Hunter Association



The Hunter Association (ハンター協会, Hantā Kyōkai) is responsible for the testing and licensing of "Hunters" (ハンター, Hantā), individuals who have proven themselves through rigorous examination to be elite members of humanity. With the passing of the Hunter examination, an applicant is rewarded with a license to go almost anywhere in the world or do almost anything, thus declaring them Hunters. Typically, Hunters devote themselves to tracking down priceless items, mystical places, and the unseen wonders of the world. By the time the election for the 13th chairman began, the association counted 661 Hunters.

The Profession
A Hunter's job is not only that of looking for treasures and hunting animals. True Hunters dedicate themselves to the protection of knowledge, people, and nature. They must preserve culturally precious items or species of animals and plants they are able to discover. Furthermore, they must also arrest criminals and in rare cases even fellow Hunters who have committed heinous crimes.

Hunter License


A Hunter license is a type of card given exclusively to Hunters after they pass the Hunter Exam which proves the status of the owner and has multiple benefits. It provides free access to most of the public services and the permission to go almost anywhere in the world without a visa. It also grants the ability to kill without facing any legal consequences. A Hunter license also grants access to guarded information as well as being an easy way to get a job just by showing it. Selling it would last you a whole lifetime.

Hunter Bylaws

 * 1)  Hunters must hunt something.
 * 2)  All Hunters require a minimum level of martial proficiency. Being able to use Nen is the minimum level necessary.
 * 3) No matter what may happen, one who has become a Hunter will never have their title revoked. However, no matter the circumstances, a Hunter License will never be issued a second time.
 * 4) Hunters may not hunt their fellow Hunters, except for those who have committed atrocities.
 * 5) Hunters who achieve extraordinary accomplishments in a certain field will receive a star.
 * 6) Veteran Hunters who have received a star, become superior officers, and have had their students receive a star will receive two stars.
 * 7) Hunters with two stars who achieve extraordinary accomplishments in multiple fields will receive three stars.
 * 8) If the Hunter in charge does not receive a minimum level of support, then they will have their post removed. In this case, the minimum level is the support from the majority of his fellow Hunters. If the seat of chairman becomes open, an election for the next chairman must happen immediately. The vice-chairman is to be left in charge until the new chairman is decided.
 * 9) The chairman decides how new Hunters are chosen. But in order to make a great change in the existing method, he must receive support from the majority.
 * 10) Everything not written here is to be decided by the chairman, vice-chairman, and their advisers. The chairman has the right to choose who becomes the vice-chairman and advisers.

1 Star
1 Star (Single Hunter) - Given to Hunters who have made a significant contribution to a part of society.
 * Bushidora Ambitious
 * Cutie Beauty
 * Ickshonpe Katocha
 * Loupe Highland
 * Menchi
 * Morel Mackernasey
 * Sanbica Norton
 * Tsezguerra

2 Star
2 Star (Double Hunter) - Given to Hunters who have made significant contributions to several fields, and whose disciples have received one Star.
 * Biscuit Krueger
 * Ging Freecss
 * Linne Hors-d'oeuvre
 * Mizaistom Nana
 * Saccho Kobayakawa
 * Teradein Neutral

3 Star
3 Star (Triple Hunter) - Given to Hunters who have made extraordinary contributions to society over several fields. This is the rarest and most difficult rank to obtain, and is considered a great honor. The number of 3-Star Hunters is about 10.
 * Botobai Gigante
 * Cheadle Yorkshire
 * Pariston Hill

Becoming a Hunter
To become a Professional Hunter, two requirements have to be fulfilled: passing the Hunter Exam and The Secret Hunter Exam.

Finding the Exam
The Hunter Exam takes place annually in the second week of January. All applicants are held in equal consideration. 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 an applicant is deemed unworthy by one of these judges, they will be turned away even if they make it to the Examination site.

Once this area has been reached, candidates have to make their 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. All candidates must find a Navigator to take them to the exam, but to do this they must pass a series of test and traps. In fact, the Navigators themselves will set up a test for the candidates to see if they are good enough to take the Hunter Exam. If such test is passed, the Navigators will take the applicants to the floor of the First Phase.

