Gon Freecss

Gon Freecss (ゴン=フリークス) is the main character of Hunter × Hunter. He is the son of the famous Hunter, Ging Freecss, and is on a quest to find his father.

Background
At the age of twenty, Ging Freecss returned home to Whale Island for the first time in eight years carrying his infant son, Gon. When questioned about the child's mother, Ging simply mentions that the pair had separated. While Ging tries to leave Gon in his grandmother's care for a little while, Ging's cousin Mito is infuriated at Ging's parenting and gets custody through the courts (this is odd because she would only have been 13 at the time). Ging leaves Whale Island, never to return.

Since his early youth, due to his father's absence and Mito's dislike of Ging, Gon had been told that his parents died in an accident when he was a baby. But at the age of nine, Gon is rescued from an angry mother foxbear by a man named Kite — a professional Hunter and a student of Gon's long lost father. After hitting Gon in the face, Kite attempts to kill the foxbear's cub but Gon protects it. Kite is looking for Ging as a final test before his master will consider him to be a true Hunter. Kite's admiration of Ging awakens in Gon a lifetime goal of meeting his father. In order to find and meet Ging, Gon is driven from that moment to obtain a Hunter's License. He sights a desire to know what would cause Ging to choose his profession as a Hunter over being a parent as his motivation for becoming a Hunter.

Personality
Gon is an athletic, rustic, and friendly boy who is searching for adventure. Also, he isn't very good at math. However, having spent a lot of time in the woods as a child, he is very good with animals. Gon is an Enhancer, who are known for being simple-minded and determined. This determination and talent leads to both potential allies and potential enemies trusting in him and taking his side. He has inhuman senses; Gon has a heightened sense of smell almost like a dog and has very good vision, as well as having very keen taste. Gon wants to become a Hunter because he wishes to find out the depths of an occupation that would cause a father to choose the profession over being with his own son.

Simultaneously, his flaws lie in his temper and impulsive nature. Gon sometimes fails to think things through and such actions lead to him suffering. His will is stronger than most and he can be very level-headed, but this clear mind can also make him very cold at times. Though possessing talent far beyond the norm for his age, anytime his abilities are challenged, he feels as if he has to prove his antagonist wrong. He continually strives to obtain greater power, often becoming exceptionally stronger in his anger. But Gon's anger also leads to extremely reckless tendencies. When his emotions are ignited, Gon becomes irrational and completely oblivious to anything else.

Gon is extremely confident in his abilities. Sometimes, he does not realize when the opponent is far stronger or even after he knows the opponent is stronger than him; regardless, he will continue to fight. He refuses to accept himself as inferior to any opponent that he disagrees with, including those clearly stronger than him. Togashi initially portrays this as naïveté. Aside from becoming a Hunter and finding his father, Gon desires strength above all else. Gon's greatest insecurity lies in his own weakness and not being able to protect those close to him.

Appearance
Gon is a young boy with long spiky black green tipped hair and large, hazel brown eyes. His usual outfit is composed of a green jacket with reddish edges covering a black or white tank top underneath, green short shorts, and green, laced boots. In some arcs such as the greed island and chimera ant arcs he takes off the jacket and wears only the tank top. In the Greed Island arc and at the beginning of the chimera and arc he wears the paladin's necklace, a greed island card with the ability to purge and external effects to a card the wearer is holding.

Abilities
At the beginning of the series he had a fishing rod that he could swing with baffling accuracy, even managing to catch Hisoka's tag from afar while the latter was moving at high speed. The fishing rod can also be used as an offensive weapon if the situation ask for it. During the Hunter Exam, Gon was often praised for his powers of observation and agility. In battle, he think so quickly for an alternative solutions and strategies. As an enhancer, he should be fairly balanced between offense and defense, but he prefers to go on the offensive, as his stubbornness tends to come out during combat. Because of it, he sometimes charges in recklessly, but at the same time doesn't give up until he can't move anymore. He is quite proficient in close combat after being trained in the basics of Shingen-Ryu Kung-fu by Biscuit Krueger, as well as through natural experience.

