Nen

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Nen is one of the defining features of Yoshihiro Togashi's manga Hunter × Hunter. It is an energy created within the body (like chi) that can be deployed and manipulated in a variety of ways by a skilled user. Within the series, this energy is also called aura, while the term "Nen" can refer to both the energy itself and the skill of using it.

Contents

\"Energy\" in manga

It is fairly common for characters in manga to have control over some sort of energy created by the body, the amount created corresponding to an attribute the mangaka wishes to emphasize in the characters. In Yu Yu Hakusho, the amount of yuki a character can produce is related to their physical strength, while in Bleach, the amount of reiatsu (spiritual force/pressure) is more aligned with a character's spiritual awareness and willpower.

These energies are often created so the characters in manga are capable of doing supernatural or superhuman feats. This allows for situations to occur that would not be naturally possible, which is the appeal. Often these energies are used in devastating effects in fights, creating brutal and visually arresting scenes to entertain readers.

Why Nen is unique

Most energy forms have vague definitions, which allow the characters to have an almost random variety to their moves that use them. For example, in Dragon Ball, ki allows for powerful direct assaults with moves like the Kamehameha, attacks with homing abilities like Frieza's Kienzan, and tactical skills such as the Taiyô-ken that can blind opponents with a flash of light. There is never any explanation how chi is handled differently in each case to produce a different result.

Nen, by comparison, is a rather rigidly structered system. Nen is complicated enough that its skills must be taught in specific order so that a user can understand how to properly apply it. Beyond four basic techniques, there are several advanced techniques that any Nen user may learn, given enough effort. Individual skills are often developed by each user, based on an affinity for one of six categories of Nen use.

Examples of \"energies\" in other manga

Naruto - Chakra is an energy that flows in one's body through a circulatory system comparable to a bloodstream. Control of one's chakra can allow for enhanced phyisical strength, accelerated healing, control over physical elements of nature, and the imposing of illusions on others.
Bleach - Reiatsu is a power aligned with the spiritual sensitivity and willpower of the user. It is often used by Shinigami to provide power to and enable the powers of their Zanpakutō (soul cutters). It can also be used to cast Demon Arts, magic spells created by Shinigami. It has also been used by both Shinigami and Quincy to control Spritrons, the building blocks of spiritual matter (like atoms for real matter). Lastly, Reiatsu can even be coelesced into a physical form and thrown or shot, like chi in Dragon Ball.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure - While not thought to be an energy, stands are generally projected, ghostly entities that travel along with their bearer, granting them unusual abilities. Every one is different, but only stands can hurt other stands (the same doesn't hold true to the Stand users).
Saint Seiya - Cosmo is a power that comes from the cosmic explosion that originated the universe and is inside of any creature. The cosmic energy, as it's also called, is used by the internal explosion of characters in the manga, what according to their own explanations "it's like if a micro-universe had been created inside of your body".
YuYu Hakusho - Spiritual energy, or ki, is the energy that exists in anything that has a spirit. In YuYu Hakusho, there are two different kinds of ki: reiki, the energy that's used by humans and those who reside in the Spirit World; and youki, the ki used by the youkai (demons/monsters).
Shurato - Soma is the force the people in Shurato's universe use. Its quite the same principal as Cosmo from Saint Seiya, only that it doesn't deal with the cosmic explosion, but with the energy from the Creator.

Dragon Ball Z - Although in the anime its simply referred to as energy or power level, in the manga they call the energy they use for their attacks chi. Although in the first few seasons of the anime they referred to it as having a number equivalent to there power level. later in the series they stopped using it.

Properties of Nen

Creation

Nen is an energy produced by the body by each individual cell. It is considered a vital energy, as if one loses all their nen, it would be equivalent to using up all the energy that is used to keep them alive, which would be fatal. The nen from each cell has a tendency to flow together producing one 'mass' of energy. This is done by a creature's body without any awareness of it happening. Because they are unaware of the creation of their nen, it will simply leak slowly out of their body without their knowledge. Nen flows out of the body through shouko, which can be likened to the 'holes' or points of the body which ki is believed to flow from.

Controlling and Seeing

A nen user trains to manually open and close their shouko so that they can control the flow of nen. One can learn this process gradually, learning to control the shouko on their own, or they can receive an influx of nen from an experienced user that forces the shouko open, forcing the new user to learn to control the flow or risk severe exhaustion or death. The second method is quicker but more dangerous, so it is generally frowned upon. Once one has opened their shouko, they can now see nen as an 'aura' that surrounds the body, because the shouko of their eyes have been opened. It has also been hinted in the manga that some characters managed to discover nen on their own, although the details of this are unknown.

