Hunter x Hunter: The Phantom Troupe’s Story in the Succession Contest Arc So Far

The prominent villain group of Hunter x Hunter, the Phantom Troupe have been a highly anticipated part of the Succession Contest as they continue their hunt for Hisoka to avenge their fallen comrades Shalnark and Kortopi.

What led to this vendetta and their unwitting participation in the Succession Contest?

Chrollo Lucilfer vs Hisoka Morow

Arguably the most hyped battle in all of Hunter x Hunter, Yoshihiro Togashi had set this showdown to be the one to settle a grudge and the fandom’s expectations of two of the most powerful Nen users in the series.

Hisoka Morow, the Grim Reaper, faces off against Chrollo Lucilfer, who had recently become a Floor Master for the express purpose of fighting Hisoka to the death.

In this one battle in the familiar Heaven’s Arena, we see one of the most brutal and immersive Nen battles the series has to offer, with Hisoka as the “one trick pony” maximizing the flexibility of his “Bungee Gum “and Chrollo with so many tricks and so much prep time

A lot happens throughout the fight.

Chrollo uses Shalnark’s Black Voice and Kortopi’s Gallery Fake, among many other abilities, as well as creating a bookmark called Double Face to use two abilities at once or use one ability while the Skill Hunter book is closed.

He also turns some of the audience into bombs using “The Sun and Moon”, an ability from a deceased Meteor City elder, making it incredibly strong from post-mortem Nen.

In fact, it is this revelation of post-mortem Nen that allowed Hisoka to survive the onslaught of bomb humans and lead to his most wicked act yet.

A New Grim Reaper

Hisoka has always been noted to enjoy the hunt as his sole desire is to savor battles with strong opponents.

However, facing death has changed Hisoka and rightfully so, since returning from death should alter a person’s perspective on everything.

Now seeking to prevent opponents from getting the jump on him, Hisoka cuts to the chase.

First he kills Kortopi while he is in the restroom, slicing his head off to show Shalnark, who is on a swing.

The swing where Shalnark’s body would be left with Kortopi’s head

Hisoka kills Shalnark and Kortopi, eliminating two of the Nen abilities that outplayed him.

Now Hisoka intends to hunt down the remaining Spiders and has decided to wait for them in the Black Whale,  the destination of the Phantom Troupe’s next heist, which he overheard from Shalnark’s last conversation with Chrollo.

This sparks the entire Troupe to forego the heist and prioritize killing Hisoka.

A Greater Requiem

Chrollo is in the common area of Tier 5 of the Black Whale among the common passengers who have joined the historic expedition to the mysterious Dark Continent

However, he bears a grim expression, with a fellow passenger noting that he looks like he is out for blood and tries to console Chrollo, telling him that now that they are leaving the current world, it is best to forget all ties to it but Chrollo says that it is tough because ties are meant to be severed, not forgotten.

Day 2 of the Black Whale’s voyage and we see Franklin, and Nobunaga confront three members of the Buor, a minor Mafia family, who attempt to intimidate them but they are defeated and ordered by the Troupe to find anyone matching Hisoka’s description.

The Troupe members learn of the three Mafia families of Kakin: Cha-R, Heil-Ly, and Xi-Yu.

In another part of Tier 5, Machi suggests to Chrollo flipping a coin to decide who would kill Hisoka but Chrollo disagrees since coins are used to resolve conflicts between two people and everyone in the Troupe, including Chrollo, wants to kill Hisoka.

On Day 4 of the voyage, the Spiders all gather in one table and we all get their numbers and full names revealed, with Chrollo as Number 0.

Illumi is introduced as the newest member of the Troupe, commissioned by Hisoka himself to kill him.

After sharing their intel, the Troupe meet a group, some members of the Cha-R family, that tries to harass them but Chrollo steps back and informs them of his goal to find Hisoka, mentioning his 6″2 ft height and sinister aura.

The Cha-R note that they can check the Royal Army’s passenger list but that there are many unofficial passengers and of course, aliases are abound.

The Cha-R also give them permission to move around Tier 5 as if they are part of the mafia gang but when Chrollo asks about Tier 1, the Cha-R ask Chrollo to leave.

