Hunter x Hunter isn’t really about who’s the strongest. Sure, there are powerful Nen users and battles that push people to their limits, but the story is more interested in something deeper. It’s about choice, change, and the quiet moments that shake a person to their core. Some characters evolve through direct conflict or trauma, but others change just by watching. Observing someone else’s pain, resolve, or even kindness can be enough to shift everything.
These characters were shaped not by what happened to them directly, but by what they saw in someone else. Sometimes it was admiration. Sometimes it was fear. Sometimes it was realizing that someone else’s strength or weakness revealed a truth they’d been ignoring. In Hunter x Hunter, watching someone else can be just as powerful as experiencing it firsthand.
10
Knuckle Bine
A Glance That Broke Through Bravado
Knuckle came into the Chimera Ant arc as a loud, emotional guy with a good heart. But it wasn’t until he saw the kind of weight Gon was carrying that he really started to shift. He witnessed Gon’s obsession, his pain, and the lengths he was willing to go to for revenge. Knuckle started to realize that raw power and pure intent weren’t enough. He needed to be more thoughtful, more grounded.
His decision to retreat from a fight he could’ve continued wasn’t about weakness. It was about recognizing that pushing forward blindly helps no one. Watching Gon spiral showed Knuckle the dangers of unchecked emotion, and it quietly matured him.
9
Killua Zoldyck
Loyalty That Outgrew Its Orbit
Killua’s entire arc is built around watching Gon. From the beginning, Gon was Killua’s example of someone who lives freely, loves fully, and never hesitates to protect his friends. But watching Gon wasn’t always easy.
Killua saw firsthand how self-destructive Gon could be, how far his friend would go to get what he wanted, even if it hurt others. Killua started to question his purpose. Was he just there to protect Gon? What did he want for himself? By the time he chooses to leave Gon and protect Alluka, it’s clear that Killua has grown, not just because of their friendship, but because he’s seen both the best and worst of what that friendship demands.
8
Shoot McMahon
Courage Learned by Standing Second
Shoot is timid by nature. He’s not the kind of guy you expect to charge headfirst into danger. But watching his partner Knuckle stand up and fight for what was right shook something in him.
Shoot didn’t suddenly become fearless, but he began to trust that courage wasn’t about lacking fear; it was about embracing it. It was about choosing to fight despite it. Knuckle’s belief in him and the way others didn’t give up, gave him the strength to push through his self-doubt. Watching bravery up close, not just hearing about it, gave Shoot a glimpse of who he could be. And for a moment, he stepped into that possibility.
7
Palm Siberia
Grace Born from Stillness
Palm started off unstable, obsessive, and deeply insecure. Her behavior around Gon and Killua was uncomfortable at best, alarming at worst. But something changed during the Chimera Ant arc. After her transformation, she didn’t become someone entirely new. She just gained clarity. Watching the way Komugi and Meruem interacted, and how far Gon was willing to go for Kite, made her see that there was more to strength than rage.
Palm softened, not out of weakness, but out of understanding. She saw compassion in others and began to model it in her own way. More than fixing her, it was about showing her the essence of true grace.
6
Meruem
Power Cracked by Play
This one feels obvious, but it matters. Meruem didn’t change because of a fight or a loss. He changed because of a girl named Komugi who couldn’t even see him.
Watching her play Gungi, watching her win with humility and lose with joy, changed everything he thought he knew about power. He began to question his place in the world, not because someone beat it into him, but because someone sat across a board from him and treated him like a person. Meruem’s transformation is one of the most powerful in anime because it happened through presence, not conflict. Komugi never tried to teach him anything. She just lived, and he learned.
5
Morel Mackernasey
Wisdom That Started to Tremble
Morel is one of the most seasoned and calm fighters in the series, but even he was taken aback by the younger generation. Watching Knuckle’s heart, Shoot’s bravery, and Gon’s unraveling made him realize that this fight was bigger than tactical wins.
He started seeing the cost of war differently. Morel didn’t just want to win. He wanted to make sure that the people who came after him could survive the burden of fighting. When the Palace invasion ends, it’s quite clear that Morel is tired. Not just physically, but emotionally. He’s watched too much. He’s starting to question what it’s all for.
4
Komugi
Fragility That Learned to Breathe
Komugi doesn’t get a character arc in the traditional sense. But watching Meruem, seeing how he wrestled with himself, changed her, too.
She began to speak more freely, trust more deeply. The fear she had early on starts to fade as she realizes that the person sitting across from her is becoming someone gentle. Someone who listens.
She doesn’t become louder or more assertive. But she does become more present. Komugi’s subtle change is one of quiet bravery. Her growing comfort in Meruem’s presence says everything about how people can evolve when they’re seen.
3
Leorio Paradinight
Resolve Sharpened in the Background
Leorio is driven by a desire to help others, but it’s his time with Gon, Kurapika, and Killua that shapes the kind of person he wants to be. Watching Kurapika’s burden, Killua’s loyalty, and Gon’s raw willpower made Leorio realize that being useful doesn’t always mean being strong. Sometimes it means being available. Being kind.
He’s grown into someone who won’t just stand by anymore, by the time he punches Ging in front of the Hunter Association. That resolve came from watching others take the lead and deciding he was done sitting in the background.
2
Kurapika
Grief Seen from the Sidelines
Kurapika was always headed toward obsession, but watching his friends fight and suffer softened some of his sharpest edges. He began to understand the cost of revenge by seeing what others were willing to give up for peace. Gon’s loss, Killua’s choices, Leorio’s care, these weren’t things Kurapika could ignore.
Even as he doubles down on vengeance, there are moments when you see hesitation. Reflection. Regret. And those moments exist because he’s paying attention, even if he doesn’t always act on what he sees.
1
Kite
Memory That Kept Its Shape
Kite doesn’t have a full transformation on screen, but his death and rebirth as a Chimera Ant carry weight because of what he saw in Gon. Kite watched Gon grow, falter, and push past his limits. That legacy lingered even after his mind was broken. When he came back as a girl Chimera Ant, you could feel remnants of who he was and who he had been watching.
In the end, Kite’s final moments as a mentor weren’t about strength. They were about what he left behind. Watching Gon shaped him, even when he couldn’t hold onto everything he was.
