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Hunter x Hunter is a long-running series with hundreds of manga chapters and anime episodes at this time. With many different arcs and organizations featured in the series, there are a lot of characters to go over in our Hunter x Hunter characters guide.
From the Hunters Association to the many antagonists for the various story arcs, we have created this Hunter x Hunter characters guide for you to get you into the groove with who is who in this ongoing series. This will be a great starting point for newcomers to the massive franchise and a solid refresher for those who are established fans.
Bottom Line Up Front
There are many different characters in the Hunter x Hunter series, many of which fall under the Hunters Association and antagonist categories. Many of the story arcs revolve around the main core characters, the fellow Hunters that they meet, and the villains that they have to take down. Here is the full list of the characters that we cover in this Hunter x Hunter characters guide:
- Gon
- Killua
- Kurapika
- Leorio
- Hisoka
- Biscuit
- Netero
- Kite
- Knov
- Morel
- Ging Freecss
- Pariston Hill
- Cheadle Yorkshire
- Chrollo
- Kalluta
- Illumi
- Chimera Ant Queen
- Meruem
- Neferpitou
- Shaiapouf
- Menthuthuyoupi
- Colt
- Mito
- Zushi
- Komugi
Hunter x Hunter Characters Guide
With so many different characters that are featured in the Hunter x Hunter manga and anime series, it can be overwhelming. Such is the case with many shounen action series like this one that goes for several hundred chapters since there are so many different arcs and characters introduced.
In the case of Hunter x Hunter, in particular, there are more than 300 chapters of the manga to date and more than 140 anime episodes of the Madhouse series alone, or over 200 episodes in total if you include the first series as well.
To help with a large number of characters in Hunter x Hunter, we have divided them up into their various affiliations and organizations, such as the Hunters, villains, and more. Keep in mind that we are going to keep this guide as spoiler-free as possible as there are some surprising moments and deaths in the series.
That said, while we will try to keep the fate of some of these characters a secret in this guide, it is worth noting that even the mention that some characters are villains or associated with a certain group could be considered a spoiler. Please bear that in mind. However, we do think that any very light spoilers here should not affect a newcomer’s enjoyment of the series at all.
Hunters Association Members
The core feature of the Hunter x Hunter series is the Hunters Association that the series is named after. Hunters are throughout the world of this series and go on various jobs, ranging from eliminations to hunting down treasure to simply helping people out.
The Hunter Association is a large but tight-knit and exclusive group of people who have undergone an insanely tough annual test to enter. Having a membership in the Hunters Association is a great asset, and many of them are introduced throughout the series. Most of them are considered the “good guys,” including the lead protagonists of the series.
Gon
The character that we are introduced to at the very beginning of the series and the star of Hunter x Hunter is Gon Freecss. He is a young boy who is strong, skilled, and a great hunter of animals. At the start of the series, Gon lives with his aunt due to the loss of his parents.
He quickly finds out that his father is still alive and a renowned Hunter in the Hunters Association. Gon leaves his home behind to join the Hunters Association and find his father. Gon is an upbeat, always optimistic protagonist that never gives up on his dream of finding his dad.
Along the way, Gon gathers a group of friends together that make up his core gang of Hunters to take down assignments and missions in the hopes of completing his ultimate goal. While certainly a headstrong Hunter, Gon is also a kid and lets his emotions get the best of him sometimes, resulting in some brash decisions for protecting and avenging those he cares about.
In the world of Hunter x Hunter, most people can manipulate their Nen, and Gon’s power comes from being a Nen enhancer. He can enhance his physical capabilities in battle using a Rock Paper Scissors theme for his attacks.
Killua
Gon’s best friend and fellow preteen is Killua Zoldyck. A young boy with striking white hair and a sometimes creepy appearance, Killua is not someone to be messed with. He is certainly a kid with a playful personality and a lot of care for his best friend, but he also has a darker side to him.
Killua is quite the chilling person at times, able to mercilessly defeat or even kill his opponents without a care in the world. He is certainly different from many kids and protagonists that are shown off in series like Hunter x Hunter with his ruthlessness being a defining trait of his.
This is in large part due to his upbringing as part of the Zoldyck Family, who is the greatest assassin group in the world. He has been trained from birth to be an assassin just like them but, instead, he follows his goal of joining the Hunters Association and meets Gon in the process.
