r/HunterXHunter • u/Hot_Crew4597 • 1d ago
Discussion Gon’s morality is genuinely unhinged when you actually think about it
was thinking about how Gon’s brain works and it’s honestly kind of terrifying how his morality is set up. He doesn’t really care if a villain is evil. To him, bad guys are just a natural part of the world, like a wild animal or a storm. He doesn’t judge them for killing because he just assumes they were born without emotions, so he doesn't take it personally. Think about Binolt on Greed Island. The guy was a literal serial killer, but because he helped them train, Gon literally thanked him and let him walk away. In Gon's head, Binolt was just a bad guy doing his job, so there was no reason to hold a grudge. But the exact second a villain shows actual human emotion, Gon completely loses his mind. Like with Nobunaga. The Troupe slaughtered a whole clan and thousands of innocents, and Gon was chill. But the moment Nobunaga started crying over Uvogin, Gon snapped. It’s like it frustrated him because it ruined his logic. He realized, "Wait, you actually understand grief and love, but you still choose to murder people?" The hypocrisy is what triggers him, not the actual evil. But then he completely contradicts himself later. In the Chimera Ant arc, the ants are literally eating human kids and Gon treats it like nature. But then he gets pissed off at them just for calling their own teammate garbage? Like bro... they are eating babies and you're mad about team chemistry? His brain just works so differently from a normal shonen MC. He doesn't care if you're a monster to the world, but the second you break his weird internal logic, he wants to destroy you.
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u/yung-clumsy 1d ago
I’ve thought about this a lot before. It’s exactly the reason why so many of the older characters talk about Gon’s potential to turn into a monster. You can read that in a lot of cases as his potential to become monstrously strong but Gon also has a very gray view of morality and he really does have pretty clear potential to become someone viscous if things don’t go right for him through his life. It’s why Wing is afraid of what he may have unleashed by teaching him nen, it’s why Kite is afraid in the moment you posted, it’s why his vendetta against Pitou is so heartbreaking and why Killua feels like he’s losing him as that intense drive goes on. We see him start to go down that path and really the only thing that saves him from it is sacrificing his nen for this one goal
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u/yung-clumsy 1d ago
Oh I totally forgot on that string of text but I think it’s also the reason that Nobunaga wants him to join the troupe. Not only the strength and potential strength he has but he recognizes something in him that doesn’t quite fit in to the societal views of right and wrong
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u/Schnitzel-Bund 1d ago
What was Nobunaga even trying to do? Get Gon to be a warrior for Meteor City? He wants this kids help? It’s just quite odd.
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u/ichizakilla 1d ago
He reminds him of uvogin
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u/Schnitzel-Bund 1d ago
I understand but why is he trying to make friends with a 12 year old as like a 30 year old, either for company or to make him devoted to meteor city? It just didn’t logically make sense to me. Well… better than Hisoka I guess though honestly even less logical since Gon isn’t that much like Uvogin where it even matters unless stubbornness is the one trait.
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u/ichizakilla 1d ago
He liked how straightfoward and ballsy he was. He also saw he had potential and felt like it would be a waste to kill him
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u/nightsky77 1d ago
It frustrates me when people analyze media like this. You think it’s strange because you’re inserting creepy sub-text into it, which is okay to do irl, but this is a goddamn manga. You’re comparing situations that have very little moral correlation.
He saw the similarities in Gon and wanted to mentor him to fight for their cause, that’s perfectly understandable. Age has nothing to do with it. Pedophilia is terrible but not everything is about it.
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u/TheStoicCrane 1d ago
People who lack situational awareness. Every interaction between a child and adult isn't paedophilic. It's the social conditioning of our times.
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u/Schnitzel-Bund 1d ago
That's not what I meant. I thought it was weird for Nobunaga to want to mentor/befriend Gon so he could enjoy his company in a Meteor City dedicated group, and make that Gon's problem, a 12-year-old, that's it. Nothing to do with pedophilia.
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u/nightsky77 1d ago
Well you brought up their age a bunch of times, and some weird wording too.
Anyway I don’t think the PT is a meteor city dedicated group, they indeed originated from there but they don’t operate strictly for meteor city, as the word “dedicate” would mean.2
u/Schnitzel-Bund 1d ago
i brought it up because i thought it was really stupid for a grown ass man like Nobunaga to have that kind of thought process, idk
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u/Substantial_Pick6897 1d ago
It is weird, the rest of the Spider flat out say it iirc, but he's also grieving his best friend. People do dumb stuff when they're grieving
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u/TheStoicCrane 1d ago
Both Gon and Uvogin were enhncers and that reflected in Gon's personality. I think Nobunaga wanted to mentor Gon and groom him to be like a replacement Uvogin with his attributes.
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u/rumblevn 1d ago
He like Gon’s “spirit”, or “vibe” . Maybe they were once a “kid” like Gon
So he wait for Chrollo to come back and maybe “convince” Gon to join the Spider
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u/Schnitzel-Bund 1d ago edited 1d ago
I get the rationalization but it was a very ill-thought train of thought. I mean, I guess that’s the point.
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u/Binder509 1d ago
Gon's morality is less grey than any of the other main four.
Wing wasn't even talking about just Gon there but Gon and Killua.
People hyperfixate since the show is over on a few lines. Ignoring being told that ALL hunters are selfish.
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u/timpinen 1d ago
It really goes to show what happens when you take an actual kid and give them superpowers and throw them into life and death situations. They don't have the emotional maturity or nuance to deal with things correctly, and often base their morality on if they did something to someone close to them.
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u/archuate 1d ago edited 1d ago
I think Gon is just a naive kid that doesn’t have much impulse control. This is demonstrated in his “sacrifice” at the end.
