Palm Siberia

Palm Siberia (パーム=シベリア, Pāmu Shiberia) is a Hunter and Knov's apprentice. After being captured by the Royal Guards, she is reborn into a Chimera Ant soldier.

Human
On most occasions, Palm has long, unruly black hair and is accompanied by a frightening aura caused by stress. She is very thin, with sickly pale skin. She usually wears a light pink blouse and carries a knife. However on her date with Gon, she did herself up, and her appearance changed dramatically. She combs her hair, which is actually brown in color, and wears fancier, more colorful clothes. Oddly, her skin color changes to a healthier shade of pink, too.

As a Chimera Ant, Palm retains her scraggly wavy hair, but it seems her mermaid crystal ball is fused with her body and now appears as a crystal orb over her forehead and scales that cover most of her forearms and lower legs. Her eyes have color to blue, a possible fusion of the blue contacts she had with her while infiltrating the palace. Other than this, her physiology seems to have remained the same.

Personality


Palm is initially shown to have an erratic personality which can be often intimidating to those around her. She has a tendency to talk too much and going off the course of the topic. She is also stubborn and persistent like most Enhancers. Her volatile temper usually makes most people, including both Killua Zoldyck and Biscuit Krueger, wary, with the only observed exception being Gon due to his expert experience with women. Although often inclined to outbursts, Palm has shown a serious side during her undercover mission to infiltrate the Chimera Ants' King palace as a spy. She is also a good cook. Although she denied it, the target of her affections is her teacher Knov. However, her affections later go from Knov to Gon.

Following her rebirth, she was briefly unable to feel emotions related to her memories, until Killua involuntarily cancelled the effects of her surgery. Her violent, psychotic demeanor disappeared, revealing she is actually quite intelligent. However, despite being back to her true self, she retains some aspects of the personality of a Chimera Ant, as seen when she was deeply displeased with Meruem begging and kneeling to her.

Chimera Ant arc


Palm first appears after Gon and Killua escaped from NGL, creeping them and a few passers-by out with her appearance. She takes the two to a bar to explain what Netero wants them to do, introducing herself as Knov's pupil. She gets repeatedly sidetracked showering him with compliments and talking about her respect and love for him. Killua eventually snaps and asks what is the stipulation Palm mentioned. Her mood changes abruptly. She states the two boys must defeat Morel's apprentices, Knuckle and Shoot, within one month for the three of them to accompany Netero, Morel and Knov. In her rage, she activates her Hatsu, causing the coffee to overflow.



With her ability, Palm researches the boys' past and calls Biscuit to help them get stronger for the upcoming battle. She warns Biscuit that she might become violent if they fail, and recommends she quit early if she thinks they do not stand a chance. Biscuit tells her to say that to Gon and Killua. She begins to develop a crush on Gon upon seeing his resolve to succeed. She explains that for the duration of the month, Netero, Morel and Knov will scout and whittle the enemies, as the King is not expected to be born before two months. She is visibly concerned when Biscuit orders the boys to fight Knuckle and Shoot in their exhausted state. Ten days before the deadline, Palm notices they are only two-thirds of the way to improving their basics. Her killing aura begins to pour out, but she calms down when Gon swears they will win. The two begin to chat about food.

On the eve of the deadline, Palm furiously draws pictures of Gon and Killua and stabs them repeatedly. The next day, her blood lust causes Biscuit to flee before Gon and Killua confront Knuckle and Shoot. Upon discovering they failed, Palm ravages the mansion and stabs countless dolls of Gon and Killua. As punishment for breaking his promise, she makes Gon go out with her. He invites her to train with him and Killua, but she becomes angry that they have a third wheel on their first date. Gon calms her down by saying he needs time to prepare a surprise to make their first date special.



