Machi Komacine

Machi (マチ, Machi) is one of the members of the Phantom Troupe, an infamous gang of thieves with class A bounties. She is the physically strongest of all the women in the Troupe and ranks 6th in the whole group in arm wrestling.

Appearance
Machi is one of the few Phantom Troupe members that prefers to wear traditional Japanese-style clothing. She looks like a modern day kunoichi — female ninja. Her usual outfit consists of cycling short-like pants matched with a short-sleeved uwagi, an obi sash worn around her waist and an obijime is tied over it, a pair of fingerless gloves, tabi boots or socks with zōri, and leg warmers that cover from the ankles up to her knees. She has pink mid-back hair that is usually tied into an updo. In the 1999 anime adaptation, her hair is dark purple instead of pink.

Personality
Machi is one of the coldest members in the Phantom Troupe, almost never losing her cool or displaying any feelings. However, according to Shalnark, behind this façade, she is soft. She has been shown to care for Pakunoda, as she was one of the members who mourned her death and watched over her grave. Furthermore, Machi is fiercely loyal to Chrollo, going so far as to challenge two other members of the Troupe for his sake; moreover, she stated that she would hunt Hisoka down if he were to kill Chrollo. She is very confident in her strength, and if threatened, she replies accordingly. Machi also has sharp intuitions, which have turned out to be true most of the time and are trusted by some of her comrades, such as Nobunaga and Chrollo. Hisoka seems to have high regard for both Machi and her abilities, although she treats him as a pest at best and a potential enemy of Chrollo's at worst; however, she seemed to care for him to some extent after he died, and, after he woke up, she merely told him she hoped he had learned his lesson, although her job was to ascertain he was truly dead. When she was restrained by Hisoka, she revealed a much wilder side, screaming in anger at him.

Background


Not much is known about Machi, except that she, along with Chrollo Lucilfer, Feitan, Franklin, Nobunaga Hazama, and Pakunoda, is one of the original members of the Phantom Troupe, who hail from Meteor City, a junkyard city inhabited by outcasts of the world. People who live there do not exist in any official records, and the existence of the city itself is known to very few people. It is also stated in the manga and anime that the original members of the Phantom Troupe had something to do with the bad blood between the Mafia and those from Meteor City. Why the Troupe left the city is a mystery. Later, the group was joined by more members, in accordance with Chrollo's idea of a group comprising of exactly thirteen members, including himself.

Heavens Arena arc


Machi makes her first appearance right after the fight between Hisoka and Kastro in the Heavens Arena, waiting for the former in a locker room tunnel. She charges Hisoka 70 million Jenny in total for patching up both of his severed arms then leaves after giving him the message that the Phantom Troupe will be gathering in Yorknew City at noon on August 30.

Yorknew City arc


On the 31st of August, Machi is seen again with Franklin, Nobunaga, and Feitan on their way to Yorknew City. Later, at the meeting of the Troupe in an abandoned building of the city, Chrollo tells her and the other members that they are going to steal all the auction items in the Mafia's underground auction. In the evening of September 1, they infiltrate the Cemetery Building, where the auction is held, and kill all the mafiosi and their clients but the auction items have already been removed from the vault by the Owl of the Shadow Beasts. They then fly to the Gordeau Desert riding on a balloon with the Mafia being hot on their heels.



After arriving in the desert, Machi and her comrades stand to one side and watch Uvogin massacring a large number of Mafia gangsters and 4 Shadow Beasts single-handedly. When Uvogin is captured by Kurapika she immediately uses a needle and a nen thread to track Uvogin. She and four other members then chase after Kurapika with a car but just before they can catch up with him, the remaining Shadow Beasts arrive and stop them. Machi and her teammates kill all of these Shadow Beasts with ease except for the Owl, who they capture and torture to get the auction items. Near midnight, they find where Uvogin is held captive and free him after killing Dalzollene.

In the early hours of September 2, Machi tells Uvogin about the items and the termination of the Shadow Beasts, but he insists on finding the chain user — Kurapika — to get revenge instead of returning to the Troupe's hideout with them. She and other members have no choice but to let Uvogin do what he wants. Not long afterwards, he is killed by Kurapika in a duel in the Gordeau Desert.



