Trick Tower

Trick Tower
Kana	トリックタワー
Rōmaji	Torikku Tawā
Location Statistics
Located in	Kukan'yu Kingdom[inference]
Controlled by	Lippo
Inhabitants	Prisoners: Bendot Sedokan Majtani Leroute Johness (Former) Employees: Lippo Trick Tower's 3rd examiner Togari (Former)
Fauna	Six-legged Flying Beast (Near by)
Debut
Manga Debut	Chapter 14
Anime Debut	Episode 12 (1999) Episode 8 (2011)

Trick Tower (トリックタワー, Torikku Tawā) is a prison and the site of the Third Phase of the 287th Hunter Exam.

Overview

Trick Tower is a giant cylinder-shaped tower that holds incarcerated individuals in its trap and puzzle compounds. It is also the location where the Third Phase of the 287th Hunter Exam took place.

Plot

Hunter Exam arc

Creatures preventing the examinees from climbing down the tower's exterior

Once the Hunter Association airship lands on the top of Trick Tower, the 40 examinees exit and are left confused. Beans explains that the tower will act as the site for the Third Phase of the exam, with the examiners having informed him that they have 72 hours to reach the bottom of the tower alive. Although a few of the examinees are unable to see any windows or steps on the side of the tower and guess that climbing down would be suicide, examinee #86 begins to descend the tower using the available handholds and says that it's possible for an expert rock climber like himself. He's confident that he will be the first to reach the bottom, but several flying creatures suddenly appears and rip his body to shreds.

With Leorio left terrified, Kurapika tells him to look around for a hidden door. Geretta is the first to find a hidden entrance, and several others are successful after him. Meanwhile, inside the tower, Lippo readies the prisoners and tells them to take their positions. Gon, Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio eventually make their way inside the tower and wind up in the same room together, putting on wrist timers and learning that they must work together on the path of majority of rules. They wait for one more examinee to join them, and Tonpa eventually falls down through a trapdoor.

The group reaching the arena inside the tower

After voting and arguing among themselves, the group eventually makes their way to a large room with a small stone platform in the center. They see the prisoners on the other side, and one of them named Bendot removes his shroud and has his restraints unlocked, telling the examinees that the committee has chosen them as their taskmasters. He explains that the five examinees will challenge the five prisoners in one-on-one fights, revealing that they can choose the order and will be allowed to pass if they win a majority of the matches. He adds that they can fight in whatever way they choose and that the opponent has to admit defeat for a victory to be declared. Although Tonpa offers to fight first, he immediately surrenders against Bendot, giving the prisoners the first win.

The prisoners hope that the examinees continue to argue among themselves since the longer they take, the shorter their prison terms will become. It's then revealed that as the prison warden of the tower, Lippo offered to shorten their sentences by one year for every hour they could delay an examinee. He is also shown to have a room filled with several monitors where he can view the tower's various chambers. Gon volunteers to go next and defeats Sedokan in the latter's game of candles.

Togari waiting to confront Hisoka

Kurapika then easily defeats Majtani, but Leroute explains that he is unable to admit defeat since he is unconscious. The examinees debate whether Kurapika should kill Majtani or wait to see if he wakes up, with Tonpa enjoying the discord within the group. Elsewhere in the tower, Hisoka finds the examiner Togari waiting for him. Togari vows to get revenge for the scars Hisoka gave him during the previous exam, eager to use his multiple blades. However, Hisoka quickly adapts to the blades and uses them to decapitate Togari, allowing him to reach the bottom of the tower first after six hours and 17 minutes.

It's eventually revealed that Majtani was only pretending to be unconscious, but as a result of his bets, Leorio is left with fewer hours to use. He loses even more time to confirm that Leroute is a woman, eventually losing the rest in a game of rock-paper-scissors. Leroute secures a win for the prisoners, and the examinees also lose 50 hours from their allotted time for the Third Phase (with their total at less than ten hours). Although Johness the Dissector is described as the worst mass murderer in the history of Zaban City, Killua easily kills him by removing and crushing his heart, securing the third win for his side and allowing them to move on from the arena. However, the group has to first spend the 50 hours in a room nearby before making their way to another path that requires a vote.

The group passing the Third Phase

The examinees find themselves back inside the arena and have to endure other trials, such as a quiz with electric shocks and a life-sized backgammon board filled with mines. With less than an hour remaining, they reach the last challenge and have to choose between a long and short path, with the latter requiring two of the examinees to be chained to the wall before the door will open causing them to fail the exam. With three minutes and 45 seconds remaining, 18 examinees have reached the bottom of the tower alive. Another examinee arrives but falls dead soon afterward. After another arrives, Gon, Killua, and Kurapika reach the bottom with thirty seconds remaining. Leorio and Tonpa arrive soon afterward, and it's revealed that they could all pass because Gon realized that they could just break the wall from the long path into the short path. After time expires, it's announced that 25 examinees (including one deceased) have passed the Third Phase. The 24 examinees then exit Trick Tower and meet Lippo, who congratulates them on their successful descents.

Trivia

Intertextuality and References

• In Chapter 206 of the Me & Roboco manga series. A parody of the Trick Tower is featured as part of the Weekly Shonen Jump Serialization Conference.