But we can’t lose hope! So to keep that spirit alive, we’re going to look back and rank the strongest characters we’ve seen in the show so far.
15. Knuckle Bine
I’m going to be honest here – there are 14 immensely powerful characters in the show that immediately made it onto this list. This fifteenth pick, however, was a bit more open-ended. But I decided to give the spot to Knuckle for one simple reason – his potential. When you think about it, his Nen ability is absolutely busted in concept. And were the show to give him some more training time, he’d probably be one of the big dogs in the show. After all, most fighters become completely helpless once you lock their Nen away. Even in his current state, Knuckle can tank serious hits from Gon and maneuver his way around the Royal Guard, so he’s not weak by any imagination. Not to mention that he’s also smarter than most fighters. So if he manages to get his aura to an impressive level, he’d probably stomp the opposition quite easily.
14. Morel Mackernasey
Morel is without a doubt the most powerful support in the entire show. His kit is just so versatile that he can get his team (and himself) out of the direst of situations. He can basically create anything with his smoke – from puppets that can engage the enemy to everyday items. And we’ve seen that these clones aren’t a joke either. Not to mention that he can create a smoke cage that’s potent enough to even hold down the Royal Guard while it’s active. However, gauging Morel’s damage output is a bit trickier. We know that he’s an absolute beefcake, but we also know that he was sweating bullets at the thought of eating Gon’s full-power punch. Nevertheless, with his versatility and battle knowledge – I think he deserves his placement on this list.
13. Killua Zoldyck
Killua is a very tricky dude to fight. If you’re less powerful than him – you won’t really get the chance to figure it out. Because god knows that he doesn’t play around and takes the first opportunity to snap your neck/rip out your heart. And if you’re more powerful than him – you’re in for a wild ride. With his God Speed amping him up, it’s extremely difficult to catch this dude. So he can just zip around and do chip damage while you twirl around like an idiot. Sure, if you actually land a hit, he might be in trouble. But considering his speed is above Royal Guard level (at least while Good Speed is active), that’s a tall order. Either way, there are very few characters who’d have an easy victory facing him.
12. Hisoka Morow
When it comes to this murderous clown, people either give him too much or too little credit. And that’s because his power is so difficult to quantify. For god’s sake, his Bungee Gum has the properties of both rubber and gum – and that’s it! The previous three picks had an immortal debt collector, smoke clones, and Sonic speed! But Hisoka’s raw physical strength mixed with extreme levels of battle knowledge make him stronger than all three of them. However, he does have his limits (at least that’s the case in the anime). So while he does style on most of the cast, his stats aren’t quite high enough to really battle the upper echelons of power.
11. Illumi Zoldyck
First, let’s answer the burning question – why did I put Illumi above Hisoka? Well, even though this is an anime-only list, I do have to vaguely reference the manga for a second. We know that in the non-distant future, Hisoka is going to find out the hard way that getting swarmed by enemies isn’t something he’s equipped to deal with. And we’ve seen in the show that Illumi can easily make an entire army of fighters. And seeing how all of their interactions so far have hinted at the two of them being of similar power in terms of stats – I think Illumi would win thanks to this soft counter. But that’s all I can really say – as we haven’t even seen Illumi go all out or even fight someone seriously.
10. Shaiapouf
Pouf is another example of versatility over power. He can use mind-control on a huge amount of people (outscaling even Illumi), so swarming the enemy is always an option. Plus he can also create hundreds of little Pouf to escape or gain information over a wide area. Potentially also useful for swarming the enemy – but I wouldn’t put my money on it. Lastly, he can gauge the enemy’s personality, power level, and even thoughts through his scales. This information can be vital in a fight as very few opponents can catch him off guard. However, his actual damage output is a bit more vague. Just by being part of the Royal Guard, we can safely assume that he’s more powerful than any of the characters that showed up so far. But then again, the fact that he didn’t one-shot Morel on sight makes the scaling a bit more difficult. Nevertheless, I think tenth place should be a relatively safe placement for him.
9. Kurapika
To be clear – I’m strictly talking about post-Nen-vow Kurapika here. So I’m judging his power on the basis of “if he made the vow towards X, could he beat them”. And for a majority of the cast, the answer is yes. In his fight against Uvogin, we saw that scarlet-eyed Kurapika is an absolute monster. In fact, he was so powerful that he brought a shovel to a death match. From this, we can surmise that he wasn’t really pushing himself to his limits. Even so, he had some incredible feats. From tying down an immensely powerful Enhancer to instantly healing his arm and punching with the fury of a thousand sons. Not to mention that his finishing move is a one-shot kill. And this is a pretty big deal when your opponent can tank bazooka shots like it’s nothing. However, I still wouldn’t say he’s invincible – as his speed is still somewhat lacking. And if that punch had landed on his face and not his arm, I don’t know whether he’d have the time to heal.
