Kurapika VS Scar (Hunter x Hunter VS Fullmetal Alchemist)

> Two men cornered into vengeance, both sporting eyes as crimson as blood. To avenge their people, they must kill those responsible, whether or not that involves erasure of the self.
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## Links

Episode

Score

## Synopsis

The first episode of VS Universe, it features Kurapika from Hunter x Hunter going toe to toe with Scar from Fullmetal Alchemist. Kurapika was voiced by TheMasterShowman, and Scar was voiced by Sunmellows. The score for this episode was entitled Crimson Moon.

## Episode Script

Revenge. Enacting vengeance upon those you see fit, these two know that word all too well. They made it their mission to recover the remnants of their fallen people, as well as take out the people who made them sole survivors in the first place. All while their eyes are as crimson as the blood they spill. (Oh, and they both had weird anime adaptations before a new adaptation that follows the manga closer aired). Kurapika, last remaining member of the Kurta Clan and chain user from Hunter x Hunter. And Scar, survivor of the Ishvalan Civil War from Fullmetal Alchemist. Let’s begin.

#### **Kurapika unchains VS Universe!**

The Kurta Clan. Located in the secluded Lukso Province, their ranks were steadily declining year after year, population dwindling to near only 150 members. These people have a rare genetic defect that makes them more unique than other people; when in an enhanced state of rage, their eyes can turn scarlet, which is often sought after by those who collect body parts. One of the youngest and brightest members at the time, Kurapika, was out of the Province one day, only to return to his entire clan brutally massacred. This would be the work of the Phantom Troupe, a group of powerful criminals that not even the top echelon of the mob can touch. Upon seeing his people dead, Kurapika went into a fit of rage, and made a vow to himself; he would enact revenge on whoever was responsible for this. However, Kurapika didn’t really have the means necessary to do so quite yet. So, he set off to participate in the 287th Hunter Exam.

Along the way he made three close friends - Gon, a boy looking for his long since departed father from Whale Island, Leorio, a man seeking a Hunter’s license to become a doctor to save his friend, and Killua, a member of the world-renowned Zoldyck family of assassins. After many vigorous tests, Kurapika was one of seven participants out of hundreds to pass the Hunter Exam, though he couldn’t get working on his goal of revenge quite yet. His bonds to his new friends tied him down from that for at least a little while, as they had to “rescue” Killua from his home in Kukuroo Mountain (which he got out of himself, anyway). After this, the group of four finally parted their ways, promising to meet up again in Yorknew City on September 1st.

And so his journey to find a Blacklist Hunter job began, but he found it more troublingly tiresome than anticipated. Because, well, his Hunter Exam wasn’t exactly done quite yet. Kurapika still had one huge area of expertise that went completely over his head - Nen. Nen is the ability to use your manifested life energy, or aura, in various ways depending on what category you fall under. There are Enhancers, who can use aura to enhance their physical bodies or something else, Transmuters, who can transform their aura into something different, Emitters, who have an easier time than others releasing aura from their body, Conjurers, who can make something non-material from their aura, Manipulators, who can manipulate something using their aura, and Specialists, who don’t fit nicely into any category. Kurapika himself found out he is a Conjurer, which led him to lament; he wanted to be an Enhancer, as they are the most adept at straight up fighting. His teacher, however, decided to get him to try his hand at conjuring something, and Kurapika chose chains. He wants to drag the members of the Troupe down to hell, so he thought it’d be appropriate.

As a Conjurer, Kurapika’s chains aren’t real like those that would have to be from, say, a Manipulator. Because of this, he can apply the tenants of Nen to these chains, including In (which hides Nen constructs from the opponent unless they utilize Gyo, which allows for enhanced eyesight). He can also strengthen them with Ko or Shu, and can enhance his own aura with Ryu and Ken (I’m not kidding, Togashi legit made a Street Fighter reference in his magic system). However, that’s just the basics. Kurapika’s Hatsu, or unique ability, requires much more elaboration.

He carries on his person a sort of glove made of chains, and each finger contains a different chain-based ability. On his thumb is his Holy Chain, which can cure wounds.