Rage greatly bolsters his skills, particularly by boosting his already remarkable aura. His most remarkable feature, however, is the uncanny, bottomless potential he is gifted with. Many powerful characters such as Hisoka, Wing, Biscuit and Razor were left astounded when they grasped the full extent of Gon's talent, which is often described as being limitless. This allows him to learn extremely quickly, and that is true especially in the field of Nen, with an aptitude like his being very rare. Even before learning it he managed to use Zetsu on one occasion.

Enhanced Senses
Gon possesses very acute senses especially smell, sight and hearing. Gon has a very advanced sense of smell, which caused him to be compared to a dog. Another distinctive animal trait is his evolved instinct.

Enhanced Strength
Gon has great strength as he could open the first door of the testing gate which was 4 tons in weight before learning Nen. He can also shatter rock and incapacitate skilled warriors by sending them flying with just a push of his hand. It is unknown how much he can press after learning Nen. However, he managed to defeat Nobunaga in arm wrestling. When he transformed, he was able to throw Neferpitou so high in the air that he was almost invisible from the ground. He was also capable of punching a Chimera Ant to another country when using Jajanken.

Enhanced Speed and Reflexes
Gon has shown to possess great speed on par with Killua's (when not using Nen) and has shown great reflexes reacting to the slightest amount of danger swiftly. With his speed and agility he can create multiple afterimages of himself and disappear out of sight.

Enhanced Agility
Gon is very agile, as he can attack from every position. His swiftness is mainly employed to dodge the enemy's attacks and react immediately after being hit.

Enhanced Stamina
Gon is indefatigable. He can withstand wearing battles, training sessions and runs. High pain tolerance: Gon has shown to be somewhat impervious to pain. This is mostly due to his obstinacy and determination more than to a physical predisposition. He could take having his arms being blown off by the Bomber and severed by Neferpitou, continuing to fight and winning nonetheless.

Skilled Fisherman
At the start of the series, Gon managed to catch the Swamp King, a fish that nobody had been able to hook for years.

Excellent Strategist
Gon can often tell what an opponent is thinking and how he will react at his moves. He can plan whole battles beforehand and prepare strategies right after the get-go and create alternative solutions. Incredible instinct and phenomenal intuitions help him.

Expert Tracker
He managed to follow Hisoka for several days without being detected. Furthermore, he chased Nobunaga and Machi around a town with the two of them failing to spot him (although they clearly sensed his presence).

Proficient in hand-to-hand combat
With his exact degree of skill in martial artistry being unknown, Gon is adept at close quarter combat, as shown in his fights against Hisoka. He fights using mainly his fists, but can deliver powerful kicks as well. He is at a disadvantage at more proficient combatants.

Nen
Gon is an Enhancer, which gives him his great strength and recuperative abilities. His Hatsu is called Jajanken (ジャジャン拳(ジャジャンけん)) a play on the Japanese word for Rock-paper-scissors, "Janken," the word "Jajan" (a Japanese interjection akin to the word "Ta-dah"), and "Jaken (邪拳 Evil Fist)." Gon first gets the idea after learning the dangerous roots of the game within martial arts.

Jajanken consists of three parts. Gon's main attack is "Rock", a simple but devastating Enhanced attack concentrating all his aura into his fist using Ko. His long-ranged attack is "Paper," an emitted attack that fires a ball of aura from his palm; at the moment, this is his weakest attack, the ball being somewhat slow, not that powerful and easy to block or change course. His mid-ranged attack is "Scissors", a transmuted blade of aura attached to his index and middle fingers, capable of slicing through a Chimera Ant. Gon prefaces each attack with the chant "Show Me Rock!" (最初はぐう,じゃんけんぽん,Saisho wa guu, jankenpon).

After the siege on the palace of East Gorteau, through a contract and limitations, Gon sacrifices all of his inborn talent and age in order to gain immense power. It has yet to be confirmed if this means that Gon will never be able to use his Nen abilities again.

Jajanken Rock
Gon focuses the aura around his fists using Ko and releases it in a punch engulfed within an intense flame. Rock is a close range attack, and has the strongest power among the three because of Gon's natural affinity as an enhancer. The ability is strengthened if Gon builds his aura using Ren before attacking; he can also strengthen "Rock" by enforcing Zetsu and disallowing his aura to escape prior to his attack.

