| “ | Am I in the way? If it weren't for me, everyone in the family would get along better, right? | ” |
—Alluka Zoldyck, to Killua[1] | ||
Alluka Zoldyck (アルカ＝ゾルディック, Aruka Zorudikku) is the second youngest child of Kikyo and Silva Zoldyck.
Appearance
Alluka as a child
Alluka has blue eyes. In Killua's flashback of his childhood in Chapter 321 and in the family photo of the Zoldyck children,[2] Alluka had long, straight, unbound black hair, and wore boy's clothing. However, at present he wears the traditional clothes of a Japanese shrine maiden, with boots and a headband adorned with cartoon faces; there are two small straight bunches of hair, each of which is fastened by 4 hair bands that each are decorated with the same cartoon faces on his headband, hung down on the sides of the front of his head.
Gender Ambiguity
There is considerable confusion about Alluka's gender. Two of Alluka's brothers, Illumi and Milluki, refer to Alluka as their brother.[3] But Killua, the closest brother of Alluka, specifically states that Alluka is a "girl"[4] and refers to Alluka as his sister multiple times.[5] This inconsistency can be explained by Killua's intimate and understanding bond with Alluka, hence he would know and care that Alluka is mentally female, versus Illumi's cold and dehumanizing attitude towards Alluka. While Alluka is most likely biologically male, Killua's interactions show that Alluka's psyche may be female. The official data book also list her gender as male.
For the purposes of consistency and convenience, in this article, Alluka shall be referred to as being male until there is any concrete evidence to the contrary in the manga.
Personality
Before he was formally introduced in the manga, Silva refers to him as a dark and uncontrollable child. He has no soul because of the circumstances of his birth and he can't feel emotions. However, when he reunited with Killua, Alluka acts like a child with loving and lovable personality.
Killua being closest with Alluka out of the rest of the family and he don't hate him. However, he never mentioned him, and he shows up only when Killua needs his help. Sometimes Alluka calls Killua big brother and sometimes he calls him Killua.
Alluka displays a rather simplistic and childlike personality, contrasting with Killua's mature composure. He is act very happy with Killua, likely because he was the only one to show any compassion towards him, and trusts him deeply. This implies he has a compassionate personality, contrasting with his potentially horrific ability.
Background
The Zoldyck sons with their mother
Alluka's first appearance is in a family photo of the Zoldyck siblings and their mother. It was first shown in an earlier Chimera Ant arc chapter illustrating Kalluto's desire to get his older brother back no matter how many years it will take. In the photo Alluka was not posing together with his mother and siblings, instead he was standing at a distance behind them and facing away. His name was not revealed in the manga until chapter 321, and for a long period of time readers of Hunter × Hunter could only guess the name of the facing-away child based on the information about the Zoldyck family provided in the 2004 official data book.
Alluka officially makes his debut in the manga in chapter 321 in which he is seen sitting unemotionally on the floor of a room full of dolls. His father, Silva, when talking to Killua about him, refers to him as an 'it' and says he is darkness.
Through Killua's flashback of his childhood,[5] some background information about Alluka is revealed. As a little kid, Alluka once asked Mitsuba, a female attendant of the Zoldyck family, to do three simple things: carrying Alluka, going up a staircase, and raising Alluka up in the air. After Mitsuba did what she was told, Alluka's eyes and mouth suddenly turned pitch-black. Freaked out by this, Mitsuba called for help. Killua came and changed Alluka back to normal by asking him to make himself (Killua) go high-high, which he did. After the accident, Killua had to tell his parents about Alluka's secret because Mitsuba had already reported it to them. It turned out that when Alluka had three requests fulfilled, his eyes and mouth would turn pitch-black, and they would change back to normal only when he heard and granted a wish.
Alluka in wish granting mode as a child
To test his ability, his mother Kikyo ordered Mitsuba to decline any request of her, no matter how small it was. Due to that, Mitsuba and her lover Hasama, who was not around them at that time, were mysteriously crushed into minced meat simultaneously. Killua explained that this was the consequence of saying 'No' to Alluka's requests 4 times.
Some time afterwards, Yasuha, another female servant of the Zoldyck family, gave Alluka a piggyback ride at his request, thus activating his wish-granting mode. Giving in to her greed at the time, Yasuha wished that Alluka would make her a billionaire. Alluka agreed and suddenly a large amount of banknotes started to rain down from a blimp in the sky. It was later reported that a currency transport vessel had suddenly gone missing and by the time it had been found all the money had disappeared, and the captain and crew kept giving nonsensical answers.
