Hisoka Morow

Hisoka (ヒソカ, Hisoka) is a character from the series Hunter × Hunter by Yoshihiro Togashi. He is also one of the main antagonists.

Appearance
Hisoka's appearance is similar to that of a magician or jester. He wears face paint, with a maroon star on his right cheek and a spring green teardrop on his left cheek. Hisoka changes his outfit in every story arc, though they are usually adorned with suit symbols.

During the 13th Hunter Chairman Election arc, Hisoka is shown to wear two earrings with ornamental hearts.

In his first appearance in Nippon Animation's anime series, Hisoka's hair color is initially blue but changed to red in the following arc in order to mimic the manga. In Madhouse's adaptation, Hisoka has red hair and amber eyes. During the Yorknew City arc in the manga, Hisoka dyes his hair light green.

Personality
Hisoka is portrayed as entirely self-interested and does whatever he likes as long as it pleases him in some way. He lusts for the thrill of killing powerful fighters in combat and it is strongly implied that he receives sexual gratification from doing so. In order for them to grow to their full potential (and for the pleasure of killing them later), Hisoka allows the main protagonists of Hunter × Hunter to live during situations wherein he is able to easily take their lives. Likewise, he grows excited to meet any new characters he deems worthy of fighting either in the future or right on the spot. He does not care for what has happened in the past as he is only interested in what could be amusing to him in the future.

Hisoka often exhibits androgynous aspects of his personality throughout the series, manifested in his wearing of women's shoes and using an alluring speech style typically reserved for females in Japanese. In the manga, he ends nearly every sentence with a suit symbol.

Background
Hisoka's past is never explored in Hunter × Hunter. His character is an enigma that speaks little of his past because he is uninterested in it. Hisoka is a second time examinee in the Hunter Exam, having been disqualified for attempting to kill an examiner during his first attempt.

In the 1999 anime adaptation, it is stated during his battle with Gon on the 200th floor that Hisoka chewed "Bungee Gum" a lot as a child, but because his family was poor he often chewed it until it lost all flavor, and later he named his signature gum technique after the brand. In the manga, however, it is only said that he named both of his techniques after a candy brand and a chewing gum brand he liked when he was a kid.

Hunter Exam arc
Hisoka, applicant #44, is seen as a heavy contender throughout the Hunter exam. Having failed the exam during the previous year, it is explained that Hisoka had only failed the previous year's exam after nearly killing a proctor he did not approve of. He is introduced into the series having removed another applicant's arms from his body for having bumped into him and not apologizing. During the first phase, out of a desire to satiate his appetite for murder, Hisoka "plays proctor" and kills a number of applicants in the Numere Wetlands. He takes an interest in Gon Freecss and his friends after the boy uses his father's fishing rod to stop Hisoka from killing Leorio. In the third phase, Hisoka is targeted by Togari for having nearly killed the proctor during last year. Hisoka kills Togari with ease and is the first to pass through the Trick Tower.



For the fourth phase, the remaining examinees are shipped to Zevil Island in order to take part in a week-long manhunt among themselves to capture their respective target's number plate. After docking, Hisoka spends his first two days on Zevil Island resting, having been injured by Togari in their match. His wounds attract hemotropic butterflies that feed on blood, leading his "predator", Gon, to him. Gozu, a fatally injured martial artist, comes across Hisoka and begs the magician to kill him. Hisoka refuses stating he is "uninterested in the dead." An examinee known as Gittarackur then appears to kill Gozu and is then revealed to be Hisoka's comrade after giving him another's number plate.

In the evening of the second day, Hisoka begins to search for his target and comes across Kurapika and Leorio. After a short negotiation he allows them to leave unharmed in exchange for a number plate. However their potential and quick development whet his bloodlust, impelling him to find someone to kill. Hisoka has his badge stolen by Gon, who had been tailing him, while attacking another examinee and stealing his plate. Excited by his feat, Gon is soon after ambushed and temporarily paralyzed by Geretta, who so happens to be Hisoka's designed target. Geretta spares Gon's life but takes his and Hisoka's plates. Hisoka appears, decapitates Geretta, retrieves all three plates, and gives Gon back his number plate along with his own plate. Gon refuses to accept the favor, but Hisoka blasts him with a right hook and leaves after challenging him to do the same. Having obtained the necessary number of plates, Hisoka qualifies for the Final Phase.



The final phase of the exam is an elimination tournament in which the winner of a match is removed from the candidate list and receives his very own Hunter License, and the loser is given more chance. His first match is against Kurapika. After fighting for a while, he whispers something to Kurapika then quits the match.



