Neferpitou

Neferpitou (ネフェルピトー, Neferupitō), nicknamed Pitou, is a cat-humanoid Chimera Ant and the firstborn of the Chimera Ant King's three Royal Guards.

Appearance


Neferpitou has the appearance of a humanoid cat.

Gender confusion
The only concrete evidence we have pointing either way appears in the official databook "Hunter x Hunter Character and Word Data Book." In it, Neferpitou is referred to using the pronoun "彼” (kare) which is usually translated to “he.” It should be noted, however, that this data book was released in June 2004, less than a year after Pitou’s first appearance in the chapters. So whether or not it should be considered canon is debatable.

When speaking, Pitou uses the pronoun “boku,” (translated to “I” in English) which is used by both boys and girls in Japan. In chapter 274 Pitou is described like that of a "mother" protecting a child. Even Togashi’s depiction of Pitou’s body varies: in just one chapter showing a noticeable bit of a chest, but the rest of the time drawing Pitou’s chest as totally flat. In contrast, the 2011 anime design gives Pitou a prominent bust.

From all this, it should be assumed that Pitou does not have a specific or “confirmed” gender. Although for the purposes of this article, it seems easiest to use the pronoun “he” when referring to Pitou, considering that “he” has historically been used as gender neutral language in English. Just keep in mind that it’s being used in the gender neutral sense.

Personality
Neferpitou is very loyal to the king, just like the rest of the royal guards and would sacrifice himself for the king. Neferpitou gets distracted easily and loves to play a lot, and that makes him the most simple-minded of the three Royal Guards. Despite his cheerful and playful manner, Pitou has been shown to have a sadistic and terrifying personality. As Pitou is a cat Chimera Ant, he loves to play with his opponents like a cat would with its prey.

Background
Neferpitou is first born of the Chimera Ant King's three Royal Guards. Pitou is also personally named by the queen like the rest of the Royal Guards. Pitou, similarly to the other Royal Guards, has no memories of his previous life.

Chimera Ant arc


Neferpitou first appears when Rammot and Peggy go looking for a missing rare prey, Pokkle, in the Chimera Ant nest in NGL. Rammot,having accidentally learned Nen from being attacked with it, suddenly feels Pitou's frightening aura. Pitou enters the room and smells life hidden under a pile of bones, discovering Pokkle. Pokkle is manipulated by Pitou and teaches the Chimera Ants about Nen and water divination, thereafter he is brutally killed and fed to the Queen.



Pitou discovers that he is a Specialist and exits the nest to find out the extent of his new found powers. Meanwhile Kite, Killua, and Gon have made their way up to the Chimera Ant nest and plan on killing the Queen before she gives birth to the King. Kite feels a powerful En; he is seduced by it and so he stretches his own En out to meet it. But Kite then understands the depths of the aura coming from Pitou. He tells Gon and Killua to run, but Pitou has already located the trio and slashes off Kite's arm in an instant. Gon quickly unleashes his aura after seeing Kite's arm being ripped off but Killua knocks him unconscious and runs away with the boy. Pitou battles and kills Kite ; having enjoyed the match, decides to re-animate Kite's dead body as one of his puppets so he could enjoy another fight and the other Chimera ants have something to try with.



The Queen dies during labor ; the Chimera Ant King and all three Royal Guards then leave. Some of the remaining Chimera Ants flee NGL and start their own independent lives. Pitou soon thereafter assists the King in overthrowing the government of the nearby Republic of East Gorteau. Under the guise of the former king of the Republic, Ming Jol-ik, the Chimera Ant King initiates the process of forcibly awakening Nen in the civilians of East Gorteau in order to form his own personal army to conquer the world—resulting in the deaths of millions unable to awaken Nen. As ants formerly under the Queen's rule rejoin the King, the Hunters Association mobilizes quickly to stop the oncoming genocide by sending in an Extermination Team of Hunters to East Gorteau.

Residing in the East Gorteau palace, Neferpitou uses his Nen ability to manipulate hundreds of soldiers in the capital city of Peijin to rally citizens together. His plans are thwarted by Killua, Knov, and Morel. As the day of the selection finally occurs, the Extermination Team attacks the palace and causes massive damage. The King's consort Komugi is mortally wounded and under the King's orders, Neferpitou heals her. Gon, however, threatens to kill Komugi unless Neferpitou agrees to restore Kite following the woman's treatment. Though a promise was made to go with Gon to Peijin to restore Kite, once they've reached the area, Pitou affirms that it is impossible and subsequently prepares to kill Gon. Gon then forcibly ages his body through sacrificing nearly all of his aura and kills Neferpitou in battle.



However, Pitou's loyalty and devotion to the King were so great that even after his death, Pitou's Nen still remains, and his Terpsichora, even stronger than before, manipulated the corpse and attacked Gon. Gon, believing that Pitou is dead, is attacked by Pitou's corpse and loses an arm. Gon then pins Pitou to the ground with the arm he lost, and uses one final attack against Neferpitou, destroying Pitou's body.