What Affects Nen

Although the production of nen is done unconsciously by most beings, it is more than a simple representation of 'life energy'. Nen carries with it the desires and emotions of the one who deploys it, which is what allows Nen to have incredible versatility to those who develop their skill at using it. A basic application of this phenomenon is that one can channel their aggression or hatred into their nen and deploy it towards another person. The other person will then be able to feel that aggression as if it were physically palpable, and if unable to keep it from their own body by deploying their own nen, may be physically harmed by it.

Conscious Strengthening of Nen

Nen responds to the goals and strengths of the desire of its user. As a result, a user can make a commitment that results in an increase in their abilities. If a user, for example, damages their own body in such a way that an individual skill seems more imposing when used, their nen will become correspondingly more powerful. It is also possible to increase the strength of an individual skill by imposing limits on it. For example, if a user consciously decides something along the lines of "I will only use this skill on Thursdays," or "I will only use this skill against short people," if they can manage to abide by this rule then that particular skill will become stronger. Further strengthening is possible if the user imposes some sort of punishment if the rule is broken, such as "I lose the skill forever if I break the rule."

Sensing Nen

When one has developed use of their nen, they become sensitive to the presence of other beings by their deployment of nen. Since every living thing creates nen subconsciously, it is a useful skill for those tracking or hunting animals. It is also useful in combat, because one can judge the location and relative strength of their opponent by the output of their nen. To counter this, there are techniques that minimize nen output.

Geniuses

Nen is like any other skill, in that there are those who will learn it faster than others. There are also individuals that can use facilities of nen without having any formal training. These innate skills can be anything from the use of basic techniques all the way to the development of an individual skill.

Unexplained things

As of yet, there is still a lot about nen that is not yet explained. One such question is whether Nen has color. The anime version of Hunter x Hunter has nen-users with different colored nen. Some say that all nen has color, but because manga is black and white, there's no way to show that on the manga version of Hunter x Hunter. Others believe that the coloring of Nen in the anime version is only for the convience of the viewers, and that it would be illogical for Nen to actually have color.

Nen Techniques

Basic Techniques

These techniques are taught in this order as a way of introducing a new nen user into learning their new skill.

Ten

Once a person has had their shouko opened, they must learn to keep their nen from leaking away from their body. Ten is the process of keeping the shouko open, but also having nen flow through and around the body rather than away from it. Having a field of nen surround the body is the most basic defense against the physical or emotional attacks of another nen user. Another use of Ten is the prevention of old age; since the energy powering the body is no longer leaking away, one can keep the body from breaking down.

Zetsu

While ten allows a user to keep nen from leaking away from their body, zetsu stops the flow of nen from their body altogether. By closing all of their shouko completely, the user is able to keep themselves from deploying any kind of aura. Because the user is no longer surrounded by a field of their own nen, they can become more sensitive to the nen of others, which can be useful when tracking someone or something. It also prevents the user from being tracked themselves, because they have no nen for another user to sense. It can be dangerous to use, as all the defenses one has gained during Ten are completely stripped away, making the user even more defenseless than one who can't use nen at all.

Ren

Ren is a direct application of Ten. Since a user is capable of keeping nen from leaking away from the body, it's also possible for them to have more nen around them without having to worry about losing it. Ren focuses on outputting a high amount of nen and keeping it on the body, expanding the size of one's aura. This increases the user's physical strength and durability and provides a large pool of nen for any advanced techniques or indivudual skills they decide to use.

Hatsu

The Hatsu is the releasing of a nen-user's nen so it can be projected to carry out a certain function. In essence, the Hatsu is a nen-user's special and unique ability that they themselves create. A good Hatsu should reflect the nen-user's own character; a nen-user can never truly master nen if they only copy other people's abilities. Hatsu has several different categories, and the nen of each individual user is aligned with one category. Upon learning their affinity, a user can set about learning to apply nen in a unique way that suits their type and personality, which can develop into a unique skill. (There will be more about the Hatsu-types further below)

Advanced techniques

These are the more advanced techniques. Most of them are achieved by using a combination of the basic techniques. Most nen users learn Ten, Zetsu and Ren first, and then Hatsu, and then these more advanced techniques.

In is an advanced version of Zetsu that can almost completely hide a nen user. In can also be used on a nen-user's Hatsu ability (more information on why some Hatsu abilities are visible below in the Hatsu category section) to make it invisible to other nen users. In can be countered by Gyou from a stronger nen user, or En.

Ryu

The ability to shift your aura around your body with precision, for most efficient usage. With basic Ten and Ren, your aura is evenly spread out around your body. Using Ryu means you can alter the balance and flow of your individual aura. For example, you could move most of your aura to your upper body and only keep a small percentage of your aura in the lower body in order to increase upper body endurance.

