Kurapika

Kurapika (クラピカ) is the last survivor of the Kurta Clan. His goal is to avenge his clan, and to recover the remaining pairs of Scarlet Eyes. He is the current leader of the organization founded by Light Nostrade. Including a Blacklist Hunter, and a member of the Zodiacs with the codename "Rat".

Background
Kurapika is a member of the incommutable shadowed Kurta Clan. His birthday is a complete mystery. As a young child, Kurapika almost fell from a deep cliff if not for the interference of his best friend, Pairo. While he was unharmed, his friend Pairo had harmed both his legs and both of his eyes. Therefore the condition gets worse everyday. This incident deeply affects Kurapika with the feelings of guilt. Considering this as his own fault, he decided to solve it by going to the outside world, and bringing back the best doctor to cure Pairo. Kurapika thus approached the Kurta Clan's elder to request to go to the outside world but he was constantly refused and argued with the elder, seeing the Kurta Clan's fear of the outside world as unreasonable and backward. After the argument, he talked to Pairo and they had a conversation about the "mysterious" world which give Kurapika some clues and facts.

At some point, Kurapika and Pairo had saved a female outsider called Sheila, and as thanks she gives them a book about the adventures of a professional Hunter in the outside world which they read together, and kept preciously as a memento. After the outsider girl left, Kurapika realized that the Kurta Clan's elder had stolen it and confronted him about it. Having an argument again, the clan elder finally allowed Kurapika to take the test to go to the outside world. Studying hard and passing all the tests successfully, the elder gave him his last test: to go shopping in the outside world with a partner without revealing their Scarlet Eyes. Kurapika chose Pairo as his partner, much to everyone's shock. After departing for the outside world for the last test, Pairo eventually fell asleep during the journey to the town, and Kurapika decided within himself that he will pass the test to go to the outside world in order to find a doctor that can cure Pairo and after that, they will explore the outside world together.

Kurapika passes the final test with some difficulty, but has been granted unrestricted permission to go to the outside world as promised by the clan elder. Before leaving, Kurapika promises Pairo that he will return with a doctor and that they will one day go to the outside world together. He also promised Pairo that he will have a lot of fun and enjoy himself while being outside, having adventures just like the Hunter they read about from Sheila's book. 6 weeks later, while Kurapika was away, the Kurta Clan was approached by the Phantom Troupe for their valuable eyes and massacred. The news reported the death of all 128 members of the Kurta Clan and of scores of dead bodies with eyes gouged out in their wake. As the last surviving member of his clan, Kurapika vows to gain back all the stolen eyes of his people and to arrest all of the members of the Phantom Troupe.

Personality
Kurapika is an intelligent individual, possessing vast knowledge. He is reticent; not one to open up to people easily, and quite judgmental. His distance from others initially keeps him level-headed and moralistic, but his heart has been poisoned with sadness and hatred. Having been traumatized from losing everyone he loved at the age of twelve, Kurapika closes his heart to new people, and remains introverted as to stay focused on his goal. Though Kurapika outwardly states that he desires to become a Blacklist Hunter, and his ultimate goal is to capture the band of thieves that massacred his family, his fury allows him to compromise his personal morality and delve into the squalid side of society. He is prone to fits of uncontrollable anger should the memory of his clan be insulted in any way.

After becoming a professional Hunter, Kurapika starts upon a self destructive path. His anger leads him to commit villainous acts of wrath as catharsis for his pain. Kurapika's reserved demeanor makes him very ruthless and unreasonable, but his friends are the only ones able to slightly settle his seething enough for him to think rationally. Even so, he considers his friendships to be a weakness hindering him from succeeding in his aims.

Appearance

 * 1999

Kurapika has medium blond hair with blue grey eyes. His eyes glow a beautiful and coveted scarlet when experiencing intense emotion. In his first appearance in the series, he wears a blue tabard decorated with an orange-colored hem and a white full-body training suit underneath. He changes his tabard and training suit for the duration of the Yorknew City arc. His shoes are periwinkle Chinese style flats.

