Leorio Paradinight

Leorio Paladiknight ( レオリオ=パラディナｲﾄ, Reorio Paradinaito) is one of the four main characters of the Hunter × Hunter manga series written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Togashi.

Appearance
Leorio is a tall, manly-looking, fairly muscular young man with brown eyes, black hair, and a spiked crew cut. He typically wears a dark blue business suit, black shoes, and a pair of teashade sunglasses.

Personality
Leorio is initially introduced as a selfish narcissist who places great emphasis on material wealth. But despite his assertions that he is only after money, he eventually reveals to Kurapika that his dream is to one day become a doctor in order to help the poor. He believes that all things in the world (lives, dreams, etc.) can be bought, and that becoming a Hunter will provide him with the necessary funds for his education. Due to his first spat with Kurapika, as well as the test on the way to the navigator's cabin, it seems that he has a sensitivity for those who do not take him seriously or treat him with disrespect. His real priorities seem to fall friends first, then his dream, and everything else comes afterwords.

Leorio is not one who balks and retreats when faced against overwhelming odds in battle. A loyal, trustworthy ally who greatly values the ties of friendship, he acts like the 'big brother' of the group. He often provides comic relief; Killua sometimes ridicules him for his comparatively older age, although he swears that his appearance is that of a mere teenager. His impulsive and brash nature has sometimes caused more trouble to people around him. Another flair he has is his ability to 'straight-talk' through many situations at hand.

At the tail end of the Yorknew arc, Melody claims that he has "the nicest heartbeat in the city," stating that "it's warm and gentle," saying that he would make a good doctor rather than a Hunter.

Background
Much is unknown about Leorio's past. He once lost a close friend (a man named Pietro in the 1999 anime adaptation) to a debilitating illness. Leorio feels deeply remorseful about being unable to save his friend, as the illness was entirely curable but required a surgery he could not afford. Thus, he aspires to become a doctor — one whom not only cures the ill of their diseases, but also one who works pro bono for people who can't afford it. In this light, his outwardly superficial reason to join the Hunter Exams in the pursuit of great wealth gains a more noble justification — the money he earns is used not only to fund his medical school fees, but also to pay for the medicine and other miscellaneous expenditures when treating those who can't afford it.

Preliminary phase
Leorio, examinee #403, makes his first appearance on board the ship that goes from Whale Island, Gon's hometown, to a testing site of the 287th Hunter Exam. He, Gon and Kurapika, are the only 3 candidates who are not affected by a storm the night before. The captain reveals that he's an examiner and asks them why they want to become Hunters. With some reluctance, Kurapika replies that he wants to capture the Phantom Troupe. Leorio on the other hand answers the captain that he is attracted by the material possessions provided by being a Hunter. The two have a quarrel over their different opinions and decide to end it with a fight out on the deck while another storm is raging. When they are about to start, a crew member is knocked off the deck by a piece of wood broken off from a yard. Gon jumps off the deck to catch him and in turn is kept from falling into the sea by Kurapika and Leorio. After the incident they apologize to and make up with each other. Seeing that the captain laughs and decides to take the trio to the nearest testing place, Zaban City.

In Zaban City, following Gon, Kurapika and Leorio head for a tree on a mountain that the captain instructed them to go to. They encounter a group of people on the way and an old lady, who is also an examiner, asks them a question which they only have 5 seconds to answer. The question is such a dilemma that none of them can give an answer before time is up. Getting annoyed, Leorio picks up a wooden stick and attacks her but he is blocked by Kurapika, who explains to him that they have passed because keeping silent is the correct answer to this question. The old lady then tells them to go to a house in the forest to find a couple, who will be their navigators if they consider the trio qualified. Upon entering the house, they see a wounded man lying on the floor and a woman being held captive by a Kiriko. The monster flees as soon as it sees them. Telling Leorio to take care of the husband, Kurapika and Gon chase after it and force it to let go of the wife. Kurapika catches her and notices the strange tatoos on her hands and face. Leorio then shows up and says that there is nothing to worry about the husband.

