Does Gon Get His Nen Back and When?

Updated December 4, 2022 by Ernie

Ever since Togashi posted a snippet of the Hunter x Hunter draft on Twitter, this left a lot of weebs going crazy about it! After that, there was an announcement that stated that the Hunter x Hunter manga is coming back this November! With that, a lot of fans are curious about how the story will progress further since it’s already Kurapika and Leorio’s arc.

Currently, in the manga, what’s happening now is the Succession Contest Arc which centers around Kurapika. Plus, many are still left wondering about Gon’s nen since the last time we all saw him, he lost his ability in using it. Will there be a continuation of Gon’s story? Will he even get his nen back?

Before answering all those questions, we should start right from the beginning and that is the main ability every Hunter in this series has, which is nen.

THE RETURN OF GON’S NEN!

What is Nen?

So, to recap our brains, this was first introduced during the Heavens Arena Arc by Wing (Hunter x Hunter, Chapter 47), Nen is an ability that almost all of the characters in HxH use. It is a technique that uses the individual’s life force and energy in converting it into an aura that they can manipulate and control freely depending on which specialization they are in line with. With that, in learning nen, one must feel their aura and unlock their nodes from it, which will take tons and tons of meditation.

But, that isn’t the end of it, one must master these Four Fundamental techniques to be able to find which specializations you are in, this is sorted in order– Ten, Zetsu, Ren, and Hatsu. After learning these four basic techniques you’ll be able to move forward on the much more advanced techniques which are the Gyo, In, En, Shu, Ko, Ken, and Ryu. Once the individual has managed to learn all this they can move forward in choosing which specialization or nen type they have to undertake.

However, these specializations should fit what they naturally have since these are already a part of our life force. These nen types are Enhancer, Emission, Transmutation, Manipulation, Conjuration, and Specialization. In finding out which nen type you are, there is this one well-known way which was seen during the Heavens Arena Arc when Wing thought Gon and Killua and that is the Water Divination (Hunter x Hunter, Chapter 60). Going back, Gon, his nen type specializes in “Enhancer” which means that he could enhance any type of object or himself which we can see when he used his Jajanken ability.

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How did Gon Lose his Nen, in the first place?

This was during the Chimera Ant Arc. At first, Gon temporarily lost his nen after a sparring battle with Knuckle which resulted in him having the IRS attached to him for a limited time (Hunter x Hunter, Chapter 214). IRS stands for Individual Ren Suppressor, this means that once an individual has it, they’ll be unable to use their nen for 30 days– this is basically what happened to Gon. However, he got his nen back after that time duration and set out to battle against the chimera ants aka Neferpitou.

Now, this is where everything went downhill. As we all know, Gon’s target was Pitou because he had hoped that Kite would have a chance to be brought back to normal with her abilities. After meeting with Pitou, he found out that Kite has already been dead for a long time, he is merely just a lifeless puppet now which left Gon enraged (Hunter x Hunter, Chapter 304). In the entire series, this was the first time we were able to see Gon go berserk!

He even went so far as to put his life on the line for it. By that I meant, he made contact with his nen, putting his entire life force in it (Hunter x Hunter, Chapter 305). Thus, turning him into an adult immediately (Hunter x Hunter, Chapter 306). With that, Gon was able to murder Pitou because of his rage and guilt. Plus, since it’s his adult version he became really strong (Hunter x Hunter, Chapter 307).

But ultimately, there are consequences to the actions that he took and that is his life. After beating Pitou, Gon was sent to the ICU because he is in critical condition and there were a lot of nen users who tried to save him (Hunter x Hunter, Chapter 316). However, in the end, Killua’s sister Alluka was the one who saved him (Hunter x Hunter, Chapter 333).

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Who is Alluka Zoldyck?

A brief explanation about Alluka is that she is Killua’s little sister. She’s basically a part of the infamous assassin family the Zoldyck’s. Because of a mysterious circumstance, Alluka got possessed by a creature from the Dark Continent. With that, this unknown creature shares Alluka’s body and is named by the family Nanika.

So far, there isn’t any information as to when and how Alluka got possessed by Nanika, however, it has been with her since she was a child. When it comes to her nen ability, it wasn’t emphasized if her wish-granting ability is related to her nen (Hunter x Hunter, Chapter 322).

As far as we know, this ability of hers has a huge amount of aura in it that might possibly come from the dark continent. With that scary ability she has, Alluka/Nanika was forced to stay inside her room so that the family could study her. But, after that, Killua brought her out of their home, so he could free her and also save Gon (Hunter x Hunter, Chapter 333).

Does Gon Get His Nen Back and When?

The answer to this question is quite easy and that is a yes. Gon will surely get his nen back, why? Because he is the main character duh! Just kidding!

As we all know, after Gon used up his entire life force energy in yeeting Pitou, he had to pay a huge price for it which is his life (Hunter x Hunter, Chapter 307). He was sent to the ICU and there were a lot of nen users who tried to save him but ultimately failed (Hunter x Hunter, Chapter 316). So the only way for Gon to be saved is through Alluka/Nanika’s power.

With that, thanks to Killua who brought Alluka/Nanika with him to the hospital they were able to save Gon (Hunter x Hunter, Chapter 333). But, in order for Nanika to save Gon, there have to be consequences and that is– his nen, he won’t be able to sense it like before, let alone use it. With that being said, we could say that Gon always had his nen inside him in the first place since it is his life force and energy.

He just basically went back to how he was before he learned how to use nen– which means he reverted back to level 1. As I have mentioned previously, Nen takes a lot of time and patience in learning it. Rather, it will take years and years just to master it.

However, as we all know, during the Heavens Arena Arc, Gon and Killua were able to learn nen at a faster pace thanks to Wing, when he opened their aura nodes (Hunter x Hunter, Chapter 48). In addition to that, Wing trained him how to use his nen also during the GREED Island arc, Biscuit was the one who further enhanced their nen through training (Hunter x Hunter, Chapter 140).

With that, since Gon reverted back to how he was before he was able to feel nen, all he has to do is to relearn it from the start. But this time, no more shortcuts, because if he did it again, it might possibly take a toll on him, he must learn nen in the most natural way possible.

Now for the dreaded question, when will he be able to get his nen back? For this one, it is yet to be known when, that is because as I always say, Nen takes time to learn and master. Gon has to relearn and follow the step-by-step process in mastering Nen, so he’ll be undergoing tons of meditations as well as training for it which he is probably used to by now.

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Conclusion

With that being said, there are a lot of theories that talk about the possibility of Gon getting two abilities after he gets his nen back or that his story is now done because he was able to meet his father Ging. However, I believe that this is only just the beginning for Gon since he is the main character of this series. It’ll surely be a self-reflecting journey for him in opening his nodes naturally plus, in the last panel, we could see that Gon is on an adventure with Kite.

So, there is a slight chance that he might have an arc for his process in relearning his nen. Though people might think it’s boring but I differ because in this process we will be able to see the growth of Gon’s nen abilities.

All in all, this just depends on what plans Togashi Yoshihiro has in store for our boy Gon. So, let’s just all look forward to what’ll transpire in Gon’s nen and if it’ll be stronger than before or if he’ll permanently lose it which I doubt.