Kurapika



Kurapika (クラピカ Kurapika) is a male character from Hunter×Hunter. One of the main characters, he seeks power to get revenge for a bloody past.

Appearance
Kurapika has medium blond hair with gray eyes (blue in the 1999 anime). In the first part of the series, he wears a blue and orange cape-like outer garment with a mandarin collar, and a white full-body training suit underneath.

He can be categorized as a bishounen (Japanese term of "beautiful boy") due to his feminine-looking face and voice. Fans often mistake him as female. In Yorknew City, he disguised himself as a female with long hair and a female hotel officer, and even Chrollo Lucilfer himself thought of Kurapika as a woman.

Personality
Kurapika is a level-headed and intelligent individual, possessing vast knowledge. Of sound judgment, his focused analyses have saved his friends from the brink of death many times. He can appear cold and distant, due to his incessant drive to avenge his clan. Only his companions Gon, Leorio, Killua, and Melody seem to have thawed his often icy demeanor.

Kurapika has also proven to be a balanced fighter on several occasions. He had two large wooden swords hidden below his overshirt during the 287th Hunter Exam. During the Southernbees Auction in Yorknew City, he uses a set of chains on his right hand materialized from his Nen. When Kurapika gets enraged, his eyes turn scarlet--a trait only possessed by members of the Kurta tribe. However when angered, Kurapika is much more prone to reckless actions. As of the Yorknew City arc, Kurapika has trained himself to activate his scarlet eyes at will. In this state, he is able to use Nen of all categories to his maximum potential as a Conjurer.

Background
Kurapika is a member of the Kurta clan, a reticent group of people that chose to live in obscurity in the Lukso Province. They possess eyes that turn flaming scarlet in times of anger or emotional agitation, and the color remains eternally in the iris at the time of death. The legendary brilliance of such scarlet eyes caused them to have high demand as a collector's treasure.

A few years prior the start of the series, the Phantom Troupe came to Kurapika's village and massacred all the members of his tribe, leaving behind scores of dead bodies with eyes gouged out in their wake. As the last surviving member of his clan, Kurapika vows to gain back all the stolen eyes of his people, by tracking the Phantom Troupe down and seeking revenge, even if he must sacrifice his life in the process.

Kurapika is the current leader of Neon Nostrade's bodyguards.

Preliminary phase
Kurapika 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, together with Gon and Leorio, 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 stopped 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, Kurapika, Leorio and Gon see a lot of experts. Tonpa, nicknamed Rookie Crusher, offers each of them a can of his laxative-spiked drink but Kurapika 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 but Kurapika has little problem keeping up with him. While running, he reveals to Leorio the story about the stolen scarlet eyes of his people and his determination to retrieve them and capture the Phantom Troupe. 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, Kurapika, Leorio and a number of other candidates are attacked by Hisoka, a man notorious for his bloodthirstiness. All of them are killed in a short time, except for him, Leorio and examinee #78. Knowing that they have no chance of winning against Hisoka, they split up in 3 different directions. After a while, Kurapika returns and sees Gon kneeling there with a shocked expression on his face. While running together to the site of the second phase, the Visca Forest Reserve, Gon tells him about what happened to him and Leorio.

Second phase
At the site of the second phase, 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, Kurapika, 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. Despite having read some books about this dish and his careful analysis of the hints that Hanzo, a contestant from the country of sushi, and Menchi unintentionally give away, Kurapika is still failed like the rest. 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 egg, Kurapika 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. Kurapika, Leorio, 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 long-term prisoners. Tonpa is the first to fight and he deliberately forfeits the match 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 drops 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 Kurapika'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 Kurapika'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. Kurapika's designed target is Tonpa, who in turn has Leorio as his target. After Leorio 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 with their lives to protect them. Hisoka agrees, lets them go and takes the badge #118.

At the end of the 6th day, he and Leorio 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 take the badge #246 from a sleeping Ponzu and leave her the badge #103. With this, Kurapika and his 2 friends qualify for the next and also the last phase.

The last phase
The last 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. Kurapika's first fight is against Hisoka. After fighting for a while, Hisoka whispers something to him and quits the match, allowing him to become a licensed Hunter. When Illumi Zoldyck wants to go murder Gon, he, Leorio, Hanzo, and some examiners block his way. Later he also requests that the Hunters Association examine the nature of Killua's act of murder against another contestant, Bodoro, during the last phase and has a brieft argument with Pokkle, who wins by default thanks to Killua's disqualification, but they make up with each other after the exam has ended. He then decides to go with Gon and Leorio to Kukuroo Mountain to rescue Killua from the control of his family.

Nen Abilities


Kurapika is a Conjurer, one that can create objects out of thin air according to his imagination. The weapon that he conjures is a unique one -- five chains that extend from each finger on his right hand. Some of the fingers were specially designed to deal vengeance on the Phantom Troupe. He is able to conceal his chain using "In" in order to bind his opponent without their knowledge until it's too late.

Emperor Time (Absolute Mastery)
When Kurapika's eyes turn scarlet, he shifts from a Conjurer to a Specialist. This state is called "Emperor Time", and it allows him to utilize all the types of Nen to 100% efficiency (for a Conjurer). In the manga, Kurapika explains this using the terms "Level" and "Force/Accuracy". Kurapika's "Levels" in the various Nen categories remain the same during Emperor Time, however, his Force & Accuracy for every category is raised to 100%. Thus, if Kurapika's Level in Conjuration were 10, his Level in Emission (the polar opposite nen type) would be 4, and during Emperor Time, he would be evenly matched against a Level 4 Emitter at 100%. Outside of Emperor Time, his Force & Accuracy in Emission would at most be only be 40%.The explanation of this ability was shown during Kurapika's fight with Uvogin.

To increase his effectiveness against the formidable Phantom Troupe, Kurapika places strict Limitations on the usage of his chains:

Other Skills
Kurapika's physical strength seems to increase whenever his scarlet eyes are activated. He is also capable of fighting using two bokken swords, (Tantō in the 1999 anime) hidden under his over shirt.

Trivia

 * Kurapika ranked second in all of the 3 popularity polls that have been conducted so far by Weekly Shounen Jump.
 * Despite his clan named, Kurapika was never been shown with full name. However, "Kurapika Kurta" is the name given by the fans.
 * Kurapika wears two earrings, although only one is mostly seen throughout the series.
 * Kurama, one of the main characters in Yoshihiro Togashi's other manga and anime Yu Yu Hakusho bears some similarities to Kurapika
 * Both are mistaken for females due to their physical appearance
 * Both Kurama and Kurapika use whip-like weapons
 * Both are mistaken by their archenemy as a girl