Phantom Troupe

The Phantom Troupe are an anime and manga team that features in Hunter x Hunter.

History

Phantom Troupe (Japanese: 幻影旅団? Genei Ryodan Literally meaning: Ghost Brigade) were a gang of thieves that operated in the world that were founded by Chrollo Lucilfer at Meteor City. He gathered six individuals that included; Feitan, Machi, Uvogin, Nobunaga Hazama, Pakunoda, Franklin, Phinks, and Shalnark. Around seven years ago, the Troupe had been gathered by their leader Chrollo Lucilfer to an isolated village occupied by the Kurta Clan. The clan were noted for their scarlet eyes when seeing extreme emotions and for being notable fighters. However, the eyes were seen as unusual and something that was desired by Lucilfer with the Troupe being sent to kill the clan to acquire their eyes. Despite their skill, the Kurta Clan was largely wiped out with the eyes being taken. Uvogin had been a member during this time and had enjoyed the battle against such skilled foes though had no regrets for killing them. Years ago, Silva Zoldyck of the Zoldyck Family of assassins was noted to had killed one of the spiders and noted that no bounty was worth the price to fight the rest of the Troupe. It was said that the last time the Troupe had gathered together with all of its members was three years ago.

Lucilfer decided to dispatch the Troupe for a mission to raid the Yorknew auction and steal everything there despite the fact that this would cause hostilities with every faction there. Members of the group then infiltrated the city to go to the underground auction where they proceeded to massacre the mafia members there in order to steal the contents of the vault. Upon killing them, they discovered that the vault was empty and had been emptied before the attack initially leading to some in the Troupe that they had a traitor among their ranks. However, Lucilfer believed that this was not the case as the mafia were not as prepared to confront them and as such the move was by some other means. Their leader then commanded that they combat the mafia in order to discern the reason they emptied the vault. With the Troupe's power, the mafia decided to unleash their own powerful group of Nen users known as the Shadow Beasts to fight them. Members of the mafia had managed to reach the Troupe and attempted to kill them only to be massacred by one of their Nen users at which point the Shadow Beasts arrived for a confrontation between the two sides. The Phantom Troupe member Uvogin managed to slay the four Shadow Beast members by himself only to be captured by Kurapika with his comrades seeking to free him. The Troupe attempted to catch up with them but lost them after being confronted by the remaining members of the Shadow Beasts who they easily eliminated and discovered the location of the auction treasures from one of them that they retrieved. Afterwards, they managed to find the location holding Uvogin and staged a rescue of him where he after his release sought revenge on Kurapika for capturing him. Kurapika used his unique Nen talents to defeat Uvogin who he tortured for information about the Troupe but the assassin refused and was killed as a result.

During this time, the Ten Dons of the Mafia had set up a large bounty for the death of all members of the Phantom Troupe. This saw Killua Zoldyck and Gon Freecss follow two of the Troupe only to be captured by them where they were interrogated for information on the chain user that killed Uvogin. After interrogating the two, they determined that the two boys had no knowledge of the chain user and were prepared to let them go but Nobunaga had become impressed with Gon to the point that he intended to convince their leader to recruit him. The rest of the spiders departed to find the chain user whilst Nobunaga kept a watch over the two captives until Chrollo returned but Gon and Killua managed to trick their captor whereupon they escaped from their headquarters. In the mean time, Lucilfer had decided to avenge Uvogin by staging a massive assault at the Mafia's new auction where he infiltrated the site and then commanded the spiders to massacre everyone in a grand show. Whilst fighting the Zoldyck Family, the hit on Chrollo's life was called off after the Ten Mafia Dons were eliminated thus leading to Silva and Zeno Zoldyck determining that there was no point in fighting further. Lucilfer then had Kortopi use his conjurer ability to make copies of all the Troupe members and made the unloving corpses appear as they were killed fighting the Mafia forces. At the same time, they infiltrated the auction where Kortopi used his powers to make fake duplicates of the auction items that they stole and absconded the money that was paid for the replicas. In the aftermath, Nobunaga intended to kill the chain user that caused the death of Uvogin but Chrollo had decided to withdraw from Yorknew City as he had stolen Neon Nostrade's fortune telling ability which spoke of a prophecy that said that half the Troupe would be killed by the chain user if they confronted him. However, Hisoka's prophecy was secretly altered by himself in order to convince the Troupe that if they left that he and others would die forcing Lucilfer to decide to remain but kept the spiders in groups of three as they waited to confront the chain user.