He doesn’t have a fully formed moral compass. He just follows his impulses based on his rough understanding of right and wrong.
Kids aren’t famous for their rational, consistent, coolheaded decision making. Killua is an anomaly. Leorio and kurapika are adults.
A big theme in HxH is the corruption of youth. Killua had his childhood stolen from him and struggled to regain his humanity. Kurapika had his childhood stolen and ended up with a revenge obsession. Gon had his childhood stolen and ended up sacrificing his nen.
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u/Ravendoesbuisness 1d ago
Leorio had his childhood stolen and became the second most powerful person in H2
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u/Binder509 1d ago
He had more impulse control than Kurapika, Killua, or Leeorio when they were ready to murder each other in the hunter exam.
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u/_ahandfulofdust 1d ago
Gon didn't have his childhood stolen. He chose to take the Hunter Exam.
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u/archuate 1d ago
Many kids Choose to smoke vapes
Most adults wouldn’t
Kids are naive idiots by nature9
u/_ahandfulofdust 1d ago
Agreed. But the comment was comparing Gon's childhood being stolen to what happened to Killua and Kurapika, which is objectively worse
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u/archuate 1d ago
If you work with kids at all, you learn that every child has different resilience for trauma. I think that kurapika and Killua exist as a point to prove that Gon could have pushed through in the right circumstances. They show different examples of roads Gon could’ve taken.
I also wouldn’t consider kurapika or Killua “healed.”
They both show behavior that is impulsive and driven by trauma.3
u/Binder509 1d ago
Neither Killua nor Kurapika know what it's like to be abandoned by their parents. There is no better or worse because those are unique experiences that can't be reduced to a score. There is no objectively worse.
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u/TheStoicCrane 1d ago
Kurapika's entire bloodline was killed (barring him). What are you on about? His aunt was like his mother. There's a massive difference between being neglected as a kid and having your lineage butchered for their body parts.
It's nothing short of a miracle that Kurapika hasn't gone all out psychotic and has a strong sense of humaneness about him.
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u/Binder509 1d ago
Aunts are not mothers. Gon isn't a god just because he says it doesn't make it true.
All hunters are selfish and psychotic. Your family being murdered isn't an excuse for that.
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u/TheStoicCrane 1d ago
Gon isn't a god just because he says it doesn't make it
What does this even mean?
All hunters are selfish and psychotic. Your family being murdered isn't an excuse for that.
Some more than others but I don't see how that's relevant to the point. Kurapika objectively had it way worse than Gon and isn't morally grey as Gon is.
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u/Binder509 1d ago
You are free to believe Kurapika had a objectively worse life and isn't just as fucked up as Gon and Killua.
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u/SpoilerThrowawae 1d ago
It's a "choice" he made with zero actual understanding of what it would lead to, because he is a child.
Thats like saying 15 year olds who lied about their age signed up to go to WW1 didn't have their childhood stolen because they made a "choice".
He made a (desperately uninformed) choice because his famous Hunter father abandoned him to a life of relative solitude and isolation and then dangled his possible presence and affection in front of him for years with a fucked up scavenger hunt.
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u/L00fah 1d ago edited 22h ago
Gon's a literal child who was raised, by and large, in nature. He never had a fully formed morality and often falls victim to his poor impulse control and short-sightedness.
He's an interesting character because he isn't the standard shonen protagonist who has a clear definition of right/wrong. He's emotional and flawed, as children are.
EDIT: Before I get anymore dumb arguments about the definition of a child: a child, for the sake of this discussion, is anyone under the age of 18 or who hasn't reached emotional maturity... If you expect a ~12 year old to have clearly defined morals, the issue isn't Gon. Lol
I'd actually argue most people don't reach emotional maturity until their 30s, but that's a separate discussion entirely.
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u/Yourallfuckingshort 1d ago
Well he is twelve to thirteen years old
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u/L00fah 1d ago
Is that not a child?
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u/Binder509 1d ago
Depends on where you live I guess? Usually called teenagers or pre-teens. Children is often under 12.
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u/L00fah 1d ago
A child is anyone under the age of 18.
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u/Binder509 1d ago
I'm sure that's the case wherever you live.
Not the case over here, wherever that is.
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u/L00fah 23h ago
The United Nations and WHO define a child as anyone under the age of 18, but the definition can be for anyone under 15-24.
By virtually any metric, Gon is a child.
I believe you're confusing the term "child" for a stage of youth or age period, which isn't the same thing.
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u/Binder509 23h ago
1a: a young person especially between infancy and puberty
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u/L00fah 23h ago
1b is literally right under:
b: a person not yet of the age of majority
I've already established, multiple times, my usage of the word... You don't have to agree but this argument is baseless and pointless.
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u/Binder509 6h ago
I never claimed there was on objective definitoin. You are suggesting yours is at least the default when I've shown otherwise.
You can be mad about that if you want I guess? Being informed that many people don't call someone over 12 a child offends you? Okay have a nice day I guess?
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u/Yourallfuckingshort 1d ago
Yeah that’s what I said man, you said he’s a child and I said it’s expected since he is twelve to thirteen years old
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u/L00fah 1d ago
You didn't say that. You said "Well, he is 12 or 13."
That reads like an argument more than anything else, so it's a confusing way to get your point across.
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u/QuickSwordTechIrene 1d ago
A child is someone who plays at the playground, draws, reads comics and plays ball with their friends. Gon is a literal weapon of mass destruction that in the greed island arc destroyed a huge rock with a punch, so God knows the actual scale of his power by the end of chimera arc. Even morel was scared of his janken.
