While the Hunter Association in the world of Hunter X Hunter may provide its Hunters with unlimited opportunities, some Nen users still turn to crime, like the Phantom Troupe. And, they're no joke, considering their members — called Spiders — have Class-A Bounties on their heads. As a result, their activities aren't just infamous across the world, but they have a fearsome reputation as well.
In fact, the Phantom Troupe remains a fan favorite amongst Hunter x Hunter fans primarily because its members are so well designed and well-written. Well, that and the fact that Kurapika, a main cast member, made it their life goal to hunt the Phantom Troupe down. Which, thinking back, makes it extra odd that Gon hangs out with (and so often forgives) the current Troupe member Hisoka. However, some members of the Phantom Troupe just dominate the others in terms of power level.
Updated April 8th, 2023 by Jacob Buchalter: With the news of Hunter x Hunter's tragic cancellation, fans are looking just about anywhere for more HxH content. While it's understandable to cancel the story due to mangaka Yoshihiro Togashi's health problems (which is why the series has been on and off of hiatus in recent years), it's a shame that they couldn't work out a way to have Togashi keep writing and someone else illustrate the adventurers of characters like Gon, Killua, Kurapika, and more recently even Leorio. The Succession War arc and eventual Dark Continent arc were well underway and fans finally got a glimpse into the history of the Phantom Troupe and where it all begin. So, to reminisce on these fantastic characters, let's go through the Phantom Troupe once again and see how they stack up compared to each other.
Disclaimer: There will be manga spoilers for all characters mentioned
15 Kortopi
Starting things off with one of the more mysterious Phantom Troupe members, Kortopi was the twelfth person, or "Spider", to join the group. He is not at all shy about admitting he’s the weakest member in terms of physical strength. But, this is Hunter X Hunter, a world where raw physical power doesn’t mean anything in the face of well-honed Nen abilities.
Sadly, Kortopi’s Hatsu technique, Gallery Fake, is also not very suited for combat, as it basically boils down to him being able to create perfect copies of non-living objects with his Conjuration-type Nen energy. Or, at least, that's what anime-only viewers think. In actuality, the Hunter x Hunter manga has already shown the potential of this Hatsu as Chrollo used it in combination with a few other abilities in his deathmatch against Hisoka in Heaven's Arena. Even then, it was only worthwhile due to Chrollo being able to use it in combination with other Nen abilities, and with how quickly Kortopi was slain by Hisoka after the match, it's clear he never figured out how to fight with Gallery Fake himself.
14 Pakunoda
Like Kortopi, Pakunoda is a very useful member of the Phantom Troupe, but her Nen techniques aren’t exactly suited for combat. All of her abilities are in the "Specialist" category, and they're all centered around the concept of memories and mind-reading. Using her Nen ability, known as Psychometry, Pakunoda could read a person’s memories, overwrite them, and even implant memories into others using an ability called Memory Bomb. This was a technique in which she conjures “bullets” made of Nen that hold the memories in question before firing said bullet into her desired recipient, doing no physical damage but implanting the memories into their mind.
All of these powers are obscenely useful for an organization so centralized on secrecy and thievery like the Phantom Troupe, but they aren’t exactly “combat-type” powers. These rankings aren't going to follow the canon 'strength' rankings of the Troupe, but in this case, it was right on the money putting Pakunoda in the eleventh slot.
13 Franklin Bordeau
People are right to associate the hulking Franklin Bordeau with the concept of sheer power. In terms of physical strength, Franklin ranks fourth amongst the Troupe's members. However, anyone who assumed that this meant Franklin was a close-combat fighter is entirely wrong. Instead, Franklin is the only Emitter-type Nen user in the Troupe, funnily enough. And, while he's gigantic now, the flashback to the Troupe's origins in the manga shows that he was a relatively average-sized kid, so this change in stature only really begins after the Troupe went from a video-dubbing group of kids to a full criminal organization.
Franklin himself possesses already remarkable strength and stamina, paired with equally admirable speed and reflexes. As an Emitter, Franklin can utilize his aura to release it in various forms. He prefers to release Nen-bullets through the barrels in his fingers, the tips of which he cut off himself. Normally, Emitters would just expel the Nen bullets from the tips of their fingers with no issue, but Franklin went all the way with them because he felt it would work better, and oddly enough it did, as self-imposed limitations absolutely make Nen abilities more powerful.