Kurapika also wears a single, drop earring ornamented with a ruby in his left ear. After learning Nen, he starts using black contact lenses in order to hide his Scarlet Eyes.
 * 2011

Kurapika has medium blond hair with dark grey eyes. His eyes glow a beautiful and coveted scarlet when experiencing intense emotion. In his first appearance in the series, he wears a blue tabard decorated with a red hem and a white full-body training suit underneath. He changes his tabard and training suit for the duration of the Yorknew City arc. His shoes are periwinkle Chinese style flats.

Kurapika also wears a single, drop earring ornamented with a ruby in his left ear. After learning Nen, he starts using black contact lenses in order to hide his Scarlet Eyes.

Abilities
Kurapika has all the benefits granted by his status as a Hunter. As a Zodiac, his authority in the Hunter Association is inferior only to that of the chairman herself. Being Light Nostrade's right hand man, he had power over the clan, and is now the boss of Light's new organization. Kurapika's powers increase greatly as the series progresses. Hisoka was the first to grow interested in him, listing him as one of the "green fruit" with vast potential. Although at the beginning he was weaker than Killua, during the Yorknew City arc he had become stronger than him due to his Nen abilities. He is one of the few characters (the others being Hisoka and Silva) to have killed a member of the infamous Phantom Troupe, and a very potent one.[57] His exceptional intelligence is matched by high combat prowess and iron will that stems from his desire for revenge. He is also very versatile as he has been seen wielding different weapons. In his showdown with Uvogin, he used his chains when afar and at close quarter combat.[56] While he usually maintains a calm and collected persona, he tends to lose his cool whenever the Phantom Troupe or his clan, are nominated, often turning violent.

Scarlet Eyes
When a member of the Kurta Clan becomes enraged, their eyes turn a vivid shade of red, which triggers an amazing increase in physical strength. In this state, even as a child Kurapika could gain the upper hand in terms of speed and strength against three adults, and easily overpowered them. However, Kurapika admitted that when his eyes turn scarlet, he loses all restraint and rationality and becomes primal, which also occurs whenever he sees a spider.[18] Furthermore, overusing his Scarlet Eyes can have severe repercussions on his health, as doing so caused him to become incapacitated and feverish for more than one day without Melody's Nen ability managing to lower his body temperature.[77] His current limit is about 3 hours, after which the pain and fatigue become too intense and he passes out[98] for 3 times as long. Kurapika also speculates that repeated long uses or ones induced by stealing particularly powerful abilities may cause him to reach the limit earlier than 3 hours.[99] At some point during his Nen training, Kurapika learned to turn his eyes scarlet at will and acquired the ability to control his emotions.[109]

Advanced Hearing
Kurapika has a keener sense of hearing than average humans, which enables him to perceive revelatory sounds[4] and overhear conversations others would miss.[17]

Preternatural Perception
Even prior to learning Nen, he was one of the few candidates of the Hunter Exam to notice being followed by a proctor during the Third Phase. His first meeting with Izunavi demonstrated that he has a developed instinct, as he dodged an acorn imbued with Nen without knowing anything of inner energy, but understanding in a moment it would have been lethal for him to be hit.[110]

Enhanced Strength
After training at Zebro's house, Kurapika managed to open the first door of the Testing Gate, whose total weight is 4 tons. His strength increases when his eyes turn scarlet.[111] With Nen, his blows become more destructive, to the point he can not only inflict pain to Uvogin despite the latter's body being impervious to bullets, but also inflict damage on him.[57]

Enhanced Speed and Reflexes
Kurapika struck Uvogin various times before he could react and even disappeared out of sight in a space clear of hideouts with a leap.[56] He can catch bullets with one of his chains[43] and restrain a target with another in 0.5 seconds from a fair distance,[112] and in approximately 0.2 or 0.3 from only a few meters.[74]

Enhanced Agility
Kurapika can jump several meters in the air and hit his opponents from various angles with acrobatic moves without losing his balance.[56] This is first proven when he leaps on top of a chandelier during the exam to be hired by Light Nostrade[43] and later in the confrontation against Uvogin.[56]

Enhanced Endurance
Possibly due to the loathing he harbors toward the Phantom Troupe and the absolute determination to win the fight, Kurapika seemed almost unfazed by Uvogin breaking his arm.[56] However, in the anime, Hisoka's blows caused him pain.