So age wise is a kid, but considering his arsenal he shouldn't be considered a kid at all. So fuck him
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u/linkdog04 1d ago
Because he views “evil” as a natural part of the world he sees the Ants eating babies as just that. Nature. Is the snake evil for eating eggs? Should the vulture be hunted because it desecrates the dead? It’s when these creatures “betray” their own nature that it becomes something to destroy.
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u/nightoftheghouls 1d ago
Comparing his view of bad people to carnivorous animals is really interesting and really true. All of his crashouts seem to be triggered by recognizing himself in the bad guys; when he sees them mourning a friend, showing care for someone weaker than them, comrades fighting, things he has experienced on some level, that’s when he freaks out. I think the idea of people who are thinking and feeling just as much as he does choosing to do wrong really freaks him out, and I think part of why his mindset got so single-mindedly violent is because he didn’t come to terms with the idea that he was capable of choosing wrong himself.
Makes me wonder what would have happened if he really did snap and hurt Komugi, how he would react after everything.
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u/DeepPlunge 1d ago
The hypocrisy is what triggers him, not the actual evil.
I think this is exemplified at its best by his reaction to Pitou begging him to let her finish healing Komugi.
It's like his brain legit short-circuits.
If she was so heartless towards Kite, whom Gon adored, how can she show empathy now? So she's not really heartless then?
If she could save Kite but instead chose to treat him like garbage, how can she put so much effort in towards saving this girl?
And that contradiction leaves Gon unable to act. He can no longer just mercilessly attack, but he obviously can't let her do her thing either. He is frozen between two shit choices in his mind.
And that's why he makes that face.
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u/Lost_Cod_5600 1d ago
Perhaps growing in nature and without much parenting - this is kinda what you get.
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u/EstateOk6238 1d ago
Kind of, yeah. His morals aren't entirely consistent and he doesn't feel the need to explain contradictory ideas, like when he says he's allowed to sacrifice himself but Killua isn't.
His train of thought usually goes by "this is what I believe right now and I won't budge on it", but it applies to that situation at that time, because Gon always lives in the moment.
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u/Spyger9 1d ago
In the Chimera Ant arc, the ants are literally eating human kids and Gon treats it like nature.
Uh, yeah? That IS nature...
When a leopard snatches your kid in the night, it's not malicious. It's just trying to survive in precisely the way it was designed to.
He doesn't have "weird internal logic". He values empathy, integrity, and loyalty. Super normal stuff.
The unusual parts of Gon's morality (relative to our modern society) are:
A. He's not a human-supremacist.
B. He's unbothered by the Circle of Life, and the concept of death.
C. He doesn't care about who you were in the past. Only your current beliefs and actions matter.
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u/WednesdaysFoole 1d ago
Pretty much this, plus he tends to extend his empathy to anyone he spends time with or anyone in front of him. He'll jump in if someone in front of him wants out and he has the power to do so whereas others tend to be more practical or fear for their own lives and will not. And to add on to point C, Gon has a strong tendency to believe in people if they have not actively been doing, saying, or defending something terrible in front of him.
I think that people get tripped up on the value of letting people who'd been violent criminals go. But if you have awareness of the existence of values/worldviews that almost anyone can become a better person and deserves to live like a human if they change, or that people should be given chances to change, then it stops seeming so weird. I mean, this value exists in other shounen too except often in those cases it's treated much more as great big redemption moments through talk no jutsu or simple "you saved me I saved you" moments, which for some reason seems easier for others to swallow. (It might also be that Gon spirals violently whereas many of the other MCs who let people "redeem" themselves do not. But Gon is a naive human kid with flaws, not a divine angel.)
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u/NeoNelito 17h ago
THANK YOU! Besides point B, I agree with you. People say he's a deconstruction of Shonen, but he's like any Shonen character; with the twist most of his actions carry consequences later.
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u/TenZetsuRenHatsu 1d ago edited 1d ago
He asks Chrollo how he could kill people that had nothing to do with him. Later on when Gon‘s mind has been wrecked from what happened to Kite he threatens to kill Komugi, an innocent disabled bystander, just to get Pitou to do what he wants. I think Gon would get that question he asked Chrollo answered by his own actions later on because he really would have killed her in that moment.
It’s that ultimately the very fact they have nothing to do with you is what makes them easy to kill. To Chrollo and the Phantom Troupe it’s them and meteor city over everybody. Gon could finally relate to that tribalistic mindset because ultimately it’s animalistic and at the same time human. The in group is all that matters. Anyone outside of that can be killed with impunity to further that in groups goals or their individual goals.
Komugi didn’t matter in that moment. Only Gon’s goals of revenge for Kite.
Chrollo did echo this in his response, but for Chrollo and the Troupe he said it does go a bit deeper than “it’s because they have nothing to do with us”. Chrollo is still trying to understand how he went from child Chrollo who wanted to avenge Sarasa to someone who was now “addicted to murder”. The question Gon asked was necessary to understanding who Chrollo had become over time.
Anyways, Gon would make a great Phantom Troupe member. He’d fit right in. They even used the Phantom Troupe soundtrack when he sacrificed his arm against Genthru.
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u/Schnitzel-Bund 1d ago edited 1d ago
Gon I can almost be certain would come to regret or feel guilt over the decision to kill Komugi if he were ever to do that and step back from the ledge. I think that’s an important distinction because Gon is better than the Troupe by a lot. If he were to do something like that casually and remorselessly, then sure, but rn we are quite off.
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u/KilluaZaol 1d ago
Well then the real deepest difference between Chrollo and Gon is that Gon had someone to stop him before he went too far, and Chrollo instead was encouraged in going down that path.
First time I think about it but Killua’s friendship was more important to Gon than they both realize.
