Alluka Zoldyck

Alluka Zoldyck (アルカ゠ゾルディック, Aruka Zorudikku) is the second youngest child of Silva and Kikyo Zoldyck. Under unknown circumstances, she was possessed by a mysterious Dark Continent creature, which her family named Nanika. The two currently share Alluka's body.

Appearance

Alluka has long black hair, blue eyes, and pale complexion. She wears the traditional clothes of a Japanese shrine maiden, with boots and a headband adorned with emotional cartoon faces. Framing her face are two locks of hair, each fastened by four hair bands decorated with the same cartoon faces on her headband.

As a younger child, Alluka had shoulder length, unkempt hair and wore pants.

Personality

Before Alluka's formal introduction, Silva refers to her as a dark and uncontrollable child. He claims that Alluka has no soul because of the circumstances of her birth, and cannot feel emotions.

However, once reunited with her closest brother Killua, Alluka displays an affectionate, simple, and lovable personality. Alluka is usually very happy around Killua and trusts him deeply, likely because he was the only one to show her compassion.

According to Killua, Alluka calls him "big brother", while Nanika calls him only by name.^{[1][note 1]}

Background

Alluka* first appears in a family photo of the Zoldyck siblings and their mother, shown when Kalluto explains his desire to get his older brother back no matter how many years it will take. In the photo, Alluka was not posing with the rest of the family; instead, she was standing at a distance behind them and facing away.^[2]

It is unknown when and how Nanika came to possess Alluka, but the two have shared the latter's body at least since Alluka was a young child. The Zoldyck family is in the dark about Nanika's nature. Killua once saw Alluka turn into Nanika, and learned about the general nature of its abilities by asking it how to revert the transformation. As a toddler, Alluka once asked Mitsuba, an attendant of the Zoldyck family, to do three simple things: carrying her, going up a staircase, and raising Alluka up in the air. After Mitsuba did what she was told, Alluka's eyes and mouth suddenly turned pitch-black. Freaked out by this, Mitsuba called for help. Killua came and changed Alluka back to normal by asking Alluka to make himself go high-high, which Alluka did. After the accident, Killua had to tell his parents about Alluka's secret because Mitsuba had already reported it to them. It turned out that when Alluka had three requests fulfilled, her eyes and mouth would turn pitch-black, and they would change back to normal only when she heard and granted a wish.^[3]

To test the ability, her mother Kikyo ordered Mitsuba to decline any request of her, no matter how small it was. Due to that, Mitsuba and her lover Hassam, who was not around Alluka at that time, were mysteriously crushed into minced meat simultaneously. Killua explained that this was the consequence of saying 'No' to Alluka's requests 4 times.^[3]

Some time afterwards, Yasuha, another female servant of the Zoldyck family, gave Alluka a piggyback ride at her request, thus activating wish-granting mode. Giving in to her greed at the time, Yasuha wished that Alluka would make her a billionaire. Nanika agreed and suddenly a large amount of banknotes started to rain down from a blimp in the sky. It was later reported that a currency transport vessel had suddenly gone missing and by the time it had been found all the money had disappeared, and the captain and crew kept giving nonsensical answers.^[3]

Illumi became interested in Alluka's power and asked for Silva's permission to deal with Kasuga, the next servant, to take care of Alluka, in his own way. He told her to listen to Alluka's requests in exchange for his tolerance of her romantic relationship with an outsider to the Zoldyck family. When Kasuga was with Alluka, Alluka suddenly asked her for her liver, which Kasuga declined. She followed up with three continuous requests for her duodenum, spine and brain respectively, which were all declined as well. As a result of Kasuga's refusal to fulfill those four requests, a total of 67 people, including herself, were killed at the same time by Alluka's strange power. This occurrence revealed that her ability had a cumulative effect; the greater the previous wish was (in terms of fulfillment difficulty), the greater the consequences of refusing her next set of requests. From this, they also learned the requests became much more difficult to fulfill after Nanika granted a large wish.^[3] Following the blimp incident, Nanika's power caused the death of six couples, for a total of twelve more people: two were necessary for Kikyo to be convinced, two more to test the rules, and two when Milluki sacrificed tourists in exchange for cheap toys. At some point, there was also another big incident which resulted in the death of 13 people, caused again by Milluki, who asked Nanika to kill his target for him. Milluki had a tourist named Muna pay the price by telling him to just ignore Alluka's requests.^[1] More recently, Milluki used Nanika to get the latest—at the time—computer.^[3]

