Line #27 NightmareFuel/HunterXHunter


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/scary_hisoka_5329.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:Just when [[MonsterClown he]] couldn't get any creepier.]]
3	''Manga/HunterXHunter'' has been noted as being one of the darkest series to have '''ever''' been serialized in Magazine/ShonenJump, and for ''very'' good reason. With fairly extreme content such as mass murder ([[DeathOfAChild including children]]), hundreds of extremely brutal deaths and a gritty atmosphere, it's no ''wonder'' that people are disturbed by some of the stuff Togashi has written and drawn.
4	* The 2011 anime is criticized for censoring the fight when [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ve_1hHJLSk Killua and Jones fight]]([[CurbStompBattle if it can be called a fight]]), but that Killua places the piece of Johnes' shirt with the heart in his hand after he dies in that version is quite terrifying on its own. In the first anime, when Killua has killed Jones, he's done with it; the second anime shows that Killua enjoys himself even afterward, mocking the dead.
5	** Johnes himself is a very disturbing individual, an infamous mass murderer in Zaban City, who murdered continuously and without discrimination. Before being captured, he had killed 146 people, all were torn into at least 50 pieces by using his bare hands; in some cases, his victims were torn into thousands of pieces. When he was arrested, Johness did not resist, instead, he tore a large piece of flesh off the left arm of the police officer. It's understandable why he had a [[LongerThanLifeSentence 968 year sentence]].
6	** And what's much worse is that, unlike [[{{Gonk}} Majtani, a creepy ghoulish yet goofy-looking character]], Johnes' appearance is that of [[TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse an average middle-aged man]] yet with dead-looking eyes- the kind of fellow that you'd see passing by yet would never suspect of being a homicidal sociopath, [[RealismInducedHorror which is very in line with real serial killers]]. His nondescript appearance is implied to play a large part in how he was able to get away with killing for so long.
7	* Hisoka, a MonsterClown with a rather disturbing, pedophiliac take on the BloodKnight trope. He can do all kinds of [[NightmareFace creepy faces]], his creepiest is by far is when he prepares to kill a participant in the Hunter Exam, now shown above. Worse still, as he makes this face, he lets out an extremely unnerving, savage screech that makes him sound like a rabid wild animal.
8	** And when one would think it cannot get any worse, Hisoka manages to let loose an ''even worse'' [[NightmareFace expression]] of pure, unbridled bloodlust. More specifically, during the fifth round of his battle with Chrollo he breaks a ''downright disturbing'' [[https://imgur.com/IJu0A6B face]] that combines a [[SlasherSmile vicious grin]] with elements of GameFace, which is clearly not helped by the excessive amount of intricate detail put into the expression thanks to the sheer overabundance of detail lines (not to mention the pointed-looking ears), making him look like as if he came out from ''Manga/{{Berserk}}''. One can only imagine how this [[FridgeHorror might be rendered]] in the anime...
9	* The Phantom Troupe in general. A band of nigh-unstoppable killers who take whatever they want, whenever they want, and usually just kill everyone in the vicinity, even if it isn't necessary.
10	** One of the members, Shizuku, is an adorable bundle of {{Moe}} tropes, to the point that by judging her looks and mannerisms alone, she would be considered somewhat the TokenGoodTeammate of the group. However, in her second appearance, she's bashing heads into paste without even changing her expression. She also has a creepy looking LivingWeapon Vacuum that can suck anything that isn't alive (including corpses), which can, under the right circumstances, erase them from existence. Later on, a fight with a Chimera Ant showed that the vacuum can also suck up all of a target's blood and leave them ''mummified''.
11	** Chrollo in general is creepy as all hell. A few of the nen abilities he's stolen are disturbing as well, like the "Indoor Fish" that devour human flesh, only the victim is unable to feel anything, and is kept alive as long as the fish are active (the victim used to show this ability off was LaughingMad while down to half a head and random bits and pieces of body parts before he was killed.)
12	** Feitan was never a nice guy to begin with, but hearing his EvilLaugh as he burns Zazan to a crisp for breaking his arm is pretty unnerving, especially coming from one of the quieter members of the Troupe.
