Chimera Ants

Chimera Ants (キメラアント, Kimera Anto) are fictional species of insects that appear in the Japanese manga series Hunter × Hunter by Yoshihiro Togashi.

Background
Chimera Ants are extremely dangerous animals that come from the "outside" world and are ranked first among insects that should be quarantined. Also known as the "Gourmet Ant," they have voracious appetites and can consume several times their own weight within a single day. In every nest, one Queen Chimera Ant exists to produce more Ants in order to ensure the success of the species. Chimera Ant Queens possess an entirely unique method of reproduction known as Phagogenesis (摂食交配, Sesshoku Kōhai), a fictional term meaning reproduction through devouring. By eating other creatures, a Chimera Ant queen can impart the characteristics of ingested creatures onto the next generation of Chimera Ants it gives birth to. To take advantage of the genes of a particular species, Chimera Ants have been known to feed until the fodder species is driven to extinction in its ecosystem.



A Chimera Ant colony is organized into a military-like chain of command. At the top of the hierarchy is the Queen Ant, initially protected by the three Royal Guards. Under them are thirty-six Squadron Leaders, who each command four or five Officers, each of whom in turn are in charge of ten to fifteen Drudges. The later a Chimera Ant is born by the queen, the stronger and higher ranking it is in their hive. After enough Ants have been produced to form a colony, the Queen Ant focuses all her efforts on giving birth to a King Ant. Upon his birth, the Royal Guards solely follow the commands of the King, who leaves the nest to find various creatures to mate with and impregnate in order to create the next Queen Ant.

Although normal Chimera Ants are the size of large insects (with a Queen capable of growing to a maximum length of 10 centimeters), the NGL story arc begins with the introduction of a Chimera Ant Queen over two meters tall. The core conflict of the arc arises when the Queen starts to feed upon humans, after discovering the nutritional value of humans to be far superior to that of other prey. As a secondary effect, the Ants born by the Queen also become more intelligent and humanoid shaped while retaining traits of various animals consumed by the Queen. Newer generations of Chimera Ants are capable of using both human speech and a form of telepathy to communicate. In contrast, the earliest generation ants and the Queen may only use telepathy while the Royal Guards are wholly incapable of it. Chimera Ants are also capable of surviving wounds that would be fatal to a human and can regenerate damage to their body within a day if their heads are not destroyed. The later generation of Ants produced possess a great degree of individuality, as a result of the Queen's mostly human diet (shown when the Ants request permission from the Queen to give themselves names). Several of these Ants also possess memories from the lives of the humans eaten by the Queen, in the form of personality or knowledge of language and other subjects. Having a strong will as a human being makes it more likely for one to be reborn as an ant.

Development and Reproduction
A Chimera Ant life starts from an egg. When it hatches a Chimera Ant will emerge in full adult form ready to work for the Queen. The Queen is the center of reproducing. However, in an unexpected event that the Queen dies or loses its ability to reproduce, known reports states that male soldier ants will break from the colony and will try assume the role as a King Ant. Then they will try to forcibly mate with the females of other species to give birth to a new generation of ants. It is not known if female soldier ants can do the same and breed with males of other species, as the only known case that attempted to start her own colony was Zazan who preferred unconventional methods of reproducing soldiers by using her stinger on humans instead of egg-laying like the Queen Ant. The Selection is another unique phenomenon for reproducing soldiers that the Chimera ants gained after getting human intelligence and the knowledge of Nen.

Biology
A Chimera Ant is an insect but with human/animal features. Their appearance is something of a human-animal hybrid depending on the Queen's diet. Aside from their unique appearance, there are also a few things that make Chimera Ants easily identifiable: the inability of some of the Chimera Ants to completely lose their insectoid joints and their one track mind of acquiring prey to slate their hunger.

Types of Chimera Ants

 * Condor: Colt
 * Alligator: Alligator
 * Penguin: Peggy
 * Turtle: Turtle
 * Cow: Bihorn
 * Cheetah: Cheetu
 * Frog: Frog
 * Scorpion: Zazan
 * Chameleon: Meleoron
 * Centaur: Yunju
 * Koala: Koala
 * Spider: Pike
 * Lion: Leol
 * Rabbit: Hina
 * Dragonfly: Flutter
 * Mosquito: Mosquito
 * Centipede: Centipede
 * Armadillo: Baro
 * Rhino: Rhino
 * Pig: Pig
 * Cat: Neferpitou
 * Butterfly: Shaiapouf
 * Magical Beast: Menthuthuyoupi
 * Wolf: Welfin
 * Beetle: Pell
 * Snake: Snake
 * Owl: Hollow
 * Bat: Bat
 * Bombardier Beetle: Bombardier Beetle Chimera Ant
 * Octopus: Ikalgo
 * Sharksucker: Remora
 * Macaroni penguin: Peggy
 * Pincer Beetle: Steel Rope Wielding Ant

Mixed Chimera Ants

 * Rabbit/Bull-headed Shrike: Rammot
 * Gorilla/????? Gorilla

13th Hunter Chairman Election arc
When he was talking to Cheadle Yorkshire, Ging Freecss explained that when Netero blew himself up, 100 Hunter organization airships headed to The Republic of East Gorteau. Those Hunters picked up around 5000 hybrid cocoons that the Chimera Ants have left behind. Every single cocoon can use Nen and they have probably all hatched by now. Pariston Hill wants to play with them in a "big garden".

Dark Continent Expedition arc
Ging Freecss arrives in the lair of Beyond Netero's expedition team and confronts Pariston Hill. Ging explains that the government will answer to Beyond's taunt and send them to the Dark Continent. He orders Pariston to send in 5,000 Chimera. He continues that he will start to "play directly". When Pariston sounds confident that Ging will join him, Ging answers that he wants to "play by himself."