Kurapika suddenly hits Leorio in the face with his wooden sword. It turns out this Leorio is a Kiriko in disguise. After the monster runs away, he asks the wife who she really is, to which her answer is a strange smile. Meanwhile Gon is able to tell 2 identical-looking Kirikos apart, which greatly surprises them. The 2 Kirikos and the husband and wife, who are actually their son and daughter, then explain to the trio how they have qualified for the next test —Kurapika for his vast knowledge, Leorio for his good medical skill and confidence, and Gon for his extraordinary movement and observation--and fly them to the next testing site.

First phase
At the starting site of the first phase, a large tunnel, Leorio, Kurapika and Gon see a lot of experts. Tonpa, nicknamed Rookie Crusher, offers each of them a can of his laxative-spiked drink but Leorio pours it away after Gon claims that it has a bad taste. An examiner, Satotz, then appears and tells the candidates to follow him through the tunnel. He runs faster and faster and Leorio has difficulties keeping up with him. After 5 hours of nonstop running he seems to be exhausted and about to give up. Gon calls out to him and suddenly Leorio starts to run really fast, shouting he will do anything to become a Hunter. However, he unintentionally leaves his suitcase behind, which is picked up by Gon right afterwards. While running, he reveals to Kurapika the story about his deceased friend and why he wants to become a Hunter —by being one he will have the money to pay for his expensive medical studies. The marathon finally ends when they reach the Numere Wetlands, also known as the Swindler's Swamp.

Satotz warns them of the dangers and tells them to follow him through the Swamp in another marathon. On the way, Leorio, Kurapika and a number of other candidates are attacked by Hisoka, a man notorious for his murderous penchant. All of them are killed in a short time, except for him, Kurapika and Cherry. Knowing that they have no chance of winning against Hisoka, they split up in 3 different directions. However, Leorio returns right away with a wooden stick to face Hisoka, saying he's lost his temper. Hisoka easily dodges Leorio's attack and is about to finish him when he is stopped by Gon with a fishing rod. Finding Gon interesting, Hisoka turns to him and ignores Leorio, who attempts to attack Hisoka once again but is immediately knocked unconscious by a punch to the face. Hisoka spares Gon's life, says he won't kill Leorio because he's qualified then carries him to the site of the second phase, the Visca Forest Reserve.

Second phase
At the site of the second phase, Leorio regains consciousness with a swollen right cheek and meets Kurapika, Killua and Gon again but he doesn't remember what happened. 2 Gourmet Hunters, Menchi and Buhara, appear. The second phase starts with Buhara asking them to cook roast pork. Even though the kind of pig that they need to catch, the Great Stamp, is the most dangerous pig in the world, Leorio, his 3 friends and many other contestants have little difficulties passing the test after they discover that these pigs have a spot of weakness on their foreheads.

The next test however proves to be a real problem as the other examiner Machi asks them to make sushi. Leorio receives some pointers on making sushi from Kurapika, who has read some books about this dish. He is the first to finish and submit his sushi to Menchi but she fails him immediately, saying it looks terrible. All the other candidates are subsequently failed by her as well. When the second phase is on the verge of having no qualifier, Chairman Netero of the Hunters Association arrives in an airship, criticizes Menchi for losing her temper as an examiner and tells her to give them another test, which she herself also has to take.

This time around Menchi asks them to cook boiled Spider-Eagle eggs, which hang from strong strings connecting the two sides of deep ravines. Even though they have to jump into a ravine to find the eggs, Leorio and 41 other examinees pass the test and are subsequently taken to the site of the 3rd phase in the Chairman's airship.