13	** Uvogin may be the StarterVillain as the first to fall, but he doesn't show any easy time for anyone. Our introduction to his fighting prowess is [[OneManArmy murdering an entire army's worth of mafia and being immune to their weaponry.]] When everything from the neck down is paralyzed as he's set up for a slow excruciating death by the mafia's [[EliteMook Shadow Beasts,]] he ''eats'' half of one's skull and ''[[BoomHeadshot kills another by spitting a bone fragment through his head.]]''
14	* Every time Killua enters assassination mode or generally loses control and intends to kill is pretty unsettling to say the least. He’ll give his victim a KubrickStare, [[IcyBlueEyes his eyes will become duller, his pupils will shrink]], he’ll give his victim anything between a PsychoticSmirk and a SlasherSmile, or some combination of the above.
15	* "Oh, this looks like a happy, relatively innocent series, doesn't it?" Then the Hunter Exam starts up and people start dying horribly. Let us count the ways, shall we?
16	** Just getting to the damn place is an excursion in itself, with the exam takers sailing through a storm in which Gon is nearly thrown off ship trying to help a crewmate. The second act has them having to answer a hypothetical question that involves having to sacrifice a loved one. One participant that was tailing our heroes answers and is told to go a certain way. If you're watching the anime, we don't see what becomes of him, but in the manga, we hear him scream [[NothingIsScarier but are never shown what happened to him]]. The third act has the examinees fight shapeshifing monsters, though at least they were friendly and just conducting a SecretTestOfCharacter. All this is just the stuff encountered at the ''starting'' point.
17	** The first portion of the exams aren't too bad, just a simple endurance test by running 80 kilometers and a similar length stairway climb, but the second portion involves trekking through a very dangerous marshland. Before the test even begins, the applicants are demonstrated why the place is called [[MeaningfulName Swindler's Swamp]] when two shapeshifting creatures try to trick them into thinking the current examiner is a fake and pulled a KillAndReplace so he could lure most of them away and eat them, which was only prevented because Hisoka proves the examiner the real deal. Once they continue, fog obscures visibility instantly and most of the participants end up killed gruesomely by the wildlife such as dinosaur creatures with strawberries on their shells, mushrooms that spread out spores that kill you and grow mushrooms on your corpses, butterflies that knock you out instantly if they fly by you and a crow that can imitate the examiner's speech and lead people who fall for it into a pit of spikes, to say nothing of getting completely lost and losing your sense of direction during the trek. Heck, Gon and Killua nearly end up eaten by a giant frog that hides underground until someone steps on it and swallows its prey whole, only escaping thanks to the spiked juice Killua held onto (though he claims he could've escaped without it).
18	** After some shenanigans of cooking in the next portion, the exam was changed to... jumping off a cliff, grabbing onto some webbing, retrieving an egg and having to use the wind from the canyon to propel yourself back up. Some unfortunate participants let go too early and end up plummeting to their deaths because they didn't bother to wait until Gon gave the okay do so.
19	** During the trip to the next part of the exam, Gon and Killua get into a friendly match with Netero. Both Killua and he display how really frighting they can be if they get serious. Killua ultimately quits the game when he realizes he can't win and head on to go to sleep. As he does he bumps into two applicants who of course try to bully him... and end up red smears on the floor.
20	** Fourth portion: make your way down a tower within a time limit with any pathway leading to unknown dangers. You can't scale down it (as one participant found out when he attempted it and some flying monsters quickly snatched him off the side), and it also acts as a prison for criminals to boot. Our heroes are not only stymied by a purposefully unhelpful participant who they get stuck with, but get into several matches with some of the criminals who're more or less stalling for time (since however many hours they can manage to do so reduces their sentence). For the most part, the matches are somewhat comedic: Tonpa gives up and reveals his true colors to the heroes, though Killua knocks the wind out of his sails by stating his opponent would've ''tortured'' him if he didn't do so as quickly as he had. We also see how scary Kurapika can be when his opponent claims he's part of the Phantom Trope. And of course, said Killua versus Jones fight that was mentioned above comes about, and again, it's not pretty. Likewise, more of Hisoka's bloodlust is on display as we see him fight yet another person who has beef with him and, on a minor note, one of the participants managing to reach the end only to drop dead right at the end goal. Poor schmuck.
