“In the end you took care of it all by yourself. I know the deal… Kite saved your life. It wasn’t my fight. But… still… I wish you’d said, ‘Let’s get him together.’ Was that as a team? For the mission? Or… as friends? I know… I’m just sulking. It’s the same every time!! You keep running ahead and I clean up your mess!! Same as ever… And I’ll do it again!! But I won’t let you off the hook this time. You’d better make it up to me, Gon. That’s why I’ve got to make you better. I swear!!! I’ll make you apologize!!!!– Killua Zoldyck

Killua is a third son of the family of assassins the Zoldycks. He is the best friend of the main protagonist Gon Freecss. He ran away from his assassin family to become a Hunter meeting friends Gon, Kirapika, and Leorio. He is a ruthless assassin and a top-tier hunter. His is a transmuter with an ability to control lightning.

Killua is one of the best characters in the whole anime. I would argue that he also has the most character development. When we first meet Killua, he is an arrogant kid comparing his strength to everyone he meets. But as he continues through the Hunter exam, he is able to experience friendship for the first time with Gon and the others. These newfound friendships affect Killua as he longs to see his friends after being sent back home by his brother Illumi, failing the Hunter exam.

There are so many reasons to love Killua. He has a playful personality that appears when he’s eating sweets or causing mischief. But don’t be fooled, his can switch to ruthless killer in a nanosecond. And when he does, well I feel for whoever is seeing him in that match. For example there was this one time when he fight against a murderous killer in a prison. The killer agreed to a deathmatch, not knowing it would be his last words. Because Killua literally ripped his heart out (Spoilers, but this came out in 2011 so….yeah). And I mean ripped it out.

By spending more and more time with Gon, his bloodthirsty personality fades to the back. His true nature begins to form as the show progress. In the Chimera Ant arc to the end of the anime, Killua demonstrates not only his kindness but his loyalty to his friends. He continues to put himself in harms way to protect his friends even going to the point of risking his life to heal Gon.

Killua is my favorite character on Hunter X Hunter and is easily in my top five of favorite anime characters of all time. He is cautious when battling, usually not even engaging unless there is 100 percent certainity that he will win. This ideal changes once he’s freed from his brother’s mind control and able to face his fears. He has maturity that allows him to handle his anger and terrible situations. This is one of the differences between him and Gon, as Gon cannot cope with traumatic events like the loss of his mentor and friend. Killua despite Gon’s irrational thinking continues to stand by his side, often fixing whatever the latter gets into. I love seeing the loyalty Killua shows by never leaving Gon’s side in their adventures. Loyalty is a such a huge value for me, so I can always see myself in characters who exhibit this trait so profoundly.

In conclusion, Killua is #bestboy and the friendship he and Gon share is one for the books. Let me know if you like Killua too or who’s your favorite Hunter X Hunter character! Peace!