Third phase
The 3rd phase of the Hunter Exam starts atop the Trick Tower, which has numerous passages, and they have 72 hours to get to the bottom of it alive. Leorio, Kurapika, Killua, and Gon are forced to form a team of 5 with Tonpa to pass through the 1st door. They advance, using the majority rule several times on the way, and their road leads them to a platform set up in the middle of a bottomless abyss where they have to participate in a best-of-five series consisting of 5 no-hold-barred one on one matches against a team of 5 hardened convicts. Tonpa is the first to fight, against Bendot, and he forfeits the match on purpose to make it harder for them to win. Gon's match is the second and thanks to his quick thinking he manages a win to level the score at 1 - 1. The 3rd match is Kurapika's and his opponent is Majitani, a serial killer and also an impostor who has a spider tatoo on his back and brags about his Phantom Troupe membership to Kurapika. Enraged, Kurapika's eyes turn scarlet and he knocks Majitani down with a single punch, however the match is still going on because he refuses to kill his opponent, who seems to be unconscious.

Seeing that, Leorio steps in, makes a bet that Majitani is still alive and pretends to drop him into the abyss. Majitani is so scared that he stops playing possum and admits defeat. The score is now 2 - 1 in favor of Leorio's team but they have lost 40 hours due to betting. Leorio's own match is the 4th, and he loses it after a rock-paper-scissors game along with a bet of 10 hours on the gender of his opponent, Leroute. It's 2 - 2 now and Killua quickly kills his opponent, Johness the Dissector, in the last match, putting the final score at 3 - 2 in their favor, but Leorio's team now have less than 10 hours to reach the bottom. As they advance, they have to use the majority rule some more times and face many other obstacles such as electric quizzes, multiple choice labyrinth, etc. Thanks to a brilliant idea of Gon's in choosing ways, they manage to reach the bottom of the tower with just 30 seconds left, thus qualifying for the 4th phase.

Fourth phase
During the 4th phase, the remaining examinees are taken to Zevil Island to take part in a 7-day manhunt among themselves to capture each other's number badges. Leorio is the assigned target of Tonpa, who in turn is Kurapika's assigned target. After he is tricked by Tonpa and Sommy and loses his badge, Kurapika appears, knocks Tonpa down and asks Leorio to team up with him, to which Leorio agrees. They take the badges #16 and #118 from Tonpa and Sommy. Even though Kurapika already has 6 points from his own and Tonpa's badges, he still helps Leorio find his target Ponzu, examinee #246. As they are looking for the target, they again encounter Hisoka, who tells them to give him their badges if they want to live. Kurapika says that he will give him the badge #118 which only means 1 point to them, as for the other 3 badges, they will fight to the death to protect them. Hisoka agrees, lets them go and takes the badge #118.

At the end of the 6th day, he and Kurapika meet Gon and tell Gon about Ponzu. Gon helps them find her by tracking the smell of the medicine that she uses to defend herself. Finally they find Ponzu, but together with her they are trapped in a cave full of snakes whose owner Bourbon, examinee #103, is already dead due to anaphylactic shock caused by her bees. Thanks to Gon's bravery and ability to hold his breath for an extended period of time, all of them are able to get out of this situation by using a soporific gas of Ponzu's to make the snakes sleep. Before they go, Gon takes the badge #246 from a sleeping Ponzu and leaves her the badge #103. With this, Leorio and his 2 friends qualify for the next and also the final phase.

Final phase
The final phase of the Hunter Exam is an elimination tournament with a twist —the winner of a match will be removed from the list and receive his very own Hunter Licence and the loser will be given more chance. During the match between Illumi Zoldyck and Killua, Leorio shouts out to Killua, encouraging him to stand up to his brother's psychological manipulation, and, together with Kurapika, Hanzo and some examiners, blocks Illumi when he wants to go murder Gon. As the tournament goes on, Leorio is eventually required to fight Bodoro in his first match. When they have just started, Killua suddenly interferes and kills Bodoro. Killua is immediately disqualified, which allows Leorio to obtain a Hunter Licence by default. Later, to help Killua, he and Kurapika request that the Hunters Association examine the nature of the murder of Bodoro, but to no avail. After the Hunter Exam is finished, he decides to go with Gon and Kurapika to Kukuroo Mountain to rescue Killua from the control of his family.