His next opponent is Bodoro. It is a one-sided match but Bodoro does not want to surrender. Hisoka knocks him down and whispers something to him. Right after this, Bodoro admits defeat and Hisoka becomes a licensed Hunter. When the exam is already over, he has a short conversation with Illumi about Gon and the Zoldyck Family, and warns Illumi not to touch Gon because the boy is his target only.

Heavens Arena arc
Hisoka follows Gon and Killua to the Heavens Arena and prevents the duo from entering the 200th floor unless they have learnt how to use Nen. Gon and Killua return after learning Nen from Wing, Hisoka allows both of them to pass and tells Gon if he can win one match on the 200th floor, he might consider fighting him. A fighter at Heavens Arena named Kastro fights Hisoka to avenge his only loss. At the beginning of the fight Kastro seems to have the upper hand--landing some blows on Hisoka from unimaginable positions and angles. As the fight goes on Hisoka's right arm is even cut off by Kastro's Tiger Bite Fist, but he discovers Kastro's trick--a conjured double. Despite having lost 1 arm, Hisoka still appears very confident; he calmly performs a brutal card trick in front of Kastro, and after finishing it, he lets Kastro easily cut off his left arm.



Then Hisoka suddenly shows everyone a seemingly undamaged right arm, which greatly confuses Kastro. He goes on to tell Kastro about the weaknesses of his technique: the double never shows any damage, and as an Enhancer Kastro has insufficient memory for such a complex Conjuration technique. As he completes the explanation, he hits Kastro in the chin using his severed left arm then kills Kastro by making the cards on the ground stick into his body at various places. After the fight, it is revealed that Hisoka is a member of the Phantom Troupe.



He pays Machi, another member, to stitch his arms back together with her Nen ability. She tells him that everyone in the Phantom Troupe must meet up in Yorknew City at noon on August 30th. After Machi left it is revealed that the spider tattoo on Hisoka's back was a fake and is actually made from a cloth using his texture surprise ability.

Later, Hisoka agrees to fight Gon after Gon's first win on the 200th floor. During the fight, he accepts to take his examination badge back after Gon successfully hits him in the face. As they continue, Hisoka easily defeats him by TKO. He then leaves after telling Gon that the next time they fight, they will be risking their lives.

Yorknew City arc
 On 30th August, Hisoka meets the other members of the Phantom Troupe in an abandoned building in Yorknew City, where their leader Chrollo Lucilfer gives the order to rob the Mafia of the auction items. On the night of the 2nd of September, he sends Kurapika a message, telling him to meet as planned at the agreed place. When they meet, Hisoka tells Kurapika what he knows about the Phantom Troupe, that he joined the Troupe only to fight Chrollo, and that they should team up because they share a common interest. Kurapika tells him to meet again on the 3rd of September, at the same time.

The next day, he has an unexpected meeting with Gon and Killua after the two were captured and brought to the Troupe's hideout but they pretend not to know each other. Despite his liking for Gon, he can't do anything to save them and even threatens to slit Killua's throat with a card if the boy makes any move without permission. In the night of September 3rd, Hisoka participates in a retaliatory attack of the Troupe on the Mafia to avenge Uvogin's death, however he doesn't do any fighting and only stands on the top of a building watching and enjoying the scene. Later, after they have returned to their hideout, he wants to tell Kurapika that the corpses of several Troupe's members left behind are fake, but can't contact him.

On September 4th, Chrollo tries the Lovely Ghostwriter ability he stole from Neon on the other members of the Phantom Troupe. According to the predictions for Nobunaga and Shizuku, if they are to meet the chain user, 5 of them will die. At the same time, Hisoka sends a message to Kurapika, telling him about the fake corpses. The prediction for Hisoka exposes his betrayal of the Phantom Troupe but he manages to use his Texture Suprise to falsify the prediction and manipulate the group into staying in Yorknew City, just to be able to fight Chrollo.



In the evening, Killua and Gon are captured again by the Troupe while Chrollo is taken hostage by Kurapika. After both parties have agreed on the conditions of the hostage exchange, Hisoka phones Illumi, hiring him to disguise as himself and act as his double in the Troupe's hideout so that he can leave and fight Chrollo alone. After arriving at the exchange site, he reveals to Chrollo his fake membership status and challenges him to a duel, but to his great disappointment, Chrollo can no longer use Nen. And so, Hisoka spares his life and leaves, telling Pakunoda that he's never been attracted to broken toys.

Greed Island arc


Hisoka appears again on Greed Island in search of an Exorcist for Chrollo. He uses Chrollo's name to enter the game, which catches Gon's and Killua's attention and they, together with Goreinu and Biscuit, use a spell card to get to him while he was bathing inside a lake. Because their team doesn't have enough strong people for their upcoming dogdeball match against Razor, Biscuit invites him to join them, to which Hisoka agrees because he is having nothing to do. Killua suspects that Hisoka has met other members of the Phantom Troupe on the island and is hiding it from everyone so he asks to check the list of the people he has met, but Hisoka tricks him by using the Texture Surprise to fake a new name list. During the dodgeball game, he was injured by Razor's powerful shots and throws but in the end their collective effort prevails and it's Hisoka who helps the team achieve an absolute victory by forcing Razor out of the court, at the cost of 10 broken fingers.

