Zeno Zoldyck

Zeno Zoldyck (ゼノ＝ゾルディック) is Killua's elderly grandfather, and Silva's bragging father.

Background
Zeno is the previous patriarch of the Zoldyck family. He only had one son name Silva, who was born from an unnamed mother. He is also the grandson of Maha Zoldyck. Being a member of the Zoldycks, Zeno was trained in a tender age the art of assassination. He developed a great resistance against all types of poisons, and high tolerance of electricity.

He appears to be on good terms with the Hunters Association's Chairman known as Netero, who hired Zeno to assault Ming Jol-ik's palace in East Gorteau in order to catch the Chimera Ant King off guard.

Personality
While Zeno is sometimes seen as a witty old man, as his advancing age has not dampened his quick thinking and speed in battle. Despite his senior citizen status, he is a very formidable tactician, and a skilled user of Nen. He remains calm and collected at all times, and displays a unique sense of pragmatism. He takes satisfaction in being an efficient assassin, and that seems to be his only conceit. Killing is just a job to him and emotion doesn't enter into it. He only risks his life if there is a reward to be gained. Zeno has high hopes on Killua, that is why he trusts the boy's ability.

While Zeno is violent and will kill without hesitation, he only does so when it is required to complete a contract; he avoids injuring innocents at all costs. Upon injuring Komugi accidentally, Zeno lost all desire to complete the contract on the Chimera Ant King and left, only after ensuring the fight between the King, and the Chairman would not further injure other civilians.

Despite his quick wits and pragmatism, he cannot escape the windbag stereotype attitude of an old man, often bragging about any new experience he encounters, much to Silva's annoyance.

Appearance

 * 1999

Zeno is an old man of medium height with grey white hair that stands up on his head, and has a Fu Manchu mustache. He also wears alternating signs on his garb that say either "A Kill A Day", or "Never Retire". Most of the time he is seen with his hands behind his back. His suit is black, white and gold.
 * 2011

Zeno is an old man of medium height with grey white hair that stands up on his head, and has a Fu Manchu mustache. He also wears alternating signs on his garb that say either "A Kill A Day" or "Never Retire". Most of the time he is seen with his hands behind his back. His suit is black, and white.

Abilities
Zeno's enviable mastery over Nen, his training as an assassin, the experience gleaned over the years of activity and his calm and analytic mind make him an extremely powerful fighter. His name alone is enough to frighten anyone with knowledge about the underworld.[3] Zeno confidently stated that it would only take him less than seven seconds to kill a whole group of armed Mafia members,[4] and that Chrollo Lucilfer, the leader of the Phantom Troupe, would require his full strength to stand a chance against him.[5] During their fight, he managed to force Chrollo onto the defensive.[10] Neferpitou, a member of the Royal Guard, grew very excited to confront him, having sensed his power through their En.[13] Zeno is also very perceptive, as he detected Killua had removed Illumi's needle from his brain.[6]

Immense Strength
Zeno can effortlessly lift debris bigger than he is.[5] He landed uninjured[16] after leaping off his Nen dragon at a height of at least two thousand meters (the length of one of the tendrils of Neferpitou's En).[13]

Immense Speed and Reflexes
Zeno can match Chrollo and Silva in speed.[4] His reactions are fast enough to allow him to catch Chrollo's kick while at the same time unleashing a barrage of punches with his free hand.[10]

Enhanced Agility
Zeno can cover long distances with only one jump.[16] He landed gracefully after a free fall of two kilometers.[15]

High Intelligence
Zeno has a keen intellect and a considerable amount of experience to back it up. He is extremely analytic in a battle, predicting the actions of genius fighters like Chrollo and coming up with perfect countermeasures in an instant.[10]

Master Hand-to-Hand Combatant
Zeno might be superior to Chrollo in unarmed combat; he drew blood from the latter with a strike with the side of his hand and later restrained him by grabbing his leg, keeping him off balance and cornering him with a series of extremely fast punches.[10]