Killua is known for his Nen power that allows him to change aspects of himself into electrified versions, including his speed and other thunderous abilities. Like Gon, he will do anything for his friends and the ones he cares about and is willing to stop or kill anyone who gets in his way.
Kurapika
The third member of the main group of characters in the Hunter x Hunter series is Kurapika. A teenage boy who is a little bit older than both Gon and Killua, Kurapika is a blonde character with eyes that are capable of turning a crimson red.
This unique trait comes from the fact that Kurapika is the last surviving member of the Kurta Clan people. This dark past is what solely motivates Kurapika and eventually brings him into the Hunters Association alongside Gon and Killua as a member of their little group.
The goal that Kurapika has as a Hunter is not an altruistic one, either, as he looks to find the ones behind the murder of his people and avenge them by killing those people and retrieving the scarlet eyes that were taken from the Kurta Clan.
Kurapika is primarily a conjurer Nen user, able to use the chains that he has to subdue and defeat his targets. His mortal enemies are the Phantom Troupe, who he believes is responsible for the death of his people and the stealing of their scarlet eyes.
Leorio
Leorio is the final core member of the quartet and another Hunter who joins Gon, Killua, and Kurapika in the Hunter’s Association exams. An adult, unlike the other three, Leorio is a young man who has a simple goal of becoming a doctor in the world and helping people for free.
As for why he is becoming a Hunter rather than going straight to being a doctor, it is because he hopes that the money that he can earn from being a member of the Hunter’s Association will allow him to create the medical facility that he aims for.
He is the calm and collected member of the group, being the brains a good portion of the time. He is not a fighter himself, rarely showing his combat skills in battle until the later parts of the series, and, even then, not much is revealed about his abilities.
At this time in the manga, it is currently unconfirmed even what type of Nen user he is, but there is speculation given what we have seen from him. Leorio also uses his expertise to gain some powerful allies and further his place in society and the Association.
Hisoka
Whether you consider him a member of the core group of protagonists in Hunter x Hunter or not, or if you even consider him a hero, there is no doubting that Hisoka makes his presence always known. With a clown or jester-like appearance, Hisoka is one of the most disturbing manga characters ever made.
He meets Gon and the group as he joins the Hunter’s Association and quickly becomes obsessed with them. He follows them around like a stalker at times, helping them out in one moment and antagonizing them in the next.
Hisoka is a powerful fighter, too, using transmutation Nen to fight with. His abilities are a little weird, too, matching his personality in allowing him to stick rubber gum to his targets and so on. While his powers seem strange and useless, he is a deadly killer with a past of his own. He is a meme character, for sure, and one of the most popular in the series.
Biscuit
Biscuit Krueger is one of the Hunters in the Association and a lead character during a couple of arcs in the series so far. She, oddly enough, looks like a little girl in appearance, but that is not the case at all as she is an older woman.
She is an instrumental part of the Greed Island arc for Gon and Killua as a major teacher for them and the previous teacher of the duo’s first mentor. She has a presence in some of the later arcs and is currently one of the main characters in the most recent part of the manga.
Netero
The Hunter’s Association elects a chairman to lead the organization and keep everything organized. In the case of the current version of the Association in the events of Hunter x Hunter, Netero is the chairman and leader overseeing everything.
He is regarded as the strongest Nen user in the entire world, despite his old age. He is a martial arts master and a fighter that has no equal.
Kite
Kite is the first Hunter that fans will see in the storyline as he is the one who meets Gon and tells him about his father. It is through Kite that Gon learns that his father is alive and sets out on his journey. While a key part of Gon’s story, he is not too active until later in the series.
Kite has a fascinating Nen ability that allows him to go through a slot machine of numbers and randomly select what he is going to use in battle.
Knov
Knov is one of the Hunters who is assigned to the extermination team for the Chimera Ants arc, one of the main people in charge of taking the villainous monster ants out. Knov is an attractive and classy Hunter, wearing a suit and glasses. He has a powerful field Nen ability that is useful in many situations.
Morel
Morel is another major member of the Chimera Ants extermination team and a Hunter himself. He has a massive pipe that is his weapon in battle, and he also uses the smoke from it in a fog-like method of fighting.
Zodiacs
The Zodiacs are a special group of the Hunter’s Association who are among the most powerful and important members. They are chosen by the current chairman, and their duty is to decide the new chairman. Most of them embody the Zodiac sign that they are assigned. There are 12 of them in total, with a few of them being notable members.