Gyou

Gyou is the ability to concentrate your Ren into one specific body part. It is achieved with Ryu. It increases the strength of that one body part, but leaves the rest of your body more vulnerable. Gyou is most often used on the eyes, which allows a nen user to see things which would otherwise be hidden (e.g. things hidden by In). Additionally, it can also be used to analyze what is seen and find weaknesses when fighting.

Kou

An even stronger form of Gyou. Kou is when you concentrate all (100%) of your nen energy onto one particular body part, and use Zetsu to completely stop the flow of nen in the rest of your body (taking it down to 0%). This makes that one body part exceptionally powerful, but leaves the rest of your body completely unprotected. This is used by some nen users as an offensive technique (a Kou punch would carry all 100% of your nen power with it), but it is a risky move (leaving the rest of your body unprotected in a fight against another nen-user is generally a very bad idea).

En is another advanced technique based on Ren. When using Ren, the aura usually only occupies a small amount of space around the nen-user (about a few centimeters.) En is when the nen-user extends their Ren so that it filles up a circular area of several meters around them. Someone using En can feel everything that happens in their En-covered area. Extending your En basically means that you can't be surprised (you can sense absolutely anything that enters your En-circle), but is extremely tiring for most nen-users. Those who master En generally are able to extend their En to a circle with a radius of about 50m.

Shu

An advanced form of Ten. Shu allows you to pick up and object and extend your nen around it. This means your Ten will surround the said object, and enhance certain aspects of it depending on your desires. This is the technique Hisoka uses in order to make his solitaire cards as sharp and as fast as knives.

Ken

A combination of the two basic techniques Ten and Ren. Ken is a defensive technique that covers the entire body, allowing a nen-user to defend against attacks from any direction without the need to use Ryu (the shifitng of nen around the body.) Ken is a useful defensive position, but it is tiring to maintain. Additionally, it is not as strong as Ryu on any given part of the body, since it protects the whole body evenly. Because of that, it is used to guard when one wants to be cautious.

Categories of Hatsu

Nen users will have an affinity for one of six types of Hatsu more than they will others. The most popular way (and the only sure-way seen in the series) of determining one's nen category is the "Water Test" created by the Kung-Fu Shingen School. The test requires a leaf floating in a glass of water. It consists of a student placing their hands around the glass and applying nen to it - the effect of their nen determines the student's affinity. The character Hisoka claims that someone's nen affinity can also be determined by their personality.

Enhancer (Reinforcement)

Japanese Name: Kyouka

If a student increases the quantity of water in the glass during the Water Test, they are an enhancer. Enhancer basically means the ability to use nen to increase the efficiency (strengthen) of an object or body. Therefore, enhancer types are able to greatly increase their physical attack and defense, and are best suited for close-melee combat.

Enhancer is the most well-balanced category, allowing users to spread themselves evenly between offense and defense, and able to become very strong using only simple abilities. Examples of more complex enhancer abilities include enhancing a person's ability to repair themselves, which basically the equivalent of a healing-ability.

According to Hisoka, Enhancers are generally "pure and simple". Users in this category include Gon and Ubogin.

Emitter (Emission)

Japanese Name: Houshutsu

If a student changes the color of the water in the glass during the Water Test, they are an emitter. An affinity for emission means that a user is capable of controlling the deployment of their aura while separating it from their body. Nen usually loses power very quickly when it is separated from the source-body, but strong emitters can separate their aura from their body for long-periods of time and still be able to maintain it.

An application of this is the ability to throw giant nen balls. Emission abilities are commonly mistaken for conjured abilities. The two, however, are fundamentally different. Emitted objects are made of pure nen energy, believed to be invisible to normal people (there is evidence that suggests this, but it is not yet confirmed in the manga), and requires the use of manipulation nen (see below) to control.

Hisoka claims that emitters are "impatient, mentally disturbed." Franklin is one example of an emitter, whose ability is to shoot out powerful nen-bullets from his fingertips.

Manipulator (Manipulation)

Japanese name: Sousa

If a student moves the leaf floating on the water in the glass during the Water Test, they are a manipulator. Manipulation is the ability to control other people or other non-living material. Abilities belonging to manipulators tend to be more complex, and generally require certain conditions to be met before the user is able to control the target object.

An example of a manipulation ability is Shalnark's, who can control people by placing a phone antenna on their body. Another manipulator is Baise (Veze), who can control people by kissing them. According to Hisoka, manipulators are "reasoners who advance at their own pace".