September 3, because Uvogin has not returned, she and Nobunaga pose as a couple in the middle of a square in an attempt to lure out the chain user but they attract Gon and Killua's attention instead and are tailed by them. With the help of Phinks and Pakunoda, who have been secretly following them, they easily capture the kids and bring them back to their hideout. In the evening, she and the other members excluding Nobunaga launch a retaliatory attack on the Cemetery Building, slaughtering around 2,000 Mafia gangsters and professional assassins altogether. Machi is teaming up with Hisoka on that occasion, due to Nobunaga's absence. Thanks to Chrollo's smart move to hire Illumi Zoldyck to assassinate the Ten Dons beforehand, they manage to avoid casualties. After the death of the Ten Dons, Kortopi creates fake corpses of 5 of them to trick the Mafia into loosening the building's defenses and makes copies of the auction items. Machi and her comrades proceed to sell the copies in the rescheduled underground auction right afterwards. They then return to the hideout and celebrate their victory.



In the afternoon of September 4, in the Troupe's hideout, Nobunaga insists that they keep pursuing Kurapika instead of leaving Yorknew. Knowing it is impossible to dissuade him, Chrollo uses Neon's ability to make prophecies about Nobunaga and some other members, according to which five more of them will die if they meet the chain user within two weeks. They then intend to return to Meteor City to avoid that prospect, however Hisoka alters his own prophecy with the Texture Surprise and manipulates the whole group into staying in Yorknew City so that he can have the chance to fight Chrollo.

Later, Chrollo is able to deduce that Kurapika is one of Neon's bodyguards, and thanks to a pair of fake Scarlet Eyes that they sold him the night before, they know that he and the other bodyguards are staying in Hotel Beitacle, 2.5km from the hideout. Chrollo orders Kortopi, Machi, Nobunaga, Pakunoda and Shizuku to go with him to the hotel. On the way, Chrollo notices that they are being followed by 2 people so he tells Kortopi, Nobunaga and Pakunoda to go ahead while he, Machi and Shizuku stay behind. They then capture Gon and Killua again. Meanwhile, Pakunoda discovers Kurapika's name and appearance by using her ability on Squala, who is then disposed of. Pakunoda is then able able to relay this information to Nobunaga and Kortopi with her ability.



Chrollo, Machi and Shizuku take Gon and Killua to the hotel and meet up with Pakunoda's group in the hall. He tells Paku to check their memories again, but before she can reveal what she has learned about Kurapika, a power outage suddenly happens, allowing Gon and Killua to break free from her grasp and attack her and Machi. Machi easily recaptures Killua despite the total darkness and some broken ribs while Nobunaga catches Gon. However, when the light comes back on, they realize that Chrollo has been captured by Kurapika.

Phinks, Feitan and Shalnark soon arrive in the hotel. They then receive a call from Kurapika, who tells them not to follow him, not to hurt the hostages and give the phone to Pakunoda. He then tells Pakunoda to go to Ringon Airport alone to negotiate the terms of a hostage exchange and the other members to return to their hideout. Phinks, Feitan and Shalnark try to follow Paku, but Nobunaga stops them for fear that Chrollo would be killed, leading to a heated quarrel between Nobunaga and Phinks. Because Machi and Shizuku agree with Nobunaga and Kurapika tells them about Melody's ability to detect lies, they all return to the hideout as told by him.



Paku next comes back from the airport and tells them about the conditions, which involve her going to the exchange location alone with the kids. Phinks becomes so angry that he wants to get rid of the kids then go after Kurapika, but Machi disagrees with him. She and Kortopi then almost got into a fight with Phinks and Feitan, who think that she and the others are being manipulated by Kurapika, before their quarrel is interrupted by Gon. Phinks finally agrees to let Paku go alone after Franklin tells him that if he keeps being stubborn, the worst thing — Chrollo's death — may happen.

After Pakunoda returns without Chrollo and the kids, Machi is one of the six members who she gives her memories to before being killed by Kurapika's Judgement Chain. Knowing that they cannot pursue and kill Kurapika as long as the Judgement Chain is still tied around Chrollo's heart, they stay in Yorknew City to wait for Chrollo, who has left the city in search of an Exorcist.

