Nen Essay Of Doom Okay, the following is a giant but hopefully concise essay on 'Nen', the 'magic' or 'ki'

ability used in Hunter x Hunter. The REASON an essay is needed is that, quite simply, Nen is never explained very well in the manga. While it is explained in detail and is more-or-less easy to understand, explanations come in great jumps after many chapters, and it's hard to remember everything that was said previously. A lot of it is also learned via context. However. As both Gon and Killua are played after the Greed Island arc, they are quite powerful and reasonably competent with Nen, which they will ofte n use without thinking. So first, the terms as they introduced in canon, and an explanation of each. Nen is the ability to freely manipulate the body's energy, or the 'aura'. Ten is the part of Nen that is used to regulate the aura. Basically, the body pr oduces an aura and it slowly leaks out of them into the nether. By using Ten no leak will occur, thus saving more power to be used. Maintaining Ten surrounds the body with the aura and will protect it from damage and aging. Shouko are the openings in the body which contain the aura to within the body. I t is from these that most people gradually leak the aura. The Shouko are opened in order to release the aura, and then Ten is used to maintain it around the bod y. Zetsu is the technique used to separate one's self from their aura, thus making it impossible to detect someone from their aura, or to allow their body to recov er from exhaustion. Zetsu occurs when the shouko are all completely shut. Think of a computer being in 'sleep' mode. On but using minimal power. Ren is used to make the power of the aura rise in special situations. It is the Will of the person who uses the aura, aka powering up. Being told to "show your Ren" is also a term used to say "show your strength in Nen" which does not mean simply 'powering up' but also using that power with the next stage, Hatsu. Hatsu is the actual act of manipulating the aura. This can cover everything from projecting the aura in the form of an energy ball, to changing the aura itself into an object or another form of energy. Using Hatsu means using a 'special tec hnique'. Gyo is a technique which involves first using Ren to increase the spirit, and th en gathering the affected aura around a specific point of the body. Through most of the manga saying 'use gyou' means to concentrate the aura around the eyes. D oing this allows someone to see another's Nen even in it's most latent state. ***** The above terms are Nen at it's most basic form. Regardless of what KIND of Nen each person possesses, this is how they tap into that nen, and the basic ways in which they use it. The following terms are the six Nen Types. Basically every nen technique falls i nto one of six categories, and which category a person identifies with decides w

hat abilities they will be able to best use their Nen for. Note that Nen users cannot choose what their Nen Type is. There is a test, which involves placing a leaf on water and charging the water with your Ren, to deter mine what Type everyone is. Nen Types can only be changed in very special cases. You can see a diagram of the Types here. Note the Hatsu in the middle of the diagram. This is because, as previously ment ioned, Hatsu is the act of manipulating one's Nen. It is manipulating the Nen th at the different Types come into play. Thus each Nen Type equals what a person w ill be most capable with when using Hatsu. Reinforcement just as it sounds, is used to reinforce. The way this most readily comes to mind is that a fist could be reinforced with Nen to make a punch much stronger. Or the stomach could be reinforced with Nen to make someone not even f eel a kick to their gut. However it goes much beyond that. With reinforcement Nen can be applied also to physical objects. It can be used to make paper razor sharp when thrown, or make a sword nearly unbreakable. A reinforced shovel will dig through stone like it i s butter. While Reinforcement can be used for various tricks, it is also the most basic fi ghting ability. Anyone who gets in physical combat with a Nen user had better be able to use Reinforcement for at least defense or they will be literally ripped to shreds. Similarly, Reinforcement is known for having "Perfect Defense and Attack". Becau se Reinforcement can block against very nearly any attack. Even Emission attacks can be blocked by a Reinforcement's defensive abilities. Gon is Reinforcement Type. Emission the "kamehameha" part of Nen. 'Emitting' Nen by gathering it up and rel easing it. There are very few Emission users in HxH, but one is Killua's grandfa ther, who gathers and releases giant blasts of energy which he can give form and direction even while they are in mid-air. Gon's Emission abilities are currently weak, but the 'paper' part of his Jan Ken Pon attack is to release a blast of energy out of his hand. Manipulation is again, pretty descriptive. However, we don't see much use of Man ipulation in HxH that I know of. One Manipulation Type is a boy who can control people by use of a cellphone. He plays the cellphone as one might play a videoga me, and whoever the cell phone's antenna is pointing out must act out his comman ds. Another man uses Manipulation Nen to control a number of dogs he keeps as pe ts. I imagine Manipulation Nen could also be used to control non-living objects, all owing them a sentient like ability to follow orders, but I can't recall if this has been shown in HxH or not. Specialization Type is basically any ability that doesn't fit into the other cat egories. A character named Pakunoda, for example, has the ability to read people 's memories with physical contact. She can then place these memories into Nen Bu llets (created with Materialization) and fire the bullets into the brain of anot her person to share the memory. There is also a girl who can use Specialization Nen to read someone's future and

