"When you return... I'll have just one question. 'Was it fun?' I'll ask that, so that you have to have such a journey such that you can answer 'Yes' from the bottom of your heart." — Pairo, to Kurapika |
Pairo (パイロ, Pairo) was a member of the Kurta Clan and a childhood friend of Kurapika.[1]
Appearance
Pairo's 1999 anime appearance
Pairo had medium brown hair with maroon eyes. He wore a maroon tabard decorated with a pale yellow-colored hem. Like the other Kurta Clan members, Pairo's eyes would turn to bright scarlet when angered.[1]
Personality
Pairo was more poised than Kurapika and often helped his friend calm down. He suffered the verbal and physical abuse of the thugs hired by the village elder without losing his cool and even apologized despite knowing he had done nothing wrong, for the sake of passing the exit test. Nonetheless, he could also be crafty and brave, which he demonstrated by staying silent after discovering the elder's machinations and exploiting the knowledge to his and Kurapika's advantage. He cared for Kurapika deeply and saved him even at the cost of falling off a cliff himself. Like his friend's, his imagination was sparked after reading "D Hunter", which caused him to desire to explore the outside world and proved an even stronger trigger than finding a medic who could cure him.
Background
Kurapika's Memories
Kurapika and Pairo as children
Pairo was Kurapika's closest childhood friend. Pairo had weak legs and continually worsening visual impairment after falling from a cliff in an attempt to save Kurapika from falling; he forgot about this incident due to his injuries, while the unharmed Kurapika felt deeply guilty and determined to find medical treatment in the outside world.[1]
Kurapika chose Pairo as his partner for the last part of an exam to freely travel to the outside world, which required the duo to travel to a neighboring village to buy a large number of goods for their tribe without their eyes turning scarlet; since this would involve significant physical labor, Kurapika would have to take on most of Pairo's work for himself. Nonetheless, Kurapika insisted it'd be pointless if he wasn't with Pairo, saying if they were together he wouldn't regret anything.[1]
Pairo, along with the rest of the Kurta clan excluding Kurapika, was murdered by the Phantom Troupe several years prior to the beginning of the series.[2]
Plot
Yorknew City arc
Pairo waving
Knowing that his top priority in the hostage exchange is to retrieve Killua and Gon, in a flashback Kurapika remembers Pairo and does not want to lose any more friends.[3]
Dark Continent Expedition arc
As Kurapika holds a picture of Prince Tserriednich Hui Guo Rou, the one who has the last of the Scarlet Eyes in his possession, he thinks about Pairo again, and that his journey is finally beginning.[4]
Appearances in Other Media
Phantom Rouge
Note: Events occurring in the Hunter × Hunter: Phantom Rouge movie do not constitute canon material.
Kurapika sees the Pairo doll
Leorio tells Killua and Gon about him finding someone that looked like a survivor of the Kurta Clan. He and Kurapika had looked for him, ending up finding a boy in maroon clan clothing on a pedestal, playing a harp. Kurapika voices his shock upon seeing him. The boy has closed eyes and recognizes his voice, and asks if it is Kurapika. Kurapika then says the name Pairo and says in wonderment that he had survived. Pairo asks for Kurapika to come closer and show him his face.[5]
Kurapika does so, and Pairo touches his face. Kurapika's eyes widen and tries to tug backward, but is pulled forward again, as he is now looking at Pairo's face, which now reveals the eyelids open- with no eyes. Pairo's "eyes" begin to glow, and a connection is formed between the eyeless holes and Kurapika's eyes. Kurapika yells out, kneeling down with his eyes covered. Leorio goes to attack Pairo, but Pairo is ready with a set of bokken swords and leaps up. Kurapika is standing up now, eyes closed and his own swords out. He tries to attack Pairo, but Pairo attacks him and sends him crashing onto a roof.[5]
Kurapika is in a hospital and wakes up with Gon, Killua, and Leorio in the room. Kurapika wants to find Pairo, but Leorio disagrees, saying that his eyes were Pairo's goal the entire time. Gon and Killua ask about Pairo. Kurapika answers that he was the one that had shared his dream of seeing the outside world. He had lived in the Lukso Province's valley with one hundred twenty-eight others. Both he and Pairo had seen a person named Sheila, who had given them a book about the adventures of the D Hunter. They both read it with a dictionary. For one to got to the outside world, though, they had to take tests. Kurapika had passed the first two, and then, with Pairo at his side, was presented with the third- to go shopping in the outside world without letting his eyes go scarlet.[5]
Pairo about to get the medicine for the third test
The elder of the clan stated that he could bring a partner, and to everyone's surprise, including Pairo's, he chose his friend. The Elder is startled, saying that Pairo would be a disadvantage with his disabled eyes. Kurapika assures Pairo that he wants him when Pairo asks Kurapika if it is really fine that he would come. The elder then says that they must put medicine drops into their eyes, which causes if their eyes become scarlet, their eyes will stay that way for the rest of the day. Pairo goes to get the medicine, but fumbles and drops it. Kurapika wants to help him retrieve the bottle, but Pairo states that as his partner, he will do what he can on his own. He then finds the medicine, and both he and Kurapika smile.[5]
