Top 8 Greatest Fighters in HunterXHunter

If you love shonen and you appreciate a fight that is won with brains as much as with power, Hunter x Hunter is in a league of its own. Yoshihiro Togashi built the Nen system around rules, conditions and trade offs, which means every fight in the series is a puzzle, and raw strength alone rarely decides the winner. That also makes ranking the fighters genuinely hard. The adventures of Gon and Killua have introduced us to assassins, magicians, ants and old masters, so here is our ranking of the eight greatest fighters in Hunter x Hunter, from strong to absurd.

Warning: this article contains spoilers, especially for the Chimera Ant arc.

8. Silva Zoldyck

Killua's father and the current head of the Zoldyck family of assassins. Silva has the trademark Zoldyck resume: a body conditioned since childhood, immunity to almost every poison, and superhuman strength. In combat he compresses his aura into massive destructive orbs that he throws at his opponent. He has fought Chrollo Lucilfer and survived a clash with a Chimera Ant squadron leader, killing it with brutal efficiency. He only ranks eighth here because the series keeps most of his power off screen, and in this cast that is enough to slide down the list.

7. Hisoka Morow

The magician of Heavens Arena, and one of the most unsettling characters in shonen history. Hisoka is a Transmuter whose aura becomes Bungee Gum, which has the properties of both rubber and gum: it sticks, it stretches, and it snaps back with lethal force. His second trick, Texture Surprise, lets him disguise surfaces and even hide fatal wounds. What really makes Hisoka dangerous is how he fights: always reading his opponent, always several moves ahead, treating life or death combat as entertainment. He deliberately lets strong prey like Gon and Killua grow before hunting them. His duel with Chrollo at Heavens Arena in the manga shows both his brilliance and his limits. Have a look at our Hisoka body pillow collection if you like your fighters unhinged.

6. Zeno Zoldyck

Killua's grandfather, Silva's father, and proof that in Hunter x Hunter the old men are terrifying. Zeno is a Transmuter who shapes his aura into a dragon: Dragon Head rides it like a vehicle, Dragon Lance extends it into a piercing attack over huge distances, and Dragon Dive breaks it into a rain of aura dragons over a whole area, the technique he used during the assault on the Chimera Ant palace. Zeno is pragmatic and honest about his own level: he admits that in a real fight to the death, Chrollo would have a chance against him only under specific conditions. Experience, precision and zero ego make him one of the most reliable killers alive.

5. Chrollo Lucilfer

The leader of the Phantom Troupe is a Specialist with one of the scariest abilities in the series: Skill Hunter, a conjured book that lets him steal other people's Nen abilities once several strict conditions are met. Fighting Chrollo means fighting an unknown arsenal. He held his own against Silva and Zeno Zoldyck at the same time, kept the loyalty of a crew of monsters through pure charisma, and in the manga he is the one who finally brought Hisoka down in their Heavens Arena duel. The only chain that ever truly restrained him belongs to Kurapika, and that required an ability built specifically to hunt the Troupe.

4. Neferpitou

The first of the Chimera Ant Royal Guard to be born, and the moment the series announced that the power ceiling had exploded. Pitou is a Specialist with an En field vast enough to blanket the area around the palace, and two signature abilities: Doctor Blythe, a conjured surgeon that can repair bodies, and Terpsichora, a puppeteer ability that can control corpses and even boost Pitou's own body when self applied. Kite, a seasoned pro Hunter, stood no chance. Pitou's mere presence made Gon freeze on first contact. Loyal to the King to the very end, Pitou is nightmare fuel with a cat's smile.

3. Adult Gon

The single most shocking transformation in the series. Consumed by grief and rage over Kite, Gon made a Nen contract that sacrificed everything, all of his future potential, in exchange for enough power to kill Neferpitou immediately. The result was a body aged into adulthood and an aura so enormous that Royal Guards compared it to the King's level. Pitou was overwhelmed and destroyed. The price was just as extreme: the transformation nearly killed Gon and left him unable to use Nen afterward. It lasted one fight, and that one fight puts him this high.

2. Isaac Netero

The old Chairman of the Hunter Association earned his strength the hard way: a legendary training vow of ten thousand punches of gratitude a day, which eventually pushed his speed beyond sound. His ability, the 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva, summons a giant aura statue whose strikes come out faster than his opponent can perceive, capped by the Zero Hand that pours out everything he has left. Even past his prime, Netero fought the Chimera Ant King one on one and smiled the whole time. And when strength was not enough, his final gambit, the Miniature Rose bomb hidden in his own body, decided the war. He lost the fight and still killed the strongest being on the planet.

1. Meruem

The Chimera Ant King, born as the final boss of the entire ecosystem. Meruem could absorb the power of Nen users by devouring them, growing stronger mid arc at a horrifying pace, and after absorbing the cells of his Royal Guards Youpi and Pouf he came back even more powerful, with photon like sensory abilities that let him perceive everything around him. He took Netero's fastest barrage, adapted to it in real time, and won the fight outright. Only the Miniature Rose's poison could kill him. What makes Meruem unforgettable is that his true arc is not the fighting at all: it is a monster learning humanity over a board of gungi with Komugi. The strongest character in Hunter x Hunter, and one of the best written villains in anime.

FAQ

Who is the strongest character in Hunter x Hunter?

Within the story published so far, Meruem is shown as the clear peak: he defeated Netero, the strongest human, in direct combat and only died to the Miniature Rose poison.

What are the six Nen categories?

Enhancement, Transmutation, Emission, Conjuration, Manipulation and Specialization. Every user has a natural affinity, and efficiency drops the further an ability sits from that affinity, which is why smart ability design wins fights in this series.

Where can I find Hunter x Hunter merch?

Our Hunter x Hunter body pillow collection covers the main cast, with dedicated pages for fan favorites like Hisoka, Killua and Kurapika.