Nen
Zeno is a Transmuter.[1] He is an extremely skilled Nen user, undoubtedly one of the finest to have been introduced so far. Aside from his natural category, he is at least also very proficient in Emission,[11] as one of his aura constructs can remain into existence while being several kilometers away from him.[17] He can create dragons that act as means of transport for himself[13] or others[11] in a straight line for a prolonged amount of time, aside from employing them in battle, to devastating effects.[10] He also has a good theoretical knowledge of Nen, instantly realizing that Chrollo was a Specialist and that he had four or five requirements to meet before stealing an ability.[4]

Upon seeing Zeno's Gyo, Chrollo, a powerful Nen user in his own right, deduced he would not be able to stop the assassin's attack with his defense alone and resorted to his Nen ability,[10] suggesting that Zeno boasts a tremendous aura output. Another example of Zeno's superior skill is given by his En: a Nen master can produce En with a 50 m (approx. 164′) radius[20], while Zeno is capable of releasing his En over a 100 m (approx. 328′) radius and even stated that he could easily increase it to a 300 m (approx. 984′) radius if he so elected. Although he complained it is a tiring technique,[4] the fact he was able to execute it, as well as the overall power of his attacks and the fact he never appeared tired, implies he has vast aura reserves at his disposal.

Zoldyck Family Arc
Zeno is first seen when he orders Milluki to let Killua go from the torture chamber. Milluki protests that Killua has not repented his actions, which Zeno states he is aware of. He then tells Killua that his father wants to talk to him. After Killua leaves, he asks Milluki about his opinion on Killua's potential. Milluki thinks that Killua is one of the best in the entire history of the Zoldyck family, but he lets his emotion rise upon the surface, which makes him a failure as an assassin. Zeno remarks he makes valid points. Milluki also tries to impress his grandfather by informing him of a new invention of his called a mosquito bomb, but he admits it has various flaws. Zeno comments that he is both a genius, and an idiot.

Yorknew City arc
After the massacre of a large number of Mafia gangsters by the Phantom Troupe, Zeno and Silva are hired by the Ten Dons to assassinate them. Zeno and Silva attend a meeting of assassins organized by Zenji. When the assassins begin choosing color-based codenames, Zeno chuckles and thinks it is like a game. The two introduce themselves, with Zeno clarifying those are their names and not colors. One of the assassins recognizes them as the elusive, notorious Zoldycks, to which Zeno responds they do not really hide. He then gives the assassin his business card, offering a 30% discount since they are in the same line of work. Zeno and Silva go off on their own, refusing the floor plan.

The night of the auction, the Phantom Troupe launches an attack against the Mafia. The mobsters inside the Cemetery Building begin to riot, demanding to have their weapons back. After Silva attracts their attention, Zeno introduces himself. He announces that some of the assassins have already been killed by a man inside that very building. He adds that even if they got their weapons back, he could kill the lot of them in less than seven seconds and that the enemy is capable of doing the same, so he recommends sitting tight. He and Silva search the building for signs of the Phantom Troupe. They soon find the corpse of an assassin and Zeno asks his son's opinion on the skill of the murderer. He resolves to use En to locate him, lamenting that it is tiring. Silva estimates he will need a 100 meter (approx. 328′) radius, but Zeno replies he could easily do 300 (approx. 984′). As he prepares the technique, he sighs they are not getting paid enough.

After locating him, Zeno and Silva confront Chrollo in a spacious room. As soon as they enter, Silva warns his father that their opponent can steal others' abilities. The fight begins and, after Chrollo dodges a kick from Silva, Zeno appears next to him, performing a stabbing motion with his hand. The Spider manages to dodge the attacks, but one of them draws blood from his cheek. He manages to block Silva's punch before Zeno hits him with a beam of aura. When Chrollo cuts Silva's arm with a poisonous blade, Zeno asks his son if he is fine, then begins to analyze Chrollo's Nen ability out loud. He concludes that he is a Specialist who needs to fulfill four, or five conditions before he can take an ability. From the poisonous knife, he deduces they cannot be satisfied while taking on both of them at the same time. Chrollo drops the knife and enters battle mode. Zeno tells Silva to wait until he has pinned him down and then kill the target, even if he must kill him as well.

