5. Knuckle – The Numbers Fighter
Who is he? Knuckle Bine is a member of the Hunter Association and appears in the Chimera Ant
arc. At first glance, he seems like a rough street thug – but his true nature stands in stark contrast to his appearance. Knuckle is an emotional, compassionate person who places great value on justice and morality.
Despite his striking power, he avoids unnecessary violence and even questions the mission to exterminate the Chimera Ants. Instead of blindly following orders, he wants to first understand whether the Chimera Ants are truly evil at heart.
What does he use as a weapon? Knuckle’s Nen ability, “Hakoware”, is unique and stands out significantly from the other abilities in Hunter x Hunter. The ability works by Knuckle granting his opponent his aura with a hit, after which “Potclean”, a kind of cute mascot, appears on the opponent. From then on, Potclean begins to continuously “grant” Knuckle’s aura, represented as a debt system – comparable to a loan.
Potclean shows the amount of accumulated aura debt on a large digital display on its forehead. This debt grows through interest, which is 10% every 10 seconds. If the opponent hits Knuckle, a part of the debt is repaid.
However, once the accumulated debt exceeds the opponent’s total available aura, the opponent is considered bankrupt. At that moment, Potclean transforms into a demonically looking being, the “Individual Ren Suppressor”, which forces the opponent into a Zetsu state for 30 days – during which the opponent can no longer use any Nen.
The weapons in Hunter x Hunter are as unique as the world they exist in – and this is primarily thanks to the creative mind behind the series. However, this very person has been struggling with health issues for years, which repeatedly leads to long breaks in the manga: Creator of a well-known manga has to pause due to their health condition