Jajanken Scissors
Scissors is formed by extending his pointer and ring fingers. Gon uses Transmutation to transform his aura into a long blade of aura extending from the two fingers. It's a middle range attack, and not as powerful as Rock, though it can cut through what Rock cannot break. Gon has more trouble with this attack because he is an Enhancer leaning towards Emission.

Jajanken Paper
For this, Gon uses his Emission abilities to project his aura towards his enemies as a projectile. Paper uses an open palm to emit the aura. Because Gon is an Enhancer and Paper requires Emission, a different aura type, it is weaker than Rock. However, he has found this to be useful for pincer type attacks, as demonstrated in his battle with Knuckle.

Adult Gon
Gon has recently demonstrated another ability with the specifics currently unknown. Activated by his immense rage, Gon transformed into an older version of himself with strength rivaling that of the chimera ant king. In this form, he was strong enough to fatally wound Neferpitou. As Pitou's consciousness fade, the dying ant remarked that such power can only be achieved through great cost. The limitation placed on this ability is so great that the rebound from any attempt to remove it would kill normal Exorcists instantly.

Hunter Exam arc
Gon is first seen fishing on a Whale Island bog for The Master Of The Swamp — a fish so enormous that five grown fishermen pulling together could not land it and succeeds in catching it after a week of work. Gon made a wager with his Aunt Mito Freecss that if he could catch the fish, she would allow him to take part in the Hunter Examination. After getting Mito's consent on his application to the Hunter Exam, Gon proceeds to say a bittersweet farewell to Kon a Foxbear cub raised by the boy following his first encounter with Kite. Gon tells Kon that he is going to become a Hunter and that he will do things that the animals of the forest will not like. Since Kon is the king of the forest, he can not talk to Gon anymore. Kon walks away from Gon to a gathering of other animals.

Gon returns home and speaks to Mito. She asks if Gon always knew his Father's trade, and also tells him his father left Gon with her when he was still a baby; Gon replies that being a Hunter must be an important job that family comes second and that it is time for him to meet his father.

He is then seen preparing to board a ship heading for the Hunter exam. Everyone in the town comes to say goodbye and wish him luck. Aunt Mito comes and tells him that his father did not abandon him; she made him give up Gon through the courts. Gon says he knew because she never looks at him when she is lying. He gets on the boat and yells back to her that he will return as a great Hunter.

Preliminary Phrase arc
The first night on the boat, there is a huge storm that tosses about most of the would-be Hunters. After the storm, the ship's drunkard of a captain walks around to see only three candidates still able to move (one of them, Gon, is running back and forth trying to take care of the sea-sick). Later on, Gon is standing on the front of the boat where he predicts they will be hit by another storm, but this time it will be three times the size as the previous night. The captain knows he is correct and not guessing; he sees Ging in Gon. He asks who Gon's father is, and finds he is correct. The captain shows Gon how to steer the boat and announces that the next storm was coming and that anyone who wants off should leave right now.

All but Gon, Kurapika, and Leorio leave. The captain then asks why they all want to be Hunters. Gon answers immediately while the other two do not. Leorio asks why they should tell him when he just steers the ship. The captain replies that he screens applicants and that it is up to him whether or not they pass. The remaining two tell him. While explaining, Kurapika annoys Leorio to the point where they go out into the storm to fight. When a crew member jumps in to stop them and falls overboard, Gon jumps after him, narrowly missing falling into the ocean thanks to Kurapika and Leorio grabbing his ankles in time to pull them both back on board.

When they reach land, the captain gives them a hint to head to a lone cedar tree outside of the city to find their navigators. Gon decides to go, and Kurapika decides to tag along. Leorio stays until he finds that there was another trick to weed out the weak. He then runs off to join the other two.

Later they reach a village that seems to be deserted but Gon says that he can hear them and so does Kurapika. Then the whole population of the village comes out to start The Mind-Boggling Two Choice Quiz. The leader of the village asks two questions and all they can say is 1 or 2. The man who heard the clue walks in and says he will go first. She asks him, "Men have taken your mother and your true love captive. Who do you save?" He chooses 1, the mother, thinking that is what the old lady wants him to say. She says he may go. Leorio starts yelling because of the preposterous question. Kurapika tells him to be quiet; he and Gon have figured out the riddle. She asks another impossible question and after the time limit is up, with none of them having said an answer, Leorio tries to attack her. Kurapika blocks it stating they passed, since silence was the real answer. He adds that he heard the other man scream, meaning he was killed, but no one knows how.

