The only member of Hunter X Hunter’s original cast to fail the 287th Hunter Exam goes by the name Killua Zoldyck. The young assassin may have been able to overpower Gon, Kurapika, and Leorio, but that doesn’t mean he is any less prone to failure.
As a member of a powerful family of assassins, Killua was rarely forced to feel the pain of failure before leaving his family’s estate. Despite regularly being subjugated to pain by his own mother, Killua wasn’t able to learn from his mistakes and recognize the importance of failure until he met Gon. After this, he failed a lot and made sure to learn something from each of his failures.
10 Killua Failed To Acknowledge the Power of Nen until Wing Put On A Frightening Demonstration Right In Front Of Him
Killua’s greatest failure as a member of the Zoldyck family showed itself when he underplayed the importance of nen. In the world of Hunter X Hunter, nen is everything to those who make a claim to strength.
The Zoldyck family is recognized far and wide. The family of assassins has earned a reputation thanks to their efficient displays of strength. This strength comes in large part from each member’s mastery of nen, which makes it inexcusable for Killua to have ignored the importance of this power before leaving home to take the Hunter Exam.
9 He Failed To Embrace Canary As A Peer In Front Of His Family
Canary has proven to be both a fan-favorite character and a powerful ally to Killua since her original debut in the Zoldyck Estate Arc, but it wasn’t the silver-haired Zoldyck that introduced her to fans.
Viewers got their first look at Canary when Gon faced her down within the walls of the Zoldyck Estate. During this interaction, Gon proves that he is a friend of Killua’s and pushes Canary to reminisce over her past interactions with Killua. The young bodyguard respects everything about Killua, but it is a shame that he wasn’t able to stand up to his family and embrace the powerful immigrant from Meteor City as his peer until the 13th Hunter Chairmen Election Arc.
8 Killua Failed To Account For Gon’s Selfishness When Planning To Defeat The Bombers On Greed Island
The Greed Island Arc ends with a bang due to Gon’s selfish desire to overpower Genthru with his own strength. If Gon had simply followed Killua’s strategy, the path to victory would have been much easier and much less dangerous.
Killua is a master at assessing the strengths and weaknesses of his enemy and devising a plan that allows him and his allies to escape from battle unharmed. Unfortunately, Killua often fails to assess the weaknesses of his allies which has left him in a number of dangerous situations that could have been avoided if his strategies included Gon’s shortcomings as well as his foes.
7 Killua Failed The 287th Hunter Exam Which Forced Him To Retake The Exam The Following Year
It is not really fair to blame Killua for failing the 287th Hunter Exam. Due to Illumi’s meddling, Killua was forced to back down from the exam and return home before earning his Hunter License.
Still, Killua’s failure forced him to return a year later to take the exam a second time.
6 Killua Failed To Learn From Isaac Netero’s Challenge During The Hunter Exam
Killua is wise for knowing when he has reached the limitations of his strength, but he often gives up a bit too early. This is exactly what happened when Isaac Netero challenged Gon and Killua to a game during the Hunter Exam Arc.
Fans know that neither boy would have stood a chance of defeating Netero if his challenge included combat, but the chairman of the Hunter Association purposefully leveled the playing field by framing his challenge as a game. Still, Killua assessed the situation as if Netero were his enemy and failed to open the door to a learning opportunity that Gon was quick to take advantage of.
5 He Failed To Tell His Family That He Was Going To Take The Hunter Exam
Yoshihiro Togashi makes it abundantly clear that the Zoldyck family is all sorts of messed up. Still, Killua ruined his chances of making peace with his mother and Illumi the moment he ran away from home without first asking for permission.
If Killua has simply approached Silva or Zeno and asked for permission to go take the Hunter Exam he would have more than likely been allowed to do so. Instead, Killua attacked his mother and ran away from home before he was even taught the basics of nen.
4 Killua & Gon Were Both Captured & Restrained By The Phantom Troupe
The Yorknew City Arc gave fans the chance to witness the true power of the Zoldyck family. When the Phantom Troupe faced down the Mafia, Zeno and Silva Zoldyck were hired to take out Chrollo Lucilfer.
In a completely different part of Yorknew City, Killua led Gon on a mission to trail the Phantom Troupe and find their hideout. Their mission was a massive failure and resulted in the two friends being captured by a murderous group of thieves that could have ended the plot of Hunter X Hunter before Killua even began manipulating lightning.
3 To This Day, Killua Continues To Let Illumi Manipulate Him
The biggest thorn in Killua’s side has always been his older brother Illumi. The powerful manipulator uses his nen to control other people with small acupuncture needles that turn them into mindless drones.
Though Illumi has never forced his brother into a zombified state, he is well known for leaving a few needles in Killua every time they come face to face. One of these needles forces Killua to feel a crippling amount of fear every time he is faced with an opponent that is more powerful than he is. This in turn forces Killua to run from danger so often that he quickly falls behind Gon who is always willing to risk his life in order to grow stronger. To this day, Killua has failed to overcome Illumi’s strength, but he took a step in the right direction when he chose to live alongside both Alluka and Nanika.
2 Both Gon & Killua Failed To Save Kite From Neferpitou
Shortly after Gon and Killua met Kite, the experienced Hunter led the children deep into Chimera Ant territory. At the end of their trail, Kite stood between a Chimera Ant Royal Guard and the two boys in order to give them the opportunity to escape. Though some might blame Kite for bringing two children within range of Neferpitou’s Nen, both Killua and Gon blame themselves for their inability to fight alongside Kite when faced down by the Royal Guard.
In truth, all three members failed to assess the situation correctly, but Gon and Killua failed a second time by being too weak to help their new ally escape death.
1 Killua Failed As A Brother By Trying to Banish Nanika
In the same way that Killua fails to properly account for Gon’s dark side, he also fails to embrace his younger sister’s dark persona Nanika. Even after using Nanika’s power to bring Gon back to life, Killua still uses his power to pull free wishes out of the spirit hiding within his sister to remove Nanika from his life.
After Killua banishes Nanika, Alluka refuses to accept that her brother could love only half of her. This leads Killua to recognize his own failure and apologize for his mistake. This moment offers fans a heartwarming exchange between siblings while also serving as one of Killua’s greatest failures and achievements.
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