Genius-Level Intellect
Kurapika is one of the most brilliant characters in the series. Because of this, he was appointed leader of Neon's bodyguards after the demise of Dalzollene.[53] He outsmarted minds of Chrollo's level with carefully planned strategies, and his predictions have rarely turned out to be wrong. He also has an immense deal of knowledge about many topics, ranging from psychology to other cultures, from history to forensic, a quality that surprised his brethren when he was only a child. Due to his longing for new notions, he is a fast learner with an impressive memory. Kurapika's analytical skills are so outstanding they have led to the spreading of the rumor, among Muherr's assassins, that he is able to read minds.[1] When searching for Halkenburg on the Kakin bodyguard registration, he used the vaguest of clues to choose whom he felt to be Halkenburg, something praised by Oito.[87]

Master Strategist
Kurapika can formulate flawless plans even in combat to exploit his opponent's weaknesses to the fullest. His intuition is matched by his logical thinking and meticulous preparations. Although he can retain his cool in desperate situations, he can barely stick to his own plan when it concerns the Phantom Troupe, to the extent he might even snap and endanger not only himself, but his friends as well. On the Black Whale he exhibited greater composure than before and has performed his greatest strategic feat yet, becoming the lynchpin of a stalemate, or at least an impediment, of the succession contest with an endless series of ad hoc tactics, mixing truth and lies, secrets and deliberately disclosed information.[108] His disclosure of the existence of Nen on the very first day of voyage constituted the biggest game-changer of the succession contest, ruining the plans of several camps, delaying murders, and increasing the chances of the lower-ranked princes so as to reach an impasse.

Proficient Hand-to-Hand Combatant
Kurapika was able to land several punches and kicks on a fighter specialized in unarmed combat such as Uvogin with almost no damage on his part.[56]

Master Weapon Specialist
With the full extent of his abilities in the field being unclear, Kurapika used a pair of bokken swords linked by a thread before learning Nen, and could wield them also as a nunchaku. In the 1999 anime, it was revealed the bokken swords were actually two sheathed blades. He displayed the ability to use them skillfully against Hisoka. When he worked as Neon's bodyguard, he carried a knife with him, although he used it solely for intimidation. However, the weapon Kurapika specializes in currently are his chains, which he learned to use in battle with great skill in a rather short amount of time. He can move them with such mastery that they act as natural extensions of his limbs, being even able to entangle targets at a distance of almost 30 meters in less than a second.[56] The chains are suited for both offensive and defensive purposes (usually the Dowsing Chain),[43] as well as immobilizing the opponent (Chain Jail).[51] Imbued with his Nen, they gain an abnormal destructive power, as commented by Uvogin,[111] which allows them to easily break through rock.

Bilingual
Kurapika's mother tongue is the language spoken by the Kurta, but he has also acquired perfect proficiency in the language used in the world at large.

NVC Expert
Even without the usage of his chain, Kurapika is adept at recognizing lies by looking at his interlocutor's eyes. He demonstrated it when inquiring about Melody's motivation for becoming a bodyguard: he not only understood her answer was sincere, but also that she was hiding important details.[47] When trying to identify a mole within the Zodiacs, he could tell it was Saiyu just by observing his body language.[86]

