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Hunter x Hunterboasts one of the most well-thought-out worlds in all of fiction. The story starts with a boy and his fishing rod beating up monsters on an isolated island, but quickly opens up to show how much bigger the world is, with the same Gon who never felt struggle continuing to face threats that he could never hope to overcome.
This theme of the world being too large for comfort continues even at the end of the 2011 adaptation of the anime with the introduction of the Dark Continent; the world seen so far is merely a drop in the ocean. Among the vast wilderness of the supposed New World, the only things that we know about for sure are the Five Threats brought back from there that are capable of humanity’s utter destruction.
What Is The Dark Continent?
At the end of the Chairman Elections arc that took place to decide who leads the Hunter Association after Isaac Netero, someconfidential information about the worldcame out: the existence of theDark Continent.
In the world of Hunter x Hunter, it turns out the world Gon, Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio live in ismerely an island in a lake called Lake Mobius.
Surrounding this lake in all directions is the true world, named the Dark Continentdue to how little is known about it.
Many expeditions have gone to this magical, unknown world, partially due to sheer curiosity, but also due to thetreasures the land holds.
What Are The Dark Continent Calamities?
To get to the Dark Continent, you have toconsult a mythical beastthat resides at the Dark Continent’s gates to work as a guide. In return for letting you pass, each expeditionpromises to bring back one calamity on their way back.
Five of these threats are from documented expeditions and arecollectively called the Five Dark Continent Calamitiesor the Five Great Threats.
Each of these calamities iscapable of wiping the entirety of humanityto extinction. While we haven’t seen exactly how they can do so, the lethality and mortality rate of each individual expedition shows that they’reat least capable of mass genocide.
Chimera Ants
This isn’t explicitly confirmed, but it’s heavily implied that theChimera Ants were from the Dark Continentas well from an undocumented expedition. If they’re used as a basis to speculate on how quickly these entities can take over the world, we can figure out the danger they possess.
The total death toll from the Chimera Ants was478,594 civilians, 12,905 soldiers, and then 46,613 further deaths as Pouf died. This totals to around roughly500,000 deaths, not counting the entirety of NGO’s population that got wiped out without any documentation.
The Chimera Antspossessed a danger rank of Bin the official Hunter x Hunter threat database, yet they were able to break the balance of the world to such an extent that ittook the present strongest Hunter, Isaac Netero, as well as a nuclear warhead, to dispose of the threat. Most entries on this list areranked higher than Chimera Ants.
What Is Ai (Nanika)?
Ai is a gaseous life form that canpossess a living body as a hostand function as a parasitical entity in a symbiotic relationship with the person they reside within.
Official documents within the Hunter x Hunter universe don’t give much information about Ai, but they’re the Dark Continent Calamitywe know the most about. This is because an Ai is shown in actionpossessing Alluka, the youngest daughter of the Zoldyks, as well asKillua’s little sister.
From what was shown by Nanika, the specific Ai possessing Alluka, they seem tohave wish-granting abilities, as seen by them recovering Gon from a state deemed irreparable. This ability is implied to have no limits, but is tied to a condition of doing Ai, or in this case Alluka,a favor.
These favors are usuallyquite destructive and violentin nature, as been by Alluka asking Tsubome to rip off her own nail, and asking Killua to die.
However, these favors can also go down in extremity depending on the person’s relationship with Alluka. For example, where most people see Alluka and in extension the Ai within her as an omnipotent wish-granting device,Killua instead sees her as an actual person, his little sister.
This lets Killua find loopholes in the requests andgain the benefit of the wishes without any drawbacks, as seen by Killua merely having to play dead rather than actually dying from her request, yet still getting his wish fulfilled.
Victims of Ai are seeneither crushed to death or twisted into a spiral.The actual process behind this is unknown, but it’s implied to be tied to the Ai’s wish-granting abilities.
What Is Brion?
The United States of Saherta sent an expedition to the ruins of an ancient city known as Labyrinth City. This is home to a miracle all-curing herb, one that caninstantaneously replenish one of all known diseases.
While searching for the drug, the forces met Brion,a weapon created supposedly to guard the place.The entire expedition was wiped out, andonly two returned alivewith Brion and its victims.
Brion usually manifests as asphere on the target’s head.The remains of those afflicted with Brion are contained in large tubes and don’t seem to possess any sense of bodily autonomy or the capability to move.Whether they’re still alive or not isn’t disclosed.
The title Botanical Weapon implies two things. First, that it’s some sort ofplant-based life form. Second, itpossesses the potential for mass harm. The second point is quite evident, seeing the result of the expedition that made contact with Brion.