21	*** Speaking of Jones, his appearance is quite unsettling, and his backstory of being a sadistic serial killer who tore his victims to pieces is downright terrifying.
22	*** The scene where Leroute mentally tortures Leorio in the 1999 anime is also pretty terrifying, especially if you put yourself in Leorio's shoes.
23	** Fifth portion, steal the badge off an opposing target. Basically anything goes in this and the participants can use any means to get the badge, including killing. This is where Illumi, Killua's older brother, is finally introduced by the way to which he promptly kills another participant just because she accidentally shot at him. Gon is forced to confront Hisoka here, and he does ''try'' to get the badge without him knowing or fighting and it is as utterly tense as it sounds. He would've succeeded too if the person targeting him didn't hit him with a numbing dart. This leads into Gon confronting Hisoka directly and luckily, him sparing Gon since he likes his development so far and doesn't want to kill him... for now. And then there's what happens after in the cave (which is not recommended for anyone with ophidiophobia) as Gon, Kurapika and Leorio end up in a situation where a person's dead body ends up summoning tons of snakes around the cave.
24	** The final portion is a straight-up one one-on-one match between the remaining participants. You win your match, you get your Hunter's license. Simple enough, except Gon's fight has him horribly outclassed in every way by his opponent who knocks him around like a rag doll. The whole match is completely and utterly horrible to watch, but he keeps getting back up every time. Ultimately, while he does eventually succumb to his wounds, his opponent conceded, not wanting to kill him, giving Gon the win. However while he was unconscious, Killua finally encounters his brother Illumi, which scares him enough to quit the exam, but not before he kills his opponent to disqualify himself so Leorio can gain his license without fighting. Just think about that, said participant finally reached the end and ended up dying for no reason just because. Again, poor guy.
25	* Some of the things Illumi can make your body do with his needles are...[[BodyHorror unpleasant]].
26	* The Zoldyck's [[FluffyTheTerrible guard dog]]. Even [[FriendToAllLivingThings Gon]] is terrified of him- he takes one look at its eyes and [[DeathGlare KNOWS]] it is trained beyond reasoning. It just looks [[NonstandardCharacterDesign very off with its hyper-realistic animalistic eyes, thin body, and dissonantly serene appearance that belies its violent nature]].
27	** And Mike's EstablishingCharacterMoment was to eat two thugs who stepped through the [[SchmuckBait trick entrance to the Zoldyck Mansion]] and rip every last piece of meat of their bones, interspersed with their agonizing death cries which suddenly go away as he polishes them off in a matter of seconds, then pauses to open the gate back up, throwing out the skeletons, which made the Kukuroo Mountain tour group head for the hills. And the carcasses are unceremoniously tossed into a garbage can with the lid not on tight, [[StuffedInTheFridge showing no concern]] for how they are to be mourned or disposed of, leaving potential loved ones in the dark. It's also implied this happens a ''lot''.
28	* [[https://imgur.io/t/scarleteyes/dN0IFaq Kurapika’s scarlet eyes]] in episode 62 of the 1999 anime when he threatens the guy who tried to kill him after winning the scarlet eyes at the auction. The dark lighting in general and combined with the water dripping down Kurapika’s face, making it look like blood, with only [[RedEyesTakeWarning Kurapika’s eyes]] [[DeathGlare shining through the darkness]] making it look like he wants to suck the guy’s (and by extension, the viewers’) blood and soul out of his body.
29	* Just [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3ubg9M1R9w see]] what happens to [[NightmareFace Illumi's face]] the moment Hisoka [[BerserkButton asks if he can kill Killua.]] His eyes bug out into scribbles and he literally turns a shade of what is best described as ''moldy patina demon'', sending out a wave of KillingIntent so massive it causes all the nearby crows to scatter and Killua to sense his overwhelming bloodlust from miles away.
30	-->"'''[[TranquilFury I WILL KILL YOU... RIGHT HERE... RIGHT NOW.]]'''"
31	** There's an additional FridgeHorror, too; look at Hisoka's hand while he says this. He basically slipped in a ''[[InterplayOfSexAndViolence rape pun]]'' towards a minor into a casual question about murder.