His index finger has the Steal Chain, which allows him to steal the targets Nen ability (although it’s likely that there are requirements beforehand, we just don’t know them quite yet).

His middle finger has the Chain Jail, an ability that can only be used on Phantom Troupe members, otherwise Kurapika will instantaneously die. It is, however, incredibly strong, suppressing the target's aura, and the physically strongest Troupe member could not break through them no matter how hard he tried.

On his ring finger lies the Judgement Chain, which allows Kurapika to interrogate anyone by imposing a set of rules that, if they don’t comply with, can and will result in their death. He also used this on himself to insure the vow that makes Chain Jail so powerful.

And finally, on his pinky lays the Dowsing Chain, which locates people on maps and also acts as another lie detector that doesn’t involve a life or death scenario.

But his most impressive ability is one gifted to him from birth; his Emperor Time. When his eyes turn Scarlet, he no longer is a Conjurer. Instead, he becomes a Specialist - who’s special ability is to be proficient at all types of Nen. Allow me to explain in more detail.

Most Nen users only can utilize their birth category to 100% efficiency, with notable other categories they can prioritize, but they will never be as good as those categories than the one they were born as. A good example is Gon’s Jajanken ability; Gon, as an Enhancer, using the enhancement variation of Jajanken most often because it’s the most powerful version. The other two are far weaker, not inapplicable to certain scenarios. Kurapika’s Emperor Time gets rid of that inconvenience, and he has the full benefits of every single Nen category at his disposal. There is, of course, a massive downside, however. While in this form, his lifespan decreases by one hour per second, and overuse and overreliance has made him collapse from exhaustion before.

After this training, he set out to Yorknew City to encounter the Spiders he’s been aching to enact vengeance upon since the beginning of the series. After a complex series of events, Kurapika eventually managed to actually kill one of their ranks, Uvogin. Upon his death, the Troupe themselves made it their mission to enact revenge upon the so-called “chain-user” and was hell-bent on reaching their goal, even going so far as to massacre a large portion of the city as a requiem to Uvogin’s life. After Gon and Killua got captured by the enemy, and Kurapika managed to capture the Spider’s leader, both parties agreed upon a hostage exchange, and Kurapika himself stated his quest for revenge was far from over. But for now, he would have to rest, as he spent much of his time spent in Yorknew in Emperor Time.

After recovering for a long period of time, Kurapika took over the crime family he was working under during Yorknew. He decided to make his goals and the family’s one and the same, and by the time that the Chimera Ant king, Meruem, was no more, he had managed to garner 5 sets of Scarlet Eyes. Nowadays, he is working with the Hunter Organization’s Zodiacs as the Rat, currently on a mission to explore the Dark Continent. However, his tenacity, smarts, and rage are and always will be on full display, no matter who or what he faces in the future.

#### **Scar creates destruction in VS Universe!**

The country of Ishval was once a prosperous place, filled to the brim with the best and brightest the world had to offer. Annexed by the larger country of Amestris, the Ishvalan’s differing religious and cultural tendencies were creating tension, but for a while it seemed as if both places were at relative peace. Then, one day, one Ishvalan child was shot by an Amestrian soldier. Who actually was one of the Homunculi, but we’ll get there when we get there. This ignited what the Amestrian government titled the “Ishvalan Civil War” but in reality it was more of a genocide, coloquially known as the “Ishvalan War of Extermination”. Many State Alchemists participated in this genocide, and were personally responsible for many deaths of innocent lives. Eventually, since said State Alchemists drew whatever survivors were left as Refugees out of the region, the war was declared over. However, there were a few survivors, and chief among them is a man who goes by one singular name: Scar.

During the war, Scar received a wound that completely tore off his right arm. His brother, who had been studying both Amestrian alchemy and another variant from Xing (a neighboring country), alkahestry, transferred his tattooed arm to his brother’s body at the cost of his life. Now quite literally armed with a means of revenge, Scar set out to destroy any and all State Alchemists he came across. However, Scar himself denies ever wanting to use alchemy. Instead, he views the last gift his brother gave him as a tool, a weapon that can be used to take down the people he so desires, something separate from the rest of his body.

