In the Hunter × Hunter Yorknew City Arc, members of the extremely dangerous and powerful underground group, the Phantom Troupe, appear. One of the main characters, Kurapika, is driven by a fierce resolve to destroy the Troupe, who call themselves “spiders”, and tear off their limbs. The Troupe massacred his clan and stole their scarlet eyes, renowned for their beauty and rarity. Kurapika battles Uvogin, a Troupe member who possesses an insane amount of raw physical power, and kills him using Chain Jail, a Nen ability specifically designed to fight the Phantom Troupe. Kurapika finds employment with the Nostrade mafia family, to get close to the mafia-run underground auction in Yorknew City, hoping to cross paths with the spiders, who are bound to be there. The head of the Nostrade family made a fortune using his daughter Neon’s fortune-telling Nen ability with complete accuracy. Intrigued by Neon’s ability, Chrollo Lucilfer, the leader of the Phantom Troupe, uses trickery to help her enter the auction building so she can read his fortune.
At this point, he suspects, but does not know for certain, that his childhood friend and fellow Troupe member, Uvogin, has been killed. Neon explains to Chrollo: “My fortunes are a little strange. They usually have four or five verses. Each one corresponds to a week of the month, so the first may have already happened.” Chrollo’s prophecy says: “The calendar loses a precious component./The remaining months gather to mourn./The mourners play a melody./While the eleventh month quietly rises.” After reading the prophecy, tears well up in one of Chrollo’s eyes and stream down his face. Now he knows for certain that Uvogin is dead. The first two verses of the prophecy are easy for him to understand. His childhood friend and fellow spider is dead, and the remaining Troupe members will mourn him. However, the remaining two verses explain what will happen, but has not happened yet.
The question becomes, did the prophecy come true because it was destined to happen, or did Chrollo make it happen of his own will, giving the order to the Phantom Troupe to “go wild”. And so, “the mourners play a melody, while the eleventh month quietly rises.” Orchestrated by Chrollo, they play a requiem for their dead comrade Uvogin, a rhapsody of gunfire and a massacre of Mafia guards and police officers before the auction house. Each Troupe member contributes according to their Nen abilities. As they do so, Chrollo thinks, “Uvo, can you hear us? We are playing a requiem for you.” In the 2011 anime, Yoshihisa Hirano’s track “Riot” plays, referencing the traditional Gregorian chant “Dies Irae” (Day of Wrath).
What clearly distinguishes the fulfillment of this prophecy from oracles from Greek tragedies is the fact that whatever the characters in the play do, the oracle will come true. There is a tragic necessity in these oracles, mostly delivered by Apollo. For example, Oedipus is bound to kill his father and marry his mother, even though he is left to die in the mountains as a child. He can mock the prophet Tiresias as much as he wants, but the oracle is a truth he cannot escape. Additionally, in Oedipus at Colonus, Apollo’s prophecy comes true. The place where Oedipus is buried is destined to bring blessings to the city’s people, ensure victory in war, and bring demise of those who wish to harm it.
Various characters in the play try to change that outcome, for example Creon, by attempting to take Oedipus by force, but the grounds of Athens are Oedipus’ destined burial site. Oedipus becomes a seer himself when he says that his ungrateful sons, who abandoned him, will kill each other in battle. This also comes true. Cassandra’s prophecy that she herself and King Agamemnon would be murdered by Clytemnestra also bears the mark of the same tragic necessity. Yet, it must be noted that characters in Greek tragedies have their own agency as well. Oedipus, for instance, chooses to investigate the murder of his own father, becoming a creator of both the prophecy’s public recognition, and his own downfall.
