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"War changes the enemy's institutions through force. Combat annihilates the enemy's will itself through force. To wield such a force is to be willing to face death!!"

— Halkenburg Hui Guo Rou in "Awakening"

Halkenburg Hui Guo Rou (ハルケンブルグ゠ホイコーロ, Harukenburugu Hoikōro) is the Ninth Prince of the Kakin Empire and the son of his father's second wife, Duazul.[1]

Appearance[]

Halkenburg has a set of sharp curly hair, shared with his brother Luzurus and his sisters Camilla and Tubeppa, and sideburns of the same color. He has a mashed-in nose. His first appearance sees him wearing a suit.[1]

Personality[]

He has a poor relationship with his mother and two sisters and finds the only person he likes to be his brother Tserriednich. He intends to change the politics of the royal family, openly opposing them. Kurapika speculated he suffers from angst and alienation, and that he is strict on himself and others, as later confirmed by Oito.[2]

Chap 375 - Halkenburg cries

Halkenburg cries over Momoze's death

He is also a pacifist. Unlike his siblings, he has no intention on continuing with the succession battle, refusing to win his crown through bloodshed by committing fratricide and sororicide.[3] Furthermore, he had his subordinates offer a silent prayer for Prince Momoze and is deeply saddened by her demise. He is determined to stop the Succession War and undeterred by the risk of imprisonment.[4] He has a good relationship with his subordinates as well, as he is horrified to find his bodyguards unconscious on the floor under some mysterious circumstances.[5] When he wakes up, the now conscious bodyguards give him a friendly greeting.[6]

Although it took a visible emotional toll on him, Halkenburg was willing to kill his father and start a revolution to stop the succession contest and change Kakin. When he failed, he immediately attempted suicide to escape Nasubi's machinations. However, he survived and was swayed by his father's philosophy, who told him that the lives of the princes mean little against those of the people and that whatever change Halkenburg wants to make, he must make himself after seizing power. This made him willing to win the right to the crown.[7] On the day of the banquet, Prince Halkenburg is briefly immobilized by the music of Melody's flute performance.[8]

Background[]

While in grade school, he was admitted to boarding school. The isolation caused rumors of him being exiled and hiding from assassins arose. He posted on Facebox that Tserriednich is the only prince with whom he has an amiable disposition. At age 15, he skipped grades to attend the world's most prestigious university, Miwal. He studied physics there and also won a silver medal in the world championships of archery he participated in. At some point, he proposed a change in the Kakin royal family's government which gave him supporters, but also enemies.[2]

Plot[]

Succession Contest arc[]

Halkenburg is introduced standing in front of a bookcase, engrossed reading a book.[1] Kurapika researches him because he believes that he can get close to Tserriednich via Halkenburg. Halkenburg, however, did not send any request for bodyguards and it was really the eighth wife of King Nasubi, Queen Oito.[2]

Chap 358 - Tserriednich and Halkenburg

Halkenburg with Prince Tserriednich

On August 8th, Halkenburg participates in the ceremony on the eve of the voyage and waves to the audience. He then takes part in a formal event, where he is talking to Tserriednich. Like the rest of his family, he will reside in the 1st deck of the Black Whale.[9]

Chap 361 - Halkenberg confronts Nasubi

Prince Halkenburg confronts his father

During the first dinner banquet, Halkenburg approaches his father for a private conversation. He informs his father that he's withdrawing from the Succession War, believing that he does not need to win his crown through bloodshed. He also explains that he only went through all the formalities to save his face for his father. As he speaks, his Guardian Spirit Beast perched idly on his shoulders and with a smile, King Nasubi accepts his withdrawal.[3] Returning to his quarters, Halkenburg is left in shock and horror upon returning to his private quarters, seeing all fifteen of his bodyguards knocked out unconscious under some mysterious circumstances.[5] Awakening from his rest, Halkenburg rushes into the next room and sees that all of his previously unconscious bodyguards are all alive and well. He contemplates if the whole situation was a dream, but also notices a pinion attached to his left wrist.[6]

Halkenburg agrees to send his bodyguards to learn Nen under Kurapika.[10] After inferring the pinions on the back of his and the bodyguards' hands are somehow connected to his Guardian Spirit Beast, he sends Yuhirai and Shedule and allows the two to divulge any information they have to offer.[11]