32	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQ1XP7Af4Ww&t=114s The dubbed version is even worse.]] Instead of asking to kill Killua, Hisoka specifically says "If I see Killua and there's a chance, [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil can I...]]" before Illumi cuts him off. Combine that with the hand gesture, and no wonder [[BigBrotherInstinct Illumi]] is so pissed at him.
33	* The entire Chimera Ant arc is the kind of grade-A NightmareFuel that horror movies are made of. Giant MixAndMatchCritters swoop in and effortlessly butcher entire populations (by the hundreds. Daily), dragging whoever they don't kill back with them to have the flesh stripped from their bones and turned into giant meatballs for their queen (while they're still alive, mind you). If you're especially unlucky, you'll get reincarnated as a Chimera Ant and continue the cycle, possibly on people you used to know.
34	** Early on, some rogue Chimera Ants take over Gyro's drug factories and enslave some of the soldiers, essentially turning them into dogs. We're treated to a scene where the "dogs" speak out of turn and are crushed to death under an Ant's hoof. ''Graphically''.
35	** Meruem, The Chimera Ant King. Just the way Togashi writes and draws a character who starts out as all-powerful and nigh-unstoppable and only gets more powerful from there is ''terrifying''.
36	*** Just being anywhere near the King is fear-inducing in itself because of his unpredictability, ''especially'' at the start of his birth. He demonstrates that he will immediately kill whoever even slightly annoys him without warning, and the requirement for that is ''very'' low. He kills two of his subjects after his birth, the first for seemingly ignoring his demand for food, and the second for ''offering a handkerchief to clean the blood off his tail'' when Meruem picked '''Colt specifically''' do it. He's not above ''eating'' [[ImAHumanitarian his own kind either.]] The King makes any BadBoss preferable [[CharacterDevelopment at least first]].
37	*** The scene where Meruem kills a family of farmers. In one swift move, he beheads the mother and father with his tail "right in front of their young daughter''', who spends her last moments screaming out of trauma before Meruem impales her.
38	* The anime manages to make some of this worse, not only because it shows some of these things in motion and with sound effects, but the sudden art shifts that accompany some of these things make it absolutely terrifying.
39	** The scene when Meruem devours his victim whole, [[NightmareFace his face distorts into a hyper-realistic gleeful distortion]] in monochrome, showing his pre-CharacterDevelopment state of mind beforehand.
40	*** The Royal Guards are no slouches in this department, either, both in-universe and in RealLife, but ''especially'' Neferpitou.
41	*** Pitou is an androgynous cat person who displays the worst traits of a feline with monstrous sadism to play with its prey long after they're dead and a violent feral nature with unnaturally high power. [[KnightOfCerebus They single-handedly turned what was supposed to be a predictable extermination mission against some man-eating monsters with depraved personalities that would end with a bittersweet victory into a truly harrowing situation where Gon goes on a downward spiral into despairing madness, the death of the chairman, and a nihilistic struggle showing the darkest side of humanity that cost both sides everything]]. They can generate a Hatsu to make [[CreepyDoll two creepy doll figures to perform neurosurgery on a still-living victim or remote control entire populations with a third, skeletal one as a last resort to puppeteer their body long after their head's been destroyed]].
42	*** Speaking of that neurosurgery scene, it involves [[BodyHorror brain]] [[ColdBloodedTorture torture]] as the EstablishingCharacterMoment for Neferpitou, who lobotomizes a captured Pokkle and forces him to reveal every detail he knows about Nen. And then they have him butchered and fed to the Queen. The entire scene is so graphic and disturbing that it had to be censored for Toonami's broadcast of the English dub.
43	*** Then, there's Menthuthuyoupi, whose power is pretty much weaponized BodyHorror, allowing him to grow dozens of eyes and increase his muscle mass to a ridiculous degree as he gets angrier, making him look like something out of Lovecraft's work. What's especially terrifying is his Rage Blast, where his body literally swells up with anger, turning it into a massive blob of faces that can detonate with enough force to create massive craters stretching dozens of meters wide. His final form is the apex of his weirdness, resembling a grotesque centaur with a giant, deformed face in place of his shoulder.