Chrollo later determined that the chain user was a survivor of the Kurta Clan who had joined the Nostrade Family to recover the scarlet eyes of his dead clansmen and to eliminate the Troupe but they did not know the identity of the individual. However, they determined that the place to discover it would be the Nostrades who had acquired the scarlet eyes from the auction with this being a copy made by Kortopi. Using Kortopi's ability, they tracked the location of the eyes with Lucilfer dividing the Troupe into large groups to prevent an ambush. Lucilfer, Machi and Shizuku discovered they were being pursued where they found Gon and Killua who they took captive as they believed the pair had some connection to the chain user. Meanwhile, Nobunaga, Kortopi and Pakunoda pursued one of the Nostrade's bodyguards who was on the run and had the fake scarlet eyes. They captured the bodyguard with Pakunoda using her power to probe his mind and they discovered the identity of the chain user who was Kurapika. At the same time, Chrollo's group took their captives to a nearby hotel as they prepared to confront the chain user. In that moment, the lights in the building went dark whereupon Gon and Killua attempted their escape only to be captured by the Troupe. However, during the confusion, the chain user managed to capture Chrollo and used him as a hostage with the Troupe being given demands. The Troupe at this point was divided between ensuring their boss lived or letting him die but the majority went with the former with them complying with the chain user. They kept Gon and Killua hostage with Pakunoda being given instructions not to reveal anything she had gained from the boys minds otherwise Lucilfer was going to be killed. She was instructed to meet with the chain user alone with the rest of the Troupe told to remain at their headquarters for the time being and should not harm their hostages. At the meeting, Kurapika offered two sets of conditions in exchange for a trade of the hostages. The first being that Chrollo had to be pierced by the judgement chain that placed conditions that prevented Lucilfer from meeting the Phantom Troupe and using Nen with any breaking of these terms leading to his death. The second was that Pakunoda herself had to agree to be pierced by the judgement chain preventing her from revealing anything about him to the Phantom Troupe otherwise she would die. Pakunoda agreed with Gon and Killua exchange for Chrollo with Hisoka revealing that he intended to fight Lucilfer but decided not to fight after finding out that the Troupe leader could not use Nen anymore.

In the aftermath, the Troupe was deeply divided with half of their number believing that the should have led Chrollo die as that was his orders whilst the other half desired him to live. Those that wanted to leave Chrollo even were ready to turn on their comrades believing them to be traitors but were waiting to see if the boss had returned. Only Pakunoda arrived which nearly led to hostilities breaking out but she used her Nen memory bullets to pass her knowledge to the six surviving founding members though this broke the terms of the judgement chain thus killing her. Initially, it was believed the Troupe had left Yorknew City though in actuality they remained with several of them being involved in the Greed Island event. They later learnt that their leader Chrollo had journeyed to the island with the intention of completing it and seeking one of its masters so that they could use their power to remove the Nen chain placed on his heart. Upon learning this, they sought to aid him in achieving his goal so that he could resume his position as the leader of the Troupe. By this point, they had recruited a replacement for Hisoka with this being Kalluto Zoldyck who they had help them find the Nen exorcist located on Greed Island.

During the Chimera Ants invasion, the various commanders of their forces of these rapidly evolved insectoids sought to claim their own respective territories following the death of their Queen. Among them was Zazan who built a nest at Meteor City and started preying on its human population. The Phantom Troupe arrived at the scene where they massacred the Chimera Ants with Feitan personally eliminating Zazan. The Troupe members then encounter the transformed Meteor City residents, who all beg to be killed. However, Phinks refuses to do so and orders them to show what spirit they still have left as Meteor City natives. The other members ready their weapons, and after the Troupe members easily take care of the transformed residents and return to the city, they decide to stay and take care of any more Ants that appear. However, Shalnark receives a text from Nobunaga asking for help, and Phinks is left disappointed that it wasn't Chrollo contacting them, saying that he hates having to wait. Shalnark and Feitan jokingly tell Phinks that he’s acting like a girl with a crush, and Phinks angrily tosses rubble at the two injured Troupe members as they run away from him. By this point, Chrollo looked to have his match against Hisoka and acquired the abilities of both Shalnark as well as Kortopi for his arsenal. This led to him meeting Morrow at Heavens Arena in order for the pair to begin their fight to the death.

When Hisoka is left confused by Illumi’s mention of Ants and Netero’s death, Illumi tells him that he missed a lot while he was chasing after Chrollo, adding that he might have had the chance to fight the Ants or Netero otherwise.

Overview

In appearance, the Phantom Troupe were a group of thieves who stated that they took what they wanted. Each was noted for being a powerful Nen user and being highly talented warriors. In total, they consisted of 13 members each of whom had a twelve legged spider tattoo on their body with a number designating their place in the Troupe. Due to the tattoo, they were also referred to as the spiders (スパイダー, supaidā). Replacement of their number could be achieved in one of two different ways. One involved them being killed by a challenger in which case their killer took their place in the ranks of the Phantom Troupe. If the Troupe member died in an event, then their vacancy was filled by the leaders group who was responsible for finding a replacement member. Troupe members were capable of nominating a person to replace a fallen member and had to bring their potential recruit to the leader who was capable of refusing the suggestion. Physical fighting was not allowed between members of the Phantom Troupe with disputes settled by a flip of a coin with the two spiders deciding to choose one of the two sides to represent them and the loser followed the winners decision. It was said that the Troupe did not take a tally of their kills as this was irrelevant to them. Those familiar with the group referred to them as spiders due to it being their insignia. Typically, they stole and killed as part of their activities but it was said that on occasion they did philanthropic work.