To properly explain Scar’s unique form of alchemy you must first understand the 3 basic principles - comprehension, knowing what you’re affecting, deconstruction, breaking it down, and reconstruction, shaping it in your image. Not only do Scar’s tattoos make his form of alchemy more powerful than your average Amestrian, but he only uses the first two steps. By avoiding the third step, he can dispose of people’s internal organs without breaking the taboo of human transmutation (like how the Elric brothers did). He’s managed to take down at least 10 State Alchemists that we know of, and perhaps there were even more. Who knows what Scar’s wrath entailed other than himself, and he’s famously quiet.

In contrast to his stoic personality, Scar has taken many people under his wing, starting with the Xingese heir May Chang. Through her, he started to understand the more complex situations at play, and not everything was as black and white as his mind made it to be. He actually partnered up with numerous State Alchemists after this, including the man who incidentally started the War on Ishval, Dr. Marcoh. Scar had changed, realizing his true enemy was the, well, the government, but not the one he thought he was fighting. Instead, Amestris as a whole was built from the first day to house the world’s biggest Philosopher’s Stone - stones that house human souls that greatly enhance the user’s alchemical abilities. It was actually because of one of these stones that Scar’s people were killed in the first place, as Ishval was one of the final places in the world that Amestris needed to fight in order for the grand plan of Father to take place.

After attempting and failing to get vengeance on his brother’s killer, Solf J. Kimblee, he took to the nomad life again, no longer aiming to kill State Alchemists, instead biding his time for destiny to arrive. And arrive it did - at a crossroads, he re-met the Elric brothers and joined their fight to defeat Father after learning the truth of Amestris. Hell, he even managed to stomach fighting alongside people who actually fought in the Ishvalan genocide, something he would’ve never done before meeting May. He doesn’t really fight to save Amestris rather than to destroy the corruption in place in the country, but progress is progress.

Eventually, Scar had his most deadly and final battle with the Homunculus Wrath (homunculi are elements of Father’s soul implanted into constructs with Philosopher’s Stones), and the Ishvalan Warrior reigned supreme in the end. This is where the cycle of vengeance he started finally died a certain death, alongside Bradley. Through studying his right arm, he finally accepted alchemy like his brother before him, and on his left arm he wrote new tattoos - these ones finally allowing him to partake in the third step of alchemy, reconstruction. Scar finally learned what it meant to be able to reconstruct himself instead of the destructive vengeful path he had been walking before, all thanks to the people around him seeing the good intentions that lay deep within. And, just like a scar, his bloodlust too, faded into nothingness.

#### **Fight**

We open on a shot of a secluded forest at night time, the moon full, in which Kurapika is currently resting on a tree branch. He hears rustling in the bushes, and so grabs his Tonfa and goes to investigate it. While using In to conceal his presence, an unknowing Scar is seen harboring some stolen eyes of the Kurta Clan.

KURAPIKA:

**You! What are you doing with those eyes!**

He asked, clearly readying himself for battle regardless of the answer given to him. Scar neglects to give him an answer instead he just -

SCAR:

**Hnng.**

Grunts as a deterrent to his real reason - he stole them because he found out they make Philosopher’s Stones much more powerful, and in the wrong hands they could easily enhance Father’s already devastating plan. He knew the risk, and so also prepares to fight Kurapika, with one warning beforehand -

SCAR:

**I must warn you before we fight. You will die.**

Heeding the warning, Kurapika retorts.

KURAPIKA:

**I hate this… but I’m afraid you’ll be the one in a grave after tonight.**

And with that, they both lunge at each other; Scar, obviously straight going for the kill with his Alchemical and Alkehestral right arm, but Kurapika instead opts to block the attack with his Tonfa. Unfortunately, the destruction alchemy at hand completely and totally annihilates the wooden protectors, leaving Kurapika defenseless. Scar tries to close the gap with his left fist, aiming a straight punch to the gut, but Kurapika quickly and efficiently uses Ryu to block the blow to his ribcage, taking the moment that Scar took to calculate what happened to jump back to the tree branch he started on, though this time Scar is still in his eyesight. Scar attempts to close the gap with regular alchemy, sending wave after wave of spiky pillar toward the Kurta member. However, Kurapika summons his supremely powerful chains, and takes care of whatever pillars Scar just conjured. He takes the moment to tell his opponent;