Plot

13^th Hunter Chairman Election arc

Killua returns home on Kukuroo Mountain to see his younger sister and he asks for his father's permission but Silva disagrees, thinking that it's too dangerous because no one can keep Alluka in check as "it" is a non-human entity, something from another place, that came out of the "darkness"; meanwhile, Alluka sits unemotionally on the floor of a room full of dolls. After a long talk,^[4] his father takes him to Alluka's room, hidden behind a series of five big safety vaults, each of which can only be opened after entering a 10-digit password.^[3] Alluka excitedly greets Killua when he entered the room, calling him "Big brother". She first wished for Killua to "die" for her. Next she wanted to play Shiritori^[1] and lastly, have Killua pat her on the head.^[5]

Through a surveillance camera, Silva, Kikyo, and Milluki watch the whole scene. Kikyo is delighted in Killua's actions, while Milluki regrets wishing for a PC which made Alluka's wishes on Killua so easy. This earns him a glare from his father. Silva then asks about the rules regarding Alluka's power. When Killua decides to take Alluka with him, Silva disapproves and insists that the wish shall be made inside the room. Killua wishes to Alluka that if they are not able to leave the mountain together within 30 minutes, their mother will be killed. If they are, then she will give Killua a kiss on the cheek. Silva lets them leave, but orders a few butlers to accompany them, including Gotoh, Canary, Tsubone, and Amane.^[5]

As they make their way to the hospital where Gon is, a truck whose drivers were being manipulated by Illumi crashes their car. Killua protects Alluka; according to the restriction rules that their father laid down, if Killua stays at least one meter away from Alluka, they will be taken home instantly. As Illumi and Hisoka watch from afar, the assassin asks the latter to eliminate the butlers, or if possible, take Alluka away from Killua. Using his Godspeed ability, Killua escapes their butlers with ease but Tsubone follows them.^[6]

Killua and Alluka continue to escape and are still followed by Tsubone.^[7] Killua tries to escape faster but Tsubone uses her ability that can catch up to Speed of Lightning's velocity. The two Zoldycks reach the airport and ride in an airship to further escape Illumi. Alluka is seen sleeping inside while Killua drives the airship himself. He explains to Morel about Alluka's wish-granting ability, which Morel thinks is a vaguely terrifying ability.^[8]

When the airship they were riding on finally landed, Killua made arrangements to continue their escape by car, only to find themselves surrounded by Illumi and his Needle People. There, Illumi asks for Alluka to be handed over to him while Killua straightly refuses. In the middle, Tsubone appears and reveals that it is her fault that they are tailed through a hidden camera that is being fed to their Kikyo and Milluki, where the latter, in turn, is sending the information to Illumi's phone. After seeing Tsubone, Alluka's request-mode commences again where she asks for the nails from Tsubone's middle and ring finger, completing the three requests entering into wish-granting state. Instead of using the wish to get out of the predicament they are in, Killua uses the wish to heal Tsubone's hand to demonstrate and reveal to Illumi some rules that he only knows.^[9]

Finally, Alluka walks into Gon's hospital room. Killua asks his sibling to turn into Nanika, but Alluka refuses, wanting to stay with Killua. When Killua begs her, she eventually gives in and changes into Nanika. Killua asks for Nanika to heal Gon, and Nanika complies and touches Gon's hand. As Nanika is healing Gon, a huge energy comes from Gon, which is so powerful that Hunters in the Hunter Association building felt it.^[10] Alluka successfully heals Gon and falls asleep.^[11]