12 Kalluto Zoldyck
Being one of the esteemed children of the Zoldyck family (the same family as Killua) means that Kalluto is already superhuman in many ways, even before using Nen. However, Kalluto himself admits that he's the weakest member of the Troupe, at least to the group of members currently around him. Interestingly, this doesn't mean Kalluto underestimates his strength, rather its just that the Phantom Troupe is that strong on average.
As someone who has been trained as an assassin all his life at the Zoldyck estate, Kalluto already possesses advanced speed, agility, various elemental resistances, and weapons specialization. Kalluto can create afterimages of himself with Rhythm Echo, an advanced assassination technique that doesn't even use Nen.
Though, in terms of Nen, Kalluto is a Manipulator, a Nene specialization perfect for espionage and assassinations. His Surveillance Paper Dolls ability allow him to essentially put trackers on people with a paper doll in their likeness that lets him hear everything near that person. The sheer fact that none of the Phantom Troupe even noticed this Nen ability was being used is proof of Kalluto's expertise. But that's not all, as these paper techniques are actually quite useful in combat, so much so that Kalluto uses his Dance of the Serpent's Bite Nen ability playfully while going up against a fearsome Chimera Ant (though not at all comparable to someone like Meruem), making sure to take his time and tear the Ant apart piece-by-piece with mere scraps of paper.
11 Nobunaga Hazama
Having the appearance of a traditional samurai, Nobunaga Hazama and his trusty katana already imply some degree of battle finesse. In terms of sheer strength, he ranks ninth among the group, which makes sense given that Gon beat him in an arm-wrestling match. However, rather than raw brute force, Nobunaga has shown that he specializes in dexterity and finesse, as all of his kills with his blade have had basically zero wasted movement.
At his core, Nobunaga is a swordsman, capable of using his enhanced physical traits, preternatural perception, and observation techniques to maintain control in combat. As an Iaido specialist, Nobunaga can quickly draw his blade, make a lethal strike, and place it back on its scabbard within a micro-second. Befitting his combat specialty is his Nen nature as an Enhancer, boasting a powerful aura he could potentially use to enhance his physical abilities. In the later manga arc, primarily the Succession War arc, Nobunaga has been able to show off even more of his battle prowess and general thought process. But, the most absurd part is, he still hasn't revealed his actual 'Nen Ability'. The whole routine of using En to create a 'sphere of influence' where Nobunaga expertly cuts whoever steps inside in an instant is just a battle technique, it's not his Nen Ability. While this was amazing while the series was still going, now that it's been canceled it's absolutely tragic that fans never got to see what Nobunaga was truly capable of.
10 Shizuku Murasaki
The Specialist category of Nen abilities always seems to involve the weirdest powers, so it’s obvious why so many people instantly assumed that the Spider with the 8th tattoo, Shizuku Murasaki, was a Specialist/ After all, she's running around using a magical vacuum cleaner AKA Blinky, that seemingly has infinite capacity. But, in truth, Shizuku is a Conjurer. However, unlike Kortopi, Shizuku is adept at close combat (or at least capable) and her Conjuration-type Hatsu is versatile enough that it has applications both in and out of combat.
She’s got a great battle sense, seems to have admirable speed compared to the other Phantom Troupe members, and her Blinky Ability allows her to tackle problems in some truly unique ways.
9 Machi Komacine
Machi Komacine has the appearance of a feudal Japanese kunoichi, which sort of matches Nobunaga's whole vibe. And, like Nobunaga, her appearance makes sense, given her absurd speed and dexterity. When combined with her enhanced strength and endurance, Machi is a terrifying combatant. She also possesses an incredible degree of muscle control, displaying resistance from otherwise fatal injuries. In terms of strength, she is ranked sixth among the Troupe's members. As an individual Machi plays the part of a 'cold but caring' criminal all too perfectly, so much so that she gives people like Hisoka a bit too much slack.
However, perhaps more interesting than anything else is Machi's Nen Ability. As a Transmuter, she "transmutes" her Nen energy into threads, and she specializes in using these Nen threads to do a variety of things. With Nen Stitches, Machi demonstrated the ability to not just heal injuries but even reattach severed limbs with ease. But, she's not just a healer, as Machi has stated that the strength of these strings is directly proportional to their length. So, with enough power behind a short thread less than a meter long, Machi could likely cut through most anything. Taking that into consideration, suddenly these aren't just threads anymore, and Machi is looking a lot more fearsome as a fighter.