Chap 375 - Halkenburg's power

Halkenburg and bodyguards partake in a prayer

The following morning, he gathers his bodyguards to have a moment of silent prayer for Prince Momoze. Unbeknownst to him, this causes the aura of all his bodyguards to spike. Afterward, he resolves to speak with his father again to beg him to stop the Succession War. When a guard reminds him that any audience with the King is forbidden until the next banquet, Halkenburg retorts he welcomes disqualification. The guard tries to dissuade him as he risks imprisonment. Shedding tears, the prince declares that doing nothing while his siblings are murdered is the same as letting them die. Five bodyguards plus Shikaku accompany him.[4]

The royal army, however, denies him entry. Halkenburg insists on leaving them a letter for his father, but his interlocutor states the best he can do is hand it to the Grand Chamberlain and that the Ninth Prince should simply give it directly to the king at the next banquet. Halkenburg objects it will be too late by then and promises to return the following day with another letter, and so on until he is granted an audience.[12]

Chap 382 - Halkenburg shoots the King

The bullet Halkenburg fires at his father freezes in midair

True to his words, he shows up every day, until on the fourth day, the army guards lower do not have their guns at the ready, his Guardian Spirit Beasts puts Shikaku to sleep. He and his bodyguards pull their guns on the guards and Halkenburg forces his way to his father's room, ordering him at gunpoint to stop the succession contest. Nasubi proclaims that it is out of his hands and that he has no intention of discouraging it. He urges Halkenburg to act, so the prince shoots him, but Nasubi's Guardian Spirit Beast stops the bullet in mid-air. The king summons Nugui, who tells Halkenburg that neither he nor his guards will be punished for his assassination attempt. The prince tries to commit suicide in defiance, but his own Guardian Spirit Beast stops him. Nasubi asks him about the trolley problem, which Halkenburg interprets as the dilemma of choosing between the other princes or the people of the kingdom. Laughing, Nasubi tells him that there is no real choice, since it is the people of Kakin who must survive, and what matters is only who will pull the lever. He declares that if Halkenburg believes a king not to be necessary, he must first pay the moral price and become it.[7]

Swayed, Halkenburg resigns himself to actively participating in the succession contest. He and his men return to Room 1009. Before Shikaku can take his ability, Halkenburg fires an aura arrow at him, taking over his free will in exchange for the body of his subordinate Sumidori.[7] On the day of the banquet, Prince Halkenburg is briefly transfixed by the music of Melody's flute performance.[8]

The following morning Halkenburg formulates conjectures as to what happened to Shikaku's consciousness after he hit him with his arrow. He lists four possibilities: it was destroyed; it went into Sumidori's dormant body; it is still in his body, but suppressed by Sumidori's consciousness; it went somewhere else or in someone else. Since his ability manifested as soon as he resolved to win the succession contest, Halkenburg comes up with a hypothesis which his soldiers regard as sensible. He specifies that he would need a Nen expert's opinion, but to test the extent of his power, he asks Sumidori to commit suicide while in Shikaku's body. Sumidori accepts and, while he rings the doorbell of Prince Luzurus' room, the aura of Halkenburg and his other guards spikes again, only to fade shortly after Sumidori shoots himself. Sumidori's body awakens and Halkenburg demands to know his affiliation and ID number.[13]

On Tuesday morning Halkenburg activates his ability again,[14] rendering Vict's attacks useless and defeating him. Sergeant Balsamilco has him detained based on circumstantial evidence.[15]

Halkenburg's Employees[]

Alive/Active
Deceased
Former/Arrested
Unknown

 Royalty  Personal Guards  Hunters  Provisional Hunters  Spies  Allies  Servants 

Royal Family
9th Prince 2nd Queen
Halkenburg Hui Guo Rou SC Portrait
Halkenburg Hui Guo Rou
Prince Halkenburg's Employees
.
Halkenburg's Personal Guard 1 SC Portrait
???
Halkenburg's Personal Guard 2 SC Portrait
???
.
Halkenburg's Personal Guard 3 SC Portrait
???
Halkenburg's Personal Guard 4 SC Portrait
???
Halkenburg's Personal Guard 5 SC Portrait
???
Halkenburg's Personal Guard 6 SC Portrait
???
Halkenburg's Personal Guard 7 SC Portrait
???
1Q→1P
Halkenburg's Personal Guard 8 SC Portrait
???
Halkenburg's Personal Guard 9 SC Portrait
???
Halkenburg's Personal Guard 10 SC Portrait
???
Halkenburg's Personal Guard 11 SC Portrait
???
Replacements
1P→ 1P→
Legend of Symbols
Symbol Meaning Example Meaning
P prince 1P The 1st Prince.
Q queen 5Q The 5th Queen.
... sent by 1Q→ X is sent by the 1st Queen.
... sent to →14P X is sent to the 14th Prince.
...... reassigned to 2Q→14P X is reassigned by the 2nd Queen to the 14th Prince.
...... was assigned to one or more princes →8P→11P X was assigned to the 8th and 11th Princes.
in charge of a prince's curse 4P♰ The guard is in charge of the 4th Prince's curse.
formerly in charge of a prince's curse 12P♰ The guard is formerly in charge of the 12th Prince's curse.
* Information found in Togashi's notes from "Jump Ryu! Vol. 21" interview 1Q*→ The guard's affiliation is revealed in the notes.
Servant* The employee's position is revealed in the notes.
[name]* The employee's name is revealed in the notes.
? Placeholder
(might hold another position)
Captain? The employee might not be the captain or a personal guard.
? The employee might not be a personal guard.
2Q? The employee might have been sent by another queen.
Placeholder
(might have initially belonged to either Prince Momoze or Prince Marayam)
This particular issue arose when their mother Queen Sevanti sent all of Momoze's Hunters and servants to Marayam. Since we only got to see 4/5 of Momoze's Hunters and 2/3 of her servants by that time, we can't say for certain which prince the marked characters initially belonged to.