write it down in the form of a poem. There are also Nen users known as "Erasers" they are rare but can remove Nen Eff ects from people. So if, say, someone had planted a Nen bomb on someone else, th e Eraser could remove this. Erasers are almost surely Specialization. Because Specialization is rare, and can cover any number of possibilities, it's rare to find those with duplicate techniques. Where as any Reinforcement User ca n use the same techniques. Materialization is the ability to give one's Nen a physical form with it's own u nique abilities. The best example of this is a girl who Materializes a vacuum cl eaner which can suck up any amount of non-living objects (including dead bodies) . It can even so something do specific as removing poison from the blood stream. However, Materialization users do NOT just go around materializing anything they need. First of all it takes weeks of constant effort to be able to materialize an object, because the person must become very familiar with the object they wan t to make. Secondly because it's often not practical. Why would a Materializatio n user waste their Nen creating a "sword which cannot break" when they could, wi th much less effort, create a sword and then use Nen to reinforce it and make it NEARLY impossible to break? Materialization is one of the most fun abilities, as the objects made can have v ery specific abilities. One man created two gorillas, one white and one black. W hen he says a certain phrase, he can call the black gorilla to where he is, or s witch places with the white gorilla instantaneously. Kurapica, one of the main characters of HxH, uses Materialization to produce mul tiple chains which hang from his fingers. Depending on what chain he uses, he ca n detect if someone is lying, bind someone to a promise, and has a specific chai n which is unbreakable to specific people. Transformation is the final Nen Type. Transformation allows the Nen user to chan ge what shape their Nen is, or what it is made up of. Hisoka is a Transformation user, and uses it to turn his Nen into a sticky substance which he refers to as "Bungee Gum". He can attach this Nen to anything or anyone, allowing him neat t ricks such as attaching one end to his own fist and the other end to someone's f ace, thus making it impossible for the person to dodge the ensuing attack. Another girl turns her Nen into wire, which she can then use for whatever one mi ght use string for. We see her both cut off people's heads and sew limbs back on using her Nen. Much like Materialization, Transformation is a case where the Nen User must've m ade themselves extremely familiar with the effects and feelings of whatever they are forming their Nen into. We know this because several people note after seei ng Killua turn his aura into eletricity that he must've had a horrible childhood , since no child should inherently know enough about the feeling of electricity to be able to reproduce it so easily. ***** Now that I've explained the Types of Nen, here is how use of it works. The diagram there applies to a Materialization user, and basically says what per cent of their ability can go into each category. This DOES mean that, while a Nen User is not restricted to using Nen Techniques of only their Type, they will NEVER be better in another area than they are in t