Illumi tells Killua that if he can have control over Alluka like Killua does, he will guarantee minimum freedom for Alluka. However, Killua wakes Nanika and orders her to send Illumi home, which Nanika does and Illumi finds himself instantly teleported back to the Zoldyck mansion. Due to Killua's request, Amane and Tsubone leave the room to give the siblings privacy. Killua tells Nanika that she can't come out anymore. Nanika disagrees and is clearly upset by Killua saying how much she likes Killua. After a brief argument which leads Killua to yell at her, she becomes upset but complies, going back inside. Alluka wakes up and is angered by what Killua said to Nanika. She yells at Killua, saying that he needs to protect both Alluka and Nanika, and that Alluka would hate any brother who was mean to Nanika. Killua realizes his mistake and asks Alluka to bring Nanika out so he could apologize. Nanika reappears teary and upset from the previous confrontation.^[12]

Not long after, Alluka and Killua accompany Gon on his trip to the World Tree. There, they say their goodbyes and part ways with Gon.^[13]

Gender Ambiguity

The character presents certain designed ambiguities related to gender/sex.

Alluka being a boy is supported by the following:

• The official databook lists Alluka's sex as male.^{[14][note 2]}
• Two of Alluka's brothers, Illumi and Milluki, refer to Alluka as their 'brother'.^[15]
• In flashbacks, Zoldyck servants call Alluka the masculine "bocchan" or "bocchama".^[1]
• Morel once referred to Alluka as Killua's brother and Killua did not correct him, implicitly confirming that at an immediate previous moment Killua himself introduced Alluka to Morel as such (while she slept).^{[8][note 3]}

Alluka being a girl, mostly derived from Killua's intimate bond with Alluka, is supported by the following:

• When Killua introduced Alluka to Gon, he introduced Alluka as his sister.^[13]
• Killua stated that Alluka being a girl was the reason they needed female butlers to attend to her on their mission to save Gon.^[5]
• Killua refers to Alluka as his sister multiple times, including when they were children.^[4]
• "Alluka" (アルカ or あるか,* Aruka) is a female given name.^[16]

The possibility of continuity error between the databook and manga series or retroactive continuity, the Zoldycks' unwillingness to refer to Alluka on the basis of how she presents herself, and/or Alluka being transgender are all possible explanations for the conflicting references to Alluka's gender.

Based on all evidences available, this article, instead of using the traditional and more common scope of gender (that encompasses both sex and gender) which is applied in the other articles, uses a more nuanced approach: the differentiation between the terms sex (of physical/biological nature) and gender (of social/behavioral nature). Therefore, Alluka's sex is considered male due to the very designed ambiguities shown above and Alluka's gender is considered to be feminine, prompting the application of the pronouns 'she'/'her'.

Abilities & Powers

Unlike her brothers, Alluka has no combat abilities at all. She is like a normal kid when it comes to fighting and physical endurance.^[9] However, due to being Nanika's host, her own relatives fear her ability to wipe out the family in an instant.^[1] Alluka shares an empathic link with Nanika, which allows her to perceive its emotions.^[12]

Nen

See also: Nanika's Nen Ability

Alluka has no Nen skills or Nen abilities of her own, and only acts as a condition so Nanika can use her wish-granting powers.^[17]