After a short while, the trio reaches a house and finds the navigator couple being attacked by a magical beast called a Kiriko. The beast takes off with the lady followed by Gon and Kurapika, with Leorio staying behind to take care of the man. While chasing after the creature Gon pulls ahead of Kurapika, closes in on the Kiriko, and bashes him in the head. The Kiriko drops the wife, who is caught by Kurapika. The creature still manages to get away from Gon, who continues chasing it. Soon he comes to clearing where the creature attacks him. Gon merely greets it and asks where the one he hit went to. It is revealed that both the Kiriko and the couple are a family and the ones who would take the three to the Hunter Exam.

The next day, they arrive at a small restaurant. The disguised magical beast orders a specific meal, then the cook sits them in a room and delivers the meal. The room is actually an elevator that starts to drop. As they make their way down, Kurapika and Leorio try to find out whether Gon is taking the test for the wealth or for the adventure. He does not answer.

Gon's Hunter Exam begins with him getting targeted by Rookie Killer Tonpa. Tonpa first introduces himself as a friend trying to help Gon. Tonpa then introduces some of the other regulars, Such as Bourbon the snake charmer, Todo the wrestler, The Amori Brothers, Cherry, and Geretta the huntsman. While doing the introductions they hear a bloodcurdling scream, and they look to see a man missing his arms courtesy of Hisoka the magician who maimed him only because he bumped into him.[6] Tonpa then offers Gon and the other two some juice. Gon, being the first to taste it, spits it back out saying it tastes funny, leading Kurapika and Leorio to dump theirs on the ground. Afterwards, Tonpa makes a hasty apology.

Quotes

 * "I can't stand being on the losing end forever!!"— Gon Freecss
 * (To Nobunaga) "Being able to cry for his companion. I was thinking you couldn't cry, nor did you have a heart. But in that case why... even a little... don't you share that feeling... With all the people you kill !!"[111]
 * (To Chrollo Lucilfer) "May I ask you something? How do you... kill people with no connection with you?"
 * (To Tsezguerra) "I can't do this without Killua."
 * (To Killua) "I swear...I'll take on that bastard myself."

Trivia
Gon shares many similarities with Uzumaki Naruto from Naruto/Naruto Shippuuden. Gon has some similarities with Yusuke Urameshi from Yu Yu Hakusho.
 * Gon ranked 3rd in all three character popularity polls that have been conducted so far by Weekly Shonen Jump, below both Killua and Kurapika.
 * He finds solving mathematical problems difficult.
 * Gon typically speaks in an informal manner, tending to call his father his "old man" (and then by his first name, "Ging") in the manga and 2011 series. The 1999 series opts for a more formal approach, with Gon referring to Ging as his "father."
 * The unusual name of his Hatsu was created when Gon stuttered the word "janken" when informing the Hunter Knuckle Bine the name of his ability.
 * Junko Takeuchi also voices Naruto from the series Naruto/Naruto Shippuuden. However, she does not reprise her role as Gon Freecss for the 2011 series.
 * In Malay, Gon Freecss is called Gon Si Pelik (The Weird Gon).
 * Gon and Naruto share the same blood type (B).
 * Gon's adult form is referred to as "Gon-san" by most fans of the series.
 * Gon shares the same birthday with One Piece's Main Protagonist Monkey D. Luffy.
 * Both ranked 3rd on their respective series in a Character Popularity Poll.
 * Both transformed in their respective series. Gon transformed into an unknown form, while Yusuke transformed into a Mazoku, their hair growing long.
 * Both were raised during their childhood by a woman, Gon's aunt and Yusuke's mother, and both of their fathers were missing during their childhood days (though Gon met his father as the series progressed). Yusuke met his ancestral demon father during the final arc.

Voice Actresses & Actors
all information on Gon Freecss came from http://hunterxhunter.wikia.com/wiki/Gon_Freecss
 * Japanese voice actress : Junko Takeuchi (1999 series), Megumi Han (2011 series), Rica Matsumoto (Pilot OVA)
 * English : Elinor Holt (1999 series), N/A (2011 series)