8 Bonolenov Ndongo
Despite his truly 'odd' appearance and people assuming he really was just a side character, Bonolenov Ndongo still ranks eighth among the ranks of the Troupe. Bonolenov is famous not just for his enhanced strength but also for his incredible speed and reflexes. Thanks to his agility, stamina, and showmanship, Bonolenov not only dashes into combat, he does so gracefully as well, which makes sense, given that he comes from the fictional tribe of 'Gyudondond', a group of people who are world-renowned for the dance-like combat style using their self-made holes in their bodies.
In terms of Nen, Bonolenov proved strong enough to use more than two Nen types. However, he does incorporate this in combat - often using his man-made holes to create unique sounds via Battle Cantabile to conjure Nen weapons, armor, and more. He's able to use Battle Cantabile: Prologue to conjure up both a spear and battle garb and Battle Cantabile: Jupiter literally has him conjuring up a miniature version of Jupiter to crash down on his enemies. Additionally, in the Succession War arc, Bonolenov also hinted at an ability called Battle Cantabile: Metamorphosen, which apparently lets Bonolev transform his appearance in a variety of ways, though readers never got the chance to see this one in action.
7 Shalnark
Shalnark was a character that, at a glance, seems like he wouldn't 'vibe' with the rest of the Phantom Troupe. He was cheerful, responsible, and just very bubbly in general. But, as the show goes on, it becomes more and more clear that this jovial personality is just a facade for his darker tendencies. At his core, Shalnark was still a relatively emotionless murderer who thinks of the victims of his Manipulation-type Nen as mere 'puppets that are meant to be broken'.
In terms of ability, Shalnark was a Manipulator-type Hatsu user and one that used Nen needles implanted in his victim's neck to control them in a first-person view like video game characters through his phone. It was a fantastic technique in general, and Chrollo showed it off even more in his death match against Hisoka. In fact, Shalnark could even use this ability on himself, essentially triggering an 'Auto-Pilot' mode that was given a task and would not end until Shalnark's body had completed said task. Of course, this ability had some pretty nasty recoil, and it's a shame that Hisoka caught Shalnark in the brief period of time when Chrollo still had his ability, as it meant he had no way of fighting back against this killer clown.
6 Phinks Magcub
Tracksuit-touting Phinks Magcub looks like the typical anime delinquent, and he sort of is one at first, but as more events transpire in front of him, Phinks starts to think a bit more. Physically, Phinks is second only to Uvogin - meaning he's currently the physically strongest in the Troupe after Uvogin's demise. Though, funnily enough, he never even had a chance to show off this physical ability in the Succession War arc, as he mostly served as a conversational character to push the plot forward.
Given his status, it's expected for Phinks to possess incredible strength, durability, and stamina. He pairs this with astonishing speed and hand-to-hand prowess, capable of breaking people's necks in a flash. Moreover, his Nen nature as an Enhancer allows him to further augment his physical abilities. But, his real bread-and-butter comes from his Hatsu ability that's mind-blowingly strong simply because it's so simple. The ability is called Ripper Cyclotron, and it's an ability where every time Phinks 'winds' his arm in a clockwise direction, the Nen Aura in his fist increases, which means the next punch deals more damage. It's unclear if every new rotation multiples the current Nen Aura by a specific amount or if its exponential, but 15 rotations were enough to blow apart a Chimera Ant, and Phinks himself stated that likely half of those rotations would have still done the job.
5 Feitan Portor
Enigmatic and black-clad Feitan Portor serves as Number 2 amongst the Troupe and even served as their 'leader' during Chrollo's absence. However, being the Troupe's de facto leader is a testament to his sheer combat prowess, as the group is constantly fighting to prove themselves capable of taking this 'leader' mantle. While he's the fifth among the Troupe in terms of physical power, Feitan compensates for this with his lightning-fast speed. In fact, his speed, as seen so far, is one of the fastest of any character in the franchise, save for Killua, which makes Feitan all the more fearsome, given that the other speedsters fans have seen have moved at incomprehensibly fast speeds.
In terms of Nen, Feitan's Hatsu might not be what people expect based on his fighting style and general appearance. The common-sense guess would be that it increases his speed, but that's actually not it at all. Feitan is a Transmuter, capable of transforming Nen's natural properties into another type of energy. When enraged, Feitan can hide in a Conjuration-type Nen suit of armor called the Pain Packer that protects him from his true Emitter-type ability, Rising Sun.
When Rising Sun activates, it manifests a massive ball of blazing hot Nen aura in the area, similar to a sun. The only catch is, the actual 'heat' from this ability is directly proportional to the amount of damage Feitan has recently suffered. So, Feitan utilizes this by trying to defeat his opponent with his Umbrella Sword, and when enough damage has been done to him or he gets irritated enough, he switches to the Rising Sun approach. Either way, the upward potential of this ability and the scale of the damage it can deal is already scary, but the fact that Feitan only relies on it when he has to is what truly makes this Troupe member terrifying.