KURAPIKA:

**This is my power. This is Emperor Time!**

And with that he takes off his contact lenses, revealing the piercing scarlet eyes to Scar, who solemnly thinks to himself -

SCAR:

**He’s… just like me…**

And with that thought, Kurapika remains as calm as ever, sending chain after chain at the Ishvalan man. A complete role reversal, now Scar is having to play defense and get shots in whenever he can. Eventually, he finds an opening through the flurry of chains that are heading his way, and he manages to knock Kurapika off of the tree branch he perched himself on. With this he starts pummeling the child, clearly trying to end it with a swift grab of Kurapika’s head and evisceration of his brain. However, Kurapika manages to block it with a burst of Ko to his fist, and starts to take out his Steal Chain from his index finger and points it squarely at Scar.

KURAPIKA:

**That’s a unique ability, controlling the earth… you must be a specialist. However, your power is now mine.**

However, the Steal Chain has no effect on Scar. He notices and retorts -

SCAR:

**Fool. My power was never my own.**

He rushes in on Kurapika and states -

**My power is God’s will personified.**

And with that said, Scar knocks Kurapika into the tree he had perched himself on, easily breaking it in half. Kurapika flies back through many more trees in the forest, and Scar’s bloodlust begins to boil anew. The moon now stained a crimson red, Scar gets knocked away through Kurapika using his chains while flying backwards, but Scar takes this opportunity to hide.

Through a mixture of Dowsing Chain and En, Kurapika locates Scar and sends a flurry of chains at him again. Scar attempts to grab them this time, however, they do not give - he attempts to grab and his hand just goes through them. Understandably confused, he then proceeds to ask Kurapika:

SCAR:

**Who, or what, are you, boy?**

KURAPIKA:

**I am the last remaining survivor of the Kurta Clan. I am the chain user so sought after by the Spiders. And I am…**

Kurapika takes out his ring finger and implants a Judgement Chain on Scar. He then states the conditions for him -

**The man who will avenge my clan, no matter what. Now tell me, who are you? If you answer incorrectly, my Judgement chain will make sure you perish.**

SCAR:

**I… am a man with no name.**

And with those words, the Judgement Chain is lifted, as Scar answered the question as truthfully as he could.

**KURAPIKA ENDING**

Kurapika, noticeably taken back by the answer, implants another Judgement Chain on Scar. This time, he asks a very different question -

KURAPIKA:

**Do you feel remorse for those you’ve murdered?**

Scar, unable to answer, attempts to say a word. However, his conflicted heart cannot come to a concrete conclusion, and he falls over, deceased, as Kurapika stands over him for a second before Emperor Time wears out. After that happens, Kurapika is noticeably weary, falling over in exhaustion right after. As he closes his eyes, he says…

KURAPIKA:

**I… hate this smell of blood…**

And passes out. After a while he’s seen getting up, collecting the eyes of his brethren, and walking away. As he does, the moon sheds a single tear.

**SCAR ENDING**

Kurapika, taken aback by Scar’s answer, takes a step back in shock. Scar uses this opportunity to use his alchemy to trap him in a box made of the Earth; Kurapika is far too weakened from both overuse of Emperor Time and Scar’s beating to do anything about it.

SCAR:

**I’m sorry I have to do this. But, I won’t have anyone get in my way. Not when it comes to my revenge.**

And so Scar finally gets to use his destruction alchemy, destroying Kurapika’s brain instantaneously. After collapsing from the fight, he awakes to May healing him, ready to keep on fighting against Father.

#### Post-Fight Analysis

So, that’s something. Now, why have both of them out for blood? Well, in their home series whenever they have to fight a serious foe they almost always result in death, at least at some points in their stories. To amalgamate their characters, I decided to have them both out to kill. It’s a lot harder to get Kurapika to kill unless he’s being hired to do so or he’s fighting somebody who’s wronged the clan, so that’s where the idea of Scar harboring a pair of Kurta eyes came from. And, while the soul specifically is what powers the Philosopher’s Stones, I think a high concentration of Nen (which scarlet Kurta eyes should definitely have) could for sure act as an ingredient in making them super powerful. So, their reason to fight.