Ging Freecss
The most interesting of the Zodiacs is the person who is at the heart of the story without really being featured at all: Ging Freecss. He is the father of Gon and a renowned Hunter who is among the top 12 in the world. He is a ruins Hunter and a pretty cruddy father overall.
He leaves Gon behind and makes him think that he is dead, only to be alive and want his son to come to find him. Visually, the two look a lot alike, and Ging represents the boar in the Zodiac group.
Pariston Hill
Pariston Hill is another Hunter who is part of the Zodiacs, and he is the rat in the group. As a rat, he embodies that in his carefree attitude that causes chaos and wild moments in the Association. He is also the vice-chairman of the Association, second only to Netero himself.
Cheadle Yorkshire
Cheadle Yorkshire is the dog in the Zodiacs and a Hunter who is devoted to being a doctor and medicine. She resembles a dog in appearance and name alike, being an important member of the Zodiac Hunters.
Villains
Given that Hunter x Hunter is a long-running series, it has a lot of villains that are throughout its pages. Many of the villains are part of specific organizations that are terrorizing the world, while others are monsters. Here are the villains, no spoilers, that you need to know about.
Phantom Troupe
Without a doubt, the core villainous group in Hunter x Hunter is the Phantom Troupe. This group of evildoers had humble beginnings as the lowlives in Meteor City. They eventually formed a group of 13 thieves and serial killers who would do anything for money.
They are notable for the fact that there are never more than 13 members of the Phantom Troupe, and each of them has a designated number. They also have a tattoo that identifies them as a member of the organization, resembling that of a spider.
The Phantom Troupe is the main threat in the manga and anime series and, honestly, one of the greatest villain groups in all of manga history. The show is at its best when they are involved in the story, and they are a recurring threat that is ever-present due to their connections to several members of the main cast.
While there are 13 of them in total, new members join the group by killing a previous member. Here are the most notable members, with some light spoilers for those who eventually join.
Chrollo
Chrollo is the leader of the Phantom Thieves and the one who started it all. Unlike the others, he carries 0 as the leader and an unbelievably powerful Nen user. He is not the most powerful in the group, but he has an invaluable ability to be able to steal other Nen abilities for him to use in combat.
Illumi Zoldyck
Illumi Zoldyck is a member of the Zoldyck family and the oldest brother of Killua. Illumi is a former assassin who has shirked his duties to join the Phantom Troupe and is a powerful killer who antagonizes his younger brother.
Kalluto Zoldyck
Kalluto Zoldyck is another member of the assassin family and the youngest sibling of Killua. He joined the Phantom Troupe to get his brother back.
Chimera Ants
Another major villainous group is not necessarily villains at all but just living beings trying to survive in the world. In the setting of Hunter x Hunter, there are a group of beings that are known as the Chimera Ants. They are a special type of ant that is capable of growing to a humanoid size and are created by their queen eating various creatures.
The queen will then give birth to more Chimera Ants that, like chimera in legends, are amalgamations of the various creatures that were eaten. For instance, if a human is eaten, the Chimera Ant might have a more human-like appearance to them and so on. They are dangerous for their ambitious nature that can wipe out an entire population.
Queen
The Chimera Ant’s queen is the leader of the group and the mother to all of them. She feeds on various creatures in a remote country location in the world where she is free to do his natural duty. Through this, she gives birth to countless Chimera Ants, each of them powerful and resembling their source genetic codes.
Meruem
Meruem is the main antagonist of the Chimera Ant arc and the son of the queen. He is the Chimera Ant King, the most powerful child that she gives birth to. He is a powerful villain and the single most interesting antagonist in the series besides Hisoka at times.
Meruem is a ruler who is ruthless and far too powerful, taking whatever he wants and doing whatever he wants. He has no care for life whatsoever, destroying anyone who fails him or gets in his way. He is childish in some ways, also liking strategy games like chess and Gungi, a game unique to Hunter x Hunter.
Neferpitou
Neferpitou is a member of the royal guards that serve King Meruem directly. The royal guards are the three strongest ants in the group, and Neferpitou is particularly strong. They are a cat-like ant who has powerful puppet abilities that allow them to manipulate the bodies of their enemies.
Menthuthuyoupi
Menthuthuyoupi is the second member of the royal guards and a strong fighter. With a focus on physical fights, Youpi is a huge threat for the Hunters, who are sent to exterminate the Chimera Ants for good.