Nen
Kurapika is a Conjurer, a Nen user that can create objects out of thin air according to his imagination, but he becomes a Specialist when his eyes turn scarlet.[111] He learned Nen in a very short time, and is deemed a very skilled user. In terms of theoretical knowledge, he can divide Nen apprentices by aptitude,[101] and is an expert in the mechanics of Limitations and Manipulation Nen.[102] Kurapika has Nen abilities that incorporate elements of Emission, Manipulation,[109] and Enhancement;[111] in addition, he has exhibited proficiency in Transmutation,[102] proving himself a well-rounded Nen users and one of the very few who can access all six Nen categories. The weapon that he conjures is a unique one—five chains that extend from each finger on his right hand. Some of the fingers were specially designed to deal vengeance on the Phantom Troupe.[51] To increase the effectiveness of his chains against them, Kurapika placed strict Limitations on the usage of his chains.[111] Since the chains are materialized, their size and length can be controlled to a certain degree.[51] He is able to conceal his chain through In in order to bind his opponent without their knowledge until it is too late. Kurapika is also proficient in other branches on Nen, such as Shu[56] and Gyo.[56] He has reached a level of skill high enough that he can remain in a state of Ten without conscious thought.[100]

By using a Limitation that puts his own life at stake, his abilities received a great boost.[51][111] In fact, one of his chains is so strong that Uvogin, an experienced fighter, assumed that it was a real chain that Kurapika was manipulating.[57] The combination of his Limitation, the increase in skill granted by his Specialization Hatsu and the aura boost granted by his Scarlet Eyes allowed him to reduce the gap in strength against a master Enhancer such as Uvogin.[56] Repeated usage of his Scarlet Eyes combined with Nen takes a heavy toll on his mind and body,[57] causing him an incapacitating high fever that, after the death of Pakunoda, lasted several days and could not be relieved by Melody's flute.[77]

Hunter Exam Arc
Kurapika makes his first appearance on board a ship that goes from Whale Island to a testing site of the 287th Hunter Exam. He, Gon, and Leorio are the only 3 candidates unaffected by a storm the night before. When the Captain announces an even fiercer one is approaching, the three are the only candidates not to leave the boat. He initially refuses to answer the Captain's question about his motives, but when he reveals that he is an examiner Kurapika replies that he is the last of the Kurta and wants to capture the Phantom Troupe. When Leorio objects he does not need to become a Hunter to do so, Kurapika condescendingly explains a license facilitates the acquisition of information. When Leorio answers the captain that he is attracted by the material possessions provided by being a Hunter, Kurapika remarks that money cannot buy class. The two quarrel over their different opinions and decide to end it with a fight out on the deck while another storm is raging. When they are about to start, a crew member is knocked off the deck by a piece of wood broken off from a yard. Leorio immediately rushes to help him, followed shortly by Kurapika, but they fail to catch him. Gon jumps overboard and grabs him, while the two catch him by his legs. They both reprimand Gon for his recklessness,then apologize to and make up with each other. Seeing that, the captain laughs and decides to take the trio to the port nearest the exam hall, Zaban City's.

Once they dock, the Captain tells Gon to head for a lone tree up a hill, and Gon decides to follow his advice instead of taking the bus to Zaban City. Kurapika decides to follow him, interested in what he may do. Leorio later rejoins them. In what seems an abandoned town, Kurapika and Gon hear people around them. An old lady, also an examiner, asks them a question which they only have 5 seconds to answer. While Kurapika and Leorio scuffle over the prospect of one causing the other to fail, another applicant takes the test in their place. While Leorio protests the unreasonableness of the question, Kurapika hears the applicant the lay let pass scream and understands how to pass the test, but the screener silences him and, after Kurapika agrees to it, poses them her question. Getting annoyed, Leorio picks up a wooden stick and attacks her but is blocked by Kurapika, who explains to him that they have passed because keeping silent is the correct answer to this question. The old lady then tells them to go to a house in the forest to find a couple, who will be their navigators if they consider the trio qualified. Kurapika and Leorio laugh at Gon when he states he cannot find an answer to the question, but become pensive when he suggests they might one day be faced with a similar choice. The three then take the path opened by the screener.