No further proof has been laid out for readers, but there are things we know from the various sightings of Brion victims. First,Brion seems to target its victims' heads.
Whether it’s to possess their brain like a parasite or if it’s simply a matter of habit or taste, all Brion victims either have a sphere on their head, or they’remissing their head entirely.
Certain Brion victims also have their stomachs gouged out, implying that it causessome form of internal damage.
The last thing known about Brion is that its purpose is to be a guardian of sorts,protecting the ruins of the Labyrinth Cityfrom incoming life. Whether this is in its natural instincts or if it was engineered for this purpose remains unknown.
What Is The Zobae Disease?
The Zobae Disease, or theImmortality Disease, is an affliction thatgrants immortality under specific circumstances.
About 50 years before the events of current day Hunter x Hunter, whenBeyond Neterowas still allowed to roam the planetfreely, the Kukan’yu Kingdom enlisted his help as a guide in an expedition to acquire Metallion, the Alchemical Plant, aherb capable of changing the chemical propertiesof any element.
This could let you turn worthless substances likecopper to more worthy ones, such as gold.
It’s heavily implied that this getting lost was deliberate on Beyond Netero’s part, since a Hunter as great as him couldn’t make such a mistake.
The expedition was successful for the most part; they succeeded in getting the plant with Beyond’s help. Unfortunately, the groupgot lost on their way back and contacted the Zobae Disease, with only five Hunters, Beyond Netero, and a Hunter who had the Zobae Disease coming out alive.
As for the disease itself, the name both describes it aptly but also misintroduces it. The illness does give the person immortality, butthe conditions aren’t worth the benefits.
Those suffering from Zobaelose the ability to process normal food; if you try forcing it down, your body simply rejects it. Instead, thevictims get the ability of self-cannibalism, becoming capable of surviving on their flesh alone.
The only specimen of Zobae in the human world has been alive for 50 entire yearswithout ever eating so much as a single grain of rice.
When someone afflicted with Zobae does consume part of themselves, they gainheightened regeneration, as well as immortality. So long as you continue eating your own body, the Zobae fulfills its promise of immortality.
However, constantly having to rip off your limbs and flesh to eat it isn’t something many can handle. As such, whether it’s a psychological effect from the pain and agony from eating your own body, or if it’s a symptom of the Zobae Disease itself,those suffering from it lose their sanity.
The only survivor of the disease within the human realm cannot converse with others, andmerely looks at them with bloodshot eyes and a blank expressionon his face.
What Is Pap?
Pap is the creature whocursed the Begerosse Unionwhen it sent a thousand personnel to the North of Lake Mobius.
The purpose of the expedition was to find theUnmanned Rock, a mineral capable of providing enough electrical energy to sustain entire nations.
Of the 1,000 people that made up the expedition group,only seven came back unharmed.
Pap is one of the more sinister creatures even among the Dark Continent Calamities, withits title being the ‘Human-Keeping Beast.‘As the name suggests, Pap is an entity thatkeeps humans as pets.The way it does this is by connecting to them via some form of cable and thengiving them pleasure in exchange for their Nen.
Victims of Pap exist in the normal world, with a number of them being kept alive and being researched by the International Permit Agency.
Pap’s victims appear as ifall their blood and Aura have been leeched outof them, like withered husks of their former selves. They also appear to be smaller in stature than most humans, looking more like gnomes.
As for Pap themselves,nothing about how they look is knownapart from their predator-like eyes and the ability to connect to living organisms via biological cables.
What Is Hellbell?
Hellbell,also known as the Twin Snake, is a snake with its lower half split into two ends. Apart from each end having a sharp needle-like point, Hellbell alsopossesses a black lump resembling a bellright above its face.
This creature came back alongside the Federal of Ochima’s expedition to southeast of Lake Mobius in search of Nitro Rice. These rice are known as the ultimate secret of longevity,greatly slowing down aging and the decay of all living things. The purpose behind this expedition was to save humanity from the fear of mortality and death.
Of the above 1,000 people that went to the Dark Continent at this time,99 percent of them died to Hellbellbefore even reaching the place where Nitro Rice was thought to grow. The remaining 11 returned with Hellbell, never having reached the Nitro Rice.
We know the least about Hellbellapart from its lethality. The Hunter Association’s data states that Hellbell functions as a virus that canimbue homicidal tendencies into anyone it infects. There’s no further data currently available regarding what this means specifically, or how it functions.