4 Uvogin
This grizzly and bulky fellow is the literal strongest member of the Troupe in terms of raw physical strength, boasting an impenetrable fighting spirit. While he doesn't possess any prowess in martial arts, Uvogin pairs his immense strength with enhanced speed and agility to take down foes with swings and punches. Likewise, he possesses remarkable durability, stamina, and endurance to last in prolonged battles.
For the most part, Nen users all have a 'type-specialty' that they're all naturally talented at. Killlua's specialty is in Transmutation so he uses that type of Nen most often. As a result of this specialty, Nen users develop techniques based around it, with only a few branching out to the next type on the Nen Hexagon, and even fewer (and more foolish) trying to use abilities directly across the Hexagon from their specialty.
For example, a Conjuration specialist will typically use Manipulation or Transmutation-type techniques if they were to use anything outside of Conjuration but would be foolish to invest much time or effort into Emission, as that is their weakest typing. But, Uvogin was the ultimate Enhancer and he only ever used Enhancer abilities, which made all of his Enhancement techniques that much stronger. Honestly, it was just bad luck (or too much pride) that Uvogin happened to go against Kurapika, a person who literally designed their entire technique around defeating the Phantom Troupe. There aren't many other people in Hunter X Hunter that Uvogin would lose to.
3 Illumi Zoldyck
As a member of the Zoldyck Family, Illumi is trained in the art of assassination just like all his other siblings (excluding Alluka). Outside his Nen, Illumi not only boasts incredible physical strength and speed but he also has remarkable pain tolerance. Paired with his intelligence and purely sinister aura, Illumi can form strategies on the fly and even manipulate people to do his bidding. But, all this puts him on par or slightly ahead of his Zoldyck peers. What really sets Illumi apart is his absurdly sinister Nen, his calculatingly cold approach to everything, and his staggering intellect.
Illumi's incredible control over Nen fits his Manipulation specialization. With his expertise in needles, Illumi can do all sorts of things. He can use Body Alteration to radically change the appearance of himself or others, but only Illumi is likely able to withstand the pain of this ability. Not only that, but he can also infuse commands into his needles and implant them into his target's brain to subconsciously manipulate them, as he did with Killua. And lastly, he can also use these command-infused Nen Needles to completely control anyone he sticks them in, turning them into, what Illumi calls 'Needle People'.
2 Chrollo Lucilfer
Phantom Troupe founder Chrollo Lucilfer is arguably the deadliest of all the Troupe's members, with his remarkable skillset also earning the praise of Hisoka himself. While his sheer physical power measures only seventh in the group, Chrollo makes up for his lack of robust strength with remarkable combat skills, masterful adaptability, and enhanced speed, combined with a genius-level intellect and preternatural perception.
Befitting his intelligence is his Specialist status. With his Nen, he can conjure his Specialist-type Bandit's Secret book to trigger his true ability, Skill Hunter. With this, Chrollo has to follow certain conditions to steal various abilities from other Nen users. It's a highly-technical Hatsu skill, but thanks to Chrollo's genius, it's one of the most fearsome in the series. And, as time has progressed, he's even innovated upon this ability even further with the Double Face ability, which essentially acts as a bookmark that lets Chrollo close the book but keep the stolen ability active, a loophole that lets him use two abilities at a time. This new advancement in Skill Hunter and a truly genius plan is how Chrollo managed to defeat and 'kill' Hisoka in Heaven's Arena, though him borrowing the abilities of both Shalnark and Kortopi did also unintentionally lead to their deaths.
1 Hisoka Marrow
Ah, finally it's Hisoka, one of the more polarizing characters in the franchise. He has some diehard fans out there, and people who absolutely despise him, but both groups will easily admit he’s one of anime's most interesting (and strongest) fighters. But, unlike Uvogin, Hisoka isn’t the strongest thanks to his raw physical strength (though it helps), it’s because he masterfully stacks a myriad of talents and utilizes them with perfect efficiency and creativity.
Whether it’s the hundreds of ways he uses his Bungee Gum Nen Aura, his Texture Surprise conjuration technique, his sleight-of-hand tricks, his brawn, his martial arts proficiency, or even just his lust for battle, Hisoka is a true monster that has only become more terrifying due to his now-seemingly-infinite Nen thanks to the Post-Mortem Nen pact that he revived himself with after his loss to Chrollo.