the Queen has shown no great fighting skills.
- Horde of Alien Locusts (but somewhat more cunning about it)
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.
- Death by Childbirth
- Mega Manning (Technically, she spawns a Biological Mashup every time she eats something...when she starts on humans, they become intelligent, and when she eats someone with Nen abilities...)
- Monster Is a Mommy (NOT an excuse this time, especially considering what her son turned out to be)
- Wacky Cravings (You don't know the half of it)
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.
- Anti-Villain
- Arrogant Kung Fu Guy
- Battle Aura (Up to Eleven)
- Big Bad
- Blind and the Beast: Beast to Komugi's Blind.
- Chest Burster: He chose to be born early which gave his mom injuries that proved fatal.
- Complete Monster -> Noble Demon: He starts out as a monster who only lives to eat, kill and conquer, and doesn't feels a silver of care for anyone except for himself. After bonding with Komugi he starts respecting his guards and accepting the value of other lifeforms.
- Defeat Means Friendship: Sort of. He strikes up a friendship/UST with Komugi after getting his ass kicked in Gungi.
- Enfante Terrible: Kills his mother after telling her to shut up.
- Expy (to Perfect Cell)
- Flying Brick
- Face Death with Dignity
- Genius Bruiser
- I'm a Humanitarian
- Laser-Guided Amnesia
- Made of Iron: This saves him when fighting Netero, since at first he could not block and barely avoid Netero's attacks.
- Morality Pet (Komugi)
- The Napoleon: Shorter than all three of his guards and with a personality to match.
- No Name Given (He literally has no name, though finds it out later. Played for drama.)
- Smart People Play Chess: And Gungi, and Go...
- Stay with Me Until I Die: To Komugi. And they get to be..
- Together in Death
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.
- Ax Crazy: Though he has a relatively small on-panel body count, he controls a large number of corpses and describes killing with glee (saying he wanted to kill Kite over and over)
- Catboy
- Cats Are Mean Played with: He was very loyal to the king and was always ready to give his life for him, but against humans and lesser Chimeras, he cranked this trope Up to Eleven.
- Combat Medic: Played with, since while using his healing ability he can't fight.
- Determinator: Continues fighting even after Gon destroys his head.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Pitou's speech to Kite's corpse about how much fun killing was sounds quite a bit like Pitou is describing something else...
- The Dragon (to the king)
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: And how.
- Killed Off for Real
- Mad Scientist: Has a lair filled with equipment and works with Pouf to revive and turn Palm into a Super Soldier Half-Human Hybrid.
- The Medic
- People Puppets: Bonus points for this ability having actual strings.
- Super Mode: By conjuring an eerie Nen creature to control him. According to the narrator, "Puppet Master's Serenity" is his strongest ability, though Gon promptly defeats it with his Dangerous Forbidden Technique.
- Torture Technician
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
- Die for Our Ship / The Scrappy- Let's just say that a lot of King/Komugi shippers have it out for him. To say nothing of how many pages Togashi devotes to him gushing over the king.
- Mind Control
- Non-Standard Character Design Chibi-pouf. His ability to strategize is not lessened at all, making him feel dissonant.
- Petting Zoo People (A butterfly man)
- Pretty Butterfly: Subverted to hell and back. He may look pretty, but his personality is anything but.
- Psycho Supporter Becoming more Yandere towards the King as time goes on.
- Self-Deprecation (His extreme loyalty causes him to cry buckets and play the violin whenever he feels like he betrayed the king, which is often.)
- Yandere: Is fanatically devoted to his ideal of what the King should be to the point of trying to change the King as he sees fit (by lying and trying to kill Komugi, though the King obviously cares for her).
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.
- Body Horror
- Dumb Muscle: Until he masters his rage.
- Eyes Do Not Belong There
- Lovecraftian Superpower
- Mighty Glacier: Against Killua. He realizes that he is much stronger both physically and in terms of raw Nen power, but is unable to touch Killua due to Killua's Super Speed and ends up getting pounded. Killua deals little damage, however.
- Worthy Opponent: considers Knuckle and Morel to be this and refrains from killing them because of it.
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.
- Defector From Decadence
- Half-Human Hybrid (half chameleon, half human)
- Invisibility (A little more than that; he can erase himself from all
fivesenses of other people, including nen sensing or whatever.) - Squishy Wizard
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.
- Defector From Decadence
- Noble Demon: Originally, but makes a Heel Face Turn after the Queen is killed.
- Promotion to Parent: for the Queen's second child.
- Winged Humanoid
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.
- Abnormal Ammo (Fires flea-bullets in his first appearance)
- Cold Sniper Subverted. He may be a sniper, but he has a strong moral fiber.