Battles

Battles

13th Hunter Chairman Election arc: Alluka, Killua Zoldyck, Gotoh, Canary, and Amane vs. Illumi Zoldyck (car crash)[6] Alluka and Killua Zoldyck vs. Illumi Zoldyck*[12] Quotes (To Killua Zoldyck) "Do you think I shouldn't be here? Would the family be better off without me? Would you all get along better?"[7] Trivia Alluka's name was first revealed in the official databook.[14] It was not revealed in the manga until Chapter 321, and for a long period of time readers of Hunter × Hunter could only guess the name of the facing-away child based on the information about the Zoldyck Family provided in the databook[14] or inferring through the names of her brothers (given the shiritori pattern that they present). Alluka's sex is male,[14] but goes by she/her pronouns. This leads many fans to speculate that Alluka is a transgender. Anime and Manga Differences In the 2011 anime version, Alluka appeared in a silhouette of the Zoldyck family members, alongside the Zoldyck's unnamed grandmother who is yet to appear in the manga or anime. In the silhouette, Alluka is holding Killua's hand.[18] Intertextuality and References Alluka shares similarities with Yukina from YuYu Hakusho. Both are a younger sister who share a close relationship with an older brother, Killua and Hiei respectively. Translations around the World Language Name Arabic ألوكا زولديك (’Aluka Zoldik) French Aruka Zoldik Greek Άλουκα Ζόλντικ (Álouka Zolntik) Korean 아르카 조르딕 (Areuka Joreudik) Russian Аллука Золдик (Alluka Zoldik) Spanish Alluka Zaoldyeck References ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 31, Chapter 323 ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 22, Chapter 229 ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 31, Chapter 322 ↑ 4.0 4.1 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 31, Chapter 321 ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 31, Chapter 324 ↑ 6.0 6.1 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 31, Chapter 326 ↑ 7.0 7.1 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 31, Chapter 327 ↑ 8.0 8.1 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 31, Chapter 328 ↑ 9.0 9.1 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 31, Chapter 330 ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 32, Chapter 333 ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 32, Chapter 335 ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 32, Chapter 336 ↑ 13.0 13.1 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 32, Chapter 338 ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 Hunter × Hunter Hunter Association Official Issue: Hunter's Guide; Character & World Official Databook (pg. 38) ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 30, Chapter 320 ↑ 「あるか」から始まる全ての名前例や字画数｜名前を響きや読みから探す赤ちゃん名前辞典｜完全無料の子供の名前決め・名付け支援サイト「 赤ちゃん命名ガイド」 (Baby Naming Guide) ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 32, Chapter 334 ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Episode 24 (2011) Notes ↑ The Viz translation of the manga reverses the way Alluka and Nanika refer to Killua. In the English version of the manga, Alluka calls Killua by name while Nanika calls him "big brother" (as first seen in Chapter 323). ↑ In the Hunter Association Official Issue: Hunter's Guide; Character & World Official Databook (page 38), it is literally stated that: "The identity of grandmother and younger brother Alluka is unknown." (祖母と弟アルカの素性は不明。, Sobo to otōto Aruka no sujō wa fumei.); information that proves Alluka being male. ↑ Although the Viz version (in Chapter 328, page 11, panels 3 and 4) is dubious about who Morel refers to when he says "Your brother?!" (Illumi or Alluka), the literal translation of the original Japanese text confirms that—off-panel—Killua introduced Alluka to Morel as being his younger brother: "The older brother __ to __ the younger brother...!?" or "Your brother wants to kill your younger brother...!?"* (兄(あに)貴(き)が()弟(おとうと)を⋯！？()()()()()(), Aniki ga otōto o...!?) "Yeah" (ああ, Ā) "The only one who can revert Gon back to normal is Alluka" (ゴンを()元(もと)に()戻(もど)せるのはアルカしかいない()()()()()(), Gon o moto ni modoseru no wa Aruka shika inai) "But, Illumi (older brother) is trying to kill Alluka." (でも()イルミ(兄貴)はアルカを()殺(ころ)そうとしてる()()()()()(), Demo aniki wa Aruka o korosou to shi teru) Navigation v • d • eZoldyck Family Family Members Maha Zoldyck • Zeno Zoldyck • Silva Zoldyck • Kikyo Zoldyck • Illumi Zoldyck • Milluki Zoldyck • Killua Zoldyck • Alluka Zoldyck • Kalluto Zoldyck • Zigg Zoldyck Butlers and Other Servants Active Amane • Canary • [a] Kiriko • Seaquant • Tsubone • Zebro Former Gotoh • Hassam • Hishita • Kasuga • Mitsuba • Yasuha Pets Members Mike • Unnamed Dragon • Unnamed Giant Dogs