8. Silva Zoldyck
I’m going to put Silva in number eight, but in my mind, he shares this position with Zeno. After all, the two usually go as a pair and seem to be of similar strength (with Silva probably being more powerful but Zeno having more experience). The two of them led the assault on the Chimera Ants and to say that their presence was known would be an understatement. Without even trying, they’re able to take out high-ranking Ants like it’s nothing. And in their short battle against Chrollo, we’ve seen that they’re both excellent fighters that pack more than enough punch to one-shot most enemies. Plus we know that at the very least they scale significantly above Killua – so they were bound to end up here sooner or later.
7. Chrollo Lucifer
I think Chrollo is leagues above all the other members of the Phantom Troupe. While they were using their heavy hitter moves in order to take down mid-ranged Ants, Chrollo was going hand-to-hand with both Silva and Zeno. That alone makes him a strong contender for the top ten strongest – let alone the fact that he put up a good fight. Not to mention that he didn’t even have prep time. And Chrollo is the type of fighter where prep time is everything. If you catch him by surprise, he goes several places down on this list. But give him enough time and information, and he’d go up a few spaces. So this seemed like a nice middle ground. After all, with his ability being what it is – the possibilities are endless and his power almost immeasurable.
6. Neferpitou
Pito honestly had one of the most badass/terrifying intros of any anime villain. After all, it included her jumping across an entire forest and taking a Hunter’s arm off like it was nothing. And this level of speed and power would remain consistent throughout the show. She can detect enemies from miles away and strike with enough force to one-shot most opponents. Not to mention that she can also use her Nen ability in order to heal from wounds (although it’s a bit slow) or create puppets to attack the enemy as well. In fact, the question of whether she’s the most powerful Royal Guard is quite heavily debated. The only reason I decided against it, is because her Nen is rather useless in a high-stakes all-out fight. But rest assured, the power difference isn’t all that great either way.
5. Menthuthuyoupi
Besides having the most difficult name to memorize, I think Youpi is the second strongest Ant in the entire series (although not by much). He seems like the most battle-oriented Royal Guard and although he doesn’t have many battle feats – I think he’s still quite the beast. For one, the dude’s tenacity is off the chart. Opponents can come at him one after another, doing their very best, but Youpi never takes any serious damage. In fact, he only gets stronger as the battle goes on. Plus, his transformations make him very tricky to deal with. We can create tentacles in order to whip you from a distance or become a centaur and get up-close and personal. Sure, he might not be the smartest dude around – but I don’t think it matters too much. When you’re as powerful and durable as Youpi is – you have the privilege of making as many mistakes as you’d like.
4. Gon Freecss
Seeing how I think Pito and Youpi are more or less of equal strength, it only makes sense to put Gon above both of them. After all, a sicko mode Gon wiped the floor with Pito in every way, shape, and form. And it’s not due to his battle intelligence or some hax ability, but rather just incredible stats are around. Just the mere fact that he was able to blitz Pito already speaks volumes on how quick adult Gon is. But when you pair that with the fact that his amped-up punches would probably put holes in 99% of the cast – you get quite the powerhouse on your hands. True, he can’t maintain this form for long and he does pay the ultimate price afterward – but I’d still call it a W. Also, just to be clear – I don’t think Gon quite scales to Meruem. I think that was more Pito being paranoid than anything else.
3. Isaac Netero
In order to defeat Netero, you have to be incredibly durable – no other way around it. Even Meruem (although he wasn’t taking it seriously) got smacked with almost every swing. And we know he’s way faster than any other Ant. So, you’re only real option is to be tanky enough to eat hundreds of attacks plus a laser beam. And maybe an atomic bomb – in case you somehow make it that far. Not to mention that these feats were done by Netero way after his prime. One can only imagine what he was capable of before he started getting a senior discount everywhere he went. Overall, it’s a classic situation of speed-diff. And god knows that’s one of the most solid arguments you can make in the anime versus community – because how are you going to beat someone if they always smack you first?
2. Meruem
This one just seemed obvious. After all, he didn’t even have to go all out in order to outperform Netero in every way imaginable (minus the bomb part I guess). Not only is he faster, better, and stronger than everyone else – but he also has a giga brain to back it all up. So, even if you were somehow able to match him in the beginning, he’d quickly find a way to counter you. And that’s all there really is to it. He has barely ever taken damage and never had to fight anyone seriously. He’s just so above every other character in the series that we don’t have the slightest clue where his power ceiling is.
1. Alluka Zoldyck
There’s only one thing that beats a stat best like Meruem – hax abilities. And Nanika is one of the most hax characters in all of anime. Therefore, she’s the most powerful. After all, there hasn’t been any indication so far that any wish is outside of her power. So theoretically, one could just wish for Meruem to die and she’d off him in an instant. True, the fulfillment of this wish would probably also destroy half the world – but that’s not really Nanika’s problem. And since she can affect the very nature of Nen itself (as when she lifted Gon’s vow), it’s obvious that no rules apply to her in this world. Is this a cop-out answer? Yes. But it’s also the truth – so I don’t feel bad about it.