The Hunter Exam
The Hunter Exam is organized in a varying amount of Phases, with each Phase being designed to test the candidates' skills and potential—they are also used to reduce the number of candidates. There are usually 4 to 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 so as not to give an advantage to returning applicants, 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 Examination

Passed by:
 * Ging Freecss

287th Hunter Examination

Passed by:




 * Gon Freecss
 * Kurapika
 * Hisoka Morow
 * Hanzo
 * Pokkle
 * Illumi Zoldyck
 * Leorio Paradinight

288th Hunter Examination

Passed by:
 * Killua Zoldyck

289th Hunter Examination

Passed by:
 * Theta
 * Salkov

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—Nen is seen as the minimum required martial skill to become a Hunter. 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 already have knowledge of 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.

Types of Hunters
Professional Hunters generally choose a field of specialization. Hunters who don't have one are addressed as "rookies".

Archaeological Hunters
Hunters who are dedicated to uncovering ruins and reviving ancient societies.

Beast Hunters
Hunters who feel a deep love for nature; their job involves the study and preservation of undiscovered animal species. There are two subcategories of Beast Hunter—Exotic Game Hunters and UMA (Unidentified Mysterious Animal) Hunters.

Blacklist Hunters
Hunters who dedicate their skills to tracking down dangerous and wanted criminals.

Botanical Hunters
Hunters with a great knowledge about plants, that also search and collect them.

Contract Hunters
Hunters who are hired by corporations in order to do specific jobs, such as biological survey, ecological research or any other miscellaneous job.

Crime Hunters
Hunters who try to reveal mysterious cases in the crime world.

Deep Sea Hunters
Hunters who operate in seas looking either for animals or treasure.

Gourmet Hunters
Hunters whose goal is to find and collect rare ingredients, then bring their flavors to life by using new and creative styles of cooking recipes.

Hacker Hunters
Hunters who have vast knowledge of computers and specialize in working with the Internet and dealing with cyber crimes.

Head Hunters
Hunters who specialize in discovering and cultivating new talents.

Information Hunters
Hunters who love knowledge of all sorts and will go to great lengths to uncover rare or hidden bits of information. Common activities for Information Hunters include searching for rare books, hacking to retrieve protected data, and tracking down people who know desired facts.

Jackpot Hunters
Hunters who have only one goal: earning money, so they find rich people and make deals/contracts with them.

Lost Hunters
Hunters who specialize in seeking those from whom contact has been lost, including members of the Hunters Association.

Music Hunters
Catered towards the musically talented, Music Hunters are ones in pursuit of rare musical pieces.

Paleograph Hunters
Hunters specialized into learning and translating ancient and lost languages.

Poacher Hunters
Hunters who are dedicated to study animals and protect them from poachers.

Poison Hunters
Hunters specialized in various poisons and their pharmaceutical usage.

Provisional Hunters
Hunter candidates who passed the 289th Hunter Exam. There are about 150 of them. They were recruited as temporary support personnel so the Hunter Association could gain more allies in preparation for the expedition to the Dark Continent. The second Hunter Bylaw was modified so they could be admitted even if they could not use Nen.

Temp Hunters
Hunters with governmental jobs subcontracted to them from the Hunters Association. Depending on the difficulty of the job and risks involved, they are guaranteed a standard fee for a job taken. Some Hunters choose to make this their career and are subsequently ridiculed by professional Hunters for doing so. The Hunters Association receives a plethora of applications depending on the job, and a review board assigns Temps based upon their skills and aptitude.

Terrorist Hunters
Hunters specialized into tracking down terrorists and into preventing terrorist attacks.

Treasure Hunters
Hunters who scour the world in search of rare and valuable items.

Trouble Hunters
Hunters specialized in counseling for people with worries and anxiety.

Virus Hunters
Hunters who try to find new elements to cure immedicable diseases.

Youth and Beauty Hunters
Hunters whose main goal is to maintain the beauty of people and make them look younger despite their age.

Trivia

 * "D Hunter" is the eponymous protagonist of a book narrating the adventures of a Hunter. It is unknown if that is one of the specializations available to Hunters or if that is merely the character's name.
 * Of the 100 richest people in the Hunter × Hunter universe, 60 are Hunters.