Almost half of Hunter x Hunter takes place during the "Chimera Ant" arc. Gon, Killua and friends -- new and old -- face off against many chimera ants, which come to life via a form of reproduction called phagogenesis. All are hatched by the Queen alone, and their appearance and abilities are determined by what the Queen consumes.
The Queen’s varying diet creates a large variety of appearances. This means that some chimera ants aren’t a struggle to look at, whereas others take everything for viewers to not turn away from the appalling looks alone. The chimera ants teach viewers many things throughout the arc, but the most important is that some animals should definitely not mate with each other.
The Best: Shidore and Colt
The chimera ants were first discovered as creatures who began to invade the NGL -- a self-governed country that rejected all forms of modern technology. A young human girl, Reina, and her brother, Kurt, were attacked by the ants and taken to the queen as her first human meal. Reina was later born as a chimera ant and renamed Shidore. Shidore resembles the Queen the most out of the ants but holds a silent disdain for chimera ant life from the very beginning. Viewers later learn that she has memories from her life as Reina. Her story is emotional and shows that there is more than just physicality that transfers during phagogenesis.
Reina’s brother Kurt is reborn as Colt, one of the Queen’s squadron leaders. Even though Colt was reincarnated as a child, he’s a natural-born leader who earns the trust of many chimera ants. Colt is quick to betray all the ants but the Queen after the harmful birth of the King, which puts the Queen in critical condition. With his loyalty to the Queen, Colt reaches out to the humans of the Hunter’s Association to get help for her. He takes in the Queen’s final child after she passes away and raises her under the assumption that the child is the reincarnation of his past life’s sister. Colt is one of the few ants that leaves the Hunter’s Association questioning where the life of the chimera ant breed stands.
The Best: Neferpitou and The King
Neferpitou, often referred to as Pitou, is one of the King’s Royal Guards. Pitou’s cat-like appearance and lack of an assigned gender make them loved by many fans. Their nen abilities are revealed to be something that can be used for incredible good or great evil. Pitou is able to conjure different puppeteer-like creatures. Doctor Blythe is one creature they can create which is able to perform life-saving surgeries. The others are used to puppeteer dead bodies as soldiers and to control Pitou’s body in intense battles. The nen creature named Terpsichora is what Pitou uses on themselves when they’re involved in one of the most memorable fights of Hunter x Hunter, where fans see just how far Gon will go to destroy his enemy.
The King, whose name is later revealed to be Meruem, is a character whose appearance creates a huge tonal shift in the "Chimera Ant" arc. What started off as an uncomfortable season about bug pregnancy turns into a reflection on humankind, war and free will. The King’s journey starts by ripping his mother apart during childbirth and immediately killing and cannibalizing any ant he opposes. He is guided by the three members of the Royal Guard who teach him what his desires should be. The King becomes obsessed with power in every way, inviting professional game players who are members of the kingdom he invaded to play the games against him.
It isn’t until Meruem meets a blind girl named Komugi that he begins to value human life. Although he is quick to notice her weaknesses, he finds just how strong she is through Gungi -- the game he challenges her in. The two end up dying together when Komugi chooses to accompany Meruem during his final moments on Earth as he is taken over by a poison that passes onto her.
The Worst: Cheetu and Hina
Cheetu is a chimera ant who resembles a cheetah with a purple bob and a jeedo (jean speedo). When Meruem departs, Cheetu abandons the thought of loyalty. He goes out into the world with a cocky attitude to show off his speed and to consume as many humans as he can. Becoming a threat to humankind, different members of the Hunter Association, such as Morel and Knuckle, attempt to kill him. Cheetu reveals more of his childish attitude through his nen ability, which allows him to trap someone in a small space with him. Whoever he traps in there must stay until they’re able to catch Cheetu. Morel falls into Cheetu’s trap but is easily able to get the best of Cheetu due to his arrogant and narrow-minded personality, which serves as his biggest weakness.
Hina is one of the few ants that has a lot of similarities to a human appearance. If it weren’t for a few of her other animalistic features, Hina could get by easily in the human world without question. Like many humans, she is impacted heavily by the toxicity of body image standards. Her figure is essential to her, and she gets upset with the impact her nen ability has on it. Hina is able to remove any type of nen-imposed curse from others by absorbing the curse’s aura into her stomach, which grows large and resembles a pregnant belly. Hina also focuses on the material things in life, saving Bizeff, the Secretary of State of the Republic of East Gorteau and a seasoned human trafficker just for some items in the castle’s vault. To top it all off, Hina is very rude to Shidore, who works as her servant.
The Worst: The Ortho Siblings and Pike
The Ortho Siblings are brother and sister chimera ants who live in an underground lake where the deuteragonist, Killua Zoldyck, is attacked by them. Through their conjoined nen ability, the brother is able to through darts at a dart board, which will materialize in Killua’s body once they land on the board. Although Killua is able to get the best of them quite quickly, their short-lived existence in the series is enough to bother most viewers. The bond between the siblings seems to be treated as more than familial through their interactions. Along with this, the two are simply annoying. They’re pompous and obnoxious, especially after Killua defeats them, and they turn from a pair of over-loving siblings to hating each other.
The final and most unbearable chimera ant is Pike. As a large spider, Pike’s appearance is already unsettling, but it's topped off with the face of an old man. Pike doesn't think any plan through to the fullest. This usually results in some sort of mistake on his half where he responds with uncomfortable reactions. His high cheekbones and magical-girl-esque eyes leave viewers wanting to turn away from the screen, ruining every Hunter x Hunter marathon. To make matters worse, Pike’s vocabulary is that of the modern-day simp, in love with one of the other chimera ants that desires leadership and will do anything for her. The final straw is the name of Pike’s nen ability, Love Shower, which is simply a large spider web that immobilizes anyone hit by it.
Hunter x Hunter is a beloved series that has drawn in fans from all over the world. The "Chimera Ant" arc creates many twists and turns for the story as well as many new characters. While some of these characters are wonderful and develop the story, others are merely unsettling or annoying. Overall, the "Chimera Ant" arc and the ants, good and bad alike, have an incredible impact on the story and change the narrative's trajectory in an extraordinary way.