The Hunter Association manages the overall operations of Hunters in the Hunter x Hunter franchise. While most Hunters freely "hunt" lifeforms, mystical items, and unseen places, the Hunter Association oftentimes classify them according to specialization. In turn, protagonists Gon Freeces and Killua Zoldyck remain Rookies due to their lack of expertise. Likewise, their companion Kurapika is a Blacklist Hunter, specializing in hunting down bounties.
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However, with up to 24 Hunter Types, fans just might wonder which Types outclass the rest in terms of power level. Interestingly, some Hunters and unknown Hunter Type may end up becoming some of the Hunter Association's powerhouse teams.
Updated on May 3, 2022, by Rhenn Taguiam: While the Hunter x Hunter manga is still currently on hiatus, there’s more than enough material in the franchise for fans to theorycraft and study the depth of one of Yoshihiro Togashi’s best anime franchises. At first glance, Hunters like Gon and Killua seem to specialize in taking down foes and those that threaten the world at large, but a lot of Hunters in the Hunter Association actually specialize in a wide variety of things. It’s not a misunderstanding to state that if something can be “hunted” in the most generic sense, there’s probably a Hunter designation for that. However, just which among the Hunter Types is the strongest?
10 Rookie Hunters
Granted, it's implied that Rookie Hunters don't have adequate experience to specialize in a particular area of expertise. However, they also boast the best potential to rise in any field of the Hunt. Given that only Gon Freecss, Killua Zoldyck, and Leorio Paradinight remain the only Rookie Hunters in the franchise, it's implied that they have no particular fields of expertise.
Properties, Traits, Abilities
Their potential to stay within their fields of expertise or develop new interests makes them quite powerful, especially if they choose not to get specializations despite their power levels. In that case, they may very well become Unknown Types.
Notable Hunters
However, all of them seem to have an inclination towards a specialist field. For instance, Gon seems to have inherited his father's love for adventure (Ruins Hunter), Killua is a trained assassin (Blacklist Hunter), and Leorio hopes to become a doctor (Disease Hunter).
9 Beast Hunters
While some Hunters focus on hunting other people, Beast Hunters focus their search on various fauna. They demonstrate remarkable knowledge of animal anatomy and behavior, particularly towards their preferred quarry.
Properties, Traits, Abilities
Possible variants of Beast Hunters include those that hunt undocumented animals (Hunter of Fantastic Beasts), or those that hunt creatures of questionable existence like mythical creatures (Unidentified Beast Hunter). It's expected for Beast Hunters to possess battle skills and combat prowess, given that they'll likely face unknown creatures in their travels.
Notable Hunters
With this definition, three Hunters fit the bill. These include Knuckle Bine (Beast Hunter), as well as more specialized Hunters such as Shoot McMahon (Unidentified Beast Hunter), and Pokkle (Hunter of Fantastic Beasts ).
8 Treasure Hunters
Those who appreciate the thrills of a treasure hunt belong to the Treasure Hunters category. These Hunters focus on the tracking and acquisition of various valuable items. In turn, they must have extensive knowledge of cultures and treasures, remarkable exploration skills, and combat potential to face nefarious forces. A possible subtype of Treasure Hunters called Stone Hunters may focus on finding gems or precious stones, instead.
Properties, Traits, Abilities
Moreover, Treasure Hunters must have extensive knowledge on how to locate, identify, and appraise items and trinkets that may look like treasures to them. Not only that, but they need to have an extensive list of contacts that can help them procure transportation, bases of operations, and local knowledge when it comes to hunting other kinds of treasures.
Notable Hunters
Two Treasure Hunters have been introduced in the series, which are Biscuit Krueger (Stone Hunter) and Kanzai (Treasure Hunter). Biscuit, in particular, demonstrates impeccable Nen control - which means she likely uses her own abilities to track treasure or even fight threats along the way.
7 Ruins Hunters
Ruins Hunters serve as the equivalent of archeologists in the Hunter Association. They specialize in discovering, restoring, and even preserving ancient sites, ruins, and even evidence of ancient societies. Aside from extensive knowledge of history and culture, Ruins Hunters must prepare to face a variety of threats. These include traps in ancient sites or ancient beasts that may awaken in these areas.
Properties, Traits, Abilities
Aside from learning how to deal with various threats and treasures they may discover, Ruins Hunters can become particularly dangerous if they use the treasures they find to their advantage. Unlike Treasure Hunters who focus specifically on high-costing treasures, Ruins Hunters may stumble upon a rare item or a rare weapon to aid them in combat.
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Notable Hunters
Satotz and Gon's father Ging Freecss remain the only two Ruins Hunters introduced so far. However, both individuals demonstrate knowledge of a wide variety of niches and are also extremely observant of their environments. Ging, in particular, has remarkable skills in Nen, capable of even copying abilities and exploring their potential.
6 Poison Hunters
Poison Hunters face the most volatile of poisons to acquire their antivenoms and discover their pharmaceutical usage. Moreover, they remain the best leads when it comes to discovering antidotes and temporary cures to new poisons. Albeit similar in nature to Disease Hunters, their lack of focus on anatomy and medicine makes them a bit inferior. However, they do compensate for this with their potential to efficiently use poisons in combat.