After that, he leaves to meet some members of the Phantom Troupe to help them negotiate with the Exorcist, Abengane. When they meet, even without using En he still notices that there is someone hiding behind a tree and threatens to kills that person if they don't show up, which frustrates Nobunaga. Kalluto, Hisoka's replacement in the gang, walks out and asks if his Zetsu was imperfect, to which Machi replies that it was well done but Hisoka is just a beast. Hisoka sizes up Kalluto and praises him for having a lot of potential. He then asks Machi what she will do if he kills Chrollo, to which Machi says she would hunt him down and kill him. As usual, Hisoka only replies in a playful manner that he would like that. He is later seen meeting up with Abengane after the latter has successfully removed the Nen beast on his body.

13th Hunter Chairman Election arc
Hisoka is next seen during the 1st round of the election looking for Ging. He secretly rates the Hunters on the scene using a scale of his own and is apparently quite happy with the power of some members of the Zodiac Twelve: Kanzai, Ginta and Piyon. He then casts a blank vote after showing it to them, which annoys Kanzai. After that he sits there scouting out the crowd. While sizing up the pro-Hunters present at the election site, Hisoka is disappointed by their power levels and thinks to himself that if they are this weak, he might consider fighting the Zodiacs next. Suddenly he feels the presence of someone strong, who turns out to be Illumi Zoldyck. Illumi then tells Hisoka about what happened during the Chimera Ant crisis, the death of Chairman Netero, Alluka — his missing younger brother, and the current situation with Gon and Killua.

Hisoka and Illumi are next seen talking to each other in an airship bar. Illumi explains the rules related to Alluka's ability to him and tells him if Killua dies from Alluka's power while trying to heal Gon, a lot of people, including the Zoldycks, Gon, and even Hisoka, will die as well. Fearing that Killua will do it wrong, Illumi asks Hisoka to help him kill Alluka. Later, as Killua, Alluka and their butlers are on their way to Gon's hospital, Illumi manipulates some drivers and crashes their vehicles into Killua's car, causing it to fall into a forest below. Watching from a distance, Illumi tells Hisoka to eliminate the butlers but Hisoka asks if he can kill Killua. Illumi suddenly releases a murderous aura and warns him. Hisoka says he is just kidding. It is then revealed that he provoked Illumi on purpose to let Killua know his location because he too wants Gon to be saved.



He then confronts Gotoh, Amane and Canary, who are left behind after Killua uses his Kanmuru ability to escape with Alluka. Gotoh tells the other butlers to go ahead and let him deal with Hisoka. At first, his Bungee Gum ability seems to be neutralized by Gotoh's ability to fire coins with power superior to bullets, but Hisoka manages to adapt quickly and uses his bungee gum to fire the coins back, forcing him to shoot more coins to deflect them, with that distraction Hisoka is able to drop in on him and slit his throat.

Hisoka and Illumi meet up again in an airport where Killua used an airship as transportation and to escape them. Hisoka suggests that they should ambush Killua in the hospital, but Illumi claims the assassination will fail if they do so because Killua's friends are there. Illumi thinks of asking help, to which Hisoka asks him if he has any other acquaintances. The assassin explains an ability to manipulate a person's actions through a nen-imbued needle. Illumi asks Hisoka if he could hunt the "misses" for him and Hisoka gladly accepts.

Hisoka and Illumi talk over the phone after killing their attackers. Hisoka informs Illumi that he has found a map detailing the aircrafts' paths and destinations. He offers to send Illumi a copy, albeit one that is altered by his Texture Surprise. Unfortunately, Illumi says that he also have a map from one of the attackers and that he already knows which aircraft Killua and Alluka are.

Although he is shown to be Illumi's comrade his bloodlust seems to get the better of him, this is shown when Illumi finds Killua, Hisoka is seen hiding in the trees trying to decide who to kill, if to kill Alluka and gain Killua's hatred or leave Alluka alive save Gon and make Illumi his enemy. He then questions himself by thinking that maybe he should kill Alluka wich will make Killua hate him, then kill Killua and have Illumi hate him is the best plan of action.

Hisoka is next seen exiting an elevator and going into the room where Teradain Neutral is staying, Hisoka then kills him.