heir given Type. The diagram applies the same to all abilities, so basically. Reinforcement Users are: 100% in Reinforcement 80% in Emission 60% in Manipulation 0% in Specialization 60% in Materialization 80% in Transformation Emission Users are: 100% in Emission 80% in Manipulation 0% in Specialization 40% in Materialization 60% in Transformation 80% in Reinforcement Manipulation Users are: 100% in Manipulation 0% in Specialization 60% in Materialization 40% in Transformation 60% in Reinforcement 80% in Emission *Specialization Users are: 100% in Specialization 80% in Materialization 60% in Transformation 40% in Reinforcement 60% in Emission 80% in Manipulation Materialization Users are: 100% in Materialization 80% in Transformation 60% in Reinforcement 40% in Emission 60% in Manipulation 0% in Specialization Transformation Users are: 100% in Transformation 80% in Reinforcement 60% in Emission 40% in Manipulation 0% in Specialization 80% in Materialization Note how in all categories except Specialization itself, Specialization is at 0% . This is because Specialization cannot be learned like the others, and has to b e, presumably, provoked by the lifestyle someone grew up in. Those who do not ha ve Specialization Nen will likely never acquire it, however, the abilities neare st it -- Manipulation and Materialization -- are those most likely to be able to acquire the ability. *Also note that I am guessing with Specialization. That IS the pattern, but as f

ar as I know, Specialization have drastically lower or higher abilities in other areas, or perhaps it is different for each of them. Anyway, a simplified version of the above percents is to say that if a Transform ation Type were to use 100% of his abilities in physical combat with Reinforceme nt User of equal ability, the Transformation User would still ALWAYS take 20% da mage from a full attack by the Reinforcement user, because the Transformation Ty pe's defense would still only be 80% of the Reinforcement Type's attack. ***** Next I'll talk about specific but basic techniques used in Nen combat, and expla in which category they fall into and how they accomplished and used. The first is what the manga calls 'Inflaming the Spirit' Inflaming the Spirit is actually just activating one's Ren, and thus does not fa ll into any specific category, because it's just that basic. But you know all those times when a dangerous person just LOOKS at someone and s tops them in their tracks? This is actually the most basic Ren technique, and th e reason why Killua won't even bother to fight someone that can't use Nen. Killu a, who is a trained killer, was sent running for his life in an instant by an ut terly non-threatening geeky little guy who was using this technique. Even if you 're ready for it, it's not something that can be countered unless you can use Ne n yourself. Yet if you CAN use Nen it can very easily brushed off. The technique can be attributed with any emotion. And instead of 'inflaming the spirit' with the thought 'I will kill you' it can be 'I won't lose' or 'You won' t move' or 'I won't be hit'. And whatever that emotion is, it will give them a s evere advantage over someone who does not use this ability. So even Killua, who was physically much stronger than a small boy using this technique, couldn't out right defeat the boy because he used his Will to keep getting back up. Hisoka uses this ability at one point to stop Gon and Killua from moving forward even a step, forcing them to learn about Nen before they are allowed to enter a certain place. Shu is a Hatsu or Special Technique of the Reinforcement Type. This is when one Reinforces an object that is in connection with the body, such as a weapon being held. The Reinforced object will be much stronger and have a great deal more en durance than a regular object. Kou is the combination of all of the abilities I mentioned at the beginning of t his essay, and translates basically to "attacking with Nen" as far as usage. Ten , Zetsu, Ren, Hatsu and Gyou are used all at once to create Kou. Kou literally is the act of concentrating all of the aura of the body in a singl e point. Ten retains the aura. Zetsu closes the Shouko in all other places of the body, R en heightens the power of the aura, Hatsu molds the aura and Gyou moves the aura to a specific point. Kou is effectively the 'ultimate' Reinforcement attack/def ense, because it involves gathering all of one's strength into a single point ma king it at the same time very powerful and impenetrable. Ken is the defensive equivalent of Kou. While Kou technically can be used for de nfense, it's not a good idea because only one part of the body is protected. Ken is the act of using Ten and Ren at once, enclosing the entire body with a very

