Unraveling the Phantom Troupe's Actions and Backstory on the Black Whale in Hunter x Hunter

The Phantom Troupe, one of the most enigmatic and dangerous groups in Hunter x Hunter, has recently drawn significant attention due to their presence on the Black Whale ship. Fans are eager to understand what is the Phantom Troupe doing and how their recent backstory ties into this event. This post explores the motivations behind their actions and the latest developments in their story.

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Who Are the Phantom Troupe?

The Phantom Troupe, also known as the Spider, is a notorious group of thieves and assassins in Hunter x Hunter. They are infamous for their ruthlessness, incredible combat skills, and a strict code of loyalty among members. Each member has a numbered tattoo of a spider on their body, symbolizing their place in the group. The group maintains a roster of 13 members most of the time, consisting of a "head" (the leader) and 12 "legs".

• The Leader (The Head) Chrollo Lucilfer: The charismatic founder and absolute leader of the Troupe. He possesses the "Skill Hunter" ability, allowing him to steal and use the Nen abilities of other people.

• Nobunaga Hazama (No. 1): An Enhancer samurai who specializes in iaido swordplay and uses an incredibly precise En radius.

• Feitan Portor (No. 2): A ruthless Transmuter who serves as the group's interrogator. His devastating "Pain Packer" ability converts physical damage dealt to him into scorching heat.

• Machi Komacine (No. 3): A sharp Transmuter who uses Nen stitches to track targets, set traps, or instantly reattach severed limbs.

• Kalluto Zoldyck (No. 4): Killua's younger sibling, a Manipulator who commands paper confetti and paper fans. He joined as a replacement for Hisoka.

• Hisoka Morrow (Former No. 4): Joined purely to get close enough to fight Chrollo. He left the group after revealing his status as a fake member and is currently hunting the remaining Spiders.

• Phinks Magcub (No. 5): An Enhancer whose "Ripper Cyclotron" increases the power of his punch every time he rotates his arm.

• Shalnark (Former No. 6): A licensed Hunter and genius Manipulator who could control people (or himself) using a phone and antennae. He was killed by Hisoka after Chrollo's fight at heaven's arena.

• Franklin Bordeau (No. 7): An Emission specialist who cut off his own fingertips to shoot high-velocity Nen bullets from his hands.

• Shizuku Murasaki (No. 8): A Conjurer who commands "Blinky," a sentient vacuum cleaner capable of inhaling anything inanimate, which is perfect for clearing crime scenes.

• Pakunoda (Former No. 9): A loyal Specialist who could read memories through physical touch and shoot them into others via Special Nen bullets. She sacrificed herself to bypass Kurapika's Judgment Chain.

• Bonolenov Ndongo (No. 10): A member of the Gyudonondor tribe who uses holes in his body to play battle music, transforming the sound into physical armor and weapons.

• Illumi Zoldyck (No. 11): Killua's older brother and a master Manipulator who uses nen-infused needles. He joined the group at Hisoka's request to fill a vacancy.

• Uvogin (Former No. 11): The physically strongest Enhancer in the group, killed by Kurapika during the Yorknew City Arc.

• Kortopi (Former No. 12): A Conjurer capable of creating flawless duplicates of any non-living item. He was also ambushed and killed by Hisoka.

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Why Are They on the Black Whale?

The Black Whale is a massive ship designed to transport passengers and cargo across dangerous waters. It plays a crucial role in the Hunter x Hunter world, especially for travel between continents. The Phantom Troupe’s presence on this ship is not random; it is tied to a specific mission and strategic goals: to hunt and kill Hisoka Morrow, and to steal the royal treasures of the Kakin Kingdom.

Revenge Against Hisoka

The Spiders are on a bloodthirsty mission of revenge. After Chrollo defeated Hisoka at Heavens Arena, Hisoka used postmortem Nen to revive himself. Hisoka then ambushed and brutally murdered two Troupe members: Shalnark and Kortopi, declaring war on the Phantom Troupe. He purposefully gave information to Illumi Zoldyck (whom he hired to kill him) to pass along to the Spiders, knowing it would lure them to the ship. The Troupe boarded the Black Whale because they know Hisoka is hiding somewhere on it, and Chrollo is determined to bring back Hisoka’s head.

Stealing the Kakin Royal Treasure

True to their nature as thieves, the Troupe also targeted the ship for a massive heist. Tier 1 of the Black Whale carries the ultra-wealthy Royal Family of the Kakin Kingdom, along with immense, priceless treasures. The Troupe initially planned to sneak onto the upper decks to strip the vault clean, utilizing Kakin's underworld Mafia families to secure passage and navigate the ship's lower tiers.

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Recent Backstory of the Phantom Troupe

The recent backstory of the Phantom Troupe, revealed by creator Yoshihiro Togashi in chapters 395–397 of the Hunter x Hunter manga, establishes that the notorious villain group actually began as an innocent, tight-knit group of child theater actors.

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The Theater Club Origins

About 15 years before the start of the main series, Chrollo Lucilfer, Franklin, and Shalnark were just orphans living in the lawless junkyard of Meteor City. After finding a rare, foreign VHS tape of a tokusatsu show called Mighty Sweep and Power Cleaners (a parody of Power Rangers), Chrollo decided to translate and live-dub the show so all the local kids could enjoy it.