Properties, Traits, Abilities
Similar to Disease Hunters, Poison Hunters should have extensive knowledge of existing poisons and their antidotes, and use said knowledge when it comes to identifying and curing new poisons. This makes Poison Hunters extremely deadly, as this means they can create new poisons to dismantle and kill opponents.
Notable Hunters
Only Gel, the Zodiac Snake, remains the sole Poison Hunter revealed in the series. While much of her Nen is unknown, she's shown capable of transforming her arm into a snake.
5 Disease Hunters
Disease Hunters face the deadliest of diseases in search of effective cures. In turn, it's expected for Disease Hunters to possess extensive knowledge of anatomy and medicine. Their expertise should include both conventional and unconventional healing practices. Despite their rather "passive" nature, a Disease Hunter can take advantage of their anatomical knowledge to disable foes efficiently in combat.
Properties, Traits, Abilities
Given that they specialize in identifying and treating diseases, Disease Hunters must have vast medical knowledge. Compared to doctors who simply cure and might specialize in a particular body type, Disease Hunters should have both the skills and the resources to even be able to analyze new kinds of diseases and their potential cures on the get-go.
Notable Hunters
Only Sanbica Norton and Hunter Association Chairman Cheadle Yorkshire remain examples of Disease Hunters introduced so far. Aside from both women demonstrating incredible medicinal competence, Cheadle also possesses a Genius-level intellect - capable of forming stratagems and tactics to solve various problems.
4 Crime Hunters
Albeit not a popular variant, Crime Hunters possess skills that enable them to tackle mysterious crimes in the criminal underworld. Ideally, these Hunters must have a deductive mind and a knack for solving otherwise unsolvable crimes. Due to the possibility of tracking down foes that have the resources to stay anonymous, Crime Hunters should have combat prowess and Nen abilities to aid in their hunt.
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Properties, Traits, Abilities
Compared to the more intense Terrorist Hunters, Crime Hunters instead need to rely on the power of observation and analysis in order to discern patterns to help them locate criminals. Moreover, they need a keen understanding of human behavior to discern a suspect’s potential motives.
Notable Hunters
Mizaistom Nana, or the Zodiac Ox, remains the only example of a Crime Hunter in the series. Aside from his card-oriented Nen, Mizaistoma boasts keen intellect and extensive knowledge in jurisprudence and crime thanks to his being a lawyer and owner of his own private security firm.
3 Terrorist Hunters
A more specialized variant, Terrorist Hunters specialize in tracking and capturing terrorists to stop potential terror attacks. Unlike Crime Hunters, Terrorist Hunters should have skills tailored to tracking down terrorists and their co-conspirators. These skills should include deductive reasoning, interrogation, and combat prowess to give an edge in any confrontations.
Properties, Traits, Abilities
Despite the lack of numerous Hunters under the Terrorist Hunter Type, it’s easy to assess the kind of abilities they have to cover such a specialization. Aside from keen observational skills, Terrorist Hunters need to possess analytical prowess and even resources in order to discern patterns and behaviors indicative of inclinations toward terrorist activities. This prowess makes Terrorist Hunters more extreme compared to Crime Hunters.
Notable Hunters
Botobai Gigante, or the Zodiac Dragon, remains the one example of a Terrorist Hunter in the franchise. As a Triple-Star Terrorist Hunter and public prosecutor, Botobai should have extensive knowledge of criminal activities and anti-terrorist protocols.
2 Blacklist Hunters
Blacklist Hunters fulfill the typical association of a Hunter with the stereotypical bounty hunter. These Hunters specialize in the tracking and acquisition of wanted and dangerous people. Interestingly, Blacklist Hunters arguably possess some of the most efficient Nen abilities due to their potential in combat. Due to their training to hunt down people and dangerous Nen users, others could argue that Blacklist Hunters are the most powerful types of Hunters around.
Properties, Traits, Abilities
Based on existing Hunters that are classified as Blacklist Hunters, they not only need to possess superhuman physical attributes and reflexes but also expansive combat abilities. This means Blacklist Hunters should be able to rely on hand-to-hand combat and weapons specializations to deal with their targets even before they use Nen. Likewise, they need to possess incredible observational abilities to discern the patterns and weaknesses of their foes.
Notable Hunters
Kurapika of the Kurta Clan is a known Blacklist Hunter, with his skills - specifically his chains - specially catered to hunt down the Phantom Troupe. Meanwhile, Binolt can learn everything about a person's physique by cutting some of their hair with his special scissors.
1 Unknown Type Hunters
Should non-category become a category in itself, then Unknown Type Hunters perhaps contain the strongest members of the Hunter Association. Unlike Rookies who lack specializations, Unknown Types simply don't have one. Some Unknown Types also focus on other things that led them to avoid association - such as Illumi Zoldyck with assassination, or Hisoka Morow with his own activities.
Properties, Traits, Abilities
However, perhaps a common element among Unknown Type Hunters is the fact that they possess a great deal of base attributes to specialize in almost anything they want. For instance, a common ground with Unknown Types such as Illumi, Hisoka, and Isaac is the possession of superhuman physical attributes, extreme levels of preternatural perception, and superb mastery of Nen that they can manipulate their abilities to suit their needs.
Notable Hunters
In turn, Unknown Types almost always contain members with a knack for hunting almost anything, or with fairly balanced yet powerful Nen abilities. For instance, former Hunter Association Chairman Isaac Netero himself doesn't have a Hunter Type, despite being one of the most powerful beings to exist.
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