Illumi became interested in Alluka's power and asked for Silva's permission to deal with Kasuga, the next servant, to take care of Alluka, in his own way. He told her to listen to Alluka's requests in exchange for his tolerance of her romantic relationship with an outsider to the Zoldyck family. When Kasuga was with Alluka, suddenly Alluka asked her for her liver, which Kasuga declined. Alluka followed it up with 3 continuous requests for her duodenum, spine and brain respectively, which were all declined too.[6] As a result of Kasuga's refusal to fulfill those 4 requests, a total of 67 people, including herself, were killed at the same time by Alluka's strange power.[7] It was learned from this occurrence that Alluka's ability had a cumulative effect; the greater the previous wish was (in terms of fulfillment difficulty), the greater the consequences of refusing Alluka's next set of requests. From this they also learned the requests became much more difficult to fulfill after granting Alluka granted a large wish.
Plot
13th Hunter Chairman Election arc
Killua and Alluka meet again
Alluka was formally introduced when Killua came back home to Kukuroo Mountain to see him. He asked for his father's permission but Silva disagrees, thinking that it's too dangerous despite the fact that Killua knows Alluka better than anyone else in their family.[5] After a long talk, his father takes him to Alluka's room, hidden behind a series of five big safety vaults, each of which can only be opened after entering a 10-digit password.[6] Alluka excitedly greets Killua when he entered the room, calling him Big brother. He first wished for Killua to Die for him. Next is playing Shiritori[7] and lastly, patting Alluka on the head.
Alluka kisses Killua on the cheek
Through a surveillance camera, Silva, Kikyo and Milluki are watching the whole scene. Kikyo is delighted in Killua's action while Milluki regrets wishing for a PC which made Alluka's wishes on Killua so easy. This earns him a glare from his father. Silva then asks about the rules regarding Alluka's power. When Killua decided to take Alluka with him, Silva disapproves and insists that the wish shall be made inside the room. Killua wishes to Alluka that if they are not able to leave the mountain together within 30 minutes, their mother will be killed. If they are, then Alluka will give Killua a kiss on the cheek. Silva lets them leave, but orders few butlers to accompany them, including Gotoh, Canary, Tsubone and Amane.[4]
As they make their way to the hospital where Gon is, the car is crashed by a truck whose drivers were being manipulated by Illumi. Killua protects Alluka; according to the restriction rules that their father laid down, if Killua stays at least one meter away from Alluka, they will be taken home instantly. As Illumi and Hisoka watch from afar, the assassin asks the latter to eliminate the butlers, or if possible, take Alluka away from Killua. Using his Godspeed ability, Killua escapes their butlers with ease but Tsubone is seen following them.[8]
Tsubone chasing Killua
Killua and Alluka continue to escape and are still followed by Tsubone.[1] Killua tries to escape faster but Tsubone uses her ability that can catch up to Kanmuru's speed. The two Zoldycks reach the airport and rides in an airship to further escape Illumi. Alluka is seen sleeping inside while Killua drives the airship himself. He explains to Morel about Alluka's wish-granting ability, which Morel thinks as a vaguely terrifying ability.[9]
When the airship they were riding on finally landed Killua made arrangements to continue their escape by car, only to find themselves surrounded by Illumi and his manipulated needled people. There he asked for Alluka to be handed to him where Killua straightly refused. In the middle Tsubone appeared and revealed that it was her fault that they were tailed through a hidden camera that was being fed to their mother and Milluki, where the latter in turn was sending the information to Illumi's phone. After seeing Tsubone Alluka's request-mode commences again where Alluka ask for the nails from her middle and ring finger completing the 3 requests entering to the wish granting state. Instead of using the wish to get out of the predicament they were in, Killua used the wish to heal Tsubone's hand to demonstrate and reveal to Illumi some rules that he only knows.[10]
Alluka about to heal Gon
Finally, Alluka wakes and finds himself in Gon's hospital room. Killua asks him to turn into Nanika but Alluka refuses wanting to stay with Killua. Killua begs Alluka. Eventually, Alluka gives in and changes into Nanika. Killua asks for Nanika to heal Gon, Nanika complies and touches Gon's hand. As Nanika is healing Gon, a huge energy comes from the latter, it's so powerful that Hunters in the Hunters Association building felt it.[11] Alluka successfully heals Gon and falls asleep.[12]
Illumi tells Killua that if he can have control over Alluka like Killua does, he will guarantee minimum freedom for Alluka. However, Killua wakes Nanika and orders him to send Illumi home, which Nanika does and Illumi finds himself instantly teleported back to the Zoldyck mansion. Due to Killua's request, Amane and Tsubone leave the room to give the siblings privacy. Killua tells Nanika that he can't come out anymore. Nanika disagrees and is clearly upset by Killua saying how much he liked Killua. After a brief argument which led Killua to yell at him, he becomes upset but complies, going back inside. Alluka wakes up and is angered by what Killua said to Nanika. He yells at Killua saying that he needs to protect both Alluka and Nanika and that he would hate any brother who was mean to Nanika. Killua realizes his mistake and asks Alluka to bring Nanika out so he could apologize. Nanika reappears teary and upset from the previous confrontation.[13]