44	** Shaiapouf at first, doesn't seem as intimidating as the other two, being [[LaughablyEvil an internally overdramatic yet stoic individual]] and a butterfly man, but [[MaskOfSanity this masks obsessive zealotry to '''his''' vision of the King]], despising Komugi, an innocent girl to the point of wanting her dead, and proves to be especially devious in going behind his King's back to achieve this monstrous spitefulness that makes the psychotic Pitou and brutal Youpi seem noble in comparison.
45	*** He's also capable of [[NightmareFace contorting his face into warped distortions out of nowhere]], the first when he manages to take away Morel's pipe, his normally narrow eyes becoming unnaturally large and wide, giving him the appearance of a crazed fairy and latter when he confronts Knuckle when he realizes the King is mortally wounded, his angered face [[FacialHorror is a half-warped, wrathful version of his humanoid face and the other half being a hyper-realistic ant]] and it [[[http://i.imgur.com/1YeXKSw.jpg a perfect visual representation of his hidden bestial nature and the hatred and contempt he holds for humanity and anyone who would harm the Ant King]].
46	* Gon's TranquilFury at Pitou, which is very disturbingly subdued compared to how much he usually gets enraged over the tiniest things. His transformation into "Adult Gon" after his HeroicBSOD is also ''terrifying'', in stark contrast to most shounen hero powerups, becoming a dark shadowy figure with white outlines with glowing white circles for eyes at first, hinting something sinister is happening to Gon.
47	** While the long column of hair can be [[{{Narm}} a bit corny]], the form itself is inherently off- being only human from a physical standpoint. The dead, emotionless eyes, the hyper-realistic muscular body in contrast with his shrunken clothes, and the vacant expression give the [[HumanoidAbomination impression this is not the adult Gon is supposed to be, but an eerie mutation warped Gon into an unnatural creature which only looks human of unnatural power at a high cost]].
48	** And then the end comes along, with [[{{Nightmare Face}} Gon's face becoming uncharacteristically infuriated]], and Gon becoming very, ''very'' intense and pragmatic (to the point that he's willing to murder Komugi, an innocent blind girl.) For anyone who still remembers the old Gon from before all the hiatuses, it can be very unnerving to see him this [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness hostile, even insulting Killua in an extremely callous manner, when he's usually the most relaxed of the groups he's in]].
49	*** All of the rage and anguish he feels culminates in him finding out Kite has been DeadAllAlong, having a complete mental breakdown, and blaming himself for being too weak. The especially sad part about this is that we've been leading up to it for the entire series. Togashi has drilled into our heads that above all else, Gon hates feeling helpless against stronger opponents and having his pride trampled on. Villains like Hisoka, Nobunanga, and Genthru all made him feel helpless too, but this time, his mentor was killed, mutilated, and turned into a puppet while he couldn't help him at all. When Neferpitou tries to kill him after breaking the news, he releases all the rage and despair he had kept locked away, creating a contract with his Nen by sacrificing his vast potential and his ability to use Nen, which enhances his body to its absolute physical peak, turning him into a full-grown adult within ''seconds''. In this state, he completely obliterates Neferpitou, a Royal Guard with an astronomical amount of aura and one of the strongest characters in the series by casually stepping out of the way of [[AmbiguousGender their]] attacks and punching them into a mountain with a Jajanken. After they pass out, he continues to bash their head in until it's ground into a bloody ''paste'', remembering Kite's lesson about finishing off Chimera Ants. When Pitou's Nen ability grows stronger after their death and manipulates their corpse to sever Gon's right arm, he picks it up and '''impales them''' with it without hesitation, before concentrating his aura into his stump and destroying the entire forest they fought in. The tranquil, hell-bent fury he shows here is incredibly disturbing, compared to his first appearance as a happy-go-lucky 12-year-old boy. After his transformation, his body deteriorates overnight, giving him a corpse-like appearance. It's said that his Nen contract was worse than death, having spent all of his aura, he can do nothing but slowly die as his body withers away without any energy to sustain it.