Abilities & Powers[]

Chap 361 - Halkenberg's Nen beast

Halkenburg's Guardian Spirit Beast

As a prince of Kakin, Halkenburg holds significant political power and wealth, although not on the level of the elder Princes. The fact he was able to attend the most prestigious university in the world at the age of 15 speaks for an extreme degree of academic intelligence. Furthermore, his intellect is brilliant, causing Kurapika to state that even among his siblings, Halkenburg's achievements excel and stand out. His education should have provided him with impeccable knowledge of physics. Halkenburg is presumably one of the best archers in the world, having won a silver medal in the world championships of archery he participated in. He has a natural charisma since he has a lot of supporters.[2] He has shown to possess a talent for strategy when he used his letters to cause the royal army to lower their guard.[7] He has also given proof of notable analytical abilities while speculating on how his newfound power works without having any prior knowledge of Nen.[13]

Nen[]

After making his resolve to win the succession contest, Halkenburg developed a Nen ability.[7][13] Balsamilco concluded that it was bestowed on him by his Guardian Spirit Beast.[15]

Halkenburg's Nen Abilities
Type: Unknown Possession Arrow*
382 - Halkenburg bow
Chap 382 - Shikaku under the Prince's command
After resolving to win the succession contest,[13] Halkenburg obtained a Nen ability which allows him to harness the aura of his subordinates wearing the Guardian Spirit Beast's mark and turn it into unmatched armor to protect himself as well as into an arrow. Halkenburg's own aura is shaped into a bow. He can then fire an arrow capable of piercing any and all defenses, including Nen abilities that would ordinarily be able to stop an enemy ability, until it makes contact with the target,[7] injecting the consciousness of one of the prince's soldiers into their body. The soldier's body is put in a state akin to sleep, until the death of the target's body.[13]

When the ability manifested, Halkenburg knew how to activate it, but he received no knowledge on its exact mechanics. He does not know what happens to the consciousness of the target, whose it is that inhabits the soldier's body after its awakening, and how the soldier whose consciousness is loaded into the arrow is chosen, a selection which he presumes to be random.[13]

This power was said to be invincible in battles against a single opponent.[7] Benjamin speculated that the speed of the arrow makes it impossible to dodge, to which Balsamilco added that Halkenburg probably needs the resolve to stake his life on each shot.[15] It may incorporate three Nen categories other than Enhancement: Transmutation to form the bow and arrow, Emission to fire it, and Manipulation to control the target. Kurapika observed that the surge of aura followed by its complete disappearance is consistent with certain Emission abilities.[13]

Guardian Spirit Beast[]

Like the rest of his siblings, Halkenburg received an egg from which a Guardian Spirit Beast, a variety of Nen beast, hatched to protect him.[1] As a parasitic-type ability, he has no control over it. The Guardian Spirit Beast is subjected to two rule-like instincts: it is unable to fight other Guardian Spirit Beasts as well as to directly attack the host of one.[5]

Halkenburg's Guardian Spirit Beast
Type: Enhancement (Symbiotic Type)
Chap 372 - feather
Chap 375 - Halkenburg's power
Chap 382 - Halkenburg's GSB prevents death
Halkenburg's Guardian Spirit Beast takes the appearance of a feathered, apish ogre-like creature with one eye, horns and an orifice between its scapulae. It is always seen perched on Halkenburg's shoulders. This Guardian Spirit Beast is an Enhancer with a symbiotic type ability which, owing to its party form, is capable of affecting whole groups. Due to its user's personality,[4] it also makes use of soliciting Manipulation.[16]