Four hours later, they upon entering the house, they see a wounded man lying on the floor and a woman being held captive by a Kiriko. The monster flees as soon as it sees them. Telling Leorio to take care of the husband, Kurapika and Gon chase after it, and Kurapika is impressed by Gon's vision in the darkness, and shocked by his ignorance about Magical Beasts. Gon clubs the creature and forces it to let go of the wife. Kurapika catches her and notices the strange tattoos on her hands and face. Leorio then shows up and says that there is nothing to worry about the husband. Kurapika hits him in the face with his wooden sword. It turns out this Leorio is a Kiriko in disguise, but Kurapika claims he did not know, and that he hit him because he thought he left an injured. After the monster runs away, he asks the wife who she really is, ready for combat.

After Gon is able to tell the two nearly identical Kiriko apart, they reveal to be the Navigators and that the couple they "saved" are their two children. The daughter states that Kurapika passed the test thanks to his vast knowledge and deduction skills, which allowed him to recognize the chastity symbols on her body and understand that she could not have a husband. Meanwhile Gon is able to tell 2 identical-looking Kirikos apart, which greatly surprises them. The 2 Kirikos and the husband and wife, who are actually their son and daughter, then explain to the trio how they have qualified for the next test—Kurapika for his vast knowledge, Leorio for his good medical skill and confidence, and Gon for his extraordinary movement and observation. The Kiriko fly all three of them to the exam hall.

When they arrive in Zaban City one of the Kiriko takes them to the secret entrance of the exam hall. Kurapika and Leorio start a debate over why one would become a Hunter, with Kurapika stressing the nobility of securing order, and they both ask Gon what being a Hunter means to him. Before he can reply, they reach the site of the first test, a large tunnel, Kurapika, Leorio, and Gon see a lot of experts. Tonpa, nicknamed Rookie Crusher, offers each of them a can of his laxative-spiked drink but Kurapika pours it on the floor after Gon claims that it has a bad taste.

An examiner, Satotz, then appears and tells the candidates to follow him through the tunnel. He runs faster and faster but Kurapika has little problem keeping up with him.[7] While running, he reveals to Leorio the story about the stolen Scarlet Eyes of his people and his determination to retrieve them and capture the Phantom Troupe. The marathon finally ends when they reach the Milsy Wetlands, also known as the Swindler's Swamp.

Satotz warns them of the dangers and tells them to follow him through the Swamp in another marathon. On the way, Kurapika, Leorio, and a number of other candidates are attacked by Hisoka, a man notorious for his bloodthirstiness.[9] All of them are killed in a short time, except for him, Leorio, and Cherry, examinee #76. Knowing that they have no chance of winning against Hisoka, they split up in 3 different directions. After a while, Kurapika returns and sees Gon kneeling there with a shocked expression on his face.[10] While running together to the site of the Second Phase, the Visca Forest Preserve, Gon tells him about what happened to him and Leorio.

At the site of the Second Phase, two Gourmet Hunters, Menchi and Buhara, appear. The Second Phase starts with Buhara asking them to cook roast pork. Even though the kind of pig that they need to catch, the Great Stamp, is the most dangerous pig in the world. Kurapika, his 3 friends, and many other contestants have little difficulties passing the test after they discover that these pigs have a spot of weakness on their foreheads.

The next test has however proven to be a real problem as the other examiner Menchi asks them to make sushi. Despite having read some books about this dish and his careful analysis of the hints that Hanzo, a contestant from the country of sushi, and Menchi unintentionally gave away, Kurapika still failed like the rest.

When the Second Phase is on the verge of having no qualifier, Chairman Netero of the Hunter Association arrives in an airship, criticizes Menchi for losing her temper as an examiner, and tells her to give them another test, which she herself also has to take. This time around Menchi asks them to cook boiled Spider Eagle eggs, which hang from strong strings connecting the two sides of deep ravines. Even though they have to jump into a ravine to find the egg, Kurapika and 41 other examinees pass the test and are subsequently taken to the site of the 3rd Phase in the Chairman's airship.