Conjurer (Materialization)

Japanese Name: Gugenka

If a student creates an object in the water in the glass during the Water Test, they are a conjurer. Conjure is the ability to create a physical, independent, material object out of nen. Once a nen-user has mastered the conjuration of a certain object, they can conjur it and un-conjur it (make it disappear) in an instant, whenever they want. It is believed that conjuring is the only way in which nen can create things which ordinary people (who don't use nen) can see and touch.

Conjured objects can have special abilities imbuned into them. An example of this is Shizuku's ability - a conjured vacuum cleaner that can infintely suck up objects, but with the condition that it can't suck up living things. Like manipulation nen, conditions can be set into conjured objects to make them stronger. Coltopi, for example, is able to conjure a perfect copy of any object that he touches (anything from rocks to buildings), however...all his conjured objects will automatically disappear after 24 hours.

Another example of a conjurer is Kurapika. Like manipulation, conjuration abilities tend to be very specific, complex, and conditional. In terms of personality, Hisoka claims conjurers are generally nervous.

Transmuter (Transformation)

Japanese name: Henka

If a student changes the taste of the water in the glass during the Water Test, they are a transmuter. An affinity for transmutation means a user can change the properties of their nen, usually so that it mimics something else. Like emitters, things created by transmuters are still pure nen. A simple way of thinking about it would be that transmutation lets your nen mimic properties, whereas conjuration allows you to change your nen into something material.

Nen can copy properties of real things, for example, Killua uses his nen to copy the properties of electricity. Transmuters can also give their nen properties that don't necessarily mimic real things; Hisoka's "Bungee Gum" copies and combines the properties of rubber and gum. Transmuted substances are believed to be invisible to normal people (although this is not yet confirmed in the manga).

According to Hisoka, transmuters are generally "whimsical liars".

Specialist (Specialization)

Japanese name: Tokushitsu

If a student causes some other effect during the Water Test, they are a specialist. It is possible that the effect that occurs can give some insight into how they should direct their ability.

Specialization is anything that doesn't belong into the other five categories. This is the most vague (and most debated among HxH fans) Hatsu-category. For example, Kurapika's specialization ability allows him to use all the 5 standard nen-types at 100% efficiency. Chrollo's specialization ability is a combination of the other 5 types, but in a way that no normal nen-user can use. While Neon's specialization type nen ability is something that is simply unique, it has almost no relevance to any of the other 5 nen types.

Specialistis are said by Hisoka to be very "individualistic and charismatic". Other users of this category include Nef and Pakunoda.

Hatsu abilities

Using more than one nen type

A lot of nen abilities use more than one nen type. Common combinations include manipulation and emission (allowing user to manipulate objects from far away) and manipulation and conjuration (allowing users to manipulate objects they conjure).

Within human boundaries

No nen ability can be "beyond human boundaries." What this means is that you can't have an ability that is limitless. For example, you can't make a sword that can cut through anything. However, if you can set very strict conditions on it - than you can make a sword that can cut through anything given that the conditions are met.

For example, Kurapika was unable to conjure a unbreakable chain. However, he was able to conjure a chain that was unbreakable to anyone from the Phantom Troupe (i.e. any Phantom Troupe member.) Likewise, Shizuku's vacuum cleaner, although can suck up anything, has the restrictions that it cannot such up living things and that anything it sucks up can't be retrieved.

Conjurer/Emitter/Transmuter

These three Hatsu types tend to cause a lot of confusion to some people. To put it in short, a materialized thing is solid and material (i.e. made of molecules and atoms...etc), a transformed thing is pure nen which is copying properties of other things, whilst an emitted thing is pure nen in a certain shape and is discretly separate from the user's body.

Kastro's clone [conjurer] - it is solid, ordinary people could see it, it could be separated from the real Kastro as long as it stayed relatively close.

Hisoka's bungee gum [transmuter] - normal people can't see it, it is not solid, it is simply pure nen energy copying the properties of rubber and gum, it always stays in physical contact with Hisoka.

Reiza's 14 devils [emitter] - it was not solid, ordinary people couldn't see it, it was pure nen, it didn't need to physically stay in contact with Reiza.

Neon

Neon is a character in Hunter x Hunter who has a complicated specialist Hatsu ability. For most nen-users, the Hatsu is the last step in their learning, after they have learnt all the other basic abilities. However, Neon shows no sign of having any knowledge, training, or awareness of nen; or being able to fight in any way. Some believe she must have been taught how to use nen because her Hatsu ability is too complex and developed. Others think she is a rare case of someone having an innate nen ability that they discover and use without realizing the force behind it - Nen.

Hunter × Hunter
Hunter × Hunter#Characters>Characters: Main \| Minor \| Hunters \| Phantom Troupe
Other: Greed Island > Nen \| Yoshihiro Togashi

References and External Links

[English HxH fansite containing update information]

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