50	* Netero's secret weapon, the Miniature Rose. It's a chemo-explosive weapon of mass destruction that has claimed 5,120,000 lives since its creation. Dying in the blast is a mercy because survivors absorb a poison released during the explosion that slowly destroys internal organs and emits more toxins through any kind of contact, creating a lengthy chain of victims. When terrorists got their hands on it and activated the bomb in an enemy capital, killing 110,000 people, an international treaty was signed that prevented further production, but a staggering 80% of all countries refused to get rid of the remaining Roses. In a world full of magical creatures and supernatural martial artists, something this mundane killing some the most powerful characters in the series (through poisoning, no less) hits a bit too close to home. Worse still, it's compact, easy to make, and ''every'' country has a stock of these nukes lying in wait. The entire Hunter X Hunter world is basically wrapped up in a giant ColdWar.
51	* Alluka/Nanika. Creepy black eyes aside, when she grants an especially large wish, her demands for the next person to come along are severe. And if you refuse her demands four times, ''something'' happens, and you, your closest loved one, and possibly many other random people are killed. One person literally got compressed into a cube of human beef and splattered all over creation, with other kin in the family implied to suffer the same consequences somewhere at the same time. Can you imagine that you're doing something totally unrelated like sitting at the dinner table and then, all of a sudden, just because someone disobeyed the demands, [[ParanoiaFuel POOF- you're mincemeat!?]]
52	** Everything about this situation is horrible. From the "Cheerfully Cute Girl + (Pester Power)Nen = OMGWTF" to the fact they're both a part of a very twisted family to the mechanics of how the Alluka-Nanika team actually works (they see each other as family; nobody else apart from Killua does, and even he resents Nanika to a great degree) to the fact that only Killua sees them as the two vulnerable young girls (and, you know... ''people'' not "dangeously powerful tools to kill, hide or use") that they know they are is all a lot more creepy than when we get to see Nanika all awake and firing on every reality warping cylinder. Worse... the two kids with the more "normal" sets of emotional range in the Zoldyck family? Are the two who have spent a lot of time with the (still rather young for her species) Nanika growing up, despite their parents' (and Illumi's)... reservations. And precautions. What does this say about the family, exactly?
53	* Chapter 341 gives us a good look at some of the things that have happened to people trying to enter [[DeathWorld the Dark Continent]]. People who entered not only didn't survive, but had their bodies twisted horribly and were thrown back into the human world. According to records kept of what lies in the new world, there are many more horrors to look forward to. One survivor who came back was rendered immortal, horrendously emaciated, and insane by a virus. The Guide, a mysterious being who takes people to the Dark Continent, forced five different expeditions to take an extinction-level threat back with them when they returned to civilization.
54	** '''Brion,''' a spherical botanical weapon that protects the ruins of an ancient city. When the special forces of [[FictionalCountry the United States of Saherta]] tried to enter the ruins, Brion utterly decimated them, leaving only two survivors. [[NothingIsScarier We aren't given a description of what Brion does to trespassers,]] but the accompanying image depicts [[AndIMustScream what appears to be a man, completely motionless,]] [[BodyHorror with Brion]] ''[[BodyHorror clamped over his head.]]'' Whatever this thing does to intruders, '''it ain't pretty.'''
55	** '''Ai,''' a strange, gaseous black lifeform, and one of the much more terrifying things from the Dark Continent. Why is it so much more terrifying? Because we've already encountered it first-hand. Remember Nanika? Killua's little sister with [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor horrific]] RealityWarper abilites? Yeah, ''she's a member of Ai's species;'' seems like the Zoldyck who traveled with Netero to the Dark Continent brought back more than he bargained for, and now Alluka ''has a member of Ai as her split personality.'' Take all the NightmareFuel involving Nanika and her wishes on this page, and give it to '''[[OhCrap an entire species.]]''' ''That'' is what Ai is.
56	** '''Hellbell,''' an absolutely ''nightmare-inducing'' snake. If running into and getting killed by [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/hunterxhunter/images/5/50/Hellbell.png/revision/latest?cb=20141021135518&path-prefix=es this]] isn't [[BringMeMyBrownPants pants-soiling]] enough for you, [[SarcasmMode great news!]]: Its bite [[HatePlague also induces homicidal urges in its victims, driving them to kill everyone around them.]] Imagine you and a friend are adventuring through unexplored lands when you run into a terrifying snake that ends up biting your friend. [[HopeSpot You both make it out by the skin of your teeth,]] but then your friend suddenly grabs you by the neck and tries to choke you to death, doing anything they can to '''kill you.''' And a scenario just like this happened to ''an entire expedition team'' that wandered into Hellbell's territory.