They both set off for town, and are able to get the groceries just fine. Just as Kurapika is tying the last of them onto one of the riding animals, there is a crash heard and he turns around. He sees Pairo, kneeling down and panting on the road, in front of three men. One accuses him of spilling wine onto his shirt. They want money for payment. Pairo stands up and Kurapika is mad, but Pairo tells him to not get angry. Pairo opens his bag and gets his savings and hands it to one of the men, but they say it is all one Jenny coins and not worth much, and drops it onto the ground. Pairo and Kurapika pick up the money on the road and put it into a bag.[5]
Pairo trying to stop Kurapika
One of the men says to Kurapika that it must be hard for him to look after a cripple, meaning Pairo. Kurapika is startled and his eyes turn red. He hits the men, beating them onto the ground. They say that they are sorry and that they were told to make them mad. Kurapika figures out, with their help, that the elder of the clan was the one that told them to do that. Kurapika asks if the elder told them about Pairo's body also, but they stated that was just on a whim. People start murmuring about Kurapika's red eyes, and they are angry and tell him and Pairo to go away.[5]
They both leave the town. Kurapika wonders if they should not go to the outside world after all. Pairo gives Kurapika a mirror, and Kurapika is surprised to see that his eyes are not red anymore. Pairo reveals that dropping the medicine before the third test was a ruse so he could switch the test medicine with his own eye medicine. Kurapika realizes he has passed the test.[5]
Kurapika and Pairo are happy at passing the third test
Kurapika is allowed to go to the outside world. People from the clan, including Pairo, Kurapika's father, and mother watch him as he prepares to go. Six weeks after he left, however, it was revealed that all one hundred twenty-eight clan members had been killed. A message had been left, which said, "We reject no one. So take nothing from us."[5]
Leorio concludes that it was the Phantom Troupe. Suddenly, Kurapika says that he can see. He is seeing through his own eyes, which are still with Pairo. He says he sees going up a staircase. Pairo is then put in a chair with a view outside the window. Kurapika says he sees a sunset, and then later, a mountain with a hole in it, then a river to the right. A man appears, which Kurapika describes, including a Spider mark on his hand. He then cannot see anymore. Kurapika is surprised and states that the Spider mark was number four, which is confusing since that was Hisoka's number. Gon and Killua go to try to find the place where Pairo is.[5]
Later, when it is dark, Kurapika is thinking about Pairo. The reason why Pairo's eyes and legs are disabled was due to Pairo saving him from a cliff, which Pairo fell down afterword, and is, therefore, Kurapika's fault. He had wanted to go to the outside world to cure Pairo.[5]
Pairo doll with Kurapika
Later, Kurapika, Leorio, Killua, and Gon go to the building where Omokage was—the Spider who had carried Pairo up the stairs and whom Kurapika had seen through his own eyes. Omokage reveals two dolls, Pairo and Illumi, who have Kurapika's and Gon's eyes. Kurapika and Leorio go to fight Pairo, who wants Leorio's eyes. Kurapika does not do well in the fight at first. The Pairo doll states that he remembers Kurapika's father and mother and states that if Kurapika dies, he would be revived as a doll, and then they could be together again. Leorio reminds Kurapika that they both had to get over the deaths of their friends, but the Pairo doll knocks him away.[5]
Kurapika lays Pairo doll down on the floor
Pairo slashes through the bandages around Kurapika's eyes, and with his eyes closed, Kurapika fights Pairo, ending with one of his swords going through him. The Pairo doll then slumps and Kurapika catches him, dropping his swords. The Pairo doll asks him if the outside world was fun. Kurapika responds that there was a lot of pain, but he had friends to help him through it. The Pairo doll likes that, and the area glows, and Kurapika then has his eyes back. He lays the defeated Pairo doll on the floor. The Pairo doll, along with the other dolls are burned after the building is set on fire. Kurapika and his three friends watch the building burn from outside.[5]
Quotes
- (To Kurapika) "As your partner, I have to try my best to do things on my own if I can."[1]
- (To Kurapika) "You know, when your eyes turn scarlet, especially when they turn scarlet from anger, you lose your senses and this amazing strength comes out. It's because of that that everyone fears us... And why it's simply no good to hide the fact that your eyes have changed color."[2]
- (To Kurapika) "Use this experience to reflect. It was a good lesson, right?"[2]
Trivia
- Pairo's name was first revealed for the Phantom Rouge movie and later in the Kurapika's Memories one-shot. It was finally confirmed in Chapter 344 of the manga.
Translations around the World
| Language | Name | |
|---|---|---|
 Arabic
|
بايرو | |
 Chinese
|
派羅 | |
 Greek
|
Πάιρο | |