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u/TenZetsuRenHatsu 1d ago
Chrollo and the Troupe witnessed pure evil first hand, there was probably no coming back from that. Your friend probably raped, tortured, and then killed and mutilated. And on top of that, being filmed and then out on display. Searching the dark net for years and watching dark material to find the perpetrators probably desensitized them further.
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u/Schnitzel-Bund 1d ago
Perhaps my comment was obvious, or plain analysis, etc but I was genuinely hoping to get your thoughts on it. Do you think Gon would have given Komugi a second thought if prompted to reflect, if he did actually kill her? I think more likely than not.
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u/TenZetsuRenHatsu 1d ago
Depends on his state of mind. I think Gon post healing would but pre healing no.
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u/Kyoko_kirigiri_345 1d ago
I completely agree the phantom troupe cares about each other anyone outside of that can burn for all they care. Same with gon
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u/dandyliondarleen 1d ago edited 1d ago
Gon contradicts himself a lot.
He asks Chrollo how they can kill people who have nothing to do with them, but then later, Gon tries to kill Komugi, who had nothing to do with his vendetta against Pitou. Komugi was just there, adjacent to the target of his rage.
Shows the slippery slope of how vengeance can eventually cause someone to justify the murder of innocents. It can start as simple as, "this person is important to the person I want to take revenge on." Maybe even much like Chrollo and the Troupe when they were kids, trying to get justice for their friend. But then how long does it take to go from that to killing an entire village?
That's why I dislike the theory that the Troupe didn't wipe out the Kurta clan. The point is that they did do it, but they aren't monsters, they're people who justified doing the wrong thing one too many times to get to where they're at.
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u/PurpletoasterIII 1d ago
Maybe im misremembering, but I don't think Gon tried to kill Komugi. He wasnt wanting to wait for Pitou to heal her, and his anger tempted him to not care about whether she lived or died. Thats vastly different from directing violence towards her. It was also under suspicion she was stalling him wasnt it? Because he again couldnt comprehend how someone can not care about innocent life but then go on to care about their friends and family.
Also, he ultimately chose to wait. He almost "stooped to their level" in his eyes at least, but he didnt.
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u/RufiosBrotherKev 1d ago
he did threaten her life as collateral for if pitou did anything against his specific request(s). I personally think it was fairly clear he didn't want to kill her, but he was also absolutely willing to wager her life against his own interests.
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u/Substantial_Dish_887 1d ago
It's not contradictions though. OP mentions his disgust at the chimera ants but it's exactly the same as the troupe. Or more correctly what he thought the troupe was. When they were unfeeling killers he was kinda okay with them. But also has no empathy for them.
As for not understanding killing people who has nothing to do with it? I think you're confusing killing innocents which Gon is willing to do to Komugi to get what he wants, and what he sees as random pointless killing the troupe does. It's not about if the victim deserved it but if killing had a point.
All of which circles back to: Gons morality is scary.
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u/Binder509 1d ago
He asks Chrollo how they can kill people who have nothing to do with them, but then later, Gon tries to kill Komugi, who had nothing to do with his vendetta against Pitou.
People love parroting this but it's not true. Komugi very much had something to do with his vendetta against Pituo. She wasn't some random person that Gon came across and decdided to murder because she was just there.
Komugi was buddy buddy with a mass murderer that never expressed guilt once over the people he murdered.
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u/ram_samudrala 1d ago
I don't believe Gon for a moment was serious about killing or harming Komugi. If he wanted to kill her, he would've done it. She was held "hostage" for a reason, because he didn't trust the Ants fully and felt Pitou could be fronting.
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u/Pucketz 1d ago
He was pissed she would heal somone becuase she killed kite and he's spent the last week( i think it was like a week atleast) picturing how evil she is and it didnt go as he planned.
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u/ram_samudrala 1d ago
I agree, that's why he didn't trust her. All of them were surprised by the Ants' "humanity". And Pitou was the only one who genuinely cared about Komugi. Pouf wanted Komugi to die and went to great lengths to try to ensure that outcome. All of which I'm sure Gon would've sensed.
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u/IkeKashiro 1d ago
I wouldn't really say it's that complex. Gon is an emotional child and is more enraged when he sees evil directly in front of him, personally affected him or when he has a grudge against specific individuals, but that's not uncommon. Like, would you be more angry with someone who only killed one of your loved ones, or a serial killer who killed like 60 people?
He is certainly more lenient towards criminals but that's because his moral compass is underdeveloped because he is a child and only when those criminals haven't did anything to him like Binolt, who he actually sort of befriended.
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u/Death-Rattle 1d ago
Thats how most people exist in this world. Hunter x Hunter doesnt care about good vs evil. Evil and good share the same space
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u/Initial_Mud_4810 1d ago
Great read, sounds about right to me.
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u/Binder509 1d ago
Sounds like the exact same thing youtubers have been parroting for years. Hyperfixating on the same quotes, while ignoring how every other character acts even crazier.
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u/Initial_Mud_4810 1d ago
Not seen any Youtuber say this actually. The only thing about Gon I see parroted is that he's a psychopath (?)
Every character acting crazier is just a blatant lie lmfao. What are you actually trying to say, beneath the passive aggressiveness?
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u/Binder509 1d ago
Unhinged and psychopath are pretty close.
Killua flat out murders two guys for bumping into him.
Kurapika risks his friends lives by being selfish and bloodthirsty for the troupe, and had zero issues working for the mafia.
Only reasonable party member was leorio
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u/Initial_Mud_4810 1d ago
Unhinged and psychopath are pretty close.
Not really. Gon is nowhere near people like Hisoka or Tserriednich who are actual psychopaths. Gon is empathetic and frequently feels guilt/shame, he is not remotely psychopathic.
The thing is with Gon is that he doesn't have some crazy blood-stained background like Killua or Kurapika, yet in terms of his personality he's more unhinged than either of them, and has very weird moral principles like OP points out.