57	** '''Pap,''' a creature that keeps people as pets. Not only is the idea of being turned into some ''thing's'' pet [[ParanoiaFuel already terrifying,]] but Pap turns its victims into [[BodyHorror horribly emaciated, baby-like caricatures of a human]] that are connected to Pap ([[NothingIsScarier who hide in logs and are completely]] [[TheDarknessGazesBack hidden in darkness save for their eyes,]] mind you) by umbilical cords. The description of [[DealWithTheDevil "a trade-off between life and pleasure"]] implies that people who become Pap's pets [[LotusEaterMachine experience intense euphoria while in this state,]] which just manages to make things ''so'' much worse.
58	** '''Zobae,''' [[WhoWantsToLiveForever the immortality disease.]] The one person we've seen who's contracted it has become a [[BodyHorror horribly-disheveled,]] [[AndIMustScream almost catatonic mess,]] [[NothingIsScarier not saying or doing anything but leering at folks who pass its cell and occasionally nibbling at its arms.]] It's not mentioned if Zobae has any nasty side-effects besides eternal life, but either way, [[ImmortalityHurts it's clearly not a disease you want to catch.]]
59	* [[RoyallyScrewedUp The Kakin Royal Family]]. Prince Tserriednich is the kind of guy whose hobbies include collecting body parts (like the Scarlet Eyes) and [[SerialKiller murdering young women]] as twisted [[MadArtist performance art.]] [[NightmareFace His expression]] when he thanks God for the opportunity to [[CainAndAbel murder his siblings]] so he can inherit the throne rivals Hisoka's and Illumi's. His eldest brother Benjamin, first seen wrestling a lion and breaking its neck in a fit of rage after Tserriednich [[HairTriggerTemper hangs up on him]], is no better. The goofy character design of their father, King Nasubi, belies that he's the kind of man who would order his own children to battle to the death on an expedition to a DeathWorld for the right to succeed the throne. His Nen guardian (which is based on his personality) is a horrific mishmash of insect parts and ''breasts''. And this is the ruling family of one of the most powerful nations in the setting. Oh yeah, and it bears repeating that the family handles its succession a la KlingonPromotion- kill everyone else and you can become king. Who cares if you don't want to kill or be killed- you're roped in whether you like it or not!
60	** Even worse: at least two of the King's children are just kids. One of them is a ''baby''. And it's likely they [[WouldHurtAChild won't be]] [[CensoredChildDeath spared]]. Another one is being manipulated by her closet bitch of a sister, and one even tries to walk away from the whole ordeal [[EveryoneHasStandards out of pure disgust.]]
61	** The war is getting even worse when it's revealed that ''all'' the princes have been given Nen guardians. They're parasitic by nature and act independent of the user's will, meaning they can kill anyone the moment one of the princes detect hostility, even little Woble. Kurapika succinctly surmises this means that the princes will end up slaughtering each other regardless of how kind or innocent they are.
62	* Hisoka gives us another grade-A NightmareFace after having his face blown off and ''coming back from the dead''. [[https://67.media.tumblr.com/1ef4854178cfe44977d5c68d28cd3243/tumblr_inline_o8iun79pA11qe429u_540.png Yikes.]]
63	* Nen Baptism. Get hit by a sufficient nen attack and your body begins releasing nen at a crazy rate. If you can't control it, you will die. Even if you can control it, it may leave you crippled in some way. Then, as the Chimera ants demonstrated, if you attack with nen, you better be ready to kill, as you may end up giving your opponent nen superpowers if they weren't already nen users.
64	* Pariston. The Election Arc established he wasn't a great person, but he went from trolling to outright sociopathy when Ging confronted him: He does everything because he LOVES when people hate him, and if he gets bored of a plan because he can't "play" with people - like Beyond's plan, which involves a long "boring" voyage - he chooses the option that will get the most people killed or angry - such as releasing all the captured Chimera Ants. And Ging is the only person who can reliably predict and stop this man.