Alluka posing for a picture with Gon and Killua
Alluka and Killua accompany Gon on his trip to the World Tree. After that, Killua and Alluka say their goodbyes and then part ways.[14]
Abilities & Powers
Unlike the other children of the Zoldyck family who were trained from a very young age to possess such abilities as high resistance to poisons and electricity and great physical strength, it is stated by Illumi that Alluka has no combat abilities at all and he is just like a normal kid when it comes to fighting.[7]
Nen
Wish Granting
Alluka is a Specialist. He has no soul or emotions, and he will grant one wish after a person fulfills three of his requests. After the requests have been completed, Alluka's eyes and mouth darken to black and he transforms into an unknown entity. The wish doesn't have to come from the one who fulfilled Alluka's requests, as even an extra party can have their wish granted for as long as it was declared in Alluka's presence (as Nanika), who would usually state "Aye" as confirmation that the request made to him was granted. According to Killua, the degree of wish that Alluka can grant is probably infinite, going from briefly levitating a person into the air, to affecting probability to make a certain effect occur. However, the greater the wish made to Alluka is, the greater her next three requests will become. The one that must bear the cost of the next three requests is not the one Alluka granted the wish to; it is the next person who must do it. And if that next person declines to fulfill Alluka's requests four times, depending on the difficulty level of the previous wish, at least two people, he and his most loved one, will die. The other people who die, along with the recipient of the requests and the recipient's most loved, are in order of who the recipient spent the most time with regardless of whether or not the recipient loved that person. One example is when Kasuga, a servant of the Zoldyck family, declined Alluka's 4 requests, the cost of the billionaire wish made previously by Yasuha was transferred to her, and thus she, her lover, and 65 other people were crushed to death.
There are five rules about Alluka's power known by the Zoldyck family as a whole, but Killua is aware of some others by himself. Below are the rules known by the family:
- If someone fails to Alluka's requests and gets killed, the difficulty level of Alluka's requests returns to level 1. That is the best time to make a wish.
- If Alluka is making requests from a particular person, they cannot be moved over to another person mid-way. Therefore if that particular person disappears such as concealing themselves, Alluka is unable to make requests to anybody else.
- If the person fulfilling requests dies mid-way, it will count as a failure and at least one more person will die.
- Alluka cannot make requests of someone without knowing the person's name.
- The same person cannot ask Alluka for consecutive wishes, although Killua seems to know of a way to bypass this condition.
Rules known only by Killua:
- While Alluka can grant only 1 wish at a time, one can give Alluka several conditions to a wish, therefore greatly expanding the capacities of what one can ask of Alluka before granting another 3 requests.
- If a wish is made for healing, Alluka must make physical contact with the target; there isn't any sort of cruel backlash as well. This may simply be a rule Killua made up due to his special privilege.
- When Alluka changes into his wish-granting mode, Alluka becomes something else, a separate entity. Killua calls this separate entity by the name "Nanika", which means "something" in Japanese. The origin of "Nanika" is currently unknown and is simply described as "some unnatural, wrong place." However, it is revealed that Nanika is a part of Alluka that only shows up after a wish is made to heal someone. After a healing wish is made, Nanika switches places with Alluka, tires out and falls asleep.
- Killua, due to his relationship with Alluka and Nanika, is given special privileges. When he "commands" Alluka, his request will bypass any existing backlash and will be granted without any repercussions. If somebody else wishes other than Killua, they will suffer the same repercussions of the previous wish that was supposed to be given. This privilege has been deduced by Illumi, adding to his craving to control Killua in order to control Alluka's abilities.
Trivia
Alluka standing beside Killua
- In the 2011 version, Alluka appeared in a silhouette of the Zoldyck family members, alongside the Zoldyck's unnamed grandmother who is yet to appear in the manga or anime. In the silhouette, Alluka can be seen holding Killua's hand.
- "Nanika" literally means "What is it?" in Japanese.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 31, Chapter 327
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 22, Chapter 229
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 30, Chapter 320
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 31, Chapter 324 [アルカは「女の子」だ]
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 31, Chapter 321 [妹]
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 31, Chapter 322
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 31, Chapter 323
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 31, Chapter 326
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 31, Chapter 328
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 31, Chapter 330
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 32, Chapter 333
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 32, Chapter 335
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 32, Chapter 336
- ↑ Hunter × Hunter - Volume 32, Chapter 338
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