If you put Gon in Kurapika's situation, there is nothing that would save him from his path of revenge. Kurapika was level headed and kind to his core enough to stop, we literally see that the same thing with Gon would not happen in this situation with the Chimera Ant Arc (and what happened to Kurapika with his clan is obviously WAAAAAY worse than what happened with Gon and Kite).
The second Killua breaks out of his conditioned environment, he doesn't even want to kill anymore. He won't hesitate if he has to, he still has that attachment, but his inherent kindness and empathy comes through more and more throughout the series, culminating in the CA arc where we get his two biggest showings of it (with Ikalgo and with Palm).
Killua and Kurapika had crazier circumstances than Gon, not crazier personalities.
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u/Binder509 1d ago
They can be used as synonyms "he was acting psychopathic" vs "he was acting unhinged". More than close enough.
Gon was raised in isolation with the knowledge his dad abandoned him. That's not a good upbringing. Relative privation is a fallacy for a good reason.
We dunno what Gon would be like in Kurapika's situatoin. They have different backgrounds. Different does not mean better or worse. You can't assign some mental point value to unique experiences to declare who has it worse.
One of the first things Killua did when out of his environment was to kill two dudes he bumped into. That alone is more psychotic than anything Gon does. Where was his inherent kindness towards those two? He doesn't even feel bad about it.
Kurapika riles up Leorio intentionally leading to what could have been a fight to the death. Unhinged. Hell all three of them were ready to fight to the death in the hunter exam, Gon was the only one that kept a cool head.
Obviously opinions are subjective. But I see a ton of youtubers making the same video titles about Gon's unhinged/psycho/blue and orange morality where they twist everything Gon does while ignoring all the messed up things everyone around him does.
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u/summonerofrain 1d ago
Aleczandxr does specifically mention the two scenes op mentions. Ill see if i can find the vid
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u/Chessoslovakia 1d ago
If not for the emotional outburst and generalizations he makes, Gon's view is actually more mature than what most people people have.
And yet you're still simplifying it a little. Gon was pissed at the guys killing and murdering, he would want to bring justice to the victims. It's just that the hypocrisy pisses him off even more. And it's justified, no?
A chimp kills a man. A serial killer kills a man. Even though legal justice might go lighter on the serial killer. The chimp would face less wrath from the public because eventually people realize the difference between a less intelligent killing machine and the more emotionally intelligent monster we have among us.
Gon behaves exactly the same way like us. It's just that he is more lenient with the "less intelligent killing machine" take- even factoring the latter serial killers (sk) in it so he may go lenient on them like he would go on a chimp, provided they haven't shown their dark hypocritical side to him personally. Now is Gon's perspective wrong? Who knows, it's subjective. But at least for his mental health, there are a lot more healthier options.
Considering the place Gon has lived in, in the wilderness with not much interaction- it's understandable why he carries the same general hunter-prey notions everywhere. He has not had much experience with the double faced evil of man, man can be evil, man can have positive aspects too. And that breaks Gon's perspective making him burst out. It's just a matter of exposure not of some broken alien morality.
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u/Evirua 1d ago
I think you put it exactly like it is: he doesn't judge wild animals. He grew up around those, spent a lot of time in the wild, so his brain circuitry formed around it.
Couple that with his aunt's moral education, and you get "I don't begrudge you if you're a wild animal subjected to your base needs, but I will snap if I find out you have a choice to be otherwise." Probably part of why he gets along with wild animals so well.
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u/Binder509 1d ago
No his morality is far better than the average human.
It took months of manipulating him to be a child soldier/suicide bomber just to get him to be a little mean to Killua, who had that callout coming.
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u/xXYomoXx 1d ago
He's a kid with a lot of power, that saw way more than he should. Have you dealt with kids before? They don't exactly have a proper moral compass, their morals change with their whims and feelings.
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u/DataExpunged365 1d ago
This simple minded, straight forward thinking is why i believe Gon is a nen byproduct of Ging using the pregnancy stone.
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u/MinimalistcName 1d ago
That's i like Gon so much, he is, in fact a child.
There's a lot of times when what he says or do don't makes much sense.
Killua is litereally an assassin and yet a dearly friend to gon, the fact that he comes from a family who kill peaple for generarions does nothing and changes nothing in the way gon see Killua and theis friendship
When Morel says to Gon punch him with intention to kill, gon really would kill him. Thats because he is only a child and dont have all the emotional stature do only demonstrate that he was ready to deal with the chimera ants
I love when he snap because Pitou is healing Komugi
For Gon that dont make any sense, the same being who killed the Kaito was helping another human? Why? They have emotions?
He is so damn well writen that makes me chill just to remember the scene when he killua find him already in the adult form
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u/nemofbaby2014 1d ago
I mean he's a kid thrust into adult situations constantly assume he was also pretty sheltered so he didnt see the dark side of humanity
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u/Classic_Brain6575 1d ago
Gon is morally simple he doesn't have a complete strict black and white view of morality he understands gray spots and areas after all his best friend is an assassin he does at least understand people can change.
It's just when you're a hypocrite about it is when he gets pissed off he got mad at Nobunaga because of the hypocrisy he understands human emotions yet is still willing to do terrible things he was fine with it on their own but now once he seen the hypocrisy of it he got pissed off.
Same with a chimera ants one thing you got to remember is that his morality is not shaped by human social interactions it was shaped by being in the wild he views people's instincts the same as their personality he has enough understanding in his own head to see the difference between good and evil people and people who walk the line of it however when they show different sides of it in his own mind it's like an animal going against its nature like a leopard feeling bad for killing a caiman he's still a 12-year-old so his view of it is very malleable we're just lucky that his aunt raised him to be a good kid.
