Qi Zhou

Biodata

Power Progression

Background

In his previous life, Qi Zhou developed ALS at nine years old and deteriorated severely within a year. He spent ten years bedridden before arriving in the new world. Being able to sit up independently again becomes an emotional milestone for him 4.

His first months in the new world were spent imprisoned in a box. A one-eyed old man forced him to produce badges in exchange for food and water. Chrollo eventually removed him from the box while he was gravely injured and took him away to recover 2.

Qi Zhou initially could not understand the local language. Chrollo used an ability from Skill Hunter to communicate with him, while Pakunoda examined his memories. Chrollo then demanded his Nen ability as payment for the rescue, stole it, and returned it the following day so that Qi Zhou could develop it further as a Troupe candidate 2 3 5.

He later discovers that Noah, the body’s original owner, had welcomed his soul and repeatedly warned him of mortal danger. In recurring visions, Qi Zhou carries Noah out of a laboratory, only for Noah to return to the operating table again 24.

Appearance

• Hair and eyes: White hair and gray-blue eyes; people searching for him describe a white-haired, blue-eyed child no older than twelve 5 29.
• Elemental-power tell: His left eye turns silver-blue when he draws on Noah’s power 43 46.
• Clothing: Wears a tracksuit supplied by Feitan and repaired by Machi at Whale Manor’s formal gathering 16.
• Poison mark: Stock Solution leaves a blood-red line extending from his middle finger up his arm 34 37.

Personality

Qi Zhou retains a cheerful, imaginative disposition despite captivity and injury. His internal commentary is frequently humorous, and unfamiliar sights such as airships fascinate him. Food is an especially reliable source of happiness: he delights in beef noodles, ice cream, and the freedom to enjoy experiences unavailable during his bedridden life 2 3 9 10 16.

His strongest conflict is between preserving his moral boundaries and surviving. At Whale Manor, he attempts to save the musicians and refuses Chrollo’s order to murder witnesses. Meteor City gradually makes him willing to kill attackers, but he continues to reject violence against uninvolved people, even when A-Wu considers that restraint dangerous 19 21 30 31 37.

He becomes more observant without losing his attachment to others. He reconstructs A-Wu’s manipulation of their early encounters but accepts their alliance because both can benefit. Once he considers A-Wu a friend, he knowingly enters a lethal trap to rescue him and refuses to promise that he would stay away next time 36 47 49.

Abilities & Skills

Imaginary Musician

A conjured book with a white cover, turquoise foliage patterns, and gold lettering that initially only Qi Zhou can read. Its contents include the Song of the Four Seasons, which carries memories of his previous life 3.

• Ordinary people can see the book appear and disappear; Qi Zhou learns to disguise its summoning as taking it from his pocket 11.
• Listening to music can reveal an incomplete movement within its pages 11.
• The book supplies information identifying a flute labeled “Dragon Blood” as an imitation of the older instrument “Dipping Jade” 17.
• Chrollo can remove access to the ability through Skill Hunter. Qi Zhou later summons a weakened version containing the Song of Taboo and a retained flute, but subsequently describes his own Nen ability as having been taken by Chrollo 3 5 24 34.

Song of the Four Seasons

The book produces badges that improve physical performance. Their value depends partly on the wearer’s existing strength: Chrollo receives a much smaller proportional benefit than an ordinary person would 3.

• Boosts speed, strength, stamina, and outward aura output 3.
• Improves Qi Zhou’s physical abilities by approximately fifty percent 12.
• Reaches a documented production limit of ten badges per day after training 8 9.
• Has no cooldown when Qi Zhou uses the badges on himself, but increases his Nen consumption 12.
• At his then-current reserves, one boost lasts about an hour; using all four together lasts approximately fifteen minutes and also improves hearing, smell, and sight 12.

Mouth of Calamity

Qi Zhou uses a Mouth of Calamity Badge to disrupt Hilt Wood’s role in the Sonata of Darkness 20.

• Devours the black Nen sustaining Hilt as the performer and turns him into a listener 20.
• Causes Hilt to succumb to the performance’s effects, ending the sonata and collapsing the undead under its influence 20.

Noah’s Elemental Power

Qi Zhou can borrow power belonging to Noah’s soul without requiring Noah to take full control. His later Water Divination experiments indicate that using this power replaces his own Hatsu rather than simply adding another ability alongside it 24 46.

• Borrowing fire changes Water Divination’s water to a spicy taste; borrowing water makes it sweet, leading him to identify Noah’s category as Transmutation 46.
• Full control by Noah is a separate state: Qi Zhou becomes unconscious and later experiences Noah’s actions as a dream 34.
• Noah can move effectively despite poisoning that leaves Qi Zhou barely able to function 34 47.

Nen Control and Perception

Qi Zhou develops much of his practical Nen control before learning its formal terminology 29 44.

• Ten: Provides bodily protection; he also experiments with enclosing himself in an airtight layer while crossing contaminated terrain 25 27.
• Zetsu: Suppresses his presence and improves recovery when exhausted, but leaves him poorly defended against Nen 29 44.
• Ren: Increases aura output; Chrollo repeatedly tests it through overwhelming Nen pressure 7 8.
• Gyo: Reveals aura, concealed people, and details in darkness. During the river ambush, he can concentrate it in only one body part at a time while maintaining basic Ten elsewhere 11 28 32.
• Expanded Ten: Bypasses visual deception by sensing an attacker inside his short-range aura field 43.
• Aura bursts: Blast apart garbage heaps and force an approaching opponent backward 29 30.