Decisions by the Troupe's leader were expected to be followed by the group. According to their leader, the survival of the group was paramount over that of any individual including the boss. It was stated that an individual members life including their leader should be sacrificed if it meant the continued survival of the collective group. This was because it was held that the 'spider' had to survive even if its 'head' was lost. Despite that being the case, members of the Troupe believed that they could not function without their founder. An unspoken rule of the Troupe was to bring targets back either dead or alive. The physical rankings of the Troupe members strength was determined by arm-wrestling.

The members of the Phantom Troupe will slaughter anyone without hesitation. However, the group as a whole seemingly cared deeply about each other. Gon asked both Nabunaga and Chrollo about this, and neither gave a clear explanation. Feitan and Phinks decided not to kill Gon and Killua when they discovered that they refused to kill Pakunoda when they had the chance to do so. Serious fights are prohibited among Phantom Troupe members. Since no member outranks another, if a clash of opinions cannot be solved through discussion, coin tossing is used to settle the quarrel. However, disputes solved by the coin are only between two individuals. The coin used was custom-made, with the heads side sporting the group's signature twelve-legged spider and the tails side depicting a spider's web.

It was stated that they sometimes engage in 'philanthropic work'.

Members

• Chrollo Lucilfer (クロロ゠ルシルフル, Kuroro Rushirufuru) : a male specialist Nen user who was the founder and leader of the Troupe who was member #0 with the ability to steal another persons ability so long as the conditions were met.
• Nobunaga Hazama (ノブナガ゠ハザマ, Nobunaga Hazama) : a male whose hair was tied into a ponytail who was an enhancer type Nen user and ranked as member #1 in the Troupe.
• Feitan(フェイタン゠ポートオ, Feitan Pōtoo) : a dark haired male who was a transmitter Nen user who was member #2 and the fifth physically strongest in the group.
• Machi Komacine (マチ゠コマチネ, Machi Komachine) : a short female member with long pink hair who was a transmuter Nen user and member #3 in the Troupe.
• Phinks Magcub (フィンクス゠マグカブ, Finkusu Magukabu) : a blonde haired male who was an enhancer Nen user and ranked as member #4 in the Troupe.
• Franklin Bordeau (フランクリン゠ボルドー, Furankurin Borudō) : a male emitter Nen user who had a large build and could fire Nen bullets from his fingers who was ranked as member #7 in the Troupe.
• Hisoka Morow : a male manipulator Nen user who had killed the former fourth member of the Troupe in order to infiltrate their ranks so that he could battle their leader Chrollo Lucilfer.
• Kalluto :
• Kortopi : a male conjurer who had the ability to make replicas of ranging from artifacts to unliving copies of individuals to multiple buildings with him able to see anything around them by having physical contact with the original allowing him to track the object.
• Pakunoda : a female specialist who has the ability to probe memories of people to find the truth which she could also shoot memory bullets into the minds of others thus sharing the information directly with others.
• Bonolenov Ndongo (ボノレノフ゠ンドンゴ, Bonorenofu Ndongo) : a male member wrapped in bandages who had cultivated several Nen styles that seemingly were conjuration based where he was member #10.
• Shalnark :
• Shizuku Murasaki (シズク゠ムラサキ, Shizuku Murasaki) : a petite young woman with short-layered black hair and brown eyes. She had a large bust, slim waist, and wide hips, giving her an hourglass figure. She was a conjuror Nen user called Blinky that took the form of a vacuum cleaner able to suck anything within it.
• Uvogin (ウボォーギン, Ubōgin) : a powerful male enhancer Nen user with long hair who used brute strength to fight and typically fought alone with him being killed in a one-on-one battle with Kurapika.

Notes

• The Phantom Troupe was created by Yoshihiro Togashi where they featured in the setting of the Hunter x Hunter universe.
• In the official databook, the group's name was also spelled as 'Geneiryodan'.

In other media

Television

• In Hunter x Hunter, the Phantom Troupe appeared in the setting of the 1999 anime television series.
• In Hunter x Hunter, the Phantom Trope appeared in the setting of the 2011 anime television series.

Films

• In Hunter x Hunter: Phantom Rouge, the Phantom Troupe appeared in the setting of the non-canon film. It was shown that one of their members had been Omokage who would leave their ranks leading to their recruitment of Hisoka. Afterwards, Omokage manipulated the corpses of Uvogin, Pakunoda, and the Shadow Beasts to attack Nobunaga and Machi, only for Nobunaga to quickly dispose of them. The Troupe wanted to settle scores with Omokage due to reviving Uvogin and Pakunoda as puppets bent to his will.

Appearances

• Hunter x Hunter:

External Links

• Hunter x Hunter Wiki Entry
• Comicvine Entry

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