Hunter X Hunteris famous for many reasons, ranging from the depth of its characters and impressive power system to its delicately detailed world-building. Through some of its characters, the series has given fans some of the most iconic moments in anime history. One of these such moments isGon’s iconic rage momentafter finding out about the death of his mentor, Kite. The events that come after this moment lead up to a climax, where Gon is seen in an unexplained adult form that he eventually uses to kill the murderer of his mentor.
While the reason behind his transformation is not hard to deduce, the transformation’s mechanics are largely unknown. Is there a condition with an attached penalty? Or is it an unknown contract using the principles of Nen?
Gon Freecss, The Son of Ging Freecss
Like Father, Like Son
With a fatherlike Ging Freecss, it is both oddly plausible and incredibly surprising that Gon Freecss turns out the way he is for many different reasons. As the story’s protagonist, Gon is the son of Ging Freecss and a rookie hunter whose major aim for becoming a hunter is to find his father, who has been absent for a significant part of his life. Conspicuously cheery and with a big smile, Gon is an adventurous young boy who wants to become a Hunter like his father and then find him. As the son of one of the most famous hunters, Gon is an Enhancer with an athletic build and possesses abnormally perceptive senses. He is also very good with animals because he spent most of his childhood in the woods. As a person, Gon’s curiosity takes up most of his being as it determines the categories of his experiences, be it tragic, happy, tense, or sad. In addition to being overly curious, Gon tends to fall into his anger and impulsive nature, mostly failing to think his actions through, and usually ends up having to deal with the harsh consequences that follow.
Due to his latent talent and abilities, Gon continuously aims to become more powerful. However, in his pursuit of more power and strength, Gon’s tendency to anger becomes steadily obvious as he grows. This leads him to some precarious decision-making and tendencies, the highlight of which is the focus of this piece. Following his simple-mindedness, he tends to become irrational and narrow-minded towards anything else when his emotions are evoked, as seen with Neferiptiou. However, this is not to say that he is incapable of being cool-headed and rational, as he can be when required to be, with a good example being the third stage of the Hunter Exam.
As cheerful and bright-eyed as he might seem, Gon is one of the series’ complicated characters. This stems from his curiosity about everything mentioned earlier. Gon usually comes off as difficult to understand and complex, with some other characters thinking of him as insane due to his lack of moral compass and extremely curious nature. Combining these traits makes Gon a character to be cautious of by other characters. Gon values life and the ethics that surround it but is also capable of dissociating these values from his personal feelings, which makes him seem cold-blooded in some situations, like how he only got angry at Illumi not because he was trying to kill Killua but because he was being forced to do so by his family or when he did not warn Argon about Hisoka even though he knew that an encounter between the two would inevitably result in Argon’s death.
This side of Gon is probably not unexpected, given who his father is and the reputation that precedes him. However, it is also a side of him that is accentuated and given more meaning when the real motivation for wanting to become a Hunter is properly understood. On the surface, Gon is seemingly only motivated to become a hunter to find his father. However, his motivations go a bit deeper, beginning with an encounter with Kite before he decides to take the Hunter Exam. As a result of spending a large part of his time in the woods as a child, Gon is saved from a mother, Foxbear, by Kite, who introduces himself as a Hunter andas Ging’s student. Kite admits to looking for Ging as a final test to get his master to acknowledge him as a Hunter. Kite’s earnest admiration of Ging ignites Gon’s desire to meet his father. Less for wanting to meet Ging and more out of wanting to understand the occupation that would cause Ging to choose his job as a Hunter over being a parent. From that moment, Gon is driven to follow in his father’s footsteps, and it turns out the apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Kite: The Straight line Connecting Gon’s Love to His Hate
The Breaking Point for Gon’s Mental Breakdown
To understand how Kite becomes so important to Gon that He is willing to sacrifice a life’s worth of Nen just to get revenge on his murderer, Kite’s person and the intimacy of his relationship with Gon are two vital points of context that must be expanded on.
During his life, Kite was a hunter and a student of Ging Freecss. More than that, however, Kite was Gon’s mentor. Irritateably stern-faced and stoic, Kite was unapologetically blunt to the point of appearing rude and cold-blooded. Before becoming Ging’s disciple, Kite knew nothing of his life, where and how he was born, or even his parents. With such a backstory, his discipleship under Ging essentially became his purpose for life as both a person and a Hunter. Kite’s relationship with Gon begins when Ging brings himto Greed Islandand plans for his son to be sent to Kite if Gon ever takes an ‘Accompany’ spell card instead of a ‘Magnetic Force’ out of the Greed Island Game.
The pair met for the first time when Kite saves Gon from a Foxbear mother protecting its cub. The meeting essentially kickstarts the story and Gon’s mission to become a Hunter. The next time Kite and Gon saw each other is after Gon completes Greed Island, falls for the trap laid by Ging many years before, and encounters Kite in the Kakin Empire during the Chimera Ant arc. The Kakin Empire has hired Kite to do ecological research as part of a survey. During one of the expeditions, the Chimera Ants are discovered, and Kite, alongside Gon, Killua, Stick Dinner, and Podungo Lapoy, investigates the creatures. The order of investigation ultimately leads Kite to his demise at the hands of thefirst of the Royal Guards, Neferipitou. Kite’s death evokes a rather dark and violent version of Gon for quite a few reasons.
Throughout the story, there is a very limited number of people for whom Gon carries as much affection, admiration, and respect for as much as he does for Kite. A list inclusive of only Killua, Biscuit Krueger, Leorio, and Kurapika. To Gon, Kite represented the father figure that Ging could not be, as well as his teacher. Most importantly, Kite was Ging’s student, the man Gon wanted, more than anything, to reach. To Gon, Kite represents the best of his emotions and feelings. After Kite’s death, Gon blames himself for being too weak to protect his allies and vows to get stronger, which leads himdown a dark pathwhere he has to confront many things, including his inner demons.
Gon’s Adult Form: A Product of His Vengeful Spirit Or An Unknown Contract?
Between Kite’s death at the hands of Neferipitou and Gon’s revenge on the Royal Guard, he walks a really dark path that culminates in his menacing transformation, with which he kills Neferipitou. However, this transformation can be said to be both a product of his vengeful spirit and an unknown contract. Gon’s adult form is called a Limitation Transformation, which he did by forming a Vow. Firstly, a Limitation is a skill where a Nen user can increase the overall power of an individual skill by stating a self-imposed restriction, which forces even more conditions on the particular skill. On the other hand, a Vow is the act of swearing to respect the Limitations set by the user.
So, using a Limitation Transformation, Gon made a vow and was able to summon all the power he’d ever have. This allowed him to grow to an age where he could defeat Neferipitou, with all of his physical abilities, Nen abilities, and aura output receiving a considerable boost. However, the penalty for using a Limitation Transformation is as steep as the boost in power it gives, as what Gon did was no more than compressing his lifespan in exchange for power. As a result, Gon would no longer be able to use or utilize Nen for the rest of his life, despite having already shaved away a portion of his life span.
So, on a final note, Gon’s adult form, menacing as it might seem in the series, operates with rather simplistic mechanics but, more than anything, is a combination of a heart set on vengeance and the creative use ofthe loopholes around Nen.