65	* As mentioned above, the Nen Beasts. Each and every one of them is a grotesque mistake of nature and it's undeniably for the best that these things are invisible to those who have not awakened to Nen. [[https://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/hunterxhunter/images/b/b5/Chap_349_-_Nasubi%27s_sacred_beast.png The very first one we see]] is a yonic nightmare that has no business being in a manga for kids, with dozens of engorged, veiny breasts on either side of its head, which essentially has a toothed vagina for a mouth, and spindly, spiderlike limbs dangling off of its sides.
66	** And unsurprisingly, Tserriednich has the most horrific Beast of the lot. If [[http://www3.mangafreak.net/Read1_Hunter_X_Hunter_362_4 this]] was your only exposure to it, you'd think "Yeah, it's gross, but there are worse in his family." Then you get to ''[[http://www3.mangafreak.net/Read1_Hunter_X_Hunter_362_16 this page]]'' and realize Togashi was holding back just so he could hit you full force with the true extent of its ghastliness later.
67	* Benjamin is essentially an AxCrazy BloodKnight with the [[{{Gonk}} hideous face of a lion]] who attacks every problem that comes its way until it drops dead on him- that includes murder plans in store for his own equally demented biological brother. And when he's pissed, he tears off his suit in a fit of rage and [[NightmareFace his face almost pustulates with fury.]]
68	** He sent one of his men to wipe out the bodyguards protecting Prince Woble and also had Sergeant Might tell his personal batch of soldiers to basically find an excuse to kill his enemies and pin it on self-defense. One of them easily offed one of Woble's bodyguards and then [[CyanidePill ended his own life]], giving him the excuse he needed to declare war to "avenge" the death of his comrade. When a phone call came from Benjamin to Kurapika to discuss the situation, it wasn't to speak to him personally- it was to have his sergeant do the talking and give the group the honor of choosing how they would like to die. Worse, his personality is so wretched that one of the attendants refused to answer his proxy first, simply choosing to have them hang up, knowing nothing anyone said or did would get Benjamin to ever consider any form of mercy for any reason.
69	* [[FromBadToWorse Chrollo has snuck aboard the same ship with the Princes and Kurapika & co. right in the middle of the succession war.]] And he's in a [[TranquilFury VERY]] [[ThisIsUnforgivable bad mood]] after the fight with Hisoka had roughed him up a lot, made even more worse when Hisoka himself had soon killed both Shalnark and Kortopi not too long after his battle with Chrollo. Uvo's death may have gotten a few tears from him, but [[https://i.ytimg.com/vi/H3Zvl405bBs/maxresdefault.jpg this is a face of pure, unbridled fury.]]
70	* Silent Majority, a Nen ability involving a conjured doll, kills a bodyguard by draining him of all his blood via white snakes. Even more terrifying? Its user's identity is unknown at the time of the attack. [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/hunterxhunter/images/1/12/Chap_370_-_Barrigen_Snakes.png/revision/latest?cb=20170831135223 The grisly result of the attack is shown here.]]
71	* Camilla's already a PsychopathicWomanchild who is spoiled to the core and is cold-blooded, but how can you make her worse? Reveal that she knows how to use Nen and fashioned it into a beast ON TOP OF the Nen Beast she was given, and it immediately snatches anyone who inflicts fatal wounds to her and squishes them in its clutches to process out their life fluids as a way of instantly healing and reviving her. She is functionally NighInvulnerable and thinks she doesn't even need a Nen Beast because she ''already has one she made for herself''. One which she purposefully made look [[CreepyCute pure evil while cute]] and able to crush anybody into oblivion, leaving ''nothing'' behind. EldritchAbomination isn't enough to cover how freakish and demented that is.
72	* If the Kakin Royal Family wasn't nasty enough, the reveal in Chapter 378 regarding what rulers does to their ''illegitimate'' children only makes it worse. What do they do? They give them the choice of identity amnesty from the heritage line to the throne and if they accept it, they get the ceremonial right of having two razors ''drawn parallel with each other across the entirety of their faces as brands'' and then have them crudely stitched up. It makes refusing the offer (aka a swift execution) much more lucrative in hindsight for them.

Context NightmareFuel / HunterXHunter