Isaac Netero

“Isaac Netero” was the 12th chairman of the Hunters Association and the chairman over the Hunter Exam Committee. He was one of the oldest and most powerful characters in the Hunter × Hunter series, serving as a supporting character for most of the early arcs of the series.

He is voiced by Bunmei Tobayama in the Japanese version of the 1999 anime and Paul Hudson in the English version. In the 2011 anime he is voiced by the late Ichirō Nagai from 2011-2013 and Banjo Ginga from 2014 onwards, and voiced by John Snyder in the English version of the 2011 anime.

## What Makes Him Magnificent?

* He is the eccentric head of the Hunter Association who happens to be one of the strongest characters in the entire series.

* When he was younger as age 46, Netero trained in martial arts until he believed he reached the pinnacle of his potential and offered his prayers for how much he was grateful. Doing ten thousand punches a day then meditate for 2 whole years, until one day he realized he could do them in under an hour, leading to his enlightenment and began to gain a name for himself in the world of martial arts.

* When he became a Hunter, Netero would be famed for exploring the Dark Continent, a land filled with chaos and monsters beyond imagination, being one of the few to ever return there alive and unscathed.

* When Netero would become the Hunter Chairman, he gathering the top 12 Hunters within the Association and made them into the Zodiacs.

* He oversees the Hunter exams, where people compete to become Hunters who either fail at best or die horrifically should they fail to pass the phases of the Exam.

* Netero shows off his wily nature when he plays a ball game with Gon and Killua to test them, and as a way to see how much Gon and Killua make an impression on him, with Killua realizing just how strong Netero really is.

* Before the last phase of the Exam Netero interviews each of the remaining applicants and sets up a tournament to test them all to determine who will get their Hunter licenses.

* In the Chimera Ant arc when the Chimera Ants proved themselves to be a potential threat to humanity after taking over the NGL, Netero was hired by the world leaders to kill all the ants before the King could be born. Netero assembles a full squadron. With Netero being able to kill a large portion of the Ants with little aid from the other Hunters accompanying him.

* After Gon and Killua leave the NGL, Netero gives them time to train and prepare for the Ant extermination team, he has Biscuit train them putting them though even more grueling training than before. He has them fight against the students of the Hunter that are accompanying him in the extermination, Knuckle and Shoot who like Gon and Killua also have issues that will hinder their abilities when participating in the Ant extermination. This allows Gon and Killua to get stronger while also helping Knuckle and Shoot overcome their own personal weaknesses. While Knuckle and Shoot win the bet to join the extermination team, Gon and Killua have gotten stronger with Killua overcoming his weakness making all prepared to join the rest with the Ant extermination team.

* When the King of the Chimera Ants Meruem is born and along with his Royal Guards take over the nation of East Gorteau. Netero having learned the name of the King from the dying Ant Queen, Netero organizes an invasion, hiring Zeno Zoldyck (Killua’s grandfather) to help.

* Before preparing for the invasion Netero, having meditated and prayed to get himself in full power, does everything to separate the King from the Royal Guard in order to face him in one on one combat.

* When the civilian Komugi was accidently injured during the attack Netero allows Meruem to have Neferpitou treat her injuries.

* Upon seeing the King has grown as a person with vision for a better world rather than a power hungry despot, Netero becomes conflicted in having to fight him. Regardless he is still bound to finish the job that he was requested by the world leaders, knowing the Hunter Association would face backlash otherwise.

* In order to get Meruem to fight him he offers to tell Meruem what his birth name is should he win (something that Meruem didn’t know before and has had a bit of an identity crisis) which succeeds leading to one of the most epic fights in the series. Even though Meruem surpasses Netero in raw power, Netero proved to have more fighting experience and has demonstrated why he is considered a martial arts Grandmaster and the strongest Nen user in the world. When he loses an arm and a leg in the fight he uses his trump card, an attack that shoots a large beam at his opponent while draining all his aura out leaving him in a near death state.

* Even when the last attack fails to kill Meruem, Netero acknowledges his loss, and tells the King his name as he tells him not to underestimate the malice/evolution of humanity and impales his own heart. This is revealed to have been his true trump card should his last attack fail to kill Meruem, Netero installed a Poor Man's Rose bomb into himself. The equivalent to an atomic bomb in the world of Hunter x Hunter that detonates in the shape of a rose.

* While Meruem barley survives the explosion he would have died if not for the royal guards Pouf and Youpi, and even then their help only delayed his death as the nuclear poison eventually kills him and the remaining guards thus ending the threat of the Chimera Ants and giving Netero a posthumous victory.

* Even when beyond the grave he is still magnificent as he leaves instructions for the Zodiacs and Hunter Association should he ever pass on. Such as when his previously unknown but dangerous son Beyond Netero makes a deal with the Kakin Empire to start an expedition to the Dark Continent, he leaves posthumous instructions to the Zodiacs on how to deal with the situation.

## What Makes Him a Baddie?

* Netero may seem like a kindly, quirky old mentor who is the leader of the heroes organization in any Shōnen series. He is shown to be manipulative and cunning individual who tests people perfectly when getting a read on them and sets things up should the need arise.

* The way the Hunter Exams are set up is where many applicants have been shown to be severely injured or even killed in these brutal tests, while it may be to sort out who is worthy of being a Hunter it is still a brutal way to do so, even if the applicants knew what they would probably face.

* Even allowing “ethically questionable” applicants like Hisoka Morow and Illumi Zoldyck to become Hunters.

* Planning various scenarios such as his fight with Meruem ensuring the Ant Kings demise should his own skills not be enough to kill him. Setting up an atomic bomb to activate when he died, something that is seen as a major taboo in the world of Hunter x Hunter as it is shown to be one of humanities most evil creations.

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