Hunter Association



The Hunters Association is a fictional global organization appearing in the Japanese manga and series Hunter × Hunter. The Hunters Association is responsible for the testing and licensing of "Hunters," a person that has proven themselves through rigorous examination to be an elite member of humanity. With the passing of the examination, a Hunter is rewarded with a license to go almost anywhere in the world or do almost anything. Typically, Hunters devote themselves to tracking down priceless items, mystical places, and the unseen wonders of the world.

Hunter License


Hunter License is a type of card exclusively owned by Hunters after they passed the Hunter Examination. It proves the status of the owner and has multiple benefits.

Becoming a Hunter
To become a Professional Hunter, two requirements have to be fulfilled: passing the Hunter Exam and learning how to use Nen.

Finding the Exam
The Hunter Exam takes place annually in the second week of January. Even reaching the area in which the Hunter Examination is held is an extremely difficult challenge because there are too many applicants each year for the Proctors to see them all. To reduce the number of applicants, the Hunter Association hires judges (like the captain) to pick out the best candidates to proceed to the area where the Hunter Exam is held. If you are deemed unworthy by one of these judges, you will be turned away even if you make it to the Examination site.

Once this area has been reached, one has to make his way to the Hunter Examination site. However, no applicant knows when or where the Hunter Examination will be held and it is impossible to find without a Navigator. Each candidate must find a Navigator to take him to the exam but to do this he must pass a series of test and traps, like the "Mind-Boggling Two-Choice Quiz."

The Navigators themselves will set up a test for the candidates to see if they are good enough to take the Hunter Exam. If passed, the Navigators will take them to the floor of the First Phase.

The Hunter Exam
The Hunter Exam is done in a varying amount of Phases, with each Phase being designed to test the candidates' skills and potential--also, to reduce the number of candidates. There are usually 5 or 6 Phases required to complete the Hunter Exam. In the Nippon Animation adaptation of the anime, bonus stages are added to further test the candidates. The content of each Phase changes every year because the Proctors change each year as well; Proctors decide what the Phases will test. Chairman Netero oversees the exam and settles disputes between Proctors when necessary.

Known Hunter Exams
267th Hunter Exam Passed by:
 * Ging Freecss

287th Hunter Exam Passed by:
 * Kurapika
 * Gon Freecss
 * Hisoka
 * Hanzo
 * Pokkle
 * Illumi Zoldyck
 * Leorio Paladiknight

288th Hunter Exam Passed by:
 * Killua Zoldyck

The Secret Hunter Exam
Although the formal examination annually occurs during the first week in January, there is a second, unstated part of the Hunter Examination that requires every Pro Hunter to go out into the world and accomplish: learning the basic principles of Nen. One only officially becomes a professional Hunter after passing the Exam; a Hunter is only considered as such by his peers when he learns how to use Nen. It doesn't matter how long it takes, but one will be unable to take on most Hunter jobs without learning the skill--it is often seen as a minimum requirement. To meet this requirement, a Hunter must either find a teacher and learn in secrecy (because doing so in public augments the risk of people with ill intent learning a potentially dangerous skill) or through a method known as initiation. However, some learn Nen before entering the exam and are thus instantly "qualified" if they pass it. It is known so far that all Hunters find a way to start their training shortly after the exam, therefore the difficulty of this requirement is reduced mostly to one's own adaptability to learn Nen.