- Defector From Decadence
- Funny Animal (
Octopussquidoctopus) - Heel Face Turn
- Insistent Terminology (Insists on being called a squid, though he's obviously an octopus.)
- Non-Standard Character Design He more closely resembles something out of a Butch Hartman cartoon on Nickelodeon.
- People Puppets: He can get inside of corpses and use the body as if it were his own, including any Nen abilities that his host had in life. It crosses into Squick territory when he uses Flutter's body, which is already decomposing and stinks horribly.
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.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Lion-man.
- Making a Splash: Technically not his power, but it's the only one we ever see used on offense.
- Powers as Programs: Leol can borrow powers from people who owe him a favor.
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.
- All Devouring Black Hole Loan Sharks: The theme of his Nen ability (see below), although he's not actually a moneylender.
- Bare-Fisted Monk
- The Big Guy
- Friend to All Living Things
- Genius Bruiser: You wouldn't tell by looking at him, but his Nen ability requires him to make extremely fast and accurate calculations in his head while pummeling his opponents.
- Going to Give It More Energy: His Nen ability lends the target power at a high rate of interest (that activates every ten seconds, too!) and gives them more every subsequent time he hits. The catch? If the nen exceeds his target's limit, they can't use nen for a month.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold
- Large Ham: Good lord, he is.
- Lightning Bruiser
- Manly Tears
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.
- Cool Shades
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: To Gon as well as to Colt and the Queen's second child
- Old Soldier
- Smoke Out: One of his abilities, used to considerable tactical effect
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.
- Badass Grandpa
- Cool Old Guy: Well, it's going to happen when you're a character over 140 years old and chairman of the Hunter Association.
- Friend to All Living Things
- Heroic Sacrifice: Via nuclear bomb.Too bad it doesn't stick. Or maybe it did?
- Obfuscating Stupidity: At his first appearance, he's an old, laid-back guy. Later on, he's much more dangerous than he looks.
- Old Master
- Training Montage: As part of a flashback
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.
- Locked Into Strangeness: His hair eventually turns completely white due to stress from his recon mission.
- Stoic Spectacles
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.
- Ax Crazy
- Beautiful All Along: when she gets rid of that Samara/Sadako look, takes a shower and combs the hair to go on a date with Gon
- Knife Nut
- Shotacon: for a little while. She changed her mind.
- Supreme Chef
- Yandere
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.
- Badass Grandpa
- Badass Moustache
- Cool Old Guy
- Never Hurt an Innocent: Despite the fact that he's violent and doesn't kill without hesitation, Zeno does not like to harm people that are outside of his contract work. This is demonstrated when he accidentally injures Komugi when he was out to kill the Chimera Ant King.
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.
- Cyborg: Apparently.
- Hot Mom: Without her bandages, she doesn't look so bad.
- My Beloved Smother: Killua's.
- Pimped-Out Dress
- Yandere
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.
- Aloof Big Brother: It certainly seems this way, but he actually pays a great deal of attention to Killua... more than Killua would like.
- Badass Long Hair: He comes off as being creepy though
- Berserk Button: Hisoka once playfully suggested murdering Killua to his face. It went over about as well as you'd expect.
- Code Name: Gittarackur.
- Dissonant Serenity: Despite being a Perpetual Frowner or because of it, he comes off as an even more brutal sadistic prick than Hisoka, which says a lot.
- Eviler Than Thou: His behavior in the Election arc quickly becomes reprehensible even by his family's flexible standards.
- Heterosexual Life Partners: With Hisoka, during the exam.
- Hey, It's That Voice!: In the 2011 series, Illumi is voiced by Masaya Matsukaze, who is also known as the Axe Crazy Person of Mass Destruction and Soft-Spoken Sadist Teru Mikami from Death Note.
- Nightmare Face: When he gets angry. Coupled with a killing intent so strong it's broadcasted for miles.
- The Stoic: So much, that showing emotion makes scarier than not showing them, combined with his Dissonant Serenity.
- The Voiceless: As Gittarackur.
- Uncanny Valley: He hardly ever shows strong emotion, and his features look painted on.
- Urara Takano: His original voice actor, who manages to be Nightmare Fuel for the original show before his replacement makes it worse.
- Yandere: Portrayed as very much this when Killua is concerned. He quite sincerely believes all of his measures when Killua is concerned are completely justified. Killua has quite clearly stated otherwise, but Illumi isn't listening.
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.
- Awesome but Impractical: His inventions, including one that blows up mosquitos.
- Butt Monkey
- Fat Bastard
- Otaku
- Torture Technician
- The Unfavorite: Easily. None of his family (Or even the servants) like him in the slightest. Given he's a fat, sadistic loser with more impulse than sense, it's not surprising.
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.