Zoldyck Family arc
Leorio, Kurapika and Gon arrive at the entrance of the Zoldyck Estate, the Testing Gate, on Kukuroo Mountain on a tour bus. They tell the old gatekeeper, Zebro, that they are Killua's friends but he says he can't let them enter until they can at least push open the 1st testing door which weighs 4 tons, because going into the estate via any other way will result in them getting killed by the huge guard dog named Mike. The trio then accept Zebro's invitation to stay in his house to train, using his heavy equipments. After 20 days, they all can open the first gate, with Leorio opening up to the second door weighing 8 tons, and head for the Zoldyck Residence without any problem until they are stopped at another gate by a female attendant named Canary. She beats Gon up to prevent them from advancing but thanks to Gon's insistence, she becomes more and more reluctant to block their path and finally asks them to save Killua. Kikyo Zoldyck then appears with her son Kalluto, knocks Canary unconscious and tells them to leave, but after regaining consciousness Canary says she is going to lead them to the intendants' room.

While staying in the servants' room, they are forced into playing a guessing game with Canary's life at stake with some butlers of the family, which they manage to win. Killua at last arrives and leaves the Zoldyck Estate together with them. Leorio then asks Kurapika what Hisoka told him during the final phase of the Hunter Exam, to which Kurapika tells his 3 friends what Hisoka whispered to him during the final phase. He would wait for Kurapika in Yorknew City, where the largest auction in the world takes place, on September 1st to tell him some interesting things about the Phantom Troupe. It's 6 months until that day so Kurapika says goodbye to his friends, after telling them he is going to look for some work as a Hunter and arranging to meet up with them later in Yorknew City in September. Leorio says he is going to study to prepare for the entrance exam of a private university and says goodbye to his friends too.

Yorknew City arc
Leorio meets Gon and Killua again in Yorknew City on September 1st, helping them bargaining over two cellphones and telling them that he's already learned Nen (in reality having only learned the very basics, not knowing much more than Ten). After they tell him about the Greed Island game, which is extremely expensive, he comes up with a plan to help them earn money —staging an arm-wrestling contest with the prize being a diamond worth 3 million Jennies and challengers having to pay J10,000 each. On the first day, they win J2.75 million in total, but the number of challengers is decreasing towards the end of the day. On September 2nd, Leorio tells his 2 young friends that the arm wrestling contest is just a bait to lure big fish to the surface. Just as he says, even though on the second day no one dares to challenge them, two members of the Mafia come and, after confirming that Leorio is really strong, invite them to participate in the manhunt against the robbers of the auction items. After Leorio pays the participation fees for the 3 of them, Killua tells him this is a bad idea because they will be after the Phantom Troupe, who even his father is cautious about fighting against.

On September 3rd, because the Mafia controls every way to get out of Yorknew, Leorio guesses that the Phantom Troupe are still hiding somewhere in the city. Later on they receive information about the location of two Phantom Troupe members, Machi and Nobunaga. After finding the targets in a square and paying the informants via telephone, Leorio starts to keep them under surveillance with Gon and Killua. He wants to capture them but Killua says it is impossible because this is a trap set up by those two to catch their prey. After a while, seeing no action from their hidden enemies, Machi and Nobunaga leave the square. Because Leorio doesn't know Zetsu, Killua tells him to stay put while he and Gon are going to tail them. Gon and Killua are subsequently captured but they manage to escape at night while most of the Troupe are launching an attack on the Mafia's HQ in the city.

Leorio, Killua and Gon meet Kurapika again on September 4th and are told about the secrets of his Nen abilities. During their conversation, Hisoka messages Kurapika, telling him about the fake corpses of some members of the Troupe the night before. Kurapika wants to go fight the Troupe alone but Leorio, Gon and Killua offer him their help, which he accepts. Leorio is then asked to be a driver while Kurapika and the others are going to shadow the Phantom Troupe. In the evening of Semtember 4th, Gon and Killua are unfortunately captured again. Soon afterwards, Leorio, Kurapika and Senritsu however manage to capture the leader of the Troupe, Chrollo Lucilfer, and exchange him for Gon and Killua. On September 7th, he sees Kurapika and Senritsu off at the airport, telling her to take good care of Kurapika before they leave. On September 10th, after Gon and Killua have passed Battera's recruitment test for the Greed Island game, he helps them review the contract then says goodbye to them and leaves Yorknew City.