Shaiapouf
The final member of the group is Shaiapouf. The most mysterious of the three, Pouf is less the direct fighter than his two counterparts. Instead, he uses the scales from his wings to gather information and control people. He has an obsession with the king, revolving all of his decisions around Meruem.
Colt
The final notable member of the group of Chimera Ants is Colt, one of the first to be created in the series by the queen. With a more tragic beginning to his life than the other Chimera Ants, he becomes an important part of the story arc with an interesting role of his own.
Others
Finally, there are a few more members of the Hunter x Hunter cast that must be mentioned. These three people, in particular, are not Hunters or villains at all, and some of them are not even Nen users. However, they play an intricate role in the storyline of the game and have connections to some of the main characters.
Mito
Mito is the aunt of Gon and the woman who he sees as his mother. Gon is left with her, and she raises him until the start of the series. Biologically his cousin, though, Mito is a very important person in Gon’s life. Gon leaves Mito behind on the island where they live when he goes on his journey to find his father.
Zushi
Zushi is a martial arts student and boy around the age of Gon and Killua who encounters them during the Heavens Arena arc. He learns together with Gon and Killua about their Nen and plays a key role in the early days of the manga. However, his role is mostly limited to a side character in that early story arc.
Wing
Wing is the mentor for Zushi during the Heavens Arena arc. He is teaching Zushi about martial arts and Nen when meets Gon and Killua. Through the course of this arc, he teaches Gon and Killua about Nen and the abilities that they can use in battle. He is seen as the two protagonists’ first teacher in the series.
Komugi
Last but not least, we have Komugi, who is one of the most important and underrated characters in the series. She is the champion of Gungi, a strategic board game that seems to be based on the Japanese game of Shogi. She is the best player at this game in the world of Hunter x Hunter despite being blind.
She is from the Republic of East Gorteau, which is a country that plays an integral role in the Chimera Ant arc. Komugi comes to be in the service of King Meruem in this story arc and a playing partner for him in his free time. Komugi is undefeated at her games, and it is the goal of Meruem to defeat her.
Komugi is a simple character who does not have much interaction with the core group of characters but still plays a crucial role in the storyline. For me, she is also one of my favorites in the series.
FAQs
Question: How Old is Killua?
Answer: At the time of writing this, Killua is around 12 years old. He is about the same age as his best friend, Gon. Not much time has passed so far in the series since its beginning, so he has not yet reached even his teenage years, and the fate of the world is in his and his friends’ hands.
Question: Is Kurapika a Girl or Boy?
Answer: Kurapika is a boy without a doubt. This is made clear in the series, but there are reasons that some fans in the community have been confused before about this part of the character. For one, Kurapika is voiced by a woman in both the English and Japanese versions, though this is also true for Gon and Killua.
Then there is the appearance of Kurapika, which is more feminine compared to even Gon and Killua. That said, Kurapika is a boy.
Question: Who is the Coolest Person in Hunter x Hunter?
Answer: This is a question that every person will have a different answer for. In my opinion, there are not a lot of “cool” characters in Hunter x Hunter. There are a lot of interesting, powerful, cute, and weird characters in the series, but few that I would define as cool.
And the few that I would define as possibly cool are not usually interesting enough to be the coolest person in the series. That said, if I had to pick, I think I would go for Kurapika. My favorite character in the manga and anime series, Kurapika, is quite mysterious and cool with an awesome Nen power.
Then there is the fact that Kurapika has a much more tragic and atypical anime backstory, unlike the rest of the rather tame companions that he accompanies, making him all the cooler in the series. That said, there is a close second that I would hand to Meruem.
The king of the Chimera Ants is one of the primary antagonists in the series and the star of one of the most mixed story arcs in manga and anime history. While many question the quality of the drawn-out story, there is no doubting that Meruem is a phenomenal villain and one of the coolest characters in the series. Besides the flip-flopping nature of Hisoka, Meruem is certainly the best single villain so far.
Hunter x Hunter Characters Guide: Conclusion
The Hunter x Hunter characters guide should help you to get to know all of the main and side characters that you should know about jumping into the series for the first time. And for those who are still waiting for the manga to pick back up again or a new season of the anime, it can serve as a nice reminder of who is who in the series.
Now that you have taken a look at this guide, we suggest looking at our My Hero Academia characters guide. That series is a similar shounen that is full of action and plenty of main characters. It is a great series, to begin with, that does look to have an end in sight, unlike Hunter x Hunter, if you liked what you saw here.