The Third Phase of the Hunter Exam starts atop the Trick Tower, which has numerous passages, and they have seventy-two hours to get to the bottom of it alive. Kurapika, Leorio, Killua, and Gon are forced to form a team of 5 with Tonpa to pass through the 1st door. They advance, using the majority rule several times on the way, and their road leads them to a platform set up in the middle of a bottomless abyss where they have to participate in a best-of-five series consisting of 5 no-hold-barred one on one matches against a team of 5 long-term prisoners. Tonpa is the first to fight and he deliberately forfeits the match to undermine his teammates. Gon's match is the second and thanks to his quick thinking he manages a win to level the score at 1 - 1. The 3rd match is Kurapika's and his opponent is Majtani, an impostor with a spider tattoo on his back who brags about his fake Phantom Troupe membership to Kurapika. Enraged, his eyes turn scarlet and he knocks Majtani down with a single punch, however the match is still going on because he refuses to kill his opponent, who seems to be unconscious.

Seeing that, Leorio steps in, makes a bet that Majtani is still alive and pretends to drop him into the abyss. Majtani is so scared that he stops playing possum and admits defeat. The score is now 2 - 1 in favor of Kurapika's team but they have lost 40 hours due to betting. Leorio's own match is the 4th, and he loses it after a rock-paper-scissors game along with a bet of ten hours on the gender of his opponent, Leroute.[20] With the score being 2 - 2, Killua quickly kills his opponent, Johness the Dissector, in the last match, putting it at 3 - 2 in their favor, but Kurapika's team now have less than 10 hours to reach the bottom. As they advance, they have to use the majority rule some more times and face many other obstacles such as electric quizzes, a multiple choice labyrinth, mine camps, "Go", etc. Thanks to a brilliant idea of Gon's in choosing ways, they manage to reach the bottom of the tower with just thirty seconds left, thus qualifying them for the Fourth Phase.

During the Fourth Phase, the remaining examinees are taken to Zevil Island to take part in a 7-day manhunt among themselves to capture each other's number badges. Kurapika's designed target is Tonpa, who in turn has Leorio as his target. After Leorio is tricked by Tonpa and Sommy and loses his badge, Kurapika appears, knocks Tonpa down, and asks Leorio to team up with him, to which Leorio agrees. They take the badges #16 and #118 from Tonpa and Sommy.

Even though Kurapika already has six points from his own and Tonpa's badges, he still helps Leorio find his target Ponzu, examinee #246. As they are looking for the target, they again encounter Hisoka, who tells them to give him their badges if they want to live. Kurapika says that he will give him the badge #118 which only means 1 point to them, as for the other 3 badges, they will fight with their lives to protect them. Hisoka agrees, lets them go and takes the badge #118.

At the end of the sixth day, he and Leorio meet Gon and tell Gon about Ponzu. Gon helps them find her by tracking the smell of the medicine that she uses to defend herself. Finally they find Ponzu, but together with her they are trapped in a cave full of snakes whose owner Bourbon, examinee #103, is already dead due to anaphylactic shock caused by her bees. Thanks to Gon's bravery and ability to hold his breath for an extended period of time, all of them are able to get out of this situation by using a soporific gas of Ponzu's to make the snakes sleep. Before they go, Gon takes the badge #246 from a sleeping Ponzu and leaves her the badge #103. With this, Kurapika and his 2 friends qualify for the next and also the last phase.

The last phase of the Hunter Exam is an elimination tournament with a twist—the winner of a match will be removed from the list and receive his very own Hunter License and the loser will be given more chance. Kurapika's first fight is against Hisoka. After fighting for a while, Hisoka whispers something to him and quits the match, allowing him to become a licensed Hunter. When Illumi Zoldyck wants to go murder Gon, Kurapika, Leorio, Hanzo, and some examiners block his way. Later, he also requests that the Hunter Association examine the nature of Killua's act of murder against another contestant, Bodoro, during the last phase and has a brief argument with Pokkle, who wins by default thanks to Killua's disqualification, but they make up with each other after the exam has ended. He then decides to go with Gon and Leorio to Kukuroo Mountain to rescue Killua from the control of his family.

