Summary
- The Phantom Troupe are the most menacing villains in Hunter x Hunter, responsible for harrowing moments like the eradication of Kurapika's clan.
- Pakunoda's role in the Troupe was crucial, using her Psychometry ability to gather information and manipulate memories with her memory bombs.
- Pakunoda showed ultimate loyalty by sacrificing her life for the Troupe, revealing key information about Chrollo and the "Chain User."
Out of all the villains in Hunter x Hunter, the Phantom Troupe are the most menacing. A gang with their own Nen abilities used for destruction, the Troupe are responsible for many of the anime's most harrowing moments, such as the eradication of Kurapika's Kurta clan and the harvesting of their precious Scarlet Eyes.
Pakunoda was slick, defiant, and confident, while also carrying out diabolical acts as a Spider. She valued her time in the Phantom Troupe to the point where she was ready to die for it, and she did.
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"Paku"
Meteor City
As the world came to fear this city of victims whose humanity no one even recognized, the Phantom Troupe came into being.
Pakunoda grew up in Meteor City, a waste of a city. Degenerates of the city ensured that it's citizens had no identification certificates, subsequently meaning that they did not exist. This was used as a way to treat them horrendously, such as hunting them. Unfortunately, as is seen with wild animals, the weakest in the pack never survive, which meant that children under fifteen years of age were 70% of the city's hunting victims. Desperate, the only way to ensure safety from the hunt was to align with the mafia for protection, at a price of sharing personnel for defence.
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A Different Kind of Troupe
Pakunoda was not the only member of the Troupe who grew up in Meteor City. In fact, she knew Uvogin, Phinks and even Chrollo from her childhood, where she was affectionately called "Paku". She and Chrollo would learn from educational video tapes which they watched in their church's AV room. The others would stay away from the church for they did not want to be lectured by the priest, Father Lisores.
Chrollo and Pakunoda decided that they would make dubbed versions of their video tape of the show Power Cleaners. With all the learning they did from other language tapes, they were able to translete the show into their local language. To account for the many voices they would need, they recruited other children for the task, namely two girls named Sheila and Sarasa. The dubbed episode was even screened in Father Lisores' church. When the video lost sound, the children dubbed the episode live on microphones. This was incredibly well received, with people volunteering to be a part of the next few episodes. Slowly, a troupe of actors were being formed of people we will see in the current Phantom Troupe such as Nobunaga and Franklin.
The Phantom Troupe is Born
One day, Sarasa did not come for rehearsal, which was unusual. It turns out that she has not been seen in a day. On performance night, Chrollo announced that the show is cancelled because Sarasa has gone missing. The troupe and audience volunteered to search for her. There have been reports of kidnappings recently, so everyone was worried. Sadly, Paku and the others found Sarasa in the forest, dead and in a bag suspended by a tree branch.
To avenge her, Chrollo founded the Phantom Troupe, which consisted of Pakunoda, Uvogin, Franklin, Machi, Feitan, Nobunaga and Shalnark. The Troupe went on to travel, including massacreing the Kurta clan.
Pakunoda's Role in the Phantom Troupe
While Pakunoda was not known for being much of a physical fighter, her true strengths were utlized in memory collection. Pakunoda was a Specialist who used Psychometry, a Nen ability that operates on the mind. Using Psychometry, she was able to see into people's memories. This is an incredibly powerful tool for the Troupe, for Pakunoda was able to tell if someone is lying, learn their weaknesses and even expose their secrets. Additionally, she could tell what happened in a room by reading into an object. She may not have be the first choice on the battlefield, but Pakunoda was useful for gathering information, which can be just as dangerous as physical Nen attacks.
That does not mean that she was unarmed. Pakunoda normally wielded a gun full of "memory bombs", bullets charged with her Nen. The bullets contained memories that she shot into victims heads. Another creative way she used this was if she extracted a memory from someone and shot it back into their head, they would forget the memory.
How Pakunoda Used Her Nen
Pakunoda was prevalent in the York New City Arc of Hunter x Hunter. Here, the focus is on an auction which is selling very valuable items, including the famous Greed Island game. The game is a clue to Gon's father, so he and his friends try to obtain it, only to be intercepted by the Phantom Troupe.
As part of the Troupe's goal to steal the items on auction, Pakunoda was instrumental. Using her Psychometry abilities, she obtained information from the auction staff and even Kurapika. With the information she was gathering, she helped the Troupe evade capture, as well.
Pakunoda's Loyalty to the Phantom Troupe
Kurapika used his Judgement Chain ability on Chrollo when he captured him. His request to Pakunoda, who witnessed this as the group's negotiator, was to let Gon and Killua go unharmed and not to tell the rest of the Troupe about him. In exchange he will release Chrollo back to the Troupe.
Pakunoda and Kurapika are motivated by the same thing: to rescue their friends. Melody notices this, since she can tell Pakunoda's intentions based on her heartbeat. Pakunoda believed Kurapika's deal, and did not suspect that this was a trick from him. She makes good on her word and returns Gon and Killua safely at Lingan airport, and Chrollo went back to his Troupe.
Her Tragic Last Moments
After Chrollo reunites with Hisoka, Pakunoda returned to the rest of the Troupe. It turned out that Kurapika used his Judgement Chain on her as well. Since she was not able to reveal him, she charged six memory bombs with her memories and shot them at the remaining founding members of the Troupe. Doing this killed her, but now the Troupe know exactly what happened with Chrollo and who the mysterious "Chain User" is.
Pakunoda displayed the ultimate act of loyalty, which was to sacrifice her life for the benefit of the group. With her information, the Troupe have pivotal information on how to proceed with their mission.
Hunter x Hunter
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- 1999 - 2001-00-00