13th Hunter Chairman Election arc
Before the 4th round of the Hunter Chairman Election, Leorio reappears in the hospital where Gon is being given intensive-care treatment, talking to Gotoh over the phone. He, as short-tempered as he was, shouts at Gotoh asking to talk to Killua, to which Gotoh refuses. Killua then asks Gotoh to let him talk to Leorio and tells him to listen to what Gotoh says. Gotoh goes on to demand that Leorio evacuates all the people in the hospital building except for Gon before they arrive, which frustrates Leorio because this is a national hospital with thousands of people. Seeing that, Morel takes over the negotiation with Gotoh. Morel's professional demeanor earns Leorio's trust and he leaves, saying he would like to have a word with some fellows.

After leaving the hospital, he calls Kurapika, wondering why he hasn't showed up at the hospital to visit Gon, but is unable to contact him. He then goes straight to the Hunters Organization's HQ, where an electoral lecture held by the Zodiac Twelve is going on. When the question and answer session has just started, he asks to talk to Ging then angrily questions him on his indifference to Gon's critical condition. Ging answers that he doesn't need to care about Gon because Gon has a number of good friends like Leorio, infuriating him. He suddenly throws a punch at a table, crushing it. At the same time, a black portal opens on the table in front of Ging then a fist forcibly flies out, hitting Ging in the chin, sending him flying. Seeing that, many Hunters on the scene cheer and laugh. This audacious action unexpectedly earns Leorio approval and despite being a nobody he ends up 3rd place in the 4th round of the election with 55 votes and down into 4th place in the 5th round with also 55 votes.

He becomes 2nd from the last 4 participants. When Mizaistom and Cheadle make their speechs, Leorio is lost in his thoughts that he "shouldn't be there", and is shocked when Cheadle actually gives him her support, instead of seeking to win. Leorio is soon called for his speech, and he starts to talk about Gon, and how he currently seeks no other thing than for Hunters to help him in his deadly situation, and how he feels powerless but wants to help him recover no matter what. This unexpectedly, earns him a massive round of applauses from all the audience, to which he's greatly surprised, with Pariston soon called for his speech, with Cheadle confident that Leorio will win.

Combat
Leorio is a fairly skilled fighter using his briefcase and a tanto as his weapons. He is also physically stronger than Gon and Kurapika, as he could open up to the 2nd door of the Testing Gate whereas Gon and Kurapika could only open the 1st door.

Nen
Leorio is an Emitter. During the "Yorknew City Arc", he was shown to have only mastered Ten, and to be learning more of the basic techniques from Gon and Killua; in addition, his own Hatsu had yet to be developed. However, roughly 11 months later, during the "New Hunter Chairman Election Arc" Leorio is shown to have improved his Nen abilities.

Other abilities
Leorio has a talent in haggling, he can lower the price on the object he wants to purchase to the point that he actually gets people to watch and applause him getting at it.
 * Skilled Haggler

Leorio also has a limited knowledge regarding medicine and other useful information that he has learned to be a doctor. A navigator during the 287th Hunter Exam noted that his ability to give first aid was the best he had ever seen.
 * Medical Knowledge

Trivia

 * Leorio's last name was never revealed before the Hunter Chairman Election took place.
 * His last name is a combination of two types of warrior, an amalgamation of the words "paladin" and "knight."
 * Leorio has some similarities with Togashi's Yu Yu Leorio_episode_16_facing_Hisoka.PNGHakusho character Kazuma Kuwabara.
 * ​Both are the tallest members of their respective teams
 * Both use bladed weapons in combat with Kuwabara using his Spirit sword and Leorio using a knife against Hisoka