Greed Island arc


On September 6, Phinks and Feitan steal a copy of the game Greed Island from Southernpiece auction house and bring it back to the hideout. Machi and other members are invited to play with them, but they decline. Later, after Shalnark discovers that Greed Island is an island in the real world and there's an Exorcist on the island, she enters the game with the other members to search for this person. They are forced to cooperate with Hisoka because Chrollo himself has asked Hisoka to find an Exorcist for him.

After Kalluto is revealed he asks if his Zetsu was imperfect, to which Machi answers that it was perfect, but Hisoka is just a beast. Soon the Troupe locate the Exorcist Abengane, Hisoka asks Machi, "What she will do if he defeats and kills Chrollo after Kurapika's Nen chain has been removed from his heart?" She responds, "Chrollo will never lose to him, but if that were to happen, she would hunt Hisoka down and kill him," demonstrating her fierce loyalty to Chrollo. Hisoka says he would like that, in a playful and somewhat flirtatious manner.

Dark Continent Expedition arc
Before his match with Chrollo, Hisoka pays Machi in advance to heal his wounds. With Shalnark and Kortopi, she verifies Hisoka is dead. When the other two leave, she closes his eyes and thanks him for his help with the Nen exorcism. When she is about to start sewing the wound on his neck, she is shocked to see aura coming out of Hisoka's body. She realizes that it is because his Nen has got stronger after his death. When Hisoka recovers his senses, she comments he has learned he should pick the location and the opponent carefully. Before she can heal Hisoka, he cures and masks his wounds with his abilities. When Machi turns her back to Hisoka and prepares to leave, he restrains her with Bungee Gum, telling her he is going to kill all the members of the troupe. As she screams in anger, Hisoka leaves.

Equipment
Sewing Needles: Machi keeps several needles in the pincushion she wears on her wrist. She uses them in conjunction with her Hatsu to stitch wounds or keep track of a target.

Abilities & Powers
Due to Machi being born in Meteor City, her existence is not recorded in any database, which makes obtaining information about her nearly impossible. As a member of the Phantom Troupe, Machi is a very powerful fighter. She has extreme confidence in her strength, demonstrated when she was willing to engage in combat with both Phinks and Feitan in order to let Pakunoda go to the meeting with Kurapika, and when claiming that, if Hisoka ever were to manage to kill Chrollo, she would chase and murder him, showing she is not afraid to confront someone who could kill the leader of the Phantom Troupe. Furthermore, when Gon and Leorio couldn't grasp the extent of her and Nobunaga's strength, Killua asked if picturing two Hisoka would be of help. When dividing the Troupe in groups to prevent Kurapika from killing them one by one, Chrollo placed Machi in a team with two out of the five members who had received a death prophecy, both of whom were said to possess abilities said to be invaluable assets to the Troupe. Like the rest of the Troupe, Machi has superhuman physical attributes, but has yet to fight with her bare hands. The way she shielded herself when she was attacked by Killua in the darkness proves that she knows at least the basis of martial artistry, as she could protect her neck and head very efficiently. She is also rather observant, managing to keep every person in a crowded square under control and understand a couple behind her had recognized Nobunaga and her.

Preternatural Perception: Machi has been shown to possess what some may refer to as a sixth sense, gathering information from her surroundings through no discernible means. She knew that she and Nobunaga were being watched by Killua, Gon and Leorio(although she could not discover their positions), and perhaps more impressively, was aware of Gon and Killua tailing her and Nobunaga whilst in a state of Zetsu, the latter praising their skill at the technique.

Enhanced Strength: The fact that she ranked sixth in arm-wrestling within the Phantom Troupe is a testament to her high strength. She can easily lift several grown men, hung, by her wires and managed to immobilize a physically strong individual like Killua by wrapping her arms around him.

