Main Characters
Gon Freecss
"If you truly wish to understand someone, find out what makes them angry."
—Mito Freecs, Hunter Exam Arc
"The art of hunting is aiming for the moment when the target is busy hunting its prey!"
—Gon, Hunter Exam Arc
"It's pointless to mope over the validity of someone else's success. If you're unhappy about the results, keep moving yourself forward until you are satisfied."
—Gon, Hunter Exam Arc
"I thought you were just cold-blooded killers. But I see that you can shed tears for your friend. SO WHY COULDN'T YOU SPARE SOME OF THAT EMPATHY FOR THE PEOPLE YOU KILLED?!"
—Gon, Yorksnew City Arc
Killua Zoldyck
"Living clean is tough..."
—Killua, Heavens Arena Arc
"People only like me because they can't ever tell whether I'm being serious or not."
— Killua, Hunter Exam Arc
Killua: My family has really high expectations for me, but who wants to have a life that someone else planned out?
Gon: [stares]
Killua: Horrible parents, right?! When I told them I wanted my own future, they all snapped! [pause] My mom was sobbing as she said I could become a top assassin!
Gon: [laughing intensifies]
Killua: We ended up fighting. Soooo, I stabbed my mom in the face, my brother in the side, and ran away!
Gon: [stares]
Killua: Horrible parents, right?! When I told them I wanted my own future, they all snapped! [pause] My mom was sobbing as she said I could become a top assassin!
Gon: [laughing intensifies]
Killua: We ended up fighting. Soooo, I stabbed my mom in the face, my brother in the side, and ran away!
—Hunter Exam Arc
"If you dare to break your promise. . .Eh. . . Forget it. No point in telling you now. Just keep your word."
—Killua blackmailing Gido, Heavens Arena Arc
Leorio Paradinight
"For the right price, one can buy not only treasures, but dreams, hearts, and even people's lives!!. . . If I had the money, my friend wouldn't have died."
—Leorio, Hunter Exam Arc
Kurapika
Leorio: I want money!~ Money can get you anything in the world! A big house! A nice car! Good liquor!
Kurapika: [condescendingly] Money can never buy refinement and propriety, Leorio.
Kurapika: [condescendingly] Money can never buy refinement and propriety, Leorio.
— Hunter Exam Arc
Prosperous cities tend to attract all sorts of nasty people.
— Hunter Exam Arc
"Was that punch.. the best you got?"
—Kurapika, Yorksnew City Arc
(To Uvogin) " makes me sick... the sensation left on my hand... the grating sound of each strike... the smell of blood! It all throws my senses into disarray... How can you do these things, yet think and feel nothing at all!? Answer me!"
—Kurapika, Yorksnew City Arc
Important Side Characters
The Zoldyck family
"Promise me, Killua, that you'll never betray your friends."
—Silva Zoldyck, Zoldyck Family Arc
Komugi
"To think that you came up wif the same strategy as I did, suh... I were so honored. It were as if... as if me dead baby had come back t' life... Tha's what it felt like. So I almost didn' 'ave the heart to snuff out its life again."
—Komugi to Meruem
Wing
"Train hard, play hard, and enjoy life!"
—Wing, Heavens Arena Arc
Antagonists
Hisoka
"It takes a mere second for treasure to turn into trash."
—Hisoka, Heavens Arena Arc
"I have standards, y'know. I'm not interested in the purposeless, and I only spare those whose deaths would go to waste."
—Hisoka to Illumi, Hunter Exam Arc
"My greatest pleasure comes when such people crumple to their knees and I look down upon their disbelieving faces as their plans fail.♥"
—Hisoka to Chrollo, Succession Contest arc
Illumi Zoldyck
Illumi: I heard you cut up mom and Milluki.
Killua: [nervous] Yeah, I guess.
Illumi: Mom was cryin—
Leorio: Anyone would cry if their own son did that to them.
Illumi: [deadpan] . . . -g tears of joy. She was so happy to see that you'd grown up.
Killua: [nervous] Yeah, I guess.
Illumi: Mom was cryin—
Leorio: Anyone would cry if their own son did that to them.
Illumi: [deadpan] . . . -g tears of joy. She was so happy to see that you'd grown up.
— Hunter Exam Arc
"Your only concern when you meet people is whether you should kill them...You falsely believe Gon can be your friend because you don't know how to classify him. He's too dazzling for your eyes."
—Illumi Zoldyck regarding Killua, Hunter Exam Arc
The Phantom Troupe
-"Making the abilities yours while exploring the darkness within the soul of the original owner... that's the true pleasure of 'Skill Hunter'."
—Chrollo to Hisoka
"He never mentions the past, and the past never interests him. By tomorrow, I imagine he'll have forgotten everything from today. . . That guy doesn't associate with others. He is his own man, for he believes himself to be the strongest."
—Machi regarding Hisoka, Heavens Arena Arc
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen. Let us do without formal greeting... You all die now."
—Feitan during the Southernpiece Auction, Yorknew City arc
"I'd rather die than be a yes-man to someone I don't even like."
—Shalnark, Chimera Ant arc
"Either way, you guys are relying too much on Chrollo. And then what'll happen if we get destroyed? Won't that be the worst betrayal to Chrollo? That's how this'll end if we keep fighting."
—Franklin to the other Troupe members, Yorknew City arc
"Breaking the rules means rejecting the Spiders, and Chrollo, too. That I never want to do."
—'Shizuku, Yorknew City arc
"This is what makes killing people so addictive! You know what gives me the most pleasure? Taking avengers like you and smacking them down!!"
—Uvogin to Kurapika, Yorknew City arc
Meruem and the Royal Guards
"Who am I? Why am I here? A king with no name. A borrowed castle. My subjects are mindless drones. If this is the mandate of Heaven I have been given... I fear... I fear nothing... except the tedium that it will bring!!!"
—Meruem, Chimera Ant Arc
''"I am a shield. Protect the King with my life."
—Menthuthuyoupi
Chimera Ants
Other Characters
"You must be prepared to face the worst possible scenarios, for harsh reality strikes without a warning. Be ready for the day when separation is inevitable."
— The Quizzing Lady, Hunter Exam Arc
"When I torture someone, I expect him to hate me for the rest of his life. A man in pain cannot suppress the hostility in his eyes towards his perpetrator, but Gon showed no hint of hatred even after I broke his arm. By that point, Gon had won me over. I lost that fight."
— Hanzo to Killua, Hunter Exam Arc
Hanzo: [exasperated] Eh...All pork dishes are basically the same.
Menchi: [cheerful background music] Just say that one more time! Any more crap from you, and I'll shove my arm up your a** to knock your teeth out!!
Menchi: [cheerful background music] Just say that one more time! Any more crap from you, and I'll shove my arm up your a** to knock your teeth out!!
—Hunter Exam Arc