| Twelve years prior to the start of the story, a legendary Hunter named Ging Freecss leaves his infant son, Gon Freecss, with his cousin Mito (sister-in-law in the anime) on Whale Island. Gon, raised believing his parents were dead, finds out from Ging's apprentice, Kite, that his father is still alive. As such, Gon leaves his home to follow in his father's footsteps as a Hunter by taking the Hunter Exam. Prior to the Hunter Exam, Gon meets and befriends three of the other applicants, Kurapika, Killua Zoldyck, and Leorio. After the exam, Kurapika departs to find work and Leorio leaves to attend medical school. Gon and Killua decide to gain combat experience by training at the Heavens Arena, a 251-story building where over 4,000 fighters compete daily in fighting tournaments. There, they meet the kung-fu master, Wing, who teaches them about Nen--a chi-like life energy that can be used to manifest superhuman powers. The third story arc reunites the main characters for the world's largest auction in a sprawling metropolis called Yorknew City (Yorkshin City in the original Japanese version). Gon, Killua, and Leorio try different methods to make enough money to buy Greed Island, a video game that could help Gon find his father. This story arc introduces the Phantom Troupe, a group of thieves who, among many other crimes, slaughtered all the other members of Kurapika's clan. Kurapika crosses paths with them while working as a bodyguard. Finally Gon and Killua's find the Greed Island, the seemingly-magical video game that sucks players within. The goal of the game is to collect a number of set cards, although almost everything in the game, from food to money, can be turned into cards. Inside Greed Island Gon and Killua are joined by Biscuit Krueger, a master and experienced teacher of Nen who trains them. As part of their reward, they are allowed to take three cards to be used in the real world. Using the card 'Accompany', Gon and Killua travel to a player under the username 'Ngig' ('Nigg' in the original Japanese version), who they believe to be Ging. However, it ends up bringing them to Kite instead.
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| Gon Freecs is a mountain kid with animatedly spiky hair. He usually wears boots with matching green shorts and jacket. He is a boy with out of the ordinary sense of sight, smell and hearing. He is an animal-friendly kid; wild animals stay tame under his command. He is often cheerful and in high spirits and can easily make friends. Gon is also an effective learner and does what he wants in his own and right way; understands true camaraderie and sacrifices himself in times of troubles for others. Gon's true purpose of joining the Hunter Exam is to find his father - one of the greatest Hunters in the world.
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| Killua Zordick appears very sophisticated and unfriendly person. He is a strong-willed kid that stands on his own feet. He secretly has two personalities: a normal boy and a mature, cold-hearted eradicator. Killua is from a famous family of assassins. His grandfather, father, mother and siblings can be paid at a high price just to murder people. Being the strongest among the four children in the family, he was trained to be tough on killing being the successor of his father. Killua has no exact goal in his life. He ran away from home to take the Hunter Exam just for fun. There he meets Gon, Kurapika and Leorio. He learns the value of friendship and realizes that he doesn't want to kill for a living anymore. He then decides to help Gon find his father.
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| Kurapika is very stubborn-looking, clever, and kind-hearted person that is pretty strong despite his stature. He is the sole survivor of the Kuruta Tribe that was wiped off the map five years ago by the Genei Ryodan. He promised to himself that he would someday avenge his tribe and so he took the Hunter Exam in order to gather information.
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| Leorio is a businessman material. He wears a coat and tie. In the Hunter Exam, Leorio acts as if he's a greedy and money-loving person. But behind the mask is a hardworking person that abhors narrow-mindedness. A horrible past that haunts Leorio is the death of his friend named Pietro. Pietro passed away because of a sickness that Leorio was unable to cure due to lack of money. After his friend's death, Leorio promised to himself that he would become a doctor someday to cure ill people who lack financial needs at a low price or even for free. In order to do this, he will need loads of cash and so he took the Hunter Exam because it is one of the ways to become rich in no time.
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| Hisoka wears dresses and make-up of a clown. He kills without any valid reason; it appears that it is one of his leisure pursuits. Hisoka, aside from being weird, is also mysterious for some reasons. This protagonist-antagonist's goal is to find and fight strong people for he thinks that he's one of the best fighters in the world. This is the reason why he took the Hunter Exam and pretended to join the Genei Ryodan. Hisoka also believes that Gon and Killua will become great fighters in the future that's why he's waiting for them to grow up.
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| Kite (Kaito), is the very first Hunter introduced in the story. He is a disciple of Ging Freecs, Gon's father. After saving Gon from a foxbear on Whale Island, Kite revealed to him the truth about his father. Before he took his leave, Kite left Ging's Hunter License in Gon's hands. After leaving Greed Island, Gon runs into Kite again, while he is in the middle of a zoological survey, searching for new species, in the country of Kakin. At the time, he was leading a team of young would-be Hunters, seven children named Banana Kavaro, Lin Koshi, Monta Yuras, Podungo Lapoy, Spinner Clow, and Stick Dinner.
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