Immense Speed and Reflexes: A testament to Machi's speed is first given when she stitches Hisoka's severed arms in a matter of instants, with her hands looking like a mere blur, and yet with flawless accuracy. After unleashing his deafening howl, Uvogin stated that for people like her covering her ears before the sound reached was no business at all. Moreover, she was the only one swift enough to react after Uvogin was restrained by Kurapika's Chain Jail, throwing a Nen imbued needle at his calf to keep track of him, despite the notoriously fast Feitan being there, too. Even more impressive, she was able to notice that Gon was going to move, appear behind his back and put her hands on his shoulders before he, despite his quick reflexes, could even catch a glimpse of her or make a single step.

Enhanced Agility: Machi can run on the sides of buildings and easily jump horizontally from one to another. She can easily reach a window located (possibly, due to Gon seeming to be at about the same height as Killua) on the third floor of a building with only one leap.

Immense Endurance: Machi is extremely resistant to pain; even though Killua stabbed her in the chest, breaking some of her ribs and ripping through muscle, she still managed to catch hold of him without releasing so much as a gasp, all of which while keeping Gon bound. Despite the multiple fractures, she was later seen moving, breathing and speaking normally.

Muscle Control: Machi has an excellent control over her muscles, preventing Killua from retracting his hand when he stabbed her. She seems to be able to prevent her injuries from bleeding by contracting her muscles, as even though her chest was pierced, there was no blood on her clothes.

Keen Intellect: Machi managed to figure out the strategy that Hisoka used to defeat Kastro, proving herself to be quite observant. She is also capable of keeping her cool at most times, a feat that stems from her naturally cold attitude as much as from her determination.

Immense Intuition: Machi's hunches are so accurate they seem to border on premonition. She has never been wrong so far. Most of the Troupe members, including Chrollo and Nobunaga, usually trust her hunches to be true, and may even alter their course of action based on them.

Master of Stealth: Machi can sneak up on multiple enemies and kill them without being noticed. This characteristics is reminiscent of ninjitsu, matching her kunoichi appearance.

Master Trapper: Machi uses her wires to kill or bind her enemies, waiting for them to step in her traps or catching them off-guard herself. She did not even let her opponents see her in the fight against the mafia, dispatching them with her threads. Her snares are hard to spot, as not only her wires require Gyo to be seen, but they are also extremely thin, and can be used to take out multiple targets in a matter of seconds.

Nen
Machi is a Transmuter. Little of her abilities has been shown thus far, but, being a member of the Phantom Troupe, she is undoubtedly extremely proficient in Nen.

Quotes

 * (To Hisoka) "I myself have been wondering for a long time, but by seeing our match, I don't have any doubts anymore. You're just a stupid jerk."
 * (On Hisoka) "He doesn't talk. He doesn't talk about the past. He has no interest in the past. By tomorrow, I imagine he'll have forgotten Kastro's face. He doesn't associate with others. He’s his own man. Because he believes himself to be the strongest."
 * (To the Troupe members) "If he were using lethal poison, this fight would be over."
 * (To Owl) "Move, and you'll get cut."
 * (To Chrollo) "I wouldn't trust my instincts.."
 * (To Killua) "Once you reveal your presence, I can sense you. Using the dark was meaningless."
 * (To Pakunoda) "Don't worry about it too much. Just keep your mouth shut."
 * (To Pakunoda) "We'll take care of them."
 * (To Franklin) "I'm not being manipulated, and I won't let myself be killed that easily."
 * (To Hisoka) "You can die after this job for all I care."
 * (To Hisoka) "I would pursue you to the ends of the Earth to kill you."

Trivia

 * In the official databook, her name is "Matiy".
 * Machi's name if spelled with Kanji could be 襠 - a clothing gusset, a piece of material added to reduce stress in tight-fitting clothes. It could also be 待ち, "waiting" - referring to her patient and calm personality.
 * Machi is the second Phantom Troupe member introduced in the series.
 * Machi is the only girl Hisoka has shown to be interested in, asking her to share dinner with him.
 * Within the troupe, only Machi that knows if Hisoka can use Texture Surprise.
 * In the second character popularity poll for Hunter × Hunter, Machi took 7th place with 544 votes.
 * In the third character popularity poll for Hunter × Hunter, Machi took 12th place with 282 votes.
 * Machi is played by Kuon Sayaka in the Hunter × Hunter stage play Hunter × Hunter: Real Stage.
 * Machi's character song, Threads - cruel spider -, was performed by Rena Maeda.