powerful aura. Ken is, however, a difficult ability to maintain, because it means doing Ren con stantly for quite a while. When combined with Gyou, Ken makes up the basic fighting technique. On average a fighter will put, say, 70% of their aura into a fist and leave 30% to guard the rest of their body. That way if they attack someone else doing the same thing f ast enough, they inflict 40% damage (70% attack - 30% defense = 40% damage). But in basic combat one is expected to use gyou to constantly shift where they put the most attack and defense to inflict higher damage on the other and receive le ss themselves. Thus being able to judge how much aura an opponent is putting int o their attack, and being able to rapidly defend or counter against it by moving their own aura into the part of their body that is going to be hit, all done in precise percents and instantaneous movement, is a vital ability and difficult t o master. Killua is quite talented at it. En is a defensive technique that is effectively a dispersed Ten. Basically, Ren and Ten are used at once but spread out from the body in a sphere, in this way t he Nen User can 'feel' anything that enters the area of their En. En is an Emiss ion technique, and very difficult in it's own right. Killua's grandfather, who is crazily powerful (of course) and an Emission user c an extend his En to 300 meters. Another very powerful character who's Type I'm n ot certain of (I suspect Transformation, given his personality) can only extend his En a meager 4 meters. Shape Transformation is just what it sounds like. A transformation ability that changes the shape of one's Nen. This is really only seen in training exercises. The Nen is changed into the shape of a number or image floating above a finger, mostly to teach one to use Gyou quickly (the shape can only be seen with Gyou). ***** As far as specific and defined techniques go that's all I know. HxH has literall y hundreds more, but they are usually specific to each person and thus don't bea r listing. I can sum them all up by explaining The Condition and the Pledge. The Condition and the Pledge is basically a pact m ade with one's own soul. The best way to explain is an example. Kurapica uses the Condition and the Pledge to it's fullest extent. What he wants is a chain which certain people will be unable to break free of. So the Pledge is that if he can have an unbreakable chain, he will limit himself to only using it on 10 people in the entire human race. He calls this the 'pre-condition' tho ugh, because additionally if he uses his chain on anyone but the 10 people speci fied, he will die. However it does work, even the most powerful reinforcement us er among those he is after cannot break the chain. The Condition and the Pledge vaguely sums up all unique abilities of all the cha racters. The Transformation user who turns her aura into wire specifies that she can make a wire that will stretch around the world, but it would be as weak as a cotton thread. Where as shorter wire is stronger than steel. Hisoka has an ability called the "Deceitful Texture" which does not, in fact, ha ve a texture. But it allows him to stretch his aura over a piece of paper or a c loth and make it look like anything he wants. He uses the texture to fake a tatt oo on his back, turning a piece of cloth to make look like skin and ink. But if someone actually touched the cloth they would know it for being fake.

Kuroro who is, I believe, Materialization Type, has a book which relies very hea vily on the Pledge and Condition. Basically he can copy down anyone's abilities no matter what type in this book. However, to do that he needs to get the person to explain the ability in full. Once the ability has been copied into his book, the person cannot use that ability for as long as it is in the book (Kuroro cou ld rip out the page to give it back to them). When Kuroro wants to use an abilit y in the book, he must keep the book open at all times, closing it will make the ability cease. These are just some examples. Pretty much every accomplished Nen User uses the C ondition and the Pledge to make their abilities more powerful and unique. Howeve r, Gon and Killua are not at that point themselves. Which is why Killua really o nly uses his electricity as a short range taser and otherwise relies on intellig ence and Reinforcement to fight. ***** And as a side note, let's talk Personalities. What Nen Type one is has roughly to do with one's personality. Ki llua notes that Reinforcement types are honest and straight forward, where as Tr ansformation types are untrustworthy (talking about himself and Hisoka there). H isoka provides a list of what he believes these these types to be. ***** And that's finally all I have to say about Nen! There IS more, I assure you. But this everything we are told up through the Greed Island arc. Following the Gree d Island arc the art becomes really ugly and I don't want to revisit that crap j ust to detail this essay more. Hopefully this is concise and easy to follow. Any questions will be answered to the best of my ability.