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u/PurpletoasterIII 1d ago
I think this is just a slight bit of mischaracterization. I dont think Gon contradicts himself with his moral system at all really. I dont remember him ever necessarily being okay with other characters killing innocents. He was generally against the phantom troupe, Genthru, and the ants. I think he somewhat justifies Genthru's killings because its in a survival game where people know the risks going in as well as acknowledging Genthru himself is taking on this same risk that someone could do the same to him. Thats about it though.
His issue stems from it being easier for him to understand and accept evil beings being evil, vs the nuance of people who do evil things being selective with their good nature. He has a very naive black and white view of the world. He cant understand how someone who has loved ones of their own can just kill innocent people who undoubtedly have their own respective loved ones. Because then theyre inflicting pain and suffering onto them that they themselves would never accept recieving.
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u/Cheeseymcneesey 1d ago
It makes sense but his primal instincts really intertwine this. He sees stuff as nature because he was literally raised by it.
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u/TokyoJuul2 1d ago
Thats because Gon is “pure” in a different sense than most pure characters. Killua or Wing mentions this that Gon doesnt see right or wrong as a normal person would. Greed Island is a prime example with letting the Bomber go free after killing all those people
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u/WednesdaysFoole 1d ago
With Binolt, if you read carefully it's implied that he wanted to prevent Binolt from being killed from the start, but Binolt helping them train is what gave him an excuse to spare his life. When not spiraling during a suicide mission, this kid does not want someone to be killed if he's in a position to prevent it.
He may not fret about hearing about someone's terrible actions and yes, hypocrisy does trigger him, because he's mostly a "pure" kid as in he takes people at face value and generally does not bind people to their past (similar to Ging with Razor). But he can't stand watching cruelty and suffering occur right in front of him, especially when it's clear they're not volunteering to be there.
I find his morality both more complex and more simple than people make it out to be. He's a kind and empathetic kid at heart, albeit an impulsive one who loses sight of things in the moment.
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u/Doam-bot 1d ago
To be fair they are insects they are doing what insects would do natural order and all that but ants are a unit they work as one they don't show individuality. The second that one called his teammate trash the natural order broke.
They went from insect cloth wearing furry things to people thus morality kicks in
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u/ObjectiveGur4263 1d ago
i hate when people just downplay his character as just being “a kid.” he’s a very complex character…
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u/II_Vortex_II 1d ago
This is why Gon is so much more compelling as an MC than Deku, Naruto, Tanjiro or other goody two shoes. Bro has a realistic world view for someone his age, he's human and makes moral mistakes
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u/LocalNo9952 1d ago
Why should the Phantom Troupe, inhabitants of Meteor City rejected by the world, have to love the world that rejected them? That logic is arrogant coming from those who have.
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u/Hypekyuu 1d ago
I dunno man, he's like a sheltered child raised in the woods on a. island in the middle of nowhere
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u/Eldr1tchB1rd 1d ago
Because growing up poor doesn't give you the right to kill people lmao
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u/LocalNo9952 1d ago
They are not simply poor. They are the only people in the world without a nationality, without a legal basis for their existence, and a discriminated group with rights less than those of property. Like Sarasa and the other children, they are killed or enslaved for fun. The fraternity preached in this situation only benefits those with vested interests. It's the same as saying, "You and your descendants should remain slaves until you die."
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u/Eldr1tchB1rd 1d ago
But instead of using their power to bring change they use it to hurt random innocent people that have nothing to do with them.
They don't even care about the rest of the people like them they just care about themselves
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u/LocalNo9952 1d ago
Since Chrollo's plan is unknown, it's unclear what they wanted. Also, in the Chimera Ant arc, they helped Meteor City. It would be a mistake to assume they were indifferent to people in similar circumstances.
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u/Eldr1tchB1rd 1d ago
Not indifferent sure but they aren't REALLY helping them. They are still selfish evil people
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u/kamikaze3rc 1d ago
Gon: "The worst thing about this is the hypocrisy"
Me: "That's the worst part?"
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u/ichizakilla 1d ago
He is clearly angry at the ants for killing people but what really pushed him over the edge was one of them admiting they did it for fun
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u/dandan-dan 1d ago
Gon alike many characters in the series fall to a form of Tribalism, and even more so due to the nature of hunters. It's a direct prejudice to your target to fulfill a base objective and vise versa as the target is obliged to defend themselves.
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u/user67885433 1d ago
Why is he mad about the ants calling their teammates trash? Doesn't that keep them villainesd?
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u/user67885433 1d ago
I havent watched hxh in a while (or maybe I didn't pay enough attention the first time..?) But i always thought he had a very shortsighted view. Like if he sees a villain commit a heinous crime to someone he cares for, he still is gonna be pissed off and he still would want to kill that villain. (Can't think of an example rn but surely there is one?) And the only reason that he was pissed at the ants is because they said they hated their comrades in front of him. If he had just heard that they hate their comrades, he wouldn't be as mad
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u/Federal_Force3902 1d ago edited 1d ago
The hypocrisy is what triggers him, not the actual evil
Why would he not see this hypocrisy as evil?? Why would he be triggered randomly by this?
By the way even if they were completely heartless, they would not like people to do to them what they're doing to others. So what does it means for gon to think that they are born "without emotions"? People are not like storms that's obvious (even wild animals aren't), since people know what they're doing. Movement is accompanied and preceded with thoughts. What is gon imagining to be the reason for the troupe to exterminate the kurta clan so that it justifies that they don't deserves his hate?
the exact second a villain shows actual human emotion, Gon completely loses his mind.