Zoldyck Family arc
Kurapika, Leorio, and Gon arrive at the entrance of the Zoldyck Estate, the Testing Gate, on Kukuroo Mountain on a tour bus. They tell the old gatekeeper, Zebro, that they are Killua's friends but he says he can not let them enter until they can at least push open the first testing door which weighs four tons, because going into the estate via any other way will result in them getting killed by the huge guard dog named Mike.[34] The trio then accepts Zebro's invitation to stay in his house to train, using his heavy equipment.[35] After 20 days, they are all able to open a testing door and head for the Zoldyck Residence without any problem until they are stopped at another gate by a female attendant named Canary. She beats Gon up to prevent them from advancing but thanks to Gon's insistence, she becomes more and more reluctant to block their path and finally asks them to save Killua. Kikyo Zoldyck then appears with her son Kalluto, knocks Canary unconscious, and tells them to leave.[36] Shortly after she and Kalluto leave, Canary regains consciousness and says she is going to lead them to the attendants' room.

While staying in the servants' room, they are forced into playing a guessing game with some butlers of the family, which they manage to win. Killua at last arrives and leaves the Zoldyck Estate with them.[38] Kurapika then tells his three friends what Hisoka whispered to him during the Final Phase. He would wait for Kurapika in Yorknew City, where the largest auction in the world takes place, on September 1st to tell him some interesting things about the Phantom Troupe. It is 6 months until that day so Kurapika says goodbye to his friends, after telling them that he is going to look for some work as a Hunter and arranges to meet up with them later in Yorknew City in September.

Heaven's Arena arc
At some point after parting company with his friends, Kurapika succeeds in finding an agency specializing in providing rich and famous people with bodyguards and hirelings. However, he is immediately told that despite his Hunter License, he is not qualified for such work. The agent says that his Hunter Exam is not finished.

During Gon and Killua's training in the Heaven's Arena, it is revealed by Wing that Kurapika learned Nen after the Hunter Exam.[41]

Yorknew City arc
Kurapika learns Nen in six months and looks for a customer who has strong connections with the auction in Yorknew City. At the beginning of August, he appears at the mansion of a collector who collects body parts to apply for a job as bodyguard. In the mansion he meets five other people, three of them Hunters themselves: Melody, Baise, Shachmono Tocino, Basho, and Squala. A man shows up on the screen in the hall where they are waiting and tells them that if they want the job, they at least have to get out of the mansion alive. As he finishes, a group of 11 people who wear black hooded robes and masks and are armed with guns and swords suddenly appear and attack them.[42] Using his Dowsing Chain, Kurapika blocks a number of bullets fired at him and jumps onto a chandelier to avoid the sword users and observe the situation.[43]

Noticing that Tocino is the only person who is not being attacked, he jumps down, puts a knife at Tocino's throat and orders him to stop the attackers in three seconds. Tocino obeys by making the Eleven Black Children disappear and tells them that he is a Hunter ordered by the owner of the mansion to test them and that they can get out of the mansion now. Kurapika suspects that he is trying to confuse them. Using his Dowsing Chain again, he discovers that Squala is another infiltrator, which is further confirmed by Melody's, Baise's, and Basho's techniques. He and 3 other genuine applicants thus pass the test.[43] After each of them completes another mission of finding a rare body part, they are all officially hired by the man who was on the screen previously, Dalzollene.[44]

Vide Games

 * Jump Force

Knownable Relatives

 * Kurapika's Mother (dead)
 * Kurapika's Father (dead)

