Silhouette of some of the Hunters seen throughout the series.
The Hunter Association (ハンター協会, Hantā Kyōkai) is responsible for the testing and licensing of "Hunters" (ハンター, Hantā), individuals who have proven themselves through rigorous examination to be elite members of humanity. With the passing of the examination, a Hunter is rewarded with a license to go almost anywhere in the world or do almost anything. Typically, Hunters devote themselves to tracking down priceless items, mystical places, and the unseen wonders of the world. By the time the election for the 13th chairman began, the association counted 661 Hunters.
The Profession
A Hunter's job is not only that of looking for treasures and hunting animals. True Hunters dedicate themselves to the protection of knowledge, people and nature. They must preserve culturally precious items or species of animals and plants they are able to discover. Furthermore, they must also arrest criminals and in rare cases even fellow Hunters who have committed heinous crimes.[1]
Hunter License
Hunter License
A Hunter license is a type of card given exclusively to Hunters after they pass the Hunter Exam. It proves the status of the owner and has multiple benefits. It also grants the ability to kill without facing any legal consequences. A Hunter license also grants access to guarded information as well as being an easy way to get a job just by showing it.
The Hunter Commandments
- Hunters must hunt something.
- All Hunters require a minimum level of martial proficiency. Being able to use Nen is the minimum level necessary.
- No matter what may happen, one who has become a Hunter will never have their title revoked. However, no matter the circumstances, a Hunter license will never be issued a second time.
- Hunters may not hunt their fellow Hunters, except for those who have committed atrocities.
- Hunters who achieve extraordinary accomplishments in a certain field will receive a star.
- Veteran Hunters who have received a star, become superior officers, and have had their students receive a star will receive two stars.
- Hunters with two stars who achieve extraordinary accomplishments in multiple fields will receive three stars.
- If the Hunter in charge does not receive a minimum level of support, then they will have their post removed. In this case, the minimum level is the support from the majority of his fellow Hunters. If the seat of chairman becomes open, an election for the next chairman must happen immediately. The vice-chairman is to be left in charge until the new chairman is decided.
- The chairman decides how new Hunters are chosen. But in order to make a great change in the existing method, he must receive support from the majority.
- Everything not written here is to be decided by the chairman, vice-chairman, and their advisers. The chairman has the right to choose who becomes the vice-chairman and advisers.
Becoming a Hunter
To become a Professional Hunter, two requirements have to be fulfilled: passing the Hunter Exam and The Secret Hunter Exam.
Hunter Exam
Finding the Exam
The Hunter Exam takes place annually in the second week of January. All applicants are held in equal consideration. Reaching the area in which the Hunter Examination is held is an extremely difficult challenge because there are too many applicants each year for the Proctors to see them all. To reduce the number of applicants, the Hunter Association hires judges (like the Captain) to pick out the best candidates to proceed to the area where the Hunter Exam is held. If you an applicant is deemed unworthy by one of these judges, they will be turned away even if they make it to the Examination site.
Once this area has been reached, candidates have to make their way to the Hunter Examination site. However, no applicant knows when or where the Hunter Examination will be held and it is impossible to find without a Navigator. All candidates must find a Navigator to take them to the exam, but to do this they must pass a series of test and traps. In fact, the Navigators themselves will set up a test for the candidates to see if they are good enough to take the Hunter Exam. If such test is passed, the Navigators will take the applicants to the floor of the First Phase.
The Hunter Exam
The Hunter Exam is organized in a varying amount of Phases, with each Phase being designed to test the candidates' skills and potential—they are also used to reduce the number of candidates. There are usually 4 to 6 Phases required to complete the Hunter Exam. In the Nippon Animation adaptation of the anime, bonus stages are added to further test the candidates. The content of each Phase changes every year so as not to give an advantage to returning applicants, the Proctors change each year as well; Proctors decide what the Phases will test. Chairman Netero oversees the exam and settles disputes between Proctors when necessary.
Known Hunter Exams
267th Hunter Exam
Passed by:
Passed by:
Seven new hunters
Passed by:
289th Hunter Examination
Passed by:
The Secret Hunter Exam
Although the formal examination annually occurs during the first week in January, there is a second, unstated part of the Hunter Examination that requires every Pro Hunter to go out into the world and accomplish: learning the basic principles of Nen. One only officially becomes a professional Hunter after passing the Exam; a Hunter is only considered as such by his peers when he learns how to use Nen. It doesn't matter how long it takes, but one will be unable to take on most Hunter jobs without learning the skill—Nen is seen as the minimum required martial skill to become a Hunter. To meet this requirement, a Hunter must either find a teacher and learn in secrecy (because doing so in public augments the risk of people with ill intent learning a potentially dangerous skill) or through a method known as initiation. However, some already have knowledge of Nen before entering the exam and are thus instantly "qualified" if they pass it. It is known so far that all Hunters find a way to start their training shortly after the exam, therefore the difficulty of this requirement is reduced mostly to one's own adaptability to learn Nen.
