Chrollo

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Chrollo grew up in Meteor City, where he gathered other children to rehearse and perform stories in the church. They studied scavenged discs in an abandoned warehouse, and he dreamed of traveling the world with his friends as performers rather than becoming a thief 102 104.

Sarasa’s murder left a lasting mark on him. He remembered her mutilated body being stuffed into a bag and hung from a tree; even after his defeat, his unresolved regret was that he had never found and avenged her killers 41 102.

As the Phantom Troupe’s leader, Chrollo became the central figure in an organization devoted primarily to robbery and murder. He recruited replacements when its numbers fell, while members could also enter by defeating an existing member. Hisoka described him as someone who collected things that interested him, then sold them once his interest faded 17.

Appearance

• Hair and tattoo: A young man with meticulously slicked-back hair and a cross tattoo centered on his forehead 15.
• Usual clothing: A long black coat extending past his knees, with white fur at the collar and cuffs. Its open front exposes his muscular torso; fitted trousers and tall lace-up leather boots complete the outfit 15.
• Restaurant disguise: Replaces his coat with a full suit and covers his forehead with a white ribbon, giving him a more refined appearance 31.

Personality

Chrollo is cautious, calculating, and willing to spend considerable time preparing a battlefield. Hisoka finds it difficult to isolate him because he normally travels with at least two companions and disappears after missions. Following the Yorknew setbacks, Chrollo delays his next confrontation until he has investigated Greed Island and arranged support 17 77 78.

His composure persists through severe injury. During the Castle battle, he remains outwardly calm after losing flesh from his shoulder and suffering further damage to his arm. His interest in Qiao Lun’s abilities develops into an explicit desire to steal them, mutilate him, and keep him captive in Meteor City 81 82 83.

Chrollo places the Spider’s continuation above the loss of individual members. After the restaurant battle, he briefly feels lost but regains his resolve and urges the survivors to keep moving. His founding principle allows even the leader to die, provided the Spider’s will survives 41 107.

His final reflections reveal how far he has departed from his childhood ambitions. Defeated and restrained, he remembers performing with his friends and imagines Sarasa as the lively child she once was 102.

Abilities & Skills

Skill Hunter

Chrollo’s Specialist ability steals Nen abilities from living people after he fulfills certain conditions, storing them in a conjured book 26.

• Ability switching: Turning the book’s pages changes his available technique; switching pages can also dismiss a conjured weapon 31 81.
• Bookmark: Keeps one ability active while he turns to another page, enabling two abilities to operate simultaneously 81 84.
• Combination tactics: Builds strategies around complementary abilities, including enclosed-space attacks, sensory disruption, and damage-powered retaliation 81 82 84.
• Collection dependence: His escape from the Castle leaves very few abilities in the book, substantially weakening him 102.
• Observed limitation: Qiao Lun judges that stolen abilities lose their room for further development in Chrollo’s hands. This is Qiao Lun’s assessment, rather than a demonstrated universal rule 32 103.

Teleportation

Repositions other targets without visible physical contact 32 80 96.

• Moves Hisoka from roughly five meters away into striking distance 32.
• Transfers Qiao Lun away from Great Serpent and into a prepared dagger ambush 80.
• Redirects Great Serpent into Gon during the Meteor City battle 96.
• Qiao Lun identifies a long interval between uses; the exact activation conditions remain unknown. Whether Chrollo can teleport himself is also unresolved 81 96.

Flying Swords

Controls three small swords that can pursue opponents and change direction in midair 32.

• Attacks from several directions and repeatedly redirects the blades after a strike 32.
• Uses the swords alongside other techniques to pressure Hisoka and Qiao Lun 32 81.
• Intercepts Killua’s iron yo-yo, deflecting its path without cutting its cord 96.
• Qiao Lun identifies the technique as a combination of Manipulation and Conjuration 32.

Indoor Fish

Summons skeletal Nen fish to attack within an enclosed space 81.

• Uses the fish offensively and defensively; damaged fish regenerate during the fight 81.
• The fish disappear when Max Elephant breaks open the enclosure 81.
• Cooperates with Kuhua’s copied walls to create multiple surrounding enclosures, allowing the fish to return after the first passage is breached 81.
• Can deploy numerous palm-sized fish rather than only a few large ones 81.

Ice Hell / Extreme Cold Hell

A borrowed form of Feitan’s damage-triggered ability that turns Chrollo into a source of extreme cold 84 85.

• Creates successive ice walls and freezes Piercing Ox just before its horns reach him 84.
• Expands the freezing effect across Battera’s Castle. Chrollo expects the affected area to remain at −134 degrees for seven days 85.
• Uses accumulated injuries as fuel; he deliberately leaves his wounds bleeding before unleashing the technique 84 86.
• Consumes enormous amounts of Nen, leaving him increasingly vulnerable as the battle continues 85 86.
• Provides protective conjured clothing while active. Switching away removes that protection even though the surrounding cold remains 86.

Pair of Destructive Men

Creates opposing sun and moon marks that explode when brought into contact 102.

• Marks can be placed on living people, corpses, puppets, and other objects 102.
• Longer contact during marking increases explosive power, reaching its maximum after roughly three to five seconds 102.
• Marked attackers rush Qiao Lun’s shikigami and detonate during the Meteor City battle 101 102.
• Qiao Lun cannot establish whether the ability is currently in Chrollo’s book or whether its effects persist through Post-Mortem Nen 101 102.