The following day, Palm spruces herself up for their date, looking like a completely different person. She is embarrassed by his compliments. He takes her to a marsh with a single tree in the middle. Gon offers her a chair, but she sits on the ground next to him. When night falls, fireflies light up the tree. He hands her a barren shrub, calling it the most beautiful bouquet in the world, which leaves her dubious. Its sap attracts the fireflies, which cover it. Palm is moved by Gon's gesture. However, when he asks her for more time to train so her can defeat whoever is controlling Kite, she furiously declines. As punishment for hurting her feelings, she has him write apologies hundreds of times. When Killua returns, she notices his injuries and tries to stab him in the head for meddling. Killua effortlessly dodges her attack, grabs Gon and runs away. Unable to keep up, Palm locates them with her Nen ability. She ties several knives to her hair before giving chase. Outside of the mansion she meets Knov, who asks her where Gon and Killua are and chides her for using her ability without permission. When he adds that her blood is a valuable resource she should use only for him, Palm's crush on Knov resurfaces and she "breaks up" with Gon.



With Marcos' help, Palm disguises herself as a secretary and is put on a list sent to Bizeff, who selects her as an assistant. Together with four other girls, she is taken to a southeast underground hangar underneath the Royal Palace of East Gorteau. Her mission is to see the Royal Guards and the King with her own eyes so she can track them at any time with her crystal ball. When Bizeff falls asleep after sex, she slips out of the hangar, having memorized the codes. She accesses his computer and leaves a message for her allies with her aura, telling them to assume she died if she does not contact them by the time of the invasion. She then infiltrates the palace through an elevator. However, by the time she reaches the staircase to the second floor, Neferpitou's En returns. She stabs herself to commit suicide, but the Royal Guard notices that she unconsciously used Ten when their En enveloped her and takes interest in her. They save her with Doctor Blythe and, together with Shaiapouf, they decide to turn her into an experimental soldier, destroying the neural connections between memories and emotional responses and placing her inside a cocoon, from which she emerges on the night the Extermination Team raids the palace.



She spots Killua and quickly doubles back, pretending to have just run into him. She asks him where Gon is and wonders whether Gon will like her despite her altered looks. She and Killua trade cutting remarks, but when he is about to answer her question, Killua notices that if she remembers him, she should be able to use her ability to find Gon. He enquirers why she came towards him, to which she plays coy. She demands to know where Gon is two more times, after which Killua calls her an enemy and prepares to fight her. Activating Black Widow, Palm comments that instead of bottling up her rage, she should have yielded to it. She effortlessly breaks one of Killua's yo-yos and bombards him with blows.



When asked why she wants to meet Gon, Palm has no explanation to offer, but resolves to find him after killing Killua. He apologizes for calling her an enemy and tells her that Gon's mind is close to breaking. He requests that she say his name before breaking down in tears over his impotence at helping his friend. Noticing he is wide open, one of Shaiapouf's small clones orders Palm to kill him. However, Palm rebels and destroys it, then disengages her ability. She thanks Killua for breaking the wall between her memories and her emotions, telling him he is not powerless. She resolves to do everything she can to help Gon, but states Killua is the one he needs the most.



Killua fills her in and the two head to the central courtyard where they run into Ikalgo. Palm decides to stay and help them, but resolves to wait for Gon to fight with Neferpitou before talking to him. After the three meet up with Meleoron and Knuckle, they go to Neferpitou and Gon, who leaves Komugi in their care as a hostage. She sees one of Shaiapouf's clones come toward the palace, having glimpsed him when he was putting her inside a cocoon, and warns Meleoron and Knuckle, who ambush it. She then tells the other members of the Extermination Team that the King is still alive and that he is returning to the palace at tremendous speed. Palm opens the shutter to the warehouse while Killua baits Shaiapouf with Komugi to ascertain his target.



When the King arrives, she meets up with Killua outside of the perimeter wall. She explains to him how Wink Blue works and that Gon and Neferpitou have reached the hideout in Peijin. She suggests they slip into the crowd gathered in front of the palace and states the merits to being able to see Shaiapouf's core. He thanks her without saying why, which upsets her. She is moved by his declaration of friendship. When she checks on Gon, she is horrified to see him slumped on the floor while Neferpitou heals themselves. One of Shaiapouf's clones appears, offering to stop them in return for Komugi, but Killua burns it to smithereens. Palm swears to keep Komugi safe while Killua rushes to Gon's side with Godspeed. She envelops her with her hair and, after perceiving the King's terrible Ren, goes into hiding. She reaches the shutter to the underground hangar, but cannot decide if she should go in at the risk of trapping herself. She makes up her mind when Ikalgo arrives. The two exchange information and Ikalgo realizes Knuckle and Meleoron were kept alive to trade hostages. They decide to hide Komugi in Bizeff's apartments. Palm blindfolds and restrains the four other girls, and is surprised to find out that Ikalgo has been in contact with Welfin and Bloster. When the former is tasked with serving as an ambassador, she is about to include him among the three people she can survey when Ikalgo stops her.