Combat
Notorious for his graceful, cruel, and deceitful fighting ability, Hisoka is proven to be deadly. However, his true abilities have never been shown, as he is willing to fight enemies famous for their terrifying power. For instance, he pondered prompting Illumi (whose strength scored 93 points, even higher than 3 Zodiacs's) into having a death match with him, and even craved to confront Ging Freecss. Apparently, he doesn't fight according to any conventional martial art.

Enhanced strength: Hisoka is incredibly strong, ranking 3rd in the Phantom Troupe in terms of physical strength (which is composed of 13 of the most powerful nen users seen throughout the series). He can shatter rock and incapacitate skilled warriors with just his little finger.

Enhanced speed and reflexes: One of the pillars of his distinctive fighting style is his speed, matched with chirurgical, deadly accuracy. He was able to dodge single-handedly continuous attacks from Gon without moving from the position he was in, and stop one of Razor's throws. He can wipe out an army of pro Hunters before they can press a button, and dodge or catch bullets-fast objects rather easily. Combining his already high speed with his Bungee Gum, he can disappear out of sight of even the likes of Gotoh who specialize in that field.

Immense pain resistance: Hisoka is almost impervious to pain, which seems to bring him pleasure when very intense. He can take having his arms cut off, one after the other, as if it were nothing. Though blows still damage him, they can't slow him down or incapacitate him.

Enhanced agility: Hisoka is very agile, as he can attack from every position.

Proficient in hand-to-hand combat: Though he doesn't show it too often, he is very skilled in unarmed combat, despite lacking any literacy in martial artistry. What makes him so dangerous is the perfect combination of his inhumane physical features sometimes coupled with his Nen abilities.

Master card user: He is an unrivaled master in the usage of cards as edge weapons. Using Shu enhanced poker cards as his primary weapon, he throws them with ease and deadly accuracy. When he combines the use of his poker cards with the use of his Nen Ability, they becomes an even deadlier weapon.

Master trap layer: Combining his twisted genious with his prestigiatory skills, Hisoka can set very elaborate and effective traps, often using In to conceal his Nen attacks. His tricks usually don't get discovered after they are already in use.

Excellent strategist: Hisoka can often tell what an opponent is thinking and how he will react at his moves. He can plan whole battles beforehand and prepare his victory right after the get-go.

Astounding coordination: His coordination may be the core of his strength, both of his offensive and defensive power. Thanks to it, he can adapt to any fighting style he faces (an example is when he caught without problems the spinning knives thrown at him by Togari) and avoid most of the threats he may encounter.

Wicked mind: It wouldn't be considered an ability if it weren't for the relevance it has in Hisoka's combat: his deviousness and volatility has prevented many opponents from anticipating his next move, and this has led him to win many battles. His mind, if he were not completely insane, might be considered genial. He can often read the opponent's thoughts and emotions, and formulate effective plans accordingly. He can come up with crafty and unthinkable solutions, like the ones used to trick and kill Kastro and Gotoh, in a matter of seconds. Instead of fearing pain, he sometimes seeks it, as a memento of his opponent.

Extremely accurate in power measuring: Hisoka is able to guess the amount of strength a person possess, their talent and even future heights by simply looking at them. He invented a scale that measures the target's abilities, possibly reaching 100 as the top score. Who owns the rank of 100, or if it can be maxed out or even what Hisoka's rank is unknown.

Nen

Hisoka's Nen abilities have served him well on numerous occasions, and especially compliment his ominous nature. He can use it for direct combat, or to deceive his opponents and render them confused, hesitant, wary or upset. His skills in the various principles goes without saying. Hisoka uses two versatile Hatsu which makes a formidable combination, both in and out of combat: his mastery of cards is so great he can kill his opponents with ease, even having some control of his opponents bodily movements (an example of this is how Hisoka can manipulate the cards to make Kastro die in a fashion that appeared as if he was dancing).

Trivia

 * In the Latin American dub, Hisoka speaks with a French accent and his name is pronounced as "Isoka" (with a silent H).
 * In the Indonesian dub, Hisoka is pronounced as "Hyosoka" for unknown reason.




 * Both of Hisoka's Nen ability are named after his favorite candy and chewing gum brands.
 * The name of his primary Nen ability may be a pun with the extreme sport Bungee Jumping.
 * Although Hisoka did not appear during the Zoldyck Family arc, in the musical The Nightmare of Zoldyck, he appeared along with Illumi Zoldyck, who also doesn't appear in the arc.
 * Daisuke Namikawa, Hisoka's seiyu, also voiced the role of Prince Baka, protagonist of Level E. Level E was also created by Yoshihiro Togashi. Prince Baka made a surprise cameo in Episode 36 of the 2011 series.
 * Hisoka's appearance as a clown, hairstyle, painted teardrops, card throwing etc, may have been reference to Yoshihiro Togashi's earlier work Yu Yu Hakusho's character Suzuki, when he was dressed up as clown.