In Hunter × Hunter Chrollo decides to act upon the prophecy, and orders his spiders to create a bloody requiem for Uvogin. Had he chosen otherwise, this likely would not have happened. The remaining verses of Neon’s prophecy to Chrollo are: “The crystanthemum withers and falls./ To lie on the ground beside bloody Scarlet Eyes./ But you will remain supreme. Even after losing half your limbs… Enjoy the interlude. Search out new allies. East is the direction to go. You will find one who awaits you.” The rest of the prophecy is much more enigmatic, aside from the motif of losing half of his limbs, which obviously refers to his spiders. As Chrollo recites the last two verses of the prophecy, the scene cuts to Hisoka standing atop a building, revealing Chrollo’s destined enemy, who infiltrated the Phantom Troupe just for a chance to battle him.
Some time later, the spiders are back in their lair, which looks like an abandoned cathedral with tall stained-glass windows. Nobunaga, a member of the Troupe, wants to avenge Uvo and go after the “chain user,” whose identity they do not know yet. However, Chrollo wants them to take the stole merchandise from the auction and leave Yorknew City, most likely fearing the part of Neon’s prophecy about losing half of the Troupe members coming true. Chrollo answers Nobunaga by asking for his blood type, full name, and date of birth so he can tell his fortune using the ability stolen from Neon – which is part of Chrollo’s own Nen ability. Both Nobunaga and Shizuku receive similar first verses, predicting that half of the Phantom Troupe members will die. Since Uvogin is already dead, five more are destined to perish. Chrollo then explains the metaphor of the chrysanthemum. He says: “The chrysanthemum is the flower of September. It blooms in August, the eighth month, and it withers in June. This refers to numbers 6, 8 and 9. And since the word ‘fall’ is used, it implies death.” Each Troupe member has a tattoo with a spider and his number, and since Uvogin was number 11, the eleventh month in the prophecy speaks of him.
In line with the prophecy, Chrollo points out that leaving now allows them to avoid the chain user next week, given the risk of losing half their members: “The advantage of being able to predict the future is that we can avoid undesirable prophecies.” This is distinctly modern and goes against the Greek tragic rule of fate, the notion that one’s destiny cannot be escaped by any means. In fact, attempting to flee the prophecy only brings the tragic hero closer to its fulfillment and eventual demise. Hisoka demands that all other Troupe members’ prophecies be read, and his own states: “A red-eyed customer will visit your shop./ Half angel half angel of death./ You would do well to sell the calendar’s secrets./ He will be especially pleased to learn the eleventh moon’s secret./ The customer will return on a hot day./ Leaving you alone with a man bearing St. Peter’s cross./ The false fourth moon will be torn away from the calendar. Only six pages remain.”
Hisoka’s prophecy is fairly straightforward. He acts as the chain user’s accomplice and profits by sharing the Phantom Troupe’s secrets with Kurapika. He gets a chance to be alone with Chrollo, but is discovered as a traitor and cast out from the Troupe. When Pakunada asks to see Hisoka’s prophecy, he quickly alters it using his Bungee Gum Nen ability to make it look like he was forced to work with the chain user rather than doing so voluntarily. He is forced by a vow to do so; he lies through the altered prophecy. The phrasing “The customer will use the sword of law upon you.” is specifically designed to fool the Troupe, it implies that he is made to cooperate with the chain user.Chrollo concludes that “the sword of law” will be used against Hisoka if he speaks. Other Troupe members agree, noting that Hisoka will most likely die if he reveals information about the chain user or fights him, in other words, if he breaks the rules supposedly imposed by Kurapika.
The second verse of Hisoka’s “prophecy” says: “The eleven-legged spider grows homesick/, losing five more legs./ Do not leave your temporary shelter/ for you are one of the remaining legs.” In this way, Hisoka manages to lure the Phantom Troupe into staying in their hideout in Yorknew City. However, the future as predicted by Neon’s ability does not come true in the end, mostly due to the unexpected circumstances, and sacrifices involved. Prophecies in Hunter × Hunter are not bound by tragic fate as those of antiquity. Rather, fate is shaped by individual action, one can act on a prophecy to fulfill it, forge it, or change its outcome completely, especially if those involved are aware of its predictions. Togashi emphasizes the strategic aspect of prophecies, focusing not only on how they affect those who hear them, but also on what those individuals decide to do with that knowledge.