She recapitulates the Royal Guards' intentions with Komugi before an incredulous Ikalgo, pointing out that human DNA has altered the mentality of the Chimera Ants. She concludes that the King's En did not sense she was carrying Komugi because she was covered by her hair and decides to hide her. When Ikalgo objects, Palm replies they have to delay the negotiations only for a few hours, until the King succumbs to the poison of the Poor Man's Rose. They hide Komugi inside a warehouse and recognize their cruelty.



Palm then hides into a bedroom in Bizeff's quarters. The King finds her and tells her the battle for the fate of humanity is over, and the Extermination Team won it. He adjoins he is aware of his fate, but that all he desires is to spend his last moments with Komugi. Despite protesting the King is lying, Palm understands he is speaking the truth and begins to cry. When he is about to kneel, she begs him to stop, her Chimera Ant component suffering from the significance of that gesture. She agrees to tell him where Komugi is on the condition that she can keep track of him with her ability. Meruem gives his consent, and Palm silently apologizes to Killua for breaking her vow. She then goes with the others to take Gon to a hospital. Once inside, in tears she reveals that the King has died.

13th Hunter Chairman Election arc


After the King's death, she is seen along with Ikalgo in the hospital near the Hunter Association's headquarter waiting for Gon to recover from his critical condition. Being near to Gon, Palm along the others assists from the outside at Gon recover thanks to Alluka's powers feeling a strange and powerful aura. She then accompanies Gon when he goes to meet Leorio in the room where all the Hunters were voting for the new chairman of the Hunter Association.

After Gon's recovery, she's later seen in a hospital with Knuckle, Shoot, Ikalgo, and Meleoron looking at pictures of Small-billed Swans sent to them by Gon.

Equipment
Crystal Ball: Palm owns a crystal ball mounted on top of a dried merman corpse. She previously used it to perform her clairvoyance.

Knives: Palm has occasionally used knives as means of intimidation or weapons. When running after Killua and Gon, she tied a bunch of them in her hair.

Abilities & Powers
As a human Palm was a non-combatant, so she was not well trained for battle compared to the other Hunters, demonstrated by how easily Killua outran her. Even armed with a kitchen knife, she did not pose a threat to him even in his sleep. However she was an adept actress and infiltrator, as those skills aided her greatly during her undercover assignment under the guise of Bizeff's personal secretary.

After being reborn as a Chimera Ant, Palm became physically stronger and had all the benefits that many Chimera Ants present. According to Killua, her raw power probably exceeds his own. Her uncontrollable fits of anger seem to have subsided, enabling her to remain much more calm and collected. Upon sensing her resolve, Meruem was convinced that she would not reveal Komugi's location even under torture.

Enhanced Strength: After being reborn as a Chimera Ant, Palm become physically stronger, shattering one of Killua's yo-yos with a single, Ko-enhanced punch, pushing him back with another, and injuring his arms despite him parrying her blows.

Enhanced Speed: As a human, Palm was easily outrun by Killua, who could also vanish from her sight. Following her metamorphosis, however, Palm became much faster, landing scores of punches and kicks on Killua and preventing him from fighting back.



Keen Intellect: The disappearance of her psychosis enabled Palm to reason more coolly. She corrected Killua when the latter objected that there was no point to being able to see Shaiapouf's core, pointing out she would be able to tell him apart from his clones and that they could squash him if they found him. She managed to figure out the nature of the discordant actions of the Royal Guards concerning Komugi and that the introduction of human DNA in the Chimera Ant Queen's diet was at the origin of their stronger sense of self. She took matters into her own hands when only Ikalgo and her remained.

Proficient Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Palm is decently skilled in hand-to-hand combat, overpowering Killua during a brief clash before regaining her senses and snapping out of Pouf's control.

Skilled Chef: Palm appears to be an excellent chef. She used to cook large and delicious feasts for Killua, Gon, and Biscuit during Gon and Killua's training to fight Knuckle.