Abilities & Powers
As one of the three members of the Royal Guard, Neferpitou is one of the most powerful Chimera Ants to live, and one of the strongest characters in the series. Not only he fought and killed Kite while suffering only minor injuries and having just discovered Nen, his strength was also complimented by Meruem, who failed to kill him with one of his tail strikes, leaving him merely bruised. It should be noted that Shaiapouf, another Royal Guard member, was driven through a wall by the same attack, although the king had increased his power at that time. Even the Hunter Association's Chairman Netero, considered the world's strongest Hunter during his prime, wondered if Pitou could be more powerful than him, as Colt, after witnessing both fighter's aura, reckoned. Gon and Killua were completely frightened by the extension and malice of his aura during their first encounter, and the latter stated that Hisoka's and Illumi's, two extremely skilled and evil Nen users in their own right, were incomparable to his. Owing to his feline lineage, he has enhanced senses: his sight, hearing and smell surpass a human's manyfold. He has also inherited very accurate instincts.

Immense senses: Neferpitou has extraordinary senses. He was able to smell Pokkle hiding in a massive pile of bones while he was hiding from him in Zetsu. He was able to spot Kite, Gon and Killua who were around more than half a kilometer away. He spotted Netero who completely turned off his aura in the storm of Zeno's Transmuted Dragons. He also spotted Morel's Deep Purple Smoke Troopers many kilometers away, and he was able to hear his cell phone that was on entire low volume with his extremely accurate hearing.

Immense strength: Despite his slender frame, Neferpitou is blessed with astounding brawn. He can rip off human limbs and heads without strain and with just one hand. His legs are so powerful that he can cover distances of more than half a kilometer with just one leap. He was also able to rip off the arm of the immensely powerful Gon when his power was reinforced after death. He can also pounce off the air with his incredibly strong legs and rush to the King's side. His true strength was never fully shown, however.

Immense speed and reflexes: Neferpitou can move so fast that he could reach Kite's party, who was very far away from him, as soon as they entered his En, and he managed to do the same to reach when separated from the King during Zeno's assault on the palace. His reactions are also top-notch, as he could catch a glimpse of Netero's hands moving whilst he was preparing his Hyakushiki Kannon. He was able to leap to Meruem from pressing off the air with extreme speed. He was also able to decapitate Gon even when Killua pushed Gon out of the way while in Godspeed.

Immense agility: Neferpitou can move very deftly and attack from any angle.

Immense durability: Neferpitou could withstand one blow of Netero's Hyakushiki Kannon without wounds. also, his tail did not get ripped off when he attempted to summon Doctor Blythe to stop his movement. More remarkably, a grown, empowered Gon needed to use his Jajanken: Rock several times before finally managing to crush his skull. He also withstood an powerful strike of Meruem's tail with the intention to kill him.

Immense pain resistance: Neferpitou was seemingly unaffected by one of Hyakushiki Kannon's palm strikes and hardly flinched when he broke his own arm, offering to injure himself more if it could prevent Gon from interrupting Komugi's treatment. He withstood Gon's punches without getting stunned and while trying to fight back.

Decent intelligence: His strength doesn't require him to think too much in a battle. Still, he is good at analyzing people and reading their feelings, and can understand the value of the humans he kills to select the ones to resurrect as puppets. Although not a good strategist, Neferpitou has highly developed instincts which often lead him to make the correct choice. He is a very fast learner when it comes to Nen, mastering it in an unprecedented short time. Also, he learned how human brain works and guessed how to manipulate it after reading just one anatomy book.

Proficient in hand-to-hand-combat: Thanks to his heightened physical capabilities, Neferpitou is an excellent brawler. He only relies on his claws to dispatch his enemies, and his fighting style makes full use of his remarkable strength, speed, agility, balance and flexibility.

Nen


Even before learning Nen, Pitou was still able to greatly scare Rammot with his great aura, and Gon, Killua and Kite shortly after.

Together with the rest of the Royal Guard and the King, he is one of the fastest to learn it, accomplishing this feat without help. His aura is so abundant that he can keep his dreadful En and puppets active for hours and not get tired in the very least. When he first used Doctor Blythe, he was just imagining how to bring Kite back to fight him again: his powers are so great he only needed to think of an ability to make it happen. His Terpsichora can manifest in just 0.1 seconds despite its strength. Due to his boundless devotion to the King, his abilities can increase drastically if he senses danger. Not even death and the destruction of his brain could stop him from attacking Gon, whom he still sensed as a threat, with a more powerful than ever Terpsichora.



His En is the widest shown so far. It is irregularly shaped: rather than a sphere, it takes the form of tendrils of aura, a single one of which can be extended up to two kilometers.

Trivia

 * Neferpitou's name, like all of the Royal Guards, comes from the Egyptian god Nefertem and a character named Pitou from a French children's book series called Caroline et ses Amis.
 * Neferpitou's ability, Doctor Blythe, is modeled after the Blythe doll.
 * Terpsichora is a muse in Greek mythology that rules over dance and chorus.
 * Neferpitou is the only royal guard that was not killed by the Miniature Rose.
 * Neferpitou is also the only royal guard that was killed in battle.
 * Neferpitou is the second Chimera Ant that Gon had actually killed under his own free will (the first being Baro).
 * The length of Neferpitou's En was not mentioned in the 2011 anime series.