Types of Hunters
Professional Hunters generally choose a field of specialization. Hunters who don't have one are addressed as "rookies".
Archaeological Hunters
Hunters who are dedicated to uncovering ruins and reviving ancient societies.
| Ruins Hunters | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Beast Hunters
Hunters who feel a deep love for nature; their job involves the study and preservation of undiscovered animal species. There are two subcategories of Beast Hunter—Exotic Game Hunters and UMA (Unidentified Mysterious Animal) Hunters.
| Beast Hunters | ||
|---|---|---|
| Beast Hunter | Hunter of Fantastic Beasts | Unidentified Beast Hunter |
Blacklist Hunters
Hunters who dedicate their skills to tracking down dangerous and wanted criminals.
| Blacklist Hunters | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Botanical Hunters
Hunters with a great knowledge about plants, that also search and collect them.
| Botanical Hunters | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Contract Hunters
Hunters who are hired by corporations in order to do specific jobs, such as biological survey, ecological research or any other miscellaneous job.
Template:Contract Hunters Gallery
Crime Hunters
Hunters who try to reveal mysterious cases in the crime world.
| Crime Hunters | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Deep Sea Hunters
Hunters who operate in seas looking either for animals or treasure.
| Sea Hunters | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Gourmet Hunters
Hunters whose goal is to find and collect rare ingredients, then bring their flavors to life by using new and creative styles of cooking recipes.
| Gourmet Hunters | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Hacker Hunters
Hunters who have vast knowledge of computers and specialize in working with the Internet and dealing with cyber crimes.
| Hacker Hunters | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Head Hunters
Hunters who specialize in discovering and cultivating new talents.
| Head Hunters |
|---|
Information Hunters
Hunters who love knowledge of all sorts and will go to great lengths to uncover rare or hidden bits of information. Common activities for Information Hunters include searching for rare books, hacking to retrieve protected data, and tracking down people who know desired facts.
Template:Information Hunters Gallery
Jackpot Hunters
Hunters who have only one goal: earning money, so they find rich people and make deals/contracts with them.
| Jackpot Hunters | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Lost Hunters
Hunters who specialize in seeking those from whom contact has been lost, including members of the Hunters Association.
| Lost Hunters | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Music Hunters
Catered towards the musically talented, Music Hunters are ones in pursuit of rare musical pieces.
| Music Hunters | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Paleograph Hunters
Hunters specialized into learning and translating ancient and lost languages.
| Paleograph Hunters | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Poacher Hunters
Hunters who are dedicated to study animals and protect them from poachers.
| Poacher Hunters | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Poison Hunters
Hunters specialized in various poisons and their pharmaceutical usage.
| Poison Hunters | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Provisional Hunters
Hunter candidates who passed the 289th Hunter Exam. There are about 150 of them. They were recruited as temporary support personnel so the Hunter Association could gain more allies in preparation for the expedition to the Dark Continent. The second Hunter bylaw was modified so they could be admitted even if they could not use Nen.
Temp Hunters
Hunters with governmental jobs subcontracted to them from the Hunters Association. Depending on the difficulty of the job and risks involved, they are guaranteed a standard fee for a job taken. Some Hunters choose to make this their career and are subsequently ridiculed by professional Hunters for doing so. The Hunters Association receives a plethora of applications depending on the job, and a review board assigns Temps based upon their skills and aptitude.
| Temp Hunters | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Terrorist Hunters
Hunters specialized into tracking down terrorists and into preventing terrorist attacks.
| Terrorist Hunters | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Treasure Hunters
Hunters who scour the world in search of rare and valuable items.
| Treasure Hunters | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stone Hunter | Treasure Hunter | |||
Trouble Hunters
Unknown Specifics
| Problem Hunters | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Virus Hunters
Hunters who try to find new elements to cure immedicable diseases.
| Disease/Virus Hunters | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Disease Hunter | Virus Hunter | |||
Youth and Beauty Hunters
Hunters whose main goal is to maintain the beauty of people and make them look younger despite their age.
| Cute Hunters |
|---|
Trivia
- "D Hunter" is the eponymous protagonist of a book narrating the adventures of a Hunter.[2] It is unknown if that is one of the specializations available to Hunters or if that is merely the character's name.
- Of the 100 richest people in the Hunter × Hunter universe, 60 are Hunters.[1]
References