Music, Investigation, and Infiltration

• Musical knowledge: Identifies himself as a pianist and analyzes performance timing to determine how six rest areas supply missing measures of a score 13 15.
• Deduction: Infers Pakunoda’s memory-reading ability and distinguishes Vincent’s perception-altering illusions from simple invisibility 11 43.
• Stealth: Scouts Suoerzite’s residence, suppresses his aura, and enters through an upstairs window 32.
• Disguise: Infiltrates the elders’ central manor as a waiter, copies the staff’s behavior, and maps guard positions while serving food 50.

Equipment / Items

• Whale badge — Secures special-guest access to Whale Manor through a concealed tunnel beneath the lake 15.
• Flute — Remains among the contents of his weakened Imaginary Musician after he awakens in the desert settlement 24.
• Repaired mobile phone — Given to him by A-Wu, with A-Wu’s number already entered. Its number keys barely work; the pair later use vibration signals during the manor infiltration 44 50.

Relationships

• Noah — Original owner of their shared body and source of Qi Zhou’s elemental power. Qi Zhou feels protective of him and avoids making him endure poison episodes in his place 24 34 37.
• Chrollo Lucilfer — Rescuer, coercive Nen teacher, and captor. Chrollo values his badges, threatens him against escape, and ultimately breaks his limbs after his rebellion 2 5 6 24.
• Pakunoda — Reads his memories and feeds him during his early recovery. Qi Zhou later recognizes her ability and becomes more cautious about revealing his thoughts 2 3 11.
• Shalnark — Fellow traveler and Troupe minder who uses Black Voice to force him to kill witnesses. The memory remains deeply distressing to Qi Zhou 9 15 21 45.
• A-Wu / Wu Eros — Trading partner, Nen student, co-founder of the Wu-Zhou Alliance, and eventual friend. A-Wu supplies intelligence and strategy while Qi Zhou contributes strength and water 28 31 35 36 37 49.
• Wennide — White Eagle Society boss whom Qi Zhou backs as a route to influence and poison-related resources. Qi Zhou uses the name Noah and nominally presents himself as Wennide’s subordinate 37 39 41.
• Weisite — Provides remedial instruction in Nen’s four major principles, six categories, and Water Divination 44 45.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Whale Manor and Rejection of the Phantom Troupe

Chrollo makes the Whale Manor expedition Qi Zhou’s entrance test. While investigating its musical attractions, Qi Zhou discovers a fragmented score, earns access as a special guest, and identifies the danger behind the performance 8 11 13 15.

During the Sonata of Darkness, he knocks affected musicians unconscious to stop their accelerated aging, then uses Mouth of Calamity against Hilt Wood. After Hilt collapses into ashes, Qi Zhou destroys the cursed sheet music 19 20.

Returning to the exhibition hall, he discovers the Troupe’s massacre and theft. He refuses to kill the remaining witnesses, but Shalnark forces him to do so. His retaliatory attack on Chrollo fails; Chrollo breaks all four of his limbs and confines him in a box again 21 24.

Meteor City Survival

In a desert-edge settlement, Qi Zhou confronts a man who treats him as a source of blood and food. After recognizing Noah’s role in keeping him alive, he burns the settlement’s tent and departs 23 24.

He reaches Meteor City’s garbage mountains, scavenges expired food, and begins exchanging water for provisions with A-Wu. He hopes to survive half a year and escape the wager constraining him, but attacks connected to Kerien and the White Eagle Society draw him into gang conflict 25 26 28 29 31.

After killing Kelirui in self-defense, he accepts A-Wu’s proposal to target President Suoerzite. The assassination succeeds, but Suoerzite’s postmortem Nen pursues and poisons him. Noah takes control long enough to escape to District Five 30 31 32 33 34.

Wu-Zhou Alliance and the Suppressant Search

Qi Zhou needs a suppressant for the Stock Solution poison. A-Wu estimates that he has roughly three months after observing an episode lasting slightly over three hours. They formally ally and choose the White Eagle Society as their route toward the substance’s suppliers 36 37.

Qi Zhou recruits Wennide without accepting A-Wu’s proposal to kill him if negotiations fail. As they build Wennide’s position, Qi Zhou defeats Vincent by developing expanded-Ten perception, then leaves most gang administration to A-Wu while concentrating on training 37 39 43 46.

When a dangerous magician captures A-Wu and summons him to a ruined clock tower, Qi Zhou calls on Noah to reach the site despite a poison episode. He retrieves A-Wu, but the magician promises to seek him out again 47 48.

A-Wu subsequently identifies the Bancro Family as the Stock Solution’s producer and explains the elders’ role in its distribution. Qi Zhou commits to supporting A-Wu’s move against Kadis Eros, then infiltrates the central manor in a waiter’s disguise and scouts its guarded third floor 49 50.

Notable Quotes

“...I'll save whoever I can.” 19

“Unless someone attacks me first or intends to kill me, I'll never take the initiative to attack an uninvolved person.” 37

“Stop yelling, stop yelling. I know I was wrong, and I'd do it again next time.” 49