As for abilites, there isn’t a lot to go over in terms of interaction. The most notable thing being that I don’t think Kurapika should be able to steal Scar’s alchemy / alkahestry. Since alchemy is more of an external force that Alchemists channel rather than inner aura like Nen, they don’t really mix. As such, a nen user like Chrollo should not be able to take the alchemy of someone like Edward Elric per se. Not a one to one comparison. And Ed getting his alchemy taken away from him was a completely different scenario, and there’s no evidence to suggest that it was “stolen” either. He just gave it up as a sacrifice.

Most of Kurapika’s other chains are kind of in a similar boat, sadly enough. Dowsing chain isn’t really combat centric, if he used Chain Jail on Scar Kurapika himself would die instantly, and he’d only need to use Holy Chain if Scar could do considerable damage, which he certainly could with something like ranged alchemy, but Kurapika’s chain hard counter whatever projectiles Scar could throw at him. His best chance at using a Chain was for sure Judgement Chain, as there are no limitations on who or what he can do with it. However, it would be out of character for him to rely on it, as he usually uses it when he’s already ended a fight or as a threat. And with that, they both had ways to end the fight super quickly; but with his speedy movements, Kurapika for sure would be able to keep Scar at bay. And Kurapika’s victory over Uvogin proves he can take on an opponent far larger than himself.

Not to say Scar himself didn’t have advantages; as shown in his series, destruction alchemy is extremely powerful and Kurapika didn’t have any defense against it other than Ko, but there’s no evidence that Nen aura can be focused on your internal organs, only external limbs. That, combined with his own blinding speed, meant that Scar had a way of ending the fight quickly and efficiently. However, he does have to get up close, and it takes a much better strategic mind than Scar has to do so. Not to say he couldn’t, but Kurapika for sure would outsmart him. But, Scar could keep him at a range with traditional alchemy, but he’s not super proficient at it. Still, the surprise factor of the earth itself attacking him would throw Kurapika off. That would create more than enough of an opening to go in for the kill. Not to mention he could just wait out until Kurapika collapses from exhaustion due to Emperor Time.

Overall, Kurapika had the skills, their experience is actually fairly even, Scar had the raw power at his fingertips, and Kurapika had the abilities, so let us know, given this ruleset, who do YOU think would win?

## Trivia

* The connections for this matchup are two scarlet-eyed men (whose distinct race can be told by said eyes) on the hunt for those that murdered their fallen clan / civilization, while critiquing the concept of vengeance along the way. They also are considered one of the deadlier forces in their universe, and their abilities that put them above the rest were gifted to them by their clan / family.
* The track for this matchup is entitled "Crimson Moon", which is in reference to the titular moon that can be seen during Kurapika's end slate. Both of them have been shown to be characterized by the moon in their series, Kurapika in his fight with Uvogin and Scar in his introduction in FMA: Brotherhood. The "crimson" in the title both refers to the color of the moon (specifically in Kurapika's case), and the fact that both Kurapika and Scar have blood-red scarlet eyes. The cover art features Scar's scar being backlit by the crimson moon, shedding a single tear. Underneath all of that are the objects of their revenge - the state alchemists for Scar and the Phantom Troupe for Kurapika.
* This episode is the first in the series. As such there are many firsts, such as the first character rundown, first anime character(s), and the first instance of a character dying in an ending.
* The episode came into being because Ben wanted to write new Death Battle scripts, but didn't want to analyze characters' statistics. So instead, they came up with the concept of VS Universe as a script, but soon realized that this series would work really well as a web series.
* Despite this episode's matchup, in a previous video Ben has expressed interest in Kurapika VS Scorpion from Mortal Kombat. Ultimately this matchup was decided upon due to musical intrigue and knowing Scar and Fullmetal Alchemist more than Scorpion and Mortal Kombat.