The project quickly expanded, bringing together the future core members of the Spiders:

• The Voice Actors: Chrollo voiced the male leads, while young girls Sarasa and Sheila voiced the female roles.

• The Crew: Local kids like Uvogin, Machi, Phinks, Feitan, Nobunaga, and Pakunoda were so moved by the performance that they volunteered to join the production team.

• The Name: The children happily decided that once they grew up, they would take their live-dubbing show on the road and call themselves simply "The Troupe".

The Incident: Sarasa's Death

Because Meteor City was entirely ignored by the outside world, it became a frequent hunting ground for human traffickers and snuff-film rings targeting undocumented children. Before an upcoming theater performance, Sarasa went to the outskirts of the city alone to search for more videotapes.

She was kidnapped, tortured, and brutally murdered by a group of sadistic out-of-town criminals who filmed the act. They left her dismembered body in a black bag hanging from a tree for her friends to find, alongside a deeply unsettling message.

Becoming Monsters for Protection

The horrific trauma broke the children and permanently reshaped their worldview. Chrollo realized that because Meteor City citizens legally "did not exist," the outside world would never investigate or punish the killers. He formulated a meticulous, long-term plan:

• The Three-Year Delay: Chrollo asked the grief-stricken children to wait exactly three years while they grew up, trained, and mastered Nen.

• The Weaponization of Crime: Chrollo decided that to protect Meteor City, they needed to make the city look too terrifying to touch. He planned to embrace the digital communication revolution by building a virtual safe haven for criminals (the Dark Web).

• The Trap: By providing this online space, Chrollo intended to eventually track down and exact the law of retribution on Sarasa's exact killers.

• The Ultimate Performance: To draw attention away from the citizens of Meteor City, the kids decided to play the ultimate "villain role". They formed the Phantom Troupe (The Spider), resolving to commit atrocities so terrifying that the world would fear the wrath of Meteor City. Except for Sheila, who left the group, they all agreed to become monsters.

The Recontextualization

This revelation fundamentally recontextualizes the Phantom Troupe. They are literally "theater kids" putting on a lifelong, cold-blooded performance as the world's worst villains. It also adds a tragic layer of irony to their dynamic: while they spent years building a reputation as heartless, unfeeling murderers, they only became killers out of an intense, traumatized love for one another.

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What is the Phantom Troupe Currently Doing?

As of Chapter 411 in the Succession War arc, the Phantom Troupe has infiltrated several tiers of the Black Whale 1 with the primary mission of hunting down and killing Hisoka, while also planning to steal the Kakin Royal Family's treasures. To locate Hisoka effectively, the Spiders have split into smaller groups and separate factions across the lower decks.

The Frontline Trio (Tier 5 to Tier 4)

• Nobunaga Hazama: Investigated the Heil-Ly family hideout on Tier 5, allied briefly with the Xi-Yu mafia family, and is moving up toward the higher tiers to track down both the Heil-Ly boss, Morena Prudo, and Hisoka.

• Feitan Portor: Working directly alongside Nobunaga and Phinks; he initially focused on securing their weapons from a warehouse and is now navigating the mafia turf wars to find their targets.

• Phinks Magcub: Partnered with Feitan and Nobunaga; he is helping navigate the lower-deck chaos and dealing with the Kakin Mafia families to clear a path to the upper decks.

The Strategic Hub (Tier 5 to Tier 1)

• Chrollo Lucilfer: The leader remains on Tier 5 orchestrating the hunt. He is operating with a much darker, single-minded focus following the deaths of Shalnark and Kortopi.

• Shizuku Murasaki: The initial idea was to stay close to Chrollo for protection since her vacuum ability, Blinky, is structurally weak against Hisoka’s Bungee Gum in a surprise 1v1 fight. However, Shizuku has since split from Chrollo and plans to use physical disguises to quietly search the lower decks and find clues.

• Bonolenov Ndongo: Also initially choosing to remain with Chrollo to account for his potential weakness against Hisoka, Bonolenov has recently gone off on his own. He is currently using his Battle Cantabile: Metamorphosen ability to physically alter his body and transform into different disguises. This allows him to scout different areas independently, eventually moving up to Tier 1, which is the same tier Hisoka is currently on, potentially putting Bonolenov in a dangerous situation if he were to be caught by Hisoka while alone.

The Solo Hunters (Tier 5)

• Machi Komacine: Chose to hunt completely alone on Tier 5 out of sheer fury, refusing to partner up after being spared and bound by Hisoka in Yorknew.

• Franklin Bordeau: Sitting alone in the Tier 5 central dining hall. He expects Hisoka to eventually come down to kill the remaining Spiders, choosing to act as bait rather than wasting energy actively searching.

The Infiltrators (Tier 3)

• Illumi Zoldyck: Joined the Troupe as member #11 at Hisoka's request. He and Kalluto successfully bypassed the security checkpoints to reach Tier 3, where they are dealing with the local military/police forces.

• Kalluto Zoldyck: Partnered with his older brother Illumi; he is using his paper doll surveillance techniques to gather intelligence on the mid-level passenger decks.

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