It has the capacity to imprint a pinion on the back of Halkenburg's and his guards' left palm,[11] including those serving other queens.[4] With the exception of the prince, everyone who receives the[11] conjured[16] mark is knocked unconscious[11] and, upon awakening, will have their memories modified so they forget passing out.[16] The pinion disappears after 10 minutes if the bearer is not loyal to Halkenburg, but their memories of receiving it remain altered.[4] The Guardian Spirit Beast can also impress its mark to cause the target to pass out, without intending to grant them powers.[7] Bearers of the crest are half-awakened to Nen: they possess a greater amount of aura than normal, but are unable to see it.[16] The more of them gather around the prince, the more their aura can grow; when everyone in the group shares the same will, the force released rises to the top tier of all Nen abilities. Shikaku dreaded that the collective power of Halkenburg and his bodyguards would suffice to wipe out Prince Benjamin's faction.[4]

Kurapika speculated the shared benefits mean that bearers of the crest are pulled into its Limitations, which might be as severe as death if broken.[16] The Guardian Spirit Beast is also intelligent enough to recognize Nen users who can see it and who harbor ill will towards its host. Shikaku feared that, if Prince Halkenburg were to be attacked, it could retaliate by shooting its feathers and modifying the attacker's memory.[4] It has proven capable of preventing Halkenburg from committing suicide by grabbing the bullet before it could reach the prince.[7] It is also possible that Halkenburg's Guardian Spirit Beast bestowed a Nen ability on him[15] as soon as he decided to take on the succession contest with all his strength.[7][13]

Manga Appearances[]

Succession Contest arc
349. Worm Toxin Debut
350. Prince Flashback
351. Battle to the Death Absent
352. Troublesome Absent
353. Cold-Blooded Absent
354. Heat Absent
355. Detonation Absent
356. Unfortunate: Part 1 Absent
357. Unfortunate: Part 2 Absent
358. Eve Appears
359. Departure Absent
360. Parasite Absent
361. Withdraw Appears
362. Resolve Appears
363. Nen Beast Absent
364. Speculation Absent
365. Choice Absent
366. To Each His Own Appears
367. Synchronization Absent
368. Foul Play Absent
369. Limits Flashback
370. Observation Absent
371. Mission Absent
372. Disappearance Mentioned
373. Inheritance Absent
374. Ability Pictured
375. Persuasion Appears
376. Determination Appears
377. Scheme Absent
378. Balance Absent
379. Collaboration Absent
380. Alarm Absent
381. Predation Absent
382. Awakening Appears
383. Escape Appears
384. War Absent
385. Warning Absent
386. Hypothesis Appears
387. Recreation Absent
388. Reflection Mentioned
389. Curse Appears
390. Clash: Part 1 Absent
391. Clash: Part 2 Absent
392. Information Absent
393. Plea Absent
394. Hypothesis Absent
395. Founding: Part 1 Absent
396. Founding: Part 2 Absent
397. Founding: Part 3 Absent
398. Search Absent
399. Expulsion Absent
400. Secrecy Absent

Battles[]

Battles
  • Succession Contest arc:
    • Halkenburg and his bodyguards vs. Shikaku[7]

Quotes[]

  • (To Nasubi) "I don't desire a bloody throne."[3]
  • (To a bodyguard) "If I do nothing and there's another victim, I might as well have killed them myself!"[4]
  • (To a guard) "I'll come again tomorrow. With the letter. Until he sees me, I'll keep coming... the next day, and the next. don't desire a bloody throne."[12]

Trivia[]

Intertextuality and References[]

Translations around the World[]

Language Name
The Arab world Flag Arabic هالكينبيرگ هوي گو رو
France Flag French Harukenburugu Hoicoro
South Korea Flag Korean 할켄부르그 호이코오로 (Halkenbuleugeu Hoikoolo)

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 33, Chapter 349
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 33, Chapter 350
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 35, Chapter 361
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 36, Chapter 375
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 35, Chapter 362
  6. 6.0 6.1 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 35, Chapter 366
  7. 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 37, Chapter 382
  8. 8.0 8.1 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 36, Chapter 383
  9. Hunter × Hunter - Volume 34, Chapter 358
  10. Hunter × Hunter - Volume 35, Chapter 368
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 35, Chapter 369
  12. 12.0 12.1 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 36, Chapter 376
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6 13.7 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 37, Chapter 386
  14. Hunter × Hunter - Volume 37, Chapter 388
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 37, Chapter 389
  16. 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 Hunter × Hunter - Volume 36, Chapter 372

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