Tonpa

Tonpa (トンパ, Tonpa) is the self-proclaimed Rookie Crusher and true to his name, desiring to destroy rookies' hopes in the Hunter Exam and make them fail.

Background
Tonpa is nicknamed the "Rookie Crusher" by other candidates with more experience taking the exam. Tonpa has taken the exam for 36 consecutive terms, but has never passed due to his goal of ruining the dreams of others. He often brags of his experience to those taking the Hunter Exam for the first time and then offers them a helping hand. Of course, this is merely subterfuge as he takes a perverse pleasure in sabotaging their attempts to get the license. Tonpa first took the Hunter Exam when he was ten years old.

Hunter Exam arc


Tonpa is participant #16 in the 287th exam. He introduces himself to the main characters as well as other rookie applicants in the underground tunnel. He acts nice in order to gain their trust, only to sabotage their chances of passing the exam. Before the exam begins, he hands out soft drinks to other examinees, with laxatives in them, so the participants have to forfeit before even starting. He gives one to Gon, but Gon thinks the drink has gone bad, and one to Killua, who is unaffected by the laxative due to his resistance to poisons and other things of that nature.

In the third phase of the Hunter exam, he is teamed up with Gon, Killua, Kurapika and Leorio. He tries to make them fail the exam but fails to do so. He manages to reach the 4th phase, but fails when Kurapika takes his badge on Zevil Island.

Greed Island arc


Tonpa is seen participating in the 288th Hunter Exam; he very nervously avoids Killua in the crowd. He is quickly eliminated in the first phase when he is knocked out, along with the rest of the applicants, by Killua.

Trivia

 * In the 1999 anime, instead of offering laxative juice, Tonpa "crushes" applicants in the first phase by taking them to a cedar that produces a smell that makes people hallucinate.