This catches Phinks’ interest and makes him wonder if Tier 1 has treasures but Chrollo reminds him to focus on Hisoka first.

Then, Chrollo tells the Spiders to do as they please and that they will reunite in the same table once they have Hisoka’s head.

Shizuku and Bonolenov intend to team up with Chrollo but the latter insists he, not them, will kill Hisoka, which Shizuku agrees to since her and Bonolenov’s abilities do not work well against Hisoka’s Bungee Gum.

Shizuku asks Chrollo to read their fortunes again for a possible hint, but Chrollo reveals that the ability has disappeared from his book, implying that Neon Nostrade has died.

Mafia Gang War

In Tier 1, Cha-R boss Brocco Li calls Xi-Yu boss Onior Longbao to discuss the Spiders, emphasizing the difficulty in controlling them and that some of the younger members of the Cha-R family are fans of the Phantom Troupe.

As such, the two bosses order their respective underbosses (Hinrigh Biganduffno and Ken’i Wang) to find Hisoka before the Troupe does to prevent more chaos.

After retrieving their weapons from a Cha-R warehouse, Nobunaga, Phinks, and Feitan discover that the warehouse guards are missing while being stalked by Hei-Ly assassin Luini via his portal ability, being a huge fan of them and hopes to work with them to destroy the world, which is also the desire of Morena Prudo, Hei-Ly’s boss and the one giving Luini his powers via Contagion.

Phinks notices a blood trail, revealing that someone was not finished off and they conclude that Hisoka was not involved since this did not involve his abilities and the work looked too sloppy.

The Spider trio wonder what the culprit’s goal is with the murders, whether it was to embroil the Spiders in a mafia war or use them to find the Cha-R base.

Eventually, the trio spot a door that is still locked.

Behind them is the Cha-R underboss Ken’i Wang, who recognized that someone was trying to set the Spiders and Cha-R against each other.

As such, Ken’i offers the Spider trio to work together with the Cha-R to stop the culprit and invite them to the hideout to check the security footage.

We also get an overview of where each Spider is located, with Machi alone in a standard cabin on the top deck of Tier 5, and Chrollo, Shizuku, and Bonolenov entering Tier 4 through the central passage.

Meanwhile, Franklin stays alone, out in the open to lure Hisoka to him.

Mizaistom stops Illumi and Kalluto, who are in Deck 3.

A lockdown in the area is called to find a stowaway with a lethal weapon and passengers are told to stay in their cabins.

When accosted by Kakin soldiers, Kalluto pretends they did not hear the announcement, and Illumi provides a VVIP ticket to confirm their identities.

The soldiers tell the Zoldycks that the passage between Tiers 2 and 3 will likely remain closed for the duration of the voyage, offering to escort them back to the upper Tiers.

After being accosted by Mizaistom and Botobai, Illumi brings up that the Spiders are all here, seemingly without planning to reveal this information but this is likely an act of sabotage for Hisoka’s game.

Speculating on their motive, Mizaistom debates on telling Kurapika as it could cause trouble if the Spiders were after him.

On Day 7, back to Nobunaga’s group, the Cha-R inform them of Morena Prudo, the Heil-Ly leader and her plans to cause a mafia war, so for both Kakin Mafia and Phantom Troupe, preventing the war is necessary, so while the Troupe take care of the mystery hitman (Luini), the Mafia will look for a way to kill Morena.

On Day 10, Onior allows the Spiders to search Tier 4 for Hisoka after Hinrigh confirms that Hisoka is not there and to ensure the Spiders do not realize the Mafia has the lead on Hisoka over them.

Hisoka Revealed

However, unknown to the Troupe, Hisoka has finally been spotted by the Mafia families first.

With the help of Xi-Yu underlings Zakuro and Lynch, Hinrigh finds Hisoka on Tier 3 and asks Hisoka if he’s willing to move to Tier 1 until the dispute between Heil-Ly and Cha-R finishes. Hisoka agrees after stating that he would fight if provoked.

Meanwhile, Nobunaga’s group manages to find Luini, who asks the Spiders to join forces with the Heil-Ly but Nobunaga immediately kills him and declares that the Troupe will go after the Heil-Ly before they go after Hisoka while dismissing Luini’s desires for destroying the world, which leads into the Phantom Troupe founding flashback.

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