Other Stolen Techniques

• Fire dragon: Uses sparks from a lighter to produce a high-temperature dragon-shaped attack capable of burning through Hisoka’s Bungee Gum 32.
• Shrinking cloth: Envelops the car carrying Light Nostrade and Neon in a cloth, reducing it to a candy-sized bundle for abduction 47.
• Light absorption and release: Darkens the battlefield, then releases an intense flash that temporarily overwhelms Qiao Lun’s vision 82.
• Transparent barrier: Blocks a kick from Qiao Lun, though Qiao Lun subsequently breaks through it 83.
• Concealment: Hides Feitan and Bonolenov before their ambush. Qiao Lun infers that the technique permits movement and suppresses sound; attacking exposes them 97.
• Explosive escape sequence: After switching abilities, Chrollo’s body cracks with red light and bursts on contact, releasing an annihilating wave. He survives by an unrevealed method, but loses much of his collection 86 95 102.

Combat and Leadership

• Nen fundamentals: Uses Gyo to detect concealed Bungee Gum and maintains Ken while awaiting Qiao Lun 31 80.
• Close combat: Opens his duel with Hisoka by teleporting him into range and striking him through restaurant furniture 31 32.
• Battlefield preparation: Combines borrowed abilities, constructed enclosures, and hidden allies rather than relying on a straightforward duel 81 83 84.
• Outside contractors: Commissions the assassination of the Ten Dons through Illumi, who passes the assignment to other Zoldyck family members 30.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Skill Hunter: The conjured book holding his stolen abilities 26 31.
• Bookmark: Maintains an ability independently of the currently open page 81 84.
• Dagger: Used to cut Hisoka’s playing card and attempt a close-range ambush against Qiao Lun. Its origin becomes a point of uncertainty in Qiao Lun’s analysis 31 80 82 83.
• Lighter: Supplies the sparks required for his fire-dragon technique 32.
• Greed Island Binder and spell cards: Uses a Binder to activate Accompany against Qiao Lun and Killua 77 78.

Relationships

• Phantom Troupe — Leader and principal strategist. He urges its surviving members to continue despite their losses and defines the Spider as something that must outlast individual members 17 41 107.
• Qiao Lun — Enemy whose attacks devastate the Troupe. Chrollo seeks revenge while also coveting his abilities; their Castle battle costs Chrollo much of his stolen repertoire 77 83 102.
• Hisoka — An infiltrator who joined to obtain a death match with him. Hisoka exposes his false membership at the restaurant, and their duel ends without a decisive winner 17 31 41.
• Kurapika — Enemy pursuing the Troupe over the Kurta Clan massacre and stolen Scarlet Eyes. Kurapika captures him and seals his Nen; his subsequent handling of Chrollo is not shown to Qiao Lun 102 103.
• Neon Nostrade — A target of his interest in fortune-telling. After the restaurant ambush, he abducts her and her father to investigate whether her predictions had exposed his movements 28 31 47.
• Feitan — Troupe member whose borrowed ability becomes Chrollo’s principal trump card at the Castle 84.
• Sarasa — Childhood friend whose murder he remains determined to avenge 102.
• Sheila — Childhood acquaintance who remembers him organizing the children’s performances and laments how much he and his friends changed 104.
• Tserriednich — According to Sheila, Chrollo gave the stolen Scarlet Eyes to the Fourth Prince of the Kakin Empire 105.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Yorknew City

• Mounting losses: Leads the Troupe as Qiao Lun and Kurapika begin killing its members. Hisoka exploits the crisis to seek an opportunity to confront him alone 15 16 26.
• Restaurant ambush: Arrives at the Semetary Building with Neon, only to encounter Qiao Lun and Hisoka. His initial escape attempt fails, and Hisoka reveals his deception before challenging him 31.
• Interrupted duel: Uses several stolen abilities against Hisoka, sustaining a damaged arm and broken leg. Hisoka is also badly wounded; the Troupe’s intervention and Pakunoda’s capture prevent a conclusive finish 32 39 41.
• False death report: The Ten Dons publicly announce his death, but the purported Troupe bodies are subsequently identified as Kortopi’s copies 42 43.
• Nostrade kidnapping: On September 5, abducts Light Nostrade and Neon in Fengxian City and questions them about the fortune poems 47.

Greed Island and Battera’s Castle

• Prepared entry: Investigates Greed Island and sends people in under false identities before openly confronting Qiao Lun 54 77 78.
• Failed transport: Attempts to carry Qiao Lun and Killua to Ansei Mine with Accompany. Their Castle Gate cards block the spell, leaving Chrollo to travel alone 77 78.
• Castle trap: Confronts Qiao Lun with support from Kuhua and Phinks, combining Indoor Fish, enclosed passages, sensory disruption, and Feitan’s borrowed ability 81 82 83 84.
• Escape: Fails to stop Qiao Lun with extreme cold, then unleashes an annihilating blast and disappears. His survival is later confirmed, but Kuhua and Phinks do not survive the aftermath 86 89 95.

Meteor City and Unresolved Fate

• Return to Meteor City: Appears physically restored, but privately acknowledges that escaping the Castle depleted Skill Hunter. His search for replacement abilities proves unsuccessful 95 102.
• Final documented battle: Fights alongside the remaining Troupe members, using concealment, teleportation, swords, and marked explosive attackers. Killua helps Kurapika bind him while Qiao Lun handles the attackers 96 97 101 102.
• Disappearance: Qiao Lun never learns exactly how Kurapika dealt with him and does not see him again. Later doubts about Chrollo’s death remain unresolved; the group declines to spend Gon’s reserved Accompany card checking his survival 103 106 107.

Notable Quotes

“We are the Spider. Even if we lose a few legs, we must keep walking!” 41

“You really are a troublesome one. You win.” 86