Nen
Palm is an Enhancer, so she can use her aura to increase her natural abilities. She is also capable of leaving messages by detaching her aura from her body. The message she left this way lingered for days. Since making shapes out of one's aura is a Transmutation ability, she might have some skill with this Nen type as well. She is capable of performing at least Ten, Ren, Hatsu, In and Ko, which suggests she can also use Gyo and Zetsu.

After becoming a Chimera Ant, she retained her previous Nen ability, although it changed slightly, and developed a new one. Her aura, whose power caught Neferpitou's attention when she was a human, also became stronger as a result of her transformation.

Quotes

 * (To Gon and Killua) "He's a wonderful man. So composed, smart, unflappable... Gosh, am I repeating myself? Oh! I only admire him. It's not love... or anything... but I'm not certain of that either."
 * (To Gon and Killua) "But isn't it important to be able to respect someone you love? Oh, of course I haven't told him any of this, and I don't plan to... Though you never know, right? Love is something that just happens, don't you think?"
 * (To Biscuit) "I really want to go to NGL... now, if I could... !! If I have to wait and wait and wait and wait and then don't get to go... I may end up killing you all..."
 * (To Shaiapouf) "My name is Palm Siberia!! Not No. 1!!"
 * "I will never be a tool of the Ants!!"
 * (To Ikalgo) "He will die. It won't take long. In just a few hourse the King will be dead."
 * (To Ikalgo) "We're being cruel. We have to be. We're no different from the Ants. In fact we can be much worse."

Trivia

 * Palm's name comes from the baseball pitch known as a palmball; Knuckle, Shoot, and Gyro are all similarly named.
 * Her name could also be derived from palmistry.
 * Her surname, Siberia, may be inspired by an old fashioned Japanese cake, popular in Japanese bakeries, named after the trans-siberian railway it is meant to resemble. This could be a reference to Palm's love of sweet things. Alternatively, her surname might have been chosen to create a contrast: palms are in fact associated with tropical environments, while Siberia is renowned for its cold temperature - reflective of her extreme behavioral changes.
 * Palm's clairvoyance ability as a human appears to have been retconned by the time she started working for Bizeff. When Gon and Killua first met her, it was heavily implied that, after feeding her blood to the merman, she could formulate a demand, and the ball shows her the answer. This version of the ability was not limited to her knowledge, as it was able to let her find Biscuit despite never having met her before and not knowing she mentored Gon and Killua in the past.
 * Palm's initial appearance is reminiscent to that of Sadako Yamamura from The Ring.
 * Palm bares a similar appearance and personality to Yukako Yamagishi from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable, who can also control her hair and develops a crush on a main character.
 * The dried merman corpse that Palm uses in her clairvoyance ability visually resembles the real-life cryptozoological "mermen" creatures, in particular the one known as "Banff 'Merman'".
 * Palm's spy alias, during her infiltration into the palace, is "Sinker Belle" (シンカー゠ベル, Shinkā Beru) —probably an allusion to her character's "aquatic theme" and a play with the name of Tinker Bell (a fairy from J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan).
 * Although Palm managed to infiltrate the palace successfully disguised as one of Bizeff's "secretaries", in the catalog list sent via e-mail by Marcos announcing the candidates for the job Palm is no. 24 (as noticeable below her photo), however in Bizeff's reply he selects five other applicant numbers but does not mention hers. Which suggests that Palm has been sent/have gone anyway, in the place of another woman, and Bizeff did not notice the replacement; the image of the e-mail message shown could be (oddly) from an unfinished text, in the process of typing, where the "no. 2" there turned "no. 24"; or it may simply be an error.
 * Given the mangaka's tendency to use and attribute meanings to the number 4, that come from the number's implications of death in some Asian languages* including Japanese** and Chinese** since it sounds similar to the word for "death"/"to die", Palm's no. 24 (which in Japan can mean "double death") when applying for the job of Bizeff's "secretary" and the truck that delivered her being no. 4 or the fourth could be a nod for her future suicide attempt.
 * According to "Hunter × Hunter Manual" section found in the Yu ☆ Yu ☆ Hakusho official character book (Shueisha Jump remix), Palm's stats are:
 * Gon classifies Palm in the category of Fanatic Woman.

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