Trivia
He shares many similarities with Uchiha Sasuke from Naruto/Naruto Shippuuden. Kurapika bears resemblance to Lyserg Diethel from Shaman King in that: Kurapika has similarities with Kurama from YuYu Hakusho.
 * In the Hunter × Hunter Character and World Databook, his name is spelled as "Curarpikt".
 * In one of Hunter × Hunter's card collections, the character is also alternatively named as "Kurapica".
 * Despite his clan's name, Kurapika has never been shown with a full name. However, "Kurapika Kurta" is the name given by the fans. Among the four main characters, *Kurapika is the only one whose last name has not been mentioned yet.
 * Kurapika wears two earrings, although only one is seen throughout the series.
 * Kurapika is the only character who falls under two different Nen categories.
 * During Kurapika's Water Divination on the Black Whale, his aura caused the water to change colors and the leaf to spin.
 * After killing Uvogin, Kurapika temporarily stopped wearing his chains out in the open. This probably contributed to him not being recognized as the "Chain Dude" by the Troupe members who passed themselves off for auction staff when he bid at the underground auction and picked up the forged Scarlet Eyes.
 * The second name of Emperor Time was changed to Absolute Mastery in the Viz translation, which also omitted the "Chain" part of each chain's second name.
 * Kurapika was ranked second in all of the 3 popularity polls that have been conducted so far by Weekly Shonen Jump. In the first character popularity poll, he acquired 13,498 votes. In the second character popularity poll, he had 7,176 votes. In the most recent and third character popularity poll, he had 3,467 votes. During the first poll, fans were impressed by his great will and often confused about his gender which gave him a lot of points.
 * Kurapika is referred to as the "Chain Bastard", the nickname the Phantom Troupe gave to him, in one of the tracks for the 2011 Original Soundtrack 2.
 * His voice actress in the Pilot OVA, Noriko Hidaka, also voices Shalnark in the 2011 series.
 * Kurapika is played by Akiko Kimura in the Hunter × Hunter stage play Hunter × Hunter: Real Stage.
 * Out of the 4 main characters, Kurapika is the only one whose birthday does not fall on a Japanese holiday.
 * Nevertheless, it is indeed relevant: in Japanese culture, the number 4, due to one of its possible pronunciations, is considered the number of death**, and April is the fourth month of the year. This date reflects his determination to apprehend or kill the members of the Phantom Troupe, and he is indeed referred as a "god of death" in one of their predictions. The number of the month and day of his birthday are the same: Kurapika shares this characteristic with the other three protagonists and Hisoka.
 * Kurapika is similar to Saint Seiya character Shun in his androgynous appearance and the usage of chains as weapons.
 * Both have androgynous traits which have caused them to be mistaken for girls.
 * Both of their weapons of choice are similar.
 * Both have dowsing abilities.
 * both are renowned for their deduction skills. (For Kurapika : a Blacklist Hunter. Whereas for Lyserg : he sought to become a detective)
 * Both want to exact their revenge on a group of villains who murdered their family.
 * Both are cunning master strategists who always plan their attacks in advance.
 * Both are prodigies who rapidly learned how to control their superhuman abilities.
 * Both are highly intelligent with a vast knowledge in many fields.
 * Both have an androgynous appearance that has lead readers to wonder if they were in fact girls. (For Kurapika : In one chapter, he is mistaken as being a girl by his archenemy. Whereas for Kurama : in the last episode of YuYu Hakusho Kurama is mistaken for Kuwabara's girlfriend)
 * Both wear Chinese-style clothes.
 * Both have a calm, collective, and friendly personality. However their personality switched to a sinister, wrathful, and hateful feelings towards those who had hurt them.
 * Both bared a profound feeling of respect and platonic love towards their friends and family, and would never sacrifice their lives in order to achieve their own personal goals.
 * Both are capable hand-to-hand combatants, although they mainly fight with weapons.
 * Both are ranked second place for most popular character.
 * Both are the second person that the main character meets.
 * Both have the same first two syllables on their names and are the only main characters to do so.
 * Both have a combat style that is similar. (For Kurapika : he has the ability to conjure up a chain from his aura, which is used for the same purposes as Kurama's plants. Whereas for Kurama : he wielded a whip in origin, making his combat style very similar to Kurapika's)

Voice Actresses

 * Japanese : Yuki Kaida (1999 series), Miyuki Sawashiro (2011 series)
 * English : Cheryl McMaster (1999 series), Erika Harlacher (2011 series)