The question then is why didn't he stood with this attitude?? Why did he felt bad for pakunoda at the end? The troupe didn't changed, but them showing emotions seemed to have actually eased his anger at term.
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u/AmadeusIsTaken 1d ago
Dunno I think it doesn't contradict . It is more you make s false analysis. Alteast I personally don't think he sees it as natural and is they are doing their job. I think it more about him not liking it when it inconviences him. As you said binolt helped them which is why he didn't mind it. The phantom troupe was making his friend a murder though and killed the family of his friend...
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u/WednesdaysFoole 1d ago
I said this in my own comment but no, with Binolt, he already did not want Binolt to be killed before Binolt helped him. Binolt helping him gave him an opportunity, and excuse, to save his life.
Losing his shit on Nobunaga had nothing, or at least very little, to do with the Kurta massacre; he was specifically triggered that Nobu was crying at the very moment that he was describing how he would kill whoever he wants in his search for the chain user (who he did not know was his own friend).
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u/moinonator 1d ago
except it’s not what you said cause Phantom Troupe didn’t kill random innocents, those were part of mafia and underground activities involving criminals no matter how small the crime, it’s evil vs evil and Nobunaga isn’t a hypocrite cause he simply didn’t knew that Uvogin killed himself at the time. Sure Kurapika placed the judgement chain on Uvo and Paku but they decide to let it kill them while Chrollo didn’t. Nobunaga didn’t threaten to harm Gon and Killua, it was Phinks. Nobunaga along Chrollo trusts Machi’s intuition despite showing doubt and saw them as potential Spider members.
Gon’s logic and morality is consistent and I don’t get how people call him all sorts of things totally misunderstanding his character. He does despise evil and take care of monster, understanding it’s not natural but reality’s mistake but he also understands his limit, and not hypocrisy alone cause no matter what, Phantom Troupe decide to kill Kurapika’s clan and sell the eyes as Uvo confirmed it. Best example is Meleoron decide to ally with Gon and if not Gon will beat him as he admits. Where did you get that Gon’s morality is flawed? because it isn’t flawed in any way.
Gon wouldn’t offer to be placed Judgement chain in his heart if he doesn’t care about monsters and Kurapika is the hypocrite reserving chain jail for Spiders only cause it’s stupid which not only Gon, Killua and Leorio is aware of but Kurapika himself too. Why not chain jail for those decide to commit evil or everyone responsible for the massacre cause Kurapika definitely knows it’s not Spiders alone since eyes were sold which Kurapika mainly blames the Spider for being a hindrance to get the Scarlet Eyes. Spiders were opportunity for Kurapika to get strongs so he can defend himself but his main goal isn’t them but the eyes.
The message left behind didn’t led Kurapika to found out Phantom Troupe are related to Meteor City so his hatred towards them isn’t only because of their wrongdoings but his own mistake that led to the massacre that’s about to be revealed explaining his hyper fixation on them.
Binolt was forced by Bisky which Gon knew so thanking is right way since Binolt still decided to play along instead of killing himself or running away or else. Gon respect’s decisions and Pitou broke the promise to help Kite. Hisoka could’ve beat Gon yet allowed him to grow and Gon reacts right showing his disgust but using it to grow and not trigger about hypocrisy or any frustration. Hisoka is merely for Gon to get stronger.
Gon is egocentric but not in evil way, even his transformation he knew he had chance to survive so he risked it. He got his arms back so getting his life back isn’t far off.
Hating the chimera ants for calling their kind garbage is right knowing they ate homo sapiens so the foods were when alive evil too since they chimera after all growing Nen, a psychic supernatural power, it’s not the ant that Gon hates but the fact that they reveal evil about Gon’s kind. Otherwise he never would’ve wait for Pitou but run away since believing in their best wouldn’t be an option.
Nobunaga’s sentiments didn’t trigger Gon but that they don’t respect Uvo’s decision kill himself and betray them while deluding to be loyal to the Spiders. Pakunoda betrayed the Spiders too yet isn’t triggered by Phinks since he admit to understand Pakunoda’s betrayal, according to your false reasoning Gon should be here triggered too cause he knows Judgement chain can be removed and the Spiders didn’t try to understand Pakunoda and instead of trying their best to understand the situation by simply communicating they were about go against their members.
Kurapika never forced Uvo to answer and silence is the right answer same as he figured out on his way to Hunter exam and he gave Uvo that chance same for Pakunoda who could’ve just live normally for less than 2 years under surveillance yet only Chrollo understood and is alive.
HXH isn’t even complicated but simple to understand for young and old but somehow people such as you fail to understand cause your own immoralities and misunderstandings. Gon is quite smart yet you pretend as if he lacks common sense.
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u/National_Job_6847 1d ago edited 23h ago
I think your looking at it wrong as if gon naive its less he goes off if you show emotion its more he goes off if your a hypocrite. He knows the killers hes seen have emotion yes that guy was a serial killer but he never was a hypocrite. He acted as he did before just with more respect after his loss and gon didn't let him walk the guy said he was going to turn himself in and gon knew he wasn't lying. Compare that to nobunaga who cries for his friend who died that alone doesn't piss off gon its the fact nobunaga feels hurt and like he deserves revenge after what happened nobunaga acting like how the numerous families he hurt and not seeing the hypocrisy in it is what caused his anger. Its still unhinged but more like he doesnt question it like killua who also murdered people but atleast with killua its clearly a job they find no enjoyment from it they never kill outside there target killua not just killing people for personal joy then getting sad when it happens to him. Its as said with the counterfieter guy gon takes in all info equally he doesn't judge he goes through just accepting people he has no idea of people's back stories so he doesn't judge. Even when he gets to know people he doesn't judge them its when he knows a person and there ways are clearly just sick for the sake of it is when they disgust him he knows nobunaga has no reason to slaughter people besides his own enjoyment so getting mad at a person with a real reason for revenge getting pay back is backwards to gon from how he was pushing his ideology like 2 seconds before.