Zeno activates his Gyo, whose power convinces Chrollo to resort to Skill Hunter. He selects and conjures Owl's Fun Fun Cloth. Zeno thinks it could be troublesome, especially as long as he ignores its effects, but noticing that Chrollo inches back as he approaches, he surmises his opponent is just trying to buy time. He combines Dragon Head and Dragon Lance to attack Chrollo remotely and follow him when he dodges. He infers that Chrollo must keep the book open to use a stolen ability and that the cloak is a close-ranged or counteractive one. When Silva unleashes his Ren, Zeno exploits Chrollo's momentary distraction by pinning him to the wall with a one-handed Dragon Lance. He quickly closes in, restraining his legs and unleashing a barrage of punches. He then yells at Silva to attack, which he does with two enormous aura orbs, causing a large explosion at the ground level of the auction building.

Chrollo and Zeno were however saved at the last moment by Silva's transmitter. Right before the Zoldycks can finish the Spider, in fact, Silva's Zoldyck Personal Transmitter rings, causing him to misfire on purpose, and Illumi tells him that the Ten Dons have been killed. Zeno dusts himself off and walks away, commenting they both had a close shave. He states Chrollo is no longer their target since their clients are dead. When Chrollo insists, Zeno retorts that the Zoldycks do not kill or risk their lives for fun. Asked who he thinks would win in a duel between him and Chrollo, Zeno replies that he himself would most probably win, but that if Chrollo fought with the intent to kill him, it would be a different story. The Zoldycks then leave the building.

Quotes

 * You have to help out

Knownable Relatives

 * Maha Zoldyck (Grandfather)
 * Grandmother (status unknown)
 * Great Grandmother (status unknown)
 * Kikyo Zoldyck (Daughter in law)
 * Silva Zoldyck (Son)
 * Illumi Zoldyck (Grandson)
 * Milluki Zoldyck (Grandson)
 * Killua Zoldyck (Grandson)
 * Alluka Zoldyck (Granddaughter)
 * Kalluto Zoldyck (Grandson)

Trivia

 * In the official databook, his name is also spelled as "Zeno Zaoldyeck".[1]
 * Zeno is the only character who talks directly to the reader in the manga and viewer in the anime, explaining Isaac Netero's past, his ties to the Zoldycks, and the phenomenon for which the perception of time is compressed during a tough fight (a.k.a. Spirit Echoes), all in an interview-like fashion. He also clearly stated that he is not as powerful as the late chairman.[8][23]
 * Zeno compared himself and Isaac Netero to the elements of yin and yang respectively.[8]
 * In the Viz translation, the subname or second nomination of Zeno's Dragon Head Nen ability is "Long-Tou Xi-Hua"[10]—which comes from: the reading of the base kanji (Japanese characters) of this ability name (龍頭戯画) as if they were hanzi (Chinese characters); then its romanization as "Lóngtóu Xīhuà"; and, lastly, the transliteration to "Long-Tou Xi-Hua". Curiously, if read as hanzi it also can be lóngtóu hūhuà, translated as "leading drama".
 * Zeno's exceptional En range was only mentioned but not shown in both the manga and the 2011 anime adaptation,[4][24] whereas it made an appearance in the 1999 anime adaptation.[25]
 * In the 1999 version of the Greed Island arc, Zeno appeared in a non-speaking cameo.[26]
 * Zeno's Dragon Lance Nen ability resembles Hiei's "Dragon of the Darkness Flame" technique from YuYu Hakusho.

Voice Actors

 * Japanese : Tadashi Miyazawa (1999 series), Hiroshi Otake (2011 series)
 * English : Jonathan Love (1999 series), William Doaks (2011 series)