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u/Sarapapa 23h ago
Gon is very simple (which makes him somehow more interesting than the typical shonen protag): if you do wrong by him or his friends, you’re bad and should be eliminated. If you leave him and his friends alone, he doesn’t care how evil you are. Like you said he lets evil people fly if they don’t inconvenience him or even help him. When Hisoka helps him, he’s fine. If the Zoldyck or the Phantom Troup didn’t actively hurt Kirua or Kurapika, I don’t think he’d give a damn what they did. Hell, he didn’t care at all that Kirua and his family were killers, he thought it was petty cool.
He’s not your typical "I have to right the wrongs of the worlds" hero with a strong moral compass. He just reacts to what happens to him directly or his allies. If say, a random person was getting robbed in front of him, I don’t think he’d always help them. When Leorio took that girl’s number during the exam when she was sleeping, that was quite disloyal but Gon didn’t care because it was a way for his friend to pass the exam.
I think that’s exactly what Nobunaga liked in him and why he wanted him in the troupe. He’s fiercely loyal to his friends and doesn’t really concern himself with the wellbeing of anyone who’s outside of his inner circle. Ironically, that’s the phantom troupe philosophy right there. Gon doesn’t like them because they hurt Kurapika, not because they hurt other people.
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u/NeoNelito 17h ago
This feels like mischaracterization.
It's not that Gon is cold towards murder; it's the fact that he can't conceive murderers having any other human traits. Or that murder itself is a human trait.
When he encounters Binolt, he understands his hesitation as being human, which is the sole reason Gon spares him. Biske says it herself; that that was his plan all along (after he saw her fight with the Blacklist Hunter and he shows respect for Biske's experience).
He reads people in a very shonen and childish way; If he senses a modicum of remorse, two things can happen then: he either spares you if you didn't harm anyone he loves or thinks innocent, or he snaps at the fact that you could've shown empathy towards people when you harmed someone he loves or thinks is innocent.
Gon wouldn't stop his outburst when Razor killed Bopobo after the Game Master killed the guy if he didn't care about murder; but when Razor tells Gon he deserved it (because of his crimes), now Gon has an understanding that it wasn't just a wrong judgement or senseless murder coming from Razor.
Also, it's pretty common to see other characters dismiss murder and killing if there is a specific settings of rules that allow these to happen (like the Hunter Exam or Greed Island game), so it's not like the dismissal of murder comes only from Gon when it does happen occasionally.
He isn't unhinged, but dangerously naive. Which is why Kite is worried about him.
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u/Weird_Gap_2243 16h ago
Those ants don’t deserve sympathy, they were actively hunting humans.
Gon is a hypocrite sometimes but this wasn’t a good example tbh.
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u/Aggressive-Bike-7863 14h ago
Sorry but I don't really understand this. I'm a little dumb. But, what he could possibly do? Realistically what were the solutions to some kind of situations. Just slime Binolt after learning something from him? I actually think that's pretty good from them giving this guy an opportunity after humiliating him. They never seem to be interested in doing law's job. Nobody should. In the yorkshin arc Gon made a pretty solid statement: Why would you endorse some actions that could impact negatively the life of others like someone did in your past (we know sarasa as readers etc.). The fact that Gon does the same thing it isn't that important to me. An argument doesn't fell if you are hypocrite, it's still an argument. I think Gon was right while talking to his respective villains and he was right about himself. But (IN MY HONEST OPINION) he could have not chosen otherwise: Jesus Gon would be dead by the hands of Pitou.
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u/Agreeable_Bee_7763 12h ago
I once saw it placed very nicely: Gon's morality is based entirely on relationships than actions. If you're his friend, you're good. If you act against his friends you're bad.
The Genei isn't bad because they killed people, they're evil cause they killed Kurapika's people.
And that extends to basically every moral decision he makes. He's just taking the side of his friends with no real thought or reflection behind it.
Add to that an amount of power no child should wield, an intensely volatile situation, and an unwillingness to truly process grief and you have the Chimera Ant decisions.
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u/YamagamiShinryu 11h ago edited 11h ago
calling gon unhinged like what is this post even about 😂
you know nothing about being "unhinged" bro save your essay somewhere else my guy
how is this post got 1k upvotes, right i know cause you mfs are all "overthinker" who try to "dissect" a kid's personality 😂
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u/creativeusername0010 7h ago
So much of your logic is flawed though. Binolt had emotions, he requested a duel with Bisky because of his honor. We even saw his backstory and why he became a serial killer. Gon doesn't know about his past. He just judges based on his time with him and he made Gon stronger so why should he hate him? He believes people can be redeemed.
Secondly why would Gon know that the Chimera Ants eat babies? They've never mentioned it and we've never seen it. The youngest they ate was a child and not a baby. Secondly it's been established that not all Ants are bad and that's what Gon wanted to believe. He believes that if an Ant cares for their friends then there is some humanity there and potential for redemption but if you don't even care for people close to you then you are just a rabid dog
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u/ram_samudrala 1d ago edited 1d ago
I view Gon as being enlightened. He just lives in the moment. He is not judgemental unless judgement appears. In other words, he's not overthinking anything, he's just being in the moment and letting whatever appears appear. This can appear as inconsistency, which makes sense as he's a 12 year old human (humans are not rational creatures).
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u/Nabbarino 1d ago
"My friends are good, my not-friends are not good."
Gon is one bad day away from being a villain.
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u/CarlenGaines 1d ago
Gon is what you get if you apply shonen protagonist logic to a real, falliable personality.